Parents around the world are debating when to give their children smartphones, as evidence grows that smartphones can have negative effects on the mental health of children.

Research indicates that young people’s mental health was worse the earlier they got their first smartphone, according to a Sapien Labs study published last year, which used data from 27,969 18-24-year-olds across 41 countries.

Some 74% of girls who received their first smartphone at age six said they felt distressed or were struggling, the study found. This decreased to 52% for those who got their first smartphone at age 15.

Meanwhile, 42% of boys who got their first smartphone at age 6 experienced feeling distressed or struggling, and this reduced to 36% for those who received a smartphone at age 18.

But smartphones have become an essential part of everyday life in an increasingly online world and many parents want to give their children devices so they can keep track of their location and stay in touch with them when they leave the home. So how soon is too soon?

Zach Rausch, a research scientist at New York University Stern School of Business and the lead researcher for Jonathon Haidt’s No. 1 New York Times bestseller “The Anxious Generation,” said it’s particularly important to keep smartphones away from preteens.

“We suggest in the book to delay smartphones in the U.S. until high school, so that’s around age 14,” Rausch told CNBC Make It in an interview. “Social media, we suggest delaying until 16, so a little older.”

“Then we suggest phone-free schools from at least kindergarten through middle school in the U.S., but ideally also through high school,” he added.

It comes as grassroots organizations advocating for delaying giving smartphones to kids are gaining traction around the world.

Both Smartphone Free Childhood in the U.K. — which was founded after an “accidental” social media post went viral in February and now has almost 70,000 Instagram followers around the world — and Delay Smartphones in the U.S. cite the research and recommendations of Rausch and Haidt. 

Some academics and scientists remain unconvinced of a causal link between smartphones and poor mental health, however. Earlier this year, psychology professor Christopher Ferguson said the concerns are the latest iteration of recurring moral panic which sees older people “freak out” about new and unfamiliar technology.

For Rausch, the recommended ages of 14 for smartphones and 16 for social media are important for a couple of key reasons.

“The first is that in the United States, we want to get the phones out of middle school because it is the period when you’re in early puberty, which is when you’re just extremely sensitive and insecure. It’s already a hard time, we don’t need to add the phones in there,” he explained.

Middle School typically includes grades six to eight, or children between the ages of 11 and 14 — essentially, the dreaded preteen years.

This is the “period of highest vulnerability during puberty,” Rausch said

He added that in the seventh grade, which is around ages 12 to 13, “there is the most bullying of any grade out there,” and so delaying smartphone use prevents amplifying the issue even further.

Rausch admitted that the ages suggested in “The Anxious Generation” are “in some ways arbitrary,” but that they’re trying to set a “collective norm” that parents can agree on and follow.

“If we can agree upon it together, then it makes it much easier to act,” he explained. “So if we delay until 14, which is a reasonable ask, we can help at least get it out from the younger ages, which is what we’re seeing is that larger and larger proportions of 10-year-olds and six-year-olds already have their own personal device.”

This story is part of CNBC Make It’s Millennial Money series, which details how people around the world earn, spend and save their money.

After graduating from Syracuse University in 2017 and spending three years working corporate jobs in both advertising and marketing in New York City, Vienna Hintze wanted a change.

In 2020, the then 24-year-old struck out on her own and created her own digital marketing agency. In September 2022, she moved to Los Angeles while running her agency from her apartment, but still found herself longing for something more.

“I was kind of losing the why behind what I was doing,” she tells CNBC Make It. “I had moved out to L.A. and something just wasn’t working anymore. I had changed everything about my life except my agency.”

That restless feeling led to a talk with her therapist, who advised her to create a list of what she wanted from her ideal job. Hintze listed out that she wanted to work with her hands, be outside interacting with people and that she’d love to own an old pickup truck.

About a week later, she came up with the idea to start her own flower truck business, Main Street Flower Truck.

Since launching in August 2023, the business has brought in around $44,000 in revenue, plus an additional $4,500 in cash, Hintze estimates.

In May 2024, the now 29-year-old’s business brought in around $16,000 that month alone.

“If you’re living with your happiness, the money will follow,” she says.

Hintze grew up in Long Island, New York, and her father used to commute to his job as a firefighter in a pickup truck. Her mom held many different jobs but her love of gardening was a mainstay, Hintze says. So both the vehicle and the bouquets were familiar to her.

“Growing up, she had the entire backyard blossoming and blooming constantly,” Hintze says. “And some of my favorite memories with my dad was driving around in his little pickup truck.”

She decided to name her company after the street where she grew up, Main Street. But before she could move forward, she needed to obtain a key element: the vehicle.

Since she was still running her digital marketing agency full-time, she had only looked at, and taken test drives in, a few potential trucks. Eventually, by accident, she stumbled upon the perfect one.

