When I moved from Japan to the U.S. in the 1990s, it wasn’t always easy to get the ingredients I knew and loved. But there were some staples that were easier to come by, like whole grains and beans. 

From there, I built my favorite breakfast: brown rice, beans, “natto” (fermented soybeans), “nukazuke” (pickled vegetables), wrapped with nori (seaweed) and topped with roasted sesame seeds. I have it with a bowl of miso soup and hojicha green tea.

I call this meal my “yakuzen zakkokumai,” or medicinal multigrain rice. It is a healing, restorative start to my day. As a nutritionist, I recommend it to my clients, too. 

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The meal is filled with nutrients like iron, iodine, potassium, calcium, magnesium and B, C and K vitamins.

The brown rice, beans and seaweed are all good sources of fiber. Thanks to the fermentation process, natto and nukazuke are also rich in probiotics. Fiber and probiotics are both helpful for your overall gut health and digestion. 

The nori and green tea both contain polyphenols, naturally occurring compounds in plants that are rich in antioxidants, help fight illness and inflammation, and manage blood sugar levels — the whole grain rice helps with that, too. 

The tofu in my miso soup, and beans in general, are good sources of protein and essential amino acids, without the cholesterol and environmental impact that meat, dairy or poultry can have.

I batch cook everything at the start of the week and keep stores of homemade natto, nukazuke and miso soup on hand. 

I typically use organic California short grain brown rice, but when I want to treat myself, I’ll order Morika (my favorite grain shop in my hometown of Nara, Japan) ancient rice from The Rice Factory.

The vegetables in my nukazuke are often seasonal, but I love eggplant, cucumber, napa cabbage, daikon and Japanese turnip. I’m a fan of Suzuki Farm, which is run by Japanese farmers in Delaware, and I often source ingredients from them.

Here is how I make the different elements of my breakfast:

1. I place my brown rice and bean mixture (typically 3 cups of brown rice per 1 cup of beans) into my rice cooker, followed by a 2 x 2 inch square of kombu seaweed. 
2. Using the brown rice setting, I let the rice and bean mixture cook for two hours for better flavor and texture.
3. I place cooked rice in an airtight container and keep it in the refrigerator. I repeat the process two to three times a week. 

1. I will soak one pound of soybeans overnight, plus boil them for an additional three to four hours the next day.
2. I put a half pound (the other half goes into the fridge for miso or other recipes) of cooked soybeans into flat airtight containers, add my natto starter and place them into the oven with the light on for 20 to 24 hours. 
3. I put the container into the refrigerator for an additional 10 hours to stop further fermentation and set the natto’s deep flavor. 
4. For the nukazuke, I will mix my lightly salted veggies into “nukadoku” (fermented rice bran paste), add rice brain or sea salt as needed, and marinade for two to three days in the refrigerator. 

While I enjoy the fermentation process, you can also purchase prepared natto and nukazuke at the grocery store or online.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups water 
• 3 x 3 inch piece of kombu
• 3 to 4 pieces dried shiitake                                                            
• 1 sweet onion                  
• 1 medium potato
• 1/2 sweet potato  
• 1 carrot
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
• Additional veggies of your choosing 
• 2 tablespoons of white miso paste 
• 1 package of firm tofu                                                                         
• 1 tablespoon dried wakame seaweed
• 1 tablespoon dried goji berry (optional) 
• Handful of thinly chopped scallions (optional garnish)

Steps: 

1. Wipe the kombu and shiitake with a damp paper towel.
2. Dice the potatoes, chop the fresh ginger and slice the sweet onion (finely) and carrot.
3. In a medium pot, add water, kombu, shiitake, onion, potato, sweet potato, carrots and goji. Bring to a boil at high heat and cover with a lid.
4. Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
5. In a small bowl, combine the miso paste and 1/2 cup of soup from the pot until the miso paste completely dissolves.
6. Add tofu, wakame and miso mixture into the pot over medium heat. Continue simmering for about three minutes. Then it’s ready to serve.

Once everything is prepared, it takes about five minutes to assemble breakfast in the morning. If I’m heading out the door, I’ll make some nori-wrapped rice balls, for the perfect to-go breakfast, snack or lunch. 

