Mike Pence Net Worth Low for a Politician

The Mike Pence net worth total of $308,000 is very low for a politician of his age. In fact by age 57 the typical American has a net worth of $144,000. Pence’s net worth is figured from his federal Personal Financial Disclosure forms. Government employees must report their assets and debts within a range only. Exact figures aren’t required. For this reason it’s tough to zero in on an exact figure for a politician. That said, Pence has reported maximum assets with a maximum value of $364,000 and a minimum of $59,000. He has also reported debts worth at least $65,000 and at most $150,000. Pence also likely has a private residence, but the value of personal property and other assets in a spouse’s name don’t have to be disclosed. For this reason, Pence could be worth as much as $600,000. However, since some debts don’t have to be divulged either, he could be worth as little as -$91,000.

Mike Pence Net Worth Facts

The table above shows the Mike Pence net worth sum of $308,000 compared to the wealth of other public figures. VP candidate Tim Kaine has a net worth of $2.4 million. That’s eight times bigger than Pence’s net worth. Donald Trump has 16,788 times more money than Pence with $5.18 billion. Hillary Clinton has 104 times more with $32 million. Former U.S. President and potential future first gentleman Bill Clinton has a net worth of $100.8 million. That’s 327 times more money than Mike Pence has amassed. Outside the world of politics, NBA star Stephen curry has $27 million, giving him a net worth 88 times bigger than Mike Pence’s. Kim Kardashian has 486 times more wealth than Pence at $150 million while Bill Gates has almost 259,000 times more with $80 billion. Finally, UFC star Conor McGregor has $8.3 million. that’s 27 times more money than Pence.

Mike Pence Net Worth Timeline

The Mike Pence net worth story started back in 1981 when the future VP candidate graduated with a B.A. from Indiana’s Hanover College. He worked for two years at the college as an admissions counselor, then went back to school. He got his law degree in 1986 and worked as an attorney for one year before running for Congress in 1988 and 1990. Both of those bids failed and Pence went back to work as a lawyer for one more year. In 1991, Pence was elected President of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, a private conservative think tank. In 1994 Mike Pence left the foundation for a job as host of a conservative talk radio program. He stayed with that job until 2002, when he was elected as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. His salary from then on is known. He earned $150,000 for the job in 2002. That pay rose to a ceiling of $174,000 in 2012. In 2013 Pence was elected Governor of Indiana. He earned $111,600 for that job through 2016.

Salary and net worth are two very different animals. The Mike Pence net worth timeline shown above depicts a roller coaster ride of relatively low wealth from 2004 through 2011. In that year Pence’s net worth showed consistent gains. This is a big paradoxical since he actually took a pay cut in 2013 to become Governor of Indiana.

Related: Donald Trump Net Worth

Mike Pence Net Worth from Salary

Salary as a public servant contributes an estimated $3 million to the Mike Pence net worth figure, but that number is a bit misleading. The reason is that Pence earned that money over 26 years. Someone who earns a lot of money over a long span of time can find most of it eaten up by taxes and expenses. Consider that someone who makes $52,000 is barely keeping up with the typical American budget. Yet in 25 years that person will earn $1.3 million. That’s $1.3 million earned without a penny saved. It’s known that Pence earned $2.27 million from salary earned since 2002. The additional $800,000 in salary is an estimate based on his three years as president of a think tank and eight years as a talk show host.

Getting at the Mike Pence net worth sum from another angle, let’s assume that Pence wasn’t able to save much as a talk show host. Since 2002, it’s reasonable to assume he could have socked away about $42,000 a year. Figured at a conservative 6% rate of return on investment, he would have a net worth today of $1 million. That’s not entirely inconsistent with the $300,000 reported in his disclosure forms, especially when we consider that it’s fairly easy for large portions of assets held by public servants to go unreported.

Mike Pence Net Worth Assets

The list below shows assets contributing to the Mike Pence net worth numbers. The assets shown below are mostly stocks, bonds and a college savings plan.

Sources:

OpenSecrets.com