General Macs Articles

Article / Updated 07-10-2023

You want to get your hands on your credit report so you know what lenders are reviewing. You're entitled to receive a free copy of your credit report (which does not contain your credit score) every 12 months from each of the three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. If you visit this website, you can view and print copies of your credit report from each of the three credit agencies. (Alternatively, you can call 877-322-8228 and request that your reports be mailed to you.) When you receive your reports, inspect them for possible mistakes. Credit-reporting bureaus and the creditors who report credit information to these bureaus make plenty of errors. If your problems are fixable, there's no need to hire someone to do so for you — you can direct getting them fixed yourself, but you will likely have to make some phone calls or write a letter or two. Some credit-report errors arise from other people's negative information getting on your credit report. This can happen if you have a common name, have moved a lot, or for other reasons. If the problematic information on your report appears not to be yours, tell that particular credit bureau and explain that you need more information because you don't recognize the creditor. Creditors are the source of some reporting mistakes as well. For example, perhaps a bill you paid off is still incorrectly being reported as a balance you owe. If that's the case with your report, write or call the creditor to get the incorrect information fixed. Phoning first usually works best. (The credit bureau should be able to tell you how to reach the creditor if you don't know how.) If necessary, follow up with a letter or an email. You can also dispute errors online directly with the credit reporting agency. Whether you speak with a credit bureau or an actual lender, make notes of your conversations. If representatives say that they can fix the problem, get their name and extension, and follow up with them if they don't deliver the promised results. If you're ensnared in bureaucratic red tape, escalate the situation by speaking with a department manager. By law, bureaus are required to respond to a request to fix a credit error within 30 days. And if you file a dispute and the creditor doesn't respond, the credit bureau must then remove the derogatory item. You and a creditor may not see eye to eye on a problem, and the creditor may refuse to budge. If that's the case, credit bureaus are required by law to allow you to add a 100-word explanation to your credit file. Just remember that if you go this route, be factual in your write-up and steer clear of broad attacks on the creditor (such as "their customer service sucks"). Avoid "credit-repair" firms that claim to be able to fix your credit report problems. In the worst cases I've seen, these firms charge outrageous amounts of money and don't come close to fulfilling their marketing hype. If you have legitimate glitches on your credit report, credit-repair firms can't make the glitches disappear. You can easily fix errors on your own without the charge.

Article / Updated 07-10-2023

When most people hear the word budgeting, they think unpleasant thoughts, like those associated with dieting, and rightfully so. Who wants to count calories or dollars and pennies? But budgeting — planning your future spending — can help you move from knowing how much you spend on various things to reducing your spending. The following process breaks down budgeting in simple steps: Analyze how and where you're currently spending. Calculate how much more you want to save each month. Determine where to make cuts in your spending. Suppose you're currently not saving any of your monthly income and you want to save 10 percent for retirement. If you can save and invest through a tax-sheltered retirement account — such as a 401(k), 403(b), SEP-IRA, and so forth — then you don't actually need to cut your spending by 10 percent to reach a savings goal of 10 percent of your gross income. When you contribute money to a tax-deductible retirement account, you generally reduce your federal and state income taxes. If you're a moderate-income earner paying approximately 30 percent in federal and state taxes on your marginal income, you actually need to reduce your spending by only 7 percent to save 10 percent. The other 3 percent of the savings comes from the lowering of your taxes. (The higher your tax bracket, the less you need to cut your spending to reach a particular savings goal.) So to boost your savings rate to 10 percent, you simply need to go through your current spending, category by category, until you come up with enough proposed cuts to reduce your spending by 7 percent. Make your cuts in areas that are the least painful and in areas where you're getting the least value from your current level of spending. If you don't have access to a tax-deductible retirement account or you're saving for other goals in nonretirement accounts, budgeting still involves the same process of assessment and making cuts in various spending categories.

