Flying in America is truly awful.

For many, that's the prevailing view of the airline industry in the US.

While there's certainly merit to that argument, I don't completely agree with it. Now hear me out before you try to burn me at stake.

I admit, the commercial air travel experience is far from perfect. The lines are long, the terminals are crowded, the overselling of flights is loathsome, and the customer service in many instances leaves much to be desired. (I'll get into the nitty gritty of my gripes in a future story.)

With that said, there are many areas of the flying experience that have improved dramatically in recent years. The US airline industry and its partners have invested tens of billions of dollars over the past few years in equipment upgrades while working to improve aviation infrastructure, something over which airlines do not have direct control.

Here's a quick overview of a few areas where the US airline industry has make significant headway in recent years.

SEE ALSO: This luxury airport lounge has a hidden room for its most exclusive customers

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In-flight entertainment and connectivity

Growing up, in-flight entertainment meant a newspaper, magazine or, at best, a movie showed using a grainy projector at the front of the cabin.

However, technology has moved forward and the airline industry has gone along for the ride.

With the advent of seatback screens in the 90s, in-flight entertainment took on new meaning. In 1999, JetBlue made satellite TV free across their entire fleet. While they weren't the first with the service, making it free helped democratize the experience.

These days, seatback entertainment screens are now commonplace with free movies and television available at the touch of a button, especially on long-haul international flights.

In addition to seatback screens, high-speed internet service is becoming increasingly common. Previous generation ground-based internet technology proved to be slow, inconsistent, and expensive. But new satellite-based technology is delivering levels of connectivity unseen in years past.

In fact, the implementation of high-speed wifi means the seatback screens' days are numbered.

American, Delta, United, Southwest, JetBlue, and Alaska Air offer free in-flight streaming TV and movies on passengers' personal electronic devices.

Seats

If you fly in economy like I do, then this one won't really apply to you. However, if you fly at the front of the plane in the premium cabin, then listen up. There's some good stuff up there for you.

While airlines have been retrofitting its economy cabins with lightweight, space-saving, yet painfully uncomfortable slim-line seating, their premium accommodations have become increasingly posh.

With American Flagship First, Delta One, and United Polaris, the nation's three legacy carriers now possess top-shelf premium cabins.

Domestically, JetBlue's Mint premium cabin has also met with rave reviews.

That means passengers are treated to 180-degree lie-flat seats, bedding sourced from luxury suppliers, menus designed by celebrity chefs, and wines selected by master sommeliers to name a few.

So if you or your employer is willing to drop a few grand on a flight, you are in luck.

New Airplanes

Generally, America's airlines have had the reputation for flying around in antiquated equipment.

Even though the stereotype may have been rooted in reality a few years ago, that's less true today. All of the nation's major airlines have been engaged in aggressive fleet renewal programs.

American, Delta, United, and Southwest all have more than 200 new planes on order with Airbus, Boeing, and Bombardier.

According to Airfleets.net, the average age of American's fleet is only 10.3 years, JetBlue is 9.3 years, Alaska is at 8.7 years, while Southwest is at 11.5 years. That's not back considering the average service life of a modern commercial airliner is between 20 to 25 years.

United's fleet averages out to 14.1 years of age while Delta's is at 17 years of age. Even though both are on the high side, these figures have fallen in recent years.

Newer planes translates to fewer mechanical failures, a quieter ride, and a more eco-friendly footprint.

Kach and Jonathan Howe met in Luang Prabang, Laos, in 2013.

They'd each recently quit their corporate jobs at home, in the Philippines for Kach and the UK for Jonathan, to travel full-time.

Since then, the couple — who wed in the UK in July 2016 — have launched a successful blog and online business while traveling to over 70 countries together.

"Those four years have been a mixture of full-time travel and temporary homes," Jonathan, 32, and Kach, 29, told Business Insider. "We lived together in Hanoi, Vietnam, teaching English for eight months, Ollantaytambo and Arequipa in Peru for a total of about seven months, in Bogota, Colombia for about six months and Costa Rica for three months."

Their travels are funded by income from their websites, Two Monkeys Travel and Mr. & Mrs. Howe, and sponsorships from hotels and brands.

The Howe's next adventure? Living aboard a 37-foot sailboat for a year, starting in the Caribbean and sailing through the Panama Canal and onto the Pacific Ocean. 

Read on to learn about how Kach and Jonathan balance work and full-time travel.

Follow their adventures on their Instagram pages, @2monkeystravel and @mrandmrshowe.

SEE ALSO: Meet the adventurous couple who has spent the past 4 years living in Airbnbs around the world for under $90 a night

DON'T MISS: A 27-year-old who saves 65% of his income shares his 7 best tips for traveling on a budget

Kach and Jonathan started their nomadic lifestyle together in Hanoi, Vietnam, teaching English for about $3,500 a month.

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 In Paris, France.

"I only knew what I was doing as far as teaching English," Jonathan said. "I didn't have a long-term plan. I didn't know what would happen."

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 In Cancun, Mexico.

Next, they headed to India to get certified in Ayurveda massage and Tantra Yoga, a process that took about three months.

