Apr 19

Mutually Beneficial Relationships on the Rise

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Mutually Beneficial Relationships on the Rise

Mutually Beneficial Relationships on the Rise

While the rich continue to get richer, the down economy has affected the way many women look at dating. Think about it, sites like Ashley Madison have over 9 million members (this is a website that caters to people cheating on their partners, discreetly). With the need for discretion, comes a financial and emotional element from the rich and the beautiful.

From the singles side, you have sites such as ArrangementSeekers.com that is growing in the mutual beneficial space. In short, you have college girls and women in their 20s having a hard time making ends meet. In exchange for a unique relationship, the man is left with an arrangement that will keep him smiling for years to come.

Mar 28

Elizabeth Taylor’s Many Marriages

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1.) Conrad “Nicky” Hilton (May 6, 1950 – January 29, 1951)

Taylor was 18 when she wed the 23-year-old hotel heir. Sadly, their marriage showed signs of trouble before their 14-week European honeymoon was over. In her 1988 autobiography, Elizabeth Takes Off, the actress described Hilton as “sullen, angry and abusive, physically and mentally.”

2.) Michael Wilding (February 21, 1952 – January 26, 1957)

Taylor met the British actor while filming Ivanhoe. Though he was 20 years her senior, the couple produced two sons: Michael (born in 1953) and Christopher (born 1955). After five years of marriage, the Taylor and Wilding divorced.

3.) Michael Todd (February 2, 1957 – March 22, 1958)

The movie producer was clear with his intentions: “He didn’t ask me, he told me,” Taylor recalled of his marriage proposal in Elizabeth Takes Off. Todd — who was 25 years older than Taylor — fathered a daughter, Liza, in 1957. One year into their marriage, Todd died in a plane crash.

4.) Eddie Fisher (May 12, 1959 – March 6, 1964)

One year after Todd’s death, Taylor found love again with her late husband’s good friend (who was married to actress Debbie Reynolds at the time). After Fisher left Reynolds, he and Taylor tied the knot in 1959. They split when Taylor began seeing her Cleopatra costar Richard Burton.

5.) Richard Burton (March 15, 1964 – June 26, 1974)

Taylor’s affair with her Cleopatra star caused a stir — and even prompted the Vatican to accuse Taylor of “erotic vagrancy.” “I’ve always admitted that I’m ruled by my passions, and I can’t pretend I didn’t know what I was doing when I became involved with Richard,” Taylor wrote of their union.

5.) Richard Burton (October 10, 1975 – July 29, 1976)

Though they ended their first marriage one year earlier, Taylor and Burton (who adopted a daughter, Maria, born in 1961) got hitched again — but not for long. The two divorced after less than a year of marriage.

6.) John Warner (December 4, 1976 – November 7, 1982)

After the National Velvet actress married the Virginia Republican, Warner was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1979. “I am a very committed wife,” Taylor later joked. “And I should be committed too — for being married so many times.”

7.) Larry Fortensky (October 6, 1991 – October 31, 1996)

After meeting at the Betty Ford Clinic, Taylor said “I Do” for the eighth time with construction worker Fortensky, a high-school dropout who was 20 years Taylor’s junior. After their divorce, Taylor vowed to never marry again — and she didn’t.



Mar 14

Top 10 Highest-Paid Government Positions

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1. President: Barack Obama

Annual Base Salary: $400,000
Maximum Job Length: 8 Years
Previous Job: Senator from Illinois

Job Description: The President is the head executive branch, the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, and the nation’s leader and figurehead. Obama is responsible for a great number of bureaucratic appointments and nominations, and many of the people on this list are put in place by the president.

2. Postmaster General: Patrick R. Donahoe

Annual Base Salary: $245,000
Maximum Tenure: 8 years
Previous Job: A number of executive positions in the U.S. Postal Service

Job Description: Donahoe is the leader of the U.S. postal service, a position which is older than the U.S. Constitution. Once a presidential cabinet position, appointments for the position now come from within the service. Donahoe helps set postal rates and services, and oversees all major regulation changes.