Article / Updated 07-05-2023

People typically learn their financial habits, both good and not so good, at a young age. During childhood, most people are exposed to messages and lessons about money, both at home with their parents and siblings and also in the world at large, such as at school and with their friends. The expression "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" has some validity, at least for our four-legged friends, but even then, the expression actually requires some modification to be accurate. It should be, "It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but how hard it is depends on the dog." The same is true for people and their financial habits and decision making. For most people, spending money is easier and more enjoyable than earning and saving it. Of course, you can and should spend money, but there's a world of difference between spending money carelessly and spending money wisely. Here are some tips and tricks so you can get even better at saving more and spending less: Live within your means. Spending too much is a relative problem. If you spend $40,000 per year and your income is $50,000 annually, you should be in good shape and will be able to save a decent chunk of your income. But if your income is only $35,000 per year and you spend $40,000 annually, you'll be accumulating debt or spending from your investments to finance your lifestyle. How much you can safely spend while working toward your financial goals depends on what your goals are and where you are financially. At a minimum, you should be saving at least 5 percent of your gross annual (pretax — that is, before taxes are deducted from your paycheck) income, and ideally, you should save at least 10 percent. Search for the best values. The expression "You get what you pay for" is an excuse for being a lazy shopper. The truth is that you can find high quality and low cost in the same product. Conversely, paying a high price is no guarantee that you're getting high quality. When you evaluate the cost of a product or service, think in terms of total, long-term costs. Buying a cheaper product only to spend a lot of additional money servicing and repairing it is no bargain. Research options and comparison shop to understand what's important to you. Don't waste money on bells and whistles that you don't need and may not ever use. Is that $700 smartphone significantly better than the best $200 smartphones? Don't assume brand names are the best. Be suspicious of companies that spend gobs on image-oriented advertising. Branding is often used to charge premium prices. Blind taste tests have demonstrated that consumers can't readily discern quality differences between high- and low-cost brands with many products. Question the importance of the name and image of the products you buy. Companies spend a lot of money creating and cultivating an image, which has no impact on how their products taste or perform. When you're grocery shopping, consider the store or house brand. Most of the time the ingredients are the same as the brand-name product (and may even be made by that same company). You don't need to shell out money to pay for the name, as store/house brands are typically much less costly than the well-known brands in a given category. Get your refunds. Have you ever bought a product or service and not gotten' what was promised? What did you do about it? Most people do nothing and let the company off the hook. Ask for your money back or at least a partial refund. If you don't get satisfaction from a frontline employee, request to speak with a supervisor. Most larger companies have websites through which you can submit complaints. Reputable companies that stand behind their products and services will offer partial refunds or gift cards good toward a future purchase. If all else fails and you bought the item with your credit or debit card, dispute the charge with the credit-card company. You generally have up to 60 days to dispute and get your money back. Trim your spending fat. What you spend your money on is sometimes a matter of habit rather than a matter of what you really want or value. When was the last time you comparison priced and shopped for the most common things that you buy? You need to set priorities and make choices about where you want and don't want to spend your money. Turn your back on consumer credit (for example, credit-card debt, auto loans). Borrowing money to buy consumer items that depreciate (such as cars and electronics) is hazardous to your long-term financial health. Buy only what you can afford today. If you'll be forced to carry a debt on credit cards or an auto loan for months or years on end, you can't really afford what you're buying on credit today. Not only does consumer debt enable you to spend more than you can afford today, but the interest rate on that consumer debt is generally high, and it isn't tax-deductible. If you spend too much and spend unwisely, you put pressure on your income and your future need to continue working, perhaps at a job that you don't really enjoy. Savings dwindle, debts may accumulate, and you won't be able to achieve your personal and financial goals. Living within your means and continually growing your savings can give you more freedom, choices, and comfort with taking some risks (for example, changing careers, leaving your job to raise children, joining a start-up or starting your own company, and so on) that you may not otherwise feel as comfortable taking.