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In Australia.

China makes much of what the world buys. According to The Economist, the country was producing 25% of the globe's manufacturing output by value in 2015.

In 2013, when Cheng Cheng — currently an intern on Business Insider's graphics team — was a photography student in London, she had the idea to produce a body of work that would visualize mass production. Hailing from the Jiangsu province of China, she decided that the place she came from would be the best place to do it. 

Inside a toy factory in the Jiangsu province, she saw workers handcrafting stuffed-animal versions of characters whose faces they do not recognize. 

"It's cliche [to] talk about 'made in China,' but because it's my hometown I have an emotional connection with that," she told Business Insider.

Here's what she saw of the workers' day-to-day routines.

SEE ALSO: We visited Amazon's chaotic jobs fair and found a troubling insight about the American economy

The factory is usually private, and few members of the press have seen the inside.

For a little over a month, Cheng would stay from morning until night, documenting the workers' lives. Their days started at 8 a.m. and usually ended at 8 p.m., with an hour for lunch in the middle of the day.

"The work is simple but intense," she said.

While many are keen to cover their ears when bad music comes on, there exists another group who can approach steaming hot garbage openly, with varying degrees of ironic appreciation.

And then there's that unfortunate, outlying enigma — genuine fans of Limp Bizkit.

With the latter two groups in mind, we turned to review aggregator Metacritic to compile this list of the most critically panned albums in history. (Note: The list only includes studio albums with seven or more reviews.)

From the works of Kevin Federline to Limp Bizkit, to multiple entries from Chris Brown, these LPs drew the ire of critics and provoked the repulsion of many.

Here are the 19 worst albums of all time, according to critics:

SEE ALSO: RANKED: The 20 best albums of 2017 so far, according to critics

19. Enya — "A Day Without Rain"

Critic score: 41/100

User score: 8.4/10

What critics said: "Unless you're bound in an herbal body wrap, there's simply no acceptable reason to listen to this New Age nonsense."— Entertainment Weekly

Listen to it here.

18. Paul Oakenfold — "A Lively Mind"

Critic score: 40/100

User score: 2.2/10

What critics said: "On his new disc the veteran of populist trance shows himself unable to come up with anything remotely innovative or engaging, even for the dance floor."— PopMatters

Listen to it here.

17. Backstreet Boys — "Never Gone"

Critic score:40/100

User score: 6.0/10

What critics said: "Lest you doubted it, this is grotesque."— Village Voice

Listen to it here.

In 2015, Oslo announced a plan to ban all cars from its city center by 2019. As the Guardian notes, the plan received some protest from businesses, so the city came up with a clever solution.

Instead of kicking out cars, Oslo's council said in June 2017 that it will just make it harder for them to get there by ban parking spaces. A few months earlier, Norway also confirmed that it will phase out diesel and gas-powered cars nationwide by 2025.

But cities in Norway are not the only ones getting ready to take the car-free plunge. Urban planners and policy makers around the world have started to brainstorm ways that cities can create more space for pedestrians and lower CO2 emissions from diesel.

Here are 13 cities leading the car-free movement.

SEE ALSO: 12 of the most beautiful public spaces in the world, according to urban designers

Oslo, Norway will implement its car ban by 2019.

Oslo plans to permanently ban all cars from its city center by 2019 — six years before Norway's country-wide ban would go into effect.

The Norwegian capital will invest heavily in public transportation and replace 35 miles of roads previously dominated by cars with bike lanes.

"The fact that Oslo is moving forward so rapidly is encouraging, and I think it will be inspiring if they are successful," said Paul Steely White, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, an organization that supports bikers in New York City and advocates for car-free cities.

Madrid's planned ban is even more extensive.

Madrid plans to ban cars from 500 acres of its city center by 2020, with urban planners redesigning 24 of the city's busiest streets for walking rather than driving. 

The initiative is part of the city's "sustainable mobility plan," which aims to reduce daily car usage from 29% to 23%. Drivers who ignore the new regulations will pay a fine of at least $100. And the most polluting cars will pay more to park.

"In neighborhoods, you can do a lot with small interventions," Mateus Porto and Verónica Martínez, who are both architects and urban planners from the local pedestrian advocacy group A PIE, told Fast Company."We believe that regardless of what the General Plan says about the future of the city, many things can be done today, if there is political will."

People in Chengdu, China will be able to walk anywhere in 15 minutes or less.

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Chicago-based architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill designed a new residential area for the Chinese city. The layout makes it easier to walk than drive, with streets designed so that people can walk anywhere in 15 minutes.

While Chengdu won't completely ban cars, only half the roads in the 80,000-person city will allow vehicles. The firm originally planned to make this happen by 2020, but zoning issues are delaying the deadline.

Didn't hit your fitness and diet goals in time for summer? Don't fret.

There are still plenty of things you can start doing now to look and feel healthier.

You're probably not going to wake up looking like an underwear model tomorrow — but you can certainly start feeling better and improving your digestion in a week, according to registered dietitian and nutritionist Andy Bellatti.