When her parents came to visit her and her sister in Los Angeles last May, they decided to drive to Ojai, a small town in Ventura County about two hours outside of the city. While cruising along a back road, she spotted a bright green pickup truck with a for-sale sign in the window that looked similar to the one she drove while in high school.

“This felt very meant to be,” she says.

After the family pulled over to inspect the truck, Hintze wrote down the number on the for-sale sign. She called the owner that same day to ask if she could take it for a test drive. The seller agreed and told her that she had just replaced the engine and the transmission.

“I put my hands on the hood of the truck and just had this thought to the universe saying, ‘Please, if this is meant to be, please give me a sign.’”

The universe delivered: The owner told Hintze that the truck’s name is “Fiona.”

“My name is Vienna and every time I have introduced myself to someone in L.A., only in L.A., they’ve all asked me if I just said ‘Fiona’,” she says. “So that was my sign that, absolutely, I need to buy this truck.”

Two weeks later, she purchased Fiona for around $10,000 using money from her personal savings. Although she felt nervous about whether the flower truck would be successful, she was confident in her ability to run her own business.

“As scary as it was to pull the trigger on the flower truck, I already knew that I was the type of person to be all or nothing on whatever I do,” she says. “I was going to be 100% dedicated to it, and anything it takes to make it work I was going to definitely do.”

In August, Hintze began selling flowers from her pickup truck on the side while running her digital marketing agency. But as business began to pick up for her flower truck, clocking in for her marketing job got harder.

“It was like pulling teeth to get me to log in every day,” she says.

She knew she had a decision to make: Should she focus on running the flower truck full time, or her marketing agency? By February, she made the choice to pour all of her time and energy into growing her flower truck business.

Hintze decided to put her advertising and social media marketing skills to work for her own brand, and saw the results of her efforts pay off a few months later in April.

“I had some content start to go viral which felt incredible because, for the first time, I was marketing my own brand and it was the most authentic thing I had ever done,” she says.

That’s not to say Hintze hasn’t faced unexpected challenges. Since she spends thousands purchasing flowers, she used trial and error to figure out how much she should charge in order for her business to be profitable, for example.

″[At] the very first pop-up, I was selling huge bouquets for $7 and lot of that was just to prove to myself people will buy these bouquets, keep going,” she says. “I definitely lost money that day, but that’s OK.”

Her flower truck business brings in money in three ways, Hintze says: through pop-up events, corporate bookings and video shoots.

At pop-up events, she drives her truck full of freshly picked flowers that she’s arranged into bouquets to various locations around Los Angeles. She sells them for anywhere between $10 for a mini bouquet to up to $75 for larger custom arrangements made right on the spot.

“It’s always really fun to hear about whoever’s receiving the bouquet because then I customize it based on what they might like and their personality,” she says.

In between pop-ups, she books corporate events, parties and weddings. So far, she’s worked with a number of companies, including Lululemon, Free People and Universal Music Group.

For these events, the company or person can choose to rent the truck without flowers; rent the truck with flowers that can be sold to attendees; or rent the truck and pay for the flowers up-front to be given out to attendees for free. For these events, she charges based on how long they’re booking the truck and how many flowers they’d like to purchase.

Since flowers are seasonal, she earns more money in some months than others. Sales tend to fluctuate around holidays like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, she says.

In general, Hintze aims to book at least three events each month, which she says generates enough money to cover her living expenses. However, she tries to keep her personal expenses low so that she doesn’t outspend her earnings.

In May, however, Hintze had the most bookings since she began her flower truck business. She booked 10 events and brought in a little over $16,000 in revenue.

“I’m hoping to keep that momentum up for the rest of the year,” she says.

Here’s a look at the Main Street Flower Truck’s expenses for May 2024:

Hintze’s largest expense is flowers, which totaled about $2,304 in May.

Before a pop-up or other type of event, she swings by her local flower district to choose which flowers looks the freshest and brightest, she says.

“I always gravitate toward wild flowers and things that look very whimsical and fairy-like,” she says. “I think it makes it the most fun-looking setup for the truck.”

She then brings those home and begins prepping them for sale by removing leaves, thorns and cutting stems. Finally, she arranges the flowers into bouquets and places them into various vessels, such as antique milk jugs and vintage buckets.

Her other expenses come from gas and maintaining her pickup truck. While the truck hasn’t needed any expensive repairs since she bought it, occasionally, she’s had to learn how to fix mechanical issues on the fly.

“One of the biggest issues having an older truck is the amount that it breaks down and having to randomly jump start it the morning of a pop-up when you’re set to be there at a certain time,” she says.

Moving forward, Hintze plans on continuing to grow Main Street Flower Truck and help companies and individuals bring their floral dreams to life. But she isn’t thinking about expanding her one-woman business yet.

