{"id":7926,"date":"2024-11-15T04:33:47","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T04:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/even-u-s-presidents-make-mistakes-with-their-money-author-says\/"},"modified":"2024-11-15T04:33:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T04:33:47","slug":"even-u-s-presidents-make-mistakes-with-their-money-author-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=7926","title":{"rendered":"Even U.S. presidents make mistakes with their money, author says"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"RegularArticle-ArticleBody-5\" data-module=\"ArticleBody\" data-test=\"articleBody-2\" data-analytics=\"RegularArticle-articleBody-5-2\"><span class=\"HighlightShare-hidden\" style=\"top:0;left:0\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-108063198\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div>\n<p>Thomas Jefferson, 1848\/1879. Artist George Peter Alexander Healy.<\/p>\n<p>Heritage Images | Hulton Fine Art Collection | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\"><a id=\"headline0\"><\/a>Before becoming president, &#8216;they are just like us&#8217;<\/h2>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed InlineImage-inlineInfographic\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-108063148\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imagePlaceholder\" style=\"padding-bottom:149.25373134328356%\">\n<div><button class=\"InlineImage-closeEnlargedImage\"><svg width=\"20\" height=\"20\" viewbox=\"0 0 20 20\" fill=\"#002F6C\" aria-labelledby=\"title desc\" role=\"img\" focusable=\"false\" data-analytic-id=\"expand-icon\" class=\"InlineImage-background\"><title>Zoom In Icon<\/title><desc>Arrows pointing outwards<\/desc><circle cx=\"10\" cy=\"10\" r=\"10\" fill=\"white\" stroke=\"#002F6C\"><\/circle><path d=\"M9.20185 10.7982C8.96049 10.5568 8.57037 10.5568 8.32901 10.7982L5.67901 13.4482V11.2346C5.67901 10.8938 5.40308 10.6173 5.06173 10.6173C4.72037 10.6173 4.44444 10.8938 4.44444 11.2346V14.9383C4.44444 15.279 4.72037 15.5556 5.06173 15.5556H8.76543C9.10679 15.5556 9.38271 15.279 9.38271 14.9383C9.38271 14.5975 9.10679 14.321 8.76543 14.321H6.55185L9.20185 11.671C9.44321 11.4296 9.44321 11.0395 9.20185 10.7982ZM14.9383 4.44446H11.2346C10.8932 4.44446 10.6173 4.721 10.6173 5.06174C10.6173 5.40248 10.8932 5.67903 11.2346 5.67903H13.4481L10.7981 8.32903C10.5568 8.57038 10.5568 8.96051 10.7981 9.20187C10.9185 9.32224 11.0765 9.38273 11.2346 9.38273C11.3926 9.38273 11.5506 9.32224 11.671 9.20187L14.321 6.55187V8.76545C14.321 9.10619 14.5969 9.38273 14.9383 9.38273C15.2796 9.38273 15.5556 9.10619 15.5556 8.76545V5.06174C15.5556 4.721 15.2796 4.44446 14.9383 4.44446Z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p><strong>Annie Nova: How much do presidents actually manage their own money? I imagine they outsource much of that strategizing and effort.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Megan Gorman: <\/strong>Well, up until most of them become president, they are just like us.\u00a0They are managing their budgets and trying to grow assets.\u00a0But what was striking in looking at their finances across different eras is that a lot of the same issues that we struggle with today, are ones that Americans have always struggled with.<\/p>\n<p>The difference is that in many ways it is much harder today to achieve the American Dream.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After all, Richard Nixon was able to go to college in 1930 for $230 a year. That&#8217;s around $8,000 in today&#8217;s dollars. And, in 1886, Grover Cleveland could buy a home on 26 and \u00bc acres about three miles north of the White House for $21,500, the equivalent of $700,000 today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\"><a id=\"headline1\"><\/a>&#8216;Money caused and causes anxiety for everyone&#8217;<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p><strong>AN: Who was the most frugal president?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>MG:<\/strong> Calvin Coolidge was incredibly frugal.\u00a0He would have told you he was &#8220;thrifty.&#8221; Part of this comes from advice he received from his father growing up: that it was important to save and allow money to compound.\u00a0Even when he was in the White House, the head housekeeper complained that he was always poking his head in to check on the cost of food being purchased.<\/p>\n<p>The one that surprises most people was that John F. Kennedy was pretty frugal as well.\u00a0Just because he came from money didn&#8217;t mean he wasn&#8217;t keeping an eye on the bottom line.\u00a0Throughout his life, friends noted that he was &#8220;tight with a buck&#8221; and monitored costs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AN: Was there a president who overspent?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>MG:<\/strong> The biggest spender of them all was Thomas Jefferson.\u00a0Jefferson had very nice taste, and that taste was enhanced from his time in France.\u00a0If there was ever a dinner party you wanted to attend, it was Jefferson&#8217;s.\u00a0Even up to the time he passed away, he was still trying to buy wine on credit.