Washington Post: A Close Up Look At Congressional Wealth

In depth study by the Washington Post on Congressional net worth links here.   Regardless of your political leanings, we all are better served by understanding how those we elect represent us.  In that vein the Post illuminates members of both sides of the aisle in regards to their familial net worth.  It is interesting to me to note that in the upper echelons of the "net worthosphere", Democrats and Republicans seem to me to be equally represented.  

This is how the Post represents their findings:

"A Washington Post analysis of the personal finances of all 535 members of Congress reveals how the nation’s lawmakers position their portfolios and how they win and lose money on Wall Street. Some invest aggressively in the stock market; others seek the shelter of bonds and mutual funds. They range from the super-rich to the deep-in-debt, from inherited wealth to married wealth to no wealth at all. They are entrepreneurs and farmers, oilmen and ranchers, lawyers and real estate developers. Explore this first-of-its-kind analysis and see where your lawmakers fit in:"  

Here are some of the highlights according to the Post from prominent politicians of both parties {Those we see often on television talk shows} and those that represent us here in Illinois.  Net worth figures as noted by the post are as of 2010.  The highlights are made without political comment or reference to party except for noting that Paul Ryan is the current Republican candidate for Vice-President.   For the record this article seems to only cover the Legislative Branch of our government.  It did not cover the same statistics for the President, the Vice-President or Governor Romney. 

Rep.  Danny Davis {My Representative from Illinois}

Estimated Net Worth:  $460,506.   Financial Approach: Spousal Assets

Rep.  Jessie Jackson Jr.  {Illinois Representative on medical leave from Congress}

Estimate Net Worth:  $256,506.  Financial Approach:  Spousal Assets

Senator Dick Durbin {Senator Illinois}  

Estimated Net Worth:  $1.1 million.     Financial Approach:  Real Estate

Rep.  Paul Ryan {Current Republican Vice-Presidential Candidate}
Estimated Net Worth $2.1 million  Financial Approach:  Institutional Investor

Senator Mark Kirk  {Illinois Senator recovering from the consequences of a stroke}  

Estimated Net Worth:  $89,003.  Financial Approach Institutional Investor

Rep. John Boehner {House Majority Leader of the House}

Estimated Net Worth:  $4.1 million.  Financial Approach:  Stock & Bond Investor

Rep. Nancy Pelosi {House Minority Leader}
Estimated Net Worth: $101 million.  Financial Approach:  Spousal Assets

Senator Harry Reid {Senate Majority Leader}
Estimated Net Worth:  $6.8 million.   Financial Approach:  Real Estate

Senator Mitch McConnell {Senate Minority Leader}
Estimated Net Worth:  $27.2 million.  Financial Approach:  Cash

Senator John McCain
Estimated Net Worth:  $16 million.  Financial Approach:  Heavy Trader

Senator John Kerry
Estimated Net Worth:  $231.7 million.  Financial Approach:  Spousal Assets

A final comment.  When it comes to investing I'm pretty apolitical, so don't try to read some hidden agenda into this post.  The Washington Post put out this large interactive piece and I think it behooves us as Americans to understand as much as we can about the people we elect to represent us.  That's it as far as I'm concerned.  End of story.