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[Assistant] Second, when I travel, I don't just go with the flow. I have an itinerary of places I would like to visit. For me, it is better to have a list of things and places I would like to see in a country or city rather than wander around without a specific target. That would be a waste of time. I'm flexible, of course, adjusting the schedules of my visit to a specific site if necessary.


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[Assistant] If there's a place I missed, then that's something to look forward to when I do come back. The world is such a big place, and thank you for your advice, especially on how to save on hotels, tours, and airfare. Jeffrey.


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[Assistant] Money on the elevator and instead use the stairs. My wife and I wanted to chime in with our support. No way would we pay for the elevator when we could take the stairs. It's the better choice for several reasons. I always love walking and wandering in Paris, and in case it matters, note that it's Rick Steves recommendation too. Take the stairs if you can, Dean.


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[Assistant] I would never say Clark stinks, but there is way too much talk of travel. I think he should start a second podcast for just travel and focus on other subjects with the current podcast. I've been listening for decades. You seem like a genuinely kind and honest person. Thank you for all the help you've given me over the years, Jennifer.


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[Assistant] Yeah. And when I say you can't please everyone, Jennifer, Jennifer, I just mean, you know, one person's like, I love the travel and then you don't like the travel. You just, it's hard to figure out the balance, but we try our best.


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[Assistant] Yeah, but we, before COVID, we, uhm, always gave everyone who, when we were in the office full time.


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[Assistant] And it worked really well. I remember an executive from another company once said to me like, how can you do that? Like I don't think you should be doing that. How do you know people are working, getting productivity? And I was like, well, it's pretty clear for us what people are doing.


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[Assistant] Uhm, and now that company has to give people flex days. I don't know what that person's thinking about it.


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[Assistant] We'll go to questions. Mike in Ohio says, I transferred 29 months of my post 9-11 GI bill to my daughter and she also has about $72,000 in a 529 plan.


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[Assistant] She's going to start physical therapy school in a few months and I'm trying to figure out the best way to use these resources. She'll be going to school in the Northeast and housing is costly. I can vouch for that. In addition to covering her tuition and fees, we estimate that the GI Bill will provide $2,600 a month for housing, food, etc.


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[Assistant] Due to the high cost of living in the area, are we able to use any of the 529 for her housing and other living expenses? After doing some house hunting, it looks like $2,600 monthly allowance will cover the housing and little else. Will we be able to use any of the 529 for living expenses?


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[Assistant] I'm maxing out my retirement accounts and have extra money I'd like to save towards buying. I'm renting right now. How would you recommend saving this money? I'm thinking of doing a mix of stocks and bonds, maybe 60-40, but I wanted to get your advice. Thanks again for all you do. I've been listening to you for 15 plus years. Wait, wait, wait.


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[Assistant] Mike in Alaska says, I've been listening to your show since I was a young man working on my family farm in South Dakota. Thank you for decades of free education. I'm currently living in a remote Alaskan border town where I own several businesses. Wow, you're a tough guy.


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[Assistant] Our banking choice is limited to one of the big banks. You want me to name them? Oh, sure. Wells Fargo. And they are starting to charge us to deposit cash.


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[Assistant] Since my family is physically in Canada often for shopping and visiting, I'm contemplating taking some of my cash, 10,000 Canadian max per visit per Canadian law, to Canada and depositing it into a personal bank account.


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[Assistant] Flexibility is important to me. Is this a good idea? I don't mind the complication if it means that I don't have to give Wells Fargo any extra fees. Am I going to pay a lot in transfer fees? If this is a good idea, which bank, Canadian or online do you recommend?


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[Assistant] Basically jumped up and either started firing her. Actually, I was back at my car. I heard firearms going off at that point. Shots were being fired. We at that point.


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[Assistant] Once the gunfire we were called off, we elect to go back to our cars and try to get out on the highway and get, kind of get this feel kind of boxed in once I got to the highway with my car.


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[Assistant] Radio traffic said that they were struggling with a gentleman at the wood line. So I did a U-turn with my car, come back up the same driveway instead of following around the field. I went across the field toward where I saw cars were at.


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[Assistant] SRT guys had had the gentleman down. They seemed like they had him under control.


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[Assistant] And they asked me to retrieve a weapon that was laying near the suspect.


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[Assistant] It was to the right side of him, just outside of his hand, probably approximately about a foot from his hand.


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[Assistant] It's great to have you here on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you.


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[Assistant] So you make better financial decisions in your life.


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[Assistant] It's April. Many of us are starting to plan our spring or summer trips. And what's it going to cost you at the gas pump? I'm going to talk about that today. And also I've had a fascination


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[Assistant] With vertical farming for at least a decade and there's developing technology that I think.


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[Assistant] Is going to make a big difference in the availability and ultimately the cost of food. Right now, I want to talk about what it's looking like on the gasoline front. Number one.


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[Assistant] I remember when we had become a 98 pound weak link in energy production.


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[Assistant] But we are the world's strongest producer and what that means


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[Assistant] Is that countries that might use oil as a weapon against us.


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[Assistant] Like the Russians have tried to do over the last few years.


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[Assistant] And then the Saudis and the Russians made that deal to try to push prices up.


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[Assistant] They were unable to succeed because of us.


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[Assistant] And the world has benefited so much from what we've been able to do.


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[Assistant] By figuring out how to get more energy out of the ground.


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[Assistant] A lot of it through hydraulic fracking and new technologies that have improved the ability


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[Assistant] And because of world economies growing again.


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[Assistant] Price is going to move up, but if we didn't have.


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[Assistant] The supplies that we're generating in the United States, I can't even imagine what we'd be facing at a price per gallon. And the other factor is that the raw demand around the world is moderating.


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[Assistant] Because of the number of buying electric vehicles, not so much in the United States, but in a number of other countries, a third of cars being purchased now are electric and that's reducing the demand for


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[Assistant] Oil and gasoline and the oil it comes from. So there's a lot of things going on that are really great because of what


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[Assistant] We've been doing a wonderful job producing natural gas in the United States and exporting it to other countries, which again,


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[Assistant] Keeps natural gas from being a weapon of war as Putin tried to do and


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[Assistant] This is, this is really positive stuff. The other aspect of this that is where economics becomes so dismal is that when the price of oil, natural gas go up,


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[Assistant] It's really good for the companies that are producing it in the United States, even though it hurts you and me as consumers.


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[Assistant] Then before when we were importing all of it, but as far as for you this summer,


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[Assistant] Spring and summer, gasoline is going to be more expensive. There's nothing really on the horizon right now that shows it's going to be terribly more expensive than a year ago when world economies were slower.


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[Assistant] It is going to be higher this year. It would take something unexpected in the world to push it much higher. But just know that the price of the pump that you're seeing


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[Assistant] Uh, edge up as it does so often in spring. It's going to edge up more than it did a year ago. It's going to cost you more to fill up again. But nothing on the horizon right now looks really ugly. And


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[Assistant] Krista, I know I used to joke with you about how you didn't know what the cost of gasoline was.


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[Assistant] So I don't know what it is. I've been driving an electric car now for 13 years, except if I'm in a rental, then I'm in a gas engine car and I'm still obsessed with the price of gasoline. I'm driving down a road. I'm always looking, oh, it's that much there and that much there. Old habits die hard.


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[Assistant] Okay, so let's deal with the 4% rule first. The 4% rule is a guide. It's not like true math, but it works well in most areas. It did not work.


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[Assistant] For the last so many years when the Federal Reserve was artificially holding down interest rates because the 4% rule if you're not familiar with it is the idea that you can retire


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[Assistant] Each year that whatever you have and that at 4% if you're invested in a 50-50 mix of stocks and bonds,


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[Assistant] That the marketplace will rise enough that you'll compensate for inflation and every year's 4% will be a little more over time because of the gains in your investments. But it's all designed to be a guideline for a 30 year retirement.


