Anyone looking for insights into Barack Obama's economic policy might want to take a look at how he has handled his personal finances. According to Slate.com, the Illinois senator and Democratic front-runner invests his money as if he were in his 60s instead of his 40s.

Thanks to the success of his two books "Dreams of My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope," the Obama family is wealthier than most. In 2007, the Obamas earned $4.1 million, thanks to the books that have sold more than 2.25 million copies, according to Bookscan data cited by Slate. Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton, however, are much wealthier. None are waiting with anticipation for their fiscal stimulus checks to arrive.

"Obama has not donated the proceeds from his books to charity, as John McCain has, but then Obama did not marry an heiress with $40 million in assets," Slate noted. Good point. In addition, McCain's wife Cyndi has refused to disclose her tax returns, which she files separately from her husband. That will be an issue during the general election. Bill Clinton's lucrative speech-making business has already caused problems for his wife's campaign.

Voters worried that Obama is a tax-and-spend liberal should take some comfort from the conservative -- Slate says too conservative -- approach in his portfolio that it is too weighted toward bonds and not enough toward stocks. Unlike former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Obama has no hedge fund investments or much of anything else exciting. Most of his money is in mutual funds.

"Unlike the average American, however, Sen. Obama had the wherewithal to save the maximum allowable amount ($45,000) in his retirement plan last year," Slate says.

I know conservatives often snipe that liberals would rather risk the government's money than their own. But Obama's portfolio shows that he is hardly an elitist. In fact, Bill Clinton was not much of an elitist either when he was elected president. The Republicans are really the party of the elite since as Obama notes "The Bush tax cuts give those who earn over $1 million dollars a tax cut nearly 160 times greater than that received by middle-income Americans."

Of course, Obama's holdings are in a blind trust so he could not play the stock market even if he wanted. Obama obviously is not being motivated by economic self-interest either, since he would hurt himself if he is elected and is able to convince Congress to repeal the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

Like most politicians, money is not the motivating factor for him, it's power. The money comes after they have decided they have had enough of working for the voters. By then, Obama won't be just investing in hedge funds, he'll be advising them for big bucks.