Melanie Ehrenkranz isn’t a stranger to job instability. In the decade she’s worked in media, she’s seen countless smart and creative friends lose their jobs during mass layoffs.

When it happened to her in 2023, it sparked an idea: Ehrenkranz decided to create a resource for people going through layoffs to discuss the thorny parts of getting the news — the indignity of being let go over a video call, who they told first, getting into company gossip with ex-co-workers, and what they named their commiseration group chats.

In other words, all the things you want to spill but can’t post on LinkedIn.

By August 2024, Ehrenkranz launched Laid Off, a Substack newsletter that aims to be “the coolest place on the internet to talk about being laid off.” She runs the newsletter on top of her day job as as head of content and community at Business Class, which makes online courses for entrepreneurs.

Readers of Laid Off, now more than 6,000 of them and growing, get weekly spotlights of people’s layoff stories and how they’re handling them.

“This is something I wish I had,” Ehrenkranz, 35, tells CNBC Make It.

Most of the Laid Off readers work in tech, followed by news and media, health care, advertising and then retail.

A majority discuss being laid off in 2024 — at home via Zoom, while on a group conference call, via an email. Many responded to Ehrenkranz’s recent survey to say joining the Laid Off community has given them a cathartic, almost fun, place to reflect on the experience as a group.

“I don’t want this to be depressing or bleak,” Ehrenkranz says. “Obviously it’s a really deflating experience and traumatic, but I think we can also create a fun, cathartic community.”

Spinning the layoff experience on its head, and detaching the self-blame and guilt that often goes with it, can make it feel less isolating and taboo, Ehrenkranz adds.

She hopes that readers see “all these really smart, cool, successful people” telling their stories in their own words. “We’re all doing our best. We might have been at the top of our game. We’ve been laid off. And I think that also helps to re-wire your brain that might be [wondering]: What did I do wrong to deserve this? And the answer is nothing.”

Laid Off’s paid subscribers (for $5 per month) also get access to a Discord channel, a community of over 700 users who trade layoff horror stories but also tips on navigating today’s challenging job market.

The conversations show a shift in the layoff environment. While early pandemic days helped more people uncouple their job loss from their self-worth, and the post-Great Resignation job cuts ushered in a new era of vulnerability in LinkedIn posts, the chatter around losing your job these days feels a little more confrontational.

As Ehrenkranz puts it, “I think a lot of people are feeling angry.”

It’s “almost impossible” to scroll on LinkedIn without seeing a connection writing that they’ve been laid off, Ehrenkranz says: “Being bombarded with these stories and images and Open to Work banners, it does start to kind of strip away that shame. And underneath that shame, I think, is this righteous anger.”

The rising anger is coinciding with companies like Meta and Microsoft saying they’re laying off people due to poor performance. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of public servants have been fired, some under the guise of unsatisfactory employee assessments, as the Trump administration works to slash the size of the federal workforce.

But those who received pink slips aren’t going quietly, and at times are publicly challenging the evaluations of their work.

Angry posts are less targeted toward the messiness of a mass layoff, and more so toward “executives who made a decision to de-value work [employees] believed was important, or decisions executives made that put the company in a precarious place, and it cost people their jobs, but not necessarily the people at the top.”

Additionally, “people are really angry at the systems in place that are supposed to protect you when you don’t have a job,” Ehrenkranz says. “Health care is a really big conversation, and it’s very tied with their employment in this country, and so I think a lot of people are upset about care that they and their loved ones can no longer get.”

Continuing layoff news is rattling those on the job hunt and workers clinging to their jobs alike. U.S. employers announced as many as 172,017 job cuts in February, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas — the highest monthly total since July 2020.

And with economists reviving fears of a recession, the job-search hunger games could get even tougher.

When you’re “competing with all of these people laid off for the same job, it does make you start to question whether the traditional stories you’re told, of working hard to get XYZ, are actually true,” Ehrenkranz says.

Job loss could lead some people to redefine what their version of success looks like, Ehrenkranz says, which could mean changing careers or striking out on their own and starting a new business.

Within the Laid Off community, she’s seen more people asking questions about how to pivot into a new career, take on new side projects and part-time jobs, monetize side hustles or start something new altogether.

“There’s a lot of entrepreneurial spirit that comes out of these layoffs, whether that be out of necessity or innovation,” she says. “People have to pay the bills.”

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Low points are inevitable in any relationship; no two people can see eye to eye all the time. But when push comes to shove, how do you know if your relationship has the foundation to endure? 

