Presidential Portfolio Makeover: Green Party Candidate Ralph Nader

Next month, Americans (those that vote, in any event) will head to the polls to choose a new chief executive. The major candidates and their running mates are pledging to steward the nation through continued prosperity and fiscal health. To determine which candidate is best suited to run the nation's fiscal engine, TheStreet.com examined how the candidates handle their own financial houses, and huddled with professional financial planners. The planners had some advice for the candidates on how to improve their portfolios. So this week, we're running the advisers' presidential portfolio makeovers of the major candidates, as well as the Republican and Democratic vice presidential contenders. We examined Democrat Al Gore's portfolio Monday and Republican candidate George W. Bush's Tuesday. Today, we're going Green with Green Party hopeful Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader, that most principled of cheapskates, is probably the candidate financial planners would most like to marry. He is a saver. It's not just that he has a cheap, old car; he doesn't own a car at all (he rides the subway and takes buses). No big tailoring bills here: his suits betray that insouciant indifference to fashion coveted by D.C. wonks. Yes, ascetic-in-chief Nader may be the only candidate who could win votes from both the anti-WTO crowd and the Amish.

Though he spends only about $25,000 a year, according to a spokesperson, Nader brings in a pretty decent income: including speaking fees, he earned close to $400,000 last year. Sidney Blum, a certified financial planner and CPA at Successful Financial Solutions in Deerfield, Ill., estimates Nader earned an additional $140,000 from investments last year, not counting capital gains. ...