[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, while you're answering that from Mark in North Carolina, you recommend getting a dash cam, but you never mention the process of using it in an accident. Do you rip it off the windshield and try to figure out how to display the video on its screen?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you take out the SIM card and hand it to the, over to the cop or play it on another device? Do you get one with an app, et cetera?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And from May in Tennessee, GoodRx requests my birthdate in order to use its services and coupons. In the past, the company has not requested this. Is it safe to provide my birthdate? I have had good service with this company and the prices have been cheaper.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I received the computer and did not even find any scratches, but after setting it up and the second time I turned it on, I received a warning stating, this is the final update and you need to purchase a new computer. What? I just purchased this computer. Bait and switch.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This just happened to my daughter with her apple, by the way. No more updates.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I didn't mean to do that. That's fine. Just saying it happens.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We recently signed up with a cellphone company for a new service due to the price quoted on the phone.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We were quoted a price after phones traded in of $94.99 per month.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We were nervous to sign the contract because it reflects a different price before trade-ins of the phones. We were assured that the phone call was being recorded for backup, so we also recorded the call.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now they're quoting us a bill of $113.13 per month after trade-ins.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The rep said we were misquoted a price and that they cannot find the recording.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We've offered to send our recording in, but there's no way to receive it, they say.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Since she has a recording too, I might check with local TV stations. They might be really interested in a story like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] While the other card is from a balance transfer. I have an emergency cash on hand to pay the cards off. Should I do that? I used to have a credit score in the 800s and now it's in the 600s. This bothers me every day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm so glad you're with us today on the Clark Howard show where, you know, our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life. And.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Today though is my special podcast day of the week, my favorite.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because it's when I get to hear where you feel I've gotten it wrong and I get to hear suggestions from you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How to give better advice, better information. I love the Clark Stinks segment. Also the average American wants to retire really, really young, but can you, are you ready for that? Is it a smart decision?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm gonna tell you some of the things you gotta think through.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are going to be a lot of hearings about this in the United States and overseas and legislative bodies and our Congress. Uhm, eight billion dollars missing?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Eight billion dollars and you've had, uh, crypto after crypto collapse, exchanges collapse.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, lenders collapse. I mean this is an area that is chaos and there is no true underlying financial regulation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you go back in time to when crypto first became an idea, uh, basically around the time that people lost faith


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And government issued currencies with the banking scandals and the great recession back starting in 2007, uh, were the real seeds of crypto. Um, crypto itself has proven not to be reliable and not to be


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, properly regulated. What is proper regulation? I have no idea, but I can tell you the heartache for so many people who bet so big on crypto and now have lost all their money. It is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For some people life changing and very upsetting and we need a system if, uh, you know, I've talked about the underlying architecture that lies behind crypto and all that. There's so much potentially good there, but the system to this point has been a non-functioning system.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For speculative assets and what so often happens with speculative assets is there is theft. There is wild swings in value. There's a lot wrong. We're a long way from crypto being a mature, real form of payment and crypto is not an investment is not an investment crypto.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Doing what it's supposed to do is a form of payment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And a form of funds that people can use to buy and sell things. It's not there yet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so I love this, that so many people


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are accessing the information on Clark.com and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I've never heard of buying a mattress at a fairgrounds and I hope this is like the greatest bet ever because I'm choking on, uh, even on sale, you got 75% off through the fairgrounds sale. Uh, that's more money than, um, I'm kind of shallow breathing than I,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it turned out later I could have gotten it for $4.79 and I'm still sweating the $20 bucks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mike, first of all, thank you for having a very customer oriented and friendly cancellation on your Airbnb. What I was saying is that people don't know


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not that it's not available, but they have not really looked to see what the policy is often on a VRBO or Airbnb on a cancellation. The other thing I did say is that it's very common that Airbnbs and VRBOs have very strict policies


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On cancellations, many are, uhm, not changeable, and if you can't go, you lose your money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] of what the policy is. And again, I want to congratulate you for having such an extremely customer friendly


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Policy on cancellations for the property you do rent out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it is that very few people ever use a VPN.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That if the advice I should give is that if you're going to use and you set it right, if you're going to use public wifi, make sure you're using a VPN on your smartphone, your laptop or your tablet before using


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] that vp before using that public wifi


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would be the right thing to say. My answer is simpler and that is that I only use the hot spot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That is provided with my cellphone to my laptop.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I don't use public wifi on my cell phone, so I'm on the network.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] of my cell phone provider, I feel safer that way, but your answer


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is a very valid one. I'm just thinking how few people use a VPN as for the free ones. A lot of the reviews in the tech on the tech websites.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are skeptical of the typical free VPN.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Guy I hadn't seen in two years. And I asked him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are you still working? He said, no, no, I retired. And, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The two sides of retiring early is, I know this sounds like, uh, a problem that is not a problem. What are you going to do with yourself? But I was talking to a gentleman just a few days before that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who told me, yeah, he's got the money to retire. He's never going to retire because he's still traumatized that his dad retired early and went straight downhill because he was one of those people who needed


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The purpose in life of getting up in the morning and, uh, going there and doing something that he just couldn't make it work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Being retired. So, being retired is about more than just dollars and cents. It's like, what do you do after you retire?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you have hobbies you love? It's not going the golf course seven days a week, let me tell ya. Uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not being, playing pickleball on five different leagues at once. That's not enough.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Never played pickleball. By the way, are you bothered by that ping sound? It doesn't bother me, but a lot of people hate that sound of the pickleball rackets, but that's a different topic. Anyway.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The question about retirement, because when people are asked, so many people want to retire extra early.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you got the money stuff I talk about, which is, how are you gonna live?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The guy I talked to this morning at the bagel shop was one of the fortunate few


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who had a pension that allows him to live out his days in comfort.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And gosh, you got one of those? How great is that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A lot of people who work for government may have a pension.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some people still work for large companies, may have a pension, people work in certain industries.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And transportation may be more likely to have a pension. The rest of us, it's me, myself, and I. What have you saved in a 401k? What have you saved in a Roth IRA? What do you got? Do you still have debt? Do you, if you own a home, do you own it free and clear?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, these are things you gotta figure out and is the money you've got enough to support your lifestyle moving forward.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And if you retire well before you're Medicare eligible, how are you going to do the healthcare thing till you're Medicare eligible?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean these are things that are just basic blocking and tackling and on the money question, uh, there's the 4% rule, which some people now say in current conditions is 3% rule, but I think it's fine to stick with the 4% as you plan. It means can you live


