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[Assistant] And so that one didn't work out. We'll see if the text now has a sustainable business model that will give people free cell phone service.


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[Assistant] You got 40 minutes per conference call. Well, what we used to do...


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[Assistant] She died seven years ago, but she, the last 15 years of her life had dementia. And I have, uh,


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[Assistant] Uh, two brothers and a sister. And we would have a monthly conference call talking through who was gonna do this for mom and what's going on with this with mom and all that. Uhm, and


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[Assistant] So, uh, we would normally use my free service and then if we went past 40 minutes, we had to start a new conference call and my, my two brothers and my sister were like, this is ridiculous. I can't believe we got to dial into this thing again, but it was free.


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[Assistant] Okay, I want to thank you for reinforcing this, Sarah. Uhm, this is something you gotta know. If you have employer provided health insurance or a pharmacy benefits manager plan,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is a dirty, dirty, dirty, rotten, ugly underbelly of health coverage in the United States. What goes on with prescriptions? So there are these kickbacks


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[Assistant] That for some reason are allowed in the United States.


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[Assistant] And what's the some reason? Cause our congress does not care about you and me. Your individual congressmen, your two senators, do not care about you and me. They only care about who gives them money.


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[Assistant] And so the reality is we have this ugly thing going on with 80% approximately of prescriptions in the United States. 80% approximately are generics. So what happens is


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[Assistant] The pharmacy benefits managers are employer hires.


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[Assistant] They're just trying that the employer, they're trying to hold down what it costs them to provide us with a prescription benefit.


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[Assistant] So then you and I are billed at the pharmacy counter net of the pharmacy benefit from our employers. We're billed an amount that's way in excess of what a cash payer has to pay for most prescriptions.


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[Assistant] So what I do when I get to the counter, I fill my prescriptions at Costco.


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[Assistant] And when I go to fill it, I say, uh, please fill it without using my prescription benefit.


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[Assistant] Almost always it's much cheaper for me just to pay Costco's member price for a prescription.


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[Assistant] Then what's offered through me to me through work and that's because


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[Assistant] The pharmacy benefits manager in that case is cut out of getting all their dirty money kickbacks from the pharmaceutical manufacturer.


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[Assistant] This goes in waves and we heard a lot of this back in 20.


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[Assistant] When there was the massive wave of unemployment early in the COVID era.


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[Assistant] We heard this for roughly a five year period with the false claims for unemployment involving identity theft. Most Department of Labor's


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[Assistant] Most, uhm, labor departments, state departments of labor.


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[Assistant] Can I spit that out? Pay out unemployment compensation. Do not go through a process


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[Assistant] Where they truly verify the individual applying for unemployment.


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[Assistant] Criminals know this, and it's been rife with fraud.


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[Assistant] And the state labor departments look at their job as paying out


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[Assistant] But what you said is so key. Never ignore those letters.


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[Assistant] On determination of payment of unemployment.


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[Assistant] Because you want to clear your record with your state and thank you so much for bringing it up.


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[Assistant] It was something we heard constantly three years ago. Uh, yours is the first one like this we've heard in a long, long time.


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[Assistant] Really is the issue that LED bulbs in theory should last a long, long, long time, potentially more than 20 years, and if yours are constantly


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[Assistant] Burning out prematurely, it means that the big box store you're buying them from is selling you junk.


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[Assistant] Well you know an LED bulb should give off much more light than an equivalent anyway. I have not had


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[Assistant] The experience you're talking about except rarely.


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[Assistant] With LED bulbs, and I don't know which big box you're buying them from, what brand they are, but that's not been...


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[Assistant] Uh, specific problem for me, but I've certainly heard it from other people.


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[Assistant] And so, uhm, if you're buying them from a big box and they're burning out prematurely, I'd go back to the big box and at least they can replace the product because what does it say on the box? I bet it says, uh,


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[Assistant] That it will last for X number of years and yours apparently aren't making it six months. And that's a problem obviously for your wallet. And so I would make it clear that you didn't get the product you were paying your good money for.


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[Assistant] Okay, so this condo, I had all those compact fluorescent bulbs. That was a whole different era.


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[Assistant] And those were not really supposed to last that long. They lasted, almost all of them were still working like 15 years later after I put them in and the place didn't show well with that. It looked like an office building really.


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[Assistant] Yeah. Well, I liked what it did for our bill. So anyway, I had to change all those out and then I took them to Home Depot because I don't know if they still do, but they would recycle the old compact fluorescent, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And those weren't even supposed to do what the LEDs do, that they last and last and last, so.


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[Assistant] The real real estate agent was all these lights need to go. I was crushed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I replaced them with LEDs. Now I was selling the place, I could have just put in, at that time you could still buy cheap incandescents, the LEDs were more, but I didn't want whoever was buying the place.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To have a big electricity bill for lighting. So I replaced them all with LEDs and so I'm really sorry about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the LED is letting you down. You just have a crummy brand that you bought, or maybe more than one crummy brand.


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[Assistant] So thank you so much for being with us today. I know talking about the CFLs and the LEDs will generate some unhappiness. Remember, Clark Stinks is there for you. Talk about me with my harebrained crazy schemes that I'm always into.


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[Assistant] So clark.com slash clarkstinks is where to post that. And I hope you are enjoying our podcast. If you are, subscribe to it wherever you listen or watch. And if you enjoy what we're doing,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Share it with a friend or family member. Uhm, if there's somebody you don't like and you hate our podcast, share it with them too. Have a great day.


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[Assistant] I mean, since you started talking about it, so it's been many years.


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[Assistant] And you know what, I don't log in to autoslash, maybe that's why it doesn't reshop for me. I just every time put my name and email address in and get the quotes.


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[Assistant] We do have some travel questions. Charlie in New York says regarding your May 16th podcast, I've twice rented a room in someone's home when traveling alone. Both times were excellent and saved huge money over any other choice. The host wants a great experience for both parties.


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[Assistant] And I can confirm my daughter's been taking a class in Europe for almost a month and I had euros that I had


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[Assistant] Oh yes. She's very trustworthy. Okay, and Lance in Washington has a unique one.


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[Assistant] My 20 year old son is a full time power wheelchair user.


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[Assistant] Airline travel is never simple for us, but we do take to the skies two to three times a year.


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[Assistant] The toughest travel arrangement is automobile rentals. The ADA does not require traditional car rental companies to have wheelchair friendly vehicles. The alternative companies seem to be well aware and charge outrageous rates as well as


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[Assistant] What am I overlooking? Are you able to help me save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off when I'm attempting to help enrich my son's life with travel experiences?


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[Assistant] Well now there's Stitch Fix and things like that where you have somebody who's assigned to you that sends you boxes of things.


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[Assistant] Really? You can return the things that you don't like and try them on. They get to know you as you return things that you don't want.


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[Assistant] No, I think you get, I, I haven't done it. I have friends that have done it. Uhm, but you, you choose your price point too, that you're willing to pay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then you put in your size and you choose from different types of outfits that you like to give them an idea.


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[Assistant] And then they'll send you, I think it might be a monthly box, I'm not sure. And then you can return them all or you can keep some.


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[Assistant] We have the space and have accepted his offer. Is there any reason he should contact his auto insurance agents


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[Assistant] Christina in Iowa wrote in saying last year my son and his wonderful fiance put a large deposit down for a wedding venue that would occur this year in October. Several thousand dollars.


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[Assistant] I'm going in that direction for sure. Unfortunately, a tornado came through in January and made the site unusable.


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[Assistant] Unfortunately, my kids were not able to get the same date elsewhere for their wedding, but instead for a date next April.


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[Assistant] They had to come up with a new deposit for that location since they haven't been given their money back yet on the old one. What are their options? I don't think they used a credit card to reserve the deposit.


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[Assistant] She did mention her son lived in a different state, so I'm not sure which state it is, but I'll follow up.


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[Assistant] Steven in Texas says I'm a very recent fan of yours, but I haven't missed a single podcast in the last six months. Wow.


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[Assistant] I want to start teaching my seven year old daughter about spending and saving money and pay for her chores that she does. I've seen the green light card advertised on my Instagram. What's your opinion on this card or is there a better card system to use for teaching and paying young kids in your opinion?