Article / Updated 05-03-2023

You may want to consider establishing automatic investment programs to save for your retirement. Several automatic savings programs may be available to you. You need to determine how much you can direct to each of these automatic plans. Here’s how you do it: Make sure that you’re taking full advantage of any employer matching contribution for which you may be eligible with your company’s retirement plan. Contribute the maximum amount that the employer will match. If eligible, make the maximum contributions to your and your spouse’s (if applicable) Roth IRA accounts each year; take your contributions automatically out of your checking account each month. A Roth IRA is the best retirement funding vehicle — from a tax standpoint — ever! Although you don’t get a deduction when you contribute to a Roth IRA, all the earnings and withdrawals on the account are tax-free forever. You can establish a Roth IRA account at most banks, through investment advisors, or directly with a low-cost, no-load mutual fund company like Vanguard or a deep discount broker like Scottrade or ShareBuilder. Making monthly contributions is much easier than coming up with the whole year’s contribution at once. You can set up direct automatic investments from your checking account into your Roth IRA account. Build your personal portfolio with low-cost, tax-advantaged-passive investment vehicles, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index funds. You need to have investments that you can tap into if needed prior to retirement. Also, when you retire and pull money out of your retirement account, 100 percent of that withdrawal is taxable to you as ordinary income. Capital gains tax rates are much lower. You may be much better off from a tax standpoint to pay minimal capital gains now rather than the tax for ordinary income in the future. Index funds are a way individual investors can own the stock market that you hear about on the news, such as the Standard and Poor 500 Composite Index (S&P 500, for short). Index funds have been available through no-load mutual fund powerhouses like Vanguard for decades. However, the range of options now available has exploded in the last few years. You can now buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests exclusively in United States Treasury Inflation Protection Securities. Rather than buying one bond for $10,000, you can literally buy one share of an ETF, which trades like stocks, incurring a transaction fee to buy or sell shares. And with the advent of deep-discount online brokerage firms, you now can afford to make monthly purchases of exchange-traded funds. Which automatic savings programs are available to you, and how much can you direct to each of these automatic plans? Use the Making Your Investments Automatic Worksheet to put these steps in action. Click here to download and print the Making Your Investments Automatic worksheet.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 01-06-2023

Macs come in all shapes and sizes, but you turn all of them on and off, and do things with the keyboard and mouse or trackpad the same way. This Cheat Sheet of timesaving keyboard shortcuts, mouse and trackpad actions, Mac-related websites, and definitions can help you get the most from your Mac right away.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-25-2022

As an older adult entering the world of Mac computers, you can use a few basic things: a guide to prices and uses for various types of Macs and helpful keyboard shortcuts that get you quickly where you want to go. And you can never be too safe, so it pays to know how to avoid potential predators on the internet.

Article / Updated 11-02-2021

Before you can use your Mac, you obviously have to start it up. And, of course, it's important to know the correct way to shut it down. Starting up your Mac Here’s the simple way to start up your Mac desktop computer — the way you’ll probably do it 99 percent of the time: Press the power button. Newer Macbook laptops start up automatically when you open their lids. Depending on the type of Mac you have, the power button might be in back (Mac Mini and some iMacs), front (Mac Pro and some iMacs), or above the keyboard (on laptop models like the MacBook and MacBook Pro). As soon as you press the power button, your Mac plays a musical chime to let you know that it’s starting up. Your computer displays a big gray Apple logo on the screen to let you know that the computer is working. When you unpack your Mac and turn it on for the very first time, it will ask that you type your name and make up a password to create an account for using your Mac. To guide you through the process of setting up a Mac for the first time, a special program called the Setup Assistant runs, and it asks for information, such as the current time zone, the current date, and whether you want to transfer files and programs from another Mac to your newer one. You also have to go through this procedure if you reinstall your operating system. Normally, you need to run through this initial procedure only once. The most important part of this initial procedure is remembering the password you chose because you’ll need this password to log into your account or install new software. After the operating system loads, you can start using your computer to run other programs so you can write a letter, browse the internet, balance your checkbook, or play a game. How to shut down your Mac You can shut down your Mac if you won’t be using it for a while, or even perform a forced shutdown, which forces all running programs to shut down immediately. You have three ways to shut down your Mac: Choose the Apple key→Shut Down. A dialog box appears, asking whether you’re sure you want to shut down. Click Cancel or Shut Down. (If you don’t click either option, your Mac will shut down automatically after a few minutes.) Press Control+Eject (or press the power button). When a dialog box appears, click the Shut Down button. Press and hold the power button to force your Mac to shut down. You can also force shutdown your Mac by pressing the Control+Option+Command+Eject keystroke combination. Generally, a force shutdown is handy if your entire Mac suddenly freezes or hangs, making it unresponsive. If only a single program is freezing or acting flaky, you’re usually better off to force quit that single program instead of shutting down your entire computer. Avoid using a force shutdown if at all possible. If you do nothing when you see the dialog box that asks, “Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now?” the machine will turn itself off in two minutes. If you want to shut down immediately, click the Shut Down button. If you’ve changed your mind, click Cancel.