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because that's about how much you can afford to spend of the money you built up in retirement.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Expenses, uh, that you've got to cover. Are you really in a position to do that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are you going, are there hobbies you love? Like, do you have a, um, uh, wood shop? And there's things you've wanted to build and maybe sell on the side and a hobby becomes like a little part-time business. I had the pleasure of my TV work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To recently, uh, meet a couple that took their hobbies in retirement and now they're making real money selling the things that they make and also selling flowers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From their home and they're, they're making real money doing it. The funny thing I heard from them though, is they're both working a lot more than they intended with just a little side thing, but it's doing so well. But what do you do with that time? Because if you're not fulfilled, retired days become not as much fun as you'd think. I mean, for me,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It would never be an issue because I'm interested in like a million different things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I'd be volunteering here and volunteering there and volunteering somewhere else. Uhm, I'd...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The network of friends in retirement, very, very important. Because retirement can be very isolating. So,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Think about not just the money side. I want you to think about the other side. And if A and B add together to C, you got the resources to be able to retire and retire early.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You've got the activities you'll be involved in, then you're good because we never know how much life we have in front of us. And is, if you're a long time listening to me, you've heard me say all through the years, the thing, a late Massachusetts Senator said when he was diagnosed with a terminal disease,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he said, I never heard a dying man say he wished he spent more time at his work. And I remember that is so important. Their life is more than work, obviously. And so when you're


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you've got those check marks for retirement and you know what retirement means and what will work for you, go for it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have a great time. And so that having been said, Chris took a bite. I'm leaving. Uh, you'll have to finish this podcast. It's over.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I love what I do and I continue to work, but you got that funny look on your face. Thank goodness you knew I was kidding.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs, you're allowed to contribute


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the following year for the prior year because of this problem.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are people that are on that income bubble that may be found to be income ineligible later on. Uh, because in Congress's wisdom, they've decided if you make what they consider to be too much, you are not worthy to be a saver for your future.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Don't get it. Anyway, that's what they do. So in your case,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You should not take advantage of dollar cost averaging of contributing an equal amount through the year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Instead what you do is you save that money, now in a online savings account you can earn, uh, decent parking space money on it, decent interest, and you gotta wait till you've got your 1099s after the turn of the year,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, you know, in early 24, you see that your, uh, dividends and all that keep you below the income limit, uh, single limit, 138,000 now for 23.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then you make that contribution before you file your return in 24. It means you lose gains that may have occurred throughout tax year 23.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By being able to dollar cost average in. But you're still able to make those Roth contributions 423 and know that you're fine with the tax code.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because the psychological harm if you put in a lump sum and all of a sudden the market has a big decline and then it takes years to make up from that big decline. The math though over the decades finds


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That on average, you end up with more money putting in lump sums than putting it in in equal amounts month after month over a dollar cost averaging cycle.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This psychological though is very important.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because people can feel devastated if they worked hard through a working lifetime, get that lump sum and then bam, it gets blown away in short order.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I'd say if you would feel, if you would lose sleep, you would be twisted and knots. There was a big decline right after you put in a lump sum.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Go with dollar cost averaging as a way of peace of mind, putting this money aside for your future.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So there's several things to unpack here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She felt like her parents had great judgment. She probably feels some sentimental thing to using the person who her parents used. She may not feel comfortable


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Being with a firm that doesn't have


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This kind of individual that's a, it's a high commission firm owned by a bank, uh, and never recommend that people do investing, ever, with the investment arm of a big bank, cause the fees are so high.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The individual she would be with probably is not legally a fiduciary either, meaning that they can put her in investments that are not


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] best for her because it gives that individual the salesman at the bank based brokerage more money in his or her pocket so


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is tough because also with the money being divided multiple ways,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] None of them individually are as important to this broker in another state as the parents were with their combined assets. There are a lot of reasons they would say not to be


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With this ultra-high commission, full commission brokerage house.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As a recommendation to your wife, she's gotta be happy with the decision she's making. And don't push her to make a decision she's not comfortable with. But I'd say that if this individual is not acting


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would not tip it away from being with this person because of the prior family connection and the sentimental nature involved with that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And performance over the next several years may force a change in how she feels about this anyway and she may be willing at that point to move to a lower cost firm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But if this individual is not a fiduciary, then that's a deal breaker, and that would be why she should move this money away from that broker.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I want to tell you again, express to your wife, if you would, my sympathies over the loss of both of our parents in such a short period of time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I want to thank you for being part of our community here. Uh, we work


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In all the capacities that we connect to you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To serve you as best we can is our head and our heart.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Tells us it's the best way to serve you and that's what we want to do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Here on the podcast and all the ways that we may reach you and provide you information that empowers you in your life to take more control over it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For we begin, I need to tell you, you have two lazy people here because we are taking off next week for the Thanksgiving holiday.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was just teasing, saying we were lazy. What are you doing for Thanksgiving week?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We are traveling all over the place over the next, uh, 10 days and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're gonna be with family all over the place and it'll be interesting to see because this time of year, best laid plans with travel can go awry. So we can report when we return if I've got a good


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Story to share, and I hope that you have an absolutely fantastic time with family, friends,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Experiences, adventures, whatever next week brings into your life. Football. Football is my life.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you know next year, there's going to be NFL football on Thanksgiving Day and on Black Friday and on Sunday.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And don't forget, Monday Night Football. I mean, it's gonna be quite...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thanksgiving week for an NFL not like me next year. And, uh, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Enough about football. So what we got going on now, it's time for...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My favorite segment we do on our podcast, Clark stinks, where you get to hear where I didn't quite do as good a job as I should have and I'll have


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The whole next week to think through the things that you have shared with me in today's Clark Stinks. By the way, I, I really stink already because I didn't mention later in this podcast. I'm going to talk about.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some things that some of the major product manufacturers are doing that you gotta be aware of to protect your wallet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This has come up before and I apologize when I've answered questions about teen auto insurance. I've not talked about many states. There are state mandated discounts. Exact percents that are required.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That insurers lower your insurance if you take a state mandated, uh, a state sanctioned or approved


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Driver training course. Now, these come in two ways. One.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are ones that are 14 drivers specifically.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That gets you the new driver discount for a teen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But in several states, there are discounts for people of any age


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you take a defensive driving course, uh, many times it will be a six hour or ten hour, uh, safety course and you take that,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then there will be a state mandated reduction in your auto insurance for a period of time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And again, auto insurance is regulated by the states. So these are 100% state specific by state mandate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Doug, thank you. Uhm, the road hazard warranty.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is an intensely profitable thing for the tire industry, for the tire dealers, uh, not so much for the one your brother had because it worked out for him because of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just want you to know that if you drive on normal roads, tires are so much more reliable than they used to be.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who drives in territory where you know you're going to have problems repeatedly, then do what Doug's brother did.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes Richard, your bank lied to you. Flat out lied to you. Because all you need to do is go to Google or any search engine you use.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And click on the news icon and put in Zell. Zell Fraud.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You will see stories that are done every single week in the country, maybe at this point every single day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That what your bank said to you was a big fat lie. Now there's no reason that the big banks that own Zelle