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[Assistant] Well to me it was worth it because it does a lot of extra things. You can pay them for chores in there, you can set certain stores, they can set spending limits. It's software that people are creating and maintaining and they're not like,


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[Assistant] You know, pushing stuff on my kids either and so for that much a month, I think they should be paid for creating that software and it did teach my kids a lot about, you know, splitting up the money and how it works.


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[Assistant] I mean something shouldn't be free, you know, if somebody creates a good product that's worth it, I think, you know, just like I'd pay for a class for them.


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[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show. Our mission is to serve you and empower you to make better financial decisions in your life.


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[Assistant] So today I'm going to start out hearing your beefs with me and our weekly Clark stink segment, many people's and my favorite podcast each week and later.


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[Assistant] Saving for a down payment on a home is so, so hard. I want to talk about how families are pitching in so often.


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[Assistant] To help adult children be able to take that step into their first home.


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[Assistant] But without further ado, it is time for Clark Stinks.


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[Assistant] Tourney, thank you. Uh, this is something I've had a number of conversations with my son about. And, uh, he, he is running a fan. I talked about the advantage of fans. He's running, uh, a high powered fan and he just


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[Assistant] Uhm, says he cannot sleep unless it's like an iceberg in his room. And as I've said to him.


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[Assistant] When he starts paying the bills himself,


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[Assistant] He will learn to adapt and not have it so low.


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[Assistant] Alright, so I gotta interrupt you because the funniest Falcon story.


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[Assistant] Is when I used to do local radio and station I was on was the broadcast home.


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[Assistant] Of the Falcons and we broadcast from training camp and one day I asked the then head coach if I could do workouts with them one day and he looked at me and he said, no.


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[Assistant] And then I watched them, you know, cause they don't do as much contact drill in.


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[Assistant] Training camp. I watched him as I was broadcasting. I was like, what a stupid question.


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[Assistant] We did have, uh, he's deceased now, but there was a Falcon coach. Really nice man.


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[Assistant] His first name is Dan. Anyway, Dan Henning. Uhm, so, yes, so we have a home.


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[Assistant] That I've had solar panels on since 2009.


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[Assistant] And several months of the year we got a negative power bill and in months we have a power bill. It is incredibly tiny. I love solar panels.


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[Assistant] Uh, sometimes they work out for people, sometimes the math doesn't, but I have loved having them.


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[Assistant] Definitely not, it's a lot of money up front.


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[Assistant] Dwayne, that is a very valid point. Somebody's paying the bills for you to have a, a free education.


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[Assistant] Jeffrey, thank you. Alright, so you may remember when I talked about TechsNow on the podcast, I said I was going to try it and report back what the experience was like.


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[Assistant] So, I go on the text now, set up the account, order the sem, the sem card shows up, and then I try to activate it, and it said, my account had, what was the wording you used? It was like the same wording. Uhm, my account was rejected.


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[Assistant] And, uh, for, what did they say? For violation of terms of service.


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[Assistant] Crickets, crickets, crickets. It's been three weeks. Have not heard a word from anyone at TexNOW. So I have to tell you, I had a similar customer no service experience. All I was trying to do was see what the service was like, where they offer you unlimited talk and text for free. I was never able to find out.


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[Assistant] Jeff, thank you. So, yeaah, the simplest answer is my go-to, which is a very simple 2% cash back card. And 2% cash back cards come with no annual fee.


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[Assistant] Cleanest way for people who pay their balances in full to use credit cards.


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[Assistant] It's a part time obsession for people with the, uh,


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[Assistant] With the big three, which is the American Express Platinum, the Chase Sapphire Reserve.


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[Assistant] And the capital one venture rewards X that those three cards for people who travel all the time, there's a lot of gamesmanship involved with them.


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[Assistant] Tony, thank you. You and everyone else, including someone who stopped me to tell me why I missed the boat on this. You're all right. I was wrong.


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[Assistant] Matthew, thank you. I don't recall that instance, but you're a hundred percent right that it's net revenue from a business venture for anyone that is the amount that makes you eligible for the Roth.


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[Assistant] So Steve, uhm, that's fantastic. What you were missing by being in airplane mode was you didn't get live traffic. Uhm, I was recently driving also in Eastern Europe and it was really important having live traffic because it,


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[Assistant] Have them available to you for free, no cost, but it's like having an old fashioned GPS that does not give you live traffic.


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[Assistant] Okay, so I have one more phi that popped up, uh,


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[Assistant] Lane was using a card that had a foreign currency transaction fee.


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[Assistant] And it was $27 and change that we threw away.


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[Assistant] By using a card that had foreign currency junk fees. And, uh, what am I going to do to make up that $27? So you're right. I do speak in these terms like huge and giant and all that.


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[Assistant] And it would be great if I did give perspective like I just did, $27 and change.


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[Assistant] Jay, thank you. I'm really puzzled if you thought all three of your credit reports to sign up for credit karma, why you're being rejected. I'm also puzzled that they have no way for you to actually reach anyone and, and figure it out with them, but I'm really sorry you're not getting the use of it. And I,


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[Assistant] Have no explanation for why if you thought your credit files, you still got rejected for setting up a credit karma. That's not a complaint.


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[Assistant] I've heard before it may be happening to other people and we just haven't heard that.


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[Assistant] Katie, thank you, and did I hit a hot button?


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[Assistant] Tangentially, tangentially to what you're talking about. When I talked about how


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[Assistant] Someone who goes to a prestigious university, or one that's perceived as prestigious,


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[Assistant] But gets a, uh, degree that's not in a highly sought after, highly compensated field, earns a lot less than somebody who goes to a, uh, not prestigious college, but gets a degree in a field


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[Assistant] Where earnings are high, I think, engineering, computer stuff, anything like that. Uhm, and, uh, gosh, that teed off a lot of people. So,


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[Assistant] The college thing is one that has a lot of emotion attached to it, but your suggestion is not an emotional one, Katie. It's a very valid one. If you go to collegescorecard.ed for US Department of Education dot gov, you can compare majors and schools and likely earning power


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[Assistant] Based on real results of people who've gone to those schools and those majors. So I thank you so much for that and


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[Assistant] I know a lot of people question the value of a college education and we cover a lot of content for people who don't want to go to college. But I still believe that, uh, that my kids benefit from going to college. Maybe not right away and maybe not a parent immediately.


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[Assistant] But long term, you look at the historical averages, people with a college degree tend to have much lower periods of unemployment.


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[Assistant] And much higher lifetime incomes overall. Coming up ahead, we're gonna talk about something that's so hard for someone.


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[Assistant] Regardless of what level of education they complete, buying a first home, I want to talk about where families are stepping in to help them and what's the most effective way to do that.


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[Assistant] It used to be that you would reach age 17 or 18.


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[Assistant] In the United States, I'd say particularly before 1950, 55,


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[Assistant] And you then went off on your own to do whatever you were going to do today. The involvement of parents and a young person's life go goes on for a good while into often.


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[Assistant] Uh, adult child's late twenties, very common today. And there are a number of ways parents are involved in their kids' lives that they would not have been before. If you go back even prior to maybe year 1990, uh, a child when he or she went off


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[Assistant] To somewhere else in the country to do whatever, whether it was education or work or whatever. There'd be limited contact with a parent today.


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[Assistant] One of the things that makes that bond so much stronger and reduces the independence of a parent to a child are the smartphones. The ability for


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[Assistant] People over FaceTime or WhatsApp or Viber or anything like that to be in continuous contact many times through a day. I might even be.


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[Assistant] Hey mom, what was that you put in the recipe for the chocolate chip cookies?


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[Assistant] You know, whatever it is, the connection is so much stronger.


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[Assistant] And we stay more connected to our kids lives. And there's an expectation from parents to kids, kids to parents.


