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The ex-diversity program manager for Facebook and Nike who stole more than $5 million from the mega companies to fund her “luxury lifestyle” was sentenced Monday to five years behind bars — and ordered to pay back the hefty sum. Barbara Furlow-Smiles, 38, set up fake business deals, invoices and events — including a Juneteenth celebration — to line her own pockets, the Justice Department said. “Furlow-Smiles shamelessly violated her position of trust as a DEI executive at Facebook to steal millions from the company utilizing a scheme involving fraudulent vendors, fake invoices, and cash kickbacks,” said US Attorney Ryan...

The minimum income required to buy a home now hovers at $116,000 nationwide, according to a new Realtor.com® report—but this threshold varies greatly based on where you live. On the high end is San Jose, CA, where homes are listed at a median of $1,467,000 and homebuyers need a salary of $361,000 to comfortably cover these massive mortgage payments. On the low end, homebuyers in Pittsburgh need to make just $67,000 to snag a property at a more modest median of $250,000. In April, mortgage rates started rising again, pushing up the cost of buying a home by 6.9% compared...

The salary to be considered 'rich' has risen in every state in the last five years - as rampaging inflation means everyday spending eats up a bigger chunk of wages. In fact, new data has revealed how the earnings needed to be among the wealthiest has soared by over 40 percent in some states. The definition of rich has changed the most in Washington state, according to data from GOBankingRates, where Americans must now earn $544,518 to be among the wealthiest, up from $378,374. The personal finance site defined 'rich' as those within the top 5 percent of earners in...

(NEXSTAR) — Decades ago, buying a home for $100,000 or less was the norm. Today, you need to earn at least $100,000 just to afford a “typical” home, according to a new analysis. Data tracked by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows the average sales price for homes sold in the U.S. was $492,300 last quarter, down from $552,600 a year prior. While there are signs of improvement, home sale prices are nowhere near where they were 40 years ago: in Q4 of 1984, the average sales price for houses sold nationwide was $97,800.

(NEXSTAR) — Even if your paycheck is slightly larger this year, you may find yourself on a tight budget, with housing, groceries, and more still sporting high price tags. A recent survey shows most Americans can hardly afford a $1,000 emergency. Unsurprisingly, where you live can have an impact on the wiggle room — or lack of it — in your budget. Personal finance site SmartAsset recently reviewed data from the MIT Living Wage Calculator, which estimates the living wage needed to support various family sizes across the country based on expenditure data for food, childcare, insurance, housing, transportation, and...

As cost increases persist and workers try to keep up, buzzwords like “poverty wage,” “minimum wage” and “living wage” are coming back into the lexicon, shaping conversations about what it means to make enough and who decides where to draw the line. The federal minimum wage, which was last raised in 2009, stands at $7.25 an hour. A full-time employee, working an average of 40 hours per week on minimum wage, makes $15,000 annually (which puts these workers below the poverty line in many states). A recent study from SmartAsset found that the average American worker needs $68,499 in after-tax...

Just a question for Democrat voters. To all those who serve the progressive agenda or whatever you call that declares free from the government. It is becoming difficult to keep up with all that you feel entitled to so I have a suggestion that will add clarity. Create a list of what you expect the citizens to provide for their welfare. Your well-meaning agenda can then concentrate on all the things the citizens cannot do for themselves. Neither your agenda nor the citizen will have to provide the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness already provided by...

President Obama's solicitor general, defending the national health care law on Wednesday, told a federal appeals court that Americans who didn't like the individual mandate could always avoid it by choosing to earn less money. Neal Kumar Katyal, the acting solicitor general, made the argument under questioning before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. The three-judge panel, which was comprised of two Republican-appointed judges and a Democratic-appointed judge, expressed more skepticism about the government's defense of the health care law than the Fourth Circuit panel that heard the Virginia-based Obamacare challenge last

I came across the most recent summary report for the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and I thought its pared-down tables and graphs nicely encapsulated the pension situation in the state. First note that the average annual salary in 2010 for active working educators enrolled in the system was $64,156. The next table states that the average retirement benefit paid out in 2010 was $4,256 per month. That’s $51,072 annually. In other words, the average retired teacher in California made more than the average working teacher in 28 states, according to the salary rankings published by NEA. The final...

