Consumerist
We know Consumerist readers love to trade advice (and insults) on personal debts and savings, so here are some fun facts from Friday's financial disclosure statements of Barak Obama and John McCain:
| Senator Obama | |
| No credit card debt | |
| 2007 earned income: over $4 million | |
| Major assets: | |
| money market fund: between $1-5 million U.S. Treasury notes: between $500,000-$1,000,000 |
|
| 2 college savings accounts for their daughts, between $100,000-250,000 each | |
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| Senator McCain | |
| Credit card debt: | |
| joint account W/American Express: between $10,000-15,000 @ 25.99% interest accounts in wife's name: between $200,000-500,000 @ 0% interest account in dependent child's name: between $15,000-50,000 |
|
| 2007 earned income: $341,708 | |
| Major assets: | |
| checking and banking accounts totalling between $17,000-$80,000 | |
The crazy difference between Senator Obama's and Senator McCain's earned income comes from Obama's $4 million in book royalties for 2007, compared to McCain's meager $176,488. However, McCain has far deeper pockets ultimately, because his wife is loaded—she earned over $6 million in 2006 alone.
We're less than impressed that American Express is letting the McCains carry hundreds of thousands of dollars in zero-interest loans, but before you get all political about it, consider that "Sen. Barack Obama's first choice to head up his vice presidential search committee resigned this week" after it was discovered that he was one of the recipients of Countrywide's VIP treatment we posted about last week.
What surprises us most of all, ultimately, is that the McCains would carry any debt on that 25.99% rate card.
"Summaries of Senate financial disclosure forms" [Associated Press]
"Disclosures Give Look at Candidates’ Personal Finances" [New York Times]
"Ready To Laugh At McCain Family Debt? Not So Fast ..." [Huffington Post]
