If you're trying to eat right, then following the diet of a nutritionist is probably a good start.

Ruth Frechman, a registered dietitian nutritionist, starts her morning with cinnamon-sprinkled oatmeal and keeps low-calorie snacks like popcorn on hand throughout the day.

"My favorite foods are fruit and nuts," says Frechman, who is the author of "The Food Is My Friend Diet."

Frechman combines her diet with 30 minutes to 2 hours of exercise a day. She mixes it up between yoga, walking or jogging, swimming, hiking, and Zumba.

"If I gain some weight, it’s usually because I eat too many nuts or eat out too much," she says.

To see how a nutritionist eats, Frechman shared a typical day of meals. Scroll down to see the pictures, along with her own commentary. 

I am thirsty when I wake up, so I start the day with a combo juice of calcium-fortified orange juice and 100% cranberry juice.

I dilute it with water, otherwise it's too sweet. I love the sweet/sour taste, besides all the vitamin C, potassium, folic acid, calcium, and diuretic benefits from the cranberry juice.

On the way to work, around 8:30 a.m., almost every day I eat oatmeal with unsalted peanuts and cinnamon in the car.

We recently released our list of the 50 most powerful companies in America.

To determine the power of each company, we factored together 2014 revenue, number of employees, press mentions, and social media influence. You can read our full methodology here.

Now we're looking at the most powerful finance companies from our list.

Berkshire Hathaway is the most powerful finance company in America — it ranked at No. 20 on the list, followed by Wells Fargo (No. 25) and American Express (No. 28). 

Scroll through to see the 9 most powerful finance companies in America.

SEE ALSO: The 50 most powerful companies in America

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9. Prudential

2014 revenue:$54.1 billion

Number of employees: 48,000

More than just providing life insurance, Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential helps clients save for retirement and manage their money at every stage of life. Fortune predicts that good things are ahead for the insurance company, noting that "the aging of the wealthy world will increase demand for insurance products."

Despite its 63,000 Twitter followers and 338,706 likes on Facebook, no Klout score is available for Prudential.

8. JPMorgan Chase

2014 revenue: $94.2 billion

Number of employees: 240,000

The nation's largest bank announced that it will close 300 bank branches by 2017 as more customers rely on mobile and online banking. The closures are part of a $1.4 billion cost-cutting plan put in place earlier this year by the Midtown Manhattan-based finance giant.

With the lowest social media influence among the Big Four banks, JPMorgan Chase has a Klout score of 68 out of 100, although the bank does command over 171,000 followers on Twitter.

7. Goldman Sachs

2014 revenue: $34.53 billion

Number of employees: 34,000

On Wall Street, few names inspire as much respect as Goldman Sachs. And the investment banking firm is on the rise — it grew profits 5% last year and recently garnered attention for backing Symphony, a secure internal chat system that has been called a "Bloomberg killer."

Goldman also proves its social media influence with over 400,000 followers on Twitter and more than 30,000 likes on Facebook, earning the New York-based bank a Klout score of 89.

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China is unstable and likely to continue its downward spiral, Europe's economy is weak but may soon start rebounding, and North America is steady but not spectacular. That's the overall sentiment provided by more than 100 CFOs at some of America's largest businesses.

CFOs at 114 US-based companies have provided a unique snapshot of economic sentiment for Q4 2015.

The CFOs were participating in the Deloitte Q3 CFO Signals survey and they provided us with some interesting North America, Europe, and China market views and expectations.

Scroll down to check out 14 charts that offer some interesting insights into the economic climate for Q4 2015. 

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North America confidence remains fairly strong while Europe shows signs of improvement and China falls apart.

Many CFOs believe North America is primed for a decent Q4. Only 3% described economic conditions in the region as "bad" while 55% said conditions will improve.

Only 5% of CFOs believe Europe’s economy is in "good or very good" shape. 51% say conditions will remain "bad" which is down from above-70% earlier this year. Nearly 30% expect Europe’s economy to be better a year from now.

Only 4% of CFOs now say China’s economy is "good or very good." More than half say the Chinese economy is "bad." 47% of respondents believe China's economy will be worse in one year.

CFOs believe Europe's economic conditions will improve over the next 12 months. China's economic sentiment will continue to decline and North America sentiment will remain largely unchanged.