Michiko Tomioka, MBA, RDN is a certified nutritionist and longevity expert. Born and raised Nara, Japan, her approach focuses on a plant-based diet. She has worked in nutritional roles at substance recovery centers, charter schools and food banks. Follow her on Instagram @michian_rd.

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For four years, actor Hugh Grant employed a fake talent agent named “James Howe Ealy” to handle his business affairs. It was actually just Grant himself using a different email account and once putting on a “pretty bad” Scottish accent over the phone. 

This story is one of many I’ve heard of people who made the same powerful decision I did early in my career: creating a fake assistant.

Today, I run a successful business generating about $18,000 in monthly passive income, according to my calculations from a recent month’s deposits, and I work just four hours a day. But back in 2009, I was a college dropout with $50,000 in student loans, trying to build a social media marketing business from scratch.

I knew I needed help managing my growing workload, but I couldn’t afford to hire anyone. That’s when I discovered the fake assistant method.

It might seem unconventional, but looking back, it was the best business decision I ever made.

In the early days of my business, I noticed a few patterns. Potential clients would try to schedule calls at all hours, haggle over prices, or expect immediate responses to every email. I was drowning in administrative tasks instead of focusing on revenue-generating work.

Saying “no” felt impossible as a new entrepreneur, but I needed boundaries. “If only I had an assistant,” I thought.

I suddenly realized that because most of my work happened digitally, it didn’t matter whether I replied to emails from prospective clients as myself or as someone else.

If I had someone else to reply to emails, I could start setting a new standard, charging more money, and holding myself accountable to growing my business. That’s when I hired my fake assistant, Olivia.

I created a professional email address for Olivia. Then I started cc’ing her on all client communications to handle tasks like scheduling calls and sending invoices. 

This small change had an immediate impact. When clients wanted to schedule a meeting, instead of the back-and-forth eating up my day, Olivia would step in: “Amy’s calendar is booked for the next two weeks, but I can offer you Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET.”

The results were remarkable. Clients respected my time more, readily accepted my rates, and treated my business more professionally. 

This method isn’t about deception — it’s about creating systems that allow your business to grow. 

You might be thinking the obvious: “But Amy, you’re still doing all this work yourself. What’s the difference?”

Here’s what I learned about how even a fake assistant who’s actually you can transform your business:

• It helps set better boundaries. Having an assistant gives you a buffer to protect your time and energy. When a client wants to schedule a last-minute call, your assistant can politely decline without making it personal. When you’re replying as yourself, you might feel a sense of obligation and find it harder to say “no.”
• It positions your business more professionally. Clients treat you differently when they observe efficiency in action. That’s what a great team can do for you. And even a temporarily fake one can help, leading to better rates and more respect for your time.
• It forces you to create efficient, transferable systems. When you’re acting as if you have an assistant, you’re creating, testing, and refining processes, workflows, and infrastructure that someone could easily step into and replicate on your behalf. This preparation made it infinitely easier to onboard and train real help when I could finally afford it.
• It prepared me to delegate. By the time I hired a real assistant, I had a clear understanding of exactly what I needed help with, how to delegate effectively, how to manage my time, and how to run my business smoothly. 

If you’re considering this method, here are some pro tips:

1. Don’t use it as a crutch. The goal is to build systems that will help you grow, not create extra work. Keep it simple and professional.
2. Remember the end goal. This is a stepping stone to hiring real help, not a permanent solution. 
3. Track your time in “admin mode.” When you realize how much time these admin tasks take, you’re getting a tangible idea of what level of assistant you need to hire in the near future and for how many hours.

Hiring Olivia meant more than just having a cheerful, organized persona with an email address. It was my first step toward building a scalable business. Today, I have real team members helping me manage my YouTube channel, books, and coaching business.

The fake assistant method taught me very real and crucial lessons about valuing my time, setting professional boundaries, and creating systems for growth. 

It also helped me discover firsthand that sometimes the best business decisions are the ones that seem a little unusual at first.

Amy Landino is a personal brand coach and the award-winning creator of AmyTV on YouTube. She is an instructor in CNBC’s online course How to Earn Passive Income Online. Follow her on Instagram.

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Where you retire could change your savings needs by as much as $1.49 million, according to a new analysis by GoBankingRates.

