Former President Joe Biden is facing a cash squeeze in the years after leaving office, with some Democratic allies cool to providing financial support or lucrative speaking engagements and with his post-presidency income far from the levels enjoyed by predecessors.
Public disclosures show a mortgage on his Wilmington, Delaware home of between $250,000 and $500,000, taken out in 2013 on a 30-year loan originally for more than $500,000, at an interest rate of 3.375 percent. He also carries a $250,000 home equity loan on his Rehoboth Beach vacation home, taken in 2022 while he was in the White House and due to be paid off when he is 90, with a variable rate. An open-ended line of credit up to $50,000 remained available at an interest rate described as five to eight percent, and a separate bank loan of up to $15,000 was due to be repaid by 2028. CelticCapri Corp., the vehicle Biden set up in 2017 to collect royalties from books and speaking engagements, was dormant in its final year in office.
In the final year Biden was in the White House, the couple reported less than $3,100 in royalties for four books, including titles such as Biden and Willow the White House Cat. Their tax returns showed earnings of $619,976 in 2023. Public disclosures also show a mix of bank accounts totaling between $632,000 and $1.38 million and a portfolio of investments valued in the tens of thousands.
Biden has a $10 million book deal with publisher Hachette, a sum that is modest by presidential standards. He is pursuing the project while balancing the realities of post-presidential life, including fewer high-dollar speaking engagements. Observers say that some Democrats lack the appetite to fund a presidential library or provide significant financial backing, in part because of Biden’s decision to seek a second term in 2024. The mood among donors has been described as a mix of disappointment and frustration that has cooled the usual goodwill toward former presidents.
After leaving the White House, Biden has traveled and spoken at conferences but has embraced more modest travel arrangements, including flying commercially on several occasions. In April he spoke at a Chicago conference organized by Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled; in July he addressed the annual conference of the Society for Human Resource Management in San Diego. In a West Coast trip, he was photographed in an Admirals Club lounge and then on a commercial American Airlines flight, an unusual sight for a former president. A passenger who posted a selfie with him described the moment, and noted Biden’s casual appearance and the setting. His reading material on the trip included How the Irish Saved Civilization.
The trip came as Biden visited Malibu to spend time with his son Hunter. Court filings indicate Hunter Biden’s finances have deteriorated, with a 2023 filing showing his ex-wife claimed he owed about $2.9 million. A March filing said he was without a permanent home after wildfire damage to a Malibu rental property, and he said his income had significantly deteriorated and that he had not secured paid engagements. He said he had sold only one painting since late 2023 and had sold about 1,100 copies of his book, underscoring the financial challenges facing the younger Biden.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden’s financial situation adds to a broader picture of a former president navigating private-sector life without the same level of donor enthusiasm that characterized past transitions. Several Democrats who supported Biden in 2020 have grown wary of his 2024 bid, expressing disappointment and concern about the political and fundraising implications for the party. A longtime Democratic insider described the mood as restrained, noting that the decision to run again has cooled some of the customary post-presidential support.
Some observers also note that the Daily Mail article describing these finances references a so-called doomsday option to write off large debts. The piece frames it as a theoretical last resort rather than an imminent plan, and it does not provide concrete steps or formal endorsements from Biden or his advisers.