White House: Obama assets between $1.9M and $6.9M
May 15, 2015, 4:24 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, held assets last year that were worth roughly $1.9 million to $6.9 million, according to their required financial disclosure reports.
The range of the Obamas’ net worth is little changed from 2013, when the president reported assets between $1.8 million and $7 million.
The disclosure forms, which are required by law, allow public officials to report the value of their assets in broad ranges. That makes it difficult to determine a precise net worth.
The nine-page report the White House released late Friday afternoon shows that Obama and the first lady’s largest jointly owned asset continues to be $1 million to $5 million in Treasury notes.
As with many middle-aged couples, their asset mix also includes retirement funds and college savings plans for teenage daughters Sasha and Malia, who is expected to begin college in 2016.
The best-selling author of “Dreams From My Father,” ”The Audacity of Hope” and “Of Thee I Sing,” Obama reported total book royalties between $45,000 and $150,000, down from 2013.
The president reported one liability, a 30-year mortgage on his Chicago home worth between $500,000 and $1 million with an interest rate of 5.625 percent.
Obama acknowledged in a 2013 interview with the real estate website Zillow that he and the first lady would “save some money” by refinancing the mortgage.
But “when you’re president, you have to be a little careful about these transactions, so we haven’t refinanced,” he said.
Vice President Joe Biden’s disclosure forms were also released and showed 2013 assets between $277,000 and $1.1 million held with his wife, Jill.
That includes a rental property in Wilmington, Delaware, valued at $100,000 to $250,000. They reported $15,000 to $50,000 in rental income.
Biden also reported his 30-year mortgage on the couple’s main residence, also in Wilmington, Delaware, and the rental property worth between $500,000 and $1 million with an interest rate of 3.375 percent. Biden refinanced the mortgage in 2013 to take advantage of lower interest rates.
The release of the president and vice president’s financial disclosure forms follows last month’s release of federal income tax returns for both officials.
Obama and the first lady paid more than $93,000 in federal taxes in 2014 on an adjusted gross income of more than $477,000.
The Bidens paid more than $90,000 in federal taxes last year on $389,000 in adjusted gross income.
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