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.

In 2008, during what would come to be known as the Great Recession, stories like Nicole Brewer’s were all too common.

At 27, she’d recently bought a condo on the South Side of Chicago with little money down and a loan that would likely stretch her mid-$30,000′s salary thin. Then the market research firm she worked for did layoffs, and she lost her job.

Amid a financial crisis, finding another one proved difficult. After collecting unemployment benefits for five of the allotted six months, Brewer, like many of her peers, was growing desperate.

“I remember I got scared and I was like, ‘OK, what are you going to do if your unemployment runs out? You don’t have a job,’” she tells CNBC Make It. “That’s when I started looking at opportunities. I said, ‘I’ll think outside the box, look at some teaching jobs abroad.’”

Brewer found a gig teaching English at a primary school South Korea, a move that would satisfy some wanderlust while she waited for the U.S. economy to bounce back.

But that’s where her story gets a little less common. After three years in Korea, Brewer took a college-level ESL job, this time in Nizwa, an ancient city in Oman about a 90-minute drive from Muscat, the nation’s capital. She’s been there ever since, living happily and traveling — and currently earning a salary of just over $40,000 a year, plus some side-hustle income.

“I have had such an incredible experience living here. I never even imagined that I would be here for 10-plus years, because I just felt comfortable here,” Brewer, 43, says. “My mental health has definitely been great here.”

A move abroad can be daunting — especially for someone in a precarious financial situation. But for Brewer, who’d moved to a new country with just two suitcases, things were surprisingly seamless.

“Fortunately at that time, being recruited to work for the education department in Korea, they helped set you up,” she says. That meant covering the cost of her flight and assigning her a liaison from her school who helped her find an apartment and transition into working life in Busan, a city of just over 3 million people.

Back home, things were still rough. The renter she’d found to take over payments on her Chicago condo lost his job too and soon fell behind. The bank foreclosed on the property.

That may have made life difficult for Brewer had she chosen to return to the States on her original timeline. But it didn’t take long for her to realize that expat life suited her.

Her home base in Korea, along with a modest cost of living, allowed her to see parts of the world she would have likely otherwise missed, including trips to India and the Philippines. “I was able to live comfortably and still travel a bit,” she says.

After three years, Brewer was looking for a change of pace, and initially thought she might like Dubai. While researching the region, she came across a posting for a job at a university in Oman. “After seeing that posting, I ended up researching on my own and I was like, ‘Wow, this is a very beautiful country,’” Brewer says.

She gave it a chance, boarding a plane in 2012, once again with two suitcases and plans to figure things out when she got there. Other than brief stints in Germany and South Africa to complete an accelerated masters program in international humanitarian aid, she’s stuck around.

Brewer’s main gig is still teaching English, a job which pays her about $3,400 a month, even when school is not in session. Over the years, she’s picked up some side hustles, too, as a freelance travel writer and part-time travel advisor. Those brought her an extra $3,400 in 2024.

Brewer is still an American citizen and pays income taxes in the U.S. And even though she doesn’t necessarily blend in with the locals — she doesn’t speak Arabic or practice Islam — her Yankee status comes with a certain level of respect. “I like to call it ‘passport privilege,’” she says.

Overall, she says, being a Black American woman doesn’t come with many of the burdens while living abroad as it might have back home. “I wouldn’t say that I deal with much or any racism, because I think it’s more so, you’re American — we take pride in having an American who loves living in Oman.”

Even though it took a while for Brewer to adjust to the conservative Omani lifestyle — and casual dating is still a struggle — she says she consistently feels welcomed by the Omani people.

“They welcome me. They say, ‘Oh, hello, sister,’ when I get in taxis. They call me sister like I’m one of them because I respect the culture,” she says. “It’s been very great. I wouldn’t have stayed as long as I had if it wasn’t a good life here.”

Despite the region’s reputation for opulence, Brewer’s day-to-day life in Oman is unostentatious and, by U.S. standards, inexpensive. Here’s how she spent her money in January 2025.

• Travel: $2,630 on flights and hotels for a trip to Bali, Indonesia
• Rent: $650
• Food: $348 on groceries and dining
• Cab fare: $277
• Discretionary: $133 on clothing, donations and various fees
• Health and wellness: $65 on spa treatment and prescriptions
• Netflix subscription: $15
• Phone: $10

Brewer’s two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment came fully furnished, and she pays 250 Omani rials — or roughly $650 — a month in rent, utilities included. She spends about $70 or $80 a week on groceries. Insurance, a major line item in most American workers’ budgets, is covered by her employer.

