In early 2020, Indianapolis-based attorney Derrick Morgan Jr. got a call from his cousin, who was launching an architecture firm and needed help filing a trademark.

“I was like, ‘Alright, sure, I’ll help you. I haven’t done it in a while. This will be pro bono, we’ll figure it out,’” the 34-year-old tells CNBC Make It. But once he started doing the work, “it was like riding a bike — got right back into it.”

The timing was fortuitous. The Covid-19 pandemic soon shut down courts, and Morgan’s work at an Indianapolis-based law firm slowed dramatically. As a junior lawyer on contingency cases, fewer court dates meant fewer opportunities to get paid.

“I needed a way to make more money, and this trademark thing came up,” he says. That gave him the idea to list his services on Fiverr, a freelance platform where he could offer affordable trademark help to small business owners.

Morgan’s first month on Fiverr brought in about $180 — enough to cover his phone bill, he says. But it didn’t take long for demand to build. By his third month, he earned around $5,000. In month four, it jumped to $10,000.

Morgan’s approachable style resonated with small business owners and entrepreneurs, many of whom were navigating trademarks for the first time, he says. His strong reviews helped him eventually earn Fiverr’s Top Rated seller designation — the platform’s highest status.

“A lot of these prospective clients, they’re first-time business owners,” Morgan says. “They’ve never dealt with a big fancy attorney who’s going to be charging them hundreds of dollars to confuse them. I get a lot of clients because I’m approachable and I meet them where they are.”

Still, he was cautious. “Obviously, I still thought it was a fluke,” he says. “I didn’t want to quit my job after just four good months.”

For a while, he juggled both his day job and the growing freelance business. By early 2021, he reduced his hours at the law firm. A few months later, he left the role entirely to focus on his trademark business full time.

Morgan’s trademark business is on track to bring in nearly $500,000 this year — or just over $40,000 a month. He pays himself over $350,000 and works remotely with help from a paralegal and an AI assistant. Most of his clients now come through word of mouth and social media, though he still maintains a presence on Fiverr.

In practice, much of the work is procedural, which allows him to serve more clients efficiently and keep costs down, he says. He typically charges between $600 and $800 per filing, depending on the service.

The flexibility of the work fits Morgan’s lifestyle. A longtime traveler who has visited more than 60 countries, he now splits his time between Dallas and Mexico City, where he rents a furnished apartment in a walkable neighborhood known for its cafes and late-night taco spots.

By choosing to base himself in Mexico City, where his living costs are lower than in most U.S. cities, he’s able to invest 40% of his income — with the goal of reaching financial independence by age 45.

For Morgan, it’s less about building wealth and more about “being able to do what I want, when I want,” he says.

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Sometimes, 24 hours just doesn’t feel like enough. Between work, commutes, and a growing to-do list, it’s easy to get through an entire weekday without really connecting with your partner. But staying close doesn’t require extra time — just intention.

As a psychologist who studies couples (and as a husband), I’ve seen firsthand how small daily rituals can help people feel more connected, especially when life is busy. Even better news: Intimacy isn’t something that has to wait until the weekend.

Here’s what people in the happiest relationship do during the weekdays — that most neglect.

Most mornings are rushed and chaotic: alarms, deadlines, and the hurry to get out the door. That means the only real moment spent together is waking up in the same bed, and maybe a distracted kiss before they go their separate ways.

But happy couples find small ways to start the day together, even if it’s just for five or 10 minutes. That might mean setting the alarm a little earlier to cuddle before getting out of bed, making the bed together while chatting about your dreams, or sitting side-by-side for your morning coffee — even in silence.

The point isn’t how you do it, but that you actually do it. The best couples remind each other: “Regardless of how cruddy the day ahead might be, we’ve still got each other.”

You don’t need long, drawn-out conversations during the workday to stay connected. A funny meme, a little anecdote about your daily office drama, or a quick “thinking of you” message can be enough to strengthen emotional intimacy.

The happiest couples check in — not to talk logistics, but to remind each other they’re top of mind. It takes just a few seconds (during a lunch break, coffee run, or even a quick bathroom trip) to check in with their other half.

These small notes may seem insignificant, but they’re powerful mood-boosters — and a simple way to make your partner feel seen. Not only does this nurture your sense of intimacy in the midst of a hectic day, but it’ll also bless you with a little hit of midday motivation: a reminder of the person waiting for you at home. 

Stress from the workday has a sneaky way of bleeding into time with your partner, whether it’s through email-checking or a snappy tone.

That’s why the happiest couples take a few minutes to unwind alone after the workday ends. Whether it’s a solo walk, a quick workout, or just zoning out with a snack and your favorite TV show, this “me time” helps clear the mental clutter so you can show up more present and patient for your partner.