“People ask me a lot if I’m going to franchise the truck and have a fleet of flower trucks, and I don’t see that being the plan for maybe ever, but definitely for a while,” she says. “My goal is to have the flower truck be as successful as it can as its own standalone, and see how far that can go.”

She hopes that the truck can be featured in TV shows or movies one day. “In the future, I’m hoping that Fiona will have her red carpet moment,” she says.

Hintze plans to continue to enjoying the freedom and work-life balance she’s gained by starting Main Street Flower Truck.

“I’m excited to keep exploring the creativity that I have that was pushed away for so long and really develop a routine out here that keeps my peace of mind at the forefront,” she says.

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At 104 years old, Virginia Oliver plans to set sail and continue doing the job she’s loved for over 90 years: catching lobsters.

Oliver, known in Maine as the “Lobster Lady,” renewed her commercial lobster license just in time for lobster-catching season, according to TODAY.com.

“I’ve been lobstering on and off for 91 years,” Oliver said in the mini documentary “Conversations with The Lobster Lady.” The short film was shot in 2019 by Wayne Gray and Dale Schierholt.

Since then, Oliver’s continued lobstering. “I like to do it,” she said.

During good weather days in peak season, which spans from June to October, Oliver goes out on her boat “Virginia,” named after herself, to catch lobsters with her 81-year-old son, Maxwell. The pair make the trip three times a week.

“I don’t want to go five [days],” Oliver said. “That’s a regular job and I don’t need that.”

But Oliver does stick to a daily routine of waking up earlier than most people. “That’s my daily thing, a quarter to 5 [a.m.] in the morning I get up,” she said in the film. “But if we’re going out to haul, I usually get up at a quarter to 3 [a.m.]”

Oliver preps the bait bags for the lobster traps, and after her son hauls the lobsters, she measures them to make sure they’re large enough. If they don’t meet the size requirements, she tosses them back into the water.

She even gets dolled up before her trips to the boat. “I always wear earrings to haul,” Oliver said while laughing in the film. “I always wear my lipstick and things, just like I was going to go up the street somewhere.”

When Oliver was just eight years old, she went lobstering for the first time with her father who owned a store and was a lobster dealer. Her job was to weigh the lobsters and pump the gas for the boat at the time.

She continued lobstering with her late husband, even though most women didn’t do the job.

“When I started out with lobstering, no women ever went. Now there’s quite a few women,” Oliver said. “That was just the way I lived. I don’t worry about somebody else and what they’re going to do. I do what I want to do, but I’m really independent.”

When asked what her secret is for living to 100, Oliver said, “You’ve gotta keep living, you gotta keep working. It’s not easy.”

A lot of Oliver’s lifestyle choices also set her up for greatness; she stays active, sticks to a schedule, has never smoked and doesn’t enjoy alcohol, according to TODAY.com.

Oliver also spends a lot of time near water and grew up living on several islands off the coast of Maine, including Andrews Island, the Neck of Andrews Island, Dix Island Harbor and more.

Nearly all of the world’s blue zones, areas with the longest-living communities, are near water. Living near water “seems to make us happier,” longevity expert Dan Buettner told CNBC Make It in June.

And when it comes to doing what she loves, Oliver never plans to stop lobstering.

“I’m not going to retire,” she told TODAY.com. “I’m going to do this till I die.”

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How do you instantly gain someone’s trust? Whether it’s a new friend, a colleague, or a romantic prospect, genuinely connecting and building strong bonds might seem daunting, but emotional intelligence is absolutely an ability that you can learn.

I’m a Harvard-trained emotional intelligence researcher and the founder of Mind Brain Emotion, a company that makes card games, like 52 Essential Relationship Skills, to help people build the “human skills” that can help them thrive in social settings, from coping to critical thinking. 

I’ve spent much of my career exploring the ways that the most successful and effective communicators develop relationships. Here are three things people with high emotional intelligence always do when talking to others:

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The most emotionally intelligent people have an exceptional ability to weave questions into any conversation to spark and sustain interest. 

Often, their initial questions are focused on getting to know your experiences, thoughts, and feelings. They ask intentional, open-ended queries like:

• “How did you get into … ?”
• “What are your thoughts on … ”
• “How do you feel about … ?”

They have a rhythmic way of sprinkling follow-up questions about you throughout the interaction. Their ability to demonstrate social awareness and empathy — hallmarks of emotional intelligence — enables them to appear authentic, rather than nosy.

They connect on both intellectual and emotional levels. They may ask about your passions, happy places and pain points. This genuine interest drives their desire to help and others to reciprocate.

The result is that everyone leaves the interaction feeling seen, heard and valued.

When a stranger feels instantly familiar and relatable to you, it might be because they are mirroring you. That’s the practice of subtly mimicking the behaviors, speech patterns and body language of others.

Highly emotionally intelligent people are skilled at reading social cues and mirror the people they speak with to deepen a connection. 

