[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, we'll go to some questions now and this one ties right in from Kim in Texas. I am self-employed and have filed my business as an S-Corp recently. I'm the only employee. I have no retirement savings and I am 59. What would be the best retirement account through an S-Corp with me as an employee?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From Pete in Massachusetts. Hi Clark, there's been some buzz on the internet about MYGA, multi-year guaranteed annuities. I know this is considered a cuss word on your show, but these products seem more like a CD than an annuity. Do they have a legitimate use and what are the risks?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Alan in Mississippi. Looking for a SIM card for Europe. I'm going to be there for a month and will unlock my C Spire phone. I would use for data and to search the web, GPS, maps, et cetera, and also as a phone. I would like a recommendation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nope, not his favorite way to travel or live for sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We only buy low cost index funds. I'm in a unique situation with my job as a firefighter as I can retire in 13 years with a full pension at 46 years old.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this is from Jill in Wisconsin. Is it worth getting the PLUS membership with AAA? It would only be for one person.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And from Melissa in North Carolina, our daughter will be getting an insurance settlement from an auto accident. She is okay. She's okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that it might be easier for her to leave the remaining alone for the long term.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, Sarah Blakely, who founded Spanx, says, and I think this is so smart,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm probably going to paraphrase it wrong, but it's basically that you should talk about, don't talk about the product you're selling, talk about the problem you're solving when you start a business.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, she's still really involved, but yeah. Oh, is she involved still? Yeah. So she's, her story is amazing. I think there's, you know, she was the first female.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, Billy now on the cover of Forbes Magazine. Just lots of cool stuff. So, she's very inspiring.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My daughter has never owned a home but is now considering buying and being an investor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We were wondering if we could purchase a home together and I would be her permanent renter as it might be a win-win for both of us. Both of us would contribute to the down payment. Are there any drawbacks to this venture that we're not seeing or we should be aware of before proceeding like whose name will be on the deed, mine, hers, or both?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And from Laquanda in Georgia, why is my income tax refund considered income on the following year when I'm only getting money back that I loaned slash overpaid the government?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, we'll go to some questions. This is from Dan in Ohio. My wife has 220,000 miles on her 2009 Honda CRV. Wow. But drives about 70 miles a day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'd like to get your thoughts on a used electric car. I was wondering how much the cost is to replace batteries or if you recommend any brands besides Tesla.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Suzanne in Florida. There is a huge economic slash financial issue facing Americans that I have not heard you address. The great reset, a transformation of our economy from a shareholder economy to a stakeholder economy. Please talk about how this will affect people and what this will mean for the average person.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And from David in New York, I have an Amex gold card and an Amex SkyMiles credit card. I don't need both. Should I consolidate them into one or the other and which one?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've heard with other banks, and I don't know if it's true with Amex, you can ask them when you do that to raise the other fee to make it equal when you close the one card. You mean credit limit? Credit limit, sorry. The credit, not the fee. Don't want to close the fee. Yea, you don't want to raise the fee. Yea, you don't want to raise the fee. The annual credit limit so that you don't get in trouble with that. But that's a great suggestion, David.


[User] Please transcribe this text

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


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In this episode, I want to warn you about a sneaky, sneaky trick.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Going on now in the investment advisory business.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You gotta know what's going on that could really hurt your long term future. And later,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Often talk about some of the big cell phone companies.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But there are a ton of smaller players in the field and there are a lot of them that are doing a great job serving you and saving you money. So your money, okay?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ultra confusing to people. And I know this when people stop me to ask me questions about their, um, IRAs or anything like that. And they'll tell me they've got this person they go to and I'll say, what do you know whether the person you're going to is what's known as a fiduciary and asking the question,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know the answer that very seldom does anybody even know that word or what it means. It means they're legally required to do what's in your best interests. So when they say they don't know, I'll then ask a number of other questions like, how do you pay this person? And there's, and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The real tip-off is when they say, well I don't pay them anything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're paying them a lot because you're paying massive commissions and fees to the person who supposedly is guiding you for them doing so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And their incentives are all wrong, all wrong because.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The higher the commission they can make from something, the more they make and the less you make because the costs of investing have been going down, down, down overall.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Big commissions and big ongoing expenses. So at a time that the costs have fallen off a cliff in investing,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's a significant segment of people that are paying really high costs. And I want to tell you one of the tricks of the trade.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've seen a couple of stories on it recently.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There was one of note that was very well researched in the wall street journal about how a lot of the nation's insurance companies now have their insurance salespeople in firms with fake names.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like they'll do something like instead of saying they're from so and so insurance company, it'll say, uhm, Clark and Krista's financial advice or something.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It'll have something that sounds just like any other advice firm. And what you don't realize is that they are actually trying to get you to let your guard down because a lot of people are really, really nervous or run away from anybody who has insurance on their business card. They're not going to do business with them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're, they're terrified of insurance salespeople, particularly anybody under 40. They don't ever want to deal with an insurance salesperson. And so in order to be able to get clients, they had to pretend they were something else. And so the something else they're pretending to be is a financial advice firm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you'll get there and they'll go through things asking about your goals and all that, all the standard kind of stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then they'll recommend what seem like very conventional kind of things like mutual funds or whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But everything ultimately will come back to annuities and life insurance because that's how they make their money. Anytime you're looking at going to somebody for advice, for help and investing, remember you are the customer


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you are interviewing that person to see if you are going to give them the job of handling your money and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The key thing you want in writing is that they are a fiduciary, fiduciary, and they legally are one and they hold themselves out to be in writing


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That they are a fiduciary and their agreement with you is a fiduciary one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What that means, it's like if you go to a lawyer and you pay him or her.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They are a fiduciary because they are working for you. You are their client and you are paying them for that. And there's no ulterior motive with investing all too often. What we don't know can really hurt us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because the math is clear that over a working lifetime