As a psychologist who studies relationships, I’ve come to learn that thriving relationships often share some key traits.

Here are four simple questions that can determine longevity of your connection. If your answers are all “yes,” you’re likely on solid ground.

Every healthy relationship should be grounded upon a foundation of friendship. Imagine your partner as just a friend: Would you still want to spend time with them, laugh with them and turn to them for support?

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Couples who say “yes” to this understand that relationships require a lot more than just passion and commitment. Studies even show that if like your partner as a person, your bond will be much harder to break.

On the other hand, some couples stay together out of habit, fear of starting over or because they feel they’ve already invested too much in the relationship to let it go. This is what keeps people in unhappy relationships for years.

Your life partner should bring out the best in you. Does having them in your life make you feel supported, loved and inspired to grow? Or do you feel stifled, diminished and drained?

Truly great relationships often reflect what’s called the “Michelangelo effect.” Just like the artist shaped raw stone into breathtaking sculptures, healthy partners will “sculpt” each other into better versions of themselves. They encourage your goals, cheer on your successes and remind you of your worth even on hard days.

Unhealthy relationships can have the opposite effect. If being around your partner makes you feel small, criticized or unsure of yourself, it’s worth reflecting on why. The way you feel when you’re around your partner is often one of the biggest clues about how healthy your relationship is.

No one is perfect, but ignoring flaws isn’t really what love is about. Rather, we all have to learn that those imperfections aren’t what define your partner, nor your relationship. Couples in healthy relationships don’t rely on fantasies of how the other person could change — they focus on loving each other as they are presently.

This doesn’t mean you should tolerate toxic behavior. But it does mean accepting the small fumbles and imperfections that make your partner human, like forgetting to pick up their socks once in a while or telling the same joke over and over.

If you can genuinely say you’d choose your partner if they stayed exactly as they are, warts and all, then you’ve likely built a relationship that can stand the test of time.

One of the clearest signs of a strong relationship is that your partner isn’t just there for the hard times — they’re also your go-to person for sharing your wins. When you get exciting news, do you instinctively reach for your phone to call them? Do you look forward to celebrating your successes together?

Psychologists call this “capitalization,” and research shows that couples who actively share and celebrate each other’s good news tend to have stronger, happier relationships. It builds a sense of partnership and camaraderie — one that reinforces that your joys are their joys, too.

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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Almost all of us dread growing old. Disproven stereotypes about older individuals still persist, and many younger people don’t realize how different aging is today compared to their grandparents’ experiences.

But through my research and numerous studies, I have found that most older adults in their 80s will be happier than people in their 70s, and those in their 70s are generally happier than those in their 60s. It may seem hard to believe, but it’s true! Of course, this can be different for those without basic financial security.

Based on my interviews with 150 people in their 70s, 80s and 90s, and from my many conversations with people at my retirement community and town, here are five unexpected things that truly surprised us about getting older.

Older people today have better access to pain management options, thanks to a wide range of available medications. As a result, we elders can continue to be more active.

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On average, we live longer and enjoy a significantly better quality of life compared to our parents and grandparents. For example, my parents died at 65 and 72.

Many health conditions can be successfully treated and managed. We elders get new knees, hips and shoulders. We have hearing aids that actually work and procedures to remove cataracts.

It does take many doctors to keep us up and running. In the last four months, I had a second bout of Covid and have fallen twice. I’ve had appointments with my primary care physician, orthopedist, dermatologist, ophthalmologist and dentist. 

But this week, I went to three exercise classes and walked more than a mile and a half on two other days. 

Many folks believe you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I assumed that at about age 40 or 45, people started to decline and that it was all downhill from then on.

However, today we have a better understanding of the aging brain and neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to grow and reorganize its neural networks. In other words, our brains can continue to develop and heal over time.

Older people can keep learning, even if it takes us longer than younger people to do so. We can stay sharp by stimulating our brains. Engaging in new activities is especially beneficial for this purpose. For me, these activities include conversational French and taking a Zumba class. 

A popular toast at my retirement community is, “Here’s to everything that still is working!”

Many of us elders tend to see the glass as half full and consciously choose to maintain a positive attitude. This is the paradox of aging. Despite the loss of loved ones and a decline in our own capabilities, surprisingly, our mental health and sense of well-being usually improves.

We feel grateful and content with what we have. We recognize that we are lucky to be alive — less than 2% of Americans make it to age 90. As a result, we don’t want to waste a single second complaining.

As we age, particularly into our late 70s and 80s, we rarely make plans that extend further than 18 months into the future. The uncertainties of life makes us avoid long-term planning, even though we may live for many more years.

