“Can we go to the Galapagos Islands for spring break?”

“No, we can’t afford it.”

If this exchange sounds familiar, it’s because sooner or later, your child will ask for something that blows past your budget.

Once kids start school, they become aware of the trips, toys, cars, and experiences other families have. Maybe they see a Cybertruck at drop-off. Maybe a friend just went on a luxury vacation. Maybe they want a backyard pool. 

When you say no to one of these requests, they’ll inevitably ask, “Why?” 

This moment can feel uncomfortable. It can be difficult to deny your child something they want. Their request might also trigger old memories of lack, or spark feelings of shame that you can’t provide what others have. Those emotions make it easy to get irritated or shut them down with a reflexive, “We can’t afford it.” 

But as a financial psychologist, I suggest eliminating this phrase from conversations with your kids. Here are three reasons you should never tell your child, “We can’t afford it” — and what to do instead.

It’s not entirely true, and kids can sense that. Let’s be honest, if you were desperate, you probably could come up with the money. You could, for example:

• Take out a home equity line of credit 
• Sell your house or belongings
• Max out your credit cards 
• Get a second or third job and work nights, weekends, and holidays

The point is, unless your child is asking for a private jet, you probably could find a way to make it happen. So “We can’t afford it” usually falls short. 

Imagine a child who’s never allowed to have candy. What do you think might happen on their 18th birthday? They go on a sugar bender. Money works the same way. 

If your child grows up hearing, “We can’t afford it,” they may internalize a sense of financial scarcity. When they eventually enter adulthood and are offered credit cards, student loans, and easy financing, the emotional response may be: “Now I can finally get what I never had.” This can lead to overspending, credit misuse, and lifelong financial stress. 

DON’T MISS: The ultimate guide to teaching your kids about money

Telling a child why you’re not buying something is different. Instead of implanting the belief that money is scarce, you can focus on teaching them about the reasons you choose to prioritize other things.

When your child asks for something expensive, it’s your chance to explain:

• Why certain expenses aren’t in the budget
• What your family is saving for
• Why you’re prioritizing long-term goals over short-term thinking
• How overspending on cars, vacations, or houses leads many people into financial trouble
• Why delayed gratification matters

If they ask for something unrealistic, like an island in the Caribbean, don’t shut them down. Use it as inspiration. Talk about entrepreneurs and investors who build wealth big enough to afford dreams like that, and how your child can work toward big goals too. 

Research shows that kids who grow up to be good with money are more likely to come from homes where it was discussed openly.

Instead of cutting off the conversation with an abrupt, “We can’t afford it,” try saying: “We could do that, but we’re choosing to spend our money on these things instead, and here’s why.” 

Then explain your reasoning. Maybe you’re: 

• Paying off debt
• Saving for a home
• Investing for retirement
• Choosing to work less so you can spend more time together 

Share your family money values. Tell them what matters most to you. Explain how saving, investing, and making thoughtful spending decisions lets you live the life you want and helps you achieve your goals. 

These conversations will help your child build a healthy relationship with money instead of one rooted in shame or scarcity.

Brad T. Klontz, Psy.D., is a financial psychologist, professor, and certified financial planner who has studied the psychology of money for more than 15 years. He helps clients understand and overcome their subconscious beliefs and patterns that affect their financial behaviors and decisions. Klontz is a member of the CNBC Digital Financial Advisor Council and is a featured expert in the Smarter course “How To Raise Financially Smart Kids.”

Want to give your kids the ultimate advantage? You might teach them to read and ride a bike, but skip money management. Sign up for our new course, How to Raise Financially Smart Kids, and learn how to build healthy financial habits and prepare them for real-world milestones. Use coupon code EARLYBIRD for 30% off. Offer valid from Dec. 8 to Dec. 22, 2025. Terms apply.

It’s one of the most important meetings for employees’ career success, yet many people are going about it completely wrong.

We’re talking about the one-on-one meeting between managers and their direct reports.