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[Assistant] And when I say kid, it's not an age reflection. It's just their child help their child buy a home for the first time. And that can lead to a lot of hard feelings. Now in a lot of families, a parent is not, uh, secure enough financially to make the sacrifice to help


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[Assistant] An adult child by a home and I do not advise you to create financial risk and hardship in your life to help an adult child. But today parents can do a lot of things with the most common is assistance for down payment. And depending on the loan you're taking out, because it takes, uh, an adult child typically somewhere


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[Assistant] Maybe 10, 15 years to save up for a big down payment for a home. It's hard with all the other things going on in life. So a parent may help with the down payment. Now there may be rules.


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[Assistant] That that money has to move into the kids hands six months before closing on a home or whatever. But if a parent wants to help that way and they can afford to great, you're giving your son or daughter a leg up on being able to become a first time home buyer. Parents.


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[Assistant] Will also ask me if they should be co-signers. I hate, hate, hate, hate co-signing. Co-signing can be so bad, ugly. You're co-signing because you love your child, but you don't have the resources to help them get into that home. So you put yourself at risk.


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[Assistant] And if your adult child cannot pay for that home, what happens? Your credit's ruined.


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[Assistant] Their credit's ruined. You become the mirror image. I don't like cosigning. For cars, houses, any kind of loan.


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[Assistant] I hear story after story after story.


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[Assistant] Uh, things blowing up on the person who co-sign. You have all the responsibility, none of the privilege. If that's the bridge you'd have to cross.


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[Assistant] To help your adult child, I strongly advise against co-signing. On the other hand, if you have the resources to be the lender to your child where you are the bank, you need a formal written agreement. The real estate papers need to be done properly by a real estate attorney.


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[Assistant] Drawing up that note. It is a proper.


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[Assistant] Note against the debt of the home.


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[Assistant] And that is a valid thing. The IRS, if you want to try to help your son or daughter out with interest rates being so very high now,


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[Assistant] A family member making a loan or it can even be a friend to another for a home. The interest rate you have to charge.


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[Assistant] Can be significantly below what market is right now. And the IRS puts out a publication you can find on IRS.gov that establishes what the interest rate is you have to charge at that time you execute that loan.


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[Assistant] And it will be a meaningfully cheaper loan for your child than a marketplace loan. And here's the hard part.


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[Assistant] As a parent, what would you do if you make that loan for your child and he or she doesn't pay? They don't pay. What are you going to do?


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[Assistant] That's hard. That's hard. You have to think about that. What would be the consequence? The if then, are you going to foreclose on your own kid? But those are the kinds of things I want you to think about up front. Krista?


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[Assistant] No problem at all if you want to pay by phone. Uhm, I have no problem with people who pay on the website of an organization pay direct.


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[Assistant] Sometimes pay by phone comes with junk fees.


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[Assistant] And paying on an organization's website does not. But as long as you're not paying any junk fees, pay by phone is perfect.


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[Assistant] I've not experienced that before. The only time I've ever done it, I think is the way you're talking about it David, is that you did one of those automated pay by phone things.


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[Assistant] But the company that you are with is a true mutual insurer.


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[Assistant] And by having policies with them, you are an owner of the company. I would not have advised you upfront.


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[Assistant] To do the whole life policy or to do the, uh, TSA, the annuity. But now that they're there, I'm not sure I want you to bag them both with the whole life policy. There's a service you can use called evaluate life insurance.org.


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[Assistant] It is run by a nonprofit organization, uh, the consumer federation of America. You'll pay them a substantial fee to evaluate the policy and tell you clear as day, whether this is a policy you should keep or you should dump or potentially you may have a conversion privilege where you can convert it to a term policy.


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[Assistant] Instead of having the whole life. So because this is a mutual insurer.


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[Assistant] Meaning that whatever profit is generated for them by the policy flows back to you.


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[Assistant] Maybe not necessarily once it's already in place.


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[Assistant] And you've already developed this cash value over four years. It may not be a good idea to bag the policy.


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[Assistant] 150 is money well spent on the annuity. That one's tough. It probably has a 175 page contract and would be very hard to have a real sense about whether or not you bought trash or not. Um, you could, you may find that you have lost money.


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[Assistant] On that and there'd be no tax implication necessarily to terminating that.


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[Assistant] And you doing a Roth IRA with one of the low cost companies. You know, my three favorite children, Vanguard Schwab, Fidelity.


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[Assistant] There are others that got honorable mention in that as well. Um, but the, the whole life policy, cause you've been in there for years, maybe that's a keeper. Maybe not. That's why I'd have the evaluation done. The annuity.


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[Assistant] Likely you do want to bail on it since you're so new in it.


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[Assistant] Okay. I love that story of yours so many different ways and in any way you can avoid, unless it's something that is clearly life and death, don't go to a hospital emergency room.


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[Assistant] The hospitals play all this, this, uh, all these games with up-coding bills.


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[Assistant] And hospitals live to milk you and the insurance companies. That's their meaning and purpose in life.


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[Assistant] Um, at least on the, the business side, obviously the doctors, nurses, other medical professionals are trying to heal you and save your life. But the hospital business.


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[Assistant] Business has become a brutal one.


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[Assistant] That is sucking life out of the US economy now representing 20% almost of US economic activity and the medical industry in the United States is creating a direct market disadvantage


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[Assistant] For us as we compete with other countries because the hospital systems have become such a drag on economic activity in the United States. We spend far more on medical care


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[Assistant] As a percent of income of any other country on earth.


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[Assistant] And without as good of outcomes. So.


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[Assistant] Know that it is a danger for your wallet to ever go to a hospital owned urgent care.


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[Assistant] Go to one of those nurse in a box things like CVS has with the minute clinic, go somewhere else other than a hospital emergency room and hospital bills up code all the time.


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[Assistant] And that's why you want that full itemized bill because


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[Assistant] If you think, oh, they're just ripping off the insurance company, who ends up having to pay for that?


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[Assistant] You and I do, and then the portion billed to you, obviously coming straight from us.


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[Assistant] So you didn't take them at their word and it turned out they were lying.


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[Assistant] And do not let them wear you down. Fight back, fight back and you won as you should. But again, if you can avoid the hospital emergency room, do it.


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[Assistant] And uh, I want to thank you so much for being with us today and remember what we're about.


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[Assistant] You learning ways to save more and spend less and avoid getting ripped off by the hospital or anyone else and know that we serve you around the clock at Clark.com and ClarkDeals.com. Have a great weekend.


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[Assistant] I never, like I've been like, I was born an old lady.


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[Assistant] I love, I'm happy to eat at 5.30 if I could, you know, if I could have gotten home in time. But yeah, I definitely.


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[Assistant] Like to eat early, go to bed early. I mean if I'm not in my pajamas by 9 o'clock we have a problem. That's how I am. That's how I roll.


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[Assistant] We were, we were, when my family was with me the last week, uhm, it was in France and


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[Assistant] The earliest reservations you could get were either 7, 7.30 or 8. So we would show up at 7. You know, I mean, I made some reservations. They'd be like, oh, that's an American. Because when you want to eat, there are people there, but they do this whole thing where they sit, they have a drink, maybe they smoke a cigarette, they hang out and talk at like between 5 and 7.


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[Assistant] And then later on they go out to eat it seems. At least the area we were in that seemed to be the culture.


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[Assistant] Well, I feel like there was a lot less smoking than I've experienced before, but yeaah. You still see, you still gotta ashtrays on your, on your restaurant tables and stuff.


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[Assistant] This one came in from Lynn in California. You have my favorite podcast ever and I listen to you every day. I hope you never retire.


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[Assistant] And because it's not near my house, I didn't hear anything. How can I protect these areas from thieves? I live in a rural area and have no close neighbors or dogs near my house. Thanks for all the help that you give everyone.


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[Assistant] Or just security cameras that, that trigger your phone that you get automatic


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[Assistant] Wade in Ohio says I'm a 54 year old firefighter getting ready to retire from that career and continue working another one. I'll have a decent pension.


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[Assistant] And approximately 380,000 in public employee investment accounts.


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[Assistant] I have approximately $65,000 in debt that I would like to pay off. I'm planning on working another job for at least another 10 years. How do I go about paying off the debt, taking a little out for some fun and investing the rest? Do I have to pay a 1% financial advisor?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or will a robo advisor work? I'm a little embarrassed about the debt, so I hesitate to meet someone face to face. You're the greatest.


