--- title: Republican Debate: How Marco Rubio Defended His Finances description: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio defended his personal finances at the Republican debate Wednesday night. canonical: https://time.com/4091932/republican-debate-marco-rubio-finances/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-29T01:28:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:59.208Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's How Marco Rubio Defended His Personal Finances og:description: "I didn't inherit any money," he said. og:url: https://time.com/4091932/republican-debate-marco-rubio-finances/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt400b8958aa625be2/69886ea45f570f00bbb1e134/gop-debate-marco-rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Marco Rubio Discusses The Economy In New York City og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's How Marco Rubio Defended His Personal Finances twitter:description: "I didn't inherit any money," he said. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt400b8958aa625be2/69886ea45f570f00bbb1e134/gop-debate-marco-rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's How Marco Rubio Defended His Personal Finances at the Debate > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Oct 29, 2015 1:28 AM UTC  Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks at Civic Hall about the "sharing economy" on Oct. 6, 2015 in New York City. Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks at Civic Hall about the "sharing economy" on Oct. 6, 2015 in New York City.Spencer Platt—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Oct 29, 2015 1:28 AM UTC Florida Sen. Marco Rubio defended his personal finances at the Republican debate Wednesday night, after a question asking him about foreclosing on a second home and liquidating a retirement fund last year. The CNBC moderator asked Rubio if his “lack of bookkeeping skills” should call to question if he has the “maturity and wisdom to lead a $17 trillion economy.” “I didn’t inherit any money,” the Florida Senator replied. “My dad was a bartender, my mother was a maid, they worked hard to provide us the chance at a better life. They didn’t save any money for us to go to school, I had to work my way through school, I had to borrow money through school.” “I know what its like to owe that money, and we’ve worked hard to provide a better life for our family,” he added. “We own a home four blocks from the place I grew up in. My four children have been able to receive a good Christian education. I’ve been able to save for them to go to college so they never have to have the loans that I did.” When pressed on the fact that he lost about $24,000 liquidating his retirement fund last year, after he had made a substantial amount of money on his book deal, Rubio continued, “We’re raising a family in the 21st century, and its one of the reasons that my tax plan is a pro-family tax plan … I didn’t read about this in a book, I know for a fact how difficult it is to raise children, how expensive it is for these families.” **Read More:** [_Transcript: Read the Full Text of the CNBC Republican Debate in Boulder_](http://time.com/4091301/transcript-read-the-full-text-of-the-cnbc-republican-debate-in-boulder/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4091932/republican-debate-marco-rubio-finances/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4091932/republican-debate-marco-rubio-finances/"},"headline":"Here's How Marco Rubio Defended His Personal Finances at the Debate","datePublished":"2015-10-29T01:28:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:59.208Z","description":"Florida Sen. 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