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It’s hard to stay calm and clear-headed when you’re having an intense conversation with your partner about something sensitive. Rachel Glik has been a couples therapist for over 30 years, and she’s found that the happiest couples who navigate arguments in a healthy way often offer reassuring phrases that soothe what might be hard to hear. It’s like wrapping your words in a warm, cozy blanket, says Glik. It’s not “fake fluff” as an excuse to sneak in harsh criticism. Reassuring statements are true and real and give your partner mercy and kindness at a difficult point in a conversation, or at a difficult time in their life, according to Glik. Here are some examples of phrases that couples who feel emotionally secure use.

Ellen Pompeo’s favorite part about her 20 years on “Grey’s Anatomy” has nothing to do with the show itself. In an interview with People, the TV star said the financial security that portraying Meredith Grey affords her has been the best part of being on the long-running show. Pompeo in 2017 became the highest-paid woman on television and reportedly brings home $20 million a year from “Grey’s.” “Financial security is not something that every actress is afforded,” she said. “So I’m very grateful for that.” Her comments echo a sentiment she expressed in 2018, saying then that asking for what she felt she was worth and fighting to get the network to pay her gave her a strong sense of control in her career.

Building a million-dollar 401(k) has become more achievable than ever. In 2024, the number of Fidelity-managed 401(k) accounts with seven-figure balances grew to 537,000, a 27% increase from the year before, according to data shared with CNBC Make It. Fidelity is one of the largest retirement plan providers in the U.S., overseeing approximately 24 million 401(k) accounts. This growth was driven by strong stock market performance, with the S&P 500 rising 23% during the year. But it’s not just market gains fueling higher balances — consistent contributions, employer matches and the power of compounding have helped long-term investors accumulate more wealth. Fidelity data shows that participants who stayed in the same plan for 15 years had an average balance of more than $500,000. Even if your account isn’t worth seven figures, saving in a workplace retirement plan can help build long-term wealth. About 60% of Americans have a 401(k)-type account and among Fidelity participants, the average balance was $131,700 at the end of 2024. CNBC Make It’s compound interest calculator can help you estimate how much your savings will be worth in the future based on factors such as your current balance, savings rate and anticipated rate of return. Are you on track to hit $1 million?

Hard work isn’t what makes companies into household names, says Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph. Successful CEOs and entrepreneurs often get ahead because they have a single skill: the ability to prioritize which issues need solutions first, Randolph said during a podcast episode of “The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett.” “I think hard work leading to success is a myth,” he said. “If I can be really smart about which problems I choose to focus on, [that] will make the difference. I don’t have to get everything right, because most things don’t make a difference. Some things do.”

The interest in longevity and anti-aging, even among relatively young people, will not wane. More and more folks are turning their focus to diets, exercise and of course, supplements in an effort to live a long and healthy life. The latest trending treatment anti-aging enthusiasts are buzzing about now is NAD+ infusion. Here's what it is — and why experts say there isn’t enough research to support the method’s effectiveness.

Alexis Ohanian built Reddit right after college and sold the company a year later for $10 million. In 2020, he launched his own start-up venture capital fund called 776. But the 41-year-old tech executive might have been even more successful had he mastered discipline in his younger years, he told the “On Purpose with Jay Shetty” podcast. “When I had free time, when I had more youthful vigor, if I had more discipline, I would have been 10 times more productive,” Ohanian said. “That’s one thing I would give advice to myself at 20 about.” Here’s why experts agree that building discipline while young is crucial, and why Ohanian wishes he had been more disciplined.

Leading happiness expert Arthur C. Brooks has a lot of knowledge about how to improve your well-being and outlook on life. In addition to his happiness course at Harvard University, Brooks shares many of the lessons he’s learned throughout his career as a social scientist in his weekly newsletter called, “The Art and Science of Happiness.” In his most recent newsletter, Brooks focuses on what the Greek philosopher Aristotle can teach us about happiness. “Instead of seeing it as something to be found, Aristotle believed it was something we attract by living well,” he wrote. To live well, you should “practice specific virtues and turn them into habits,” he added. Aristotle identified 10 such virtues, and Brooks says research supports each one.

Jake Loosararian’s nine-figure business might’ve never existed if he’d listened to the people he trusts most. As students at Pennsylvania’s Grove City College in 2012, Loosararian and his electrical engineering classmates were asked to build robots that could climb and scan a local power plant’s walls for costly issues like cracks or corrosion. His team built a 40-pound robot with an ultrasonic scanner that collected data in dirty and dangerous environments more efficiently than human workers ever could. Their creation saved the power plant tens of millions of dollars in labor costs and productivity, says Loosararian. He floated the idea of turning it into a business to his family and professors. “Everyone said, ‘Don’t f---ing do it,’” Loosararian says.

The best employees Mark Cuban has hired aren’t the ones with unwavering confidence or sharp business acumen. A different trait sets high achievers apart, according to the billionaire entrepreneur and investor: They’re problem-solvers. “For me, the number one thing is you reduce stress rather than create it,” Cuban told CNBC Make It. “There’s a lot of people that are just a whirlwind and everything seems to be difficult, causing a lot of unnecessary stress.” Cuban shares what soft skill is the most important for reducing stress at work: ⬇️

When Shoji Morimoto was fired from his office job in 2018, his superior had criticized him for lacking initiative and “not doing anything” of value for the company. Joke’s on him, because Morimoto, now 41, has since spun a lucrative career out of doing nothing. Known as the rental “do nothing” guy in Japan, Morimoto’s day job involves loaning himself out to strangers who seek someone’s company for almost anything at all. These requests can range from waiting for a marathon runner at the finishing line, to being video-called while a bored client redecorates and cleans her room. Once, a client who could not attend a concert with a friend rented Morimoto to take her place. From the ludicrous to the mundane, Morimoto will simply show up and “do nothing” other than what he was asked to do — except sex. See what other gigs Morimoto has experienced as the “do nothing guy”: ⬇️