ALBANY - Being governor may be the top gig in state government, but it certainly doesn't pay that way. Nearly 1,000 state employees made more than the governor's $179,000 salary last year, the Empire Center for New York State Policy found."As a taxpayer, I'd be interested in less people making more than my governor, not more," said Empire Center director Tim Hoefer.SUNY Binghamton basketball coach Kevin Broadus topped the charts with more than $1 million in a settlement with the university to end his scandal-plagued tenure.

On the surface, the fight between the governor of Wisconsin and organized labor is about balancing state budgets and collective bargaining rights. Behind the scenes, hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to top labor leaders as well as campaign contributions to Democrats could be in jeopardy if workers lose. The trickle-up effect of the standoff in Wisconsin and other states could irreparably damage the corporate-like compensation structures that the Top 10 labor unions have built over decades. Union treasuries—filled by dues paid by union members—not only fund programs benefiting union members and their families. The money also pays six-figure...

New York City sanitation bosses think they've got it so bad that they intentionally delayed snow-removal, according to the NY Post.So how bad have they got it? City workers enjoyed steady employment through the recession, killer benefits and a generous pension package. Then there's the pay. 315 sanitation workers earned over $100,000 in 2009, according to SeeThroughNY. The top guy, John Doherty, earned $205,180.There are also perks that come with the job.

One of the reasons for the ascendance of the English-speaking world has been that the English language is almost alone among major languages in having the word "earn." Those of us whose native language is English assume that the phrase "to earn a living" is universal. It isn't. It is almost unique to English. Few languages have the ability to say this. In the Romance languages, for example - a list that includes such major languages as Spanish, French, and Italian — the word used when saying someone "earns" money, is "ganar" in Spanish, "gagner" in French. The word literally...

House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter is proposing a ten-point private recapitalization plan to restore stability to the financial markets, in opposition to the Bush administration's proposed bailout plan that Congress is currently considering. Over the past three days, conservatives in Congress have raised serious doubts about the $700 billion Paulson Plan, and as Democrats have attempted to play politics with the plan, it now appears the Bush bailout may not be passed by the end of the congressional session, which is expected late Thursday or Friday. McCotter's plan is the most specific alternative on the House side and...

Nursing has long been a ladder up for minority women, but a new state study shows that in New York City, black nurses get paid less than their white counterparts. The Center for Health Workforce Studies at the State University of New York in Albany compared the salaries of nurses with similar experience and credentials and found that black nurses made less in almost all cases. For example, black nurses with 30 or more years of experience earned an average annual salary of about $81,000, while white nurses with the same experience earned an average of almost $90,000—11% more. "That...

TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 16, 2007 – Army Warrant Officer 1 Derrick Rodriguez is literally in the clouds after graduating from the OH-58D flight course at the Army’s Aviation School at Fort Rucker, Ala., where he learned to fly the Kiowa Warrior helicopter. But being in the clouds is not what excites this 26-year-old. Army Warrant Officer 1 Derrick Rodriguez stands in front of his Kiowa Warrior following his graduation from the Army's Aviation School at Fort Rucker, Ala. America Supports You member Special Operations Warrior Foundation funded his attending college which led him to becoming an Army aviator. Courtesy...

INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. (Army News Service, May 18, 2006) - Soldiers can serve on the battlefield with confidence knowing the world’s best medics are there to help if they become injured. The best of the best of these Soldiers wear a badge that identifies them as the cream of the Army's medical crop - the Expert Field Medical Badge. Only 18 of 250 candidates earned the badge at the Army’s largest EFMB testing session, which took place May 12 at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa. The low number might seem alarming, but it is a testament to the badge's demanding criteria....

U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Andrew Giermann takes an Afghan boyÂ’s hand during a visit to Rechah Lam in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, March 11, 2006. Giermann, of the Scout Sniper Platoon of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, joined other Marines in distributing food, blankets, clothing and toys. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Joe LindsayMore Photos Marines Stymie Taliban, Earn Afghan Villagers' Trust The Marines of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment have a dual mission: to track down insurgents and to ensure Afghan villagers have the opportunity to live in peace. By U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Joe Lindsay...