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[Assistant] And then he said in addition to the pension, he has 380,000 in public employee investment accounts. Would you recommend going to a Fidelity or Vanguard and maybe using someone there to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Mark in Connecticut says, Hello Clark, big fan for many years. Can you talk about the platform for selling products that is based in Asia and only uses crypto for currency?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They look for sellers to sign up and you have to give your driver's license photo on both sides.


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[Assistant] No social security number. How much damage can they do with your driver's license information if they wanted to? And does the IRS tax extra income of such funds if such funds come into your bank account? My understanding is that most people who do this use cash app for fund transfers when they make money on it.


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[Assistant] Let's go to some questions now. This one is from Jennifer in Illinois. College tuition bills are sent this month.


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[Assistant] $5,500. The estimated balance he would need to take a private student loan out would be for $7,000.


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[Assistant] Joan Wisconsin says, I read your article about the dangers of using debit cards. My wife and I have come up with a system that helps keep spending in check, where I transfer her a set amount each week for groceries, kids clothes, diapers, etc. She then uses her debit card for these items. It's been good for us to track our spending.


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[Assistant] However, I'm concerned that we are not getting the benefits, like points, rewards, etc.


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[Assistant] of using credit cards. Do you have any advice where we can use credit but still make it a set amount per week?


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[Assistant] Varies from month to month. Is it worth shopping around opening new accounts with the higher-yield banks, or does the security concern of having too many savings accounts make it not worth it?


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[Assistant] We are a family of four with two teenagers who have been on a mission to visit all 50 states and in March we accomplished that.


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[Assistant] But for that, those final two states of Hawaii and Alaska, we did need to fly. Previously we had traveled in our RV.


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[Assistant] What we did is we used, they're called space bags. We put our clothes into the space bags.


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[Assistant] We had two suitcases for Alaska, two for Hawaii, just the carry-on size. And then you suck all the air out and we were able to accomplish both a full week in Alaska and a full week in Hawaii.


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[Assistant] With only one backpack each and one small carry-on suitcase each. So for those who are wondering, yes, it can be done, but we also made sure to book


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[Assistant] I'm so glad you're here with us on the Clark Howard Show. Our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life. Remember.


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[Assistant] The sun never sets on Clark.com. Here to serve you around the clock every day of the year. It doesn't even take holidays because we have information for your wallet that I believe you can trust.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you know, trust is a term that's thrown around. I had somebody say to me the other day, said, you know, it always worries me when you say,


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[Assistant] Uh, information you can trust because usually when somebody says, trust me, I react that I shouldn't trust them. And that's why we talk about it because


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[Assistant] We are about everything we're about in our hearts, our heads.


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[Assistant] Is about providing information to you that we believe will help you in your life. Period.


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[Assistant] We're unbought and unbossed. Nobody pays us to say something like so much of the content now. Oh man.


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[Assistant] I was uh, reading an actual physical newspaper.


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[Assistant] From one of the respected national publications and I'm on the back cover of a section and there's an article there.


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[Assistant] And it's written like an article, and guess what it was not? It was not an article.


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[Assistant] It was an ad that it said only at the bottom in tiny type and at the top and tiny type. I mean it's a real problem now in media with


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[Assistant] Organizations that never would have done something like this even 10 years ago.


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[Assistant] Now couching things and allowing the advertising side of media companies are allowing


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[Assistant] Uh, the news side of publications to trick people into thinking they're reading news content.


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[Assistant] And they're just reading bought and paid for content.


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[Assistant] So when I was in syndication radio, uhm, the way most people in radio make their money is from what are known as sponsor reads. And I wouldn't do them. And I remember, you know, we'd get a new radio affiliate


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[Assistant] And inevitably the general manager of the radio station would ask, what's it cost to have Clark do a local sponsor read?


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[Assistant] And that just did not compute with so many people because it's so much how media works now and


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[Assistant] I cannot and will not and have never in my entire media career going back to 1987, I have never


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[Assistant] Never, ever, not even a single time, ever.


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[Assistant] Done any kind of sponsor read, advertorial, uh, what did you call that they?


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[Assistant] We'll see that happen probably. Uh, but that's another topic for another day.


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[Assistant] I want to talk about the job market for the first time in a long time. People are like, Hey,


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[Assistant] I'm not finding nine people wanting me all at once for a job. The market is going through a rotation, but not severe one.


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[Assistant] The unemployment rate in the country is still near record lows, but the dynamic, the psychology of the job market has changed. I think about the craziness that up to about 18 months ago, technology companies were hiring people just to know they had them and paying them to be on extended vacations until and unless they figured out what to do with them.


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[Assistant] That's over. So I wanted to go over with you where the job market is strongest.


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[Assistant] And this is Census Bureau data.


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[Assistant] And I saw a really nice distilled version of it in a Washington Post story that's easier even to follow than what the Census Bureau put out. But the number one area of growth and jobs


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[Assistant] In the United States is not at all where I would have thought it would be. It's with non-profit organizations.


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[Assistant] That are either out and out charities or non-profits that the jobs, the jobs increase in that area is 33%.


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[Assistant] Over, and these are not one year data cycles. These are 15 year data cycles. So you don't have to deal with a weird one year up or down.


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[Assistant] Far and away the largest growth in jobs in non-profits. Second largest growth of jobs, people working for themselves.


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[Assistant] The opportunity that's available in the marketplace.


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[Assistant] Where you take the skills, the knowledge, the experience you have and put it to work.


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[Assistant] Knowing an industry and knowing where the weak links are, where the opportunities are, and going to serve that, and that is the lifeblood


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[Assistant] Of our system, our economic system in the United States are people who have the guts to take what they know and go out there and start a business. So the next most, uh, next highest growth area is employment by government, federal, state, and local. So I would prefer


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[Assistant] That it was even more entrepreneurial but it is actually


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[Assistant] The government levels, government levels at all types of government, all levels. That's where there's a lot of vacancies right now.


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[Assistant] A lot of opportunity, a lot of times these jobs pay below what the private sector pays. But if you're out there looking for an opportunity, it may be where you find it. So think about this. None of these things I talked about, big employers.


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[Assistant] Big employers grow at the slowest rate.


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[Assistant] Of all job categories, because big employers get so big they become like dinosaurs.


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[Assistant] The people are serving other people within the corporation instead of serving the customer. And that's the classic conundrum. As companies grow, they become dumber and less efficient. So the growth in the free market is entrepreneurial.


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[Assistant] That's where the growth has always been and that's where it continues to be. More risk, more opportunity.


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[Assistant] But overall, if you're not that kind of person, you're looking for a job. Remember, nonprofits and government are where the greatest opportunities are right now.


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[Assistant] This is how something ends up and what's that list of words that comes out each year? New words.


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[Assistant] That's not a word. What's the term they always use on the sports talk shows that was not really a word?


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[Assistant] So Vanguard's, uh, the cash plus thing is really a marketing term. Vanguard and Fidelity have always done a phenomenal job


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[Assistant] At earning you the best returns in the marketplace on idle cash.


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[Assistant] And so Vanguard's Cash Plus is a catch-all phrase for the various ways you can have your cash working on a daily basis in different kinds of funds that will earn you the highest return potentially


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[Assistant] In the market or nearly highest return in the market. And Vanguard and Fidelity are the Hatfields and McCoys, but they both are really, really good.


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[Assistant] At cash management and using uh, Vanguard's cash plus program.


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[Assistant] Is absolutely wonderful for your idle cash.


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[Assistant] Now I thought in North Carolina it was illegal to stop till two seconds after lights turn from yellow to red.


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[Assistant] Yeah, so this is the game, Mike, you're completely right. So, what insurers used to do...


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[Assistant] Is, uh, and this can vary by state, because insurance is regulated by the states, is they would write a check to you and the designated body shop.


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[Assistant] Cause they wanted to make sure that you didn't just take the money, not fix the car, not deal with the dent in the back corner and


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[Assistant] Just pocket the money. Well now the insurers are like, wait a minute, wait a minute. There's a real opportunity for us.


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[Assistant] We're gonna pay people 20 or 30 cents on the dollar for their body damage.