Here are a few things Bellatti and other nutritionists recommend.

SEE ALSO: The best way to build muscle may not be lifting the heaviest weights

DON'T MISS: 11 surprising things your physical appearance says about you

DO: Drink lots of water.

Water is essential — it regulates the shape of every cell inside our bodies. If we don't get enough, in fact, these cells begin to shrivel up.The CDC recommends choosing water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages to "help with weight management." Swapping a cold glass of H2O for a single 20-ounce soda will save you about 240 calories.

So hydrate, Bellatti told Business Insider, "ideally with water." 

DON'T: Go on a juice cleanse.

If you're considering a "detox" or "juice cleanse,"you might want to reconsider. Drinking just water, juice, or any other liquefied concoction for more than a few days can set you up for unhealthy eating behaviors, and can often lead to spikes and drops in blood sugar levels, which can spawn cravings and mood swings.

"This is a recipe for 'hangriness,'" Bellatti said, "that also inaccurately paints all solid food as problematic."

DO: Cut back on sodium.

Most of us — 89% of US adults, according to the CDC— eat too much sodium, and that's not including any salt added at the table. Too much salt in your diet can cause puffiness and bloating, so cutting back can help you avoid that.

"Sodium retains water," Bellatti said, "so lowering sodium intake also reduces puffiness."

Everyone knows the most popular websites — Google, Amazon, Youtube and so forth.

But after the top 5, things can get a little weird. 

Ever hear of steamcommunity.com? Or littlethings.com? Lots of people have. 

Using data from Quantcast, which makes it easy to see the top websites in the United States based on millions of users that visit each website every month, we created a list of some of these strangely popular destinations.

We picked out the top sites you've never heard of, and for each one compared it to a big name site you almost definitely have heard of. 

Some are worth taking a closer look at, you might just find your new favorite website. 

This is an update to a post by Ellis Hamburger.

SEE ALSO: Amazon launched 22 years ago this week — here's what shopping on Amazon was like back in 1995

1. Legacy.com

An online obituary site that gathers obituaries from around the world, Legacy.com is as tear-jerking as it sounds.

It also draws 25,082,076 monthly visitors, several million more than USA Today.

2. Ranker.com

Ranker.com sounds exactly like what it is, hundreds of crowdsourced lists ranking just about everything. From the best chess sets to most iconic Revolutionary War weapons, Ranker's users have decided what comes first and what comes last.

At 22,300,614 monthly views, Ranker (literally) outranks Pandora's 15,482,069 monthly views.

3. Twentytwowords.com

A "premier viral publisher"twentytwowords.com's mission is to "Fight Boredom. Spread Happiness." They do so through articles about life hacks and cute puppies.

Apparently internet users eat it up, the site gets 16,100,179 views a day, more than travel website Expedia. 

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we may get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

One of life’s greatest pleasures is opening up a good book for the first time and not setting it down until you’ve excavated everything inside of it.

Once you leave school and all mandatory English classes with well-informed syllabi, though, the sheer amount of books out there is overwhelming. Sometimes instead of picking the wrong one to devote our time to, we pick none.

If working through a list of the great literary classics doesn’t appeal to you and you’d prefer to read something that better engages with now, "best books of the year" lists are going to be the best resource out there, second (maybe) only to word-of-mouth recommendations from close friends.

Below are the 10 books Amazon's book editors think are the best to come out so far this calendar year; many of them have been featured in op-eds and other critical areas of pop culture. 

The great thing about such a wide category as "best books of the year" is that you’ll get the best without narrowing your search to a genre. Here you have novels and memoirs of vastly different topics and authors, yet they all (at least based on their growing popularity) will pay you back for any cautious investment of your time.

If you have a flight coming up or a long commute to work, one of these 10 might be a great new companion.

All captions are provided by Amazon editors. 

SEE ALSO: These are the 20 best-selling books of 2016 so far

1. "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness: A novel" by Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy's new novel, "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness," is an intricate and graceful story of lives touched by magic, broken by tragedy, and mended with love.  It's an exceptional work of storytelling well worth the 20-year wait since "The God of Small Things."

Buy it here >>

2. "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann

Smart, taut, and gripping, Grann’s true-if-largely-unknown tale of big oil and serial murder on the Osage Indian Reservation in the 1920s is sobering for how it is at once unsurprising and unbelievable, full of the arrogance, and inhumanity that our society still has yet to overcome.

Buy it here >>

3. "Beartown: A Novel" by Fredrik Backman

The author of "A Man Called" sidesteps the predictable as he forges a new path of soul-searching and truth-telling in his gripping new novel about a small, hockey-mad town whose hopes and loyalties are torn apart by a crime no one wants to believe happened.

Buy it here >>

Sir Richard Branson has had quite a life.

After founding Virgin Records in 1972, the mogul went on to establish the Virgin Group conglomerate, get knighted by the Queen of England, and accrue a personal fortune of about $5 billion, according to Forbes.

The business magnate is now famous for his globe-trotting adventures and his casual, mischievous attitude. This is the man who once took a hilarious photo with a Virgin employee he caught napping on the job, after all.