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Could not offer fraud protection with Zelle.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But they don't want to, and you get stuck with the bill even when somebody gets into your account and steals your money. Just look.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] at the TV reports. This is such low-hanging fruit for TV reporters that they could do a Zell story


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 365 days a year about people who had their money vanish. Zelle is dangerous. Be paranoid. Stick with the paranoia and know that Zelle is a ticking time bomb for your checking account.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yeaah, so what Vanguard has is they have a partner for the HSA.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the fidelity HSA is a much cleaner, simpler, easier thing to do. You made the right choice going with fidelity for your HSA.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's a missed opportunity at Vanguard that they're doing this is almost like something they're farming out the work on instead of doing it in the house because the HSA is such a wonderful product.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the Fidelity HSA is awesome.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Tom, thank you and your point is well made and valid. The purpose of HSA money and proper tax planning.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is to let the money grow over the decades and then when you are in retirement as medical bills become a bigger part


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a fantastic asset to inherit, where an HSA


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] has the tax bomb issues like a traditional IRA would have.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sean, uhm, you know, cars go through cycles of being the ones targeted by thieves and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know specifically, do you know the reasons why Hyundai's and Kia's have been targeted?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, for a long time, the most stolen car


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the United States was older Honda Civics.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there were specific reasons for that. So there, there's a, a pattern that changes over time which vehicles are stolen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are broken into the most, and I don't know why Pias and Hyundai's are broken into so much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In this case, the criminals just broke the window and stole out of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Scott, okay, number one, on the cars, I was flat out wrong. I did not see all the things that came together that led to, uh, longer term shortages.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Both new and used vehicles. It took a perfect storm of things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That happened one on top of another and I was flat out wrong about the car thing. Guilty as charged. I will not be wrong about what I've said about the market being in really good health.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The second half of 23 for consumers. Things are already improving on both the new and used front.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The timing, I got completely wrong.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I won't be wrong this time. Mark my words. I want to hear back from you, Scott. If we get to, let's say July, August of 23 and the prices are, are still where they are now. Um, I want you to make me, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Admit that I was wrong again. I won't be wrong. I'm, I'm like a hundred percent confident I won't be wrong. That's pretty strong number. That's too much. And I guess if I am wrong, Scott, right live on the podcast, I'll have to eat some sheet metal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have gotten much cheaper already this year. What happened was the lobbyists for the hearing aid cartel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was able to stall and stall and stall on the regulations going into effect. They are in effect now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I talked recently on the podcast, gave examples of the much lower prices. Go look at what's happening in the marketplace now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your wife will be happy because you will hear what she says now and uh, there are a number of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well known and recognized brand name manufacturer is Bose. This is the one furthest out front.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Consumer audio brands, but there's a lot, a lot of choice and the prices are coming down and they will keep dropping.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ben, thank you. It's ironic you're posting about this because we did talk about Amazon warehouse just a few weeks ago and talked about Amazon's strategy for clearing out goods that had been kind of haphazard that they're focusing more and more on how to get that done. And so there are,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Significantly more bargains available, especially because Amazon is so overstocked right now and a lot of the deals that are being


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cleared out by Amazon aren't light new. They are new goods that they're heavily marking down to clear out. This is a real savings opportunity right now with everybody, including Amazon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, thank you very much. I think he meant tax, CPA, not Texas.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A fairly complicated, it's funny it has the name simple, it's much more complicated than how a SEP works.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But if you have proper guidance like you're providing to your clients,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A simple is a very effective vehicle to save money. You don't have administrative fees with the discount brokers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For doing a simple IRA and there's another tool in the toolbox. I generally don't talk about the simple because the complexity for somebody who is a very small business or is self-employed


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The sep or was somebody self employed, the solo or?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's referred to as the solo 401k or the self-employed 401k is in my opinion a better option


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the sample for a very small business, particularly a one person entity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Simple, because the paperwork's a lot simpler for a sep than it is for a simple. Wow. That's a lot of terms to throw out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] David, thank you for this. Okay, so the thing with any subscription offer,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That has upfront bonuses that are really great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is that so often people will sign up for something like that and they'll say, okay, I'm going to get, in your case, I'm going to get the wills and then I'm going to dump it a year later. People forget to dump it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whatever the subscription is that has some kind of wonderful upfront benefit that obviously makes the money you'd be paying for that subscription a deal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the problem is when does a deal become no deal? It's when you sign up for something and then it just keeps on going month after month, year after year. In your case, worked out perfectly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I want to say something right here about the posts on Clark Sinks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You just have no idea how much I appreciate you sitting down, taking the time to write and correct me or add additional information or disagree with me and the passion that you express


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because it's all part of being part of our team here. Because we all learn together. Nobody has a monopoly on good ideas and wisdom. And


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Any individual who thinks they have all the answers, they don't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so we do all learn together. We learn cumulatively and we learn over time. And my favorite one though, was the individual pointed out how thick in the head I was about the cars.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Two years ago and how wrong I was because it really is important when


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Somebody speaks to you with, uh, just strong conviction. And then later they never say, Hey, you know, when I told you that wasn't true.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it really is wonderful truth serum that you take the time to post and share with me. Coming up ahead, the big brand name manufacturers are just as fast as they can and as aggressively as they can raising the prices on everything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I want to tell you what their strategy is and how you should deal with that strategy straight ahead.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As you know, I'm obsessed with store brands, with generics and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good times bad, I'm all about the store brand. But the way we as Americans behave, very different than people in the rest of the developed world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We buy a lot more brand name goods than people do in other wealthy countries. And we, it's just part of what we do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] During times that our wallets a little thinner, like right now with the inflationary cycle we're in, people tend to migrate more to store brands.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's happened this time in the United States. But the share that store brands represent


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's teensy tiny compared to what happens other places. Uh, the consumer marketing companies are solidly in our psyche in the United States.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there's been a pattern here that is very unusual during a time that a meaningful number of people are migrating from the brand name to the store brand.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Normally when that happens, the brand name manufacturers will do, uh, product substitution where they will make


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lower cost versions of the item, package it differently, could be almost the same item, but they'll, they'll have a value version of the brand name to capture back business that might leave them to go to the store brand. But the brand name manufacturers


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] have mostly stayed away from that this economic cycle and have been successful selling fewer items


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To a smaller number of people at now much higher markups. I saw a story recently in the business section of the New York Times about how several of the brand name manufacturers


