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by anshumankmr 1651 days ago
Using this information here [1](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/24/where-bernie-sanders-money-c...) and this calculator here [2](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/21/are-you-in-...),

>annual income of 1,100,000 U.S. dollars for a household of 2 is equivalent to $1,309/day per person in 2011 in purchasing power parity dollars, putting you in the high income group worldwide, along with 39.8% of people in advanced economies.

*2 since he has a wife.

And he doesn't have to pay much for insurance as per this [3](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/25/heres-how-much-members-of-co...)

He is a part of the "elite" class as per his income. And being a senator he does have a lot of influence over policy.

I don't hate Bernie but seeing the discourse regarding him, that often deifies him feels disingenuous to me.

2 comments

Sanders does not have recurring annual income of $1M+. It was for a couple years due to selling a book at the height of his popularity. Having $1M+ in reliable, recurring income would allow a “multi millionaire” to have influence.

Certainly his position as US Senator and accompanying benefits is significant, but I was just commenting that being a “multi millionaire” is not indicative of much sway assuming multi millionaire also means having a few million in total net worth at retirement age.

Anyway, my point is, I would not qualify him as “elite” in the sense of being able to affect federal policy just by his regular income / net worth if he was not already a US senator. He would get outbid by many others with deeper pockets vying for political influence.

He doesn't quite have a million dollar income. He made a million dollars from selling a book, which is a one-off. His normal annual income is more like 250 000$, which is still a lot.