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[Assistant] And they're just going to put it in their pocket and we're going to save a fortune.


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[Assistant] I had a situation recently where someone, I shared this on the podcast, someone hit our parked car, was an honest person and did not flee the scene and didn't do a hit and run and her insurer


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[Assistant] Sent me a check that was ridiculous like this one.


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[Assistant] And I said, I'm not gonna cash this because the body shop says it's gonna be so much more money. And they said, well don't you see that, that legal notice with it?


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[Assistant] I guess pretty much what they said it was going to cost to fix from the insurer. So I signed over that check to them and they got the rest from the insurance company.


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[Assistant] And everything was hunky dory, but this is in fact


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[Assistant] Dirty pool played by so many auto insurers now is they will take advantage of someone


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[Assistant] Who they think will just say, ah, it's not that bad. I'm not going to fix it and pay you pennies on the dollar.


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[Assistant] You're both maxing out Roth 401Ks, which is different than a Roth IRA. You're not doing $6,500 a year. You're doing over $20,000 a year each.


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[Assistant] Into a Roth 401k, which is fantastic. Um, if you wanted to dial it back, uh, let's say and do 5,000 less each a year.


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[Assistant] In the raw 401k and put that 10,000 additional.


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[Assistant] Towards the mortgage each year that you'd still be saving a great amount of money towards retirement.


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[Assistant] And you'd be getting a guaranteed 6.35% return on your money.


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[Assistant] Taking down that $500,000 mortgage, uh, month by month.


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[Assistant] Is that you're not gonna be at 6.35% forever as the federal reserve is


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[Assistant] Ultimately successful, which they will be after a lot of trial and error in getting inflation down, interest rates will also come down.


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[Assistant] And the opportunity will come down the road where you'll be able to refinance this mortgage.


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[Assistant] If you keep doing the prepayment of principal by diverting some of the money you're putting into the Roth 401k, maybe you'll get the balance down enough


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[Assistant] That when the right opportunity strikes to refi, you go into a 15 year refi instead of a 30 year refi. And that will help in your mission of trying to get this paid off.


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[Assistant] And the interest rates on 15 year loans usually are about a half point lower more or less somewhere in that band.


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[Assistant] than the 30 year loan. So it would really be all part of the same picture


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[Assistant] Of you getting that mortgage more quickly out of your life or at least ultimately at a much lower rate that you would have out of your life in 15 years. But congratulations to both of you on the enormous amount of money


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[Assistant] You're throwing into your Roth 401ks right now. Good for you. Uh, coming up ahead, the opposite land. Americans are defaulting or going delinquent on debt at a rapidly increasing rate right now.


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[Assistant] After years of people paying down debts, the level of debts we're carrying overall have gone up and up and up, exclusive of mortgage debt. Americans are carrying a lot more debt, uh, credit cards, vehicle loans, personal loans, student loans, and of course mortgage debt.


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[Assistant] Is up so much because home prices escalated so much through the COVID era and beyond.


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[Assistant] Well, the delinquency, it's like the if-then.


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[Assistant] The delinquency rate on loans more than 90 days overdue is where lenders really have a red flag is up 50% in a year. I mean, that's a huge increase in delinquencies. Credit card debt. Wow. We're, we're getting close to 5%


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[Assistant] Of credit card debt being delinquent more than 90 days. That's really bad ugly. And the auto loan area, the delinquencies keep going up and up and up. And this is a clear if that the longer loans people are taking out or a predictor


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[Assistant] Of delinquencies or defaults or repos on vehicles.


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[Assistant] And if you're a long time listener to the podcast, you know my obsession.


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[Assistant] With avoiding long term vehicle loans.


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[Assistant] And I know people get really frustrated with me that I have this rule I've had that makes me sound like I'm from the stone age.


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[Assistant] But when Fred and, uh, Fred and Wilma got their vehicle back in the Flintstones, they took out a 42 month loan. Not really, I can't say that. Anyway, the 42 month loan works through thick and thin.


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[Assistant] Through different eras, it is the maximum length your vehicle loan should be. You gotta have an crazy extenuating circumstance.


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[Assistant] That it would make sense to go past 42 months on a vehicle loan.


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[Assistant] Because the delinquencies, anytime things get even the bit unusual in our lives, the bit rough in our lives, the unexpected happens in our lives, we're trapped by that debt on that vehicle loan. So this is really an early warning system I want to give you that there are clear signals


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[Assistant] That we're taking on too much debt. Of too many types.


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[Assistant] And I want you to think about it before you say, Hey, I want to buy that. I want to do that. Be very wary and careful. If you are an iPhone user, Apple is pushing really hard. Buy now, pay later.


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[Assistant] It's not any better an idea on an iPhone than it was at any retailer, physical retailer, or online shopping. Buy now, pay later is a disaster for your finances. The loans on those going delinquent is shocking. So


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[Assistant] Just because apple makes it so easy.


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[Assistant] So first of all, these organizations that have come back out from under whatever


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[Assistant] What do you call the termite thing? Like whatever rock they crawled under, but there's some expression for termites. Uhm, these people are bad news. What these companies do


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[Assistant] Is they use a strategy where they tell you to stop paying your bills?


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[Assistant] And go delinquent on all of them and ruin your credit so that they can then negotiate


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[Assistant] Uh, pay out, uh, the debt in your case, the $15,000 debt for pennies on the dollar. And all you gotta do is pay them thousands upfront for them to tell you.


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[Assistant] That you default on your debt and then they'll negotiate a lower payout for you. I mean, it's.


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[Assistant] And then seven years, your credit is ruined. So don't do any of that. If you need help coming up with a plan,


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[Assistant] That will get you through this debt and pay it back.


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[Assistant] Of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling NFCC.org and you go, uh, either in person


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[Assistant] or a virtual zoom type thing you meet with a counselor you go over they'll have you fill out


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[Assistant] Page after page of paperwork so that there's a clear picture of your must pays.


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[Assistant] Your maybe have to pays and your, uh, your discretionary spending your, yeah, I just wanted to go out and do that kind of thing.


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[Assistant] And then they see if there's a clear way with this $15,000 worth of debt for you Mark to get it under control and get in a cycle of paying that debt off. It can be just as simple as helping you with designing


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[Assistant] Uh, budget will be a rigid budget, but a budget that'll get you to zero from fifteen thousand.


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[Assistant] Or if you just don't have the income for it, they'll negotiate with your creditors. It will essentially freeze your ability to get any credit.


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[Assistant] Till you've paid off that 15,000 or whatever portion you have to pay off, but it will not have the harm to you that you would have from going to one of these


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[Assistant] Uh, termites, locusts, rats, whatever, whatever pest that you


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[Assistant] What they're going to wave that magic wand to is taking money you could be putting towards your debts and instead you're paying them to them.


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[Assistant] And their, uh, promises are kinda like empty calories. It's kinda like eating Cap'n Crunch. It's not, it may taste good for a second, but it's not the greatest for you. And so I want you to think about that.


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[Assistant] And think about uh, doing the hard work that will get you the power where you get these debts under control.


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[Assistant] And it can change the entire trajectory of how you handle money the rest of your life.


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[Assistant] Cap'n Crunch. I'm doing all these things. Termites, cockroaches.


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[Assistant] Janet, this is something that's driven me to distraction forever.


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[Assistant] Is these companies that pitch ultra overpriced.


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[Assistant] Life insurance for minor children, particularly newborns or very young children. This stuff has no role in your life or your kid's life.


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[Assistant] Kids are the most wonderful thing for those of us who have them.


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[Assistant] But they cost money, they don't make money. The principal purpose of life insurance is to provide replacement of income to those in the event of your untimely demise. So where Janet, you need life insurance to provide for your kids or spouse or whoever in the event of, uh, your passing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your kids are the ones who need the benefit of the life insurance. They don't need life insurance for themselves. There are certain parts of the country that people buy life insurance


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[Assistant] Something will, uh, tragic will happen and they'll lose their child at a very young age.


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[Assistant] Then they won't have the resources to bury that child.


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[Assistant] And that has led to the sale of this outrageously worthless expensive life insurance.


