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.

Lauren Perraut has “always been drawn to blood, body parts, gross things,” she says.

The 32-year-old’s mom worked as a medical laboratory scientist at a blood bank for decades before retiring. Perraut would visit her mother’s lab as a kid and see those elemental parts of the body up close.

She liked “seeing things that most people don’t get to see,” she says.

That’s why when it came time to forge her own career path, Perraut opted to become a pathologists’ assistant. Pathologists diagnose medical conditions by observing patient specimens in a lab. As a PA, Perraut dissects organs and tests body tissue to prep them for the pathologist, and helps come up with a patient’s diagnosis.

Two perks of Perraut’s job: It offers high pay and doesn’t require a lengthy medical degree. She currently makes about $122,000 per year.

Perraut lives with her husband, Dylan, and 2-year-old son, Reed, in Lexington, Kentucky. Here’s how she built her career and how the couple manages their money.

Perraut attended Eastern Kentucky University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory science, knowing she wanted to work in health care. But she didn’t want to spend nearly a decade going to medical school and completing a residency program.

“I really value work-life balance,” she says.

As an undergrad, she discovered the pathologists’ assistant path, which only required a two-year master’s program. She graduated from Duke University School of Medicine with her master of health science, pathologists’ assistant in 2017 and started working full-time a week later.

“There’s a national shortage of medical laboratory workers,” she says. As a result, “there’s a really high demand for PAs right now.”

Perraut works about 40 hours per week and loves her day-to-day. “When I get to work, we usually have specimens set up for us to start working on,” she says. “Those can range from small biopsies that come from a colonoscopy to larger, more complex cancer resections.”

She also loves being a critical piece in a patient’s treatment. “I feel like my career is really high impact,” she says. “But most people don’t even know that I exist.”  

Perraut is the primary breadwinner in her family of three. Her husband makes about $60,000 per year as an academic advisor at the University of Kentucky.

Here’s how the family spent their money in June 2025.

• Savings and investments: $3,899 into retirement funds and a shared brokerage account
• Insurance: $3,333 for health, dental and vision insurance, as well as Dylan’s life insurance
• Discretionary: $2,176 for Amazon purchases like a hat and sunglasses for Reed, child care and home goods
• Housing: $1,966 toward their mortgage, electricity, water, sewage and Wi-Fi
• Food: $1,057 for groceries and a few outings to local restaurants
• Transportation: $442 for gas, parking and an oil change
• Subscriptions and memberships: $168 for Spotify, Peloton and their annual Sam’s Club membership
• Phones: $77

Saving is a top priority for Perraut and her husband, and they put around $3,900 into savings and investments per month. As of June, they had around $400,000 in retirement savings and about $113,500 in a shared brokerage account and a high-yield savings account. They also regularly contribute to a 529 college savings account for Reed, which has about $11,500 in it.

“Our goal is to save up enough to have the flexibility to retire when we want,” Perraut says.

In June, the couple’s second-biggest expense was insurance, including health, dental and vision. The bill’s not usually a cumulative $3,333 — they happened to pay Dylan’s annual life insurance of $2,968 that month.

The couple bought a three-bedroom house in 2021, and the only debt they currently have is their mortgage. They also pay about $1,696 for homeowners insurance annually, and their property taxes were about $3,427 in 2024.

Car insurance is annual as well and comes out to $1,537.

Surprise expenses in June included various medical supplies, like eyelid cleanser. And other than the occasional trip to McDonald’s or a local restaurant, the family doesn’t spend much on going out to eat.

“I feel like Dylan and I are both relatively frugal people,” says Perraut. “I don’t feel the need to buy super expensive things or go out to super expensive restaurants.”   

Perraut is very happy with the balance they’ve struck. “We both enjoy our jobs and we enjoy our routine,” she says. She doesn’t think she’ll want to retire early, even if she can afford to.