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[Assistant] So if you retire at age 60, it means that the odds increase that your money goes poof by age 90. Now I've done a lot of reading about this because of all the questions about what do people do about the 4% rule when interest rates were lower on bonds and all that. So,


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[Assistant] What you can, what you can do as an alternative is you look at doing, if you're gonna retire a little earlier, cause 60's not that much earlier than, uh,


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[Assistant] If you were to dial it back to three and a half percent, the math becomes much more compelling that your money would last significantly longer than 30 years. So if you have enough at age 60,


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[Assistant] That three and a half percent of what you saved gives you enough money to live the lifestyle you're happy with.


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[Assistant] Mathematically, you should be absolutely fine going forward in a mix of a traditional balance portfolio of funds of stocks and bonds. And so I don't know that, uh,


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[Assistant] I think that would be a worthwhile thing because it's a big decision in your life. And I think if you do three and a half.


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[Assistant] You'll be absolutely fine for an extended period of retirement instead of the traditional thought of 30 years pulling 4% out each year.


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[Assistant] Okay, so then the question I have for you, Michael, you're going to save this money. Are you going to use it to work to reduce the balance on the AIO? And if you're not familiar with what this is, it's something that we've been asked about for 25 years. It's.


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[Assistant] Where you have an account that's both a checking account and a lending account. Clusity or mortgage and all that, all in one.


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[Assistant] Typically with a floating rate and a high rate at one in this case, 8.75%. So the goal in my mind is that you should be on a trend line, particularly if you're in an all-in-one, that the goal is to be debt-free.


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[Assistant] So if you're doing this interest free loan against the visa, you should use that extra money.


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[Assistant] To not just have less money you're owing for the 18 months, but to use that payment holiday, that interest holiday to reduce your overall balance. If you're doing that, I'm all in.


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[Assistant] And they're a very clever airline. They're kind of below the radar. They operate like a friendlier version of Spirit or Frontier.


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[Assistant] And everything's extra. So now there are people who are so into avoiding the baggage fees for checked or carry-on bags on the deep discounters, which would include Breeze and Allegiant in addition to Spirit and Frontier.


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[Assistant] So there are now people selling.


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[Assistant] Suitcases specifically designed to avoid fees. Now these are micro carry-ons and I have one of these and I've used it before when I've flown one of the deep discounters.


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[Assistant] It can work for a guy in summer.


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[Assistant] At least this guy for five days worth of stuff. Uh, for a woman it would be less. In winter it's really hard to do the micro carry on. There are even companies competing that you can find on Amazon or Walmart Plus that sell


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[Assistant] These micro carry-ons that have removable wheels that you remove the wheels from them and then they fit in the sizers for Frontier and Spirit and various discounters and then you pop the wheels back on and you have a rolling


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[Assistant] When my wife Lane and I were in Europe recently and we flew Ryanair, which I need to do.


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[Assistant] The no check bag man checked his bag. Why? Because it was cheaper to check a bag than it was to pay for carry on. And that's consistent with the deep discounters. The reason is they want quick turns of their aircraft. So they don't want people jostling


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[Assistant] And that's why Avelo would have charged you a fortune, $60 to put a carry-on on. And it might have been half that for a check bag. So you can do what I do on a shorter trip.


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[Assistant] Personal item size for Frontier. Personal item size for Spirit, whatever. And there are all these people selling these bags starting at 10 bucks.


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[Assistant] Will fit in the sizer and you can take very little amount of stuff on your trip. So, uh, or you could just wear the same clothes day after day after day and not have any baggage charge. But remember my trash bag rule.


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[Assistant] They just abandon their suitcase and put their stuff in a plastic trash bag and that'll fit in the sizer and they go on the plane.


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[Assistant] Well if you just reach $10 for it on Amazon for the suitcase, you abandon the suitcase instead of having a hundred dollar charge. I know your answer is don't fly one of the deep disc counters, but the fares are so great. Okay. Anyway, uh,


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[Assistant] I do need to cover the deep discounters soon because they carry such a significant percent of passengers in the United States now and in other countries. Coming up ahead, I want to talk about the problems we have with food supply


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[Assistant] In the United States and around the world and something that I love that people have been trying and succeeding and failing and trying again with and that's growing food and vertical farms.


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[Assistant] There are more and more positive developments in that area. I am such a fan of experimentation that's going on in growing food.


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[Assistant] Free of pesticides and with dramatically less water being used.


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[Assistant] And the whole idea of vertical farms, which may even be hiding in plain sight near where you live,


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[Assistant] That you're able to grow food in a controlled environment every day of the year.


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[Assistant] And reduce water consumption depending on the vertical farm.


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[Assistant] To 2% or 3% of what was used before. In other words, 97-98% of the water


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[Assistant] The extreme water shortages that we've been trying to navigate around in agricultural regions in the mountain states, the mountain west and the west coast.


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[Assistant] By agriculture by 97, 98 percent, obviously.


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[Assistant] That is a magnificent benefit to society.


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[Assistant] You build a, uhm, state of the art warehouse.


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[Assistant] That can be adjacent to major population centers and you eliminate.


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[Assistant] A lot of the transportation costs with agriculture, you grow crops indoors, perfectly temperature controlled, every day of the year.


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[Assistant] And you know how Elon Musk popularized this word giga plant, giga factory, giga. Now they're building giga farms for growing food and.


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[Assistant] A lot of these have had trouble making money, but every wave of new technology is steadily more successful than the one before. And not having to worry about


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[Assistant] Insects. And then in turn, not having to use pesticides.


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[Assistant] And being able to reduce the water and the waste and the big thing with


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[Assistant] These farms, these vertical farms is they're now learning how to use everything left over in different ways. So, uh, is animal feed, things like that. So feeding the world's population at an affordable price,


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[Assistant] work together with the idea of vertical farming and those of us that are city suburban folks which is what ninety percent


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[Assistant] The American people, something like that. It's only peripherally something we're aware of is the cost. And I think about how hard.


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[Assistant] Being a farmer is. I mean this is brutal stuff and how much.


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[Assistant] The success or failure of a farmer's year is based on weather conditions. And if you build in an interior space, the farmer's year is so much more predictable and


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[Assistant] You don't have to worry so much that you know, we're in a drought year or we're in a year of floods or whatever. You're able to produce food.


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[Assistant] That is a reliable supply of food. And of course, always there'll be things I haven't thought about, like some kind of fungus that grows inside a building that may not have grown outside or whatever.


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[Assistant] Ninety seven percent of Americans earn their living on a farm. Ninety seven percent.


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[Assistant] Continuous technology that has made farming much more efficient. This to me is just one more stage, one more step in it.


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[Assistant] And when I go through the supermarket and I think about even in my beloved Aldi,


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[Assistant] How Aldi changes with the marketplace and you go down the aisles and there's organic, organic, organic, organic, organic. This is a big desire.


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[Assistant] With the, with the vertical farming, it wouldn't even be a question.


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[Assistant] Cause it would all be your organic kind of stuff.


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[Assistant] And especially for farmers, I mean, think about what they do. Every year, farmers


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[Assistant] If that's gonna be a money lose or a money win that year.


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[Assistant] So there's one company that has done the best job, is best I've been able to discover.


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[Assistant] On health savings accounts, and that's Fidelity Investments. Fidelity has an entire section of their website on their HSA accounts.


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[Assistant] And so fidelity makes it possible because if you're using an HSA for long-term benefit, you want to invest the money. You don't want it in some.


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[Assistant] The money grows tax free. You spend it tax free for eligible health expenses. So it's even superior to my Roth IRA. The man from Roth says there's something better. And fidelity is...


