08/08/2024
The two candidates for vice president have little in common politically or financially.
Tim Walz doesn’t own a home or many investments outside of pensions and a college-savings plan, according to past financial disclosures and tax returns. Getting elected vice president as Kamala Harris’s Democratic running mate—a job that pays $235,000—would mean a more than 50% pay bump.
JD Vance, his Republican rival for the No. 2 job, by contrast is a multimillionaire who owns several homes and invests in a range of assets including gold and crypto, according to his most recent financial disclosures.
The financial lives of the two candidates are both versions of the American dream and demonstrate different approaches to money and risk, said Megan Gorman, a tax lawyer and wealth manager who analyzed the personal finances of American presidents—though not vice presidents—for a new book. Though many candidates for national office have had rags-to-riches stories like Vance, few since Harry Truman have come into the spotlight with less wealth than Walz, she said.
“Walz represents the stable, middle-class version, which isn’t as sexy,” she said. “Though the path Vance took to wealth is not one that’s really repeatable for most Americans.”