3. Vice President: Joseph Biden

Annual Base Salary: $227,300
Maximum Job Length: 8 Years
Previous Job: Senator from Delaware

Job Description: While the Vice President of the United States is the second-in-command of the executive branch, and aids the president in all of his bureaucratic and diplomatic efforts. The VP is also officially the President of the Senate, and presides over all meetings, although his only important role is to serve as the tiebreaker in the event of a voting deadlock. Vice President Biden is also next in line for the presidency should Obama die or become incapacitated.

4. Speaker of the House: John Boehner

Annual Base Salary: $223,500
Maximum Job Length: Potentially Unlimited, Generally 4-8 Years
Previous Job: Member of the U.S. House of Representatives From Ohio

Job Description: The Speaker of the House does not legally need to be a member of the House of Representatives, but there has never been a speaker appointed from outside the legislative branch. The speaker is third in line for the presidency. The speaker’s role includes presiding over the house and setting his party’s agenda. This position stands as proxy for the House Minority Leader, who makes the same amount.

5. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Admiral Michael Mullen

Annual Base Salary: $220,734.36
Maximum Job Length: 8 Years
Previous Job: Chief of Naval Operations

Job Description: While the president is technically the commander of the U.S. Armed Forces, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — the combined panel of the Army, Air Force, and Navy — is the functional leader of the military. The Chairman is appointed by the President.

6. Chief Justice of Supreme Court John G. Roberts

Annual Base Salary: $217,400
Maximum Job Length: Life
Previous Job: Judge on the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals

Job Description: As the Chief Justice of the nine-member Supreme Court, Roberts is the head of the U.S. Federal court system, and is effectively the Leader of the Judicial branch of the government. The Chief Justice is the spokesperson for the court, deciding who writes its opinions. Roberts is also responsible for setting the court’s agenda.

7. Chairman of the Federal Reserve: Benjamin Bernanke

Annual Base Salary: $199,700
Maximum Job Length: 14-28 years
Previous Job: Professor of Economics at Princeton

Job Description: The Chairman of the Federal Reserve is in charge of the Federal banking system of the U.S. As head of the fed, Bernanke dictates and explains the direction of U.S. fiscal policy and works with the Department of the Treasury.

8. Senate Majority Leader: Harry Reid

Annual Base Salary: $193,400
Maximum Job Length: Indefinite, usually 4-8 years, or until Senate changes hands
Previous Job: Governor of Nevada

Job Description: The Senate Majority Leader did not exist until the beginning of the 20th century. According to the U.S. Senate website: “The leader must keep himself briefed and informed on national and international problems in addition to pending legislative matters. On the floor of the senate he is charged by his party members to deal with all procedural questions in consultation with them and his party’s policy-making bodies.” Additionally, Reid must be in contact with all of the various committees and maintain a line of communication between them and the senate. This position stands as proxy for the minority and majority leaders in both the Senate and House, who all make the same amount.

9. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner

Annual Base Salary: $191,300
Maximum Job Length: Generally 8 years
Previous Job: President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Job Description: Appointed by the President, the Secretary of the Treasury serves as the principal economic advisor for the President. According to the Department of the Treasury: “The Secretary is responsible for formulating and recommending domestic and international financial, economic, and tax policy, participating in the formulation of broad fiscal policies that have general significance for the economy, and managing the public debt.” Geithner is a proxy for many other presidential cabinet members, who make the same amount, including Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

10. Secretary of State: Hillary Clinton

Annual Base Salary: $186,600
Maximum Job Length: Generally 8 Years
Previous Job: Senator From New York

Job Description: The Secretary of State is appointed by the president to serve as chief diplomatic representative of the U.S. Besides overseeing all State Department operations, including the operations of the U.S. embassies and representation in the UN, Secretary of State Clinton is responsible for the foreign operations of the CIA, the Defense Department, and the Department of Homeland Security. Clinton is also fourth in the chain of succession for presidency.