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That historically has been, typically 30%, is actually widening right now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because the brand name manufacturers know they've got these people no matter what, they're gonna buy the brand name and so they're just gonna run up the price till they hit that wall of resistance and so far they haven't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nestle is an example that owns a lot of brands. His pop price is up nearly 10%.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the third quarter versus a year ago, a significant step up from where they were before and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They are still making enormous profit margins, even though they're selling less of whatever Procter and Gamble has bumped up, uh, Crest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sharman, other things, 9% just in the latest quarter. Sales volume dropped, but only dropped 3%. So they're like, wait, this is great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're running these prices up and yeah, we lost some people at the margins, but we're making so much more on the people that are staying. I want you to understand that you're being played if you are extremely brand name loyal. And so think it through.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you're in the store and your historical habit is you buy this brand name, that brand name, the other brand name. Why don't you try the store brand? Why don't you just take a little tentative walk down the store brand path and you may really be surprised that that store brand


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is just as good most of the time, sometimes even better, sometimes not as good. What do you lose?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Every store out there, if you try their store brand and you don't like it, you take it back, they give you your money back. Some stores will stand so behind their store brand that you take it back and at no extra cost, they'll give you that brand name as like a double satisfaction guarantee. So let Procter & Gamble, let the others


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sell things at much, much higher cost to people that are turbo brand loyal?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Step back from that loyalty and your wallet will be smiling all the way to the credit union. See, I couldn't say all the way to the thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How the hacker was able to break that complicated password.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so that we've talked about why passwords are gonna go rear view mirror because hackers have been able to defeat most any password system out there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's why criminals are stealing your cell phone service. So suddenly your cell phone will go dead. Somebody has switched your cell phone service because of poor security of the cell phone carriers. So most of the time though, two factor authentication.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is gonna be that, uh, great security that's gonna keep the theft from happening. You've done what you should do, and I would be aware that if somebody's figured that out, some of your other financial passwords, they may be onto those as well. You may consider changing the ones that you have at your brokerage 401k, uh, bank, credit union, that kind of thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do just a fresh reset on your passwords.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That college costs are not going to be a worry. You use the very efficient 529 plans. You got that tax-free money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you'll be happy to know that the law does permit, uhm, for you to charge, you have to charge,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The equivalent are less than what a dorm would be on campus.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A commuter rate. What does that mean? You're gonna teach me something, Krista.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you don't want, you maybe don't want a college to have a commuter stated amount, because that would likely be lower than the dorm cost, but if they have both, you have to use the lower, the commuter


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wow, that is, I'm so glad because that really disturbed me because the feds won us all in pre-check.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then put too many hurdles in to get it done, in this case a renewal. So wonderful. All's well that ends well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because of a federal employee or federal contractor who cared?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wonderful. So thank you so much for listening to our show today. Next week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Remember, all about gratitude.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I'm extremely grateful to each of you for being a member of our team. I hope you have a great upcoming week with the big three, friends, family, football. And remember,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Football is my life, it can be your life too.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have a couple of fidelity related questions. This one's from Wendy in Idaho.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What kinds of investments is Fidelity better and less expensive than others like Schwab? If I have a Schwab investment account


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hi Clark, thank you for what, for all you do for all of us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We appreciate you and your team. I have two different 401ks. One from an old job, one with my current job. My current job offers about 24 funds, mostly through Vanguard. My old 401k is mostly with Fidelity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Should I move the old 401k funds to my current job's 401k or keep both?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From Sarah in Ohio, for PayPal and Vemo types of services, you recommend opening an account with an online bank to minimize damage if someone hacks into your account.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Instead of connecting your PayPal to a bank account, why not connect it to a credit card?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wouldn't a credit card carry protection in these cases? Thanks for all you do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I just have my Venmo hooked up to set the separate checking account that we use. We put a little money in there every month, like from paycheck, it goes automatically in that account.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we use it to pay a bunch of people on Venmo. I don't even have a credit card on Venmo. I have one on my PayPal for when I'm purchasing things from a merchant.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, I can't believe it covers the internet. I would think that means you have a pool and other stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Usually they get you for the internet separately. That's so crazy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, questions? Stacy in California says my oldest son is serving his third enlistment in the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just a USAA 2% cash back card as my husband is an Army veteran. I'm looking for either the cheapest airline or best reward card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Rania in Georgia says, I have three airline companion certificates that are all slated to expire on January 31st of 23. I've tried everything under the sun to extend the expiration dates until next summer. Do you have any suggestions that might be helpful?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show. Our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life. Today, I want to warn you about something that sadly has become so very common.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Text message scams. I continue receiving messages supposedly from companies I do business with that are fake. When should you click? When should you delete? I'm going to tell you. Also,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I often hear from generous listeners who want to gift money to a family member, but you don't know how to do it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's a great way to do this without messing up anybody's taxes. So a couple of things on text messaging. One is it's become very common because it costs nothing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] or predictive programs that people have on computers to send out blast text messages and they will come typically


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From your own area code or one near you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they'll have a very simple thing like, Hey, or just wanted to check on you, see how you're doing, whatever. And you don't recognize the number. Do you click on it? What if it says, uh, Bill, I really need to talk to you about, uh, your, um, your illness or bill so-and-so's hurt or Jane blah, blah, blah has happened.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so you may as a good Samaritan think, uh-oh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They've texted the wrong person. Somebody needs this information right away and you click on it or.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Any other thing like that, these are just prospectors trying to scam you in some way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And if somebody is inadvertently texted the wrong party, well, if it's a true urgent emergency, they're going to keep trying to reach them. You don't need to be the fish with the hook in mouth for that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then with the text message scams from companies, people used to get them from a very narrow market. It would be, uh, someone pretexting that they were from your bank or credit card company or whatever. And they would say, um, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's possible fraud on your account, whatever, however they would word it. Today it's all different kinds of things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, one of the hot scams of the moment with texting, believe it or not, is where you get a fake message from an airline saying that your flight has been canceled and they can send out


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] These by the millions, so eventually they're going to hit people who have a ticket booked on whatever airline.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so people will then respond to that text or click on a link in it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And not realize that they're connecting themselves to a scammer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, you know the bank thing where they say, uh, did you authorize this charge for blah, blah, blah? I think people have gotten that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Enough that that's solid. But who would think


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That a criminal would come up with a pretext scam where they'd be texting you about a supposed flight cancellation. So what are they trying to get from you eventually? They're trying to get to your personal information and it depends on how trusting you are, how many of their questions you answer till you've given up information


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They can be used against you or to steal money from you. And so with text messages, here's my rule. First of all, I got the UFO one from somebody supposedly trying to contact me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there's no information that I know that, that sender, that number, anything like that. I do not open that. Just don't open it. And I use Gmail, I'm sorry, I use