In Hawaii, you need around $2.21 million to retire at 65 and cover essential living expenses — including housing, groceries, transportation, utilities and health care — for 25 years. That’s the highest minimum required in any U.S. state. By comparison, West Virginia requires just $712,913, the lowest amount needed to cover these same basic costs.

The estimates are based on average annual living expenses for each state, using the most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. After subtracting average Social Security income from the annual expenditures, GoBankingRates divided the remaining amount by 4%, following a common rule of thumb for safely drawing down retirement savings. It’s worth noting that these figures reflect the bare minimum needed to retire and don’t account for discretionary spending like travel or entertainment.

While housing is the biggest factor driving cost differences between states, significant variations in health care, utilities and transportation also play a role. While these estimates offer a helpful starting point for savings, they’re averages and may not fully account for other factors like inflation, lifestyle changes or unexpected expenses.

Here’s a look the expected total needed for retirement at age 65 in each state:

• Annual cost of living: $53,357
• Savings you need to retire: $773,000

• Annual cost of living: $74,147
• Savings you need to retire: $1,292,753

• Annual cost of living: $67,778
• Savings you need to retire: $1,133,522

• Annual cost of living: $53,477
• Savings you need to retire: $776,005

• Annual cost of living: $86,946
• Savings you need to retire: $1,612,716

• Annual cost of living: $61,709
• Savings you need to retire: $981,803

• Annual cost of living: $67,117
• Savings you need to retire: $1,116,998

• Annual cost of living: $60,207
• Savings you need to retire: $944,248

• Annual cost of living: $61,529
• Savings you need to retire: $977,296

• Annual cost of living: $54,980
• Savings you need to retire: $813,559

• Annual cost of living: $110,921
• Savings you need to retire: $2,212,084

• Annual cost of living: $61,289
• Savings you need to retire: $971,288

• Annual cost of living: $57,383
• Savings you need to retire: $873,646

• Annual cost of living: $54,859
• Savings you need to retire: $810,555

• Annual cost of living: $54,319
• Savings you need to retire: $797,035

• Annual cost of living: $52,095
• Savings you need to retire: $741,455

• Annual cost of living: $55,821
• Savings you need to retire: $834,590

• Annual cost of living: $56,181
• Savings you need to retire: $843,603

• Annual cost of living: $68,199
• Savings you need to retire: $1,144,038

• Annual cost of living: $59,426
• Savings you need to retire: $924,720

• Annual cost of living: $88,268
• Savings you need to retire: $1,645,764

• Annual cost of living: $55,460
• Savings you need to retire: $825,577

• Annual cost of living: $57,263
• Savings you need to retire: $870,642

• Annual cost of living: $52,576
• Savings you need to retire: $753,472

• Annual cost of living: $53,477
• Savings you need to retire: $776,005

• Annual cost of living: $56,482
• Savings you need to retire: $851,114

• Annual cost of living: $55,761
• Savings you need to retire: $833,087

• Annual cost of living: $60,147
• Savings you need to retire: $942,746

• Annual cost of living: $66,997
• Savings you need to retire: $1,113,994

• Annual cost of living: $68,980
• Savings you need to retire: $1,163,566

• Annual cost of living: $55,821
• Savings you need to retire: $834,590

• Annual cost of living: $74,147
• Savings you need to retire: $1,292,753

• Annual cost of living: $58,645
• Savings you need to retire: $905,192

• Annual cost of living: $55,340
• Savings you need to retire: $822,572

• Annual cost of living: $57,023
• Savings you need to retire: $864,633

• Annual cost of living: $52,816
• Savings you need to retire: $759,481

• Annual cost of living: $66,096
• Savings you need to retire: $1,091,462

• Annual cost of living: $57,023
• Savings you need to retire: $864,633

• Annual cost of living: $67,538
• Savings you need to retire: $1,127,514

• Annual cost of living: $57,203
• Savings you need to retire: $869,140

• Annual cost of living: $55,460
• Savings you need to retire: $825,577

• Annual cost of living: $54,078
• Savings you need to retire: $791,027

• Annual cost of living: $55,641
• Savings you need to retire: $830,083

• Annual cost of living: $65,795
• Savings you need to retire: $1,083,951

• Annual cost of living: $68,559
• Savings you need to retire: $1,153,051

• Annual cost of living: $60,387
• Savings you need to retire: $948,755

• Annual cost of living: $68,259
• Savings you need to retire: $1,145,540

• Annual cost of living: $50,954
• Savings you need to retire: $712,913

• Annual cost of living: $59,666
• Savings you need to retire: $930,729

• Annual cost of living: $57,323
• Savings you need to retire: $872,144

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While the federal minimum wage has remained $7.25 per hour since 2009, states across the U.S. have been hiking their own minimum wages to ensure residents earn a better living.