Confidence in China continues to fall with a majority of CFOs agreeing that the country's economy now falls well into the "very bad" field. The North American economy remains steady with sentiment remaining relatively close to sentiment reports over the last several years.  Economic entiment for Europe has increased over the last quarter with CFOs hopeful for propects int he country over the next year. 

CFOs are reporting the lowest level of "own-company" optimism since Q4 2012.

CFOs are beginning to soften their own-company expectations. While CFOs have offered their 11th consecutive quarter of positive feedback, the survey shows a downward trend to the lowest level since Q4 2012.  On a positive note, revenue growth expectations rose to 4.4% from last quarter’s survey-low 3.1%*, but are still among the lowest on record.

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Since the Ashley Madison hack, curiosity about the infidelity-based dating service has been on the rise. Even if you find the idea of cheating deplorable, you can't help but wonder what it's like on a website totally based on helping people cheat, right?

That's why I decided to create an account and check it out. And I couldn't believe how easy — and depressing — it was. 

In case you didn't follow the hack, it exposed the data of 32 million Ashley Madison users. This was a big deal because Ashley Madison prided itself on its discretion — it was assumed to be the perfect dating site for a discreet affair. After the hack, though, it seemed that wannabe cheaters would have better luck finding mates in real life, without leaving a digital trail.

Based on Ashley Madison's marketing and my own preconceived notions of marital infidelity largely gleaned from Hollywood, I thought the experience might have at least a hint of glamour and danger. But instead, it felt desperate and the opposite of sexy.

Scroll through to see what it was like.

To start, all I had to do was go to AshleyMadison.com, select "single female seeking males," and then create my account. The site is free for women. Male users have to pay at least $49 per month for 100 "credits," which enable them to use the site.

After that, I was already "almost done," according to this dialog box. As you can see from the background, men's profiles were already visible before I'd even picked a username.

Mostly, the questions had to do with my physical appearance. This one reminded me of MySpace, which had a similar feature back in its heyday in the 2000s.

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The answer to many questions about personal finances isn’t black or white.

There are so many variables, choices, and potential outcomes for most situations that, in many cases, the best answer is simply: it depends.

But you won’t hear any uncertain or unsatisfying financial advice in this episode.

I’m going to cover eight financial truths that apply to everyone in every situation.

They have the power to transform your financial life — if you let them.

Read the original article.

SEE ALSO: 7 30-second habits that can help you be more productive and build your wealth

Money doesn’t buy happiness

Researchers have shattered the illusion that having more money makes you happier.

They say earning about $75,000 a year is the sweet spot. That’s a national average that varies depending on where you live. Happiness costs more in big, expensive cities like New York and San Francisco.

Earning $75,000 allows the average American to pay for comfortable housing, have reliable transportation, eat well, take an occasional vacation, and save for the future.

If you earn 20% more, that’s fantastic, but it’s not likely to make you 20% happier.

In other words, money definitely can buy comfort and security. But once you have a moderate amount of stability and income, having more doesn’t make you incrementally happy.

My level of happiness has generally been about the same throughout my entire life, no matter my level of wealth. I think most people are born with a happy thermostat or set point that doesn’t change drastically, no matter how much they have in the bank.

Your earning power is your most valuable asset

While your home or retirement account may hold a lot of value, your ability to earn money is ultimately what allows you to build wealth. Your financial life will completely stall out if you can’t earn income.

Since your earning power trumps everything, you need to protect it like a junkyard dog. Disability insurance was designed to replace a percentage of your income if you get into a debilitating accident or get sick during your working years.

You may have the option to buy short- or long-term disability coverage through work. If not, or if the coverage isn’t enough, you can buy a policy on your own through many of the big-name insurance companies.

And being in good shape, both physically and mentally, allows you to perform at the top of your game and earn what you’re worth.

So take your health just as seriously as your wealth, by eating more nutritious foods, cutting sugary snacks, working up a sweat every day, and going to bed earlier so you get plenty of sleep and feel as rested as possible every morning.

The cost of your time should guide you

Many times we spend money frivolously or overspend because we don’t focus enough on the cost of our time.  

For instance, let’s say you earn $20 per hour as a graphic designer and you see a beautiful pair of shoes online that cost $300. Before you reach for your credit card, do some quick math and divide your after-tax hourly wage into the price of the shoes.