According to Virgin's website, Branson doesn't intend to retire and "spends most of his time working on not-for-profit initiatives."

So what does his daily routine look like?

Branson himself broke his daily schedule down in a blog post in April. Every day is different for the jet-setting billionaire, but here are some highlights from his usual schedule:

SEE ALSO: A look inside the daily life of Kellyanne Conway, the loyal Trump adviser favored to become the White House's next communications director

DON'T MISS: A look inside the daily life of Oracle's billionaire founder Larry Ellison, who owns almost an entire island and will do whatever it takes to win

DON'T FORGET: A day in the life of the world's richest person, Jeff Bezos — who wakes up without an alarm, washes dishes after dinner, and has a soft spot for 'Star Trek'

Branson wakes up at 5 a.m. every day. "Getting up and at it early gives me time to get on top of things, and chart my day effectively," he wrote in a 2014 blog post.

Source: Business Insider, Virgin

He carves out plenty of time to spend with his family and eat breakfast. "Not only does this help them know how important they are to me, but it also grounds me before I start my day," he wrote.

Source: Business Insider, Virgin

Once he's up, he's ready to move. Some of his favorite activities include kite-surfing, swimming, cycling, and tennis. Virgin's website says the founder has a "mean tennis serve."

Source: Business Insider, Virgin

• Kenny Gould followed one of the USDA's food plans for a month. It cut his normal grocery budget almost in half — from $80 to $42.

• He shopped at a different store each week: his local chain, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and a food co-op. 

• He was able to buy plenty of healthy food and still save money.

Who used to spend $80+ per week on groceries? This guy. I'm a single white millennial male and I spent $80 per week on groceries because I could. I thought everyone did. Well, not everyone. But enough people that I didn't have to think about my behavior as an aberration.

Then I attended an event at a local bar called The Livermore. On this particular evening, oral historian Clara Gamalski had invited the community to see the findings of a three-month experiment called "Free Snacks: A Survey of Pittsburgh," during which she'd interviewed city residents about their food preferences: Oscar Mayer bologna or Citterio mortadella? Cheetos or Pirate's Booty? She presented her findings during the event and set up a station inside the bar to conduct additional interviews. While waiting my turn, I met a man named Jeff.

Jeff was an educator with two degrees. But for the past six years he'd only been able to find part-time teaching work.

"I'm on a tight food budget," he said. "Today I spent $2."

The dude was like 6'4". Thick.

"How are you surviving on $2?" I asked.

"Three-for-$1 cheese curls at the corner store," he said, "and two-for-$1 candy bars at CVS."

I was floored. And Jeff's predicament got me thinking really hard about food budgets, so I started researching.

According to a report by the Pittsburg Post-Gazette, almost half of the city’s population lives in a food desert. The term has a technical definition which basically means that the residents of a certain area don't have easy access to a grocery store. The USDA also reports that 42.2 million people lived in households with no access to nutritious, affordable food in 2015.

In order to help people stay on track with their food spending, the USDA releases four monthly budgets called food plans, each designed to provide a nutritious diet at a different cost.

Strapped for cash? Go with the Thrifty plan. If you have a little more disposable income, you can try the Low Cost plan, and then the Moderate. For the most expensive plan, try the Liberal.

The plans vary by sex and age, with a Thrifty millennial male (that's me!) getting $42.60 to spend per week, or about $6.13 per day. In other words, that's the low end of what I should be spending on food. For the high-end Liberal plan, I'd get $75.10, or $10.73 per day.

Could I — an $80-plus-per-week spender — eat like a Thrifty millennial male? Is that budget even tenable at most grocery stores? To find out, I spent a month shopping at a different grocery store every week: my local grocery chain, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and a natural foods co-op.

Each week, I bought the same simple baseline meal of chicken and shells. After that, I spent whatever I had left on the groceries that I needed to sustain myself for the week. No eating out unless it fit into my $42.60 (spoiler: it never did). And no accepting free meals or snacks.

I was worried: I teach yoga and typically run a few miles every day. I always shoot for the USDA five servings of fruits and vegetables. The rest of my diet generally consists of yogurt, eggs, and lean meats. Could I sustain myself on a little more than half my normal budget?

No matter the answer, I felt that the experiment would have strong repercussions. If it was possible to eat on the USDA Thrifty Plan, it'd mean that overspenders and under-spenders alike would have a more sustainable path toward a nutritionally dense future.

And if it wasn't? Then our country needed a serious wake-up call about the affordability and accessibility of food.

SEE ALSO: Tips that pay off: 5 August goals to make you richer by September

The local grocery chain: the week that I surprised myself

During my first week, I spent $37.72 at Giant Eagle — a full $5.18 less than the USDA recommends for the Thrifty Plan — and bought the ingredients for my chicken and shells meal, plus mushrooms, peppers, and onions for omelets every morning and turkey sandwiches for lunch. Can you spend the same amount and eat organically and locally? Probably not.