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[Assistant] The best I know of at least to this moment for putting money in an HSA. Now a lot of employers will have arrangements with terrible, terrible,


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[Assistant] Okay, so first of all, I am stunned because I've not seen that. Have you seen QR codes? If you're seeing QR codes on medical documents that you don't need after you've reviewed them, I like the idea of shredding them. I've got a shredder that I work.


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[Assistant] Uh, over time in my house. And I think that's a great idea. But the QR code...


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[Assistant] If it's on, like you said, financial documents as well.


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[Assistant] Go ahead and scan one of those just to see what is it doing? Does it take you to your account? What does it do on that statement?


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[Assistant] So, but Valerie said it's also financial documents. So if it's just to take you to where you can pay, criminals aren't exactly interested in sending money to someone. They're only interested in taking money. So that QR code would probably not be


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[Assistant] That, uh, that riskier, that concerning is best that I know. But any documents that you no longer need,


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[Assistant] I love you shredding them.


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[Assistant] I had a situation recently I've not talked about. I've had a collection agency calling me about a lab bill.


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[Assistant] And so I asked them to send me a copy of the original lab bill, which I just got. This is so funny. It shows the item and it shows zero ballots.


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[Assistant] So now I'm trying to explain the collection agency. They're trying to collect from me for, for an unpaid medical bill that has no ballots. That's insane. Never heard that before.


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[Assistant] So, if you've done such a good job saving money,


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[Assistant] That's what it's for, to build financial independence or to deal, I mean, initially it's to deal with life's unexpected expenses. You reach the point where you saved enough money that you had the freedom to make this choice to take a time out in life.


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[Assistant] And so that, you'll know when you're getting to the point where you, the money you've built up over the years, you're wheezing on. And then,


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[Assistant] You'll get back out there and you should be able to get back out there. You're worried you'll not be motivated anymore. I'm expecting it'll be the opposite. You needed a career timeout. You took it. And my guess is that what will result from this is when you come back, you'll be reinvigorated.


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[Assistant] And you'll be excited by a new challenge. You know, when I took four years off in my thirties,


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[Assistant] I ended up in this new life that I do today.


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[Assistant] And I didn't know I was going to end up here, but by taking the four years off that I thought was retirement,


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[Assistant] It created a, a clean slate that led to a whole new life. So I'm a big fan of doing what you, what you're doing, John. And you'll know, you'll know when you got to get back to it, whatever back to it turns out to be.


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[Assistant] And I hope that you have an absolutely wonderful day. Remember what we're about that you learn ways to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off for what purpose? So you're in charge.


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[Assistant] Yeah, and people are also like on TikTok, exploiting this, telling people how to do it. It's really spreading like wildfire. It's crazy.


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[Assistant] Right, but this is one we feel like needs action taken, like we are really, and we want everyone to try to take action on this, so we do have a sample letter on Clark.com that you can send to your state representative, whatever it ends up being, if you want to, and we really hope that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if you want to see that letter and you want to take action, go to Clark.com slash squatters. Clark.com slash squatters. That's a shortcut we made to that. We'll go to questions now. Tracy in Florida says, I've heard you recommend only purchasing term life insurance to use to replace income while you're working.


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[Assistant] We are working on our retirement plans and I was reading about the impacts when one spouse passes before the other, such as reduced income because of only one social security check, possible reduced pension payments, and also now being taxed at single rates and getting only single deductions, while not necessarily decreasing living expenses.


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[Assistant] Do you have any recommendations for life insurance or other products to help protect against this scenario? As long time listeners of your show, we've learned to be big savers and have maxed out 401k, HSA and Roth IRA for years and are now looking to retire in the next year or two using the rule of 55. Thank you for all your advice and guidance to help us get to the point of fire.


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[Assistant] They would not refund my $450 and the hotel won't either, even though I did book at the correct hotel in the same chain immediately after making the mistake. Any ideas on how to get a refund?


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[Assistant] For a specific checking account and have $1500 in deposits in the initial 90 days and set up a qualified deposit from payroll. What are your thoughts on this and how hard is it hard to get these bonuses or meet the requirements? I don't want to do a lot of work for nothing.


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[Assistant] Vincent in North Carolina says, I have a follow up question to your recent podcast segment about the car market swinging back toward consumers. In recent weeks, you've mentioned deals on EVs and certain often high end brands. In your opinion, where are the best deals in the minivan market? We'd love to get an Odyssey.


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[Assistant] An Odyssey or comparable van for our growing family, but the longevity and popularity of minivans means we're not seeing a lot of Barkins out there. Especially for in-demand brands like Honda and Toyota. I've not seen any used vans that look like a deal.


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[Assistant] Either they were high enough, high enough trim package to be substantially more than a new base model or very high mileage for only a few thousand dollars less than a new vehicle.


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[Assistant] Do you anticipate things will be better in a year or two? We always pay cash for cars and it's hard to convince ourselves to plop down $40,000 on a vehicle with our first house purchase coming up soon as well. But 30k or more for a high mileage vehicle doesn't seem like a good value.


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[Assistant] Uh, somewhere around there, 14 maybe. Yeaah, it was great, the best. When you have a family like that, it is a workhorse.


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[Assistant] The woman who bought my Odyssey, uhm, I actually know this because she's a friend of someone who works in the Team Clark Consumer Action Center. She uses it as an Uber. She hauls around her family and she Ubers part time, so. Old Blue is still going strong.


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[Assistant] Uh, work toward a goal. So either the, the culmination during the full moon or the beginning of a process in the new moon, uh, would be the types of purposes for which rituals are conducted.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because of its, uh, rarity is no more important than any other full moon.


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[Assistant] Okay, we'll go to questions now. Yaron in Texas says we purchased carbon, I think it's carbon monoxide detectors that are linked to our home alarm system in September of 2019.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At least two of these started chirping, and the alarm company told us that we had to replace them because they only last a few years. It seems very wasteful that we have to replace these systems.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] wear out. The industry should provide a low cost user replaceable sensor cartridge that can be proactively replaced every so many years.


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[Assistant] M in Colorado says, Clark, thank you for your optimism and sharing your wealth of knowledge. I wanted to see what you think of this. You want me to name it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This investing company, Titan Investing that promises you have to chase the highest


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thank you for what you, all you do. Sincerely loyal treadmill listener.


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[Assistant] They had a hole in them. Yeah, I remember that. I think it's great. What's wrong with that?


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[Assistant] One dollar. I remember that. People get upset about- Sorry, go ahead.


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[Assistant] I'm just saying, like it's the same thing, it's they're cleaned and you clean them and it's all good. I'm all for it.


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[Assistant] A half hour later, I finally got a live operator. She wasn't familiar with the 3D authentication beyond its name, but she called back and said the only way to make a purchase is to call into the bank each time to get an authorization.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Given that you can't get a live operator on the phone without extraordinary effort, I can only infer that I can no longer make purchases where this 3D is required. This is another example of security overkill where merchants are passing their problems onto the backs of consumers. But they're going to wind up out of business if people can't complete a purchase.


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[Assistant] Roger in Georgia says, I was approached by a professionally dressed person wearing an AT&T badge at my local Target store near the electronics department.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] After typing on his iPad, he said he could get me a $1,000 off of a new iPhone 15 Pro with trade-in and my bill would be a fraction of what I was paying with Verizon. I said that seems too good to be true and I would have to think about switching.


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[Assistant] Isaac in Washington says, I wanted to ask your thoughts about using a cash management account connected to my brokerage instead of a checking account.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The cash management account I've been using with Fidelity gives 2.7% on your balance, covers ATM fees, lets you deposit checks and gives you a debit card. So I've been much happier with them than with the giant monster mega bank I was with before.


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[Assistant] The account also has overdraft protection so you can connect to your brokerage. So recently I've been keeping a zero dollar balance and having all the money I spend out of this account come directly out of a money market fund in my brokerage. It feels pretty good to think that every dollar I have is earning 5% at least. There may be some downsides to having no checking account.