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, an Android, it's really easy on an Android to click out of that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is with anything like a notice from a utility company, an airline, a bank, a credit card company, whatever it is, it could be legit, right? Okay. So you get something saying there's an issue with your bank account, your utility is going to be shut off, whatever it is. Go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Outside of that message has been sent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Go to your web browser on that phone or on a laptop.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Go sign into your account or use the app you have on your phone for whatever service that is. Sign in and you will see whether or not there is an issue or problem you need to address. Period. So don't be hoodwinked.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With text messaging to click on anything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Krista just a second ago, I said,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if you heard some stray noise listening to the podcast, you're like, what is that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just remember, our phones are always listening.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, first of all, Bruce, I'm really sorry you lost your friend. Uhm, second,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your friend gave you this as a responsibility. That's happened to you before.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, it has happened to me before and it is, it is a hard one to navigate. So,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this individual can end up okay, you know, starts with drugs and moved on and maybe this individual will get clean and will have a productive life eventually. So you could.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you talked about a structured payout that's typically where you buy uhm, an annuity of some kind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That would typically an immediate payout annuity that would pay an allowance for as long as this individual lived. Usually with those.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The benefit is based on, although there are varieties, the most common is it's based on the individual's expected lifespan. There's an amount of money that's paid routinely, but there's another way to do this and it's for you to go to typically one of the discount brokers and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They have accounts where you can hire them to manage the money, very low fees, and then they will pay an allowance, a monthly allowance, and that way money is preserved, the allowance can be reduced, increased, whatever,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Depending on the circumstances with this individual. I prefer that as an option.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To the annuity, uh, first cause of the costs embedded in annuity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then once you buy the contract, the inflexibility built into it. If you do a form of managed payout with one of the discount brokers,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then the fees are going to be much lower and there's much more flexibility that you have over the money after you commit it to changing how the money is handled and how it's paid out over the remaining lifetime of the beneficiary. And I hope for the beneficiary, uh, that this individual is able to straighten out his or her life and able to beat drugs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know what's weird? This is the only time in my lifetime that employers have been more flexible and open.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To hiring people who have a prior criminal history.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because the Citibank Visa card you get for free as a Costco member gets you 2% cash back at Costco, gets you 3% cash back at restaurants, 3% cash back on travel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This thing some people use for automobiles.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Gasoline, thank you, that's what it's called. Electric vehicle snob, what can I say? So, that'll really help with those places.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For Lowe's and others, I love the 2% cash back cards.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we have a comprehensive list based on type of transactions, what reward cards


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Our best on Clark.com just says the best reward credit cards to apply for right now. And so you can see what would tend to work best for your spending patterns. But I can tell you without looking at the list, the city bank, Costco visa card,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Needs to be in your wallet for that 2% cash back at Costco.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Bill, the tire thing is crazy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I mean try looking at a tire.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To see what the size is alone. That's the biggest thing they put. And the tire pressure. Okay, so I have to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, do something that more and more people do. I take my smartphone.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I zoom out, you know, to 10X and then I take a picture.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If the tires are the OEMs, the ones you got when you got your car, you can open up the car, SUV, whatever truck, and there will be a metal plate there inside the driver door that will tell you the proper inflation front and back for those tires. Did you know that? I did not know that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I did not know that. I'm surprised. No really, I thought you knew that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, I want you to look when you get in your car next time. So, we were talking about, um, proper ways to hand out money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How about proper ways to give money to someone else that don't bring the tax man into your life? We're going to talk about that straight ahead. So there are families where there are situations. You got somebody who's typically older. They've done well financially. They want to help younger family members. Uh, could be a younger sibling, could be their kids.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, could be they want to help their grandkids. The tax code is amazingly friendly for


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Family helping family, even friends helping friends. You may have heard me say that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Surplus money lying around and you want to help somebody else, you can give them the money. No tax consequences to the giver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No tax consequences, the recipient, you don't have to make it 16,000. It doesn't mean 16,000 is the cap, but let's say you're a married couple and you want to help a kid who's trying to pay down payment on a house. You can each give your child 16 grand for that 32,000 all at once. If they're married, you can give their spouse.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Suddenly, there's $64,000, one generation transferred to another, tax free. Another scenario


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That I've been asked about a lot over the last few years, but I've only answered it in spot ways.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is where, let's say you got money sitting there earning like basically nothing and you trust that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A family member is going to meet their obligations if you are the bank of mom and dad or whatever it is and you lend money to your kid for something that's well beyond what this 16,000 is. The IRS has thought about this and you can't just say


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wink and nod. I'm going to lend you money at half a percent. Go have fun. Go buy that house. I'm lending you the money for it. You don't need the mortgage company. You have the mortgage company of mom and dad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And charge whatever the IRS actually sets what the interest rates have to be. And they're incredibly low. I mean, amazingly low, even with how interest rates have risen lately, they're still really low. Typically.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The IRS rates for various lengths of time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are about half what the prevailing interest rate is in the market for that type of loan. Like a typical mortgage loan today, the IRS would require a family member to charge another family member, could be a friend, whatever, somewhere around 3%. It's really easy to find online for different lengths of loans what it is you have to charge. Now here's the hard part though. You lend money to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A kid, as the mortgage company essentially, for a home, what if they don't pay? What if your kid slacks on paying?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're going to foreclose on your kid. If it's money you need to live on, you can't take that risk. You cannot take that risk. It's the same thing I talk about with cosigning a loan for somebody else.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If they don't pay, can you deal with the consequences of having to pay that loan yourself? If the answer is no, you can't do that cosign and doing a loan where you help a friend or family member out of a rough spot or


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You help ease a path for them, like for homeownership where mortgages now 5% more or less and you're willing to take three.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which may be more than you're earning wherever you have that money parked right now. So you could make more and you're helping them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But suddenly you don't have FDIC standing behind that money. You're hoping that the person you love will make that payment to you. And so you got to really think through if they don't, what are you going to do? We're going to be normal logical consequences for that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's a question you can answer. I can't answer for you, but again, if you could not afford to lose that money, you cannot afford to do a bank of mom and dad or whatever it would be loan, but just know, make sure that you're charging


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly what the IRS requires, if you're green light on all these things. In the IRS, you just search, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] IRS required interest rates for family loans.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That'll work. This is a Google or whatever search and you'll see the current interest rates, which are going to freak you out how low they are. And you can do it and should do it like a traditional mortgage where you have a real estate closing attorney draw proper papers. It is a properly, uh, done. So there's typically deed to secure debt mortgage and you have that done so that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The interest is deductible potentially for your kid or family member.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just to make sure everything is done right as it should be done and the documents drawn up as they are.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you don't want to be involved with having to call whoever it is you lent money to,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To, hey, you know, you haven't paid your payment for this month yet. You want to not be involved in that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Believe it or not, there's enough of these family friend loans done in the country. There are various organizations that will handle the paperwork and the billing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the collections, if a payment's not made for you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that you're one step removed. The fees are not high. Krista?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so Alaska, because of the Alaska pipeline and all the oil exploration and a very small population, there's money that's distributed to residents of Alaska each year based on