It might sound counterintuitive, but sometimes the best way to reconnect is to recharge separately first.

Evenings can be dominated by separate routines — one partner cleans up while the other scrolls on their phone, or both crash on opposite ends of the couch.

But the happiest couples intentionally carve out one shared moment every day. No distractions, no multitasking. Maybe it’s sitting down to dinner together, playing a quick game, or watching your favorite trivia show while shouting answers at the screen. Even five minutes of undivided attention can go a long way.

What it looks like doesn’t matter. It only needs to be shared, and fiercely protected. No kids, no chores, no notifications allowed.

These nightly “audits” aren’t meant to solve problems, but they do help you stay emotionally aligned and prevent little issues from becoming bigger ones. It’s just a matter of simple questions and even simpler answers: “How are you, really?” or “Are we okay?”

Some nights, it might be statement-based: all the thank yous, sorries, or little thoughts you may not have had the time to share during the day.

Quick, nightly audits ensure that nothing goes unsaid throughout the week, only to spill out on the weekends. Most importantly, they’re the best way to tend to your connection, without exhausting yourselves in the process.

Mark Travers, PhD, is a psychologist who specializes in relationships. He holds degrees from Cornell University and the University of Colorado Boulder. He is the lead psychologist at Awake Therapy, a telehealth company that provides online psychotherapy, counseling, and coaching. He is also the curator of the popular mental health and wellness website, Therapytips.org.

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At 78 years old, my brain is just as sharp and productive as ever.

I’ve written more than 175 books over the course of my career — on a wide range of topics, including marine biology, job interviews, ancient trees, creativity, baseball, dinosaurs, American history, resume writing, tsunamis, and Mother Goose. I also spent over three decades as a professor and worked with more than 100 schools across North America as a consultant.

Even though I’m retired now, I still write books, give presentations, and blog about psychology. My secret to staying sharp is simple: I am constantly curious.

Our brain’s chemistry changes when we become curious. Curiosity is what sharpens our intellectual powers, and keeps us mentally active well into our golden years. Here are my four hard rules for keeping my brain sharp and quick:

There’s a common belief that knowledge is the key to success. But growing research suggests that some of the most successful people embrace their own “innate ignorance.”

They understand that there is much more to learn about the world, but they don’t let that impede their progress. If anything, it galvanizes them to do more. Knowing what we don’t know can be a powerful mindset shift that sparks growth and creativity.

How to do this: Once or twice a week, select a topic you know little about, preferably one unrelated to your job or background. Maybe it’s WWII fighter pilots, prehistoric cave paintings, or square-trunked trees.

Spend five to 10 minutes learning all you can about that topic. Write down three interesting facts. This is a small but powerful way to exercise your brain.

Many of us get trapped in an endless cycle of convergent thinking, or always looking for the “right” answers.

But I’ve spent my entire career as an educator, and I can tell you that most schools trained us to focus on facts (“What is the capital of Pennsylvania?”), rather than creative answers (“Where do you think the capital Pennsylvania should be located?”).

Divergent questions, or open-ended questions that have multiple answers, encourage deeper thinking and help keep your mind flexible.

How to do this: A few times a week, ask yourself “What if…?” questions:

• What if you could relive any day of your life? What would you do?
• What if one historic event could be reversed? Which one would you select?
• What if you could be perfect in one athletic skill or talent? Which would it be? 

Not only are these questions fun, they can also generate a number of responses and paths for exploration.

According to researchers at the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, experiencing awe can stimulate wonder and curiosity. 

Some examples can be holding a newborn baby, seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, or watching a kaleidoscope of butterflies dance over an open field. That sense of awe can improve our well-being, contribute to a more positive attitude, and boost curiosity.

How to do this: Once or twice a month, go to a place you’ve never been before. It doesn’t have to be somewhere far — maybe a local park or new restaurant. Find something awesome, spend time observing, and record your thoughts.

Reading outside our field of expertise may be one of the most significant things we can do to develop our natural curiosity. When we expose ourselves to different ways of thinking through literature, we open up new possibilities for learning.

Even after 50 years of teaching, my current reading list includes books not on education, but on marketing strategies, paleontology, growing tomatoes, British narrowboats, island ecology, long distance running, and redwood trees, among many others.

How to do this: Visit your local public library and pick at least three books on topics that interest you, but that you’ve never formally studied or worked in. Read at least one chapter a day. You might be surprised by where your research takes you.