“One-on-ones can absolutely be the greatest leadership managerial tool that leaders have for engaging, aligning and building more commitment from their people,” meeting science expert Steven Rogelberg tells CNBC Make It.

“There’s something incredibly powerful about truly seeing your people, finding a dedicated time to understand their challenges and issues and offering support.”

Rogelberg is Chancellor’s Professor at UNC Charlotte teaching organizational science, management and psychology. He has written two books on holding more effective meetings, including “Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings.”

“The problem is that so many managers are conducting these one-on-ones in a way to meet their needs and not the needs of their people,” Rogelberg says. “They conduct the meeting to monitor their employees’ work, and that’s not the goal of these.”

Instead, one-on-ones should have a “lightweight agenda,” Rogelberg says, that’s “being driven ideally by the employee or in concert with the manager.”

Employees should come prepared with what they’d like to discuss with their manager, or a manager can ask broad questions as jumping-off points for the employee to take the conversation in any direction they want.

“The more the employee is involved in it, then it’s constantly sending the signal that this meeting is indeed for you, not me,” Rogelberg says.

Effective one-on-one meetings can increase employee engagement and retention. Managers may also have fewer disruptions throughout the workday if employees bundle their questions for their one-on-ones. That’s incumbent on managers committing to give reports their undivided attention when meeting, Rogelberg says.

“When it’s truly focused on the employee, and the manager is truly listening and engaging on the employee’s terms, then these benefits can accrue,” he adds.

Research supports managers meeting with their reports weekly for the most positive outcomes, Rogelberg says. These benefits trail off on a biweekly schedule and are fewer still when people meet even less frequently than that.

Whatever your cadence, try to stick with it. When managers frequently cancel a meeting with a direct report, it can inadvertently signal to them that they’re not valued.

If you’re crunched for time, it’s “less about the actual minutes and more about the consistency,” according to Rogelberg.

“They don’t have to be long,” he says. “They just have to be genuine and meaningful.”

Want to give your kids the ultimate advantage? You teach them to read and ride a bike, but often skip money management. Sign up for our new course, How to Raise Financially Smart Kids, and learn how to build healthy financial habits and prepare them for real-world milestones. Use coupon code EARLYBIRD for 30% off. Offer valid from Dec. 8-22, 2025. Terms apply.

After Rashan Brown finished his first major gig as a spoken-word poet — opening for bestselling author and poet Rupi Kaur at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, in December 2022 — he stepped outside and celebrated on the empty winter street.

“We’re changing the game of poetry,” he said in a video recorded after the event. Standing on Tilden Avenue, grinning, he yelled, ”[One day] we’re going to be in Kings Theatre — we’ll sell out Kings Theatre, the Apollo [Theater].”

Brown, an ESPN product manager by day, was referencing his side hustle, a New York-based business called Poetry me, please. It’s a spoken-word poetry showcase that hosts monthly events, primarily in New York. Selected artists, usually 10 per event, perform for free — in contrast to poetry events that charge performers entry fees — and get video and photos of their appearances after each showcase.

Brown also performs his own work and manages other poets under the Poetry me, please brand, which he founded in 2020. It brought in $148,000 in 2024 revenue — an average of $12,000 per month — according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

Most of the revenue comes from ticket sales, and it’s largely offset by the cost of running the events: Poetry me, please profited $500 in 2024, and Brown reinvested that back into the business, he says. He doesn’t take an income from the side hustle, despite its demanding hours — anywhere from 20 to 80 hours per week, depending on the season, he notes.

Other staffers do get paid. Brown hires at least 10 contractors per event — like DJs, videographers and people manning the doors — plus a personal team including a chief of staff, agent, social media manager and project managers, he says.

“I have full creative autonomy as an entrepreneur and as a CEO, like, every decision comes back to me,” from each show’s theme to the visuals on advertising flyers, says Brown, 30. “I really enjoy flexing those creative muscles. I felt like I always had great ideas, and I just started to implement them.”

