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.
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
They need to fucking run with this in their programming. It’s such a powerful contrast to billion dollar baby and Peter Thiel’s plaything. He is demonstrably not in it for the money. He’s just a guy, trying to improve people’s lives and that’s it.
They’ll spin it that he’s so poor that he is incompetent or just going for VP for the paycheck will “billionaire” Trump is a good business man and doesn’t need the paycheck at all. But it will probably backfire cuz that just makes Walz relatable AF, especially to younger or more rural voters.
“He’s just a guy doing work for MONEY!!! He doesn’t care about the JOB!!! He just shows up for a paycheck!!! He hates the American people, because as vice-president they’re his BOSS!!! He hates his BOSSES!!! Not like Donald Trump! Trump only hates people who aren’t white! But he hates people equally, regardless of their job!”
“Whoa! This Walz guy sounds just like me! I only do my job for the money too! And I hate my boss! My company used to be so much bigger until my bosses fucked everything up! Blockbuster used to be HUGE!”
“You work at a Blockbuster Video? Like the video tape rental place???”
“Yeah!”
“Where even IS a Blockbuster anymore??? I thought they all went out of business…”
“In Alaska. We don’t have internet up here, so nobodys heard of Netflix.”
“You live in Alaska? I’m not sure you even CAN vote in a USA election. That’s part of Russia, man!”
“What? No it’s not.”
“It used to be! And that means Russia can take it back anytime Putin wants.”
“That’s…not how that works…”
“Tell that to Ukraine! They’re invading Russia right now.”
“I mean…yeah, ok, they are, but only in self defense of a war that’s been going on for 2 years prior.”
“And that war started because Ukraine didn’t just hand themselves over back to Russia. As they’d previously been.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“And you work for Blockbuster.”
Would have thought someone his generation owned the house they bought for 50 years ago for $1,000 or something.
Military retirement benefits and teachers pensions mean you don’t have to save a ridiculous 401k. Your average American wishes they had that freedom. Not a dig on Walz, just a dig on our retirement and healthcare system.
1 in 15 Americans is a millionaire?
Presses X to doubt
Dual income homeowners with healthy retirement funds. The fucked up thing is 1 million dollars isn’t that impressive anymore – you can easily spend that in retirement living a middle class lifestyle in the USA. Particularly when you factor in age related medical expenses and elder care.
It’s not like our retirement, healthcare, and elder care systems are catastrophically broken or anything.
This kinda checks out. I know more than 15 people, and I know a few millionaires. You probably do too, just it’s usually their wealth is in the form of a house.
A millionaire doesn’t mean “Has $1 million in cash sitting in a checking account”. It just means your networth is at least $1 million. So like if you bought a shitty rundown starter home you’re half way there. A 401k you can touch for another 20-30 years could get you the rest of the way.
Anyone who owns a detached home within 50 miles of an ocean is already at least 3/4 of the way there. Not surprising.
There are some places where all you have to do to become a millionaire (at least on paper) is to live long enough in one place to pay off the mortgage.
Not shocking for an older or retired working professional.
I’m sorry, 1 in 15 Americans is a millionaire?? Holy shit.
How do I have a higher (barely) net worth than Tim Walz? I smoke weed all day and write okay-ish python code. This guy is probably about to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. I am a faceless nobody in a corporation.
I’m not complaining. Working class people should run this fucking country. It’s actually nice to be surprised about this.
Perhaps it’s because our society values certain professions much more than others, particularly those in the social/educational sector, which are particularly undervalued. IMO, we need to put everything on the table and reconsider what we want to be considered as useful work for society.
TIL my net worth is higher than that of a candidate for the vice-presidency.
Well, it was before the correction this week. 🤪
Huh, hadn’t thought about that. Let’s see… 401k + stock grants + savings + home value - debts… Nope, I’m still well ahead of Walz, even accounting for the correction. I mean, he benefits from living in the governor’s mansion, so his bills are probably a lot lower, but still… If I liquidated everything, I’d come out with more than his net worth, by a fair bit.
He’s the real deal, and it’s very apparent he’s not in this for material wealth. The more I learn about him, the more I like him.
For once a guy when the average voter says ‘they’re just like me!’ It’s actually true.
One in 15 Americans is a millionaire, a recent UBS wealth report discovered.
That’s why America doesn’t have healthcare?
The argument I’ve heard from my parents is why should I pay for public healthcare when I can afford my own private healthcare.
Which is so incredibly tone deaf
EVERY argument I have heard against public healthcare has been tone deaf, statistically incorrect, and driven by gut feelings over kindergarten levels of economic understanding.
In a world of perfect understanding, public healthcare would be a given.
Society is objectively better when everyone is happy and healthy.
Society is objectively better when the needs of the most struggling are addressed first.
Also: regressives have no platform when everything right now is good.
How can they call back to a mythical past when their needs are met better in the present?
You make a funny joke but the answer is ridiculously nuanced.
Yes, corporate greed has led to unprecedented profits for the ultra rich, those ultra rich have birthed a new generation of trust fund millionaires.
Yes some of this profit was from raping the health care system into an endless money farm, but not all of it.
That doesn’t sound ridiculously nuanced to me, that sounds straightforwardly like what OP said.
that sounds straightforwardly like what OP said.
No it doesn’t except to the most ridiculous degree of dissembly, and the full examination takes more time and space than I am willing to give away for free. Only a portion of the trust fund elite are powered by the medical industry, though all industries touched by the same degree of greed produce the same trust fund elite offspring.
Not all cars are toyotas, not all toyotas are cars, but some toyotas are cars. That is nuance, learn it.
It’s you who has the logic the wrong way around. The rich profiting from the healthcare system is why the healthcare system is bad, that doesn’t exclude them from profiting from other things too. In your analogy OP’s statement equates to “this Toyota is a car” (or “this car is a Toyota” depending on which thing is the rich and which thing is ruining a societal good).
Go away sealion…
Maybe not the best idea to put people in charge that are obviously bad with money.
Wow, this is the best you got?
Love this logic. The dude is just a normal dude. He didn’t exploit his position and shake every penny he could out of his charges. So he’s bad with money.
Get a grip dude.
There is a huge difference in “exploiting his position” and being financially illiterate.
Not in the US. That’s how people get ridiculously rich. 100% of the time. Every time.
85% of millionaires are self made, received no inheritance, average age 50ish, and accomplished this feat by investing over 25-30 years in blue chip companies. It’s basic financial literacy.
Yeah no man. That isn’t basic knowledge. That was never taught to any of us. I’m sure it was if you were born with a silver stick up your ass. Being lazy is what those people do best. Soft hands and all you know. But for the rest of us, the wage slaves. Investing is something boomers like to scream about incoherently. Not a real thing in our world. We’re too busy paying bills and eating occasionally.
When i started learning about investing i lived in a crackhouse and am descended from a long line of poor white trash. Some people create results and others create excuses. Which are you going to be?
