No Economic Slump For Elected Officials

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi earned a government salary of $212,100 last year, which made her the highest paid official in Congress by $47,000, according to the Associated Press.Not too shabby for civic duty.

However, when one also considers the combined incomes of spouses, other investments, and overall assets, things suddenly become financially astronomical.

Along with her husband, Paul Pelosi, the Californian couple has two multimillion-dollar homes in their home state.Not to mention there is also the vineyard the Pelosi’s own in St. Helena, California, which is estimated to be worth between $5 and $25 million dollars.

 

This information stems from Monday’s release of annual disclosure forms, and Pelosi is not in a league of her own.Many senior lawmakers reportedly have hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock, mutual funds, and overall retirement savings.This of course, is in addition to the six-figure salaries that they make annually.

 

For example, Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader in the house has invested in a variety of mutual funds, seven of which have a value of $100,000 or more.Add that to the prospect of a maturing retirement plan from former employer Nucite Sales, and Boehner could cash in on somewhere between $1 million and $5 million one day.

 

It is much of the same story for Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, who has approximately $665,000 invested in retirement accounts; however, not all of Washington’s politicians are as heavily invested as others.

 

Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., who chairs the Appropriations Committee, lists his only major assets as a credit union account in the range of $15,000 to $50,000 and two individual retirement accounts jointly totaling somewhere from $51,000 to $115,000.

 

Although the numbers reported may not be precise, these disclosure forms do offer some insight into the financial situations of lawmakers above and beyond their basic salaries.

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