For the sake of this example, assume that your average tax rate is 25%. That means your take-home pay would be $15 ($20 x 0.75) per hour. If you divide $300 by $15 per hour, you see that you’d have to work 20 hours to pay for those shoes. If that idea doesn’t thrill you or feel completely worth it, forget about the shoes.

Calculating the value of your time is a powerful way to really understand what something costs. If you’re paid a salary, here’s a quick way to figure your pre-tax hourly rate: Take off the last 3 zeros from your annual salary and divide that number in half.

For example, if you earn $60,000 a year, strip off the last 3 zeros, which gives you $60, and divide by 2. You earn about $30 an hour. Then to get an after-tax ballpark, take about 20% to 25% off that number, which leaves you with approximately $23 an hour.

Not only can figuring the value of your time help you rein in spending, but it’s also a guide for when to hire people. If you need help with chores like yard work, house cleaning, or running errands, and can afford to pay someone less than you earn to do them, it makes sense to hire the help.

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In honor of National Coffee Day, payments company Square crunched the numbers from their coffee shop customers to uncover:

• The most popular coffee drinks
• The prices that we pay for them
• And the surprising state that tips their baristas really well.

SEE ALSO: You probably wake up 8-11 times a night — plus 21 other discoveries from sleep-tracking apps

Plain old brewed coffee is by far the most popular way to consume it. The latte comes in a distant second.

Source: Square.

The most expensive cup o' Joe is a Mocha Java in New England. The least expensive is an Americano in the Rocky Mountains.

Source: Square.

In the frigid state of North Dakota, people tip their baristas very well, on average 21%. 19-20% is pretty much the going rate.

Source: Square.

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The Tesla Model X crossover is one of the most eagerly awaited vehicles in recent memory. Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the production electric crossover during a massive gathering at a company facility in Fremont, California Tuesday night. 

The Model is truly unique in the automotive world. Although there are plenty of electric vehicles on the road and even a couple of electric SUVs for sale, none of them live in the high-performance luxury realm normally occupied by the likes of Porsche, BMW and Range Rover.

After years of development and an initial production run which Elon Musk described as "very difficult," the Model X is finally ready for delivery. Fortunately for us, Tesla gave a few lucky journalists the opportunity to experience their latest offering — hours before the vehicles are turned over to their future owners.

We also attended Tesla's ceremony launching the production version of the Model X. Check back for coverage of the event.

In the meantime, here's a glimpse of the new Tesla Model X.

SEE ALSO: We took a tour of the factory where Tesla is building its new Model X

As we waited for our turn behind the wheel, Tesla let us check out a customer's Model X.

It's one of the "Founder's Series" cars available only to VIPs.

These cars are personally inspected by Elon Musk prior to delivery.

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Mortgage lender Nationwide revealed today that annual house price growth in Britain rose again in September to 3.8% from 3.2% in August.

Meanwhile, one in four Britons is looking to buy a new home in the next five years but, interestingly, being close to family or having more space aren't the most important factors, says Santander Mortgages.

According to a survey by the group, more and more people are becoming less concerned about the house itself and more about what the property is close to.

The findings show that the average Brit would be willing to pay £6,297 ($9,966) extra to live closer to work or £6,900 ($10,920) more to move to a safer neighbourhood.

“We are becoming a recreation nation as we look to minimise the amount of time we spend travelling to and from work, and maximise the time we can spend enjoying ourselves playing sports, enjoying green spaces and socialising in bars and restaurants,” said Miguel Sard, Managing Director of Mortgages, Santander UK.

“Homebuyers are increasingly sacrificing space for location. Some of these sought-after features come with a big price tag, so it is important that they seek advice from experts to better understand what they can and can’t afford.”

16. Safer neighbourhood — surprisingly low on the list, only 7% say this is a top priority when buying a new home.

15. Being close to sports facilities — around 5% of homebuyers really value being next to gyms, leisure centres, and other sports venues. It has grown increasingly more important as this is number has risen from 2% last year.

14. Space for pets — around 7% of people are willing to pay the average £7,532 ($11,917) extra for finding a place to accommodate their pets.

We have new data on how Wall Street banks stack up in every business line, and there's one clear winner.

JPMorgan leads the pack for the first half of 2015 when it comes to global investment banking revenue across fixed income, equities, and banking, according to data-analytics company Coalition.

