Just before the weekend, the McCain campaign released running mate Sarah Palin's first personal financial disclosure report as well as her tax returns for the past two years. The investment picture we get from her FEC-mandated financial disclosure filing is vague, since values and income are only reported as ranges, but it is clear that the Palin family is worth at least $1 million.
The vice presidential candidate and her husband, Todd, appear to direct most of their income into tax-advantaged retirement accounts such as an IRA, state pension plans and Todd's 401k with the oil company BP. The couple's largest non-retirement holdings are their family home, worth at least $500,000, and Todd's fishing business and fishing leasehold, with a combined worth between $150,000 and $350,000...
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/10/palins-net-worth-exceeds-1-mil.htmlLet's start with the big picture: net worth. According to Obama's most recent public financial statements, he and his wife, Michelle, were worth between $500,000 and $2 million at the end of 2005 (excluding whatever equity they have in their $1.65 million Chicago house). The bulk of this wealth came from $1.2 million in royalties Obama received that year for
The Audacity of Hope and a previously published book (part of a $1.9 million, three-book deal). The $1.2 million figure is presumably pretax, which means that, after paying the IRS, Obama probably kept about $600,000...
http://www.slate.com/id/2161740/