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The profitability of the oil trader, lack thereof, the money goes up and down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so it's kind of like a universal basic income that's paid to Alaskans. And so it's one of the enticements to live in Alaska.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is a fantastic idea. Now you can only do it, uh, CJ, up to the amount that your daughter earned.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the year, and that would be how much can go in there. You gotta make sure you don't exceed the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Holly, I don't know if your intention is to make the spread, buying it, buying out the lease.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or if you want to continue to own the vehicle, if you continue to own the vehicle, you have a high payment on the lease. You potentially would have a higher payment on a loan buying it out, but regardless at some point, uh, particularly if you did it now, you'd want to buy that vehicle because you're buying it at least in today's conditions far below, uh, what it's worth in the marketplace now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If money is tight though, you would execute the purchase by the vehicle


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And turn around and sell it and make that spread and buy something.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At that point that's more affordable for you. And again,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I wish you the best having lost your husband recently.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if you go on the wait list, you don't have to buy the vehicle. The wait lists have been quite long. If you're buying the vehicle, Steve, uh, at or around MSRP, Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Since new vehicles have been so inflated in price, if you can buy it after that wait.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I say go ahead and buy it. Don't worry about the fact that you're buying, uh, late in the 22 model year when the 23s are already starting to appear. I wouldn't fret about that. On the other hand,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you're having to pay substantially above MSRP, then you got a double wound to your wallet here, buying what will instantly be a one year old model and paying above, substantially above suggested retail. That would be a case where it would be better, uh, to pass on it with one exception.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you're somebody who keeps a vehicle an ultra long time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The difference between something being marked as a 22 model year or 23 becomes insignificant to meaningless when that vehicle has enough age on it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ultra long would be eight years or longer. Thank you for asking that follow up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if your ownership cycle tends to be less than eight years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of a vehicle, and particularly less than five.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then that model year difference plus paying above manufacturers suggested would really put a hurt on your wallet and the vehicle market is gradually getting better.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know car dealers listening or rolling their eyes, like what does Clark know? We don't know, or does he know nothing? The reality is the car market is slowly healing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the inflated prices we have on used vehicles, the inflated prices we have on new vehicles are moderating and we will get back to a normalized market.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Almost certainly sometime in 23. So I had said before it would be the second half of 22. I was too optimistic. I was wrong. I was Pollyanna, but it is going to be in 23. And if I'm wrong, I'll eat a car live on podcast. No, I won't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The feedback that we get from you about our podcast, the goods, the bads, the uglies, me eating sheet metal, that would be an ugly. And I hope today's episode was fun for you. Remember.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We have money saving advice you can trust at Clark.com and deals you can trust through and through at ClarkDeals.com


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No one pays us to say, ooh, this is a deal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The deals we list for you on Clark deals are listed because we believe they are bonafide real deals that'll save you money. Have a great day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you always play guess who the sky marshal is when you're flying?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I talked to a guy one time I'm playing and at the end I was like, you're the sky marshal, aren't you? And he just was like, I'm not saying anything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Usually are the lowest prices. In the last few weeks, products, store brands, or generics are generally more expensive than the brand names.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My one year old son was recently diagnosed with hearing loss. We just got his hearing aids, which cost $4,000 for the pair.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It comes with a five year warranty, but this still means we will need to purchase two more sets before he's able to buy them over the counter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are you aware of any places that sell children's hearing aids for cheaper than purchasing them directly from the audiologist?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Larry in South Carolina says, I heard Clark discuss whether to replace a 70 year old sewer line.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're planning a major remodel and our plumbers say we don't want to get all that done and have another leak.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we do have a Facebook group called Ditch Your Debt. If you go to the Clark Howard Facebook page and you'll see our group there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, where people encourage each other and share strategies for getting rid of their debt. It's a really great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, Angelina in Texas says, you mentioned the cons of using self-checkout. I want to tell you about a situation that happened to my husband at a home improvement store. He waited in line to self-checkout. As he was walking out of the store, he looked down at his receipt and saw that it said $430.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The person in front of him had scanned a big ticket item and walked out without finishing their transaction. My husband jumped on and didn't notice and started scanning his items. Thank goodness he noticed it before leaving the store.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She did add some information, I cut it out for brevity, but she said that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The person who was supposed to be watching over things was kinda checking their phone, like the person knew what to do and when to slide out, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Erin in Michigan says, in all your discussions of gas prices, I haven't heard this mentioned. Kroger was constantly offering me their credit card. When gas was at its highest, they offered me 55 cents off per gallon for one year with their card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My husband and I went for it. Kroger also gives me gas points for just grocery shopping there. And there are often bonuses for buying gift cards. I will just pick up gift cards for McDonald's or other restaurants I know I will frequent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Between the 55 cents off per gallon and these grocery gas points, I've saved tons of money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The card has no annual fee. Once the introductory year is over, I will still save 25 cents per gallon. Not too shabby.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then Gwen in Florida on a totally different note would like to know how she can donate her body to science since she talked about doing that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm so glad you're with us here on the Clark Howard Show. Our mission is really clear.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And today we begin with Clark Stinks, which is truly my favorite thing we do each week. And later something else I love to do is not Forrest Gump, Run Forrest Run, but I walk all the time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, today I'm supposed to do a little over 15,000 steps according to Garmin telling me what to do. And there's new data showing that walking is incredibly


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Effective for our minds and actually...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Warding off dementia. So of course there's all the health stuff, the physical health stuff, but it's also good for your mind as well. We're going to talk about that. So without further ado,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's time for our weekly Clark Stinks segment where you can post at clark.com slash clarkstinks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why have I always been obsessive about people having long-term disability?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And have at the same time said, make sure you spend money on that. I don't really worry about the short-term disability because I hope that over time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You've been able to build up a rainy day fund in your life where you've saved, uh, there's arguments whether you need 90 days of living expenses saved, six months.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's some people who say nine months. Let's be realistic. 90 days to six months is really.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where it would be great if you are. So it's there for the unexpected of living expenses. I would rather you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Put your effort on building it up because there are all different reasons why you might need money. You get laid off from your job. Uhm, I know it's been a while since people have faced that but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We have that starting to happen again as the economy slows some. So that to me is a higher priority.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then short-term disabilities have a big focus and emphasis in your life on building up rainy day money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Eric, I'm wearing right now a pair of progressive lenses. I have significant astigmatism and I've not had a problem myself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With Costco messing up grinding the lenses and I don't know why for you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They, I mean, four times? That's crazy bad. And uhm, you know, I, I don't think there's anything wrong with buying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, glasses that are bifocals or progressive lenses, which are just a type of bifocals with no visible line from Zenny as well. And I'm just really sorry that for you, the Costco was a bust.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jay, uh, not only did many other people post on Clark stinks that I was out to lunch on subscribe and save. I also had people tell me personally who were offended at what I said on the podcast about subscribe and save. So, uh, I.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Must say I stand corrected because obviously a lot of people have found subscribe and save is actually an opportunity that really does save you money as an Amazon member, a prime member. And so I can see.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I never, I never thought about if there was a specific harm to her. Uh, she went to high school that she had a fair number of pretty wild kids that she was in school with at that time. I don't think she would have seen anything there that she wasn't already aware of. It was a, um, it was a place that was a, it was a sit down restaurant that had a bar.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And had that minimum age, it was their requirement, not that of the state. She was working as a hostess at the restaurant and I'll think that through to see if I was doing something harmful to her by having her work there at 15.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Adam, thank you. That is a very, very wise...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Series of recommendations and the thing you mentioned right in the middle of your post about googling a company.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't even know how many hundreds of times we've heard from people who got taken in some way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because they Googled for customer service at whatever company and the listing was phony.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they suffered identity theft or loss of money many different ways. It is just so dangerous to do so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To use a Google search because the criminals are there first before any real company is going to be there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, and we had, uh, we had updated that since I think people originally heard it, but it's really important to mention again that there is a procedure for you to get back those payments that were made during the payment holiday period.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ben, that is a great suggestion and I tie that back to the prior.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Student loans because the records get fouled up all the time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You want to keep proof of payments all through the years. And when you finish paying off a student loan, especially have that brought present as well that you have the proof, um, and with the security deposit,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Time gets away. I mean, most people would never intend to be on a rental property for, uh, that many years, but in this case, it came back to haunt them that they had their security deposit withheld, not returned and having