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[Assistant] Yeah, investment garbage. So don't worry about that. Just make sure you have insurance on your life. And I like for you to look at level term insurance. You don't know what that is. I have a really thorough explanation at Clark.com.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, as long as there's no automatic funding mechanism, that if the balance on this second account reaches below a certain threshold,


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[Assistant] We're getting closer and closer to joining the world standard where you will be able to move your money from one financial institution to another for free.


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[Assistant] In just minutes, uh, we trail every other developed country and many, um, middle income countries, what we used to call third world countries, we trail many of those


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[Assistant] And we're getting closer and closer to adopting the world standard.


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[Assistant] Side note, the reason we haven't adopted the world standard is the big banks have lobbied against it.


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[Assistant] Cause they want to continue to be able to charge high fees when people need access to their money quicker. And we're getting really close to overcoming


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[Assistant] That brutal economic power of the big banks and going to the world standard for quick moving of money. I want to thank you so much for being with us today.


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[Assistant] And we serve you with our newsletters. I hear from so many people how much


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They enjoy our free newsletters that you can see what we have available to you at Clark.com slash newsletters and know that what we're about is giving you ways to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off.


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[Assistant] Alright, Julian South Carolina says I wrote in a few months ago asking about attending grad school at the age of 57. I am happy to report that I have been accepted to the professional MBA program at the University of South Carolina starting this fall.


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[Assistant] I will be working full time while attending grad school. My question is, does it make sense for me to create a 529 for myself? If I contribute this year, can I apply it to next year's tuition? Is there a max amount I can contribute?


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[Assistant] Jeff in New York says the auto insurance portion of the Clark.com website explains mutual insurance companies, the upfront fee for becoming a member, and the dividends paid over the years. It would seem that the dividends are simply a return of one's own money.


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[Assistant] I've had a policy with State Farm Mutual for many years and in the early days received small dividends, but in the last 20 years or so there has been only one. Is State Farm no longer a mutual company or is it that they plan so well they never generate a surplus?


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[Assistant] Well, I just thought it was pretty generic. It wasn't like they're, you know, slamming them.


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[Assistant] I use them for all of our insurance. So I have gotten some checks, but I'm not sure that it was auto. It may have been one of our other policies with them, but they've been pretty small lately. We also have used them a lot.


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[Assistant] I mean, you know, I think you can do it on certain things. It depends on, you know, but if you're getting assistance from people who know what they're doing, that's a different thing. So this is kind of a hybrid.


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[Assistant] Youtube doesn't cut it for some people. And for me, for a lot of things.


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[Assistant] Alright, Vern in South Dakota says a bank I had a lifetime free checking and savings accounts with has been bought out twice in the past decade. I have heard of banks charging fees if the average daily balance goes below a certain amount, but this new bank charges a $15 junk fee if it ever drops in the month. Is this a common or new practice?


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[Assistant] John in Texas says, Hi Clark, I just wanted to put in another PSA for documenting your monthly expenses.


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[Assistant] Had I not been logging my expenses, that would have been over a thousand dollars of my money spent on someone else's entertainment.


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[Assistant] Uhm, so I would make sure they have your cell number or an email that they can, you know, let you know too. I know my credit card companies do that.


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[Assistant] Right, the car's probably just, they're confused because like you're charging like $4 and 20 cent lunches.


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[Assistant] Rascal in Ohio says, given the proliferation of target date funds and our ever increasing lifespans, do you ever recommend laddering target date funds?


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[Assistant] I actually have a related question. If you want me to start with the first one. I think it might be related. Frankie in Vermont says, can you sell a home that's not decluttered as is? And if so, how much of the appraised value can I expect to take off?


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[Assistant] I would probably work with a realtor too, if you're willing, Frankie, because they often have contractors and people that could potentially help.


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[Assistant] And then they'll get a bigger commission if the house sells for more, if it makes sense. They could probably tell you, and they even stage homes, you know, depending on how valuable the home is, it might be worth it.


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[Assistant] Definitely. Okay, Amy in Florida says I'm a school teacher and a single mom in a fast growing part of Florida wanting to sell my 100 year old house since it's worth double what I paid for it.


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[Assistant] It'll be worth about double what I paid for it, about $170,000 profit. Obviously it's not a great time to turn around and buy again, so how long would I have, have before capital gains tax to rent somewhere and hope the interest rates will come down and do you think that they will?


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[Assistant] Okay, how about your crystal ball? How long should she wait, you think? And do you think Rates will go down?


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[Assistant] Jason in Iowa says, I'm looking to buy a house on waterfront property in the US. It will be a retirement slash investment home in the next five to six years. Where can I go to ask about new or future lake locations?


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[Assistant] Uhm, this is from Karen in Alaska. Clark, I have heard you say many times what a scam timeshares are. My husband and I love one particular area on Maui and go there time and time again spending lots of money on Airbnb. To us it seems to make sense to purchase the right to stay at a resort each year for one week. Looking at timeshare costs, it seems like in the long term,


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[Assistant] It would be far more cost effective than renting Airbnbs. Can you explain why this would be such a bad idea?


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[Assistant] And people sell them on eBay as well. And you mentioned TimeShare users group and the website is t-u-g the number two dot net.


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[Assistant] I have to say, I would never, ever, ever, as you would say, even come close to a timeshare based on the fact that we get multiple questions every single week from people just begging to get rid of their timeshares. It is prolific.


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[Assistant] I wanted to give you a tip on saving money on wedding photography. We hired a graduate photography student from a local university. For less than $500, she came, took hundreds of pictures and cleaned up about 50 of them. In addition, she gave us all the photos that she took. She was happy to make some extra money and we got a deal on wedding photos.


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[Assistant] John in Wisconsin says just a quick follow up to my $40 monthly online newspaper subscription you read on the podcast. I called a couple of days ago to cancel the subscription. I told them I liked the publication, but it was just getting too expensive. Rather than see me go, they gave me the new customer promotion of a dollar per week.


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[Assistant] So for a five minute phone call, I reduced my monthly subscription cost from over $40 to about $4 a month for the next year. Well worth the brief call.


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[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show, where our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life.


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[Assistant] Unfortunately, I've had to talk a lot about FDIC insurance lately.


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[Assistant] And with more banks failing and people losing confidence in banks.


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[Assistant] I've got to give you an update on where we are with how you protect your money. And later, what do proms have to do with inflation? Well, actually there's some good news on that front. So let's talk banks.


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[Assistant] Or to put it not in proper terms, they're freaked out. People are showing a lot of anxiety about their money in the bank, according to Gallup.


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[Assistant] Uh, just, just under half of Americans are like, Oh no, my money, is it going to vanish? And before you go withdraw your money, dig a hole in your backyard and bury it in it. Or as people used to do long ago, uh, put it in their mattress. Don't recommend those things. Let's talk through what's really going on. So,


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[Assistant] We've got this limit of a quarter million and most people just laugh. Like, isn't that a great problem to have? That a quarter million isn't enough. Well, you gotta think about the millions upon millions upon millions.


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[Assistant] Even for a company of somewhere between 10 and 20 employees, there are going to be many cycles during the year.


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[Assistant] Uh, where you're going to have more than the FDIC limits in a bank and you have to worry that anything beyond that is at risk. So close to half of money overall in banks is uninsured. It's beyond the quarter million and all the wonky people


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[Assistant] In the banking industry and regulators and in Congress, we've all been talking about what to do about this.


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[Assistant] That has been, uh, bandied about recently by libertarian minded people


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[Assistant] Bank app or you sign in on a laptop or on your statement would have a warning on it.


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[Assistant] That would highlight how much of the money you have is uninsured in that bank.


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[Assistant] So that it's like hitting you in the head. Hey, this money is exposed. This money is at risk. The FDIC


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[Assistant] Uh, is really interested in making sure that people's payrolls are not at risk.


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[Assistant] And there's been a proposal floating around like trial balloon that company finds needed for payroll.


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[Assistant] You've got nearly half of bank deposits in the United States that don't qualify for insurance. And there's no way for you and me to know. No way for us to know whether or not


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[Assistant] A financial institution we're putting money in is actually a-okay or not. No way.


