Pat Lawlor and his wife were first-time homebuyers, eager and ready to start the process. Things took a turn for the worse when Pat received an email from his “escrow officer” and sent over their down payment. Catch the full interview here. Buyer beware!
Bring it back: Don’t panic if you’ve accidentally deleted important photos or videos on your Mac. Open the Photos app and follow the Recently Deleted link in the sidebar. Your “deleted” files stick around for 30 days.
🏠 Real estate therapy: Browsing Zillow is the new way to manage stress (paywall link). Some folks look at homes within their budget, imagining what could be. Others browse properties worse than their current digs to feel grateful. I have my old homes and rentals saved so I get alerts when they change hands. It’s fun to track!
6% of your paycheck
The latest default 401(k) contribution. Companies auto-enroll employees at twice the rate they did a decade ago to encourage more people to save (paywall link). It’s working: Last year, the average employee saved almost 12% of their pay in a 401(k), an all-time high.
Track your health: More doctors are incorporating the Apple Watch into patient care, especially for managing diseases. Case in point (paywall link): A woman with atrial fibrillation sends data from her watch to her doc to make sure her medication and lifestyle are on point. Want one? Check out the Apple Watch SE, Series 9 or Ultra 2.
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
$300,000
For a souped-up Land Rover Defender … that’ll probably break down. Fans of the Defender are modifying iconic older models notorious for mechanical issues. One guy dropped six figures (paywall link) to trick out his 1986 Defender. Meanwhile, his gas gauge still doesn’t work. 🤦
Commitment issues: Remember when meeting the parents was a big relationship milestone? Now it’s saving someone’s full name in your contacts. Folks these days aren’t wasting precious phone memory on casual flings (paywall link). It’s all fun and games until you text the wrong date.
Cheap crap as far as the eye can see: Amazon is taking aim at cheap Chinese retailers Temu and Shein (paywall link). Its new site will sell unbranded fashion wear and household products directly from China with no reroutes through U.S. warehouses. Expect deliveries within nine to 11 days.
Fake your location to get the lowest prices: A friend of mine in Phoenix booked a rental car in the U.K. It was $955. I told her to try this trick. She used her VPN to change her location to the U.K. and the same car for the same dates was $322. Just another reason why you need ExpressVPN on all your devices. Use this link to get three months free.
🔋 Dead battery: In June 2023, EVs were $8,201 more expensive on average than a gas car — a 25.1% difference (paywall link). Now, one year later, they’re 8.5% cheaper, or around $2,657 less than a gas car. And 46% of all EV owners want a gas-powered car.
35% down payment
Is the new norm when buying a house. Zillow says 20% won’t cut it for most folks to afford the current average monthly mortgage payments (paywall link), given high housing prices and high interest rates. For the average U.S. home, that’s about $128,000 down. Ouch.
This is so sweet: Hover over a link and click on your mouse wheel to open it in a new tab. You can also middle-click the mouse on an open tab to close it. Share that tip to impress your friends.
Heads-up, parents: Instagram is pushing sexually explicit videos to teenagers minutes after they’ve logged in (paywall link). New accounts get slightly seductive videos, but the content gets racier the more they watch. Talk to your kids about what they click on and watch. It’s not them; IG itself is pushing it.
$174,000 salary
To manage a fast-food restaurant in California. Monique Pizano, a 27-year-old Raising Cane’s manager, makes six figures (paywall link) after bonuses, depending on her location’s performance. That’s egg-cellent! (Get it? It’s a chicken fast-food joint. Tough crowd!)
49% of sales growth
For skincare products is attributed to Gen Alpha. Yep, girls 14 and under already have “aging anxiety” (paywall link), thanks to TikTok. It’s not just bad for kids’ self-esteem; anti-aging products like retinol can actually damage young skin. Talk to your kids.
Sneak peek: In Safari, preview a website before you click the link. Using your mouse, hover the pointer over the link, then press Cmd + Ctrl + D. Voila, a pre-click preview. Click outside the preview, and it disappears.
🚨 Fake news: News outlet BNN Breaking had millions of readers and a publishing deal with Microsoft. Turns out, they used AI to churn out error-filled, paraphrased news, making big bucks from clickbait (paywall link). The site went dormant in April, but they’ve since set up shop under a new name: TrimFeed. Stay away.
The NIH blue it: For years, the National Institutes of Health has said blue light from smartphones and iPads will keep us awake at night. Well, some 11 studies now say the blue light story is bogus (WSJ, paywall link). We get so engrossed in what we’re reading or watching on these screens that we simply can’t put ‘em down. So tonight, turn it off and go to sleep.
You’re here because you’re smart: If you want to add a smarty-pants to your team at work, start with LinkedIn.Use my link to post a job for free. Try it and I bet you’ll find your next superstar.