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[Assistant] But I haven't found them yet. I just wanted to let your listeners know and ask you if I'm missing something. And by the way, I learned about this account on your website, so I'm pretty sure you already endorse it, but I don't think I've ever heard you talk about it. Endorse is a dirty word.


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[Assistant] We had different upbringings, so I am further along in the wealth building journey. I own my home and retirement, and I have retirement savings. But he is much more sensible with his money management.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is there anything you recommend we do differently than other couples or considerations we should take with a bit, big life decisions, marriage, insurance, etc., because of our age gap?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jane Wisconsin says my girlfriend and I, and a dog, live in Milwaukee's suburb. I own the house. Nine months ago we decided to build a new house, which will be ready to move in sometime in May.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the last few weeks, I received a fantastic job offer in Indianapolis. I wasn't looking, but I know this is, this team well. This is a dream job as far as culture, work environment and pay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The start date is not until early 2025. We're thinking to sell the current house and move into the new house, then sell again after that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What would Clark do? I don't have a tax advisor. I'm wondering if we shouldn't move into the new house at all. If we should move into the new house at all. Are we doomed to lose money on the brand new house? We picked top tier items for almost everything.


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[Assistant] No, I mean, I think I might, if it's in a, like a builder, there's a builder and there's a new community, it's a new home community, I might talk to the builder, I don't know how much money they put down, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If prices have gone up since they started the process, maybe the builder would be able, willing to make a deal if they think they can make more on the home than what they were signing to them for.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm coming up on 60 years old and I'm hoping to retire at 64. My wife and I have been in our condo for nearly 3 years and owe less than 200,000 on our 30 year mortgage which has less than 3% interest rate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My question is, are we better off trying to pay off the mortgage before retirement or take that money and put it into an investment of some sort at a higher interest rate?


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[Assistant] Mark in Colorado says, I read once that there were some banks that would transfer your existing mortgage balance at the existing rate to a new mortgage if you wanted to sell your house and buy a new one. I called up my lender to ask about it and they said there's no such thing. It doesn't exist. Was I dreaming?


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[Assistant] So I'm a little confused. So if I, like say I have, I have a great mortgage rate, right? Are we talking about if I move to another place, I could bring my mortgage with me? Or are we talking about, like what do we mean?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I found that PetSmart was having a deal on treats, one box for $3.99, but get three boxes and you get one of the boxes half off.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Note, I've also compared the price of a jug of treats versus the boxes, and interestingly, the boxes came out cheaper per ounce. So we went into PetSmart and grabbed three boxes. The crazy thing is, the price on the shelf was $7.99 a box. Knowing it was lower on the website, I told the cashier I wanted the website price and showed her the item on my phone.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She didn't bat an eyelash. She knew this was consistently the case. Final twist, five and a half hours later I checked PetSmart's website again to make sure I was remembering the prices correctly and noticed the price per box had dropped down to $3.49 a box.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, you mean, uh, Chewy. Chewy. Someone else also wrote about Target, by the way, about this. Like, why would they charge me more for store pickup when I, you know, it's like the same thing they have in the store. I mean, charge me less to do store pickup. Right.


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[Assistant] I just did this, I was with my daughter in a clothing store and she found pants and a top she liked. But I looked and I had a coupon but it only worked for online. So we're sitting in the store and I ordered the items online for in-store pickup and we had to leave.


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[Assistant] I wonder why, because aren't they supposed to be so gas is different from their normal store where it's just a percentage markup?


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[Assistant] By the way, I know this is so off topic, but you're obsessed with convenience stores and like fancy new gas stations and convenience stores.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, you've probably seen this, but I was surprised. I saw Sheets when I was on my recent trip, which I know is one of your faves, and it had a drive-through. You ever seen that? Yeah. Oh.


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[Assistant] I'm guessing you put them through extensive training or they would have to have a finance background if you're letting them speak on behalf of your brand.


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[Assistant] I hope at the very least you take them on your annual staff trips around the world. I love the show, love your advice, but scratching my head a bit on this one, Karen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My husband and I listen almost every day. We travel quite a bit and I was surprised at the statement you made in response to a question about cruising.


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[Assistant] Why would a husband leave his wife alone in a strange country to browse in a museum and you go wander around? Shouldn't you be with her as safety? She would probably appreciate you staying with her.


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[Assistant] We're travelers and what we'd like to do is take a tour and that way you can learn about the history of the area and the points of interest. Then we can wander around, but we always stay together. Why discourage someone from touring the country? And that's from Sally. Oh, she ends with shame on you, Sally.


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[Assistant] You don't stink on this one, or if you do, you have a lot of company. I frequently hear you saying things like, in all 50 states, or talking about how the US has 50 state testing labs.


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[Assistant] There's a big asterisk for the four million of us who don't live in a state. Residents of the five island territories are U.S. citizens who fly the stars and stripes, pay taxes, can be drafted, and frequently serve our country and the military as I did.


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[Assistant] We can't vote, that's a topic for another day, and we aren't eligible for a number of federal programs including SSI and the ACA. When we hear things like in all 50 states or available to all Americans, we have to put that through an additional filter of even us,


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[Assistant] And frequently the answer is no. I just thought you'd benefit from hearing that perspective. Keep up the good work. You've got a lot of fans in the islands. Brian and Guam.


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[Assistant] And thank you for your service. My cousin was stationed in Guam with the Air Force. Uhm, that's a big one. Uhm, Pete, telling people to price- Should we do a staff trip there? Sure.


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[Assistant] Telling people to price shop prescription drugs is irresponsible and potentially deadly. Utilizing multiple pharmacies assures incomplete medication profiles that may result in harmful interactions being missed. I suspect your family would rather inherit fewer dollars but have you live a longer, healthier life.


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[Assistant] A better idea is to develop a strong relationship with a single pharmacy or pharmacist and ask them for help in managing your out of pocket costs. Jeff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think most pharmacies have an interaction thing that will automatically pop up if they know all your medications and don't, isn't there like a medication registration where pharmacies see what medications you're getting from other pharmacies? I think there is something like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, but if something automatically were to pop up, you know, that would be a good thing.


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[Assistant] Okay, Clark doesn't stink and neither do ETS for automatic investing anymore. Thanks to one of Clark's favorite children, Fidelity updated their automatic investments tool recently.


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[Assistant] And now you can schedule recurring investments for stocks, ETFs and mutual funds weekly, every two weeks or monthly. I just happened to cross this in January and I immediately converted my recurring investments from index funds to their ETF counterparts.


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[Assistant] If you invest weekly or every two weeks, you can choose the day of the week.


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[Assistant] to invest, which makes it easier to line up with weekly and biweekly paydays. Thanks for all that you do. Love the show, Rob.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] ...by someone that my personal data was leaked in the 14.7 million person data breach. They offered to pay for credit monitoring for two years but I chose not to respond to them.


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[Assistant] So far I haven't detected any fraud against me, so I'm only using Credit Karma as a safety measure. It's free and their credit card promotions are easily ignored. By the way, your Clark Stinks segments are very worthwhile, but consider changing the corny track that precedes Clark Stinks. It grates on me. But I still never miss a show. Take care, Don.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We got a lot of Clark Stinks about your comments on the USPS saying that they're not federally funded and people were just really mad. So I didn't, I had so many to read, but I wanted to let you know that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You said that you want to have a thick skin when showing the house, but you also advise to make sure you pay the 2-3% for the buyer's agent. This is contradictory. The buyer's agent will most likely show the house without you present.


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[Assistant] So you won't hear the comments about the bad color carpet or drapes. Also, you advise to get things fixed, hire an inspector and make it appealing, but that costs money. I would list the house as described above with the Buyers Commission


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I wouldn't fix a thing. You might get buyers willing to buy it as is. Then if that doesn't work, you can spend the money to make it more sellable, buddy.