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[Assistant] Uh, bank accounting is mysterious even to bankers.


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[Assistant] And you never know what's going to cause that run on a financial institution. And with social media, those runs happen at light speed.


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[Assistant] In the meantime, regardless of whatever proposals are bouncing around, it's up to you and me to take the necessary precautions.


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[Assistant] If we do have a large amount of funds, which is a good problem to have.


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[Assistant] To take the steps necessary to not have to worry.


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[Assistant] That the funds are uninsured and get them insured.


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[Assistant] And the easiest way is something accessible to most people who have money is most people who have money have a relationship


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[Assistant] With one of the three big discount brokers and I mentioned this a few weeks ago with Schwab Fidelity and Vanguard.


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[Assistant] Uh, offering you the ability to put your money


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[Assistant] An FDIC insured accounts at many different financial institutions.


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[Assistant] Access to FDIC insurance by their ability to spread money around.


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[Assistant] And I've talked about different ways of doing that, what used to be known as a CDARS program, where a registry


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[Assistant] At a participating institution keeps placing your money at different places so that you never have more than a quarter million in any one place, but you only have to deposit at one.


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[Assistant] Same idea with Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab. You're just going to them and they handle placing your money. But the one thing not to do


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[Assistant] Is the, what, me worry? Why would I care? Nothing's going to happen until it does. And then the upset you'll feel


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[Assistant] And the anger and the sense of betrayal, if your money vanishes.


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[Assistant] That is beyond the limit of FDIC insurance.


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[Assistant] And so that's why this is a case where prevention is the best cure. You prevent the problem from ever happening to you by not exposing you yourself to the risk.


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[Assistant] And as long as you take the necessary steps, you're fine. One other strategy I've also covered on a prior podcast is if you have a lot of excess money,


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[Assistant] Putting it in a government securities money market fund, either a treasury fund or government securities fund. Again, you do that through discount brokers.


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[Assistant] And then you have something that likely is even safer than FDIC insurance, or at least equivalent, if not safer.


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[Assistant] And you'll earn a decent return on your money available to you at any time as you need it with the interest rate being reset each day.


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[Assistant] Uh, came up the other day, not on the podcast, but it was that I have failed in this person's estimation.


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[Assistant] What are referred to in the banking industry is the three types of banks.


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[Assistant] Uh, first, what I refer to as the Giant Monster Megabanks.


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[Assistant] The four banks that have roughly half a banking in the United States. Then the regional banks, which are the ones that have been all in the news with the financial troubles. And then the third category I never really talk about, community banks. When I talk about, and you'll hear me talk about a small local bank, that's a community bank.


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[Assistant] That may have typically one to five branches and they are local to your area. A regional bank is different.


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[Assistant] They may be in many states in the country.


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[Assistant] I may have some size to them and they get bureaucratic and impersonal.


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[Assistant] Particularly for a wealthier individual or a business owner, being with a community bank is where it's at. And that's the category that I have failed truly to properly explain. A community bank


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[Assistant] And it's a totally different kind of relationship.


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[Assistant] For your company needs or if you're a wealthy individual, your needs.


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[Assistant] Or your cash flow needs or borrowing needs for your business or you individually. So there you have it.


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[Assistant] I said it and I should have been saying that all along. That was almost like a Clark Stinks inside the information, Krista.


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[Assistant] So Javier, why do all charities pretty much accept credit cards? Because people are much more likely to donate if you do donate by credit card.


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[Assistant] Uhm, and so for the typical charity, they're paying 2.5%.


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[Assistant] To receive that money, but when you look at what it costs a charity to fundraise, that 2.5


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[Assistant] So don't feel guilty about using that credit card to donate to a charity. I think it's


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[Assistant] Okay to do it because they love having your money. But the best way to donate to a charity, do you know?


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[Assistant] Donate stocks. That's right. I knew you knew the answer. Cause if you have, uh, stocks in an investment account and Javier, they've grown in value.


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[Assistant] Under the tax code, you get a twofer. You get a double benefit.


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[Assistant] If you donate what's known as appreciated shares and any charity pretty much bigger than a little tiny one.


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[Assistant] We'll be very familiar with this and prepared to receive them.


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[Assistant] Is you pay no tax on the gain of that stock from when you bought it to when you donate it.


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[Assistant] But the charitable deduction is based on what it was worth on the day you donate.


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[Assistant] of the tags code, which is like a rocket booster to the deductibility.


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[Assistant] You can donate to what's known as a Donor Advise Fund.


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[Assistant] This is a very popular thing. You can set up a donor advised fund, uh, for very little money. You don't have ongoing crazy legal accounting or administrative expenses and you donate the appreciated shares. And then from it, you, uh, nominate organizations to receive money.


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[Assistant] And so if you just look donor advised fund as a search.


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[Assistant] For anyone who has stock investments, that'll make sense. But back to the question you actually asked me, Javier, donating, uhm,


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[Assistant] Money, however you do it, is very much appreciated by charitable organizations and don't feel guilty about donating with a credit card.


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[Assistant] Okay, so the income limits for traditional are significantly lower than the income limits for a Roth. So you won't be able, if you can't do the Roth, you can't do the traditional.


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[Assistant] So that's out. So if you were to go look on Investopedia or many other sites, you'll find a clear explanation.


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[Assistant] Of doing the backdoor Roth. You must do it exactly.


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[Assistant] As the IRS requires, or it will be disallowed and you'll have tax and penalty and blah blah blah. You don't want any of that.


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[Assistant] But, uh, this is a really good problem to have. Again, we're talking about good problems today. Cause you're earning enough money, you've out earned your eligibility for a traditional, for a Roth IRA.


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[Assistant] So the non-deductible IRA, which leads to transferring money to a Roth, requires double work, but gets you around the income limit that exists on contributing to Roth IRAs.


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[Assistant] Okay, so first of all, the way the broker part of the business typically works is let's say Krista wants to buy a car.


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[Assistant] And the car buying process for used cars is so confusing and complicated and got a lot of pitfalls and people try to say you junk and all the rest.


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[Assistant] So Krista might hire a broker to help her buy the car. And usually it would be in an auction, but occasionally it'd be from a private seller like you, David. And so the broker would find that you had the car that Krista wanted.


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[Assistant] Or, in this case, I would have the car, and the broker would...


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[Assistant] Would make the deal and you'd pay the commission as the buyer.


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[Assistant] You're talking about a different circumstance. You already, let's say, have an identified buyer, and you're like, what's the safe way to get money? Alright, so, uh, this past weekend, a friend of ours was out of town, and he had sold an old cheap.


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[Assistant] And I didn't know that used jeeps go for so much money. Christa, it was $10,000. And the buyers were paying cash and so


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[Assistant] A friend of mine and I went to represent the seller.


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[Assistant] And turn over the title and get the cash. And let me tell you, it was weird having $10,000 in cash counted out.


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[Assistant] And, uh, we had one of those counterfeit pens to make sure that all the money was good. And the irony of the whole thing is the husband and wife came. The wife works for a bank.


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[Assistant] She just took the pen, wasn't offended at all, took the pen and she checked every bill to make sure every bill was okay and there's a marking that goes on and so we had the cash.


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[Assistant] You meet at a police station. Or a police station. Police station is the best to meet at. Uh, this is a hard one because of the problem with counterfeit checks, even certified checks, cashier's checks, blah blah blah checks.


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[Assistant] Uh, so that's why most used vehicle transactions are done in cash. This was a Saturday. The alternative would be during the week to meet at your bank with the buyer. They come with the cash.


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[Assistant] And that would be, wiring would be the other safe way. The problem with wiring though, is if I'm a buyer and I get there,


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[Assistant] And the vehicle is not as represented or I don't want to do it or the people turned out to be phony balonies. I've already wired money to who knows who. That's why these transactions are dangerous because of the cash involved.


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[Assistant] And I'd be really interested if anyone in the car business.


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[Assistant] Can give us some suggestions how the private seller, private buyer think.


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[Assistant] To both parties. And you don't have to worry about somebody with a gun saying, give me the 60th, because it's 50 or 60 thousand dollars. Yeah. Giving me that. So, uh, but it's so ironic.