The bank made $13.2 billion over the first six months of the year, according to the firm. 

It ranked number one by revenues in credit, rates, foreign exchange, equity derivatives and debt capital markets.

Goldman Sachs ranks in second place overall this year, placing first by revenues in commodities, equity capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions, and joint first in cash equities.

Deutsche Bank and Citi are tied for third place overall.

Here's the global ranking, plus the rankings broken down by region.

JPMorgan is the clear winner in the global ranking, with a top score in traditional investment banking and fixed income, currencies and commodities.

The top of the table in the US was unchanged, with JPMorgan number one.

Deutsche Bank is now the clear leader in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, followed by JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs.

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Over centuries of inter-state conflict on the continent Europe has seen a number of remarkable military leaders come and go.

The common thread linking all those who reached the very top of that profession is a genius for tactics and an ability to adapt mid-way through a battle in order to secure victory.

From the ancient Greeks to the modern day, the tools of the game have changed dramatically but the aim remains the same for all great military commanders — to leave their mark on history.

Those that have succeeded leave behind not only the tales of extraordinary feats of bravery and skill, but also the tactical know-how passed down and used by future generations.

Of these, a few names stand out from the rest. These people helped shape the history of Europe in a way that few other individuals can claim.

8. Alexander Farnese was born in 1545 to Duke Ottavio Farnese of Parma and Margaret, the illegitimate daughter of the King of Spain, and Habsburg Emperor Charles V.

In 1579 Philip II of Spain sent Farnese to Flanders to regain control of the region from the Dutch. The siege of of the heavily-defended Antwerp began in 1585 and, due to Farnese's tactical brilliance in building a bridge to cut off the defenders from the Scheldt river, it soon fell.

7. Maarten Tromp was born on April 23, 1598 in Brielle, Holland and became the highest ranking naval commander during the during the 17th century Dutch wars with Spain and England.

Great white sharks are usually seen as cold-blooded killers, thanks to films like "Jaws."

But the truth is, great whites rarely attack humans. More people are killed by kitchen toasters each year than sharks.

It's the great white's extraordinary killer instincts that give these sea beasts such a misleading reputation. Still, so much about the great white remains a mystery.

In the documentary series "Inside Nature's Giants," experts carve open a great white to understand more about this species' behavior and evolution.

Scroll down to see the fascinating dissection. 

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South Africa's Mossel Bay is a popular tourist spot known for its dense population of great whites. In 2010, a massive great white was caught in a beach net designed to protect humans. The female 12-year-old shark weighed nearly 2,000 pounds and was 15 feet long.

Watch the full documentary » 

The first thing you'll notice is the stomach in the shark's mouth. Scientists aren't sure why this happened, but they think the shark may have vomited out its own stomach in the panic of being trapped in a net.

Watch the full documentary » 

The shark is lowered down onto the dissection table and the first cut is made. The skin of the shark is like slicing through sand paper.

Watch the full documentary » 

It's happened to most all of us: We lock ourselves into a gym membership, thinking we'll go more than three times a week if we're paying a monthly fee. 

After one month of treadmill struggles, we lose motivation.

This is exactly what gyms want.

While most companies would flop if no one showed up, at a gym, emptiness means success.

"Gyms want to be this product that everyone buys, but no one actually uses," Caitlin Kenney and Stacy Vanek Smith explain on NPR's Planet Money podcast, "The Planet Money Workout."

For this business model to work, gyms need to tailor to a specific customer: the person that thinks they're going to work out, but rarely will — the "casual customer."

Here are seven strategies gyms use to get you to buy that membership:

SEE ALSO: A former car salesman reveals 4 tricks dealers use to get you to spend — and how to outsmart them

They hide the gym equipment.

Walk into most gyms today and you won't see cardio machines or weights. Rather, you'll see a snazzy lounge and inviting welcome desk.

This design serves a very specific purpose, Rudy Fabiano, an architect who has designed over 500 gyms all over the world, tells NPR. Loud machines, hefty looking equipment, and sweaty weight lifters are intimidating — not impressive — to the casual customer.

In Fabiano's most recently designed gym in Chelsea, Manhattan, the sweat and clanking of weights is well hidden: The actual gym part is down a set of stairs, through a lounge, and behind a wall. 