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[Assistant] It came pre-installed on my Android phone. I use it mainly to track my daily walking steps and weight and I set up weekly goals. It can also detect heart rate and respiratory rate using my camera.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I realize it doesn't have all the bells or whistles of a dedicated fitness tracker, but I like that I don't have another device I have to keep track of or keep charged or remember to take with me when I leave the house.


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[Assistant] As long as I bring my phone, my activity is being tracked. Best of all, it's free. I think it's the perfect for someone who's just beginning a fitness routine to see if they can stick with it before investing in another advice. Thanks for all you do Bill.


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[Assistant] But it's probably close to accurate, I mean I think I'm being, you know, I do, you know, I think it's


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[Assistant] Yeah, for me having the, I mean, but, you know, Bill, uh, Bill said he's setting up goals and all that stuff, so that's great, I mean.


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[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, I don't know, was it like 50?


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[Assistant] The person came up to me and said, if you need anything, stick this card up. I'm happy to come by your table.


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[Assistant] Uhm, they have food runners, but then there was like a server going around and, you know, if you needed something, you could, but I used, I did everything. I ordered on the app. I paid on the app. I was eating with a friend. We were able to each pay for our own food on the app and order our food. It was great.


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[Assistant] I was accepted but was surprised in something in the contract. It states that after the premium end date in 2044, we have the right to charge less than the maximum premium and then it says we will not exercise this right more than once each contract year.


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[Assistant] What happened to a 20 year term? Do I have to contact them in 20 years and cancel to avoid getting more charges? I'm confused.


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[Assistant] What constitutes the growth that would be compoundable? Compounding on an account that earns interest makes sense, but a 401k doesn't earn interest, right? If it's dividends, is that really something that can turn $200 per paycheck into a million dollars over 30 years? Thanks.


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[Assistant] Wesleyan Georgia says we love the show. You're now the podcast of choice for my nine year old stepson Ledger on our way to and from school. Hi Ledger.


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[Assistant] My question and comment is about pharmacy benefit managers, PBMs. You may have heard the lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson from one of its employees about how PBMs rip off everyone involved. Some of the rip-offs were so outrageous, an employee could pay cash and get a generic drug for MS for $77.


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[Assistant] Even at one of the high price pharmacy chains, but if they had used their benefits, the total cost was over $10,000. There are PBMs that do things differently.


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[Assistant] And there's one I wonder if you have heard about, the Costco PBM. Yes, you heard it right, your favorite wholesale club also is making a play in the broken PBM market with the same approach they always use, a transparent admin fee and no junk fees and hidden markups. There are others, and he mentions a couple,


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[Assistant] Using a similar approach, but I'd love to hear your thoughts about the broken PBM market and whether these different kinds of PBMs can help fix it.


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[Assistant] Nothing, like you said on Monday, sometimes things are not great, but there are positive things happening with like Costco and other, right? It's okay.


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[Assistant] Yeah, you were talking about me being your chief of staff. I don't want to work in an environment like that for sure.


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[Assistant] Yeah, Jessica in Kansas wrote in and she said over a year ago my husband and I bought a 2019 Kia Forte. Is it Forte?


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[Assistant] Uh, we were looking for a reliable car with good gas mileage to save a little on our monthly gas expenses. Recently I received my renewal statement from our car insurance and discovered that our premium had skyrocketed. I began to shop around at other insurance companies and even obtained an independent insurance agent to help me do some research.


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[Assistant] On the principal balance of the car, and I don't feel selling the car would be a good option or ethical, do you have any suggestions or insight? Also, I wanted other listeners to be aware of this problem.


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[Assistant] I have no kids and no intention of returning to school, but I'm considering funding of 529 for the tax deduction and then rolling it into a Roth after 15 years. Thoughts? I make 75k gross and expect a 2% annual raise. I take the standard deduction on my federal taxes.


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[Assistant] Joseph in Massachusetts says I don't own a car, but I rent cars through Zipcar.


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[Assistant] Provided by Zipcar's insurance. I'd also like to be able to have confidence that I don't need Zipcar or rental agency insurance. What should I do?


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[Assistant] Yeaah, there's class pass, which is a very popular thing where people go to different gyms.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It depends on the type of class. So some are like all women with no exceptions generally and then some are like as close as like probably 70-30.


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[Assistant] It appears the license plate number was recorded and the bill was supposed to be sent to my residence. The bill from the law firm was the first time I even knew that there was a bill.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So then he says, I never knew it was owed, but I knew, I know I was in Delaware at the time they claimed the toll occurred. What should I do?


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[Assistant] Dale in Pennsylvania says I have a 36 month, 30,000 mile vehicle lease. I will exceed the miles before 36 months at a cost of 20 cents per mile.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is it better to approach the dealership about ending the lease or purchasing the vehicle before 30,000 miles or wait until the 36 months are up?


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[Assistant] Sona in Colorado says, what happened to the Clarky of the day? I really enjoyed them. It was fun hearing other listeners in their own voice tell Clark how Clark has helped them. I hope you bring them back. Maybe I'll, maybe just once a week. It could be on Fridays as an antidote to Clark stinks. The criticism and compliment would balance out.


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[Assistant] So we received a lot of complaints of people saying they didn't like it and had to tune out and not really anyone saying they enjoyed it until this one. So we decided it probably wasn't worth doing.


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[Assistant] I'm so glad to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and guidance that empowers you so you can make better financial decisions in your life. And we've talked a lot about something that is so annoying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Junk fees being added to bills everywhere. I mean, you name it, where there are a variety of junk fees that just pop up.


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[Assistant] Has a new law going into effect in just a couple of months that will in theory end


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[Assistant] happen all over the country with a lot of affected industries, even though the law is a California law. Later, H&R Block is in trouble with the feds for


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[Assistant] And I want you to be aware of what you need to look out for so you don't pay more than you intend or expect. And I'm also going to take your questions today, but obviously I can't get to the thousands of questions that are submitted every week.


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[Assistant] We've had the ability for you to get one-on-one free advice and guidance from our Team Clark Consumer Action Center. You can see how to reach one of our team members at Clark.com slash CAC. So,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sometimes is a false lead on where the country's going. And other times is...


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[Assistant] A leading indicator that is accurate. And I believe that California passing a really strong, uh, anti-junk fee statute is way out where the country is moving. And just California passing


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In any junk fee thing should influence a lot of things like when you go to buy tickets to a concert or sports event or anything where like hotels with their crazy


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Weirdo junk fees they're adding and something that has popped up in a number of cities is also happening in California.


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[Assistant] Where you go to a restaurant, you see the prices on the menu, you order your food,


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[Assistant] Because you add up the items you bought, they should be whatever, let's say $60. And then your bill...


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[Assistant] With the food inflation we've had in the country, with food up basically almost 20%.


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[Assistant] And they didn't want the menus to look exorbitant. So they have all kinds of mystery fees that you're charged when you get your bill.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I had this recently. I shared this with you last month. There was a fee for paying my bill at a restaurant.


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[Assistant] Is that you know up front what it's going to cost. But I read something recently.


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[Assistant] That is part of the behavioral economics field that this whole junk fee phenomenon that has so taken a hold in industry after industry really comes back to our consumer behavior. So weirdly,


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[Assistant] It's referred to as drip pricing, where you are told the price is this, and then later it's not that, it's that plus this. And I saw something in New York Times about drip pricing.


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[Assistant] That one of the, uh, ticket resellers for sports and concerts had several years ago


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[Assistant] Shown the full price with all the extraneous charges put in.


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[Assistant] And their sales went down and then they went back to showing the lower price and then charging the junk fees and their overall sales went way up again. That we as consumers really conspire against ourselves.


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[Assistant] Where we like to think, oh, we're getting this for blah blah blah.


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[Assistant] And it's like, so we feel like we didn't spend so much money, we ignore the fact that we're paying all the junk fees. So...