But that's because many local grocery stores don't often carry organic goods or stuff from small regional farms. My local chain also has a spinoff brand, Giant Eagle Market District, a different store that does carry more local and organic products. The prices are higher than at the regular Giant Eagle, but then again, when I made a concerted effort to keep down my grocery costs, I found myself with an extra $5.18. It's almost an extra day's worth of food on the Thrifty Plan — two days for Jeff.

Chicken and shells total cost: $12.23
Weekly total: $37.72

Trader Joe's: the week that heaven sent

I'll be honest. Walking out of my local grocery store with all my food felt good, but walking out of Trader Joe's with the food I bought almost felt criminal. I drove home rubbing my hands together and cackling like Gargamel the Evil Wizard, convinced that I had just pulled a heist. While Trader Joe's stocks no shortage of reasonably priced pre-packaged indulgences, I stuck to my health-conscious diet of fruits, vegetables, eggs, and lean meats. For $39.68 I bought more than enough for the week.

While this probably isn't news to anyone, it was shocking to see exactly how much I could get for $39.68. Before this experiment, I never laid it all out on a table. At Trader Joe's I got enough food to last two weeks, and good food too: I'm talking organic produce, cage-free eggs, protein bars, and semi-dried green figs. Even a round of goat cheese.

Driving past McDonald's on the way to the store, I saw that even a Big Mac and fries costs $5.69. So either I'm getting slowly poisoned and the joke is on me or Trader Joe's is a godsend for Thrifty, health-conscious shoppers.

Chicken and shells total cost: $13.34
Weekly total: $39.68

Whole Foods: the week that things looked dicey

It was only after hitting Whole Foods during week three that I got a little scared that I might not have enough food for the week. I did, but barely: no snacks, no indulgences, no mercy. Let's break it down.

Each day, I got approximately a kale leaf, a slice and a half of cheddar cheese, a slice of turkey (only when I got home did I realize that I'd forgotten bread), half a banana, two eggs, and a bowl of chicken and shells for dinner. Hardly enough to sustain an active lifestyle.

Whole Foods thrives by maintaining a monopoly on "healthy." The marketing convinces health-conscious shoppers like myself that local grocery chains and Trader Joe's offer inferior products. But do they? As I've already seen, Trader Joe's offers organic produce for less. So does Giant Eagle and Giant Eagle Market District. So why did I risk my life trying to grab the last carton of eggs from the sharp clutches of an angry soccer mom?

Unless Whole Foods can convince me of an alternative value proposition, it doesn't make sense for a person on a low budget to shop there. Yes, it offers specialty items like Madécasse direct-trade chocolate and Sambazon smoothie packs (the key ingredient in your Instagram account's favorite acai bowl), but these tasty luxuries easily slip out of reach when considering a stringent financial plan.

Chicken and shells total cost:$19.34
Weekly total:$39.35

My man ESI from ESIMoney.com makes a return today to share his tips on what to really focus on in order to grow our wealth exponentially. You might remember him from his previous post that went viral on the 10 things he didn't expect in early retirement, which he's still very much in and still very much enjoying. Thanks for taking the time, good sir!

We all have money tips coming out our ears. Do this. Don't do that. Do this or that. And on and on… The advice seems endless. So much so that if you try to follow them all you'd end up with no time to actually live your life.

At the same time, all money tips are not created equal. While many are valuable, there are some that are exponentially better. These are the tips that will make you wealthy.

So let's get to the good stuff and cast the rest aside for now. Based on the experience of managing my own money — allowing me to accumulate a few million dollars and retire at 52 — here are my recommended ten big financial moves that will propel your wealth skyward!

SEE ALSO: I retired at 52 with a $3 million net worth — here are 10 things that surprised me about early retirement

DON'T MISS: There are 3 things to understand about investing if you want to make money in the stock market

1. Get an advanced education in a valuable field

College degrees can add significant wealth. There's no debate that (on average) the more education you have, the more you'll earn and the less likely you are to be unemployed.

And if you can keep debt low while getting the degree (and there are reliable ways of doing this), then it's almost guaranteed that getting a college degree is a good deal.

Even better is getting a degree in the right field. It's well-known that certain careers pay more than others. Pick one that is closer to the top than the bottom and you're finances will thank you for it.

Consider this finding: College graduates earn $1 million more than high school graduates over their lifetime, and the income gap between the highest-paid college majors and the lowest-paid is more than $3 million dollars.

To make even more, get an advanced degree in a high-paying field. This is where the big money can kick in.

I got an MBA by spending a grand total of $5k for six years of college (because I was willing to work during school and got good grades). My MBA was worth an extra $1 million to $2 million, even though I only worked until I was 52. If I had stayed employed into my sixties you could take on a few more million.

Of course, you have to factor in abilities and interests when picking a career. But most people have at least a handful of fields that would work for them. If they select one which pays a bit more, they will be making a solid financial decision which can help them become quite wealthy over time.

2. Focus on growing your career

Even if you don't pick a vocation in the highest-earning field, your career is a multi-million dollar asset. If you don't believe me, take a starting salary of $40k, add in 3% annual raises over 45 years, and look at the result. You'll have earned $3.7 million.

