Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh piled up credit card debt by purchasing Nationals tickets, Whi

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Washington Post

By Amy Brittain
July 11 at 6:27 PM

Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh incurred tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt buying baseball tickets over the past decade and at times reported liabilities that could have exceeded the value of his cash accounts and investment assets, according to a review of Kavanaugh’s financial disclosures and information provided by the White House.

White House spokesman Raj Shah told The Washington Post that Kavanaugh built up the debt by buying Washington Nationals season tickets and tickets for playoff games for himself and a “handful” of friends. Shah said some of the debts were also for home improvements.

Kavanaugh’s most recent financial disclosure forms reveal assets between $15,000 and $65,000, which would put him at the bottom of the financial ranking of justices, most of whom list well over $1 million in assets. The value of residences is not subject to disclosure.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/supreme-court-nominee-brett-kavanaugh-piled-up-credit-card-debt-by-purchasing-nationals-tickets-white-house-says/2018/07/11/8e3ad7d6-8460-11e8-9e80-403a221946a7_story.html?utm_term=.4e6727e24040

[CincyDem]

1. OK - someone's got to say it...

Debt for baseball. I get it.

But the Nationals ???? That's where I question his judgement.


_________________

Actually, I question it on everything but, you know, when a good joke offers itself up...

[MontanaMama]

4. I'm just relieved

this POS isn’t a Cubs fan. What else does this guy waste money on? There’s got to be more...

[MosheFeingold]

18. As a long time Mets fan

I can't pick on anyone's team. It is what it is.

[Kingofalldems]

24. Say what?

[CincyDem]

27. I'm sorry...I was only talking to people WITHOUT that signature line.

[Thomas Hurt]

2. so he is just like many everyday citizens....

high credit card debt, a little equity in a house(s)..........or he is hiding assets and lying on his disclosures.

[OhNo-Really]

17. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂. No! R U Kidding

There are lawyers who do nothing BUT offshore money for clients.

Wonder if K's name shows up on Panama Papers?

[lunasun]

3. Oh good he will also be very easy to bribe Hmm

........assets between $15,000 and $65,000......

[hack89]

5. Only rich people should be on the Supreme Court.

[spooky3]

9. But what's strange here is that he lives in

an expensive house in an expensive neighborhood.

And someone in his 50s should have a LOT more saved for retirement, kids’ education, etc., than the disclosure form indicates.

[OhNo-Really]

21. offshored?

[spooky3]

26. Or spent irresponsibly, or maybe in better shape than it appears? From the article,

he has:

-- about $500K in govt retirement account (about what you would expect at his age and income level), and his wife has a retirement account from a prior job, worth up to $65K, which the article says are not counted as "assets"
-- a house worth maybe $1.3-$1.5 mill., on which they owe about $900K, so equity of ~$500K
-- any 529 or other education accounts that can be excluded from the disclosure statement? (not mentioned)
-- any 401ks, 403bs, etc. that can be excluded from the disclosure statement? (not mentioned, other than he has a TSP from which he has borrowed)

They currently have income of over $300K. How long have they had this?

It's possible that he and his wife are in pretty good shape, if they have these other accounts. Or, they just spend all that they have after mandatory retirement contributions and possibly after 529 savings, on the house and private education, and baseball tickets, etc.

on edit: According to Investopedia, at age 50, one should have saved five times his/her salary (including employer retirement contributions, but not home equity, etc.).

If they make $300000 per year, they should have $1.5 million saved to be on track for a normal retirement. They have less than 40% of that amount in retirement accounts that were disclosed. And they are a few years older than 50.

https://www.investopedia.com/retirement/how-much-you-should-have-saved-age/

[Calista241]

37. He gets that salary for life, even after retirement.

[FBaggins]

32. He doesn't need much saved for retirement

Appeals court justices make a bit over 250k... and retire on full salary

[spooky3]

36. not according to the Investopedia--if that were true, the present value of his account

would be much higher than $500K.

In any case, they ought to have a lot more than they have in non-retirement savings (unless the disclosure statement omits a lot of info).

on edit: and also, not, according to this website:

http://www.uscourts.gov/careers/benefits/your-financial-security

You may be thinking of retirement benefits for Supreme Court Justices--which he isn't, yet. And the salary you quoted is for SC Justices. Per the WaPo article, he makes closer to $220K, plus income from part-time teaching at Harvard. His wife makes $66K.

[FBaggins]

39. They don't report present value of future pension benefits

The retirement funds reported would be outside of that. Congress and the Executive branch are the same way.

You may be thinking of retirement benefits for Supreme Court Justices-

Nope. While the income I mentioned was mistakenly an older SC level rather than the current appellate court level, they're quite close and both have the option to retire at full income at 65 (assuming at least 15 years of service).

So the initial point remains. Unlike almost everyone else, they have no need to accumulate significant retirement assets and can set their standard of living at roughly their after-tax income level with little risk.