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[Assistant] Just say no, it's kinda like the thing I talked about the other day with people kinda being on strike.


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[Assistant] To get that grocery purchase under control, I'm asking you to go on strike when you look at buying something and suddenly the price is much higher. You know, I travel a lot and I'm seeing this all the time now with hotels where


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The cheapest hotel is not what it appears to be, because I'll see a really great deal on a hotel.


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[Assistant] And then you go to check out and suddenly it's so much higher and it's because of all the mystery fees that are being added on to that rate and


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[Assistant] What I do is right then I go on strike. I don't buy that hotel. I go back and find one that's not charging me this fee, that fee, the other fee and the breathing fee. And it's up to you and me.


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[Assistant] Forget what California is doing or any other state might do or the federal government might do about junk fees. It's really you and me that have to stand up for our own wallet. Krista?


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[Assistant] Alright, I'm gonna go out on a limb. This is the problems with the Capital One shopping rewards.


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[Assistant] And now it is almost like a shopper referral service. And I found that it's wasting my time. So I don't use it anymore. I need to delete the extension. You'll have to show me how to do that.


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[Assistant] Clark, do you want to be a complete idiot? Say no to the savings. You know, it's got this thing. Yes, I want the savings. No, I don't. And I just, every time I click, no, I don't. So it'll go away. And I, I wish.


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[Assistant] Citibank, you know, with the, uh, with the double cash, how they...


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[Assistant] Your advice, Caroline, is right on the money and this has come up before on the podcast that the most radical way to get out of Hotel California, you know, get out of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Medicare Advantage plan that turns out to be a disadvantage plan and be able to go into


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, original Medicare and get a supplement without having to go through medical underwriting or go into a different advantage plan without medical underwriting is you actually have to move.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To a new geographical territory that by geographical means outside of the service area of that particular, uhm, Medicare disadvantage plan. And then you can go back in. There are states that don't


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Require the medical underwriting when you want to switch, but most states do. And this is what people who really need better care do is they actually relocate.


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[Assistant] So Brandon, in the state of Other, I will tell you that I really appreciate you. This is exactly what being a member of Team Clark is all about, is helping your fellow listener and viewer.


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[Assistant] And yes, utilities all over the country, particularly regulated state monopoly utilities, are required to provide, uh, energy credits or cash back


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For you doing things that make your home more efficient. The purpose of this is ironically enough not to save energy, although that's the net effect.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The purpose of subsidizing you for putting in energy improvements is what's called peak demand load management. That during times of extreme cold weather, extreme hot weather,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The demand for power goes way up and those last kilowatts cost a ton.


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[Assistant] And so, when they can get people to do different energy improvements, it lowers


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On those really hot days in particular, it lowers overall demand for energy.


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[Assistant] And eliminates a lot of those peak kilowatts that a utility has to buy. So you win as a homeowner.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, owners, their stockholders benefit. Really, it's a win-win all the way around.


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[Assistant] And so, yeaah, always check to see if your utility offers any kind of Energy Star rebates and they're pretty common and usually pretty easy to get. Some of the utilities even have their own, uhm, e-commerce sites that sell you the stuff with the rebate already built in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you don't have to file any paperwork in those cases to get the rebate. Coming up ahead.


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[Assistant] Complaints about, or allegations about TurboTax. Now I can add in H&R Block.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They wipe your data off, and it's like all the time you spent doing, again, these are allegations.


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[Assistant] Of the feds, all the data you've entered suddenly vanishes and you have to start from scratch doing your tax return when you refuse paying more for prep.


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[Assistant] So it brings me back for, for anyone who's not done, if you've not done your federal returns, and if you have a state return in your state, you haven't done them yet, I want you to know that most taxpayers qualify


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Under the IRS free file program for just what that says. Free filing of federal taxes and depending on the participating tax software you use,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You may also get free preparation and filing for your state tax return.


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[Assistant] You pay your tax, but you don't have to pay to prepare your tax returns and submit them.


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[Assistant] And to see what's available, just go to IRS.gov.


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[Assistant] And you'll see the logo for free file.


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[Assistant] You click on it, and all the participating players...


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[Assistant] Offer if you meet the income qualifications again, which roughly two thirds of taxpayers do.


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[Assistant] And as I shared back, I guess in January, there are,


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[Assistant] That's it. Now offer the IRS direct file program.


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[Assistant] Where you can prepare and file your federal taxes directly with the feds without using a third party intermediary for free.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, at this point, as best I know, we were the only developed country in the world that didn't offer a direct file program. It is something a lot of people don't trust because people don't trust the IRS and don't trust government in the US.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If that's you, then use instead the free file program where you're using third party.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Private company tax prep and filing that is in fact again for about two thirds of taxpayers free. As far as tax software though,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If your situation is complicated, you own your own business, uh, you do a lot of side things, you have a complicated family situation, anything like that, uh, you went through a marriage recently, you went through a divorce recently,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you have more income than the average payer. If you're in six figures income wise.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You probably want a human involved in doing your taxes. Either an enrolled agent, that's someone who is a tax professional who is registered with the IRS, or you want to use a CPA who does tax, especially people who own their own company. You likely want to use a CPA who does tax.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Effort you think you're saving by using tax prep software is not worth it because of the various credits, deductions, exemptions, and whatever you may be entitled to, particularly as a business owner, you very well will likely miss them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lydia, out of love for your daughter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You co-signed and as you know and you've heard me explain over the years, co-signing is all the disadvantages of alone with none of the advantages and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're in a bit of a pickle now. I mean you had near perfect credit and now you are right at the line of subprime.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you don't want to refi this, almost certainly when you took this out. It's in a great rate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, you don't want to take the home over by you refining into a new loan. You'll then go into a loan with the credit score you have. You're going to be in a loan that's going to carry a very high number, very high interest rate potentially. And you got all the closing costs. The best thing for you to do,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is to be added to the notification of monthly loan payments.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where you can monitor the account or have access to signing into the account with the mortgage company. So you can make sure that each monthly payment is made on time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ignorance of whether your daughter's paying or not is not bliss. This is, this is a mess. I mean, she's having a really hard time, obviously. My heart goes out to her and to you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If your daughter hadn't done so by whatever day of the month and you're monitoring the account online or getting notifications from the lender, you make the payment before that month goes delinquent and you will rebuild your credit as the late pays go into the background.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if she can't make it on time, you make the payment. Uh, you can do a side agreement with her that gets you, uh, if you want it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so if there's a way till she stabilizes that you make sure the payments are made every month since you gotta make them regardless as a co-signer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's the best thing than some kind of hocus pocus, signing it over to you, refying, uh, you can't take yourself off the loan. The lender's not going to do that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the best thing for you to do is stay in the game and monitor that game every single month. And if she can't make the payment, you've got to make the payment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That Lydia wants her daughter to be able to do that, that the house can be part of her building blocks of getting new stability in her life. If things really though, don't stabilize for your daughter, then yes, it would make sense to sell the house.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] After the AT&T outage. And AT&T by the way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's so funny, only corporate America would come up with this. They're only compensating people five dollars a person.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There were a lot of news stories about, Hey, you know, it'd be really great if you went and got a landline. Um, and then what we've heard


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From so many people, every time there's been any kind of foreign state act or kind of attack.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is that you should have a shortwave radio system. Everybody should know how to use shortwave and communicate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, to your family that way, uh, you know, being a ham radio operator and,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the technological cycle. And that's, that's talking about real survivalist kind of stuff. If things become really bad. The other possibility is internet phone calling. But again, if it's a foreign state actor, we're in a time of real disruption in the world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who says the internet isn't gonna be taken out? So this was...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That they've determined this was not any kind of hack attack or anything like this. This was an internal problem. And yeaah, we do face


