New York.- The financial lives of the two vice presidential candidates are versions of the American dream and demonstrate different approaches to money and risk, said Megan Gorman, a tax attorney and wealth manager who analyzed the personal finances of U.S. presidents – but not vice presidents – for a new book, according to information published by The Wall Street Journal.
While many candidates for national office have had rags-to-riches stories like Vance, few since Harry Truman have risen to fame with less wealth than Walz, he said.
“Walz represents the stable version of middle class, which is not so sexy, although the path Vance took to wealth is not really repeatable for most Americans,” he said.
Net worth
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has far less wealth than the candidates on the most recent presidential ballots. The former teacher and congressman’s assets are mostly limited to pensions, whole-life insurance and college savings.
He and his wife, Gwen Walz, have a net worth of between $112,030 and $330,000, according to their 2019 financial disclosures. The value of his federal pension benefit could add about $800,000 to their net worth, The Wall Street Journal analysis found. The couple reported no dividends or capital gains income on their 2022 tax return, the most recent one made public.
Vance has stakes in more than 100 companies as a former venture capitalist, as well as more than $100,000 worth of cryptocurrency, according to a 2022 disclosure he filed as a senator.
He and his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, have a net worth of between $4 million and $10.4 million, plus real estate, a Journal analysis found.
Tim Walz’s wealth
Tim and Gwen Walz together earned $166,719 before taxes in 2022, a tax return for that year shows. About $116,000 of that came from Tim’s salary as governor. The governor’s salary has since increased to $149,550, according to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.
A little over $51,000 of the couple’s income came from Gwen’s work as an educator, which she reported as her own business. She has worked at Augsburg University since 2019, where she teaches education and serves as a special assistant to the president.
The couple, who have two children, had a 529 plan worth between $1,010 and $15,000 in 2019, according to a financial disclosure Walz filed for his final year as a House member. They also had two life insurance policies totaling between $30,002 and $100,000.
The couple relies heavily on pensions to fund their retirement, according to their disclosures. They have four pensions with a total estimated value of between $81,000 and $215,000, as of the 2019 filing.
Walz is also likely eligible for federally sponsored retirement benefits. Using the federal pension formula published by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the annual benefit for someone with about 12 years of service in Congress would be about $55,000.
You may also have chosen to save money from your paycheck in the federal government’s 401(k)-like Frugal Savings Plan, which includes a match of up to 5% of salary. Federal lawmakers are not required to disclose federal government retirement benefits, according to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics.
The family sold their Minnesota home in 2019 for about $300,000. They are currently living in a rental home paid for by the state while the governor’s mansion is being renovated.
JD Vance’s wealth
Vance earned between $1.2 million and $1.3 million in 2022, according to his financial disclosure form.
Most of his income came from Narya Capital Management, an Ohio-based firm he co-founded in 2019 and left after winning his Ohio Senate seat in 2022, the form shows. Narya gave him $945,000 in earnings from the management company and $110,146 in salary in 2022.
He also earned $121,376 that year in book royalties from HarperCollins, which like The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp.
He earned between $15,010 and $50,000 in rental income from a townhouse in Washington, D.C., and between $34,411 and $102,000 from stock dividends and interest on bank accounts.
His wife’s salary as an attorney at Munger Tolles & Olson was not specified as being more than $1,000. She resigned from that position after her husband was chosen to run for vice president.
Vance’s stakes in dozens of companies, mostly privately held through venture capital funds, are collectively valued at between $790,000 and $3.4 million, according to his disclosure.
Narya’s first fund generated an internal rate of return of 24.35% after fees in March 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported. Vance retains a limited partner stake, worth between $100,001 and $250,000, in Narya’s second venture capital fund, despite selling his ownership position in August 2023.
The brokerage accounts make up between $2 million and $4.2 million of the Vances’ worth of assets and include investments in oil and gold, the disclosures show. They have an additional $100,010 to $250,000 in bitcoin. The couple also has between $853,010 and $1.8 million in bank accounts.
Chilukuri Vance owns several retirement funds, three college savings accounts and a checking account with a cumulative value of between $165,010 and $525,000, according to an amended financial disclosure shared with the Journal.
They bought a 1,100-square-foot townhouse in Washington, D.C., in 2014 for $590,000, a five-bedroom home in Cincinnati in 2018 for about $1.39 million and a 2,500-square-foot home in Alexandria, Virginia, for about $1.6 million last year.
The Virginia home is in a separate limited liability company (LLC) from the Ohio home, according to property records. Wealthy individuals can transfer property to LLCs so their ownership remains anonymous, protect the home from lawsuits and gain estate tax benefits, said Avi Kestenbaum, a partner at Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone.
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