It’s probably not your first instinct to seek a tween’s advice when making decisions about your career.

But it may be rewarding to do so, especially if you want to start a business or launch a side-hustle. That’s according to Nikhil Kamath, a 38-year-old self-made billionaire and co-founder of Zerodha, an online stock brokerage platform.

“Don’t go to the previous generation to figure out what you should be doing 20 years from now,” he told LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky in a recent episode of “The Path” video series. “Go look at what the kids are doing. Go look at what a 16-year-old boy is doing [and] what he might want in 10 years.” 

Kamath got his start in business in the ninth grade, buying and reselling cell phones to his classmates before dropping out of high school. He later got a job working at a call center, teaching himself how to trade stocks in his free time, which inspired his career in finance.

Kamath co-founded the Bangalore-based Zerodha in 2010 alongside his brother. The trading platform has since grown to more than 10 million users, making it one of the largest in India and helping Kamath reach a $3 billion net worth, according to Forbes.

In 2021, he co-founded a venture capital firm called Gruhas, which supports entrepreneurs in industries like artificial intelligence and cleantech — both of which are top of mind for younger generations.

“A lot of the advice you might get from someone who’s 50 or 60 and in positions of power” may be out of touch with the needs and wants of your audience or consumers, Kamath told Roslansky, adding that young people are the ones who “define culture going forward.”

As young people navigate the world, they are often curious and have a fresh perspective that could inspire innovative ideas for your business, Kamath explained. And tapping into their social media habits could potentially help you shape your marketing strategy. 

Nearly half of teens are online “almost constantly,” according to Pew Research Center’s 2024 Teens, Social Media and Technology report, which analyzed the online habits of American youth between the ages of 13 and 17. They frequent YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat the most, often setting fashion, dance and lifestyle content trends on the platforms.

Moreover, it’s estimated that Gen Alpha, or those born between 2010 and 2024, will have $1.7 trillion in direct spending power and a $5.46 trillion economic footprint by 2029, according to research-based advisory firm McCrindle, which says this generation of consumers is being widely overlooked.

“Every organization, every brand, every product is just one generation away from extinction,” CEO Mark McCrindle told CFO Brew in May. 

Many executives have seen success using young people as inspiration: His own and other college students’ social habits inspired Mark Zuckerberg to launch Facebook in 2004. And Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann created the platform with his childhood love for collecting things in mind. 

Of course, you can get valuable business advice and inspiration from older people who’ve already navigated their way through entrepreneurship. But if you really want to know if your ideas are good, ask a kid, Kamath insisted.

“Look forward, look younger for inspiration, not older,” he said.

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Mortgage costs stayed stubbornly high in 2024, with 30-year fixed rates holding well above 6% for most of the year. Unfortunately for buyers, 2025 isn’t looking much better.

The Federal Reserve has been cutting interest rates, making the cost of borrowing for loans, credit cards, and auto financing cheaper. But mortgage rates haven’t really budged, frustrating potential buyers who had been holding out for lower home financing costs.

Instead, mortgage rates track more closely with 10-year Treasury bond yields, which lenders use as a benchmark for setting long-term borrowing costs.

These yields remain high due to lingering concerns about inflation — fueled by a strong economy and expectations of more deficit spending under president-elect Donald Trump. Investors are demanding higher returns on bonds to offset these risks, and as a result, bond yields — and mortgage rates — are staying elevated.

Trump has also proposed higher tariffs on imported goods, “which is always inflationary,” says Doug Carey, a chartered financial analyst and founder of WealthTrace, a financial planning software company. As a result, mortgage rates could remain higher than expected in 2025, he says.

With so much economic uncertainty, the outlook for mortgage rates in 2025 remains challenging for buyers.

While the Federal Reserve is expected to further reduce its benchmark interest rate by another 50 basis points, bringing it to a range of 3.75% to 4%, these cuts might not be enough to significantly lower borrowing costs for homebuyers.

That said, most forecasts have 30-year rates below the current rate of 7.11% as of Monday morning, according to Mortgage News Daily.