Even better, you can manage your career to get those 3% average raises even higher. Doing so will help you earn millions more throughout your career.

Take the same numbers from above and instead of 3% raises use 8.16% raises. The difference is over $10 million!

Think it can't be done? I averaged 8.16% increases for 28 years using seven steps that grow any career. Plus, it took me years to figure out the seven steps. You don't have to go through that trouble, so you have the potential to do much better than I did.

Of course, 8.16% could be considered on the high side. So let's go low. Let's say you average 4% annual raises. That extra 1% will allow you to earn an extra $1.1 million more than what 3% raises would.

Any way you look at it, managing your career for income growth will have a huge impact on your finances.

3. Control spending

No matter how much you make, you can spend it all. We don't have to look far to find examples. It's almost a cliche that high-income actors and sports stars go bankrupt. People who have made millions somehow spend it all and then some. As a result, they are often left with nothing (or less).

A bit closer to home, you can see this principle play out across our country.

The median American household annual income is $51,939. U.S. households median net worth is $80,039. This means that over a 40-year period at an 8% return rate, the average American is saving a paltry $310 a year. What are they doing with all the rest? They are spending it!

On the other hand, those who control their spending do much better.

Assume a family can save $5k per year (less than 10% of their income). In 40 years at 8% they will have a net worth of $1.3 million. See what even a little bit of saving can do over a lifetime?

And this doesn't mean you have to save on EVERYTHING, just some things. Enjoy your life by spending on what you want here and there, just keep it in line so you have excess to save and invest. Even 10% will make you wealthy over time.

Personally, I wanted to do better than average and was able to save 36% of my income. Others have saved much more. If we can do it, so can you.

There are two major areas to control spending: on the big things, and on the little things.

Big things like homes, cars, extravagant vacations, and the like can bust your budget in a single move. Little things like eating out for lunch regularly, smoking a pack of cigarettes daily, and, dare I say, drinking $5 cups of coffee several times a day don't seem like much, but they can add up to big dollars over time.

Around the US, students are gearing up to head back to school.

"First kid" Tiffany Trump, President Trump's youngest daughter, is set to start her first year at Georgetown Law School.

And former "first kid" Malia Obama, after taking a gap year, is about to start classes at Harvard.

With that in mind, we looked at the college choices of first kids who were teenagers or young adults when their parents lived in the White House, as far back as President John F. Kennedy.

Along with Tiffany Trump, we added Trump's other children — the other current first kids — to this list.

Take a look below to see where everyone went — as well as who dropped out of college, who failed the bar exam, and whose parents didn't go to their graduation.

SEE ALSO: Harvard admitted a majority nonwhite class for the first time in history

Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, University of Texas at Austin, Class of 1966

The oldest daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb attended the all-girls National Cathedral School in Washington, DC, and the University of Texas at Austin for college. She is the last first daughter to be married in the White House. She is the oldest living child of a president, and serves on the board of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Luci Baines Johnson, Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies, 1966 (did not graduate)

The younger daughter of President Johnson, Luci attended Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies, but she was forced to drop out in 1966. She was married that year, and the school prohibited married students. She currently serves on the board of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation.

Tricia Nixon Cox, Boston College, Class of 1968

The oldest daughter of President Richard Nixon, Tricia attended Boston College and earned a degree in English. Her father served as a guest speaker at her graduation. She currently serves on the board of the Richard Nixon Foundation.

Nike has taken over for Adidas as the official provider of apparel and uniforms for the NBA and that means new uniforms for all 30 teams.

While the changes for some teams will be subtle, there is one prominent change every team will have — the Nike swoosh will be featured on the uniforms, or in the case of the Charlotte Hornets, the Jordan Jumpman logo.  Adidas did not have its logo on the uniforms.

In addition, many teams have sold ads that will be featured as a patch on the front of the jerseys. 

The NBA has begun to unveil the new uniforms for the 2017-18 season as some teams have unveiled them through various social-media platforms.

Below are the uniforms that have been revealed so far.

SEE ALSO: The best-dressed athletes and celebrities at the 2017 ESPYs

Golden State Warriors

Philadelphia 76ers

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Sacramento Kings

Russian President Vladimir Putin posed for action shots throughout his vacation earlier this week, as he fished, kayaked, snorkeled, and mushroom-picked his way through southern Siberia.

The Kremlin has often sought to portray the Russian leader through photos as a macho outdoorsman — he has been similarly photographed in the past doing activities like horseback riding, hunting, and practicing Judo.

On this vacation, Putin spent two days in the Tuva region and was accompanied part of the time by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Bloomberg.

And while the Siberian lake Putin visited is usually 63 degrees Fahrenheit, "that didn't keep the president from going for a swim," Peskov said. He added that Putin was "chasing a pike for two hours and just couldn't hit it, but he managed to get it in the end."

Here's what Putin got up to in the early days of August:

SEE ALSO: 18 photos that show Vladimir Putin doesn't mess around

Britain has produced some incredibly successful supermodels who have gone on to achieve global acclaim, and earn millions of pounds a year.

