“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.”

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You’ll need to earn close to $200,000 a year to be within the top 10% of U.S. household incomes, though the exact threshold depends on where you live.

A recent Visa analysis calculated the income and net worth households need to be considered “affluent” across the U.S., which the report defines as households in the top 10% in terms of either income or net worth. Visa based the thresholds on 2024 U.S. Census survey data.

Nationally, those thresholds are about $210,000 a year in income or a net worth of roughly $1.8 million. Net worth is a measure of a household’s total assets, including home equity, savings and investments, minus its debts.

Those thresholds have increased since 2020, when the income needed to reach the top 10% was about $170,000 and the wealth cutoff sat around $1.3 million nationally. Rising home values and stock prices have pushed both numbers higher, while wage growth added further momentum, the study says.

The analysis also looked at how these thresholds vary by region, using cost-of-living data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to account for local price differences. Here’s a look what it takes to be considered affluent in different parts of the country:

• West: $227,000 income, $2 million net worth
• Northeast: $222,000 income, $1.9 million net worth
• South: $205,000 income, $1.8 million net worth
• Midwest: $198,000 income, $1.7 million net worth

The regional cutoffs reflect what households pay for housing, goods and everyday services in each area. Because the thresholds are scaled to local prices, regions where costs run higher require more income or net worth to be considered affluent, while lower-cost areas require less.

Housing plays an outsized role in these cost differences, since it makes up the largest share of household spending, the study says.

That lines up with the most recent regional data, which shows median existing-home prices ranging from about $319,500 in the Midwest to roughly $628,500 in the West as of October 2025, according to the National Association of Realtors.

While Visa’s analysis does not include net-worth figures for each region in 2020, Federal Reserve data shows that the wealth held by the top 10% of all households has grown by about 40% over the last five years as asset prices have climbed.

Much of the rise in wealth comes from gains in the stock market and real estate. The top 10% of Americans hold over 87% of corporate equities and mutual fund shares, with the value of those assets growing sharply since 2020, according to Federal Reserve data. The S&P 500 — a market benchmark that tracks around 500 of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies — gained roughly 109% over the last five years.

Rising home values also contributed to higher household wealth. The U.S. median home price rose about 25% over that same period, per U.S. Census data.

The increase also reflects stronger income gains among higher-earning households. The threshold for households to be in the top 10% of earners rose 23% since 2020, Visa’s analysis shows.

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Mutual fund companies are increasing access to a type of investment that provides guaranteed income for life.

Last week, mutual fund firm and index investing pioneer Vanguard announced a new line of target-date mutual funds, which will allow shareholders to use some of their retirement savings to buy an annuity, an instrument sold by insurance companies that guarantees the policy holder a certain amount of regular income over a set period of time.

The mutual funds are expected to be available in 2026, the Wall Street Journal reports, and will only be available within defined-contribution plans, such as 401(k)s.

Vanguard joins other financial and insurance firms, including mutual and exchange-traded fund giant BlackRock, in offering funds with a built-in annuity option.

“Retirement isn’t one-size-fits-all, and for those who want more predictability, guaranteed income can provide added peace of mind alongside their savings,” Lauren Valente, managing director and head of Vanguard Workplace Solutions, said in a statement.

That may sound tempting, but you’d be wise to do some homework before choosing any kind of annuity investment, says David Rosenstrock, a certified financial planner at Wharton Wealth Planning in New York City.

“Annuities are a popular way to guarantee an income stream,” he says. “However, ensuring an annuity is the right option before you purchase it is critical.”

Whether an annuity strategy makes sense for you depends on your personal financial situation. Talk with a trusted financial professional before making any major investment decisions.

In the meantime, here are some basic questions about annuities, answered.

Target-date funds are mutual funds that hold a mix of assets — usually other stock and bond mutual funds — that grow more conservative (i.e. more heavily weighted toward bonds) as you approach the year you plan to retire. 

