Good morning! Today’s edition features a look at America’s wealthiest and whether you could catch up, a hard-to-believe story about IRS retirees that have gone months without their retirement checks, plus tips to increase your retirement payouts inspired by Biden’s huge $417K/year pension, and more.
■ Managing Money
Here’s the net worth and income of America’s top 10%. Are you on track to catch up?
There’s a difference between high income and high net worth — and a growing gap between the two.
“Thanks to a booming stock market, strong real estate values and a resilient dollar, every day in 2024 an estimated 1,000 Americans achieved a net worth … of $1 million,” Visa reported in November.
But $1 million no longer makes you ‘affluent,’ defined as being in the top 10% of U.S. households. In fact, of 23 million Americans who are millionaires, only 12.2 million qualify as ‘affluent.’
Here’s how much money you actually need before you can brag about your wealth.
■ Trivia
On this day in 1935, Elvis Presley was born in Mississippi. He grew up to become the King of Rock and Roll but surprisingly did not:
A Know how to read music
B Enjoy eating fish
C Perform outside of North America
D All of the above
Scroll for the answer
■ News
IRS retirees left with no income since September as retirement checks remain delayed. And with no set date for payout
Georgia resident Karen Atchison started the new year with no income and no idea of when that would change — not what she expected after decades of working for the federal government and faithfully paying into the designated pension plan.
Atchison and her former colleague Tracy Hinnant, who worked for the federal government for 37-and-a-half years, are two of almost 29,000 retired workers still waiting on the checks they’re due from the federal government after being rushed into taking early retirement last year in the midst of an aggressive campaign to reduce its workforce.
The letter from the Department of Government Efficiency made Atchinson feel like she had little choice in the matter: She was given seven days to choose between early retirement or unemployment, effective Sept. 30.
But as of the new year, the total received from the federal government remains at $0. This makes covering basic living expenses for the two retirees difficult. And they’re not alone.
■ Retirement
Joe Biden’s $417,000/year pension is historically massive. And he earns more in retirement than in the White House. Can you do it, too?’
Former U.S. president Joe Biden began his Washington, D.C. career as one of the least wealthy politicians and ended it with the highest pension in POTUS history. And that’s no malarky.
Demian Brady, vice-president of the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, says the 83-year-old’s pension of $417,000 a year is “historically unusual,” outpacing the U.S. presidential salary of $400,000.
“Biden is making more in retirement than the current president gets (in a salary),” Brady told the Post. “It’s a very unique situation.”
While critics like Brady believe the government pension system is “ripe for reform” due to its cost to taxpayers, Biden’s massive pension is an exception to the rule resulting from the multiple hats he’s worn over the years.
■ More Moneywise
Life: Worth the weights? Why your New Year's gym membership may be harder to quit than you know (and what to do about it)
Auto: Top executives at a bankrupt subprime auto lender charged with running a fraud scheme. Here’s how prosecutors say they misled banks to earn billions
Managing money: More Americans feel burnt out from fake career growth that looks good on paper but brings no raises. Here’s how to push back on 'ghost growth'
Life: Rewards programs are turning into data-harvesting machines. Here’s why companies now profit more from your habits than you do
■ Trivia Answer
On this day in 1935, Elvis Presley was born in Mississippi. He grew up to become the King of Rock and Roll but surprisingly did not:
C) All of the above
Elvis Presley never learned how to play music and instead learned to play his instruments by ear. Elvis had such a dislike of fish that he banned fish from being cooked or brought into Graceland. And, despite lucrative offers, he never performed outside of North America.