this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2024
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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.

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[–] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 221 points 3 months ago (5 children)

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.

[–] JimmyMcGill@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 129 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (6 children)

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.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 33 points 3 months ago

Yep. This.

All those pensions and lifetime benefits are worth a lot in financial planning and means you aren’t slaving as hard to build the large nest egg required to actually have a hope of retiring. They put their years of service in to get those benefits. It’s always amazing to me how much having those benefits in someone’s back pocket changes their perspective, it’s a freedom that most Americans will never know.

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[–] jprice@kbin.run 108 points 3 months ago (14 children)

It’s almost as if the wholesome, good Christians became progressive labor supporters while the degenerate pseudo-Christians became asmondgold, otk and people like mr. beast, and the fucked up christians became maga nazi fascists.

[–] triptrapper@lemmy.world 23 points 3 months ago (2 children)

As a recovering Catholic, my experience has been that Lutherans tend to be humble, charitable, and... not weird. Lutheranism puts a heavy emphasis on showing grace to yourself and people around you. I guess without the obsession with sex and shame, you can be a Christian and turn out pretty normal.

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[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 14 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Wow, you are 100% dead-on right. Be prepared for downvotes though, because you claimed the existence of good religious people here!

[–] Dran_Arcana@lemmy.world 24 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I've met a surprising number of "good religious people", but it's not surprising most people think they don't exist. I think this phenomenon transcends religion though

In the case of good Christians, the one unifying quality all of them have is they aren't loud, and they aren't pushy about it. They live their lives with a set of fundamental values and are always willing to go out of their way to help a neighbor. If it weren't for the symbology in their homes you might never know.

I think it's the same with anything else. If you've never met a trans person who doesn't make enforcing pronouns their entire identity, it's easy to have your perspective skewed towards the obnoxious loud ones you see online. If you don't personally know a cop or a black person, sensationalist stereotypes might be your internal idea of normal about them too. Etc...

Linux users though... we're all pushy weirdos. Not a normal good one among us :)

Actually now that it's been mentioned, have you ever tried Linux on the desktop? It's really good these days. I do not use arch btw, I'm a Debian user myself.

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[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 79 points 3 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] kalistia@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 months ago

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.

[–] TurnpikeRangers@lemmy.world 51 points 3 months ago (7 children)

I'm sorry, 1 in 15 Americans is a millionaire?? Holy shit.

[–] Wrench@lemmy.world 22 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

In California, that's buying a house 25 years ago and not refinancing it and blowing the cash on something stupid.

[–] simplejack@lemmy.world 22 points 3 months ago

Regional cost of living, and the inflation around it, really skews those numbers. A million in San Francisco or Manhattan is very different than a million in the middle of the country. Housing and pay are a lot higher in the major metros.

I’d love to see what these numbers look like when adjusted for CoL.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 20 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

1:15 has a net worth of a million. That includes all possessions, pensions, etc.

Treasure a retiree with a house that's worth a couple hundred grand, throw in their 401k, vehicles, etc and it adds up.

Look at it this way: my car is probably worth about 20 grand, but that doesn't mean I have that much cash. Ask me to cough up an unexpected $500 and it's gonna hurt.

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

At that age yes. It's the only way a relatively high earner can maintain a similar income out of retirement and they also tend to own their homes.

[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Oddly enough very easy to accomplish with property and retirement accounts. Doesn't apply (and probably won't apply) to most genx, millennials or gen z, as Boomers shit the pool.

[–] CodexArcanum@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago (1 children)

My father is quite proud that as he nears retirement, he's scrounged and saved enough to break into the millionaire's club! He also voted Republican for his entire life, and now I probably won't ever be able to retire, so thanks a lot dad! (This is also one of many reasons they aren't ever getting grandkids.)

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[–] kescusay@lemmy.world 28 points 3 months ago (2 children)

TIL my net worth is higher than that of a candidate for the vice-presidency.

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[–] Allonzee@lemmy.world 25 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

If a poor American with no resources condemns our rigged, crony market capitalist economy, "they should stop complaining because they're just bitter."

If a rich American with resources condemns our rigged, crony market capitalist economy, "they should stop complaining or they're a hypocrite."

Our oligarchs like the casino they've made just fine. Either compliment their work or you're "free" to shut the hell up and get back to making them money. Of course this will be used against Walz for being a bad capitalist. As if how hard one capitalisms(exploits others) should be celebrated.

It just speaks to our backwards, inhuman, literally cancerous primary cultural value of greed first and only.

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[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 23 points 3 months ago (9 children)

1 in 15 Americans is a millionaire?

Presses X to doubt

[–] oatscoop@midwest.social 22 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

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.

[–] SilentStorms@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 3 months ago

Anyone who owns a detached home within 50 miles of an ocean is already at least 3/4 of the way there. Not surprising.

[–] EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago

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.

[–] art@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago

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.

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

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.

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[–] uis@lemm.ee 21 points 3 months ago (7 children)

One in 15 Americans is a millionaire, a recent UBS wealth report discovered.

That's why America doesn't have healthcare?

[–] tills13@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago (10 children)

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

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[–] mortemtyrannis@lemmy.ml 21 points 3 months ago

For once a guy when the average voter says ‘they’re just like me!’ It’s actually true.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If you know 14 Americans who are not millionaires, congratulations!

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[–] AgentOrangesicle@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago (4 children)

I know a lot of people, I'm inclined to believe the "1 in 15" thing is flagrantly untrue or working off of leveraged assets.

[–] bitwaba@lemmy.world 20 points 3 months ago

I'm guessing that is based on savings + asset value (house and car) + retirement funds + individual stock investments.

1 in 15 people with a half million dollar house and a half million dollar 401k? That's what? 25 million Americans? There's over 100 million people in the US over the age of 50. Seems pretty reasonable for 1 in 4 in that age range to have own their house and have a nice retirement fund.

[–] dharmacurious 15 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I think that figure is because of people in NYC, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, et cetera, where they are absolutely not, like, independently wealthy or anything, but are technically millionaires because rent is 35 thousand dollars a week for 3 square foot apartment with no pets, no windows, and a communal bathroom where the landlord spits in your mouth instead of providing a sink.

Got off the rails there at the end. Rent prices are pissing me off lately. Point remains largely unchanged, though. Lol

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[–] dtaylor84@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Do you think you know an unbiased sample of people?

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[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I can’t wait for him to get his first book deal for millions and watch republicans suddenly care how much money a politician has.

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[–] Rapidcreek@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, but he does have that baby blue 1979 International Harvester Scout. That thing is a collector's item.

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[–] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 13 points 3 months ago (3 children)

The average net worth is skewed by a rich minority and WAY richer super minority. Let's see the median.

[–] mormund@feddit.org 70 points 3 months ago (9 children)

It literally says in the post that his net worth is roughly equal to the median.

[–] Droggelbecher@lemmy.world 21 points 3 months ago

I get irritated to an irrationally high degree when someone literally only reads the headline and decides right then what their opinion is and that it needs to be shared with the world. Like they wouldn't even have had to check out the link, it's right in the post.

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[–] donuts@lemmy.world 18 points 3 months ago

The median is linked right in the article.

For ages 55-64 it's $364,500

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[–] nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Y'all have positive net worths?

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