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That original proof is a very smart idea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And something I didn't think to mention and most people would not think of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jocelyn, thank you for that. Uh, airlines are...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, you can push them to get credits for future whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have a really hard time getting actual cash back in many cases, and that is a great suggestion.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To try to get a credit for future use and you were able to do it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where people feel there's been a significant deterioration in the quality.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] of claim service at USAA on both the homeowner side and the auto side. It's not showing up yet in the survey data of the organizations that survey


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Most prominently which is Consumer Reports and JD Power. USAA is still coming up at or near the very top. Uhm, if there is a clear deterioration


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the customer experience at USAA and that is absolutely showing up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Online that people are posting a lot of gripes about USAA. It'll be a trailing indicator.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the survey data from Consumer Reports and JD Power because, uh, people, uh, only, I guess, 10% of customers have any kind of claims experience in a year. So 90% that would be being surveyed would be based on past experiences, maybe before a potential problem has come alive at USAA. But I think it's important that I do point out when I talk about USAA that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's something there because there is a lot of griping online from long time USAA members that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Usaa when the chips are down, which is when somebody's dealing with a claim with their home or with their automobile.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That USAA is not the same as it used to be. I can't speak to whether that's true or not because I haven't experienced a problem.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But obviously more and more people are saying what Raul is saying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That it's not the same great USAA anymore. And it role, if it really is true, it will show up in the data from these big surveyors, just not yet there. And I wonder if we would be doing a service to our podcast listeners and our website users.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If we were to have a conversation with the media relations people at USAA.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, so we're going to talk about something that so many of us fear and it's dementia.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And dementia is something that I had a gentleman just last night say to me, you know, I had three relatives who developed dementia and I don't even want to know if I'm subject to it because I just fear it. And the reality is shockingly,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dementia is something you may be able to do something about, and it starts with your two feet. Some things just feel like they happen. And one of those is a tragic late in life thing, dementia of all its flavors and forms. Well, after an exhaustive study in Great Britain that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Followed many, many thousands of people for a long, long period of time. I think it was decades.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They've discovered that people who walk a consistent amount day after day, after day, between the ages of 40 and 80 cut their chances of dementia by more than half. Now, funny thing about the study that was done in Britain, I've been reading several


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] versions of stories about this study is that the study caps out with meaningful data at 9,800 steps a day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which was funny because it's been a thing for a long time that apparently has no basis in science.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That people are supposed to walk 10,000 or more steps a day to improve their health, generally.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then in the long-term British study they found that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There were so few people that walked more than 10,000 steps a day that they couldn't come up with any meaningful data from that. But they found that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you do walk an average of 9,800 steps a day, which they had a meaningful amount of data from,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you will have a significant impact and if you walk


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I kind of, I notice, I think I'm really walking.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I noticed that, uh, probably two out of three people that are out exercising, doing walking exercising, are walking faster than I am.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I must be a stroller and not an aggressive walker. But the point is that walking regularly has tremendous beneficial effects. Why do I walk? Um, you know, I used to run all the time and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My body would hurt from that and so now I do a walk run where mostly walking and a little bit of, uhm, sprints mixed in and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One study after another after another finds enormous benefits in longevity, general health, and now this long-term British study.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mental health in terms of dementia slash Alzheimer's. So there are people like I shared years ago that when I did uhm, 23andMe,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, it actually said I had a 51% chance of having.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Men don't live that long in my family anyway, but I could be the one, right? Absolutely. But again,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are so many benefits to being out walking all the time and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Well, I would know it was the wrong reason, but my reason is not anything about forestalling dementia. It's not anything about improving my heart health. It's all about, uh, reducing stress in me. And yeah, I can, it's funny, I can be having


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A day that just feels like I can't get out of my own way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel great. I know you go to this woman for exercise classes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was going to say, what you do with Janna doesn't sound like regular yoga. It sounds like fitness yoga. Like it's aerobic yoga. It's like some kind of special.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But every time you go to her exercise class, if I talk to you afterwards, you sound like somebody who has been at the bar. I mean, you're just like euphoric.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. I mean, you sound, I mean, you don't sound like you've had, you know, one too many, but you have this feeling like, I mean, it is like a euphoria that overtakes you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so it is true that I dumpster toe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it was not for a mattress. I've never bought a used mattress. I should correct the record here. Okay, so first of all, Jill, when I dumpster dove, it was back when you had to have


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you waited six months to get the rebate. Well there's a computer that had a $200 rebate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And my wife had thrown the box away before I'd gotten around to cutting out the barcode. So I had to go dive in this big dumpster. I had actually, I couldn't get it without getting in the dumpster. I had to go in and get the box out and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cut the thing out and then take a shower afterwards, which I did, but I got my $200.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe in Chicagoland, in the suburb you live in, there aren't free yoga classes, but it's so common all over the country.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That there are community centers that offer free yoga classes. Shopping centers offer free yoga classes. Uhm, oh, it's a...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a routine thing that it will be free yoga and parks. On YouTube. Oh yeah, you can do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] YouTube classes. So I actually go to a particular, uh, yoga teacher who I've gone to for a long time and it,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Has made a big difference in my overall health and flexibility and strength.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In fact, she said to me the other day, she said, when you started, it was like seven years ago, she said,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, not anymore. You know, I got some real strength here. And, um, so I do spend money on yoga and Jill, for me as cheap as I am, I think it's been money well spent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well Pete, thank you for that and, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Politicians who like to make their constituents angry have birthday taxes. That's what they're called when just for breathing, just for living another year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They charge you a vehicle tax. They charge you a boat tax or RV or whatever. So in Missouri, they want to charge personal property taxes on everything. Uh, really nice for your citizens. So the issue comes up if the amount that they are assessing you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because after the massive run up in used vehicle prices, those have started coming back down. It's showing up in the, uh, in the car sellers data and they're reporting the financial community that the prices are coming down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So what I would do, and I don't, I assume Missouri has an appeal process for this, is see if in fact the current market value