They design the welcome lobby to look a cocktail lounge.

Instead of laying eyes on equipment upon entering, gyms have created reception areas designed to make you feel like you're in a fancy restaurant or hotel lobby. The less the gym looks like a gym, the better, Fabiano explains to NPR.

In fact, his latest gym in Chelsea — with clear doors, a white marble welcome desk, and a swanky lounge — resembles a bar more so than a gym. This is completely intentional, as out-of-shape people feel comfortable in bars, he explains, and gyms want to attract this type of customer. 

"This kind of design gets you in the door," Kenney and Vanek Smith explain. "Suddenly, you're imagining yourself sitting in those chairs, chatting with a friend, and before you know it, you're shelling out money for a yearly membership."

They offer perks that aren't directly related to exercise.

Gyms are trying to sell an experience beyond just sweating on a treadmill and pounding weights. To appeal to the casual customer, they offer less intimidating features that don't require much physical activity, such as massage chairs, saunas, and café's.

Many customers end up tricking themselves into thinking they're working out and using the gym consistently, when in reality, they're simply lounging. 

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More than 1.3 million students drop out of high school every year in the US, making them ineligible for 90% of jobs in America, according to DoSomething.org.

But while it's by no means considered the path to success — Tumblr founder David Karp dropped out of high school at the age of 15 and told Forbes he doesn't recommend it to others since he missed out on so much — some people made the most of their time outside the hallowed halls of high school.

Here is the special breed of super successful people that overcame their "high-school dropout" status and turned the world on its head.

Vivian Giang contributed to an earlier version of this article.

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Richard Branson dropped out at 15.

The Virgin Group founder is an international powerhouse currently worth about $4.9 billion, according to Forbes.

Branson founded his first business, Student magazine, after dropping out of high school at 15 and has spoken out against the university system on his blog. 

Nearly 50 years after dropping out, he has overseen approximately 500 companies, with his brand currently on somewhere between 200 and 300 of them.

David Karp dropped out at 15.

At the age of 15, Karp dropped out of an elite Bronx High School of Science and developed Tumblr, the blog-hosting and social network company, in 2007 in the "back bedroom of his mother's modest Manhattan apartment."

He sold the blog-hosting company to Yahoo for $1.1 billion in 2013, when his net worth reportedly exceeded $200 million, and he remains as the company's CEO.

Aretha Franklin dropped out at 15.

Regarded as a child prodigy, Franklin recorded her first tracks at age 14 and performed with her father's traveling Gospel revival show, according to Bio. She dropped out of high school at 15 to care for her first child. 

Franklin has since received numerous honorary degrees from universities like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and the Berklee College of Music.

In 1987, Franklin became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She has sung at the inauguration of three US presidents, including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Franklin has 18 Grammys under her belt, and in 1994 was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

The modern airport experience is not an enjoyable one.

Security lines, forever-rising ticket prices, and seemingly arbitrary fees all create a stressful and pricey experience for inter-city travel.

Some are looking to other forms of transportation for an alternative. Amtrak had record ridership numbers in 2014, tallying 11.6 million passengers along the Northeast Corridor alone.

And a study from the Chaddick Institute shows that inter-city bus ridership has also risen by an increase of 2.1% since 2013.

Yet buses are cramped and slow, earning their spot at the bottom rung of the transportation ladder. Trains aren't getting any faster, either, as the nation's rickety rail infrastructure ages and high-speed proposals are stymied.

I travel from New York City to Boston frequently, usually by bus, but after countless trips with my legs folded up like origami in uncomfortable seats, I'd just about had enough.

I had heard about LimoLiner, a luxury bus service that makes three round-trips between New York and Boston Monday through Thursday every week. It makes more trips between the two cities over the weekend.

With perks like free meals and individual leather seats, LimoLiner made Megabus sound like a stagecoach by comparison.

On a recent trip to Boston, I decided to compare LimoLiner with an Amtrak regional train to see which one offered a more comfortable experience for the price — and I was surprised by what I found.

SEE ALSO: I took a ride to New York City's first new subway station in over 25 years

I was pretty excited to be taking the train after so many terrible bus rides to Boston and back. I boarded the Amtrak train at Penn Station, a cavernous and ill-conceived tangle of walkways and escalators beneath Madison Square Garden in New York. No one wants to go to Penn Station.