Many states automatically raise their minimum wage on Jan. 1 like Arizona, Virginia, Connecticut and Minnesota. In others, like Florida and Missouri, specific ballot measures have legislated the increases over the years. Washington state currently has the highest minimum.

On Jan. 1, 21 states saw a minimum wage increase. Here are those states and what their minimum wage is now.

Alaska: $11.91

Arizona: $14.70

California: $16.50

Colorado: $14.81

Connecticut: $16.35

Delaware: $15

Illinois: $15

Maine: $14.65

Michigan: $10.56

Minnesota: $11.13

Missouri: $13.75

Montana: $10.55

Nebraska: $13.50

New Jersey: $15.49

New York: $15.50 to $16.50 (depending on region)

Ohio: $10.70

Rhode Island: $15

South Dakota: $11.50

Vermont: $14.01

Virginia: $12.41

Washington: $16.66

More than 9.2 million U.S. workers saw a raise when the wage increases set in, according to the Economic Policy Institute. As many as 48 cities and localities also raised their minimum wage, according to the National Employment Law Project. Flagstaff, Arizona, now has a minimum wage of $17.85, for example, and Seattle has a minimum wage of $20.76.

Some states will raise their minimum wages later in the year. Oregon will change its minimum wage on July 1 from its current $14.70 per hour according to changes in the CPI, and Florida will change its minimum wage from $13 per hour to $14 per hour on Sept. 30.

Washington, D.C. will also hike its minimum wage on July 1. Its current minimum is $17.50 per hour.

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The New Year has many people eager to make resolutions and changes in their lives — often related to money.

And when a new year also coincides with the start of a new presidential administration, some folks may feel an even stronger inclination to take action to protect or grow their wealth after the inauguration.

But “the best financial move I think you can make right now is to not make any money moves in haste,” money expert Suze Orman said in a recent LinkedIn post. “Don’t make decisions out of fear, worry, or excitement about what might happen.”

It can be tempting to think you have a good idea of what the stock market and economy might do over the next four years based on politics or financial headlines. But the fact is no one can predict the future. So if you’re trying to get ahead financially based on speculation, you probably won’t get very far.

“The bottom line is that right now, we don’t know what may come out of Washington in 2025 that could impact your household’s financial security,” Orman wrote. “And making financial decisions based on hunches is never a good idea.”

The person sitting in the Oval Office can impact a number of factors that affect you financially. American presidents can influence tax code changes, health care reforms and consumer prices on imported goods.

But even if you’re leaving the country, you’re unlikely to make any financial move that can completely insulate you.

You’re better off thinking of big decisions — like moving investments around, buying big-ticket items like a car or a home or switching jobs — in terms of your own personal goals, not short-term news or predictions.

January may happen to be the right time make a major financial move, but that should only be because you took your time to research and plan it that way.

Back in 2021, Robert Giametta and Christopher Luquer learned the hard way that buying a home on a financial hunch was not the best idea. They started their search in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic when mortgage rates were relatively low and home prices hadn’t skyrocketed yet. 

“I thought if we don’t buy a house now then we probably won’t be able to buy one in the future,” Giametta recently told CNBC Make It. The couple bought their home in upstate New York in January 2021. 

By the next summer, they’d begun to regret their purchase. They were both working remotely and felt isolated from their friends. In the end, they realized they would have rather owned a home in a livelier area like Boston or Seattle — even if it would have come with a higher price tag.

Though they regret the purchase, they did learn a valuable lesson in financial decision-making. They’re currently planning to finish renovating the house and eventually sell it.

“It’s not going to be pleasant, but I think if we don’t take it slow on the next step, we’ll end up with another regret,” Giametta said.

Whether it’s investing in a home or recalibrating your stock portfolio, patience and a deep understanding of all the facts — regardless of your emotions — are key. 

“Take your time, stay informed, and focus on decisions grounded in facts and long-term goals,” Orman wrote.

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