Anthony D. Fredericks, Ed.D., is professor emeritus of education at York College of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Psychology Today’s Creative Insights blog, and has written over 100 nonfiction books including ”From Fizzle to Sizzle: The Hidden Forces Crushing Your Creativity and How You Can Overcome Them, ”Two-Minute Habits: Small Habits, Dynamic Creativity,” and his latest ”In Search of the Old Ones: An Odyssey among Ancient Trees.″ Follow him on LinkedIn.

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If you’ve worked with Gen Z — or managed them — you’ve probably seen it: that facial expression that somehow manages to mix disdain, defiance, and utter disinterest all in one (oddly) blank look.

It’s been dubbed the “Gen Z stare,” and it’s the facial equivalent of an eye-roll. Managers everywhere are letting out a sigh of relief because, finally, there’s a name for the behavior that’s left them scratching their heads since “quiet quitting” became a badge of honor during the pandemic.

I’ve been studying intergenerational dynamics in the workplace for years as the director of the NYU Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing, and even among academics (who tend to avoid stereotyping generations), there’s an unspoken consensus: Older managers find Gen Z … well, frustrating.

When I first heard about the stare on TikTok, I thought: That just about sums it up. But then I remembered something else that does, too — a striking data point from my own research.

As part of my research, we developed a scientifically validated tool called The Values Bridge, which ranks an individual’s core values from 1 to 15. Since May, over 30,000 people have taken the test. (You can take it yourself here.)

While we are in the process of publishing conclusive findings on generational differences in values, early statistical trends are emerging strongly, and I have come to believe one of them explains The Gen Z Stare all too well.

Gen Z ranks Achievement, defined as the desire to be seen as successful or impressive, shockingly low. On average, they place it 11th out of 15 values. Even more telling? 65% of Gen Z respondents say Achievement already plays too much of a role in their lives.

Let that sink in. Not only is Gen Z less motivated by winning, competition, and status — they’re actively pushing it away.

The stare usually shows up at work when a Gen Z employee is asked to do something, or told there’s something they don’t yet know but need to.

They rarely respond with words. But if the expression could talk, it might say: “Don’t impose your value of Achievement on me, boss. I don’t want it near me already, and I’d have less of your workaholic, winner-take-all BS in my life if I could.”

Yes, I’m generalizing. But I’ve heard versions of that sentiment countless times from the thousands of Gen Zers I’ve interviewed and surveyed. In a recent college focus group I ran, one student asked me, “Not to be confrontational, but … why does business need to win all the time?”

That same group ranked Achievement as a bottom-tier value. So what does Gen Z value? Instead of Achievement, they are leaning into values like Eudaimonia (which we define as self-care and inner balance) or Voice (our term for self-expression and authenticity).

According to our early results, up to 85% of Gen Z respondents rank one of those two values in their top five.

During the “quiet quitting” wave, companies scrambled to accommodate Gen Z’s demand for boundaries and better work-life balance. This time, I’m not so sure the workplace will bend so quickly.

Here’s why: AI is reshaping the labor market. Official employment numbers might look steady, but anecdotally, the job market feels different, especially for early-career workers. It’s shifting from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market, and employers are noticing.

Many hiring managers, the same ones who now finally have a label for this phenomenon, are starting to adjust their filters. Achievement-driven candidates might have once been seen as overly ambitious. Now? They’re the ones companies will chase.

There may not be many Gen Zers out there who value Achievement, but managers are likely going to be looking for them now more than ever.

And one way they will know them is by how they look back.

Suzy Welch is an award-winning NYU Stern School of Business professor, acclaimed researcher, popular podcaster and three-time NYT best-selling author, most recently with ”Becoming You: A Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career.” A graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Business School, Dr. Welch is a frequent guest of the Today Show and an op-ed contributor to the Wall Street Journal. She serves on the boards of public and private companies, and is the CEO of Becoming You Media.

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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.

Even as a child, Dr. Anna Chacon knew she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and pursue a career in medicine. 

She was drawn to the idea that her skills and knowledge could help people. “I observed my father a lot. I went to work with him. I would study on his lap. He had to study many hours as a physician, and I really liked it,” the 39-year-old tells CNBC Make It.

Chacon made her childhood dream come true in 2012, when she graduated from Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School. She attended Brown for her undergraduate degree as well, studying economics.

Now, she runs her own private dermatology practice in Coral Gables, Florida, just outside of Miami where she grew up. In addition to seeing patients at her clinic, Chacon works with several hospital networks to provide telehealth services to patients around the country.

She earned around $896,000 in 2024 through her own practice, contract work through other hospitals, rental income and brand partnerships. Though she “used to be bad with money,” she says, Chacon has built a small dermatology empire, as well as an investment portfolio worth over $3.2 million, bringing her total net worth to around $6 million, including the two properties she owns.