Living relatively modestly for most of the year allows Brewer to devote significant funds toward her life’s passion: travel. More than half her January spending went toward a trip to Bali during her school’s winter break.

She generally takes two or three big trips a year, and her location in the Middle East makes it easier to travel to some parts of the world than if she had stayed in the U.S. Trips to Namibia and the Seychelles, she says, are much more affordable with Oman has a home base.

“I’m able to travel to Europe, of course, as well, because it’s right there,” she says.

Even given her relatively low cost of living, traveling the world on a teacher’s salary means Brewer has had to put some financial goals on the back burner. Although her credit cards are paid off, she still carries about $24,600 in student debt from her time as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan.

And while she has about $22,000 invested across stocks and cryptocurrency, it’s hardly enough for her to feel like she’s on track for major financial milestones, like retirement.

“I do feel like sometimes maybe I beat myself up because I feel like I should have more in savings, considering how long I’ve been abroad,” Brewer says. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘Maybe I could have not gone to this destination and have a little more money padded in my savings.’ But the reality is, I’m grateful for every trip that I have been on.”

In the coming years, Brewer hopes to ramp up her savings enough to fund a semi-retirement of sorts in Portugal.

“In the perfect scenario, I would have a hostel. It would be a place where I can live, as well as have additional rooms to be able to rent out and make an income from the property,” she says.

For now, though, she has no plans to leave what she says is a fulfilling and peaceful life in Oman.

“It’s not an easy life to be on the other side of the world from your family, especially when emergencies and family situations come up,” she says. “You have to take the good with the bad. But overall, I do have a peace of mind living here because it’s so safe and people are really kind-hearted.”

Conversions from OMR to USD were done using the Bank of Muscat’s conversion rate of 1 USD to 0.3877 OMR on Jan. 1, 2025. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

What’s your budget breakdown? Share your story with us for a chance to be featured in a future installment.

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A six-figure household income doesn’t necessarily make you rich — in many cases, it just means you’re middle class.

The upper bound of what’s considered middle class for households exceeds $100,000 in every U.S. state, according to a SmartAsset analysis of 2023 income data, the most recent available from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The report, which crunched the numbers for all 50 states, is based on Pew Research’s definition of middle class: two-thirds to double the median household income.

On that measure, Massachusetts has the highest threshold for middle-class salaries, overtaking New Jersey from last year’s rankings. A household there needs between $66,565 and $199,716 to be considered middle class, with the upper boundary increasing by nearly $11,000 from the previous report.

Even as more households earn six-figure salaries, many middle-class earners are feeling the squeeze. While inflation-adjusted wages have risen since 2022, those gains have been largely offset by increasing costs since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Housing and food, in particular, have become more expensive. From January 2020 to December 2024, home prices climbed 52%, according to the Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, while food prices rose 30%, based on Consumer Price Index data. Over the same period, overall inflation grew 25%.

Rising costs help explain why two-thirds of middle-class Americans said they were struggling financially and didn’t expect their situation to improve in a 2024 survey from the National True Cost of Living Coalition.

Since then, year-over-year inflation has hovered around 3%, still above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target but far below its June 2022 peak of 9.1%. But although price increases have slowed, the cumulative effect of the past few years has eroded many Americans’ spending power. As a result, a six-figure income may not stretch as far as it once did.

Below, see what’s considered middle class in your state.

• Low end of middle class: $41,471 
• High end of middle class: $124,424 
• Median household income: $62,212 

• Low end of middle class: $57,748 
• High end of middle class: $173,262 
• Median household income: $86,631 

• Low end of middle class: $51,538 
• High end of middle class: $154,630 
• Median household income: $77,315 

• Low end of middle class: $39,129 
• High end of middle class: $117,400 
• Median household income: $58,700 

• Low end of middle class: $63,674 
• High end of middle class: $191,042 
• Median household income: $95,521 

• Low end of middle class: $61,934 
• High end of middle class: $185,822 
• Median household income: $92,911 

• Low end of middle class: $61,104
• High end of middle class: $183,330 
• Median household income: $91,665 

• Low end of middle class: $54,235 
• High end of middle class: $162,722 
• Median household income: $81,361 

• Low end of middle class: $48,869 
• High end of middle class: $146,622 
• Median household income: $73,311 