These are often the default choice in workplace retirement accounts. As of last year, more than 30% of 401(k) assets were invested in target-date funds, according to the Plan Sponsor Council of America.

These are meant to be all-in-one retirement portfolios that take asset allocation decisions off your plate, says Jason Kephart, a senior principal at Morningstar.

“These are designed with the idea that you’ll have all of your retirement savings in there,” he says.

An annuity is a contract issued by an insurance company that guarantees the person who buys it income for specific amount of time or over the course of the rest of their life. You can buy an annuity with a lump-sum payment or by paying monthly installments.

Different types of annuities have different payout and fee structures, but generally, the amount of monthly income you receive depends on how much money you put in, how long you defer collecting payments and your life expectancy.

Target-date funds follow what’s called a “glide path,” starting with a stock-heavy allocation and shifting the portfolio toward bonds over time. The annuity versions of these funds start shifting some of your money from your bond portfolio into an insurance contract starting at a certain age — 55 in the case of both the Vanguard and BlackRock funds.

Between then and the date you retire, money accumulates in the contract, eventually arriving at a certain percentage of your assets in the fund — 25% for Vanguard, 30% for BlackRock, for example.

You then have the option to leave those funds in your bond portfolio or convert them into an annuity that provides you a guaranteed lifetime income stream, the amount of which corresponds to how much money you have in the fund.

Some forms of annuities — particularly those which pay out variable rates and hold underlying investments that can fluctuate in value — can be difficult for average investors to understand, says Kephart. But the model of annuities offered within target-date funds is relatively simple, he says.

“You give us this lump sum, 25% or 30% of your portfolio, and this is the amount of money we’re going to give you each month for the rest of your life,” he says.

For some investors, having a guaranteed stream of income for life alongside Social Security can provide peace of mind and flexibility, Kephart says.

“If you have a good sense of what your monthly expenses are going to be [in retirement], and between Social Security and an annuity you can cover those, then you have flexibility with the rest of your portfolio,” he says.

You could use the remainder of your assets to bolster your retirement income or earmark it to leave behind or donate when you die, Kephart says.

And even if your retirement isn’t completely covered by the annuity payments, having at least some of your income guaranteed can help alleviate the pressure of funding your lifestyle predominantly from withdrawals from your investments, says Rosenstrock.

“An annuity might make sense for very conservative and risk-averse individuals nearing retirement seeking a guaranteed income stream to cover expenses during their later years,” he says.

The prospect of guaranteed income comes with some tradeoffs, experts say.

With any annuity, price is a major concern, says Kephart — though less so if you buy them through a mutual fund, since there’s no commission paid to a salesperson.

Nevertheless, all annuities come with fees and risks that the insurance company bakes into the payout you’re offered, which you’d be wise to discuss with a financial professional.

Another consideration for potential annuity investors is liquidity. Should you opt into an annuity, the chunk of money you commit to the contract no longer belongs to you. If you die any time during the period you’re collecting income — whether it’s six months or 30 years — your heirs won’t continue to collect monthly payouts on your behalf.

“You’re getting a stream of cash flow that will last a lifetime, but you’re ceding a portion of your portfolio,” says Christine Benz, director of personal finance and retirement planning at Morningstar. “That’s not the case when you put your money in stocks and bonds.”

Relying on withdrawals from a stock and bond portfolio to fund your retirement comes with its own challenges. Earn poorer than expected returns or spend more than you expected, and you may find yourself running out of money toward the end of your life.

But a stock and bond portfolio has the potential to grow in value over time and provide a return that helps offset rising prices, Rosenstrock says. “The annuity isn’t going to give you any protection against inflation,” he says.

You might be able to do better sticking entirely with your own investments rather than committing part of them to an annuity, Rosenstrock says. “The safety provided by annuities may come at the cost of lower long-term returns than other investment options.”

Still, he and other experts say that the tradeoff might be worth it if the level and consistency of an annuity’s payments make sense for your retirement plan.  

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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.”

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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.

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