She loves their location as well. “I really enjoy living in Kentucky,” she says. “We’re pretty centrally located to bigger cities like Nashville or Indianapolis or Washington, D.C. We can drive to the beach within a day. We’re surrounded by horse farms and lots of bourbon.”

Perraut wants to encourage others to consider a similar career path in health. “Even since I’ve graduated, the salary range has increased significantly,” she says about pathologists’ assistant roles.

“I find a lot of joy in my job, and I really want to share that with others.”

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

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Trust is the cornerstone of any successful relationship. Without it, even the strongest emotional connection can feel unstable.

At its core, trust is having confidence that your partner is reliable, that they are someone who does what they say they will do. It has to be earned through honesty and emotional vulnerability over time.

As a Harvard-trained psychologist who focuses on relationships, I’ve found that partners who truly trust each other are willing to lean into difficult conversations. Here are 10 things they regularly talk about, even if it’s uncomfortable for them.

Managing finances is one of the top reasons couples fight, and one of the most important topics to discuss. Partners who trust one another talk about everything from the shared budget to who will pay for what (and when) to financial priorities that lay the groundwork for spending.

Every person brings a different background, set of desires, and expectations into the bedroom. Trusting couples can speak honestly about what they like, what they don’t, and how to keep intimacy alive. These conversations are less about performance and more about connection and creating an enjoyable experience together.

If you’re raising children together, chances are your parenting styles won’t match exactly. Couples who trust their partner give and receive feedback, adjust when necessary, and stay focused on raising kids based on shared values, not just individual preferences.

We all carry baggage. Whether it’s from childhood, past relationships, or personal trauma, couples who trust each other feel safe enough to be vulnerable about the experiences that shaped who they are today. They open up about painful experiences, not to be “fixed,” but to be seen and understood.

Time is a finite resource. Couples in healthy relationships talk about how they want to spend it, both when together and apart. That includes expectations for quality time, travel, work schedules, and alone time. These conversations keep the relationship aligned and prevent misunderstandings.

We all have insecurities and shame about things we’ve done: stupid decisions we’ve made, embarrassment about current choices, and even realities that we struggle to admit to ourselves because it hurts so much. When you trust your partner, you can tell them your deepest secrets without fear that they will reject or berate you.

When someone makes a mistake, like being late to a planned event or making a choice that is bound to undermine trust, couples who trust each other tell the truth. Even if a mistake is large and ruptures trust, each partner understands building a life based on lies eventually undermines the framework of the relationship itself.

For most people, family members are among the most loved people in our lives. Yet, they also make for some of our most difficult relationships. Couples who truly trust each other talk about family dynamics, ask for help navigating challenging relationships, and support each other to make these relationships as healthy as possible.

Relationships inherently have power dynamics. Who makes decisions? Who compromises? Who leads and when? When in an argument, couples who trust each other navigate these power struggles together, engaging in a dance of intimacy. Sometimes they take a stand, and other times they back down in a respectful way.

Couples who trust each other are willing to share their aspirations and hopes for the future with each other, even the crazy or unlikely ones!

I always remind people that even the most connected couples aren’t perfect. They just know how to face imperfection and have hard conversations together — something that most people rarely do. And when that happens, it’s truly a gift.

Dr. Cortney S. Warren, PhD, is a board-certified psychologist and author of the new book “Letting Go of Your Ex.” She specializes in romantic relationships, addictive behavior, and honesty. She received her clinical training at Harvard Medical School after earning her doctorate in clinical psychology from Texas A&M University. Follow her on Instagram @DrCortneyWarren or Twitter @DrCortneyWarren.

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Property taxes aren’t usually the biggest part of a monthly housing bill, but they’ve become a growing strain on household budgets.

Homeowners are paying 27.4% more in property taxes than they did in 2019, CoreLogic data from 2024 shows. That may help explain why 67% of homeowners who budgeted for taxes said their bill came in higher than expected this year, according to a March survey by Ownwell.