They pay close attention to tone, pace, and choice of words, and reflect these back in their responses. If you’re speaking slowly or excitedly, they might adjust their tempo to match your emotions. Similarly, if you lean in or make a gesture, they might do the same.

Mirroring is not about copying, replicating or manipulating. Rather, it’s about aligning with the other person’s communication style to build trust and show respect.

This behavior is the external manifestation of an internal desire to empathize and connect on a deeper level.

People with high emotional intelligence openly share their setbacks. They are not afraid to reveal their fears and failures. They see vulnerability as a strength and a means to build deeper connections.

They understand that their mistakes do not define them and that their job is not to please everyone. People with high EQ possess the emotional security and courage to be disliked.

They also have an uncanny ability to turn negativity into productivity. They observe how others react to their setbacks and use this information to filter out supporters from detractors.

They focus on what they can learn from their setbacks. That’s a hallmark of self-management and resilience, two key traits of emotional intelligence.

By sharing both their positive and negative experiences, highly emotionally intelligent people encourage those around them to share, learn, and grow together.

Dr. Jenny Woo is a Harvard-trained educator, EQ researcher, and founder/CEO of Mind Brain Emotion. She created a series of educational card games and mental health tools to help kids and adults develop human skills in the age of AI. Her award-winning card games, the 52 Essential Coping Skills, 52 Essential Critical Thinking, and 52 Essential Conversations are used in 50+ countries. Follow her on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.

Want to be a successful, confident communicator? Take CNBC’s new online course Become an Effective Communicator: Master Public Speaking. We’ll teach you how to speak clearly and confidently, calm your nerves, what to say and not say, and body language techniques to make a great first impression. Get started today.

You have to earn more than $1 million annually to be among the top 1% of earners in the richest U.S. states and Washington, D.C., a new GOBankingRates study reveals.

In D.C., you’re in the top 1% if you make $1,250,029 or more — the highest threshold in the U.S. That’s followed by five states where you also need to come in over the $1 million mark to be a top earner: Connecticut, Massachusetts, California, Washington and New Jersey.

The 1% thresholds are based on individual tax return data processed by the Internal Revenue Service in 2022, which has been adjusted by GOBankingRates to reflect 2024 dollar values. Here’s a look at where the 1% earn the most, based on that metric:

1. Washington, D.C.: $1,250,029
2. Connecticut: $1,192,947
3. Massachusetts: $1,152,992
4. California: $1,072,248
5. Washington: $1,024,599
6. New Jersey: $1,010,101
7. New York: $999,747
8. Colorado: $896,273
9. Florida: $882,302
10. Wyoming $872,896

One reason that Washington, D.C. has a higher threshold compared with states like California and New York is that it has a smaller population with a larger concentration of high-income earners. Many of the highest paid D.C. professionals are in the government sector, which includes senior officials, lobbyists and lawyers.

Connecticut also has a smaller population compared with most states. The state’s largest industry is financial services, and it is home to wealthy hedge funds and investment firms that tend to pay high salaries.

Massachusetts ranks third, largely due to an array of lucrative industries with high-paying specialized jobs, including financial services, education, technology and health care.

In contrast, West Virginia has the lowest income threshold for the top 1% of earners, starting at $435,302. Nationwide, the 1% income threshold is a median of $707,296.

Below are the thresholds for each state, in alphabetical order:

• Alabama: $577,017
• Alaska: $642,707
• Arizona: $713,264
• Arkansas: $550,469
• California: $1,072,248
• Colorado: $896,273
• Connecticut: $1,192,947
• Delaware: $640,330
• Florida: $882,302
• Georgia: $725,284
• Hawaii: $631,383
• Idaho: $728,859
• Illinois: $811,004
• Indiana: $572,403
• Iowa: $591,921
• Kansas: $674,225
• Kentucky: $532,013
• Louisiana: $608,143
• Maine: $609,173
• Maryland: $767,688
• Massachusetts: $1,152,992
• Michigan: $625,158
• Minnesota: $755,880
• Mississippi: $456,309
• Missouri: $610,837
• Montana: $741,182
• Nebraska: $651,641
• Nevada: $804,627
• New Hampshire: $839,742
• New Jersey: $1,010,101
• New Mexico: $493,013
• New York: $999,747
• North Carolina: $688,506
• North Dakota: $708,284
• Ohio: $601,685
• Oklahoma: $559,981
• Oregon: $707,296
• Pennsylvania: $720,778
• Rhode Island: $673,902
• South Carolina: $632,805
• South Dakota: $752,849
• Tennessee: $702,934
• Texas: $789,003
• Utah: $811,929
• Vermont: $645,255
• Virginia: $787,471
• Washington: $1,024,599
• Washington, D.C.: $1,250,029
• West Virginia: $435,302
• Wisconsin: $631,993
• Wyoming: $872,896

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