The lawmakers are required to break down their finances every year, and these reports are made publicly available by the House and Senate clerks. The forms are intended to present a full accounting of their finances and are instructive for showing how those entrusted with managing the nation’s affairs manage their own.

For the most part, the wealth of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, incoming Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi remained relatively unchanged from 2014 to 2015. Half of Ryan’s net worth comes from the trust of Prudence Little, the late mother of his wife Janna.

It was not a banner year for investments. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average had their worst year since 2008 while bonds, cash and commodities offered few appealing alternatives. Most members of Congress hew to more traditional investment choices, though a few have made fortunes in unusual ways. California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, the richest member in recent years, invested $7,000 in savings in a struggling Cleveland consumer electronics business in the early 1980s, turning it within a few years into the manufacturer of the enormously popular and profitable Viper car alarm.

For 2016, Roll Call examined the most recent disclosures of 27 power players in the 115th Congress, covering calendar year 2015. This group includes leadership, as well as expected chairmen and ranking members of influential committees.

The disclosure forms are imperfect at best — members are required to report values in broad ranges of minimums, starting at $1 to $1,000 and ending with any asset or liability worth $50 million or more. Roll Call’s method for calculating the minimum net worth remains the same: Total minimum reported value of assets minus total minimum reported value of liabilities equals total minimum net worth.