Markeiz Ryan, 36, had a pretty good childhood growing up in Maryland, but the 2008 financial crisis changed things.

“It wiped my mother’s job away and it really made things tough for us around the time I graduated high school,” Ryan tells CNBC Make It. “I didn’t have much of a financial security blanket to fall under. The best thing for me was to join the military so I wouldn’t have to put my family into any more debt and I think that was the right decision.”

Ryan joined the U.S. Air Force in 2010 and was stationed in various countries around the world, including Korea, Germany, and throughout Africa. In 2016, while living in Korea, Ryan got in trouble for breaking his curfew. He lost out on several months of pay, was restricted to his military base and demoted from staff sergeant to senior airman.

“After this, I was very depressed and very sad,” Ryan said. “But that depression and sadness make you think about where your life is going and it makes you redirect your life into the right direction.”

In that period of time that Ryan was restricted to his military base, he planned a trip to visit a friend in Vietnam.

“It just looked like so much fun and it really lived up to all the hype,” he said. “I ended up having the best time of my life, and that depression was [just] gone.”

Ryan says that after that first trip to Vietnam and seeing how happy he was, he didn’t want to let go of that feeling. He started planning his return to the country.

The veteran returned to his life in the Air Force and completed his service on a military base in Wyoming before being honorably discharged in 2019.

Soon after, Ryan relocated to Vietnam, where he lives off roughly $4,000 a month, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

Ryan suffers from spine arthritis, respiratory issues, auditory pain, and mental health challenges from his time in the military. He receives disability from Veterans Affairs.

His monthly income stems from several sources, including approximately $1,500 from VA disability, $1,000 from the GI Bill while he’s pursuing a master’s degree, and $900 to $1,300 from teaching English. Ryan also does occasional odd jobs like voiceover work, where his pay can range from $200 to $600 a month, and is an avid fan of day trading, where he averages about $300 a month.

“This might not sound like a lot in America but trust me, this is more than enough to be middle or even above middle class in Vietnam,” he says.

Ryan lives in Ho Chi Minh City and has a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in one of the country’s tallest residential towers. He pays $850 a month in rent and his utilities round up to about $130, which includes electricity, water and housekeeping.

In addition to those expenses, Ryan also pays $1,000 a year for health insurance and $3 a week on gas for his motorcycle. What he spends on groceries varies from $100 to $400 a month, as he often alternates between cooking his own food or dining out frequently.

“Vietnam is the number one safest place I’ve ever lived. I never have to look over my shoulder here. I noticed that there’s this great level of calm,” Ryan says. “People are more focused on their day-to-day life and they’re less focused on what’s going on politically. It’s a much more calm feeling.”

Although Ryan loves living in Vietnam, one thing that irks him is the noise pollution.

“There’s a lot of honking, street sellers and sometimes karaoke really loudly, so if you are very intolerant to noise, this might not be the place for you,” he says.

Since moving to Vietnam, Ryan has made an effort to learn the language, but he admits he’s still not the best at it.

“I can never claim that I’m fluent in Vietnamese, but I do a lot better than most of my peers here,” he says.

Ryan has been living in Vietnam for six years now, and says he has no plans of leaving.

“If I leave, it’s because Vietnam told me to leave. In America, I felt very unmotivated. I felt like no matter how hard you work, you’re still in poverty. You’re constantly chasing a standard that you can’t really achieve,” he says. “Here in Vietnam, it takes a lot of the monetary pressure out of your day-to-day. You focus on what makes you happy, who you want to become and how you’re going to get there.”

This experience, he says, is the complete opposite of what his life was like back in the U.S.

“Every day I wake up with a long to-do list of things I want to do, not the things that I need to do, and it’s a completely different way of living. Even if you need to work 40 hours a week here, you’re doing it as an investment in your future. Getting out of survival mode makes things infinitely more human.”