• Low end of middle class: $49,750 
• High end of middle class: $149,264 
• Median household income: $74,632 

• Low end of middle class: $63,542 
• High end of middle class: $190,644 
• Median household income: $95,322 

• Low end of middle class: $49,956 
• High end of middle class: $149,884 
• Median household income: $74,942 

• Low end of middle class: $53,532 
• High end of middle class: $160,612 
• Median household income: $80,306 

• Low end of middle class: $46,313 
• High end of middle class: $138,954 
• Median household income: $69,477 

• Low end of middle class: $47,617 
• High end of middle class: $142,866 
• Median household income: $71,433 

• Low end of middle class: $46,884
• High end of middle class: $140,666
• Median household income: $70,333

• Low end of middle class: $40,741
• High end of middle class: $122,236
• Median household income: $61,118 

• Low end of middle class: $38,815
• High end of middle class: $116,458
• Median household income: $58,229 

• Low end of middle class: $49,150
• High end of middle class: $147,466
• Median household income: $73,733

• Low end of middle class: $65,779
• High end of middle class: $197,356
• Median household income: $98,678 

• Low end of middle class: $66,565
• High end of middle class: $199,716 
• Median household income: $99,858 

• Low end of middle class: $46,117
• High end of middle class: $138,366
• Median household income: $69,183 

• Low end of middle class: $56,718
• High end of middle class: $170,172
• Median household income: $85,086 

• Low end of middle class: $36,132
• High end of middle class: $108,406
• Median household income: $54,203 

• Low end of middle class: $45,692
• High end of middle class: $137,090
• Median household income: $68,545 

• Low end of middle class: $47,198
• High end of middle class: $141,608
• Median household income: $70,804

• Low end of middle class: $49,722
• High end of middle class: $149,180 
• Median household income: $74,590 

• Low end of middle class: $50,904
• High end of middle class: $152,728 
• Median household income: $76,364 

• Low end of middle class: $64,552
• High end of middle class: $193,676 
• Median household income: $96,838 

• Low end of middle class: $66,514
• High end of middle class: $199,562
• Median household income: $99,781 

• Low end of middle class: $41,508
• High end of middle class: $124,536
• Median household income: $62,268 

• Low end of middle class: $54,725
• High end of middle class: $164,190 
• Median household income: $82,095 

• Low end of middle class: $47,198
• High end of middle class: $141,608
• Median household income: $70,804

• Low end of middle class: $51,012
• High end of middle class: $153,050 
• Median household income: $76,525 

• Low end of middle class: $45,175
• High end of middle class: $135,538
• Median household income: $67,769

• Low end of middle class: $41,421
• High end of middle class: $124,276
• Median household income: $62,138

• Low end of middle class: $53,435
• High end of middle class: $160,320
• Median household income: $80,160

• Low end of middle class: $49,211
• High end of middle class: $147,648
• Median household income: $73,824

• Low end of middle class: $56,642
• High end of middle class: $169,944
• Median household income: $84,972

• Low end of middle class: $45,198
• High end of middle class: $135,608
• Median household income: $67,804

• Low end of middle class: $47,869
• High end of middle class: $143,620
• Median household income: $71,810

• Low end of middle class: $45,083
• High end of middle class: $135,262
• Median household income: $67,631

• Low end of middle class: $50,515
• High end of middle class: $151,560
• Median household income: $75,780

• Low end of middle class: $62,274
• High end of middle class: $186,842
• Median household income: $93,421

• Low end of middle class: $54,135
• High end of middle class: $162,422
• Median household income: $81,211

• Low end of middle class: $59,948
• High end of middle class: $179,862
• Median household income: $89,931

• Low end of middle class: $63,064
• High end of middle class: $189,210
• Median household income: $94,605

• Low end of middle class: $37,295
• High end of middle class: $111,896
• Median household income: $55,948

• Low end of middle class: $49,749
• High end of middle class: $149,262
• Median household income: $74,631

• Low end of middle class: $48,272
• High end of middle class: $144,830
• Median household income: $72,415

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On April 16, 2007, Sunita “Suni” Williams ran the Boston Marathon. But she wasn’t in Boston. She wasn’t even in the United States.

Inside the International Space Station, more than 250 miles above sea level, the NASA astronaut became the first person to run a marathon in space.

Williams, now 59, found her endurance tested again in June 2024 after the Boeing capsule that brought her to the International Space Station malfunctioned. Her expected eight-day trip with fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore lasted nine months. The pair splashed down safely in Florida on Tuesday evening, and traveled to Houston that night.

