How Big Is Mitt Romney’s Social Security Check?
Written by
David Nadelle
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Nicholas Morine
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Citing a need for fresh leadership, U.S. Senator Mitt Romney announced that he will not seek re-election in 2024. The 76-year-old Utah Republican said on Wednesday he will retire in January 2025, when his term ends.
“At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid 80s,” stated Romney. “Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in.”
How Big Is Mitt Romney’s Social Security Check?
Senators are required to file financial disclosure paperwork on an annual basis, but because the forms allow for a wide range of asset values, it makes it hard to establish specific figures. But we already know that Romney’s vast wealth isn’t in question.
Included in his latest financial disclosure, filed on Aug. 10, 2023, Romney lists assets totaling millions of dollars, representing a broad spectrum — Goldman Sachs-issued mutual funds and IRAs, general trust accounts, ETFs, private equity and hedge fund investments, corporate securities, personal property and real estate.
Fulfilling a campaign promise to release three years of tax returns upon completion of his 2017 filing, Romney did so in March of 2018. In joint filings with his wife, Ann, Romney reported income totaling $83.8 million on his federal tax returns from 2015 to 2017.
The Romneys’ combined gross income — which includes earnings from family trusts intended to benefit their children and grandchildren — was $22.3 million in 2017, up from $20 million in 2016 but down from $41.5 million in 2015, the returns show.
In 2010 and 2011 returns released prior to running for president in 2012, and on his 2015 and 2016 filings, the Social Security benefits and taxable income lines 20a and 20b were left blank. However, for 2017, The Romneys claimed Social Security benefits of $42,085, with a taxable amount of $35,772. This equals $3,507 per month, slightly under the maximum of $3,538 for 2017.
The maximum monthly Social Security retirement benefit for a married couple in 2023 is $9,110 if each spouse waits until age 70 to receive benefits and paid the maximum Social Security tax over 35 years of earnings. For this year and beyond, the Romneys will likely be receiving the highest possible monthly Social Security payment (or close to it).
Mitt Romney’s Net Worth
Back in 2012, when he was running as the Republican Party presidential nominee (eventually losing to Barack Obama), his campaign said his assets ranged between $190 million and $250 million. This was confirmed by The Associated Press at the time, per CBS News.
OpenSecrets had Romney’s net worth valued at just under $175 million in 2018. Now, his net worth is estimated to be around 300 million, according to numerous sources, including Celebrity Net Worth.
Romney currently makes $174,000 per year as a senator, but his fortune was made in large part from his 1984 founding of Bain Capital, a spin-off of Bain & Company. Among others, he guided Bain Capital to become one of the leading private-equity firms in the world, making millions for the firm — and himself — in venture capital investments and leveraged buyouts.
He stayed with Bain Capital and Bain & Company in different capacities until 2002, before leaving to pursue a career in politics. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor from 2003 to 2007 and presidential candidate in 2012, was elected senator for Utah in 2018 following the retirement of Sen. Orrin Hatch.
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