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Since then his wealth has ballooned, notably due to sales of two books, "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope." In 2007, he collected royalties of $815,971 on the former and $3,278,719 on the latter.
According to an attachment to his report, Obama received an advance in 2005 of $1.9 million for those books plus an untitled children's book, which has not yet been published. The attachment says that $200,000 of that was pledged to charity.
The royalty payments received in 2007 are in excess of the advance, reflecting robust sales.
Obama's Senate salary in 2007 was $165,200, rising this year to $169,300, in line with core inflation of 2.5%.
The Obamas also reported owning U.S. Treasury notes valued between $500,001 and $1 million.
Socially responsible losses
Both the candidate and his wife reported owning shares in Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund (VFTSX) in retirement accounts. His account was valued up to $250,000 and hers up to $100,000. Despite a miserable performance record, having trailed the S&P 500 Index ($INX) by an average of 3.1 percentage points a year over the past five years, Morningstar calls the fund "one of the most attractive socially responsible options around."Obama reports that his wife owned shares in another, much better fund, Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund (VWINX), that were worth between $100,001 and $250,000, also in a retirement account. However, the fund owns positions in three foreign oil companies -- Total (TTFNF, news, msgs), BP (BP, news, msgs) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, news, msgs) -- that do business with Iran, a position Obama opposes. His campaign told reporters the Wellesley fund would be sold.
The Obamas also reported having invested between $100,001 and $250,000 in each of two 529 college savings plans, one intended for children from birth through age 8, the other for kids 9 to 12 years old. The Obamas have two daughters.
They had a joint checking account with Morgan Chase Private Client valued between $15,001 and $50,000. Michelle Obama had a similar account valued between $1,001 and $15,000.
The Obamas reported no liabilities, such as credit card debt. Mortgages and auto loans are exempt from reporting.
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Separately, Obama released his 2007 income taxes, showing that he and his wife had adjusted gross income of $4,139,965, including $260,735 from salaries. They made charitable contributions of $240,370, or 5.8% of their AGI, and paid federal taxes of $1,396,772.
Michelle Obama resigned as a director of TreeHouse Foods (THS, news, msgs), a specialty food manufacturer, in May 2007. According to the disclosure, options she had to purchase company shares were canceled when she resigned, and none was exercised during her tenure.
The Obamas' wallets are practically empty compared with the $100 million-plus fortune of Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton. That of John McCain's wife, brewing heiress Cindy McCain, is larger still.
McCain's disclosure, which I'll report on in my column tomorrow, also reveals investments in tax-free accounts in his wife's name, though none in his own -- but McCain has pledged to cut taxes, not raise them. Hillary Clinton has received an extension on her 2007 disclosure filing to June 30, when it won't matter.
For now, the raise-taxes-and-avoid-them platform is occupied solely by Barack Obama.
At the time of publication, Tim Middleton did not own or control shares of any company or fund mentioned in this column.
READ MORE: OBAMA – McCAIN – CLINTON - TAXES
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