On paper, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s net worth appears to be a bit more on par with the average American family than that of the typical top politician – but his middle-America image betrays his underlying finances.
Walz has accumulated a sizable nest egg built on pensions, thanks to decades of public service in public education, the military, Congress and governorship.
Based on his 2019 financial disclosures, which were required due to his time in Congress, Walz and his wife Gwen appeared to have a net worth between $112,003 to $330,000 around that time, according to an analysis from the Wall Street Journal.
If his pension funds were to get factored in, that could add upwards of $800,000 to his personal fortune, per the outlet.
However, exact financial figures for Walz are limited because of the lack of detail on his disclosures for the governorship. Walz doesn’t list a single stock, bond, or real estate asset on his statement of economic interest for a Minnesota public official.
Together, Walz and his wife earned $166,719 in 2022, per the governor’s tax returns. The Minnesota governor’s salary was $127,629 that year but has since risen to $149,550.
For comparison, Walz’s counterpart, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, has an estimated net worth of $10 million, according to Forbes. Vance raked in between $1.2 to $1.3 million in 2022, according to financial disclosure forms.
Here is a quick rundown of Walz’s pensions based on publicly available data and reports.
Public education
Both Walz and his wife had pensions ranging between $16,002 and $65,000 in the 2019 financial disclosure to Congress.
The typical retired North Star State teacher earns an average pension of $27,600, according to the Teachers Retirement Association of Minnesota.
Walz stopped teaching in Minnesota around 2006 when he vied for Congress. His wife has spent over two decades in the public school system.
Military
Walz served some 24 years in the National Guard before retiring in 2005 amid his run for Congress and before his battalion was deployed to Iraq.
Exact figures for his military pension were not shown in the disclosure, but typically it amounts to about 10% of the highest three-year average pay adjusted for inflation, which would translate to $8,200 a year annually, per the WSJ.
Congress
The Minnesota governor will be eligible for an inflation-adjusted congressional pension of $35,000, though he could opt for a lower $32,000 for payments that span both his and his spouse’s lifetime.
Walz served in the lower chamber from 2007 to 2019, where the salary was about $174,000 during his final year in office.
Governor
As the leader of Minnesota, Walz is required to contribute about 6% of his annual pay to a 401(k)-style plan run by the state government.
It is not fully clear how that money has been invested and how much he stands to make from it.