Article / Updated 10-29-2021

You know that frustrating, annoying, sometimes panicked feeling you get when your Mac isn’t doing what you expect? If an application freezes or your computer is generally misbehaving, try these tips to escape with minimal disruption. Use Force Quit when an application is unresponsive. Choose Force Quit from the Apple menu or press Command+Option+Esc keys. Click the name of the deviant application (it probably has not responding next to its name). You typically won’t have to reboot. Restart. If Force Quit doesn’t bail you out, try rebooting the computer. If a frozen Mac prevents you from clicking the Restart command on the Apple menu, hold down the power button for several seconds or press the Control+Command keys and then press the power button. If all else fails, pull the plug, but remember that powering down without logging out should be used only as a last resort. Restart in Safe Mode. Press the power button to turn on your computer, and then press and hold the Shift key the instant you hear the welcome chime. Release Shift when the Apple logo appears. You will see a status bar as the computer boots, after which the words Safe Boot appear in red in the upper right corner of OS X’s login screen. In Safe mode, the Mac unleashes a series of troubleshooting steps designed to return the computer to good health. If Safe Boot resolved the issue, restart the Mac normally the next time.

Article / Updated 10-01-2021

Files you download from the internet are often compressed or zipped so that they take up less space and arrive much faster than files that haven’t been compressed. You can easily identify compressed files by their extensions, such as .zip (a common standard used in OS X and Windows) and .sit. Before you can use these files, you must learn how to unzip files on Mac computers for proper access ― luckily the process isn’t that complicated. How to unzip files on Mac computers Unzipping a file on a Mac computer is user-friendly and intuitive. To unzip files on a Mac, simply follow the steps below: Double click the zipped file. The file will automatically be decompressed by Archive Utility into the same folder the compressed file is in. Access the extracted files by clicking the appropriate icons. Alternatively, if the method above does not work, you can right-click on the .zip package, and select Open With > Archive Utility (default). Apple and third party software Apple used to include a program called StuffIt Expander to decompress zipped files, but doesn’t now that OS X lets you unzip files (but not .sit files). However, StuffIt from SmithMicro Software still comes in handy for opening other types of compressed files, notably the .sit or .sitx compressed types. Go to Stuffit.com to download a free version of the software or to splurge for the Deluxe version. In addition to compressing files, StuffIt Deluxe lets you encrypt and back up files. Meanwhile, you can archive or create your own .zip files through OS X, which is useful if you’re emailing a number of meaty files to a friend. Right-click (or Ctrl-click) files you want to compress inside Finder and choose Compress Filename. The newly compressed files carry the .zip extension. The archive is created in the same location as the original file and is named originalfilename.zip. You can also choose File→Compress. If you compress a lot of files at once, the archive takes the name Archive.zip. By default, compressed files are opened with the Archive Utility. It appears in the Dock (in Leopard) while the files are being unsqueezed, unless you choose to open them with Stuffit Expander or some other program. How to zip files on a Mac On the flip side, you can also archive or create your own .zip files through OS X, which is useful if you’re e-mailing a number of meaty files to a client or friend. Follow the step-by-step instructions below to easily zip files on a Mac: Right-click or Ctrl-click the multiple files you want to compress (whether on the desktop or inside the Finder). Select Compress Filename from the pop-up menu. The files are now compressed in a .zip extension and the archive is created in the same location as the original file name, except with the .zip appended to its name. On some Apple computers, you can also compress a file by simply choosing File→Compress. If you compress a lot of files at once, the archive takes the name Archive.zip.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 09-10-2021

Macs and Windows computers have unique operating systems. They see things differently, and most Mac users would argue that Macs do things better. Macs come equipped with helpful keyboard shortcuts and a short list of procedures to follow if your Mac freezes.