The train left right on time after a painless boarding process, and within five minutes we were zipping through Queens.

At $128 one-way, the train isn't wildly expensive, but it's not exactly the lap of luxury. Of course, the prices differ depending on the departure time. My train left at 7 a.m.

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Everyone's path to success is different.

For some, it's mostly linear. Others encounter more twists, turns, and bumps along the way.

Donald Trump, for example, was born into a real estate development family, and he inherited his father's business at 25, according to Bio.

Kat Cole, on the other hand, became Cinnabon's president after quickly working her way up from Hooters hostess and waitress to the company's vice president by the time she was 26, Fortune reports.

To prove that no two paths to success are alike, we've highlighted what Trump, Cole, and 19 other successful people were doing at age 25.

This is an update of a post originally written by Vivian Giang and Max Nisen.

SEE ALSO: 11 wildly successful people who dropped out of high school

Hillary Rodham Clinton had just graduated from Yale Law School.

At age 23, Rodham Clinton, now a Democratic presidential nominee hopeful, began dating fellow Yale Law student Bill Clinton. She ended up staying at school an extra year to be with her boyfriend, and received a JD degree in 1973, just before turning 25. Clinton proposed marriage after graduation, but she declined.

That same year, Rodham Clinton began working at the Yale Child Study Center. Her first scholarly article, "Children Under the Law," was published in the Harvard Educational Review in late 1973, when she was 25.

After moving to Arkansas in 1975, Rodham Clinton finally agreed to marry Bill.

She'd go on to become the First Lady of Arkansas, The First Lady of the US, a US Senator, and US Secretary of State. 

Donald Trump took over his father's real estate development company.

Trump, a Republican presidential nominee hopeful, billionaire real estate mogul, and animated television personality, grew up wealthy, but, as he told Forbes, his father wanted him to learn the value of money.

As a kid, his dad would take him to construction sites and have him and his brother pick up empty soda bottles to redeem for cash. He says that he didn't make much, but it taught him to work for his money.

At 25, the young real estate developer was given control of his father's company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, which he later renamed the Trump Organization, according to Bio. He soon became involved in large, profitable building projects in Manhattan.

Martha Stewart was a stockbroker for the firm of Monness, Williams, and Sidel, the original Oppenheimer & Co.

Before her name was known in every American household, Stewart worked on Wall Street for five years as a stockbroker. Before that, she was a model, booking clients from Unilever to Chanel.

"There were very few women at the time on Wall Street … and people talked about this glass ceiling, which I never even thought about," Stewart said in an interview for PBS's MAKERS series. "I never considered myself unequal, and I think I got a very good education being a stockbroker."

In 1972, Stewart left Wall Street to be a stay-at-home mom. A year later, she started a catering business.

Event designer Ron Wendt knows exactly how much huge corporations spend on annual parties and intimate events. 

He works regularly with J.P. Morgan, Coller Capital, and First Republic bank, as well as glittering lifestyle brands like Tiffany & Co. and Louis Vuitton. 

I ask him how he's cultivated such an elite clientele, and he answers, "Discretion, discretion, discretion!" 

While I can guess how much he spends on florals flown in from Holland and custom table linens, he'll never tell. 

What he will say is that, since the recession, his corporate clients have been "very careful about showing off." 

On the difference between fashion and finance clients, he tells me, "In finance, the story is a little more subtle, but with fashion or jewelry, the story is more detailed."

He adds of his corporate clientele, "Good quality tablecloths are something they ask for." Naturally, Wendt makes all of his fabrics in-house. 

With holiday parties looming, the fall and winter months are Wendt's busiest time of year. "Right now I'm working on the holiday press event for Tiffany's," he says. On whether he designs private events for New York's richest CEOs and hedgefunders, the answer is a resounding yes — but he doesn't name names. 

Below, he explains the finer details that went into planning four events for some of his top corporate clients. 

Wendt has a long relationship with J.P. Morgan. "They often have important, intimate dinners in their board room for 20 or 22 guests," he says. "They'll have an evening with an author, sometimes they'll have an evening with a former government official." The florals seen here (delphiniums and hydrangeas from Holland) were chosen to complement the recently acquired piece of art on the wall.

What are the signatures of a J.P. Morgan event? First, low floral arrangements. "You have to make sure that things are super low so they can converse," says Wendt. Second, extremely high quality materials that look "understated."