Property taxes were also the most-cited underestimated cost among Gen Z homeowners, according to a recent Insurify poll.

Together, this data suggests that climbing property tax bills are making it harder for homeowners to plan ahead.

The amount households pay varies widely by state, with median annual property tax bills ranging from $9,163 in New Jersey, the highest in the nation, to $786 in Alabama, the lowest, according to the latest available 2023 Tax Foundation data.

Remember, these figures reflect the median property tax bill in each state, not home values or tax rates. What you pay will vary based on factors like housing costs, state tax structures and local policies such as tax exemptions or abatements.

In states without an income tax, property taxes often play a bigger role in funding local services. That’s especially true in Texas and New Hampshire, where median bills are among the highest in the country. Other states without an income tax, like Alaska or Nevada, lean more on oil revenue or tourism instead.

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While California has some of the highest home prices in the country, median property taxes are lower than other high-cost states due to caps on assessments and an exemption for owner-occupied homes. Hawaii also has high home values, but property tax bills stay relatively low because the state relies more on a general excise tax to fund government services.

Homes tend to be more expensive in cities because demand is high and space is limited, which drives up values — and in turn, property tax bills. In 2023, the median bill reached $9,937 in New York City and $9,554 in San Jose, according to a LendingTree study. By comparison, state-level medians reported by the Tax Foundation are generally lower.

Since property taxes can be easily underestimated, they often end up as an unexpected expense. Reassessments can push costs even higher, so it’s smart for buyers to get a sense of where taxes are headed.

That means reviewing a home’s past tax bills, checking whether the town’s tax base has been growing or shrinking and knowing when the next reassessment is scheduled, says Leo Pond, a Vermont-based real estate agent.

“Property taxes are often one of the most underestimated costs of homeownership,” he says.

Pond recommends budgeting an extra 5% to 10% of the estimated total of the expected bill to avoid being blindsided by a higher bill, since taxes tend to rise with home values.

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While working as a teacher in Atlanta, Georgia, Lexi Smith, 24, found herself dreaming of seeing more of the world and living a simpler life.

“I wasn’t quite loving the school system from having an overbearing administration that didn’t appreciate me to having a hard time living on my salary,” Smith tells CNBC Make It. “When I found out that I could teach abroad for a much easier life and the ability to see more culture, I had to jump on it.”

Smith started looking into the possibility of going abroad to teach English and worked with a company called Xplore Asia, an organization that helps people get their TEFL certification to work and study abroad.

She received her Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification and taught English as a foreign language in the U.S. for a bit while Xplore Asia worked to find her potential employers.

Eventually, Smith landed a teaching position at an eikaiwa, a private language school focused on conversational English, in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan and moved in March of this year.

“My interest in Japan began with anime, like a lot of other people out there, and I’m a big foodie. The opportunity to eat ramen and sushi and things like that is something I had to go after,” Smith says.

“Plus, the culture is so respectful here. Teachers are well respected and just in general, people are just so kind to each other.”

The Chiba Prefecture is located on Japan’s eastern Pacific coast to the east of Tokyo. It is about a four-hour drive from the country’s capital city.

“Living in the countryside of the Chiba Prefecture is quite different than Tokyo. Things are a lot cheaper out here. The culture is more respectful, and what you see when you look around is rice fields,” Smith says.

Smith admits she was nervous about moving to the countryside, having grown up in a city like Atlanta, but it was a much easier transition than she expected.

“I really did move here by myself without knowing the language or anyone here. My family knows that I’m a bit of a wild child, and I want to see the world. I’m a free spirit, so they accepted it,” Smith says. “They were a little bit nervous for me, but after virtually meeting my boss and seeing how well prepared I was, they weren’t that concerned anymore.”

Before Smith made the official move to Japan, she was able to connect with some of her coworkers via Zoom, so by the time she arrived, she had already established a sense of community with them.