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As far as you go with backups depends on how.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really worried you are about what could happen and the thing that I've said, how many years have you heard me say, as long as we've known each other,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Heard me say it's always a good idea because of natural or manmade disasters to have a supply of food.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Non-perishable food, supply of water. We even have a supply of backup dog food that's non-perishable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bad happened. If you went into a really, uh, worrisome place in your mind, take care of life's basics the most, more even than


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Federal insurance in a credit union is not FDIC. It's a different federal agency called NCUA. And the NCUA coverage is identical, mirrors exactly what FDIC does with quarter million dollars per account, all that stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are a small number of credit unions in the United States that have chosen not to insure through the federal system. They are a specialized kind of credit union known as a state chartered credit union.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To ensure your accounts and as I've said over the years, I'm not comfortable with that. Uhm, I, I worry about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How well they'll be able to backstop your money and it's not a scam or anything like that. I just think that having with a financial institution, a bank or credit union, having the backing of the federal government


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is what would allow me to sleep at night. So I know I've read all the stuff that American Share publishes about how safe it is and all that. And


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is having the full backing of the federal government.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I'm not telling you to abandon your credit union for that, I'm just telling you how I feel about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The federal coverage through NCUA versus having a private insurer back a credit union.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I want to thank you so much for joining us today. I appreciate the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, extreme variety of questions and things you bring to the table on our podcast. And remember what we're devoted to, you learning ways to save more, spend less, and don't let anyone ever rip you off.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show, where our mission is to serve you with information that empowers you so you can make better financial decisions in your life.


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[Assistant] Before I get started, I want to mention, or if you've never heard this, let you know that we provide free one-on-one advice and guidance from our Team Clark Consumer Action Center.


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[Assistant] It's been available to you since February of 1993, where you could get free one-on-one advice Monday through Friday.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you can find out more about how to do that at Clark.com slash CAC.


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[Assistant] Today I'm going to talk about savings accounts and how people are getting ripped off without even realizing it. And also,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are you tired of customer no service from retailers? Well, some retailers are starting to wake up to how they're losing customers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The game the banks are playing with savings accounts is infuriating. Banks are setting up


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Different savings accounts that sound similar sound almost the same.


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[Assistant] But pay very different rates of interest. And you may have heard...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That capital one that has a great savings account, not paying the very highest interest rates, but paying close to four and a half percent.


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[Assistant] Has most of its customers who don't specifically request that savings account in one that pays like about a third of a percent of interest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or like 1 14th or 15th of what people are getting by going into the heavily promoted Capital One savings account.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so they're getting sued about that, and I'm sure other banks are gonna get sued about it. And the banks will pay some.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some restitution won't be close to the money that they've taken advantage of you with, but you need to be aware because inertia is a bad habit that so many of us have with money. Whatever we've been doing, we do, we don't actually look at it and we don't realize till later that, Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They only paid me eight dollars in interest last year?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My money should have made me hundreds of dollars in interest or thousands of dollars in interest or whatever it is. Cause you know, the biggest banks are still, if you don't look and aren't paying attention, they're still paying as little as one one hundredth of one percent on your savings


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] While other banks are paying 5% or so, or even that same bank.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just by going in a differently named savings account, maybe paying three, four percent or so, not five.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the reality is it's your money. You worked hard for it. You saved it. You want to earn what you can on it. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Please be active, not passive with your savings. Do you know there's something like eight trillion dollars in money?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sounds impossible. Sitting in savings accounts, that's a figure I saw recently. That couldn't possibly be true, could it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's a lot of money sitting at savings right now. Whatever the actual number is. And if


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What I've heard is way off base, I'll correct that later, Krista, when I read, oops, where'd I come up with that figure? The real number is so and so. But the point is the same. There's a lot of money sitting in savings.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Don't be one of these Capital One customers that are like woulda, coulda, shoulda.


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[Assistant] Who are earning point three instead of somewhere close to four and a half percent on their savings. That's your money. That is your money and you want to earn every last penny you can on it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That sounds like a parent telling their kid, remember, eat the apple I packed in your lunch. That's true.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that's fantastic. Alright, so your 17 year old daughter needs to run, not walk.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With one of my favorite children, Fidelity Schwab or Vanguard, and put 7,000 in for last year from her work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Put another 7,000 in, assuming she's gonna earn at least that much this year from working, cause if she was able to save 15,000 over two years, sounds like she's earning at least 7 grand a year. And get that money in a Roth IRA, because left in a savings account,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Under the rules required for qualifying for financial aid, she's expected to spend all that money on her education


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[Assistant] Right away or else it invalidates her for a lot of financial aid. The formula punishes is cruel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To teenagers who've saved money for whatever purpose and have it in savings accounts. On the other hand, if she migrates that money into a Roth IRA.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then it's considered not to be a spendable asset for college and does not discriminate against her at most any college. There may be an exception somewhere.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In qualifying for financial aid and assistance from a college she wants to attend. So set up the Roth. In her case,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because with the window of time she has till she's gonna use the money.


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[Assistant] You don't want to have the money invested anyway. So we're just being a money market fund.


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[Assistant] And at the same time, protected as an asset that she'd be discriminated against using for college. Now here's the cool part. When you put money in a Roth IRA,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can withdraw your contributions at any time tax and penalty free. There's even rules for being able to use the money for college. The best thing is to leave it in that for as long as she can.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Before she pulls it out for college, so it has more tax free growth. Only money that really needs to stay in there though.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is have full safe harbor is whatever earnings that money would have over the years. And that would give her a little start on building money for retirement. Well, 50 years down the road.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So interesting that you're in Iowa looking to buy a home because I saw a map almost like a heat map of the United States and saw where home prices are just


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Complete budget busters in the United States and where they're far more affordable.


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[Assistant] And the greatest affordability in the United States was in certain states of the Great Plains and much of the Midwest that housing prices, although they've escalated, are still


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not terrible, like they are particularly on both coasts, curving all the way around into the four big markets in Texas. And, uh, and so, for you,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Buying a house is not as brutally awful, terrible in Iowa as it would be elsewhere.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cause what I've been recommending to people, particularly along the coast and into the Texas markets.


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[Assistant] Is that if you're a first time home buyer, you wait this out a little bit and you rent because rents are falling in much of the country and the gap right now between renting and buying


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is so favorable to renters that it's actually an advantage, not a disadvantage to defer buying a home.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You are in a state that's an exception, generally, to that rule.


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[Assistant] So what do I want you to use as a target? I want you to look at your housing costs for mortgage, taxes, insurance.


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[Assistant] To be roughly no higher than a third of your income. Or you can base it on your rent plus 20%.


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[Assistant] As an effective cost that you would have each month.


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[Assistant] Hiring a buyer's agent. First time home buyer. Absolutely. I want you to have a buyer's agent. Uh, he or she will know the market.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They will be able to ask you the right questions to find out how important different factors are and help guide you to buying a home.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The buyer's agent will also be able to advise you clearly on when you should get pre-approval


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For a mortgage, or pre-qualify for a mortgage, the terms


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The pre-approval or pre-qualification period should be closer to when you are actively shopping for that home.


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[Assistant] And good luck looking out there. Every home requires compromise. You'll have to find the one.


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[Assistant] That meets your needs the best and fits in your budget the best that you would be happy living in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so you go in a, uh, treasury money market fund or a government securities money market fund.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a whisker safer than even being in a bank or credit union with FDIC insurance or NCUA. In terms of taxation, no.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Money that's in a money market mutual fund at Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, or even one of their higher cost competitors.


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[Assistant] That is taxed as ordinary income effectively, just like money in a savings account. The thing that happens with money markets is, uh, money market funds that don't hold to a dollar share value, that the value of short term bond fund would be the most common, has both interest you earn


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And also capital gains or losses is the value of the fund is not fixed at $1 per share.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But any traditional money market mutual fund that has a fixed price dollar share, the interest you earn is taxed as ordinary income, just as it would be in a savings account. But usually you will earn a higher rate of interest in a money market mutual fund than you will in a bank equivalent money market account or savings account. So, uh, it's,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you want to earn more and keep it as safe as possible, a treasury fund would be a great spot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Coming up ahead, where's a great spot to get customer service?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, there's a company that's known for customer no service.


