Tim Walz’s net worth is less than the average American’s
The all-American working man demeanor of Tim Walz—Kamala Harris’s new running mate—looks like it’s not just an act.
Financial disclosures show Tim Walz barely has any assets to his name. No stocks, bonds, or even property to call his own. Together with his wife, Gwen, his net worth is $330,000, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal citing financial disclosures from 2019, the year after he became Minnesota governor.
With that kind of meager nest egg, he would be more or less in line with the median figure for Americans his age (he’s 60), and even poorer than the average. One in 15 Americans is a millionaire, a recent UBS wealth report discovered.
Meanwhile, the gross annual income of Walz and his wife, Gwen, amounted to $166,719 before tax in 2022, according to their joint return filed that same year. Walz is even entitled to earn more than the $127,629 salary he receives as state governor, but he has elected not to receive the roughly $22,000 difference.
“Walz represents the stable middle class,” tax lawyer Megan Gorman, who authored a book on the personal finances of U.S. presidents, told the paper.
If you take a pension as a lump sum then yes it is an asset because the entirety of it is in your possession. They did not do that, so it’s not an asset/part of their net worth. It’s not in their possession.
I have explained this a dozen different ways. Your definitions do not matter. It is a source of income which is explicitly listed in this article. Your income is not an asset until the money from the income is in your possession. The income stream is not a part of your net worth. Your take home pay from work is not an asset. Social security is not an asset. Pensions paying out over time are not an asset. Cash in your account is an asset. Retirement accounts are an asset. Your vehicle or home (if you own part of them or outright) are assets.
Ask any American accountant.
I missed this commment. Sorry. Also, I have talked to accountants and financial advisors that work with our union. I think because a lump sum is an option they all treat it as an asset when discussing net worth.
And I've mentioned several times that I understand income is not an asset. I have also mentioned several times that the pension was treated by other professional financial advisors and accountants as an asset (probably due to the lump sum option). I'm sure its treated differently if they don't take the lump sum.
I get that if you are drawing on a pension and didn't take the lump sum that it would be income and thus not an asset. What isn't so clear to me is whether a pension that you are not drawing on yet but offers an option of a lump sum can be considered an asset for the purposes of calculating net worth.
Edit: I appreciate you taking the time to explain some of this. Might I suggest though that you take a little more care in how you talk to people? You're coming off very rude. Maybe that's just me reading into what you're saying, but if someone spoke to me like this in person or via email, I'd walk away.