When you’re the leader of the free world, you can make a few investment mistakes and still do pretty well.#-ad_banner-#

You are guaranteed an annual pension of just under $200,000 for the rest of your life and can make millions more giving speeches. Former President Bill Clinton made $13.4 million for the 54 speeches he gave in 2011, almost a quarter of a million each on average.

In addition to the lecture circuit are the book deals, board seats and any number of other perks that come from those four (or eight) years of leadership.

With this kind of potential income, who cares if you make a few extra percent on your portfolio?

Then There’s The Rest Of Us…
Unless you are one of the lucky few who have this kind of potential income, you are going to need to manage your nest egg and seek higher returns. But with bonds yielding next to nothing, gold and commodities out of favor, and many sectors of the stock market looking near-term expensive, earning those higher returns is a constant challenge.

Always on the lookout for market-beating ideas, I came across the joint financial disclosure report from President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. I was surprised at what I saw.

Every year, the first family reports its investments to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. The disclosure report allows for the line-item estimation of net worth and income over a wide variety of investments, providing an interesting look into what the most powerful family in the world does with its money.

The Obamas don’t hold any stocks in their portfolio, but if they did, they’d be obligated to put them in a blind trust to eliminate potential conflicts of interest. Almost all of the president’s assets are passively managed; there were no transactions during the reporting period.

The disclosure is illuminating, but perhaps not in the way you might think. I found that many parts of the president’s investments report shows investors what not to do, while some do.

Obama’s ‘Mistakes’
The joint filing shows that the Obamas have a net worth between $1.9 million and $6.9 million — the wide range is due to how asset values are reported. The filing also shows that while the president might not be afraid to mix it up with Republicans on Capitol Hill, he is less than aggressive with his investments.

What The President Is Doing Right
Not everything on Obama’s annual disclosure was a lesson in what not to do. Here are some of the financial moves the president is getting right.

Risks to Consider: Being overly conservative or aggressive with your investments is rarely a good idea for anyone. Every investor — even the commander in chief — needs to review his or her portfolio regularly for risks and missed opportunities.

Action to Take –> Again, all of this probably isn’t as important for someone with Obama’s post-presidency prospects, but most of us everyday investors need to take an active part in building our nest egg.

Investors looking for reasonable returns to meet their investment goals don’t have the luxury of book deals and lecture circuits. Instead, it might be time to re-evaluate your portfolio. With the market scoring record highs on a nearly daily basis, this might mean taking profits in some positions while finding value elsewhere.

P.S. — Mitt Romney may have lost the election, but based on our research, he’ll be just fine. That’s because, as the richest major party candidate to ever run for president, he and other elites like him have had access to a little-known private market that has handed them hundreds of millions in profits year after year. But now, regular investors have a way to invest right alongside them. To learn more, click here.