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly enough, given the debt he had when he was dying \u2014\u00a0more than $2 million in today&#8217;s numbers, he was clever in that he made sure in his estate plan that assets passed to his daughter and son-in-law could not be attached by creditors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-108063147\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div>\n<p>Megan Gorman, author of All The Presidents&#8217; Money.<\/p>\n<p>Photo: Marc Cartwright<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p><strong>AN: For whom did money cause the most anxiety?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>MG:<\/strong> Money caused and causes anxiety for everyone.\u00a0That being said, some handled it better than others.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For instance, Ronald Reagan used budgeting as a mechanism to manage emotion when it came to money.\u00a0This is no surprise given that he grew up in a financially unstable household with an alcoholic father.\u00a0The Reagans would at times have to leave town in the middle of the night to get away from their landlord as they didn&#8217;t have the money to pay rent.\u00a0As Reagan got older, he found that having a budget and sticking to it allowed him to manage his financial anxiety.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\"><a id=\"headline2\"><\/a>Early experiences informed money habits<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p><strong>AN: Who had the most financial struggles before becoming president?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>MG: <\/strong>Harry Truman is one that easily comes to mind.\u00a0Truman spent the first four decades of his life going through a lot of financial volatility.\u00a0From his father losing all their money so he couldn&#8217;t go to college, to Truman having a series of unsuccessful business ventures including a zinc mine, an oil well and the famous haberdashery, he really struggled.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But it wasn&#8217;t until he was in the presidency that he was able to save his salary along with a special stipend he received for two years that was tax-free. At the time of his death, he was worth $750,000, or $8 million today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p><strong>AN: How did a president&#8217;s childhood experiences impact their financial behavior?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>MG:<\/strong> The best example would have to be Herbert Hoover.<\/p>\n<p>Hoover&#8217;s story could have gone completely wrong for him.\u00a0He lost both of his parents by the age of 9.\u00a0He and his siblings are split up among different family members but they share the same financial guardian.\u00a0So from an early age, Hoover is required to budget and submit his expenses to this guardian.<\/p>\n<p>As he becomes a teenager, he takes on bookkeeping for his uncle&#8217;s business and really learns to be a &#8220;financial apprentice.&#8221; The budgeting and bookkeeping have such an impact on his financial skills that he becomes the treasurer of his class at Stanford.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He just keeps building on his skill set again and again.\u00a0That skill set would grow him great wealth \u2014 and allow him to do a lot of charitable work over his lifetime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\"><a id=\"headline3\"><\/a>Money opps in post-presidential life<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p><strong>AN: Did presidents change their financial habits after their time in the White House?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>MG:<\/strong> Before Gerald Ford left the White House in 1977, previous presidents went back to practicing law, wrote a book or died.\u00a0But Ford changed that.<\/p>\n<p>He built a substantial speaking career and served on corporate boards.\u00a0At the time he did this, it was seen as a big risk. In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/jimmy-carter-turns-100-rcna172235\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Carter<\/a> made it clear when he left the presidency, he wasn&#8217;t going to take the same path as Ford.<\/p>\n<p>Today post-presidential life has continued to evolve.\u00a0Bill Clinton is still an in-demand speaker and the Obamas are building a media brand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-relatedContent\" id=\"RegularArticle-RelatedContent-1\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-container\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-nonCollapsibleContent\">\n<h2 class=\"RelatedContent-header\">Don\u2019t miss these insights from CNBC PRO<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2024\/11\/14\/even-us-presidents-make-mistakes-with-their-money-author-says.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas Jefferson, 1848\/1879. Artist George Peter Alexander Healy. Heritage Images | Hulton Fine Art Collection | Getty Images Before becoming president, &#8216;they are just like us&#8217; Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards Annie Nova: How much do presidents actually manage their own money? I imagine they outsource much of that strategizing and effort. Megan Gorman: Well,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[196],"tags":[2551,1365,104,2550,272],"class_list":{"0":"post-7926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-finance-news","8":"tag-author","9":"tag-mistakes","10":"tag-money","11":"tag-presidents","12":"tag-u-s"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}