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Mar 07

Top Dream Jobs: Six-Figure Salaries and a Bright Future

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Seemingly every week, another publication or website comes out with its list of the “Best Jobs of the Year” or the “Hottest Careers,” purporting to show the best fields to get into for job stability and earnings potential. The problem with many of these lists is that the jobs and careers on them often require years and years of training (see: biomedical engineer), offer an extremely small overall pool of jobs (see: meteorologist), or really don’t pay all that well (see: home health aide).

So we’ve put together a list of jobs that suffer from none of these disadvantages. Using statistics from the Bureau of Labor, salary sites, professional trade groups, and recruiters, we identified jobs that don’t require more than two years of additional training to secure a position, have a reasonably large and growing number of overall jobs, and offer six-figure salaries to top earners in the field (generally, the top 10 percent of those employed). These, to our mind, are the true dream jobs. Or, if you’d rather work from home, you could always get paid to be a blogger

1.) Mobile Applications Developer


Salary for top earners: $115,000

Projected job growth: 131 percent this year alone

Additional training required: Programming experience in mobile platforms is necessary, but depending on your background, you can fine-tune your knowledge with a DIY approach or perhaps an online certificate program that typically takes one year to complete.

Developing and building applications for smartphones, iPads, and other tablets and notebook PCs is one of the most in-demand jobs in the world right now. So enticing is the revenue from mobile apps — Gartner estimates that worldwide revenue could top $15 billion this year — that Google recently announced it’s hiring dozens of mobile developers in an attempt to counter Apple. Reality check: This isn’t a field for dilettantes: it requires serious programming and IT skills, but the growth potential is huge.

2.) Global Supply Chain Manager


Salary for top earners: $135,100

Projected job growth: 10 percent by 2012

Additional training required: Transitioning into this field could take between six months for courses and up to two years to get a master’s degree. Those with operations, purchasing, or logistics education and/or experience have the best chance of getting into this field.

Global supply chain managers are the unsung heroes of companies who have to get products from A to B, on time, and on budget — and now across continents and time zones as well. The job calls for calm problem-solving ability, high-tech handiness, and diplomatic skill — a triple threat that’s hard to find. According to industry analysts, there is a growing shortage of these specialists as companies streamline and speed up every link in the chain to stay competitive.

3.) Financial Advisor


Salary for top earners: $139,350

Projected job growth: 30 percent by 2018

Additional training required: While not required, the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) certificate is a useful credential to get into this profession. The coursework and exam can usually be completed in 18 to 24 months, and over 250 institutions across the country, including some that are online, offer CFP-approved programs.

Once solely the purview of the wealthy, getting financial planning is now viewed as a prudent move for much of the population, particularly as traditional pensions fade. Consider that never before in history have regular people been required to take on this much responsibility for investing their nest eggs. You’ll be helping clients build portfolios, save for college or a house, and do estate planning, either at a firm or for yourself.

4.) Online Marketing Director


Salary for top earners: $100,000+

Projected job growth: 60 percent this year

Additional training required: Familiarity with web analytics and search engine optimization and marketing can be acquired over several months via webinars, workshops, and online courses. A combination of marketing experience and online tech savvy, however, can help get your foot in the door.

As an online marketing director, you’d be developing and managing a company’s social media strategy, website, online and email campaigns, and ecommerce and merchandising. “The field is exploding and you don’t need an M.B.A.,” says Ellen Pack, vice president of marketing for Elance.com, which places online talent. According to Daniel Greenberg, chief marketing officer for job search engine SimplyHired.com, the number of listings for online marketing directors has increased more than 250 percent since June 2009.

6.) Financial Analyst, Gaming Industry


Salary for top earners: $100,000

Projected job growth: 20 percent by 2018

Additional training required: Seminars, webinars, and online classes offered through the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada Las Vegas will bring you up to speed. The five core courses could be completed within two years, less time if you double up.

There are currently 943 casinos in 38 states across the country, and more are being built every day. And with their focus on efficiency and profitability, gaming companies need qualified financial analysts. In particular, new racetrack casinos, or ‘racinos,’ are starting to flourish and hire, says Beth Deighan, CEO of Casino Careers LLC, an executive search firm. Skills from arenas such as government and finance are often transferable, Deighan says.

by Louise Tutelian