While in space, astronauts must exercise two hours per day, every day, according to a NASA pamphlet, as zero-gravity conditions can cause “bone and muscle deterioration” over time. Williams worked out first thing as part of her morning routine — waking up at 5:30 a.m. GMT and “running, cycling, and weightlifting” until 7:30 a.m., according to ESPN. (NASA did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It’s request for comment on the amount of control Williams had over her schedule.)

Wilmore and Williams will now have to spend 45 days re-acclimatizing to Earth’s gravity, NPR reports. Their new routines will include a “personalized recovery program” of two hours per day that they spend exercising with personal trainers.

In uncertain and potentially challenging situations, such as the one faced by Williams and Wilmore, maintaining structure can help.

“Routines provide us with a sense of stability,” the Ontario Psychological Association says. “This element of routine can be particularly powerful as something to lean on during times of stress or uncertainty.”

Exercise specifically can be a cornerstone of a healthy routine, contributing both mental and physical health benefits, studies indicate.

“There’s some research that suggests that rhythm can help center people and calm them down,” Joel Dvoskin told CNBC Make It in 2023, when he was a psychologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

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Working out in the morning can also help people who want to make sure they follow through on their workout plans, especially those who, unlike astronauts, are not required to exercise daily. There are usually far fewer potential scheduling conflicts before the day properly begins.

“Exercising first thing in the morning ensures that you’ll have the time for it,” organizational psychologist Travis Bradberry wrote in 2017.

But most important is the fact you are exercising at all.

“For most of us who want to exercise for general health effects, the best time is the time that works best for your lifestyle and allows you to perform it regularly,” cardiologist Erik Van Iterson told the Cleveland Clinic’s website last year.

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A lot of parents tell their children that can achieve anything if they work hard and apply themselves. But that doesn’t account for luck, which is a huge factor that many highly successful people have said they owe their careers to, points out Anthony Mackie, star of the 2025 movie “Captain America: Brave New World.”

“We are lying to our kids,” Mackie, 46, said in a recent interview with The Pivot Podcast. “We tell [them] … if they do right and they make the good grades and they go to the programs, they will become successful. ‘If you work hard enough, your work will [pay off].’ And that’s not true.”

In many cases, “success is given [and] not earned,” Mackie continued.

Mackie had been an actor for over 10 years before landing the role that many consider his big break, as Sam Wilson in 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” he said. After graduating from the prestigious Juilliard School in 2001, he performed in both on- and Off-Broadway productions and in Academy award-winning films, like 2008’s “The Hurt Locker.” However, the New Orleans native struggled to break out in Hollywood’s highly competitive landscape.

Mackie estimates he “put in 10,750 hours of training” before landing that life-changing job. He was proactive, too: He wrote letters to executives at Disney’s Marvel Studios over a decade ago in the hopes of landing a role in one of the studio’s popular superhero films, he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023.

While the letters didn’t result in any roles right away, Mackie eventually landed a meeting with directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. They offered him a part in an upcoming film, though they couldn’t share many details: “[They said], ‘We can’t say what character you’re playing or who else is going to be in it. Would you do it?'” Mackie said.

The actor agreed because he liked the directors and believed joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up, he said. Fortunately for Mackie, the role of Sam Wilson proved popular enough to grow from a small character into a headliner.

Mackie is far from the only successful person to recognize the power of luck. You can be the smartest and most deserving person in the room, the billionaire and Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger told students at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business in 2018, but there are no guarantees: “There’s also a factor of luck that comes into this thing.”

He added: “I did not intend to get rich. I wanted to get independent. I just overshot.”

Similarly, in 2023, Mark Cuban told GQ that any billionaire who says they could definitely start over from scratch is “lying their a– off.” That’s because a person also needs “luck” and good “timing” to run a highly lucrative company, particularly in the fast-moving tech industry.

If he’d been born three years earlier, he likely wouldn’t have the status that he has today, Cuban added.

Put simply, being in the right place at the right time, and having connections, can be as important as having the skills and experience.

People who benefit from luck the most have a few traits in common, according to Richard Wiseman, author of “The Luck Factor” and a psychology professor at the University of Hertfordshire.