Here’s a look at the latest projections for 30-year fixed mortgage rates in 2025 from leading financial institutions and industry organizations:

• Mortgage Bankers Association forecasts a range of 6.4% to 6.6%
• Realtor.com anticipates rates to end the year at around 6.2%.
• Fannie Mae expects rates to average 6.4% for the year
• Wells Fargo projects a slight decline, with rates averaging around 6.3% by the end of the year
• Goldman Sachs predicts rates will remain above 6% through 2025

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Tanese Orr and her husband, Robert Lashley, had lived in New York City’s public housing for over 20 years when Orr entered the city’s housing lottery.

“I applied for the homeownership aspect because I was already renting and didn’t want to leave an apartment for another apartment,” Orr tells CNBC Make It.

Since 2015, the Small Homes Rehab-NYCHA Program has facilitated the purchase, rehabilitation and sale of FHA-foreclosed homes under NYCHA’s ownership to first-time homeowners.

61 homes have been renovated and sold to low- and moderate-income families since 2015.

In November 2022, three years after signing up, Orr logged into her Housing Connect profile and saw an active lottery for houses that the city was restoring.

Less than two months later, Orr received an email request to submit a list of required documents, including pay stubs and bank account information for everyone in the household. They had just two weeks.

After submitting the application, the couple viewed two homes: a three-family house and a two-family house, both in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The average Clinton Hill, NY home value is $971,984, up 2.2% over the past year, according to Zillow.

For both of these properties, a priority was ensuring they remained affordable and accessible to former NYCHA residents.

Orr was very familiar with Clinton Hill. In the early 2000s, she worked at a Blockbuster in the area and remembers telling people back then that she would live nearby someday.

“When I first got the job I remember looking around and saying ‘I really love this neighborhood and I want to live here,’” Orr says. “At that time I had no perspective of owning anything. I was a high school dropout, a teen mom living in the projects and working at Blockbuster, making minimum wage at the time. I didn’t know how I was going to do that but I just knew it was going to happen for me. It’s surreal that I live here now.”

Orr was most interested in the three-family house at first, but the couple were outbid.

The two-family house had been gut-renovated and was made up of two units. On the second floor was a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, and on the first floor was a three-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bathroom apartment. The house also had a backyard and a finished basement.

For the family, it was a pretty good second option. “We loved that it had a backyard,” Orr says.

Orr and her husband took out a $691,000 mortgage with a down payment of $36,369 and $23,395 closing costs. The house itself was valued at $1.1 million and the Department of Housing Preservation covered the rest of the purchase price in the form of a second mortgage. They also received a down payment assistance loan in the amount of $15,000.

The couple secured a 30-year State of New York Mortgage Agency low-interest rate mortgage, with a 6.6% interest rate. The monthly mortgage was $4,968.36 when they closed, but has since increased to $5,275.53 a month, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

“People think that we just won the lottery and we got it for free but that’s not true,” Orr says. “We still had to have a good amount saved.”

Though closing on the property took over six months, Orr says she was committed to buying the two-family house at all costs.

“While I was going through the process, they [HPD] kept asking for more documents but I didn’t care. I was going to find a way to get everything to them because I knew it would be my home,” she says.

Orr closed on the house in October and moved in November 2023. One condition of buying the house through the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development required the couple to rent out the one-bedroom apartment upstairs. They found a tenant who moved in October 2024 and pays $2,584 a month in rent.

The family has lived in the house for just over a year now, and says the biggest adjustment has been getting used to all the expenses that come with owning instead of renting, like paying for water, remembering to take out the garbage, and overall upkeep.

“We’re coming from paying $1,800 a month to now paying $5,000 a month for a mortgage. It was an adjustment,” she says.

Despite that, Orr says it’s worth it now that she and her husband are homeowners.

“The best part is saying that it’s ours and saying we did this and we were responsible enough to save and work hard for this and it’s ours,” she says. “It’s a peace of mind.”

Because of that sense of pride, Orr says she doesn’t see herself ever selling the house but does want to own another property down the line.

“I love Brooklyn, I love the neighborhood and I love that house,” she says.