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You will dramatically reduce how much money you have to as little as a third of what you would have had.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just because of all the commissions and fees you'd pay if you go to someone who is not a fiduciary.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When somebody says their advice is free as an investment professional, that's when you need to get your ears tuned and pay close attention. Krista?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The situation, the situation your parents got into, we don't ever settle personal scores here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so no companies are going to be mentioned or anything like that. But what happened to your parents was an abomination and they ended up putting just in short, they put more money into something than they ever actually got back from it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because it came with massive commissions and fees.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then has a taxed, tax bomb built into it as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At the end it was as bad as it could possibly be.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They are able to live a very comfortable retirement.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because the people they sold junk like this to, like your parents.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, we should explain what fee-based is. Okay, so fee-based is this, uh, crazy marketing thing that a lot of, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Companies have come up with insurance companies and others where they say, Oh, well we're fee based, but as you buy products through us, the fee is eliminated. So they're pretending


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People don't really understand the significance of fee only versus fee based, uh, fee only financial advisors.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Generally, normally, but not always will be fiduciaries be based investment. People are the opposite.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But did not understand the significance of that difference and as a result got ripped off.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thank you for saying that a second time because I ignored saying something about that. As I've talked about with school teachers, just because the union you're a member of or the school district you teach in,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Recommends that you go to this company or this person or whatever for your 403B. Know that almost always


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That person they're recommending you to go to is the worst possible place for you to go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Union's getting kickbacks. I mean, it's just a really sordid thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With the school districts. In your father's case, it was with a private employer. That was an, uh, I hope.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That what happened to him at a huge fortune 500 company is an exception and abnormal that they gave referral to an employee or retiree.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just because you go to a fiduciary doesn't mean that he or she is going to be great at it. All that means is that their


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, interests align with yours and that's what you want. They win when you win. You don't want to be in a situation where when they win, you lose enough. Let's, let's, let's let that rest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so, uh, term life insurance if you're not familiar.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is something that will not normally be recommended or sold by an insurance agent because they don't make any money selling it. It's not worth their time to even spend the time with you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The most popular kind is called level term insurance, which is where you have a set premium


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For a contracted number of years from 10 to 30 years. As far as the best term life insurance, what I consider to be the best is you want to buy


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From a company that is really, really strong financially. It has an AM best rating service rating of A double plus. Cause you want the insurer to be solid, have claims paying ability for decades to come.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Occasionally AM Best will mess up, but very rarely in evaluating the financial strength of a life insurer. Second level term is so simple to buy


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you can use any of the shopping services for a level term.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And as long as it's an A double plus rated company for the number of years you're buying for, whoever has the lowest premium at that point, that's who you sign up for because the premium is good for that 10, 15, 20, 30 years. You're insuring so often the reason 30 years


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So people are trying to ensure the remainder of their working lifetime. And most people really don't get around to buying this stuff till they're in their thirties or even later. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, level term insurance is simple to buy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lots of sellers, there are now companies though that use, uhm, industry databases to eliminate you having to go through the two month or three month process to get a policy issue and they will


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, for people typically up to age 65 will be able to determine if they will underwrite that policy for you in about a minute and a half after you fill out 15 minutes of paperwork. They run the industry database background stuff on you. They say yes or no in many cases right then. Sometimes you'll get a maybe and you gotta wait, but generally you'll have that yes or no right away. We have,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A simple guide to buying level term insurance on Clark.com. We also have information on some of the companies.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That will do what's called instant issue where they do after you fill out the long, long, long paperwork. It's all electronic now, but after you fill it all out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They will then be able to give you that yes, no, or maybe right then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Brian, a credit union that doesn't allow its membership to vote.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is, uh, that's crazy because the reality is most members are never gonna vote. So the board, uh, will be able


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From a lack of action on the part of members.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To be able to do things pretty much the way they wish. It's really worrisome to me that they would say, you can't vote.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What I would like you to do is I want you to run for the board. Why don't you get involved?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're right, that mentality is acting like a giant monster megabank. So get involved. Change things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And make the credit union what it's supposed to be.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Responsive to its owners, its members.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Beth, there's a lot to unpack here in the simplest terms.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have the same fraud risk as the, as the customer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Service person said to you at the credit union, you have the same fraud risk.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If somebody defrauds you with any of the three, the money when it's gone, you can't get it back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, that's why with any of these apps, you do not, you, I repeat, you do not pay strangers


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The issues with Zell and the reason Zell is in the news every single day and not in a good way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is the way Zelle ties in and marries to your bank account, criminals are committing


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 97, most recent stat I saw is 97% of the fraud involving payment apps is involving Zelle because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Once somebody is in to your bank account, they can just keep pulling money out through Zelle. There's no equivalent ease of stealing from you using Cash App or Venmo.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What the customer service rep told you that is correct.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is that once the money's stolen, you don't have a way of getting it back and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's true with any of them, but because the vulnerability, the way Zelle is embedded in your checking account and your bank account and through your bank app, the vulnerability is so much greater than Mo and cash out, even though they have their dangers, their little league, the big league for fraud is Zelle. Zelle is a broken design. It's a broken implementation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The federal regulators have issued an advisory opinion that when money is just stolen out of your account,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That the bank has a full legal responsibility to restore the funds.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The banks are ignoring that, don't know what credit unions are doing, and it seems the only time people get their money back when it's stolen through the Zelle function or the Zelle app


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is when a TV station does a story about how somebody had their money stolen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is a terrible, terrible, terrible thing and I promise you that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That the Zell thing eventually will be fixed. It's the meantime that's the problem with


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All the people having all their hard earned money stolen through the Zell app and I have offered the Zell people


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Every single time this comes up, I've offered them the opportunity to come on the podcast and have their say. But the cowards won't because they know they got nothing to say that won't make them look just as bad as I have said.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Come on, Zell, after the challenge, after the challenge yet? Come on. What about the banks that own Zell? Any of you willing to talk about this? I named the banks before. Can you tell Zell is not my buddy?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Up next though, I'm the buddy to your wallet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I talked about the new price increases from AT&T wireless on its subscribers, many of their subscribers. This is a great opportunity for you to rethink who you do your cell service with and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who you can find the best deals with. I'm going to give you some of that straight ahead.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your cell phone bill is one of those things that's just part of your life now. It's like breathing and you pay the bill every month and we're creatures of habit. What's known as the churn, the number of people who dump, uh, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon every month, teensy-tiny. And that's because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It just feels like it's too much work or whatever and the companies all push these family plans because then it's hard to unwind all that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the reality is, especially with what AT&T is doing with raising rates on a bunch of their customers starting June 1, this is a time that you really want to shake it up and look at what you're paying and look what's available out there that would be better. Uh, one thing I want you to know, a lot of the people who are seeing the price increases from AT&T who are AT&T loyalists,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And don't want to go anywhere else should look at something you may not have thought about and that's AT&T prepaid. AT&T prepaid has a number of plans not