According to new data compiled by international lingerie brand Bluebella, there is a new highest earning supermodel in Britain — earning an epic £8 million a year salary, or £22,000 a day.

Bluebella calculated the estimations based on the models' catwalk day rates and commercial deals.

So from David Gandy and Naomi Campbell, to some fresh-faced newcomers, scroll down to find out who were the highest billing models in Britain last year.

The ranking is in ascending order, based on the estimated amount of cash they brought in with contracts over the last year.

10. Lottie Moss — £1 million. Kate Moss' younger sister is the newest model to make the list. The 19-year-old 'it girl' is signed to Storm, the agency that discovered Kate. She earned her cash modelling for big names such as Calvin Klein.

9. Erin O'Connor — £1.5 million. 39-year-old O'Connor is a veteran British model, she has worked for Giorgio Armani, Julien Macdonald and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Karl Lagerfeld described her as 'one of the best models in the world.'

8. Jourdan Dunn — £1.75 million. 26-year-old single mother Dunn was scouted aged 15 while shopping in Primark in London. She has been in campaigns for the likes of Selfridges, River Island, Banana Republic, and Benetton.

It's not every day that you see a 24-year-old female billionaire — let alone one that first found fame through a viral photo.

Zhang Zetian was listed in Chinese New Fortune magazine's top 500 rich list this May, making her the youngest female billionaire in the country. The accolade has been repeated in by Chinese and Hong Kong media like the South China Morning Post newspaper and Jing Daily online magazine.

China is home to many young female billionaires, many of whom are self-made.

Thanks to Zhang's well-groomed Instagram page, we're about learn a little more about her life. Take a look at the slides below to learn more about the young billionaire.

This is 24-year-old Zhang Zetian, who also goes by Nancy.

Zhang first rose to fame in 2009 when a photo of her holding a cup of tea went viral.

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Zhang, then in her mid-teens, was given the Chinese nickname Naicha meimei or “milk tea little sister”.

In 2014, she starred in a promotional video for that summer's Youth Olympics in Nanjing.

However, she resisted further fame, according, according to SCMP, and refused a movie role by by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who made  "House of Flying Daggers" and "The Great Wall."

The much-anticipated move of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain is now a done deal, as the record-breaking transfer fee has been paid and Neymar is now signed.

Neymar has been compared to Pelé, and some believe he can even better than Lionel Messi.

While that is debatable, what is not up for debate is that Neymar is now the highest-paid footballer in the world, and he is also one of the world's most marketable athletes.

This all adds up to big contracts and a lavish lifestyle that includes boats, cars, and a famous on-again, off-again girlfriend. This is fitting for one of the biggest stars in the world's most popular sport.

Neymar signed his first professional contract when he was 17 with the Brazilian club Santos, where he was making approximately $1.2 million a year.

SOURCE: UK Daily Mail

In 2010, Santos rejected a $20 million bid for Neymar to join West Ham United in the English Premier League. He was just 18 at the time.

SOURCE: UK Daily Mail

At the time, Neymar's agent publicly rejected a pay raise from Santos.

SOURCE: UK Daily Star

Money can be unruly.

But in order to reach your goals, you have to control the chaos. One of the easiest ways to keep track of your financial progress is to monitor your net worth: everything you own minus everything you owe.

Think of it like taking a photo of yourself every day for years— eventually, you'll be able to look back and see how things have changed. No matter where you start, your net worth is likely to get better over time.

As a financial planner in New York City, one of the first tasks I ask my clients to complete is their "current financial snapshot," an overview of every aspect of their financial situation, including account balances. Once you can see all of your money in one place, you can start figuring out what you want to do with it. Added bonus: Getting organized frees up brain space so you don't have to think about money nearly as much.

It probably comes as no surprise that I love tracking money. But I'm not alone. I've found that once clients get organized, most of them love it too.

I started tracking my expenses in college, using a small blue notebook the New York Times once wrote about. A few years later, I automated the process by linking all of my financial accounts to Mint, which I recommend clients do as well.

And then, in April 2009, one month after the stock market hit its lowest point during the financial crisis, I started tracking my net worth. That was over eight years ago, and I still update the same simple spreadsheet every month. I use Mint's monthly summary emails to help make the process even easier.

Here's how I do it:

SEE ALSO: The key to retiring a millionaire may depend on maintaining a habit that is easier said than done

DON'T MISS: I'm a financial planner — here's the single best piece of advice I can give you about money

Log your current net worth on the first day of every month. For example:

The spreadsheet I use has four main columns:

• Date

• Net worth (the combined total of investments and cash balances, minus any debt)

• Investments total (any money that is invested, whether in a 401(k), IRA, or other retirement account, as well as taxable investment accounts)

• Cash total (all checking and savings accounts)

I also calculate the percent change since the last month for each of the three categories. The formula I use is:

• Percent change = (This month - Last month)/This month

• For example: =(B3-B2)/B2

This allows me to see trends, and serves as a way to see how much I'm saving and what returns I am earning from month-to-month.