Orr’s biggest piece of advice, having gone through this process with the NYC housing lottery, is to remember how vital your credit score is. “Even if you have the money, if your credit is not right, you’re going to miss out on a great opportunity.”

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As a health and wellness reporter, it’s nearly impossible to walk away from my many conversations with doctors, therapists, and authors without identifying a few practices I want to incorporate in my own life.

In 2024, I interviewed countless experts, researched intriguing topics and read books that changed my perspective.

Here are three things my reporting inspired me to do this year that changed my life for the better.

1. Take a social media break for a month

After feeling bogged down by mindless scrolling, I decided to spend an entire month without social media. I made the decision a few hours after interviewing George Jerjian, author of “Dare to Discover Your Purpose: Retire, Refire, Rewire” who changed his life after going on a 30-day silent retreat.

I knew I couldn’t commit to an entire month at a silent retreat, but signing out of my social media accounts for that same amount of time would give me the solitude that I desired and put an end to the overstimulation I was feeling from receiving constant notifications.

“I think in the noise-filled world that we live in, silence is a secret weapon. It’s a commodity that is priceless, because it allows you to shed the masks,” Jerjian told me in September.

“When you shed these masks, you come to face your true self.”

The experience allowed me to spend more time with myself. I journaled often and scheduled a minimum of 10 minutes each day to look out of my window and appreciate what I saw. Last month, I deleted my X account for good, and it’s been life-changing.

2. Embrace the wintertime

Every year, I typically dread when the sun starts setting earlier and earlier and the temperature drops. I used to see the winter as a time to avoid plans as much as possible and stay in the warmth of my own home.

But reading Kari Leibowitz’s “How to Winter” changed my perspective entirely. Leibowitz is a psychologist and Stanford-trained expert who lived in Tromsø, Norway for a year and learned that its residents enjoy their winter season, where the sun doesn’t rise for two full months.

Here’s what residents of Tromsø do right to make winter enjoyable:

• They appreciate winter by looking forward to it and having positive expectations about what the season brings
• They make the season special by planning fun activities and decorating their homes for coziness
• They go outside, regardless of the weather

It’s my first holiday season living on my own, so I took a page out of Leibowitz’s book by decorating my apartment. I also started burning the candles that have been collecting dust in my room, and dimming the lights in the evening for a cozy experience.

And for the month of December, I actually have plans every weekend which is drastically different from my usual hibernation schedule.

3. Gain ‘the courage to be disliked’

At the start of the year, a close friend suggested we read a book together and then meet to discuss our takeaways. She chose “The Courage to Be Disliked” by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, which was trending on social media at the time.

The Courage to Be Disliked is based on Adlerian theory, a psychology created by Austrian psychotherapist, Alfred Adler, that encourages people to embrace the possibility of being disliked by others in order to live more freely.

Being disliked by someone “is proof that you are exercising your freedom and living in freedom, and a sign that you are living in accordance with your own principles,” according to the book. 

Living your life for yourself requires that you be unconcerned with the judgement of others and accept that you may never be recognized for what you contribute — and still make those contributions anyway.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but the book encouraged me to start embracing my truest self, regardless of other people’s opinions. I started sharing my creative writing on social media, and I don’t allow the possibility of not being accepted to stop me from doing what makes me happy.

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Emily Hayes knew what she was signing up for when she became a lawyer.

Long hours, difficult clients and billing pressures are synonymous with the job. Yet, for Hayes, the intellectual challenge and the chance to help people made these sacrifices feel worthwhile.

What she didn’t anticipate was how quickly burnout would set in — or how much her job would overshadow other parts of her life. 

Hayes, 32, graduated from Stanford Law School in 2019. She spent the next two years working at a large international law firm in Redwood Shores, California, followed by a position as a federal district court law clerk in Portland, Oregon.

In October 2021, she joined O’Melveny & Myers, a large law firm in Los Angeles, as an associate.

After years of moving between jobs and cities, Hayes was optimistic about this new chapter in her career. 

Her colleagues were supportive, the assignments were engaging and the pay was generous. By the time she turned 30, Hayes was earning over $300,000 a year.

Yet, beneath the surface, the grind was taking a toll.