“I was immediately friends with my coworkers even before I landed there, then they introduced me to other teachers in the area,” she says. “We started going to cherry blossom viewings together and having movie nights, and it became a really cool thing. I also got to become familiar with the train system of Japan.”

One of the perks of Smith’s job was that her employer was able to secure her an apartment before she even got to Japan. It’s a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with a balcony that rents for 35,000 yen or $238 a month. The apartment is also within walking distance of the school where Smith teaches.

Smith’s employment contract includes her employer covering the costs of some expenses, like key money —a one-time, non-refundable payment given to the landlord when renting an apartment or house. Smith also didn’t have to put down a security deposit, which is usually the case in the U.S.

Her employer also pays for her fire insurance and was able to help her get a car, which she pays $100 a month for.

The apartment also came with a portable washer in her bathroom, and she uses the balcony to dry her clothes. One of the unique aspects of the apartment is that it came with an emergency bag containing items, like a safety helmet, needed in case of events like a tsunami, fire or earthquake.

As an English teacher, Smith’s typical workday consists of teaching from around 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Smith teaches five to seven classes a day to students ranging from three to 73 years old. Classes are one-on-one or two-on-one and 30 to 40 minutes long. She earns about 250,000 yen or $1,700 a month from her teaching job, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

“The mornings, I really have them to myself. Since I don’t have to go into work until three, it feels like I have almost two days in one because of that,” Smith says. “I love my work-life balance here in Japan. I have full flexibility to do what I want in my classrooms, so it doesn’t feel like such a high-pressure environment.”

Smith’s work-life balance in Japan is a stark difference from the one she had in the U.S. In America, the 24-year-old teacher had to have multiple jobs to make ends meet. She was even working as a teacher at two different schools at the same time.

“In America, when I was working at the schools there, I would be there for 10 or 12 hours a day, working very hard and sometimes skipping my breaks because the kids needed me and there was no one to fill in. I remember countless times asking other teachers to watch my kids so I could run to the bathroom. It was rough. Plus, I would work extra jobs just to kind of get by in the States. Whereas here I get by just on my full-time job teaching English.”

In Japan, some of Smith’s other monthly expenses include water, gas, electricity, health insurance, and groceries, which total approximately $376 a month.

Smith has been living in Japan for about six months and says her biggest challenge is that she’s not yet fluent in Japanese. Because of her job, Smith mostly speaks English, and she’s surrounded by people who speak English as well.

When she needs help with things like going to the post office or getting an appointment at City Hall, Smith enlists the help of her boss to do all the translation.

Though Smith is enjoying her time in Japan, she already knows she will move back to Atlanta at the end of her one-year contract.

“There is a big part of me that does want to stay longer than a year in Japan, but there’s so much of the world to see. As much as I love Japan, I can’t wait to also expand myself to see the rest of the world as well,” Smith says. “I miss my family. We’re really close-knit, so it’s hard being 7,000 miles away from them, but also being a Southern girl, I miss my soul food so much. Japan’s food is great, but there’s nothing like a good collard green at the end of the day.”

Smith still isn’t sure what she’ll do when she moves back to the U.S., but is considering pursuing a graduate degree or a return to teaching.

“I’m not quite sure what the future holds for me, but I’m excited to take whatever path it has,” she says.

One way that Smith is making sure she gets the most out of her experience living in Japan is by documenting her journey on social media, which is she started doing three months after relocating.

“I decided to start sharing my experience because people don’t know what regular life is like. I feel that Tokyo gets a lot of viewership, but all of Japan isn’t Tokyo. A lot of us live in the countryside and live regular lives, and I wanted to share that with the world. A lot of people are thinking about leaving the States and I wanted to share my perspective on it too,” Smith says.

“As a black woman and as a young person who might not have their whole life figured out quite yet, I wanted to inspire people that they can do whatever they want to do. I love building more of a community of expats.”