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Every parent hopes their child will grow up and still want a close relationship with them. But close bonds don’t happen by accident — they are built through small, everyday interactions that make a child feel safe, seen and valued.

As a conscious parenting researcher and coach, I’ve studied over 200 families. I’ve found that the way you respond to your children from the day they’re born determines how strong your relationship with them is when they’re adults.

If you want your kids to always trust, respect and want to be around you, no matter how old they are, start doing these seven things early on.

Children need to feel safe and comfortable sharing their feelings. But when they hear “you’re fine” or “it’s not a big deal,” they start believing that their feelings aren’t important and eventually stop sharing them.

Instead of dismissing emotions, acknowledge them. To help them feel heard, say things like: “That sounds frustrating” or “I see you’re upset.” Emotional safety isn’t about fixing problems — it’s about making sure they feel understood.

Parenting based on fear, punishment or constant correction creates distance. Kids will then learn to hide parts of themselves to avoid disappointing you.

Parents who remain close with their children don’t demand obedience. Instead, they prioritize building trust. Simple moments — laughing together, listening without judgment, showing empathy — help children feel safe.

When kids feel emotionally secure, they continue seeking your support well into adulthood.

When parents make all the decisions, kids start to think: My actions don’t matter anyway, so why have an opinion on anything?

DON’T MISS: The ultimate guide to becoming a master communicator

Instead of deciding everything for them, ask “What do you think?” or “What feels right to you?” Let them make small, age-appropriate choices, like picking their clothes, hobbies or what to eat.

Parents expect respect from their kids, but they don’t always model it themselves.

Apologizing teaches kids that respect goes both ways. Saying, “I overreacted earlier, and I’m sorry” shows them that relationships aren’t about power, but mutual understanding.

Children raised in homes where accountability is the norm don’t fear making mistakes. Instead of hiding their struggles, they trust they can come to you without shame.

A strong relationship isn’t built in one big conversation — it’s created through small, consistent moments.

What shapes your bond isn’t just the time you spend together, but how often your child feels prioritized. Sharing a meal, reading at bedtime or simply checking in about their day strengthens the bond.

Kids who feel valued in small ways will naturally stay close to you later in life.

If a child feels constantly compared or judged, they start shrinking themselves to fit in. Over time, they learn to hide their real thoughts, interests and struggles.

Helping kids accept themselves starts with how you respond to them. Instead of pointing out flaws, celebrate their uniqueness. Encouraging their interests, even when they don’t align with your expectations, lets them know that you love them exactly as they are.

When kids grow up feeling accepted, they won’t have to choose between being themselves and staying close to you.

There will be moments when you and your child don’t see eye to eye. If you always push to be “right” at the cost of connection, they will learn your approval is conditional. They may comply in childhood, but will distance themselves in adulthood.

Instead of proving a point, focus on understanding. If your child disagrees with you, resist the urge to shut them down. Respond with curiosity: “Tell me more about why you feel that way.”

When kids know they can express themselves and still be loved and respected, they grow into adults who trust the relationship rather than fear it.

Reem Raouda is a leading voice in conscious parenting, a certified coach and the creator of BOUND — the groundbreaking parent-child connection journal designed to nurture emotional intelligence, self-worth and lifelong trust. She is widely recognized for her work in children’s emotional safety and strengthening the parent-child bond. Follow her on Instagram.

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Teens dreaming of lucrative tech careers should seize on the opportunity to hone their artificial intelligence skills by immersing themselves in the growing number of AI-powered code generation tools, says billionaire Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang.

“You just have to figure out how to use the tools maximally,” Wang said on a recent episode of the “TBPN” podcast that aired on September 17.

When asked for his best advice for young people, Wang said, “it’s impossible to understate the degree to which I’ve been radicalized by AI coding.”

AI coding, also called “vibe coding,” involves using artificial intelligence to generate original software code simply by typing out commands and instructions. AI coding apps, like Replit and Cursor, allow you to write code, or even develop a new app, without any coding or computer engineering expertise.