Brown started writing and performing poetry in high school as a form of creative expression, he says. In January 2020, he sought out his first open mic night in New York. Being on stage “felt like therapy” to him — except for the $20 entry fee he paid, he says.

“It didn’t sit right with me that I paid to perform” as the crowd snapped, clapped and cheered, says Brown. “I am providing a service. I prepped, I filled the room [with my friends].”

He started posting videos of himself performing on YouTube, then hosted his own small events with other poets in bars. Initially, he made pennies, if anything, in profit, he says. Then he hosted an event in October 2021 at a two-story restaurant where attendees could dress fancily and order food while listening to the performances. The change of setting paid off: He went home with $1,000 in profit, he says.

His next event netted over $4,000, he says. Excited, and perhaps ambitious, Brown looked up how to book New York’s Apollo Theater. A one-night showcase would cost him $50,000, he discovered.

Over the next year and a half, Brown hosted more Poetry me, please events. The more he posted and interacted on Instagram, the more followers and partnerships Poetry me, please landed: events at New York’s Soho House and City Winery, sponsorships with companies like Eventbrite and Microsoft.

In fall 2023, Brown paid a $10,000 deposit — a mix of personal savings and money from Poetry me, please — to secure a November evening at the Apollo, which he advertised heavily on social media. Roughly 1,400 people, the series’ largest audience to that point, bought tickets — helping cover the rest of the event’s cost, says Brown.

Brown works a lot on Poetry me, please, sometimes to his own detriment, he says.

In February 2024, Brown interrupted his recovery from a knee surgery to perform at a White House event for Black men in entrepreneurship. He says he was exhausted and in pain after the event. He ended up visiting a Washington D.C. emergency room that evening, he says.

“I feel like any time I’ve gotten really sick, it’s because I’ve overworked,” says Brown. “I’ve learned either you can take a rest, or your body is going to make you take a rest.”

Still, the long hours — particularly each winter, when Poetry me, please has its biggest events — are worthwhile to him, he says. Helping fellow performers, inspiring an audience and working to build a poetry community outweigh his lack of a paycheck, he adds.

On Nov. 29, Brown returned to the Kings Theatre — this time, to host a Poetry me, please showcase. A special guest performed that evening: Rupi Kaur.

Want to give your kids the ultimate advantage? Sign up for CNBC’s new online course, How to Raise Financially Smart Kids. Learn how to build healthy financial habits today to set your children up for greater success in the future. Use coupon code EARLYBIRD for 30% off. Offer valid from Dec. 8 to Dec. 22, 2025. Terms apply.

Chris Broomfield, 50, had been in the carpentry contracting business for years when he decided to take what he’s learned working on other people’s homes and use it to help secure a lucrative future for family.

In 2015, Broomfield and his wife bought a five-acre property in Remsen, New York, for $27,000. It was close to where Broomfield grew up and not too far from a property his brother owns nearby.

“I realized that carpentry is a knowledge and experience-based. I couldn’t really hand that down to my kids,” Broomfield tells CNBC Make It. “So I needed to build something that at least would give them a head start on something to borrow against or something that creates additional income.”

Shortly after closing on the land, Broomfield says he started commuting every weekend from his family’s home in Connecticut to work on building an A-frame cabin — a style he chose because he thought it was the most cost-effective at the time.

“I love the architecture of the A-frame. They’re beautiful and timeless,” Broomfield says. “As a carpenter, I was doing almost everything myself, so I wanted it to be a faster build.”

Though Broomfield did most of the work himself, he did hire outside help to drill a well, an electrician to wire the cabin and somebody to hang the sheetrock.

It took Broomfield three years to complete the work on the one-bedroom, one-bathroom A-frame cabin for a total cost of about $90,000, he says.

