Grant Cardone, the renowned sales trainer, speaker, and entrepreneur, has experienced both wealth and poverty throughout his life.
With an estimated net worth of $600 million, Cardone’s childhood was marked by financial struggles. Given his unique perspective on wealth, Cardone recently took to Twitter to express his curiosity about the financial success of certain public servants, specifically politicians who have become multimillionaires despite relatively modest salaries.
Financial Success Of Politicians On Modest Salaries
The prevalence of millionaires in Congress, potential income sources for politicians, and factors that contribute to their wealth accumulation.
According to a 2020 report from Open Secrets, over half of the 535 members of Congress are millionaires.
While Cardone’s $100,000 figure may not accurately represent the average salary of Congressional members, the base salary of a rank-and-file member is $174,000, as reported by the Congressional Institute.
The Speaker of the House earns $223,500 annually, while other leadership positions command salaries of $193,400.
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Restrictions, Stock Investments, And Personal Wealth
Members of Congress have the option to generate supplemental income outside of their official roles.
This supplements their income and disclosure requirements.
But, there are certain limitations. For instance, they are limited to 15% of Level II of the Executive Schedule, which sets the pay ranges for political appointees to the executive branch.
Members are also required to provide disclosures outlining the sources of their active and passive income, including dividends from stocks.
Stock investments are a common source of income for both the general public and members of Congress. Economist Serkan Karadas discovered a “suspicious pattern” of Congress members earning higher-than-average returns on their stock investments, suggesting possible profiting from insider knowledge.
This raises concerns regarding the use of confidential information and how it affects stock performance.
Some members of Congress enter politics with substantial personal wealth, which can significantly influence their campaign financing.
Examples include US Sen. Mitt Romney, whose father was a well-known CEO, as well as Sen. Dianne Feinstein and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both of whom married into money.
Personal affluence before entering politics can provide a significant advantage, especially for individuals with no prior legislative experience.
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