Obamas Play It Too Safe With Personal Finances

Barack and Michelle Obama invest their own money “very, very safely”—perhaps too conservatively, say Sam Grobart and Tara Siegel Bernard in Slate. The Democratic frontrunner and his wife only began rolling in the money recently and their portfolio—“for the most part, a collection of run-of-the-mill mutual funds"—shows a couple “who wants no risk of ever being middle-class again.”

The Obama holdings are in funds that skew toward bonds; given the couple's income level and relative youth, a financial adviser would certainly caution a more aggressive, stock-heavy approach. The piece notes the couple’s simple lifestyle, contrasting their $6,000-$24,000 annual household expenses with John McCain’s $270,000 household-help budget. (More Barack Obama stories.)