Her pathway to success wasn’t easy, though. She was often discouraged by people who didn’t believe she could be successful in medicine or running her own practice, especially as a minority.

“When I told people I wanted to do dermatology or be a physician, I was met, unfortunately, with a lot of discouragement because it was very competitive,” she says. “I was told to do something else or that I wouldn’t get in, and that actually just encouraged me to work harder.”

After finishing her residency, Chacon worked as a staff dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida. Her father worked at a nearby hospital, but was laid off at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“It was a shock for me and everyone else in the family, but it inspired me to know that I couldn’t rely on one source [of income],” she says. “As comforting as it sometimes is to work for a big hospital system, a pandemic can happen at any time, and you can go through something unexpected.”

So, in September 2021, Chacon decided to open her own practice where she could expand her patient list and work on her own terms.

From there, she obtained licensure in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam, a lengthy process that cost around $180,000, she says. Costs included travel, fees for things like background checks and professional assistance.

“I wanted that ability to work from anywhere,” Chacon says.

Her father’s layoff not only inspired Chacon to start her own practice, but also to get serious about saving. 

“I used to be terrible with money. I didn’t know how to save. I didn’t know how to take advantage of retirement accounts,” she says. “Growing up in Miami, there’s a lot of focus on materialism … I pretty much lived day by day and paycheck to paycheck.”

Running her own practice helped Chacon boost her income, but to get better at managing her finances, she started educating herself about investing, including reading outlets like CNBC and The Wall Street Journal, she says. She also downloaded an app to track and manage her finances all in one place.

“When I initially started tracking my net worth, I was shocked at how low it was,” Chacon says. “My one regret is I didn’t start sooner. Most of my growth has actually been in the past five years.”

Although she didn’t have much saved, Chacon was lucky to be debt-free — she didn’t even own a credit card when she finished her residency. Her parents and scholarships helped pay for her schooling, so she didn’t have student debt either. 

In 2022, Chacon purchased an office building in Coral Gables for $1.1 million. She put around $300,000 down and paid off the mortgage in 2023. Her practice occupies a portion of the building and she rents out the rest to a medical spa that pays her $7,500 a month.

The next year, she purchased a home in Pinecrest, Florida, for $1.9 million. She paid off the mortgage in early 2025, but has never actually lived in the house, choosing instead to continue living with her family and renting out the property for $7,500 a month.

She spent a lot of time away from her family while she was in residency in Los Angeles, so she’s happy to get plenty of time with them now.

“I’m proud to [live with them],” she says. “I want to spend every moment I can with them. I want to learn from them … I also think it’s kind of a waste of money for me to move out because I’m single.”

Despite earning a high income, Chacon doesn’t spend too much beyond her needs.

“I try to immerse myself into how to invest properly, and I also try to save for another pandemic because of what my family went through and what we all went through just a few years ago,” she says. “I also have gotten just more modest as a physician. A lot of my patients live below the poverty line.”

She’ll occasionally splurge on clothes and shoes when sales are good, she says, but she’s trying to rein in her shopping.

Here’s how she spent her money in April 2025.

• Discretionary: $4,275 on beauty treatments, home essentials, Netflix and shopping
• Housing and utilities: $3,000 for rent paid to her family
• Transportation: $1,683 on Ubers, gas, parking and a rental car
• Travel: $1,337 on hotels, flights and Airbnbs
• Charitable donations: $1,015
• Food: $239 on groceries and takeout

Chacon also paid around $27,000 for some business expenses, including licensure renewals, tech equipment, marketing and legal fees, subscriptions and services.

Chacon pays her family $3,000 a month as a contribution to rent and groceries, as well as payment for some administrative help and errands her family members do for her. Because of that, her personal food budget is often on the low side.

She doesn’t make regular monthly contributions to her savings and investment accounts, but she front-loaded her retirement accounts at the beginning of the year with contributions totaling $170,000.

Chacon prioritizes travel. She’ll often add leisure time into her work trips to to maximize her time away from home, she says. She also flies business class most of the time so she can do computer work during flights, she says.

Chacon’s practice is open 24/7 and she works 80 to 120 hours a week, so she doesn’t have much free time. While she recognizes she won’t be able to maintain this busy pace forever, “I never want to retire,” she says. “I love working. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t love to work.”

Still, she’s continuing to save and invest for the future so she can maintain her independence and have the financial means to make decisions “when I want to on my own terms,” she says.

Ultimately, she wants to make sure she and her family are taken care of and can weather any surprises or downturns that could come their way. She hopes to expand her practice in the future to create something “on a national level.” 

“I want to be known as ‘America’s dermatologist’ that can practice everywhere, because ideally I want to have the biggest reach possible,” she says.

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