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not cheap, like the really bargain plans that I'm going to talk about in a minute available in the marketplace, but AT&T prepaid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Offers plans like one I've talked about a lot where you just pay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For the whole year up front. And you're done. You pay them $300 for the year. It's over.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You've paid your cell phone bill and don't have to worry about it again for a whole nother year. And so go check out if you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's the difference between prepaid and postpaid? Glad you asked that. With prepaid, you're paying before the month of service is given to you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With postpaid, you're billed after you've received that month's service.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So with postpaid, they've got credit risks that somebody will not pay their bill.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your bills paid, the money is in their hands. They know you were good for it. And so prepaid is usually cheaper because the credit risk is removed from the cell phone provider. Now, recently I saw the JD Power


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Survey of the best and worst cell phone providers and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The highest rated of all is one that people have repeatedly said, Clark, why don't you talk about them? Why don't you talk about them? And that's consumer cellular. Their customer satisfaction rate


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was so much higher than everybody else in the industry. Not even in the same universe. Who was lowest of all companies? AT&T. Anyway.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Consumer cellular, if you're looking for somebody who will really, really take care of you as a customer, you should look at them and they


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Offer a lot of great plans for couples. You can go past a traditional family plan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But what they offer to couples is really good. You can do traditional thing with unlimited data that so when, or if you don't use your phones a huge amount on the data side, you can go in a much cheaper plan with consumer cellular. And I think that they, I'm guilty as charged. I have overlooked the value of being with them because they are


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Such a customer driven organization.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And make people so happy being with them. I have another thing I wanted to mention to a lot of people who are with an old time company like AT&T also like shopping in a more traditional supermarket.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And believe it or not you can get your cellular service from the Kroger family of supermarkets.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Has, I don't know, 15, 20 different brand names they use around the country. Kroger Wireless offers


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A really decent $15 a month plan that you can sign up for at Kroger.com or you can go into a Kroger store and sign up for Kroger Wireless and just get your service from them at a much cheaper price than you would be paying with one of the big companies, which is funny because Kroger is a giant company. This is just a little pipsqueak side thing they do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Offering cellular and that is an alternative, but if you're into saving money,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you're more self-service than needing customer service. Netmobile is really a great place to look if you are into price.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I love what meant mobile is doing and what they call their met modern family. Instead of a family plan being four people, a family plan is two people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And what's the advantage of a met family plan? You get their lowest rates.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you just buy 90 days of service at a time, but what I really love


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is that each person up to five people on a family plan?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can do different things. So if you have somebody who uses not that much data, they can be on their absolute cheapest plan. Somebody who uses tons of data and wants unlimited data, you pay their most expensive plan. Guess what it is a month? $30 a month. 30 is their most expensive plan for a person on the family plan getting the unlimited. So for 15 a month,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You get four gigs of data a month, probably half of people in America use less than four gigs a month. And that would be 15 a month for your cell phone plan. But if you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Use a fair amount of data, you can get 10 gigs, which is a lot. That's 20 a month. But why not go to unlimited if you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or somebody who's on your phone all the time doing who knows what. 30 a month is a deal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, customer service with Met? I assume it's customer no service.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And people will say, I can't find this menmobile.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mintmobile.com and they're one of several.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really really aggressive, inexpensive discounters in the cell phone space.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are many now that are as cheap as $3 a month.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For a minimal cell phone plan including


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like a gig of data or whatever. I mean, the, the price points while Verizon


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] AT&T and T-Mobile are trying to push rates up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are all these discounters being very aggressive on price. You have to decide if they're good for you or not. Uh, but if they are going to save money each and every month and tons of money over the course of a year, if you go with one of the deep discounters.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Verizon is using, and thank you for asking that question, used to be owned by, uh, one of the world's wealthiest men, Carlos Slim.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he sold the operation to Verizon. And so Verizon had been an ultra premium remains flagship Verizon, an ultra premium, ultra expensive brand and Verizon's market share.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That they were going to be, uh, a brand for all price points.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they use sub-brands, Trackphone is one, Straight Talk that they do in conjunction with Walmart is another, uhm, they have uhm, uh, what, they've got a lot, I'm trying to remember all the ones that Verizon owns now, and then they have their


