Money Talk

Jack Kennedy's financial status has always been kept pretty much a closed bankbook. But last week the public got at least a peek into the President's purse --and it appeared pretty full. Working on information provided him by the Kennedy family and making some educated guesses, Washington Correspondent Fletcher Knebel wrote a seven-article series about the President's finances for the Des Moines Register and the Minneapolis Tribune. Knebel estimated Kennedy's worth at about $10 million, thanks mostly to trust funds set up years ago by Joseph P. Kennedy for all his children. He revealed that Kennedy has never owned a credit card, rarely carries cash with him, and maintains separate checking accounts for himself and Jackie.

Most interesting of all was Knebel's discovery that Kennedy, ever since he became a Congressman, has been turning over all his Government salaries to charity. Though Knebel's financial profile did not say so, Kennedy received about $400,000 in salary from 1947, when he entered Congress, to the pay period ending Oct. 21, 1962. Since his wealth already placed him in the 90% income-tax bracket, his taxes on that amount would have been $360,000. Thus, presuming that Kennedy took tax deductions for his charities, his donations cost him $40,000 out of pocket.

That pocket is constantly restocked. This year, the President's taxable income will probably reach well beyond the $450,000 mark. Aside from his presidential salary of $100,000 plus $50,000 for expenses, he stands to receive at least $250,000 from a $5,000,000 trust fund, another $160,000 or so from $5,000,000 received on his 45th birthday this year and invested in municipal and federal bonds (only about a third of which is taxable), and additional income from his undisclosed book royalties, any other personal investments he has made, and any income his wife might receive.

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