Her “breaking point” came in April 2023. Hayes found herself working overtime on a Saturday morning to prepare for an arbitration, just hours after leaving the office at 11 p.m. the night before. She was preparing for a major trial, but her stress and exhaustion had been building for months.

That morning, as she stared at her computer screen, she broke down. She recalls, “I started sobbing” because someone close to her was going through a difficult time, and she regretted being at the office instead of supporting them at home.

“It felt like I had to choose between showing up for my job in the way that was expected of me and showing up for the people I love in the way that I wanted to,” she tells CNBC Make It. “I panicked about the tension between the two.” 

Hayes adds, “Working at a law firm can make your life so unpredictable. You can never count on free time in the evenings or logging off before 10 p.m. I think you really have to love the work you’re doing to make that trade-off of your time feel worth it.”

At that moment, Hayes made a silent promise to herself — that she’d find a new job within a year.

That spring, Hayes began reaching out to former classmates and colleagues for advice. Through these conversations, she learned about a growing career path within the legal sector: product counseling.

Product counsel roles, particularly popular in Silicon Valley, involve working in-house at tech companies to provide legal and regulatory guidance on products and services. 

Unlike traditional law firm roles, product counsel positions often blend legal expertise with business strategy. “You’re a little less in the weeds with the law and much more involved in business strategy, which I’ve always been really interested in,” Hayes explains.

In October, a Stanford classmate mentioned that the tech company she worked for in San Francisco was hiring for product counsel positions.

The job came with two trade-offs: Hayes would need to relocate to San Francisco, and the base salary was about $220,000 in additional to an annual bonus, starting after her first year, of up to 15% of her total pay, depending on her performance and other company metrics.

This represented a significant pay cut from her law firm salary — about $150,000 less than her current earnings of $370,000 (comprised of $295,000 base pay and a $75,000 bonus) and $200,000 less than the $435,000 she would have earned the following year as a fifth-year associate with salary and bonus increases.

However, the role promised a more balanced lifestyle: a consistent 40-hour workweek, the flexibility to work from home two days a week, and the opportunity to advise on cutting-edge technologies like AI and cloud computing.

After careful consideration, Hayes decided the lower salary was a small price to pay for her well-being and a fresh start in an exciting new field.

She applied for the position in October 2023, received her offer letter in December, and started her new job in January 2024.

Her colleagues at O’Melveny & Myers were “really kind and supportive” of her decision, Hayes says. To facilitate a smooth transition, she created a detailed list of her ongoing cases and a suggested succession plan for her departure from the firm.

Adjusting to the six-figure pay cut was “much harder” than Hayes had anticipated. 

With her previous income, Hayes says she could “spend without much thought or stress,” whether ordering takeout several times a week or making significant payments on her student loans without worrying about having enough money left for rent.

Now, making about $150,000 less than she was a year ago, Hayes says she has had to pay closer attention to her monthly spending and saving, while also holding herself accountable to a budget. 

Last year, she started making TikToks to document her budgeting efforts and gather advice from other professionals in similar situations.

“I’m really fortunate that I still make enough to live comfortably,” says Hayes, who adds that her living expenses are slightly higher after moving from L.A. to San Francisco. “The biggest change with this pay cut,  anything, has just been shifting my mindset around money — I realized I had to think hard about my purchases even when they didn’t seem extravagant.” 

Now, as she approaches her first anniversary at the tech company (which she has chosen not to name), Hayes says she’s “really happy.”

For Hayes, the $150,000 pay cut wasn’t a sacrifice; it was an investment in her health, her relationships, and her future. In the first five years of her law career, she often struggled with sleep deprivation and stress

“I couldn’t turn my mind off,” she says. “I had trouble falling asleep at night and developed persistent jaw pain — but from the moment I quit my old job, all of those symptoms disappeared … it’s crazy.” 

The hardest part of her new gig, she says, has been figuring out how to spend her suddenly free evenings and weekends. 

“I’m spending more time with friends on weeknights, going to Pilates, picking up new hobbies, I bought a sewing machine,” she says. “Having that freedom and that balance has been priceless.” 

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