“It’s actually, in some ways, this incredible moment of discontinuity where, if you just happen to spend, like, 10,000 hours playing with the tools and figuring out how to use them better than other people, that’s a huge advantage,” said Wang, who co-founded Scale AI in 2016 and helped build it into a tech unicorn that was most recently valued at $29 billion.

Wang compared the current moment of rapid technological advancement to the early days of the computer revolution, when people like “the Bill Gates’ of the world” capitalized on being early adopters of computers and software.

Indeed, the Microsoft co-founder has said he spent his teen years sneaking out of his parents’ house at night to spend hours learning to write software code, thanks to a fortuitous arrangement he had with a local Seattle company that gave him free computer access.

Wang believes this era’s teens would be wise to follow Gates’ approach by spending as much time as possible learning to use AI coding tools: “That moment is happening right now — and if you are, like, 13 years old, you should spend all of your time vibe coding,” he said on the podcast. “That’s how you should live your life.”

AI’s coding ability will match Wang’s ‘within the next five years’

Wang has an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion, according to Forbes, and was poached by Meta in June to serve as chief AI officer. Despite his massive success and standing in the industry, even Wang believes that “literally all the code I’ve written in my life … will be able to have been produced by an AI model within the next five years,” he told “TBPN.”

The idea of AI programs potentially being able to replicate the work of even the best coders in the world is already feeding concerns about software programming remaining a promising career choice. Companies are already increasing their use of AI coding programs, and in some cases using them to replace human programmers.

But Wang and others in the industry still believe in the value of teens learning programming skills, especially in concert with familiarizing themselves with relevant AI tools that can potentially help maximize those skills. 

“As coding becomes easier, more people should code, not fewer!” Andrew Ng, co-founder of the Google Brain research lab, wrote in a LinkedIn post in March, adding: “One of the most important skills in the future will be the ability to tell a computer exactly what you want, so it can do that for you.”

Ng called this “the best time yet to learn to code,” noting in the post that workers with strong coding skills will be able to use AI coding tools more effectively than anyone else, making them desirable to employers who are already seeking out employees with AI skills. And, while anyone can use AI tools to generate code and create new apps and startups, entrepreneurs “who understand the language of software through their knowledge of coding” are able to communicate what they want AI to build “much more precisely” than anyone else can, Ng added. 

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Five years ago, I quit my unfulfilling 9-to-5 job as a higher education administrator and began selling digital products on Etsy. 

Today, I make an average of $14,000 per month in passive income from seven income streams, including my Etsy store, my blog, real estate investments and stock appreciation. I also recently became a self-made millionaire.

It wasn’t an easy road, and I definitely had a few missteps along the way. But I learned how to find my niche, run a business and build the life I want doing what I love.

Here’s my best advice for starting a successful side hustle:

One common mistake people make is trying to juggle so many income streams that they start to lose focus. But most people I know who’ve built a profitable business didn’t start out creating their income streams all at the same time.

I’ve met many new side hustlers who start dabbling in stocks, launch a Shopify store and then look at real estate — all at the same time. This usually results in burnout, overwhelm and even debt. 

Instead, build one solid stream, master it, then move to the next. 

When I first started my side hustle, I made a few bucks here and there, but nothing to write home about.

It wasn’t until nine months after my launch that my Etsy store started making thousands of dollars a month and eventually allowed me to quit my full-time job. 

Success doesn’t happen in a single viral post or overnight launch. It comes from showing up, adjusting and staying in the game long enough to see your knowledge and efforts compound.

When I started learning about business, I tried to DIY everything myself. I would watch free content on YouTube and Instagram, and read books from the library. But after I bought a course about how to sell on Etsy, things started to shift. 

Looking back and knowing myself more, I think “learning the hard way” took too long. I would try to learn, struggle alone, not see any progress, then lose motivation. I didn’t want to keep learning because I wasn’t seeing any results. 

