Michelle Obama moved ahead in her career as the wife of an aspiring politician and the mother of two young girls. She found herself spending most of her time with their children at the time when Barack Obama was elected to the United States Senate in 2004, according to Insider. She continued to work as her husband shuttled back and forth between Washington, DC and Chicago, but reportedly was not prepared for him to decide to run for the United States presidency just a few years later.

At the time, the former president had already published one book in 1995 titled "Dreams From My Father" but it was his second book in 2006, "The Audacity of Hope" (via Good Reads), that earned the couple more money than they could have earned in higher education or even in the Senate. 

Celebrity Net Worth reports that in 2006, Barack and Michelle Obama earned a combined $983,826, but in 2007 after Barack Obama's second book was published, their income jumped to $4,139,165. The outlet reports that the Obamas earned seven figures their first few years in the White House starting in 2009, but their income per year dwindled to six figures by 2011.