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're one called visible, which they own, which typically for most people ends up being 25 to $40 a month for unlimited everything, including unlimited data.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yes, track phone, if you're a minimal user, you can do the hundred dollar a year plan. And, but now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As I was just saying, Diana, there are now all these cheaper ones.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where you can get your cell phone bill down to under $40 a year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And have actually more phone use than you have with the track phone. Hundred dollar a month plan. Hundred dollar a year plan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the prices are just getting, if you shop for them, better and better and better.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, you know, every time we talk about tipping, we do get a very, very strong reaction. And Ryan, thank you for pointing out an area that I neglected to mention. There are a lot of people in professional type roles that work in jobs that, um, they do depend on tipping and it is an area that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have neglected in our conversations about tipping to mention, so that's why we have the ability for you to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bring bring us your suggestions, your questions and your beefs. And I really appreciate when you take the time to share with me, educate me and share with others. And I want to thank you so much for being with us today.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I hope you learn something that's gonna help you or you'll be able to say to somebody else, yeah, you know, I learned something about that. You should check this, that, or the other out and save that money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, but it, you know, I think, uh, we have to have a kick in the pants on these things. It's very important. So, you taught me early on. Just don't even see it. Save first.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, that's false, but I work because I love to work and I really, and that's the truth. I love this job. You know that. I have a passion for it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, maybe I'll be volunteering one day or doing something different, but I like to be kind of busy, you know, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, let's go to some questions. This is from Justin in North Carolina.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What does Clark know about this type of fuel? Is it safe like the pump says for cars 2012 and newer?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Jay in California. My daughter is about to graduate from nursing school. I have about $3,000 left in a 529 plan, which she is the beneficiary. Her loans total $12,000. Can I use the 3K to pay down her student loan?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sure, and this is from Chad in Florida. I need your help in selecting a credit card. We currently use the DiscoverIt card, but I was hoping to switch to something that would give us some travel rewards as we really want to start traveling more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] After reading the breakdown you have of the current travel cards on Clark.com,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do not think I will meet the spending threshold to make these work. Any ideas?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which I do not have a problem with. My question is, will this closure affect my credit score?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As a discount if you link your checking account directly to their payment system. Obviously to avoid credit card fees on their end.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would you suggest someone take advantage of these gas station programs?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Lindsay in Connecticut. I'm a 26 year old teacher with a Vanguard 2060 Roth IRA and TIAA from school. I have limited funds to invest. My school will provide a 2% match for TIAA. Where do I put my available funds first? What is bad about TIAA? Can someone typically move out of them to another 403B and how?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, and uh, we had several about this one. With regards to your fidelity comment on the 329 podcast that they didn't offer, they don't offer fraud protection. I found a source when doing my own digging. I can't speak for other brokerages, but I hope this helps Douglas and he sent the fidelity link.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What you said about toilet paper, since we all use it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, this one, uh, is I got a good laugh picturing you at the store doing price comparisons on toilet paper, but I don't think you figured out an important factor, ply. You get three times as much buying three ply compared to one ply with the same square feet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which gets inserted into my computer to access the account after I've logged in. And that's from Amber.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As an example, Turkish Airlines allows you to fly to Europe in business class for 45,000 points.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, for 45,000 one way. Virgin Atlantic offered the ability to book Delta 1 to Europe each way for 50,000 points.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My fiance and I just booked our honeymoon to the Maldives valued at over $45,000 cash flying on Qatar Q suites Emirates business class and staying in an overwater bungalow for $674 in taxes and fees and $1,434 in credit card annual fees. You're missing out my man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this is not limited to international flights. Turkish allows you to book domestic economy on United anywhere in the US for 7 to 500 points, including Hawaii. And that's from Spencer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Clark, your idea of a four day work week stinks. I heard you mention it again last week and you interpret it as working four 10 hour days. And they linked to a recent news article that defines it as a 32 hour work week for eight hour days.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Four 10 hour days are not healthy mentally, physically, or socially for families and communities. Please rethink your assumption. I know you like a good deal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But get your deals at the warehouse stores, not by being stingy with employees' time. Carolyn.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You slipped this in while talking about credit freeze and I was left thinking,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why would a man who loves a bargain buy real estate now when he himself described the market as wildly overpriced?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How were you able to find a good deal on this market? Contented renter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Clark, you stink for not ex- oh, sorry, I just read that one. I've been listening to you for over ten years and you certainly don't stink, but I want to point out that Cash App is not as evil as you may think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I agree that using it as a primary bank account is dangerous. I've had it for two years and I love the instant boost discounts they offer. I never keep money in my account, but I often use their offers of 10% off any restaurant, 10% off any grocery store and discounts on specific restaurants. That was from Jeremy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I do want to just quickly read from Jeremy's post. Uhm, he says he often uses the discount as a way to tip a server or delivery driver more generously. Last year I saved over $400 using this method. If you use it wisely as a discount card and nothing else, I think you minimize any risk but can save a lot of money. So just FYI, what a great idea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, now that I've, that I've taken more time up, read this one from Don. Clark stinks stinks. You say there are thousands of stinks submitted and yet you only read like five. Come on Clark, make the entire podcast stinks. We don't need more of what you do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The other four days of the week consuming half the podcast. Thanks. And you really only stink 20% of the time. So give us the stink 20% of the week. Dawn.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He told you that somebody called her about her credit card being used at Amazon for $15,000.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is what you should have focused on first, not the credit freeze and switching banks. This is a popular scammer tactic warning somebody that a very large purchase was made with their card, including inducing panic so they make rash decisions. According to Bradley, she gave this person her zip code, date of birth, and the name of her bank.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I could be wrong, but after listening to it several times it sounded to me like both you and Bradley missed the fact that the person warning her on the phone was the crook.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nobody stole her card and made charges. In this situation, she should have kindly thanked the person immediately hung up and called the credit card issuer to confirm if it's true. Robert.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Clark Stinks is all about and this one, when a recent caller asked if you, you, if she should realize the tax free gain of $250,000 by selling her primary residence, you discourage her from doing so. This was very short-sighted advice, especially because you focused on the cost and stress of selling a home.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The selling cost of a house is tiny compared to the potential increase in personal wealth that could be created by diversifying this capital.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Reinvest a portion back into another house with upside potential while putting the remainder of proceeds into retirement or other mutual funds. I suspect her current house is not going to keep appreciating that she knows this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well Devin in Colorado wants to know this. I'm sure you've covered this in one of your many wonderful podcasts, but I can't find it. My question is we are currently being sold an indexed universal life policy. It sounds too good to be true. Before we dump $60,000 into this thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would love to hear your remarks or suggestions to this or another alternative. My wife and I are currently funding our Roth IRAs and she has a 4% match 401k at work. Bust and I hope I hear your answers soon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Me too, my parents were sold one of these years ago and you know, and then the financial advisor let them use his beach house for free.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Will they honor my low price reservation even when the prices have gone up so much?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Denison, Ohio. Hi Clark, I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The doctor at the sleep center has recommended I purchase a CPAP machine to address the problem.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They send an order to a local medical sleep supply company that they commonly use.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they will be supplying me with the machine and all related supplies.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This sounds fine, but I can't help but wonder if I may end up paying a lot more for this equipment than necessary by blindly following my doctor's advice. I've seen CPAP machines for sale online, even on Amazon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I know that there are other local companies that sell this type of device. I asked the doctor if I could purchase equipment elsewhere and she said that I could, but they would just have to give me a paper prescription. And should I shop around for something like this?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was always talking about you and went to hear you speak to military members at Wright-Patterson once. Well, after the 5k, I later saw you and told my daughter to go ask you how your race went.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You told her your time was slow because you stopped to help someone who fell. Fast forward to my daughter running in a junior high cross country meet for school. Her time was really off and I asked what happened. She said, I pulled a Clark Howard. Someone from another team fell down and I stood, I stopped to help her up. By the way, she did make it to states the next year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is a question from Kristen. When using a terminal credit card reader at a merchant store such as a fast casual restaurant or dog daycare center, typically an automatic tip option will pop up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Does that tip you give actually go to the person working behind the counter or does it go to the owner of the establishment?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just, I was just very surprised. Yes, this seems like it's a trend. I was in a store that I frequent and I still will. Uhm, and I asked for, it's a national chain and I asked for some help in selecting some, some items. And so this, a great person helped me and I selected.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My items with her and usually I would go up and pay at the register, but she happened to have one of those portable pay here machines.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so she went to check me out and then for the first time ever in this store,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, she handed the terminal to me and said, if you think I've given you exceptional service, please, uhm, leave a gratuity. And the gratuity was, she was standing right there and I had to choose what gratuity to give her on these, these items and I was just completely taken aback and I gave her a tip. I was so, you know, surprised.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I just was like surprised when she did that and I thought, wow, is this happening everywhere? I don't know if this chain is experimenting with the store I go into or if it's a national thing now, but I'm definitely not gonna ask for help anymore.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was the best service I ever got in that store. Normally I can't find anyone to help me and I found lots of people willing to help me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Jessica in Georgia. Is affiliate marketing legitimate? I see a lot of videos on TikTok about people who are making money from this. Looking, I'm looking for side hustles and extra money and wondering if this is real.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Josh in North Carolina. I recently started a job as a truck driver making $2,300 per week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] However, I'm employed as a 1099 contractor. I transfer $700 a week into my savings account


