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.
Net worth being 330 k puts him firmly above most Americans so what is this
That fortune article says the net worth of an average American is 1.06 million. That doesn’t make any sense because the median personal income of Americans if you take out the billionaires is 36,000 per year. The median net worth of American households is 121,000 dollars. So he is three times as rich at a minimum.
I legitimately don’t have anything against Tim Walz, and he seems like a pretty decent guy
I just don’t like when statistics are completely mislabelled to spread propaganda. And the republicans do a hell of a lot more of propaganda and don’t back anything up, but this is basically just propaganda. You can make stats look however you want if you cherry pick them. Let’s not fall into the trap. The problem is still the stupidly wealthy rich.
https://patrioticmillionaires.org/2022/02/02/statistics-matter-why-averages-arent-useful-when-talking-about-the-american-economy/#:~:text=The average personal income in,hand%2C is just under %2436%2C000.
The most honest and useful measure is median net worth bracketed by age, and that’s exactly what the article uses. It’s not twisting anything.
Net worth isn’t net income. Net worth is assets - liabilities. So it’s basically the equity on your home + savings(401k,checking,retirement) + whatever you can sell your car for.
The average (mean) is different from the median too. The fact that there are mega rich inherently pushes the “average” (mean) higher than the median.
Median is a better measure of average when there are outliers (like billionaires)
You’re both right and wrong. Mega wealthy are a problem, but your understanding of the terms you’re using is why you’re confused.
1.6 mil is the average net worth of an American in their 60s. 445k is the median though! The difference between the two comes from the billionaire outliers!
Tim is below the “average”, but a majority of Americans are. However, half of Americans are above the median, and half are below.
You’re right that Average income is 37k. However, average income is not net worth. That’s why you’re confused.
I’m not trusting anything from “patriotic millionaires dot org”
Edit - also, net worth is NOT the same thing as annual income. That’s a pretty important oversight in your post.
Oof maff hard