With $800,000 in retirement funds, does Tim Walz truly have a modest income?

"There I was a 40-something high school teacher with kids, zero political experience, and no money, running in a deep red district. But you know what? Never underestimate a public schoolteacher. Never," were the words of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' running mate, during his acceptance speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

Both the national media and Walz himself often highlight the Democratic vice presidential candidate's "modest income." However, the money the governor has saved thanks to a sizable pension-based retirement fund is far from placing him within the country's "modest" class.

According to a Wall Street Journal analysis, Walz and his wife Gwen appeared to have a net worth of between $112,003 and $330,000 in 2019, the year Congress required their financial disclosures.

However, with pensions awarded for their decades of public service in public education, the military, Congress and the Minnesota governorship, their personal fortune could amount to $800,000, according to the WSJ analysis.

However, despite the WSJ analysis, there are no accurate financial figures on Walz's net worth due to the lack of details in his gubernatorial returns.

In fact, the Democratic vice presidential candidate does not list a single stock, bond or real estate asset on his statement of financial interests for a Minnesota public official, the New York Post reported.

The New York paper itself gave rough details on some of the Walz's pension income.

According to their 2019 financial disclosure, the Walzes had pensions from their work as public school teachers that ranged from $16,002 to $65,000.

On another note, their military pension money was not disclosed. However, typically the sum amounts to about 10% of the highest three-year average salary adjusted for inflation, which translates to about $8,200 a year.

Tim Walz also has a pension for his service in Congress. The governor is eligible for an inflation-adjusted payment of $35,000 unless he chooses a lower pension of $32,000 in exchange for lifetime payments covering both his and his wife.

Also, because of his position as governor of Minnesota, Walz is required to contribute about 6% of his annual salary to a 401(k) style retirement plan administered by the state government itself. It's unclear how much money the Democrat will or can earn from this investment.

For his job as governor alone, Walz is paid $127,629 annually and could have raised his salary to $149,550, but multiple reports indicate the Democrat turned down the raise.

Despite a "modest" family narrative being created around the Walz's, the reality is that in the United States, the upper class is made up of the top 20% of earners, translating to an approximate household income of $149,132 or more per year.

What is certain is that Walz, compared to other politicians, earns well below the median.

For example, when compared to Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, Walz's net worth languishes and is actually modest.

According to Forbes, Vance has an estimated net worth of $10 million. In 2022 alone, Vance raised between $1.2 million and $1.3 million, according to financial disclosure forms.