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do. This is from Debbie in Ohio. I accidentally forgot to cancel my trial period for my Wyze camera's cloud storage.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is a new thing with the Wyze cameras. You have to download it through the Google Play app.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When I saw the charge, I contacted WISE to cancel. They said I had to go through Google Play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Warning, Google Play would not refund my money. They did stop my auto subscription for next year. Isn't there something against the law to be able to cancel my subscription when requested? I'm so mad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You may want to share this with your listeners. I paid it with PayPal and of course they told me the same thing. I had to go to Google Play to cancel. No more Wyze cameras for me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And something I just wanted to mention that I've seen you do on your calendar and I'll do too is set an alarm or put it on your calendar when your subscription is going to expire and like the day before put something on there to cancel it. Uhm, because it is so hard to figure it all out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cori in Minnesota says I'll be traveling to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland this summer and renting a car. Is an international driver's permit required? I find conflicting information online. I know they're cheap, around $20, but I already got one in 2020 only to have it expire unused due to the pandemic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I'd hate to go through the trouble of getting one again if it's not really necessary.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] However, none of them are generic. No up and up or good and gather. I've never seen an Aldi brand deodorant or a great value or Walmart or a great value at Walmart.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you know why this is? There are generics for everything else. In my household, we use generics for pretty much everything. As a matter of fact, I am so cheap, I read comparison charts on which store brand motor oil is the best one. But I find myself feeling robbed when I shop for antiperspirants. I was curious if you had insights.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's really deodorant though, I mean there are shampoos and other things I've seen too, but deodorants is one that seems missing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People sometimes even get on, they have someone else get on like a zoom or an online thing where you're talking to someone.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In video, it's a, it's a, uhm, an accomplice. And so there have been a lot of those cases recently.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know of some, a friend's parent, unfortunately, who was taken in one of these. There's also a new, there's a couple of shows on Netflix about this, like, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then of course they're in some emergency and they need money and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, these people want to give and help someone else and out of the goodness of their heart.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Terrible. This got my wife and I discussing what types of insurances we should get in case something awful happens to us. We're 42 kids in elementary school and a single income family.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We have health insurance through my employer and level term life insurance on both my wife and me. What types of insurance will help with the long term medical care, replacing income, et cetera?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From Carl in Maryland, is the federal employee TSP annuity option a possible exception to Clark's rule? I totally get why annuities are generally a terrible investment, but as a federal employee I have an option to annuitize part of my TSP through MetLife when I eventually retire.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm 54 currently. This option does not appear to have fees associated with it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would the TSP annuity perhaps be worth considering for half of my balance?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You've talked about the high used car prices and when it makes sense to buy new. I typically buy a gently used car and hold it long term. However,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If your use versus new logic concludes a new car purchase is a better option, should we consider leasing?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If a new car purchase is $24,000 but I could lease over three years for half the cost,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With a 12k down payment and monthly payment, with an opportunity to buy at the end of a lease, is that a smarter way to go? Appreciate your point of view.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, this is from Dennis in Arizona. In your topic about funeral home costs, you said you were going to donate your body after death to science. Do you have any recommendations on who to contact about it and who is reputable?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is there anything else we can do to limit what we'll need to pay in capital gains? We are currently renting but plan to purchase a new home in less than a year from when we sold our home. Our combined income is approximately $150,000 annually. We've been listeners to your show for more years than we can count. Thank you for all the great advice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From Karen in Ohio, I'm job searching in the tech field and yesterday when I spoke with a hiring manager regarding salary, he mentioned RSUs. I'm completely out of the know on this concept. Can Clark give an overview on what they are and how to negotiate salary when RSUs are involved? This particular company is pre-IPO and from my research it seems like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That makes any RSU's pretty worthless at this point. Do you agree?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is time for me to buy a new iPhone. The one I have is becoming less responsive and definitely slower. I use my phone for taking lots and lots of pictures. I don't need the newest, fanciest iPhone if I can get a very good camera on an older model. If the newer phones have appreciably better cameras than Uncle, I'll splurge for it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're about like an 8 or 10. Those really have good cameras too, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Carlotta in Georgia. I'm about to graduate from a private nursing school and have to pay off my balance before I'm allowed to walk.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have sacrificed a lot towards my accomplishment and would like to attend this ceremony. My balance is $5,000. I am thinking of borrowing from the equity of my home. Do you think this is a wise idea?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just have no idea when. I was thinking about going to the Maldives. With a three day stop in Dubai. That sounds awesome.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't want to carry a lot of cash with me on the trip. I also don't, I don't look forward to doing the currency exchanges and losing money doing that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is there an alternative to this, such as prepaid cards, gift cards in a way? I have a credit card. I have one credit card, a MasterCard from Bank of America.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's do that. Uhm, Matt in Ohio needs some help. He says, my dad passed away a year ago.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think we should put a down payment on a house and then immediately rent it out and take that money after a couple of years and use it to buy our own house down the road.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What do you think is the best idea? We're living in LA, which is super expensive, so being strategic with this money is my priority. I listen to you every single day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this is from John in Georgia, is instantcheckmate.com a legitimate service? I want to check an individual's history and character.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Starlight said Clark offers practical tips and clever tricks on sharing, spending and saving money. Each bite size episode contains priceless wisdom on trending topics and core principles. The financial talk and investing segments in this informative podcast are relatable and therefore enjoyable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hit certain goals and community around that I've found is helpful.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I actually have a question about this from Julio in Georgia. He said, I want to install solar panels on my roof. What do I need to know before I get quotes?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Grease in Arizona says, is it worth it to purchase a car or home warranty? And if so, which ones do you purchase?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Doug in Ohio. I hear a lot of radio and podcast hosts recommend buying gold as a hedge for our monetary system going under. What say you oh purveyor of wisdom? Is this a scam or for them to make money? If it's worth still doing, do you have any options on how to do it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I love the way you can make it, like, all make sense to us. To me, that's one of the great things you do. So, this is from Rosalie.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The article mentioned that the Chevy Volt was currently the only vehicle to check all the boxes to get you the highest tier.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, 2022 Bolt EUVs will be arriving on dealer lots, as I can't wait this long any advice you can give, please.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Alexis in Georgia. Lately I've seen some businesses add a 98 cent charge for package protection from a company called Root. I have been able to opt out, but what are the risks of opting out? Should we just pay the charge or will the company shipping the item still be liable if the package is lost or damaged during shipping and delivery?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ticketmaster is now requiring me to enter my social security number in order to get paid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm really not comfortable with this. I sold them for what I paid, so I'm really just getting my money back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Plus I'm not even close to the $600 threshold for the IRS. In their FAQs, they say they ask for the info for all sellers, even if you don't sell over $600. Is there any work around here?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Jalen in Texas. I pay my rent on time every month and would like to use websites like Rental Karma to boost my credit score. Is it worth it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, I feel excited. You know, it should be a good season. You know, just uhm, trying to get all the way back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Healthy and things like that, obviously I'm good now, but uhm, just getting back in shape, getting ready to attack this season.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I guess. I mean, I've been to Chicago. I only went there for the McDonald's All-American game, and it was, uhm...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was like in March, it was a little cold, a little gloomy. It was really cool seeing Chicago like in the summertime, getting to be on the water. It definitely was a whole 180, because I didn't have the best impression of it initially, but after the trip I loved it, I would love to go back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, it wasn't my favorite part of the trip. Obviously, I do eat, I eat McDonald's just like anyone else. They make it seem like I eat it more than everybody else. I actually probably don't eat it the most on the team anymore, honestly. But uh, actually I think being on the yacht, in the water, just cooling with the guys, having a good time, uh, that was probably my favorite part of the trip. Obviously everything we did was pretty cool, but I think