1. They’re optimistic. Even when they find themselves in bleak circumstances, “lucky” people recognize that things “could have been far worse,” Wiseman wrote for CNBC Make It in 2022.
2. They always jump at new opportunities. Lucky people display an openness and adaptability that puts them in situations to network and make new connections, according to Wiseman.
3. They listen to their intuition. Too much time spent pondering can lead to “indecision,” he added, writing that lucky people tend to “make quick decisions …. By trusting their gut, they’re more likely to take action and expose themselves to new opportunities.”
4. They recover quickly from setbacks. This allows lucky people to remain positive when things don’t go how they’d hoped and “increases the likelihood of them continuing to live a lucky life,” according to Wiseman.

Embodying these four traits can help put you in a better position to make your goals a reality, he added.

The second and third traits in particular helped Mackie, who, in 2025, became a new face of the “Captain America” franchise, once led by former co-star Chris Evans.

“When you’re given a huge opportunity like that, you have to take into consideration that you might fail,” Mackie said. At first he was afraid, but he didn’t let that stop him. He had a network of mentors and supporters who could help, he realized: “I had to lean on those teachers and the people around me who got me to that point.”

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We’ve all done it. You’re in a meeting, on a date or even texting a friend, and two words slip into the conversation: “I think we should go with option A.” “I think we should see this movie.” “I think we should leave at 7.”

While “I think” can be harmless sprinkled in here and there, if you use it too often and in the wrong context, it can weaken your message, diminish your presence and undermine your confidence. 

“I think” is an example of minimizing language: words and phrases that soften your statements and make you seem less sure of yourself. Other common minimizing language includes “just,” “sorry” and “maybe.” 

While these words may seem polite, they can dilute your credibility and make your ideas easier to dismiss, especially in a professional context.

Instead of “I think,” swap in “I recommend.” Compare these two statements:

• “I think we should move the deadline.”
• “I recommend moving the deadline.”

The first feels hesitant, while the second feels authoritative and action-oriented. Even if the message you want to convey is exactly the same, your words carry more weight when framed as a recommendation rather than what can be interpreted as a passing thought.

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Here are a few examples of this swap in action at work and in life: 

• Instead of: “I think we should go with the second proposal.“
  Try: “I recommend we go with the second proposal.”
• Instead of: “I think we should prioritize this project.“
  Try: “I recommend prioritizing this project.”
• Instead of: “I think you should try this restaurant.“
  Try: “I recommend trying this restaurant.”
• Instead of:  “I think you should change your reservation.“
  Try: “I recommend changing your reservation.”

The shift is subtle but powerful. Saying “I recommend” instead of “I think” makes you sound more confident and decisive, gives you more influence, and ensures you’re seen as someone whose opinion matters.

There are times when it feels like you really should use “I think.” Perhaps you’re not confident in your recommendation, or you purposefully want to soften your message.

While it’s certainly a path you can take, you can still use “I recommend” in these situations — with a twist.

Preface your recommendation with an indication of what you’re drawing on to give it. For example:

• “Based on what I’ve seen, I recommend…”
• “Looking at the data, I’d recommend…”
• “From my experience, I’d recommend…”

This keeps your statement strong while acknowledging some uncertainty and leaving room for further discussion.

Any time you try to disrupt a pattern that’s deeply ingrained in your everyday conversations, it takes practice. Here are a few strategies you can try to break this particular communication habit:

1. Listen for it. Start noticing how often you say “I think,” and in what contexts it tends to pop up. It may surprise you how many times a day you use this phrase. 
2. Enlist help. Ask friends or peers to call it out when they hear it to help keep you accountable.
3. Pause before you speak. Speaking more slowly and adding pauses is already helpful when trying to appear more authoritative and confident. Now, you can also catch yourself when you’re about to say “I think” and give yourself enough time to swap it out.
4. Observe your writing. “I think” often creeps into our written communication too, especially quick messages over Slack or Teams. Take a second pass at your writing before hitting send to make sure you’re keeping things concise and using strong phrases like “I recommend.”

Confident communication isn’t just about what you say, it’s about how you say it. By swapping “I think” for “I recommend,” you’ll sound more authoritative at work — and come across as more self-assured in everyday life.

Lorraine K. Lee is an award-winning keynote speaker and CEO of RISE Learning Solutions. She’s also the best-selling author of “Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influencer, and Catapult Your Career,” which was named a must-read by the Next Big Idea Club. She teaches popular courses with LinkedIn Learning and Stanford Continuing Studies. Past clients include Zoom, Cisco, LinkedIn, ASICS, McKinsey & Company, and many others.

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.