We also don’t spend much time dwelling on our past. Interestingly, by 75 or 80, many of us have very few regrets. We have made peace with all that has happened to us and the choices we have made. We rarely find ourselves wishing we had married someone else or changed careers.

Nowadays, our conversations revolve more around sports and TV shows than our past jobs or adventures. We enjoy the simple pleasures of life like coffee with a friend, taking a walk around the block, and admiring a starry sky. We only have this moment.

When we were younger, most of us wanted to have a nice house and enough money. We worked hard, strived to achieve our goals and took care of our families. For years, we were too busy and rushed to fully enjoy our lives.

Today, most of us have shed demanding jobs and as many responsibilities as we can. Finally, we have the gift of time, and spending time with our families is the highlight of our lives.

Families can include those we’ve had all along as well as those we’ve created. Some of us, like me, find a new love partner. We adore the young children and babies in our lives. Surprisingly, friends also become even more important as we age.

Friends, there is much to look forward to as you age, and the research suggests you will be happier, too.

Katharine Esty, PhD, trained as a social worker and social psychologist, and was a practicing psychotherapist for 30 years. She is the author of the bestselling book ”Eightysomethings: A Practical Guide to Letting Go, Aging Well, and Finding Unexpected Happiness.” As a recognized expert on aging well and family dynamics, her views have been featured in Psychology Today, CNN and The Wall Street Journal.

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Many people consider roughly $1.5 million the “magic number” for retirement savings, according to a Northwestern Mutual survey of 4,588 Americans. But how long that much money lasts depends on where you live.

In addition to Social Security payments, $1.5 million would last a household just 17 years in Hawaii, likely falling short of a full retirement for someone leaving the workforce at 65, according to a new GOBankingRates analysis. In contrast, retirees in West Virginia could stretch the same amount for 54 years — the longest of any state.

GOBankingRates based its analysis on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey, which looks at how much retirees typically spend each year on essentials such as groceries, housing, utilities, transportation and health care. The data was then adjusted for each state using the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s cost-of-living index.

By factoring in average expenses rather than just the bare minimum needed to survive, the data aims to offer a more realistic picture of retirement affordability across the country.

Unsurprisingly, states with the highest housing costs, including California, New York and Massachusetts, are among the most expensive places to retire.

The difference in average annual housing costs can vary by as much as $30,000 between states, with similar disparities found in utilities and health-care expenses, although they make up a smaller portion of the household budget.

Here’s a look at how long $1.5 million plus Social Security payments would last in each state on average, listed in alphabetical order, according to GOBankingRates.

• Annual cost after Social Security: $30,207
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 50

• Annual cost after Social Security: $50,997
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 29

• Annual cost after Social Security: $44,628
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 34

• Annual cost after Social Security: $30,327
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 49

• Annual cost after Social Security: $63,795
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 24

• Annual cost after Social Security: $38,559
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 39

• Annual cost after Social Security: $43,967
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 34

• Annual cost after Social Security: $37,057
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 40

• Annual cost after Social Security: $38,379
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 39

• Annual cost after Social Security: $31,829
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 47

• Annual cost after Social Security: $87,770
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 17

• Annual cost after Social Security: $38,138
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 39

• Annual cost after Social Security: $34,233
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 44

• Annual cost after Social Security: $31,709
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 47

• Annual cost after Social Security: $31,168
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 48

• Annual cost after Social Security: $28,945
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 52

• Annual cost after Social Security: $32,670
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 46

• Annual cost after Social Security: $33,031
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 45

• Annual cost after Social Security: $45,048
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 33

• Annual cost after Social Security: $36,276
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 41

• Annual cost after Social Security: $65,117
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 23

• Annual cost after Social Security: $32,310
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 46

• Annual cost after Social Security: $34,113
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 44

• Annual cost after Social Security: $29,426
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 51

• Annual cost after Social Security: $30,327
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 49

• Annual cost after Social Security: $33,331
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 45

• Annual cost after Social Security: $32,610
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 46

• Annual cost after Social Security: $36,997
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 41

• Annual cost after Social Security: $43,847
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 34

• Annual cost after Social Security: $45,829
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 33

• Annual cost after Social Security: $32,670
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 46

• Annual cost after Social Security: $50,997
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 29

• Annual cost after Social Security: $35,495
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 42

• Annual cost after Social Security: $32,190
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 47

• Annual cost after Social Security: $33,872
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 44

• Annual cost after Social Security: $29,666
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 51

