What Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Net Worth, and How Much Is Her Salary?
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made headlines for being the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Her campaign promised change for the low to middle-income American families. This included efforts towards lower college tuition, universal healthcare, better jobs, and more affordable housing.
The 29-year-old has based these goals, undoubtedly, off her own life. She was raised in an average working class American family who, while not poverty-stricken, had many of the same financial stresses as everyone else. Her father, who passed away in 2012, was a small business owner. Ocasio-Cortez’s mother was a house cleaner.
What is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s net worth?
Currently, the young congress woman’s net worth is under $7,000. She was only making $26,600 annually before being elected and has been paying down college debts.
Due to her college debts and the high cost of apartments (as well as costs from her campaign) where she lives, Ocasio-Cortez has had to dip into her savings. This has drastically altered the state of her financial health, along with the fact she has not contributed to her 401(k) in several months.
How much is Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional salary?
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez receives an annual congressional salary of $174,000. This is a steep rise from her prior salary. Last year, the young woman only claimed a yearly salary of $26,600. This salary was earned by working as a bartender while attending college.
Her assets are typical of millennials
In a reporting of her assets, Ocasio-Cortez shows that she is on the same page as thousands of others her age. The reporting was done via ranges versus exact numbers, but showed that she has under $15,000 saved for retirement in her 401(k). Her checking account, at the time, was reported to have less than $50,000 (but more than $15,000), and her savings was under $15,000.
According to financial experts, this is very typical of the millennial generation. With rising costs of housing and exorbitant amounts of college debt, it can be very hard to find solid financial footing. With her new congressional salary, there is no doubt her situation will get better than it is currently – yet even her nearly $200,000 a year may not be enough.
She has spoken out about congressional salaries during the shutdown
Despite having some of her own financial issues, Ocasio-Cortez has spoken out recently about how things are run during the government shutdown. While thousands of government employees are forced to work without pay, congressional salaries are still being paid. The young woman finds this unfair.
Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to voice her objections, in a Tweet that read: “Next time we have a gov shutdown, Congressional salaries should be furloughed as well. It’s completely unacceptable that members of Congress can force a government shutdown on partisan lines & then have Congressional salaries exempt from that decision. Have some integrity.”
Ocasio-Cortez has received support from fellow congresswomen
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsJGh0UBejR/
Speaking out against congressional salaries during the government shutdown was, undoubtedly, not well received in Congress. Two fellow congresswomen, however, took to Twitter after Ocasio-Cortez spoke out. Each declared, in their own ways, that they were in favor of a furlough.
Senator Cortez Masto, of Nevada, shared this statement to her Twitter: “I cannot take a salary during a government shutdown knowing that so many federal workers in Nevada and across the country will go without pay. I’ll be donating my salary to a Nevada charity for every day of the Trump shutdown.”
Representative Elise Stefanik supported a congressional salary furlough with this bold statement via Twitter: “I submitted a letter today requesting that my pay be withheld during this partial government shutdown.”