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[Assistant] That has finally decided it wants to live a different life.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Guess who that is? IKEA. I'm going to tell you what they're doing. Legendary for customer no service, trying to turn it around. And it is a trend, trend.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What do you call that? A trend let it's not a full trend yet. You're making up new words today. I love it. It's a trendlet trendlet that about having improved customer service that I hope goes from being a trendlet to a full trend. We're going to talk about that straight ahead. So Ikea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] has been legendarily infamous.


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[Assistant] For an atrocious customer experience.


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[Assistant] You buy things, you get home, you start trying to build them, and then you realize you're missing these parts or pieces.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or you go there at a busy time and you're going around with all the carts and you're trying to find stuff and it's supposed to be on aisle six.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, section F or whatever their coding is. I forgot how that, how their alphanumeric works and you get to six F and the items not there, even though it showed it was in stock and then the checkout lines, man, the checkout lines and the customer, no service when you have a problem, yuck. And when you're waiting for something there,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You could have one birthday and then have a second birthday before they're actually ready for you to haul your stuff home. And,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In spite of that, IKEA does extremely well because the price point is incredible and even though people make fun of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] About somebody who had gotten an IKEA sofa right out of college, had it for 20 something years, and then decided to buy a new sofa.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From a fancy dancy place and the new sofa didn't make it two years and the IKEA had still been going strong.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's not always going to be a question of lack of durability and the price points are very good, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They put people through this terrible shopping experience. Well, IKEA finally is like, oh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe we should treat people better when they're trying to buy from us. So, they're opening in, uh, in Texas, California, and Georgia, they're opening new format IKEA places that you can actually come in


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And sit down, there are small, small formats. They don't have all the stuff there or anything like that. But they're opening these small formats to test how do we make people


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so they're gonna have people who are supposedly knowledgeable in these centers that you can come in.


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[Assistant] And they will help you plan out what you're doing and they're also going to have streamlined pickup. So you could buy something and instead of having to wait forever,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For the item, you'll be able to buy it online and then go to one of these small format places to pick it up when it's ready, instead of waiting for the cows to come home, whatever that expression means, to be able to pick up your stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it is this thing, I just maybe invented a new word, trendlet.


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[Assistant] That seems to be happening as a cross current in retail at the same time that other retailers are doing what they can.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To make us miserable. There was a fast company story about how


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Retailers who are trying to differentiate themselves.


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[Assistant] Are trying to offer actual real customer engagement and service and not go to automation that says we value your business and that's why we're leaving you on hold forever. That people are crying out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The expression of the guy who turned around, uh, if you're...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Old enough to remember continental airlines, uh, became united. Continental.


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[Assistant] Had like the worst service reputation of any company that exists in the United States at one time. And a leadership team came in, led by a guy named Bethune, who was like, of course people hate us. We're terrible. And he turned the company around.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I remember one of his expressions, you can always...


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[Assistant] Make a pizza bad enough and cheap enough that no one will want to buy it unless they're like a five year old kid. They're like cardboard. But anyway, the reality is that American retail has ignored the Gordon Bethune rule and they have made the pizza bad enough and cheap enough that nobody wants it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Treating a customer better over time will take market share.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm not talking about the small locally owned business. The boutique kind of thing.


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[Assistant] They live, they survive against the bigs just by having a personalized experience. And if they don't, they will go extinct. They will close. But I'm talking about the local chains, regional chains and the national chains. If you improve the customer experience, it doesn't cost, it pays and you benefit. And the companies that are smart will adapt.


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[Assistant] And we'll see if a year from now I'm reporting that Ikea has now closed their new experimental places or realized, Hey, there really is value to treating people better and opens more of these customer friendly kind of things. You know, in 24,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's hard to believe that the IKEA experience is still as


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And equated as it is in those stores. I remember how long ago was it that you decided to redo your own kitchen?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so that is so seared in my memory, Krista, because you bought an older house and you put a lot of money into buying that house and you had to really do a tight budget on redoing the kitchen. And so you decided you were going to do


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I remember you going to buy the used appliances. That was, that was a real thing back 20 years ago. So how many trips did you make to Ikea? It was like every day after work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You would be back at Ikea because this panel was missing, this part was missing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you gotta look through, uh, I assume you have all electronic paperwork, so make sure you're not bleary-eyed when you do this. It should say in it whether it's underwritten directly


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By Mass Mutual, which a lot of them are, or Mass Mutual also has a wholly owned subsidiary that some, or some number of the Haven Life policies go into. That subsidiary will have


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If we do an up, can we do an update on Clark.com about Haven life?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if we could also check to see the financial strength of the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, second underwriter that Mass Mutual uses, because Mass Mutual is as rock solid as any insurer could be. And if your policy is underwritten directly by Mass Mutual, no issue. The question mark is this subsidiary of Mass Mutual.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What kind of financial strength does it have if your policy is with it? And that's what we'll put in our update.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On our, uh, Haven Life thing. Haven Life, I'm, I'm just really bummed that Mass Mutual is shutting down Haven Life.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And continue for you to be able to buy a policy that way because it's fantastic that they use, uh, medical information available about you and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mathematical formulas, algorithms to underwrite you instantly because most people who go to buy a life insurance policy don't follow through


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because it takes months from when you want to initially apply for a life insurance policy to when it's issued. Haven Life was a breakthrough because they came up


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With this gutsy thing of doing medical underwriting electronically for most applicants and it was instant issuance and approval of a policy and I hate that they are


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Heather, first of all, I want to tell you, I'm really sorry that you've lost your dad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As a general rule, the airlines are, are opaque about this. They are not going to be very forthcoming because they technically own your late father's points. So let me tell you the, not the book answer, but what most people do, if they know


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To, to you Heather, or to other people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Using your dad's points. Now I know, uh, before any lawyer goes on Clark Stinks and posts that I'm now encouraging family members of a deceased individual to commit fraud or whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is so routine in families that this is done that you just do it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and I'll, if you contact the airline though, they're then gonna say, okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We want to see in your dad's will where he willed these points to whoever. And if your dad did have a will,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Any lawyer who does wills, estates, and trusts puts in a will now, things like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, frequent flyer mile accounts and things like that with the designation of who inherits


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A will that does not have anything in it, or if there is no will, a lot of times an airline just treats it as, well, that's just too bad we have these points, which is why families just, they just quietly empty those accounts, use those points. Because those sky pennies, they don't get better with age.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You use those, they're, the program's officially called Sky Miles, but there were so little now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That in the frequent flyer world, people call Deltas miles sky pennies.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You use them, you don't let them sit because the airlines continually devalue their points just as Southwest did January 1st with their points and their rapid rewards program.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In most cases for free. In fact, can we cover that sometime in the next few podcasts? Yes, absolutely. Uhm, there are a couple of programs, if you make less than 80,000 a year,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's an IRS program called Free File, where you can use various commercial tax preparation firms and not pay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And in a number of states, the IRS now has direct file where you can file your taxes for free through the IRS program.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You usually can do your state return as well for free through direct file. We're the last developed country in the world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To have a direct file program and as of right now I think it's available in nine of the fifty states but most of the most populated states. And so I'll cover all that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And see what's available to you in your circumstance.


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[Assistant] For you potentially to be able to use tax prep software and file for free.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You said you don't have a simple return, but it's not complicated.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You'll probably be fine with tax prep software. Who's not fine with that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Complicated family situation, you own your own business, uhm, anything like that, going through a divorce.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just getting married. In that kind of case, you may find