But when I invested a small amount of money into a course and a community of people working on the same thing, I was able to learn, struggle, get help and achieve small wins. My motivation would go up, and I would want to repeat the cycle. 

I’ve met many business owners who have a lot of money, but they don’t have time. It’s important to be strategic in creating the life you want. 

For example, you can sell goods at local farmers’ markets on the weekends. But before setting up that side hustle, it’s important to figure out when those markets are open and ask yourself if you’re willing to give up weekends to sell your products. 

Of course, you can hire employees to help you eventually. But that will also cut into your profits, and might not be possible in the beginning.

The most successful people I know have a growth mindset. They believe that their abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. 

Because of this foundational belief, they aren’t afraid to step into unknown territories and learn. On the other hand, people with a fixed mindset don’t believe in their ability to grow and learn, so they never try, which leaves them feeling stuck. 

Building multiple income streams and becoming a millionaire isn’t about doing everything perfectly. It’s about staying focused, learning as you go, and not giving up. 

You’ll make mistakes (I’ve made plenty), but with the right mindset, each mistake teaches you something that gets you closer to your goals. Keep going, tweak what’s not working, celebrate the wins, even the small ones, and remember: Progress beats perfection every time.

Rachel Jimenez is an entrepreneur, professor and mom of two. She has a passion for helping others achieve their personal, professional and passive income goals. She runs an Etsy store and a blog, Money Hacking Mama, where she shares financial wisdom and practical advice for women navigating their careers, businesses and life.

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Even billionaires think about starting side hustles.

If Mark Cuban were 16 years old again and “needed to make some extra money,” he’d start one specific side hustle in just three steps, he tells CNBC Make It.

First, he’d learn how to write prompts for artificial intelligence language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini. Next, he’d teach his friends how to use those prompts on their school papers. “Then, I would go to businesses, particularly small- to medium-sized businesses that don’t understand AI yet,” says Cuban. “Doesn’t matter if I’m 16, I’d be teaching them as well.”

More than half of Gen Zers in the U.S. currently have side hustles, a LendingTree report found in February. AI prompt engineering — or, the ability to phrase inquiries to chatbots to get desired responses — can be a particularly lucrative opportunity. The average pay for AI tutors starts at about $30,000 per year, and full-time AI prompt engineers can make up to $129,500, according to job board platform ZipRecruiter.

DON’T MISS: The ultimate guide to earning passive income online

You don’t need a college degree to become an AI prompt engineer, but you do need practice — and, often, certifications — to learn how those large language models operate. Some online certification courses, like Vanderbilt University or IBM’s offerings on Coursera, say you can master the basics in one month.

Cuban’s hypothetical side hustle is more high-tech than his actual first job, selling garbage bags door-to-door to his neighbors outside of Pittsburgh at age 12 to save up for a new pair of basketball shoes. He continued to earn extra cash as a teenager by selling collectibles like baseball cards, stamps, and coins, eventually helping him pay to attend Indiana University. There, he bartended, hosted parties with cover charges and even picked up work as a dance instructor.

After a brief post-college stint in banking, Cuban turned to entrepreneurship full-time. He sold his first company, a software startup called MicroSolutions, to CompuServe for $6 million in 1990. His second company, audio streaming service Broadcast.com, made him a billionaire when he sold it to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999.

Today, Cuban has a net worth of $5.7 billion, according to a Forbes estimate. He spends much of his time advocating for his online pharmacy Cost Plus Drugs, which aims to make a variety of common prescription drugs more affordable by selling them at cost, plus a 15% markup.

 “I was a hustler … I have always been selling,” he said during an episode of ABC’s “Shark Tank” that aired in 2016. “I always had something going on. That was just my nature.”

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Mark Cuban sold garbage bags door-to-door at age 12.

Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to “Shark Tank,” which features Mark Cuban as a panelist.

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