Private bank and wealth management company First Republic asked Wendt to design its swanky holiday party. The crowd was younger, so he created a winter white room...

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After nearly 15 years in banking, I have witnessed firsthand how banks operate and make money. That has influenced how I choose products and interact with financial institutions.

Here is my advice on how you can get the most from your bank.

SEE ALSO: I spent the summer talking to 8,000 people about money, and here are the 11 best pieces of financial advice I can give you

1. Beware of direct mail

To win in direct mail, banks don't need to have the best product in the market. Instead, banks just need to have the best product in your mailbox on that day.

Whenever you receive an offer in the mail, go online and shop around to ensure you have really been offered the best deal.

2. The best offers are for new customers

Banking is a constant battle for customers. To win, big sign-on bonuses — like 40,000 bonus miles — are offered. If you are looking for the best deals, you will have to switch to a new product. Those lucrative offers are rarely made available to existing customers.

There is a simple reason. Most banks have acquisition teams that are paid based upon the number of accounts booked, and they are ready to spend.

And then there are "existing customer" teams looking to generate as much profit as possible, and they are less generous.

3. Be honest with yourself and focus on long-term value

Statistically, most people will stay with their new product for a long time because it isn't fun to switch financial products every year. Some people travel the world switching from bonus offer to bonus offer. which is known as travel hacking.

But most of us do not, and the data shows it. Credit-card companies are also getting better at identifying and rejecting these "gamers."

Whenever I do the math on a financial product, I choose a product based upon long-term value rather than short-term bonus offers. Sign-on bonuses are nice, but they are not the main reason I take out a product.

From North America’s highest cascade to one that looks like it flows with chocolate, these US waterfalls are all worth a visit.

SEE ALSO: The 8 best places to visit this fall

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Palouse Falls, Palouse Falls State Park, Washington

The nearly 200-foot Palouse Falls plunges fiercely over the side of a canyon into the Palouse River. In February 2014, it was honored as the official state waterfall of Washington.

Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls, New York

What Niagara Falls lacks in height, it makes up for in length. Three separate falls comprise greater Niagara Falls, which straddles the U.S. and Canadian border between New York and Ontario. Two of them—American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls—are on the U.S. side. Together, the three falls have the highest flow rate in the world.

Alamere Falls, Marin County, California

Alamere Falls hits the coastline of Point Reyes National Seashore, technically making it a tidefall. It has a total of four drops, the longest of which is 40 feet.

After capturing the hearts of Instagrammers for almost two years, 87-year-old "Baddie Winkle" is starting to cross over into the mainstream. 

That's why she made it to number 17 on our own Social 50 list, a definitive ranking of the best people to follow online right now.

Born Helen Von Winkle in 1928, Baddie Winkle is a grandmother from Tennessee. She's become Instagram-famous for her psychedelic, teen-influenced personal style and her seemingly carefree attitude.

She got her big break when she attended the Video Music Awards in Los Angeles earlier in September. Refinery29 also visited her at home for a touching video and profile published recently.

So what's the story behind this fun-loving granny? Read on to find out.

Baddie Winkle posted her first Instagram photo on April 10, 2014, with the caption "Peace and Love."

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Her style is influenced by hip hop and she's said her outlook is influenced by her devotion to the church. Here she is dancing in her Sunday best.

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Her life looks like a live-action Tumblr feed.

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Scientists recently unveiled a new AI system that can outfox average high school students on the geometry portion of the SAT.

The program answered 49% of the official SAT geometry questions correctly, and got 61% of the practice test questions right. If you extrapolate the it's performance to the entire SAT math section, it would have gotten a 500 out of 800.

That's about the score of an average high school student, according to the press release from the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the University of Washington.

Scroll down for some of the SAT geometry practice test questions the program, called GeoS, solved to see how well you stack up.

When GeoS encounters a new SAT question it first looks at the diagram and reads the question. It then interprets the diagram and the question as equations.

Then the system scores and ranks the accuracy of the equations and chooses the answer that best reflects those equations. The GIF below shows the equations that the program found in the question and used to solved it.

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Oren Etzioni, AI2's CEO, told Tech Insider by email "that SATs are more useful than the Turing Test" for testing how smart AI systems are. Take a stab at the question below:

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