U.S. Ambassador pay?

What do US Ambassadors get paid on average?

I know an FSO's pay is quite strucutered but haven't found info on Ambassadors' pay. My mom's nonproft always has retired ambassadors as the CEO, and according to her they make around $200K+ a year. But that's as a retiree...any idea what they make as a current Ambassador?

I'm following this career path, mind you.

 

I don't know how much but diplomatic salaries (and expenses) are all tax free

 

I am in the wrong business then!!

 

A little off topic. Doesn't the Pres. only make $250,000 a year? So would ambassadors really make nearly the same when retired?

 

Here's what Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain had to say about Diplomatic Pay And Clothes
http://www.mtwain.com/Diplomatic_Pay_And_Clothes/0.html

 

President gets paid $400k a year, per a story I read in USAToday regarding
2005 tax returns filed from Bush and Chaney.

 

Pres=$400,000 (+$50,000 non-taxable expense account)
VP=$208,100 (+$10,000 taxable expense account)
Sen=$162,000
Rep=$162,000
Maj/Min leaders=$180,100
Speaker of the House=$208,100
US Chief Justice=$208,100
Assoc. Justices=$199,200

I have heard US ambassadors make about $138,000 per year...not sure about any other benes though.

 

Here is the link to current Rates of Pay for government jobs.

http://www.opm.gov/oca/06tables/indexSES.asp

The President is the exception to these schedules. Effective January 1, 2001, the annual salary of the president of the United States was increased to $400,000 per year, including a $50,000 expense allowance.

The tables provide the general guidance. These are then adjusted for Locality Pay based on geographical area (except the President, which is fixed).

 

One of the advantages being the home you can live in...

i know a guy spending mls financing the presidential elections just to become US ambassador in France, because the place simply can't be bought....

 

As a comparison, most of the major DC law firms hire ~25 yr old law grads to *start* at $125-145,000, often with bonuses on top of that.

http://www.infirmation.com/shared/search/payscale-compare.tcl?city=Washington&usps_abbrev=DC
(this might not be up-to-date, as salaries just went up again a few months ago).

 

Let me guess. Ambassador of Jamaica, mon? You can put your water pipe to good use there.

 

Oh yeah, did you know all members of congress do not pay into
Social Security, and they have their own SS system, as opposed
to everyone else, who have a bankrupt one?

Just a little food with wasabi for thought.....

 

Haha, you're funny. I quit smoking because my mom died of lung cancer on wednesday.

Back on topic, nonprofits can pay their employees whatever they want, so that's irrelevant. My uncle was Ambassador to the US from Jordan; he had a fantastic house complete with butler...Not sure if the US spoils them like Arabs do...

Living in the DC area I see that there are more diplomatic license plates on Mercedes, etc. Their houses are paid for, as are their cars and they do have an allowance... I am assuming because of the transient nature of their jobs.

 

I'm not sure about the salary, but I believe the process to becoming an ambassador is very difficult. You are appointed to it, so that means you need to know the right people. I also think you need at least 21 years of experience.

 

I don't mean this to sound sarcastic, but why don't you ask the retired ambassadors that work for your mom's nonprofit? Seems like they would have a lot more accurate information than an internet forum.

 

Because you don't ask people what they make, it's tacky. And I need them to write me recommendations some day and not think I'm becoming an Ambassador for the money-- kind of a ridiculous thought

 

you can't become one, you have to be appointed as one.

 

what I meant was I need to keep on good terms with them so they can help me GET appointed. We shall see...

 

Hi, couple of questions for you:

What are you studying (or planning to study)?

What school do you attend? If you haven't decided yet, the London School of Economics and Political Science has some pretty impressive International Relations programs, including external ones.

In almost all cases, you can become an Ambassador only by two ways: As a repayment for a big political favor, or by experience, as a career diplomat having worked your butt off from the bottom up.

Now, about the money, the salary that these guys receive is nice, not huge, but nice. On top of that though, most countries provide homes and expense accounts for their Ambassadors, so that salary you get is pretty much yours to keep in it's entirety...

...so you can spend it on cars, woohoo!!!

 

Fabio-

I will be attending Northeastern University or Boston University in the fall, major is International Affairs. Minor in linguistics.

I hope to attend a better graduate school-- hopefully, through my family, I can get in to UChicago or Harvard. I've hear about LSE- my cousin is currently getting his Phd there. It sounds fantastic.

Planning to join the foreign service upon graduation, with some non profit experience. Planning on becoming a career diplomat.

 

Asking someone about THEIR specific pay is tacky. Asking an Ambassador (that you actually have face time with) about the career and general questions about compensation and other aspects of the job is...intelligent. Then again, maybe I'm just spouting more rediculous banter for the critiquing of a highschool student who asked for information about a career in a Ferrari forum. Best of luck in your endeavors.

 

BTW, I'd do what a lot of ambassadors do: go make $100,000,000 in private industry first, then segway into politics. That way you can live abroad and not be completely tied to goverment salary and freebies from the host country and its businesses(which obviously come with strings).

 

I have heard and read many articles....(I work for Dept. of Defense) that shows clearly large contributors to presidential campains typically get appointed as ambassadors.....maybe not to "important countries", but there were 3 large private contributors to the bush campaign, one was appointed US ambassor to somewhere like Sweden, one to Austria, and one to a smaller nordic country........kind of like a "thank you".

 

Very interesting. I'll ask around at DOS and DOD for some opinions. Kind of sad how money talks in politics, especially with the current administration.

 

Don't go bad mouthing any adminsitration...you never know who is listening