Building the A-frame was challenging, Broomfield says, because he was commuting eight hours round-trip to work 12 hours over the weekends, all while still working as a full-time contractor. Despite the challenges, he says he loved working on the cabin because he knew it was just the beginning of his vision to build multiple rentals on the property.

“The process was amazing for me. I loved being up here. I loved being able to build anything that I wanted to build. The free rein was really enjoyable,” Broomfield said.

One of the standout features of the A-frame cabin is a motorized king bed that slides into the woods, allowing guests to sleep under the stars, which was inspired by Broomfield’s wife.

“I wanted to sleep outside with my wife. She hates bugs and camping, so I was trying to give her what I love. I wanted to give her that experience and get her hooked on what I like to do and get her to enjoy things that I’d like to do too,” he says.

The A-frame also has a fully equipped kitchen, fireplace, fire pit and multiple decks. When the cabin was first listed on Airbnb in 2018, the going rate was $60 a night. Now, Broomfield uses dynamic pricing, so the rate ranges from $380 to $700 a night.

All the hard work Broomfield put into the A-frame cabin showed, and after he listed it on Airbnb, it went viral. It’s one of Airbnb’s “most-wishlisted” rentals in New York. It’s also a guest-favorite listing and earned Broomfield the title of “superhost,” according to an Airbnb representative.

In 2024, the A-frame cabin had a revenue of $119,337 and its estimated revenue for 2025 is $143,504, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

After Broomfield first opened the A-frame cabin as a short-term rental, he and a team built The Treehouse in 13 weeks. What makes this cabin particularly special is that it sits 14 feet above ground. To reach it, renters must cross a suspension bridge on the property.

The treehouse ranks among the top 10% of Airbnb listings based on ratings, reviews, and reliability, according to an Airbnb representative.

In 2024, the treehouse cabin had a revenue of $151,966 and this year, Broomfield estimates that number will be $150,562.

Shortly after listing the treehouse on Airbnb, Broomfield completed the Birch Falls Spa Cabin, a studio with an 18-foot-long indoor waterfall. In 2024, the Birch Falls Spa Cabin generated $120,227 in revenue, and Broomfield’s estimated 2025 revenue is $120,890.

With all of the rental properties he had built on the five-acre property, he named his business Evergreen Cabins. As of September 2025, the Evergreen Cabins have brought in $2.1 million since the very first property was listed for rent in 2018, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

Broomfield says that today he brings in about $400,000 a year with revenue from the rental properties and was able to retire from contracting in 2021.

Since retiring, Broomfield’s day-to-day consists of overseeing his staff, designing new cabins, and developing future plans for the Evergreen Cabins.

“There’s always going to be something that is going to be pushing me to do the next thing. I can’t sit back and do nothing. My family is a huge part of my inspiration and my drive; eventually, they are going to be the ones owning this,” he says.

“The legacy of Evergreen is, I don’t really have a plan for it [but] I do know that it is going to inspire and help people. My kids are going to be a part of that.”

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I tried for over a decade to move to Spain. I went to study Spanish at 21, teach English at 26, and get my master’s at 29, but always ended up back in the U.S. Back then, my options to stay long-term seemed so limited: get transferred through a company, marry a local, or have rare skills that qualified for a work visa. I didn’t fit any of those boxes.

I finally made my last move to Spain in 2015, at age 35, and I’m now a proud citizen. As the founder of She Hit Refresh — where I’ve helped hundreds of other women move abroad — I often think about how much easier it is to relocate these days, thanks especially to the rise of digital nomad visas. 

Traditionally, you have to apply for visas from your home country, which can mean long processing times at consulates, strict requirements, lots of paperwork, and waiting in the U.S. until your visa is approved. But a few European countries now allow in-country applications.

Keep in mind that aside from any local financial requirements for a visa or permit, other costs and considerations can include relocation specialists and lawyers who can help facilitate the process.

Here are four countries in Europe that let you relocate first and handle the visa paperwork after you arrive.