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I did. I think I had 19 points. My team lost though, so obviously I didn't get MVP. Derrick was actually MVP. I didn't even know that. Yeaah. What did he score? I think he had 13. He had like 13, like 10, and 7.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, uhm, they beat us by 20, but yeah, uhm, they didn't give us any McDonald's, really no gift card. That's just like, you would think like, shoot, McDonald's are American, you would get like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, actually uhm, Duke was probably the last, the last school to come into the picture. Obviously they had a thing going on with Coach K, they didn't know what he was going to do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I remember Coach Shire called me and he was probably going to my junior year. Uhm, just kind of introducing himself, trying to tell me about Duke and things like that. Uhm, but it wasn't for a while probably until like after my junior high school season that they really started actually recruiting me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, you know, after they kind of seen where it was going with Shire and what Coach K was going to do. So they were actually the last school, they last school to offer me for sure. I remember that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was pretty late, probably like July going into my senior year, but we already had a pretty good relationship going into that, you know, when they officially offered me, um, in July. They actually didn't get to see me play at all because I was hurt. Really? So uhm, but they did in high school season, but, uh, you know, I was, um, I was really heavy on UCLA. My brother, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lives in LA. Uhm, I loved it out there. You know, it was great staff, things like that. So I really came down to Duke and UCLA.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, to the end, and you know, I thought I was gonna go to UCLA for a while, but uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I came to Countdown, you know, I had a visit with D-Live and Reek and we just had a good time and just being in Cameron, being around the fans and things like that definitely uh, my heart was always here so I think in the end that was the decision I made and it was the best decision I could have made.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I dislocated my elbow in my junior year of high school. That was, uh, something you don't usually hear about in basketball, but it was definitely a...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Most serious injury I've had, uhm, I was off like, the whole AAU season, I came back, my arm's fine now, but it was definitely scary when it happened.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, nah, my, uh, my brother lives in LA. Uhm, he's lived there for probably almost 15 years now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He does like, uh, he used to be real into dancing. He's in, uhm, acting, DJing and stuff now. Just anything with entertainment, he pretty much does. My sister lived there for about 10 years. Uhm, she's back in Kansas City now. My oldest sister then, my sister that is actually closer than age to me. She, uhm, lives in Chicago. She's a flight attendant.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I worked at Walmart, uh, from March 2020 to October when they fired me. What?!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was fired just because, like, I couldn't go as much anymore, so it was just kinda like, you know, it was just time, it was just time. But you didn't quit, you just stopped showing up? Yea, I was a good worker, uhm, you know, it was the pandemic, so it was, remember it was the pandemic, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I had nothing to do. So I was like, and I needed a car. So this is going into my junior year of high school.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I was like, dang, like, and they were like, shoot, Walmart, Dylan's, Hy-Vee, all the stores were hiring. So I was like, I'ma go get a job. And I worked, I was working five days a week, eight hours a day, five days a week, cause I didn't have nothing else to do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was a good experience though. Uhm, I think everyone should like work once in a while. I mean, obviously I couldn't do it no longer than...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I did, but uh, it was good. I remember the first day I was there, actually uhm, it was the first day they were like saying everything was gonna shut down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's my first day and they put me on the cashier, like the cash register. And I was just like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there's like, everyone's coming, so they're like, this is the day where there's no toilet paper, there's no, there's nothing. Oh yea, people are coming over. So everyone's coming through, thousand dollars worth of stuff, and I can barely work the thing, and they're like, ah, you got it. So that was just crazy, you know. Yea, but, I mean, it was a good experience, I'd do it over again if I had to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I still got it. It's definitely at home somewhere. I had like four of this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The car probably is pretty dirty. I just be having a lot of stuff in there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I don't know. I'm not that messy though. Obviously Tyrese be gaspin' it. Flip, they damn near OCD, so. Flip does.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, so they're super clean, uh, me and Jayden definitely probably had the dirtiest room, well actually no, Derek and Derek's room was a lot dirtier than ours.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My car is pretty messy, but it's, it's about to be, I clean it up, I just be having shoes, I be having clothes. Dirty clothes? That's, not that dirty clothes, it's like extra stuff. Cause we be having so much stuff, I can't just put it on my dorm, so I just be sitting in my car.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, I think, I think it went pretty good. Obviously I started pretty strong. Uhm, I think, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was just coming in trying to do what I could, you know, to just make an impact, to stay on the court.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, obviously, uhm, had some ups and downs in there, but I think, uhm, overall it was really good. You know, I finished the year really strong.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, just kept working, kept getting better. I think it showed throughout the year, just that you never, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I never like just stayed in that place but just kept trying to get better even when it wasn't going for me. I was just working every single day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think it just showed in the end, so I think we're pretty good overall.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't really feel pressure, uhm, you know, on defense I just try to make it hard for the opposing, whoever it is, you know, uhm, I think that's just something I kinda grew into was playing defense, you know, obviously I didn't, I always like, pride myself on playing defense, but I think, uhm, being at Sunrise, my senior year of high school playing for Luke Barnwell, he was a big defensive guy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ahead of some of the other younger guys just from knowing all the defensive schemes and things like that. And then just also just trying to stay on the court, you know, you can't have the ball in your hair on the time. So I was just trying to make an impact and, you know, being playing defense is something I could do. So I just decided to take another level. So it was something that coaches always allow me to do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think uhm, just, uhm, realizing that experience was like, very important. You know, when you're younger, I think you think like, ah, like they got...