Since she started sharing her life in Japan on TikTok, Smith says the reception has been positive.

“A lot of people who live in Japan do see themselves in me. They feel like I am sharing the authentic Japanese experience and that means a lot to me that I can create that visibility where it might not otherwise exist,” she says.

“And for other people who look like me, [they can] also feel empowered that they can do it too. I feel that knowing more about the place that you’re going and seeing other people doing it can take some of the fear out of doing that move.”

Conversions from Japanese yen to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 147 Japanese yen to $1 USD on August 30, 2025. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

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The worst thing you can ask at the start of any interaction is: “How are you?” 

You’re essentially telling the other person that the interaction will be like every other interaction. They’ll most likely respond, “My day’s been busy. Good but busy.” It’s boring and generates a social script. 

I’ve spent the last 17 years studying human behavior and what sparks connections between strangers. I’ve learned that trust can catch fire or die out right away, all due to small signals in those first seconds of an interaction. 

Here’s what to do if you really want to instantly gain trust.

Don’t ask what everyone else is asking, like “What’s up?” or “Been busy lately?” Try a question that’s still casual, but looking for excitement. This sets you up for a better interaction.

A few examples:

• Don’t ask: “How’s it going?” Instead, ask: “What’s the highlight of your week so far?”
• Don’t ask: “Have you been keeping busy?” Instead, ask: “Any big wins lately?”
• Don’t ask: “Working on anything lately?” Instead, ask: “Working on anything exciting these days?”

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If you want to generate trust with anyone, encourage them to tell stories about their lives. Be known for asking others what they are most looking forward to.

Here’s my trick:

• On Mondays and Tuesdays, I ask everyone, “Did you do anything fun this past weekend?” 
• On Thursdays and Fridays, I modify it to, “Are you doing anything fun this upcoming weekend?” 
• On Wednesdays, I ask, “Working on anything fun or exciting this week?” 
• Before any holiday or break, I ask, “Looking forward to anything fun for the holidays?”

Everyone on my team and in my life knows I’m going to be asking for fun or exciting plans, so they save them up to tell me all about them (or avoid me when life is boring). It’s a win-win!

When it comes to building trust, it isn’t just the questions you ask, but how you respond when someone tries to connect with you, too.

The biggest mistake I see people make is that when they start conversations, they immediately lead with negativity: “Ugh this terrible weather!” or “My schedule has been crazy!” Instead, save one interesting thing to lead with and be ready when someone asks you a boring question. 

The next time someone asks, “How are you?” try to respond with some humor or whimsy instead. You might try a reply like:

• “Good enough that I remembered to floss. So, a win.”
• “Running on caffeine and a dream.”
• “10 of 10 today, I just got one new follower on Instagram.”
• “Hanging in there like a cat on a motivational poster.”

Essentially, anything other than the standard “Busy, but good” will wake people up.

Words matter, but your body talks louder. Keep arms uncrossed and face them square to seem open. An open stance invites reciprocity; a closed one sparks doubt. 

A solid handshake — one to three pumps, firm but easy — says you’re sure of yourself and can even signal your personality traits. 

On video calls, lean in a bit to close the gap. If they nod, try nodding back. Matching or mirroring their body signals tells their brain you’re safe.

Test these tips in safe, low-pressure places, like chatting with a cashier, a neighbor, or a friend over coffee. 

I do it myself before big talks — with my family at dinner, strangers in line, Uber drivers during rides, you name it — and it sharpens how I come across, making the moves feel second nature.

The key is to start small, and be consistent.

Try the question about positive future plans at lunch, or the mirroring body language on a walk. Over time, you’ll notice people opening up quicker, smiling more, and engaging deeper, even in brief encounters.

Vanessa Van Edwards is a speaker, researcher and the author of ”Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People″ and ”Cues: Master the Secret Language of Charismatic Communication.” She is the founder of Science of People, where she leads workshops and courses on science-based soft skills to help people become better communicators.

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