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's normal that there would be an appeal of that, of the value they've placed. Uh, but absolutely the used vehicle market is going through a correction phase and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You should see the benefit of lower prices on next year's tax bill as they should. And again, I don't know if Missouri's system.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like would normally happen, cause you know, just as you said,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pete, the value of used vehicles normally goes down year by year by year. And since late 20,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Use vehicle prices have gone way, way, way up and away. And now finally the roller coaster crested and those prices are coming back down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, this is, there are so many problems with gift cards. Uh, where should I start? Carl? I mean, there are a lot, a lot. All right. So number one, when you buy gift cards on those gift card racks at retailers,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the drugstore chains, convenience stores, many times somebody will pay money for those cards.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they'll end up with zero value. There are a number of criminal rings that are able to exploit those gift card racks and you pay


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 25, 50, whatever it is you pay to buy that gift card, you feel like you did a good thing, and then the person you gave it to,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're not normally gonna say, hey, by the way, that gift card you got me actually had no money on it. I mean, cause that's, that's awkward.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In this case, you don't even know with the mix and match who that gift card came from to even give them a warning. Be very, very cautious.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ever buying a gift card at any of those racks and in those stores.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Second, if you are going to do gift cards, I mean the suggestion you made Carl is stick to major chains, but again only buying direct from that chain. I think it would be great with a gift card if you give


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To something like this where they're just mixed and matched and handed out. Attach information.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With, I mean, how he has the value attached that receipt to it of where it was bought and the receipt will show codes and all the rest and then the person who received it


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's taped to the card. They'll have it. They can go back to the store where it was purchased and say,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was given this as a gift. It shows no value. Help.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that may be the only way of being able to recapture the hard earned dollar that that parent spent to show appreciation to faculty and staff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That then got no value for that faculty member or staff member and just know, I don't like gift cards to start with, but that's a topic for another day. And I hope that you found something today that was helpful to you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you can put to work in your own life. It would be helpful for you to share with a friend, a family member. And if you're enjoying what you hear here, please review this podcast.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you really like it, share it with a friend, with a family member. If you hate it, share it with somebody you don't like, whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I hope that there's something that is useful to you. But again, on the negative side.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Please visit Clark.com slash Clark Stinks and post away. And have a great one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Welcome to The Clark Howard Show where our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life. One of the things we do on this show is we help you avoid ripoffs and scams.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Today I'm going to share with you where the scams are really, really, really hot right now and what you need to be aware of so you don't get taken. By the way,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you ever are taken by a scam, do not guilt yourself that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You did something wrong. You did not do something wrong. You were not dumb. I hear over and over again from people, I can't believe I was so stupid. Never ever say that. Remember, these fraudsters all day long are trying to figure out


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How to rip you off. It's what they do is their full-time job and we're busy with our lives and everything going on. So stop with the guilt trip towards yourself. Something else, credit card debt.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you know credit card rates are at an all time record high in the modern era?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're going to talk through how do you tackle that debt? What do you need to know about it? But right now let's talk scams. So there's new extensive data from the federal trade commission on what are the top


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Scams going on and absolutely far and away number one are pretexters or sometimes referred to as imposters.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where someone pretends to be someone else or from an organization they're not with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That this is the area you need to really, really be on guard of all different ways, especially now through text messaging, where something will look just like an alert you may have received from your credit card company.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or a notice from a bank or a notice from any business you do business with and a lot lately, Google and Apple.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where you'll get notices saying there's been a breach of your account, blah, blah, blah. And think about it. It's true. Breaches happen all the time. So the criminals go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where we're sensitized to expect a problem.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they impersonate a bank. They impersonate a credit card. They impersonate a business we do business with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I notice more and more getting alerts, like Citibank has been putting out alerts to its customers saying, look out for these things. We do not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Contact you this way, this way, this way. We will not ask you for this, that, or the other. And that's really great they're doing that. And you need to know that the pretexters


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At Conning You, there'll be times that they were people that were employees of whatever organization.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're now trying to cheat people from, because they know all the lingo, all the procedures, and they know how to get in your wallet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So know anytime somebody ever contacts you, by phone, by text, by email.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cause those are the three most common ways these pretextors work, these imposters work. Never, never, never, never, not ever give any information to someone who calls you on the phone.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Never, never, never, not ever click on any link in a text or an email, period.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you're being supposedly alerted that there could be a problem with your account.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Somebody calls you pretending to be from whatever bank you're with or whatever or business you do business with saying there's a problem with your account. Say, thank you so much for alerting me to that. I'll get on that right away and hang up the phone. Text or email. Remember this simple rule.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Go to the website or the app of whatever it is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you got the app on your phone, website on your laptop or whatever, you go there, sign into your account. You will know right away if there's any issue with your account.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] About potential fraudulent activity on one of my credit cards.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I'm so in my head now worried that something like that is from a scammer that I then signed into


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we went through the transactions and figured out which ones were fraudulent. But I did it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The right way with that extra step built in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To make sure I wasn't giving any information to a crook.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The IRS scams. People impersonating the IRS have been big.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The social security scams. I mean, you name it, but here's something really, really, uh, I think shocking to a lot of people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are more likely to be scammed now than older people. We used to talk so much about elder fraud and now younger people are more likely to be taken because they're doing a million things at once


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They got a lot of apps going, they may have a lot of social media going, and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not truly focusing and they'll click here and they'll do that and before they know it, they've given up real money. The other thing that is especially hitting younger people with fraudsters


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is where something will look verified. For example, there's a big problem right now with Instagram where


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People supposedly, well they have been verified by Instagram, but it's not the actual real


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So there's, uh, pro, uh, publica is how you say it, publica, publica, anyway, however you say it. They've done a deep dive investigation in how fraudsters and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, criminals and people who maybe have been discredited in industry are able to defeat


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Facebook's Meadows system, whatever, I can't get used to that weird name, and they're able to totally defeat the Instagram thing of verified


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Verified people. And so you gotta be aware that, that you cannot trust the blue check mark anymore.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I hate to say stuff like that because they were trying to do a good thing at Instagram, having a way that you knew that whoever you were following really was who they said they were, but you can't now. And so especially


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you're living a lot in the social media world.