This is the first in a series that explores the personal fortunes of President Trump’s cabinet officials. See more on William Barr, Steven Mnuchin, Wilbur Ross and Betsy DeVos.
Mike Pence doesn’t have all that much to his name. He doesn’t appear to own a home, and he hasn’t saved much besides $65,000 in index funds, at most, and less than $15,000 in a bank account.
Luckily, Pence works for the government. That means taxpayers are on the hook to fund the 60-year-old vice president’s retirement through his state and federal pensions. Those pensions, which will likely pay Pence at least $85,000 per year for the rest of his life, are worth a combined $1.2 million—enough to push Pence’s net worth to an estimated $1 million after factoring in his six-figure student loan debt.
Read more in our series: Attorney General Bill Barr's $40 Million Fortune
Unlike Wilbur Ross and Steven Mnuchin, who built immense portfolios, or even Betsy DeVos, who grew up with one business fortune and married into another, Mike Pence has little notable experience in the private sector. Instead he has spent two decades earning government paychecks and banking on hefty, taxpayer-funded plans to cover his retirement.
These programs, long exploited by career politicians, have drawn conservative ire for years. “Most people don’t get that kind of golden handshake,” says Grover Norquist, president of the right-leaning Americans for Tax Reform. “It’s a good deal for Congress and it’s not a good deal for taxpayers.”
The son of a Korean War veteran, Pence spent a few years at a small law firm before mounting an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 1988. A second attempt two years later erupted in scandal after he used political donations to cover a mortgage, credit card and even grocery bills. “I’m not embarrassed that I need to make a living,” he told the press at the time. Such personal spending was legal then (though it has since been banned) but proved unpopular with voters.
Defeated again, Pence joined a conservative think tank and established himself as a local radio star, billed as “Rush Limbaugh on decaf.” He offered his take on the news of the day (“Is adultery no longer a big deal in Indiana and in America?” he asked during a 1997 national sex scandal) and chatted with state and local politicians. By 2000, Pence was a minor celebrity in the conservative Midwest. He made a third run for Congress and won.
With no significant business experience, he ranked among the Capitol’s poorer members, with few assets besides stock in an Indiana gas station and convenience store chain called Kiel Bros. Oil Co. Pence likely inherited the shares from his father, who was an early employee. The future vice president helped out at Kiel Bros. growing up, but he never went into the business. In the early 2000s, the company had grown to more than 200 locations and Pence’s brother Greg was president. When profit margins on gas and tobacco products fell, the debt-burdened Kiel Bros., also dealing with a handful of environmental fines, was forced to file for bankruptcy.
Mike's Million
The vice president is worth about $1 million, almost entirely thanks to his state and federal pensions.
Pence, then in his second term in Congress, watched his nest egg crack. In 2004 he disclosed owning a stake in Kiel Bros. worth between $200,000 and $450,000. The next year, with the company bankrupt, the value of those shares dropped to zero. Pence, who had only a few thousand dollars in savings, accumulated more than $600,000 in losses from the business going under, according to his 2006 tax returns.
The government came to the rescue. In 2006, Pence hit his fifth year of federal service—making him eligible for a federal pension, a guaranteed stream of income in retirement.
Pence would further benefit from an act of Congressional self-dealing. A 1986 federal law based pension payouts for members of Congress and their staffers on a higher percentage of their annual pay than regular federal workers’ pensions. Pence voted in favor of closing this benefit for future Congressmen in 2012, though he remains one of many lawmakers grandfathered into the older, more lucrative pensions.
“They’re almost twice as valuable as a regular federal pension,” says Tim Voit, a financial analyst who runs a firm that specializes in pensions. “Congress passes laws for their own benefit, and they’ll never shortchange themselves.”
Between the 12 years Pence served in the House and his two years as vice president, he is currently eligible to collect an estimated $50,000 per year from the federal government for the rest of his life. If he were able to sell that annuity today, he could get around $700,000 for it.
Then there’s his state pension. Pence left Congress in 2013 to become governor of Indiana. He served a single term in the statehouse before being elected vice president. For those four years of gubernatorial work, he’s entitled to 30% of his salary for the rest of his life. (If he waits until he’s 65 to retire, he can get 40%.) Pence earned nearly $112,000 in his final year as governor, so Indiana will owe him around $35,000 per year starting at age 62, an income stream worth at least $500,000. A spokesperson for Pence declined to comment for this story.
The rest of his assets stem almost entirely from the government as well. Pence disclosed two Indiana state-run retirement accounts, worth up to $65,000. He has also likely been saving a chunk of his federal salary through the Thrift Savings Plan, essentially a 401(k) for government employees. If Pence has been making regular contributions, he could have hundreds of thousands in additional funds stashed in a plan that ethics laws do not require public officials to disclose.
Meanwhile, Pence and his wife owe between $100,000 and $245,000 across eight Parent PLUS student loans they took out to help put their three children through college. By 2013, around the time the couple moved into the Indiana governor’s mansion, they had sold their modest, three-bedroom home outside D.C. and their 1,400-square-foot residence in their hometown of Columbus, Indiana. Four years later, they essentially moved right from the governor’s mansion in Indianapolis to the United States Naval Observatory, the vice president’s official residence. The Pences are likely expected to pay for their own household items and meals, but taxpayers foot the bill for their major living expenses.
And when Pence leaves office in 2021 or 2025, the public will remain on the hook—even if he follows his predecessor, Joe Biden, and rakes in millions from books and speeches—since Pence will be right at the government’s retirement age, ready to start cashing in on his government pensions.