Spain is one of the most popular destinations for Americans moving abroad. With its sunshine, warm culture, stunning scenery, and affordability for those with a U.S. income, it’s easy to understand why.

Spain launched its digital nomad visa in 2023 for freelancers, the self-employed, and remote employees. Apply from the U.S. and you’ll be issued a one-year visa, but apply from Spain and you can get a three-year permit. Among the women I’ve worked with, processing times from Spain seem to be faster, too, sometimes just a few weeks.

Before you go, gather key documents in the U.S., especially your FBI background check and apostille, or certificate of authentication, since they’re more complicated to obtain once you’re abroad. You’ll also be asked to provide proof of remote work and income.

Giovanna Gonzalez, 36, moved from Chicago to Valencia in April 2025. “We booked a trip to Spain so we could apply from within the country,” says Gonzalez, who tells me her experience was smooth, particularly with the help of an immigration attorney. “We were approved in only two and a half weeks.”

Her advice? Work with a relocation specialist for housing, since finding a place quickly as an American without a local work contract can be challenging. 

Greece is not only a popular vacation spot, but also an appealing destination for remote workers seeking sunshine on the Mediterranean coast, a slower pace, and lower cost of living. If I ever decide to relocate, I’d move to Greece.

What most people don’t realize is that Greece offers two separate options for remote workers: a digital nomad visa and a digital nomad residence permit. You have to apply for the digital nomad visa, which grants a one-year stay, from your home country. But you can apply for the digital nomad residence permit, which is valid for two years, once you’re already in Greece. You’ll need to show proof of monthly income of at least €3,500, health insurance, and a rental contract or property ownership.

One of my podcast guests, Kathleen O’Donnell, 40, moved from Boston to Athens in 2022 and chose the residence permit. “It was such a relief not to have to fly back to the U.S. to apply,” she says. “The process took time, but it was worth it for the flexibility.”

While you can apply on your own, O’Donnell says she hired a lawyer, which “made the process much less stressful.”

The Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (DAFT) allows freelancers and self-employed U.S. citizens to live and work in the Netherlands by registering a new or existing business and depositing €4,500 into a Dutch business bank account. You can apply and get the ball rolling on your DAFT visa after arriving. Remote employees don’t qualify, meaning you can’t be a W-2 employee. 

Stacy Holt, 44, moved to the Netherlands with her family in 2023. “We sold everything, rented a house we’d only seen on video, and applied once we arrived,” she says. “It was definitely a stressful time, but within two months I had my residency card and my business registered.”

She tells me she moved for a better quality of life for her children, and to escape the stress of active shooter drills and future student debt for them. Her tip: Bring savings and patience, as housing can be difficult to secure without local rental history.

Albania may not be on your radar, but it’s becoming a popular soft-landing spot for Americans. It’s affordable, welcoming, and ideal if you want to “test-drive” life abroad without having to navigate complicated visa systems first.

U.S. citizens can stay in Albania for up to a year, visa-free. Those who want to stay longer can apply for a residence permit in-country.

Monica Miranda, 45, moved from Jersey City to Vlorë with her dog. She initially planned to stay a few months, but has now been there nearly two years. “Getting my residency was easier than I expected,” she says. “I hired a lawyer, submitted my documents, and received a provisional visa within a week.”

Cepee Tabibian is the founder of She Hit Refresh, a community and resource platform that helps women aged 30+ move abroad. She’s the author of ”I’m Outta Here! An American’s Ultimate Visa Guide to Living in Europe″ and host of the She Hit Refresh podcast. As the daughter of Colombian and Iranian immigrants, Cepee grew up in Houston, Texas, before becoming an immigrant herself in Spain. Follow her @shehitrefresh.

Want to stand out, grow your network, and get more job opportunities? Sign up today for Smarter by CNBC Make It’s new online course, How to Build a Standout Personal Brand: Online, In Person, and At Work. Learn how to showcase your skills, build a stellar reputation, and create a digital presence that AI can’t replicate.