To get the numbers, I use Mint's monthly summary email, which usually arrives on the first day of the month.

One of the most helpful parts about using a spreadsheet to track your net worth is creating a chart to visualize the growth over time.

The longer you keep track of your net worth, the more you'll be able to visualize your progress over time. I created a chart tracking net worth by date on a separate tab in my spreadsheet. This is a far easier way to see how your money is growing over time.

It's important to note your net worth will not go up in a straight, pretty line. It will be jagged, and some months your net worth may decrease a bit — if you made a big purchase or if the stock market goes down.

Over time, however, your net worth will go up. Keeping track of it could serve as positive reinforcement, or at least a helpful reminder that spending less than you earn is worth it.

You can partially automate the process by requesting monthly summary emails from your account aggregator of choice.

You don't have to use Mint, but it's the account aggregator I prefer. If you don't already have a Mint account, you'll have to create one in order to receive monthly summary emails.

Once you link your checking, savings, retirement, and investment accounts, Mint will keep track of the balances, as well as your transactions.

To sign up for emails, go to "settings" and select "notifications." The first option you'll see is for summary emails, which can be sent weekly, monthly, or never. I recommend receiving it monthly — weekly is too often, and never is ... well, not very helpful.

Every month, Mint will send you an email detailing all of your account balances. At the top of the email, you'll see your overall net worth (taking into account any debt you owe) with the label "Your Money."

It also shows the balances for all of your cash accounts and your investment accounts, organized into separate sections. It doesn't provide a total for each category, so you will have to add those up before logging the amount on your spreadsheet.

Taylor Swift and David Mueller's long legal battle will come to a head Monday morning, when the jury for their upcoming trial is selected.

Mueller sued Swift in 2015, alleging that her accusation that he groped her butt, during a meet-and-greet in 2013, caused him to lose his job.

Swift then countersued Mueller a month later.

Two years after Mueller and Swift sued each other, their case is about to go to trial. 

Here is everything you need to know about the impending Mueller and Swift trial:

Mueller filed a lawsuit claiming that false groping accusations from Swift got him fired.

Mueller sued Swift in October 2015, alleging that false accusations of him groping Swift at a meet-and-greet resulted in his termination, according to the Denver Post.

Mueller had been invited to Swift's meet-and-greet when the singer was performing at the Pepsi Center in Denver, June 2, 2013.

Mueller attended as a part of his then-job as a morning DJ on "The Ryno and Jackson" morning show, on Denver radio station 98.5 KY GO.

Mueller and his girlfriend took a picture with Swift, and shortly after Swift's security found Mueller and accused him of groping her. 

Mueller was fired two days later.

While Swift never spoke publicly about the incident, the radio station was sent the picture that Swift alleged documented Mueller groping her. A spokesperson for Swift told People, “The radio station was given evidence immediately after the incident. They made their independent decision."

You can see the photo in question on TMZ. 

Two years after Mueller was fired, he decided to slam Swift with a lawsuit accusing her of making false accusations that resulted in his firing. In the suit, Mueller said he had met "hundreds of celebrities" in the past and has never been accused of anything like this previously.

Swift filed a countersuit one month after being sued by Mueller.

One month after Mueller sued Swift, she filed back with a countersuit, according to People.

In Mueller's lawsuit, he had accused his boss, Eddie Haskell of being the one who actually touched Swift inappropriately.

But Swift's countersuit dismisses this allegation:

“Resolution of this Counterclaim will demonstrate that Mueller alone was the perpetrator of the humiliating and wrongful conduct targeted against Ms. Swift, and will serve as an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts.”

The countersuit continues to claim that Mueller reached up Swift's skirt and with purpose groped an "intimate part of her body in an inappropriate manner, against her will, and without her permission.”

The intimate part of Swift's body being referenced in the counter claim is her behind.

Marie Claire confirmed this when it released portions of Swift's released deposition from July 26, 2016, in which the star described Mueller grabbing onto her "ass cheek."

Swift also requested a jury trial in her countersuit, and declared that any money won would be donated to a charity that fights against, and protects women from, sexual assault.

Swift's mother will be a witness her during the trial.

Andrea Swift, Taylor's mother, has been named as a witness in the case and can be expected to testify in court, according to People.

Taylor's photographer who captured the alleged moment in which Mueller grabbed Swift, is also expected to take the stand, in addition to a senior member of her security team.

Tom Brady is now a five-time Super Bowl champion, securing his spot as arguably the greatest quarterback of all time.

But that is just one thing that is going well for Brady. He is also the husband of the world's highest-paid supermodel, Gisele Bündchen, and he is the third-highest-paid NFL player of all time.

Brady turns 40 on Thursday and in addition to being an NFL icon, Brady has become somewhat of a fashion icon off the field. However, Brady's fashion sense had humble beginnings.

Below we take a look at how his style has evolved over the years.

Brady's fashion decisions certainly had humble beginnings.

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Brady's high school yearbook photo reveals a nice, clean look, especially with his hair which will take on many forms over the years.

Before he was in the NFL, there was a time when Brady's suits weren't always tailored.