[bettyellen]

10. I think the point is he has wasted more than he has saved up- and with having two young kids

That shows poor priorities and judgement. Also, I’m betting he’s taken cash on the side. Anyone that ridiculously partisan has been getting payoffs.

[Sophia4]

11. No, but he is a nationally respected lawyer with lots of opportunities to make big

amounts of money.

What is he doing? Is he going to inherit large sums of money?

What is going on here?

Lawyers at his level make a lot of money.

Has he chosen jobs that don't pay much?

Something is strange in my view.

[MosheFeingold]

19. "Has he chosen jobs that don't pay much? "

Yes. He's been an appellate court judge for a while.

[Sophia4]

23. That job does not pay that badly.

And he has only two children.

Does his wife work? If so, where?

[MosheFeingold]

30. The real perk

Is a pension that is the same as salary for life. So no need to prepare for retirement.

[Hoyt]

31. Yep, he's set. I suspect most of us would be critical if he were wealthy.

Interesting we criticize him for supposedly not amassing millions.

I’d bet his daughters schools are expensive and he might be supporting family too. Who knows. This is not an area I find disturbing. And I can’t get upset because he likes baseball.

[FBaggins]

40. Yes and no

The income for an appellate justice is significant compared to most of us, but pales in comparison to what a similarly accomplished attorney would make in the private sector. It's also worth noting that those salaries have been pretty stagnant for decades.

His wife does work as what is essentially a "city manager" position for their community (~250 homes IIRC) and used to be a personal assistant to President Bush.

I don't see anything objectionable about this (we should focus on his rulings). They neither appear to be living beyond their means nor accumulating the insane amounts of wealth that those in positions of power often seem to attract.

[lunasun]

14. He makes a high salary and has for years . Debt /low savings with high earnings-something looked at

at often as a formula open to corruption..

[JI7]

20. He makes a lot of money

[Sophia4]

25. See the posts before. He earns a lot of money by most standards.

And his wife earns $66,000 per year.

What is going on?

There may be a reasonable explanations, but what is it?

Is he simply unable to manage money?

Does he expect to enjoy a trust fund or large inheritance some day?

He sure doesn't seem to have saved that much money.

I'm asking questions as we all should.

[Sgent]

42. Unless he is indicted by congress / senate

he gets 100% of his salary for life. There is no reason to save money.

[Sophia4]

6. Not a lot of money for a lawyer who clerked on the Supreme Court.

That's not a good sign.

It's a lot of money if you teach school or drive a truck, but for a nationally acclaimed lawyer, that is a bad sign.

[McKim]

7. Is He an Adult?

This seems childish to me. Is he really a grown up?

[madaboutharry]

8. I thought this too.

It seems very immature.

[madaboutharry]

12. Kavanaugh has been on the D.C. Court for 12 years.

He earns $220,600 a year. His wife makes $66,000. They paid $1.2 million for their house, which seems very expensive with those salaries.

[spooky3]

22. and his wife earns $65K, and he got $27K for teaching part-time at Harvard. nt

[FSogol]

29. Exactly. They are living above their means.

I know folks in the DC/VA/MD area with double the assets and half their salaries.

[Maxheader]

13. Give da judge time...

And his 'friends' will help him get that bank account bumped up...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-abortion_organizations_in_the_United_States

Kavanaugh’s most recent financial disclosure forms reveal assets between $15,000 and $65,000, which would put him at the bottom of the financial ranking of justices, most of whom list well over $1 million in assets. The value of residences is not subject to disclosure.

[3Hotdogs]

15. I'm sure Charles, David, Rebekah and Betsy will be willing to help him from time to time.

[mopinko]

16. he HAS TO BE lying.

has to be.

[andytheteacher]

28. All his money is in his house

If they are making 300k a year and have a big mortgage, it makes sense why he wouldn't have other significant assets. Also not subject to disclosure is his retirement account.

[MattP]

33. My sister makes 300 has a million dollar home paid off

And 3 or 4 others paid off and a nest egg she is 4 years younger than him

[CarlosDem]

34. Maybe he donates....

.....a healthy portion to charities?

[markses66]

38. Hahahaha

[SomethingNew]

35. If I had his retirement plan

I'd blow nearly every penny. Buy a nice house, send the kids to good private schools, and go to as many baseball games and drink as many $10 beers as I felt like. He had a guaranteed salary for the rest of his life (even before this appointment) so where is the incentive to live frugally and save?

What a bizarre thing for people to criticize.

[truthisfreedom]

41. He's a gambling addict

[DeminPennswoods]

43. He must be cash poor

Based on the incomes of both, roughly 286k per year before taxes, that's about 23k/month before taxes.
I don't know how long they've lived in the house, but if they paid 1.2M and have a 900k mortgage, they are paying over 4k/mo just in mortgage payments with property taxes and insurance on top of that. That eats up most, if not all, of her salary. They have two kids as well to support.

While taking home 18k a month (his salary) is a lot, there probably isn't much left over after all expenses.

[SkatmanRoth]

44. At least he wasn't buying Dallas Cowboy's tickets