• Annual cost after Social Security: $42,945
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 35

• Annual cost after Social Security: $33,872
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 44

• Annual cost after Social Security: $44,387
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 34

• Annual cost after Social Security: $34,052
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 44

• Annual cost after Social Security: $32,310
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 46

• Annual cost after Social Security: $30,928
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 49

• Annual cost after Social Security: $32,490
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 46

• Annual cost after Social Security: $42,645
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 35

• Annual cost after Social Security: $45,409
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 33

• Annual cost after Social Security: $37,237
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 40

• Annual cost after Social Security: $45,108
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 33

• Annual cost after Social Security: $27,803
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 54

• Annual cost after Social Security: $36,516
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 41

• Annual cost after Social Security: $34,173
• Years $1.5 million lasts: 44

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It only took two hours for Krista Ray to sell $25,000 worth of needlepoint canvases after her side hustle, Penny Linn Designs, launched in September 2020.

It seemed like an impressive number on the surface, but LeRay and her dad had done the math prior to the site’s launch. Each 4-inch-by-4-inch cotton canvas, which sold for $50 each, took six hours to paint over the course of four months. After $7,000 spent on supplies, her profits came out to roughly $2 an hour, she says.

“It made me think this could never be my job, just because it’s so labor intensive,” LeRay, 33, tells CNBC Make It.

LeRay, then a lifestyle blogger living in New York earning up to $242,000 per year, made more money in less time posting about her brand partnerships on social media, she says. She kept painting simply because she loved the hobby. But somewhat unexpectedly, demand kept growing.

In late 2022, the side hustle became her full-time job. In 2024, Penny Linn Designs brought in $4.43 million in sales of canvases, threads and accessories, or roughly $369,000 per month on average, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

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The company’s production has become more efficient as it has grown: It achieved a 36% profit margin last year, which enabled LeRay to take a $80,000 salary, she says.

The rest of those proceeds go toward expanding the business, she adds. Penny Linn Designs now has 34 total employees and, in March, opened a 5,000-square-foot retail location in Norwalk, Connecticut — roughly 50 miles northeast from the apartment where it started.

The shop’s canvases, now made by a variety of designers that align with Penny Linn Design’s “coastal preppy” aesthetic, feature champagne bottles, Cape Cod salt-and-vinegar chips, and Taylor Swift quotes.

LeRay benefited from being early to a trend, she says: Crafts like needlepoint saw a resurgence during the pandemic, when many people looked for new ways to occupy time spent mostly indoors. Interest in such hobbies has remained solid, at least online. While the fabric store Joann recently announced the closing of its remaining stores, virtual marketplace Etsy brought in a record $2.8 billion in annual revenue.

Needlepointing specifically is having a moment, LeRay says. She suspects the recent boom traces back to a rise in social media interest, especially after needlepointed Christmas ornaments went viral on TikTok in 2023, she says.

She captures her customers, most of whom are under 35, she adds, by focusing on patterns that are accessible, both in terms of difficulty and pop culture relevance.

LeRay was originally introduced to needlepointing by her grandmother. She picked the skill back up in early 2020, when her usual fashion and beauty content felt inappropriate for her to post during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It felt insensitive to be like, ‘This is what I’m wearing,’ when people were dying,” she says. “I enjoyed the creative process of [needlepointing] during a time where everything else felt really scary.”

She posted about needlepointing items, like belts and pillows, before she eventually started painting and selling her own, she says. For about 10 months, LeRay says she painted, packed and shipped orders from her New York apartment while bingeing TV shows like “Schitt’s Creek” in the background.

LeRay’s Penny Linn Design salary still doesn’t match what she made at the height of her blogging career — but her priorities have changed, she says. She became less interested in sharing her life online anyway after she and her husband moved to Connecticut in December 2020 and then had a son.

And while she isn’t sure if running her needlepoint business will ever be as personally lucrative as blogging was, the business and the community around it fulfills her creative needs.

Penny Linn Design’s brick-and-mortar store opened at 10 a.m. on March 1. Customers from all over the country, ranging from 12 to 90 years old, started lining up at 5 a.m., many wearing the brand’s signature cornflower blue, according to LeRay. Some waited for over two hours to get in, she says.

The experience affirmed her beliefs that her company has a large enough base to keep growing, and that needlepointing, at least in some capacity, is here to stay.

“It was a huge shock to me. We have 50,000 followers [on Instagram], but that’s always felt sort of imaginary,” LeRay says. “I was unprepared to see our online community show up like that in real life.”

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