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[Assistant] That I was just part of doing this and it wasn't even for me. It was for our friend Rich and uh,


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[Assistant] The buyers were a kick. They were really fun people. And they're going to have fun with this Jeep. So everybody went away happy. Okay.


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[Assistant] So uh, coming up next, something you'll be happy about.


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[Assistant] It's clear that for wedding season, prom season, all that, that the cost of doing things is going back down.


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[Assistant] But what are the keys to stretching your dollars with a special event? And with the proms, many places have already happened, some they're still coming.


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[Assistant] How do people get it done and stretch those dollars? We're going to talk about that.


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[Assistant] In a time that the cost of everything has gotten ugly for us, one thing has actually relatively become cheaper, and that is the cost of proms, and I would extrapolate as well, what's the cost of weddings.


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[Assistant] Decided this was an area of interest and has been tracking the price of proms going way back. And one thing he published in something he wrote about proms


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[Assistant] Is that, proms actually go back to the 1800s. I had no idea.


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[Assistant] That proms had that kind of history that go back like a hundred and fifty years, but


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[Assistant] Proms are becoming relatively more affordable because the cost of the clothes for a prom


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[Assistant] Have essentially been going down over time in purchasing power. And the cost of a prom, uh, in dollars spent is actually relative to other things.


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[Assistant] A lot cheaper than other things have become over time.


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[Assistant] And I think about this, you know, when we were getting questions about Xi'an,


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[Assistant] Which was all the rage for a while. The, uh, the Chinese clothing manufacturer and seller that's a huge player now in the United States. They, I uhm,


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[Assistant] I signed up for an account to see what all the deal was. Well, obviously I'm not their target market because I was getting constant ads from them showing up everywhere I would go on the web on my phone or on a laptop for dresses. Uh, not my thing.


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[Assistant] Like last year during prom season I was getting deluged with ads for uh, prom outfits and prom dresses. And they were so cheap it was ridiculous. And


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[Assistant] So I've deleted the app cause it was driving me crazy and I'm not getting,


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[Assistant] Made overseas, very little domestic content, clothing anymore. And,


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[Assistant] That is one of the components that cost so much. But now people are getting so smart about this kind of thing.


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[Assistant] Buying Hughes dresses for weddings. I was reading something recently about how women


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[Assistant] Who are getting married now and the number of people getting married is way down by the way in the United States. People getting married now, women in huge numbers,


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[Assistant] Are buying used dresses or not wearing a traditional wedding dress. They may wear a white cocktail dress or not even a white dress anymore. They're just wearing a nice dress they have in their closet. Really rethinking how these things are done to lower the cost. And there's one part that, uh, Professor Zygorsky talks about. It's the one part of proms and by extension weddings.


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[Assistant] That is more expensive than it used to be. And that's the food. The food for an event.


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[Assistant] Is actually the area that is seeing tremendous cost pressures right now, but the overall cost for doing a special event relative to other things in our lives, becoming steadily more affordable. But then it's all up to you what kind of budget you have for a wedding. Wedding can cost or prom.


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[Assistant] Can cost from very little money to a crazy amount of money depending on what you do. The one thing I'm so happy that's gone away, Krista, those prom limousines.


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[Assistant] Not nearly what they were though. You know, those stretchy, stretchy, stretchy.


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[Assistant] Lemos where they'd go to these, uh, you'd get a vehicle and they'd go to a specialty shop and they'd take like, uh,


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[Assistant] They can't. I mean, you gotta be really careful where you drive. But the market's turned away from that kind of thing.


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[Assistant] How did you know? Did you read one of the stories about this?


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[Assistant] Okay, that's why a number of states, I think it's about 7, 8, 10 states, something like that, now have a provision that requires that if you're covered under parents coverage, that it ends at the end of a calendar year.


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[Assistant] Instead of the day that you turn 26. Now under the, under uhm, the federal law,


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[Assistant] That allows you to be covered on your parents' coverage to your 26th birthday.


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[Assistant] It ends on the day of your 26th birthday, unless...


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[Assistant] The employer that you're getting the coverage through from your parents allows


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[Assistant] Unless you're in one of the states that requires it. So you can actually go online and see if the parent state of residence requires that


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[Assistant] The coverage remain in place through the end of the year. Now you said something though that confused me. You said you turned 26 during the plan year before the baby's born.


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[Assistant] If your wife's covered by her parent's insurance,


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[Assistant] It would be her birthday that would be key, because otherwise you're right, as I understand the statutes, the deductible starts over.


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[Assistant] And the fact that you've met deductible through this year no longer applies and then you have to do the deductible again. So that's why the best way for this to be handled is if there's any way to maintain coverage through the calendar year and not have to do a deductible again,


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[Assistant] That would be the best way, but this is, this is one of those areas


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[Assistant] That is as murky as we could get. That was really a curveball question.


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[Assistant] That you've thrown at me, Eric. And so if you look online, you'll find data about it. But if I heard well what you were saying, it seems to me that your wife could stay on her parents' coverage.


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[Assistant] That the coverage would continue through the birth of your child coming.


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[Assistant] So in our case, uhm, going back to the first part of this,


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[Assistant] Is my wife has my password into my phone. I have her password into her phone. And we each have others like Krista.


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[Assistant] Uhm, has my password on my phone. So if Lane and I died at the same time, you would still be able


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[Assistant] You'd still be able to get in there and you were my backup.


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[Assistant] I'm Google inactive account manager.


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[Assistant] Yes. So, uh, well, because everybody's, you've got to think about this stuff and you know, you never know when your time


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[Assistant] Is over on earth. You just don't know. Life is so random. And so.


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[Assistant] Thinking these things through and I love you talking Jeff about


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[Assistant] The issues of two factor authentication and where that fits in usually with a code to a phone. And so making sure that key others can access your phone, unless they turned out, the friend turns out to be a foe. Then you got a real problem, but you're not going to turn out to be a foe, are you?


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[Assistant] So the second thing about someone going into assisted living,


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[Assistant] Maybe someone's mental faculties start to decline in whatever the circumstance of that.


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[Assistant] Uh, this is the gray area that becomes really difficult. And so, uh, someone trusted someone being, uh,


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[Assistant] Listed on your accounts as a trusted contact. Plus, uhm, most of the US states now have in place procedures


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[Assistant] For this where, uh, bankers, brokers, mutual fund companies are supposed to act on behalf of the interests of the account in the event the account holder seems to be losing it. And that's, that's great because families are spread all over the country. Sometimes adult children aren't aware about, uh, mental slipping of a parent, aunt and uncle, whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so these new laws are in place.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To try to make sure that somebody's money doesn't get absconded with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so this is really interesting because how you make a blade last is keeping it out of moisture. So whatever this Billy brand, you ever heard of it? My Billy? Whatever it is, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Truth be told, it really wasn't still a good blade that far in. It was getting hard with nicks and stuff. And then finally when I got caught one day, that was it. 14 months in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I replaced that blade. So don't believe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Those ads from Gillette trying to separate you from being able to retire someday by making you think you need to replace their incredibly overpriced blades every four seconds. You don't need to. You can stretch a blade an amazingly long period of time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you do some minor maintenance on that blade, simply keeping it dry, it'll go on and on and on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So thank you so much for being with us today. Remember we are here to serve you around the clock.


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[Assistant] Sun never sets on information at Clark.com. We are here to serve you.


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[Assistant] And 30 hours a week, you can get free one-on-one advice and guidance from our Team Cart Consumer Action Center. You can learn everything you need to know about getting that free one-on-one advice we've been offering for nearly 31 years. We're like a Baskin-Robbins of information.


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[Assistant] I mean, I remember I studied existentialism and I thought it was like, worrying about the bigger, like, bigger questions in life, but I will look up the exact-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh my gosh, it's a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent, determining their own development through acts of the will.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think you can also look at, if you're wondering about a specific thing, uhm, the Mayo Clinic has a really thorough site and there's some other respected, uhm, medical, like, facilities and research places that do have a lot of information out there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My first job, uhm, I went, actually became a temp when I first moved to a new city. I got a, I went to a temp agency, gave them my resume and worked a bunch of different jobs for them.