why is Jim Demint's net worth only $40,000?

[Enrique]

when he entered Congress 14 years ago was he millions in debt? How else do you get a six-figure salary for all those years and end up with a net worth below the U.S. median?

http://apps.washingtonpost.com/politics/capitol-assets/member/jim-demint/

Estimated wealth

$40,501 in 2010

Annual Salary as Senator $174,000

DeMint worked in the field of market research. In 1983 he founded The Demint Group, a research firm based in Greenville, and ran the company until 1998 when he entered Congress.[7]



U.S. Median Net worth $57,000 Households
U.S. Median income $50,054 Households

[unblock]

1. quite a lot of people got all their investments decimated not so long ago....

but politicians also play games with this sort of thing.

it's entirely possible that a lot of wealth is in the name of family members or trusts and such.

[sadbear]

2. He put all of his eggs in one basket.

Literally, he used all of this money to buy a shitload of eggs, and then the basket was smashed personally by bush and cheney.

At least that's my hypothesis.

[Recursion]

3. A mortgaged house in SC, plus the expenses of living in DC, maybe?

IIRC he rents a rowhouse on Capitol Hill. that's not cheap. Though financial troubles might be another explanation for the move.

[Enrique]

7. actually he appears to live at C-street

his housing might even be subsidized:


http://smithwashington.blogspot.com/2010/04/jim-demint-tries-to-pass-buck-on-c.html

Over the past year there's been a fair amount of coverage on the C Street House, which is owned and operated by the secretive religious group The Family. Several conservative members of Congress live at the house, paying about $950 a month for upscale accommodations just blocks away from the Capitol. According to the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, that's about half the market value of apartments in that area.

It also might break congressional ethics rules. CREW has filed an ethics complaint against several C Street residents, including Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) and Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN), laying out their argument here:

The House and Senate gift rules specifically include “lodging” as a prohibited gift. ... In addition, members may not accept gifts offered to members of Congress because of their official positions. As only members of Congress appear to live in the C Street House, it seems likely that it is because of their positions that they are permitted to live there and are offered below market rent.

It's easy to see why some people would find a problem with that, but Jim DeMint clearly doesn't. When Columbia NBC affiliate WIS-TV asked DeMint about the controversy on Sunday, DeMint seemed barely able to control his amusement:

"There's no subsidy; this comes up every couple of years," DeMint responded with a smirk. "[The Family] is a group that puts on the National Prayer Breakfast that every president speaks to."

[Recursion]

9. Huh. I thought he had moved out of there

Maybe I'm thinking of Graham

[hfojvt]

4. Good question

12 years of salary at $160,000 (average) is $1,920,000. He got paid that much and could not save 10% of it? That would be $192,000.

Maybe he does not own a house, or got hit by the housing bubble and lost a lot of equity. In some ways, it is expensive to be in Congress, since they have to maintain two residences, one in high-cost DC and one back in the home state. Unless you are Joe Biden and can take the train to and from work for years. Still, another $1,000 in rent is not THAT much out of $13,000 a month in income, and often they will share apartments.

[sadbear]

5. Funny you should mention Joe.

I think I saw somewhere back in '08 that his net worth was among the lowest in Congress at the time.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. But some years he lived in that horrible Christian house.

Very cheap.

[louis-t]

10. b-b-but he's a fiscal conservative!!!1!

Loser.

[Mass]

8. Does it include his wife's assets?

[Hoyt]

11. Can't fault guy for not profiting while in office. Now his bigotry, callousness, etc. . . . . . .

Of course, right wingers probably promised him all kinds of cash/positions when he left office.

[Indykatie]

13. Even Without "Profiting from his Office" His Net Work Should Exceed $40K

based on his income. Shouldn't his equity in a home exceed this amount at this point in his career? If it truly is that low he should be sympathetic to those who have not managed to save sufficient funds for retirement and don't have a defined pension plan to supplement social security like he does. This level of net worth doesn't demonstrate fiscal expertise republicans always want to claim they have. (snark intended)

[bongbong]

12. The usual reasons for poor repigs

Blow, meth, gambling, booze, rehab costs, cover-up costs, bribes, payoffs, business screwups, etc.