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, four or five stars and they got more talent but they keep losing the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But like, just, just knowing the game and knowing the game of college basketball makes a world of difference. I think uhm, especially going into this year just for our team, you know, not just being super young anymore, having some-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just coming in, you can't undermine how much experience really matters when you get into ACC play and just playing older teams, especially on the road. Just, just knowing what's gonna happen and expecting that makes a big difference.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I don't know if it's a different mindset, I think uhm, I just maybe just.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not even preparation. I think just knowing what to do on the court. I think just, you can just think one step ahead. Uhm, obviously the college game was a little different for NBA and just the way you had to play it and, and even from high school. So just knowing what to do, knowing how to think the game, just being ready in certain parts of the game and not, not having to get ready definitely makes a big difference.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Probably like the first dunk I had in camera against Jackson. That was pretty...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was just a good moment. It was the first bucket of the season. My first, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I did. I did. I was, uh, it was just a cool moment, special moment. Obviously when ACC and other things we did as a team, but I think, uh, just the energy in that moment, you know, it was just surreal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. You see the first one going, even if you get like two free throws or something, it's just, ah, dang, like he's feeling it today.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, uhm, yeaah. You know what's crazy? People thought I got hurt and shoot around. I guess that's what they were saying. I got hurt against Oral Roberts in the first half.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I felt it, but I just kept playing. My general was running. I was like, ah, like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, we all played through little- It just felt like a tweak? Yea, we all played through little nagging, little injuries and things like that, uhm, all the time, but uhm-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We got a shoot around the next day and I was like trying to push through it and I was just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It wasn't feeling like it should, like, you know what I'm saying, so. But even to the game, like, I was like, ah, I'll be fine, like, we all have those things happen, and uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I got, we tried to do everything I could before the game. I went out there and warmed up and I just, I was talking to Emil. I was shooting, I was like, I don't think I can play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just couldn't get it going how I needed to, so I decided to sit out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously it was painful, it was a painful moment in the locker room before the game and things like that, but I tried to play, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was just hurt, like I simply couldn't go. I played every other game, it was just, I couldn't go that day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I had like a little tiny piece, like, of Terry Malmaniscus. Uhm, it wasn't nothing serious, nothing crazy. I recovered in like a month and a half.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it just, I think even if we would have went farther in the tournament, I might have been able to play. Just cause like, it calmed down. Cause by the time I got the surgery, I was like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nothing, uhm, obviously I was out at the beginning of the summer because I hurt my quad. That was a whole different injury, uhm, something different, but my knee's fine, 100%. You feel back, yea, you feel back to 100%? Yea, I'm good, I'm straight.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I think obviously the injury made it a little easier, because uhm, I couldn't, I couldn't work out for teams. And you know, I was obviously in a range where it was kinda like I needed to work out, probably to help myself. Obviously I could've went, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I just wanted to do more. I just wanted to improve my game. You know, I didn't, I'm in no rush, uhm, to get to the next level. Obviously when my time comes, my time comes, but I just want to improve my game, get better, and just be 100% healthy. I didn't want to go into things like not being myself all the way. So, you know, just talking with my family, my people, and obviously having, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I remember Tyrese came and told me he was coming back, and you know, having someone you're close with like that decide they're coming back, you know, makes it a lot easier, you know, just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you don't want to be around and not have people that you know, you know, some of your close friends and just have to be so much different, but having Tyrese and then having flip back too, you know, just, it made it a lot easier for me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was before. Flip was a couple weeks after us. Well, Flip made that big video. Yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We were kind of just feeding off each other, like, what you doing, like, you know what I'm saying? Uhm, and we were talking about it before, uhm, then I found out I had to get surgery, things like that, and I think he told me before I had fully decided.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it was kinda, it was kinda quick though, kinda same span. He was pretty, he was really quick. I think I was like, weaker too, I remember that. So, but yeaah, we were just feeding off each other.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I'm excited about everything. Uhm, I think just taking a big role on the team, you know, uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the court and off the court, obviously being someone that the young guys look up to now is a little bit different.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just, just being better overall. You know, carrying the momentum we have from the end of the season.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, into this season and just keeping that play continuing, just being a better play overall and just making better decisions on the court and just being more consistent, I think, is what I'm going to try to do. And obviously, do things I did on the defensive end of the court last year and just carry that into this year and just keep improving.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, yeaah. I mean, obviously I want to win accolades in all, all, everything I can, but I think on the defensive side of the box, I'm definitely, you know, trying to aim towards that this year for sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm yeaah, obviously I shot the ball well last year. I think I should have shot the ball a little more. I think this year I'll do that. You know, I'm just being ready, being confident.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, obviously continuing to work and improve my shot each and every day, but I think just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Being ready to shoot the ball, you know, and not turning down open looks and just open up the rest of the game. Obviously if I can shoot the ball, then I'm gonna get to slash and move and dunk and things that I'm good at in my strengths. So I think just shooting the ball well, continuing to get better is definitely gonna open up the court for the rest of us and for myself. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously, I'm a little dimmer than Trey Mon. Well, yes, yeaah. I'm more, yeaah, yeaah. I'm saying like, I just like the guys who like, clothes short.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Catching it, and if they are off me, just, just shoot it. You know, I think for me it's just like, I'm trying to jab and pump fake so I can get to the bat, but sometimes I just gotta shoot it just to show them that I will shoot it, that I'm gonna open up this for my team and for myself by just shooting the ball, simply if it goes in there, if it doesn't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and not just overthinking it and trying to jab and pump fake and things like that. Which obviously sometimes I have to, but I think just shooting the ball to catch, that's what can open up a lot for all of us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, if y'all are like, like really go watch. I mean, Will Chamberlain, like no shame, like he's not in my personal top 10. He's not. I just don't see how he can do that. Where's the footage?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where's the footage? They say, I don't, that's not true. But they have footage of all this other stuff, but they don't have footage of the 100 point game. That's all I'm saying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's kind of fishy to me, uhm, but you're telling me that, that JaVale McGee couldn't go back then and I was like 40 and 30? Like why couldn't he? I don't get why he couldn't. Like from what I'm seeing, he was just, I'm just saying, I don't see why he can't. Obviously people think that's a crazy take, but I'm watching it happen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't, I don't see why Prime JaVale McGee, or. Prime JaVale McGee. Prime JaVale McGee. JaVale McGee is a good NBA player. He's a freak athlete. People will see him on Shackling the Fool and think he's like not some freak athlete, which he really is. Yea. No, he, yea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously, I picked your Velma Geek years ago just cause I had to think of someone big and athletic, but I don't know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, what I mean by that is, so if you just go, just go watch highlights, like we're just watching highlights of all the players ever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like if you're just watching the highlights, you're gonna be like, dang, like this dude, like, might be one of the, like, best players, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like he, like his game is just beautiful, like it's smooth, like. I don't, who else is like Paul George?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Look at him, look what he's doing. He's shooting, he's dribbling, he's passing, he's running the pick and roll.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he's gonna come dunk on you, and he's gonna be almost defensive player of the year, like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, no, I mean, it might be some other things too, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously, I don't think this is the craziest. Other people have said, like, Paul, like, if you just wa- if you just watch Paul George, like, don't get into the stats and he didn't do this and that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Forget all that. I don't think he's a top 10 player, no. Only when he watches highlights. I don't think he's anywhere close to top 10. He's one of my favorite players, personally. But if you just watch him play, like, phew, it's beautiful as it was.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I am a big Kobe guy. Uhm, obviously you try to emulate your game after a lot of people, but your body don't move like that. Yea, I know. You can't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, Kobe's in that top ten group too. Oh yeah. Cause of the five rings and the- No, no, I'm saying, I'm saying I'm purely watching though. Kobe's in that, LeBron's in the top ten, she was Shaq probably.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, Steph's in there, Magic Johnson's in there, Lady Bird's in there, Tim Duncan. Am I missing? You have two more. That's the only thing people are missing. Uhm, shoot, KD's in my top 10.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I feel like I'm missing people, that's why I don't go for it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, yes, man, uhm, like, like, really, first of all, look at their careers. Obviously it's not the exact same time period, but like, they've,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] LeBron, like, you know Drake, you know LeBron, they're both at the top, and they both been at the top for so long, and they're versatile, like super versatile.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Drake's versatile in his music, he be singing, he be rapping, then LeBron.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's the most versatile player ever, like, they're pretty much the same thing, just in two different, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's hard to put Drake up. Like that's not even to say that Drake is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is like the greatest ever. I think he's personally, I think he's pretty close. Like I don't know how people try to argue. Oh, like, no, Drake is top five artist ever. But like I'm saying, but him and LeBron are like this in the same, just even the time period, like they're the same person.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Probably like three times. Me and C. Reeves eat Waffle House. Still? Uhm, I only eat as much as I used to. Nah, I did when I first got here. The problem is in Durham, everything closes at, at nine. So like we get out of practice at five. Like I eat at 5.36. I gotta eat again. Like what's open? McDonald's, Wendy's, Waffle House. That might be it. Subway, maybe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, like it's just a bunch of sounds saying like Big Mac is a whole thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, this is an easy one. You get waffles. Yep. Or a waffle. You get a waffle. You get a waffle. You get two eggs. Yep. Uhm, two sausages.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm really not number one. I'm not gonna say who is. It's not me though. It's not me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I don't know the final score, what was that? 30, 30 points? Oh, you're about to make a lot worse.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, it was packed. It was packed. 9 p.m. game, I was kinda like, uh, like what's it gonna look like? Uhm, students as always showed up. Yeaah. They go crazy, man. They go crazy. How'd you feel out there?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good, good. I was running around out there playing defense. Uh, they play their offense. We talked about a lot pregame, but uh, in the days leading up, but they play through that big as they do in the Ivy League, um, with that five out offense, Princeton offense almost.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, let's go through the stat sheet here. Okay, we won by...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know where this is going. Oh, 9254. You got the math on that quick? 38. That is 38. Good job.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's see, we were, uh, 9 for 12 from the free throw line. We shot less free throws than them. That's something we wanted.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, what else here? 33 rebounds there, 29. They had more offensive rebounds than us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not great, but a lot of those are tips, like, we should have had more than five. Do you have one here? You have two rebounds, two fouls. Uh, you have three for three. Oh, 100% that's an injury, please.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Before that, he's your, he's your roommate. Can you talk about who he, can we even go back further? On scholarship this year, you've been around him a long time. Can you just talk about who he is to this program?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Typical walk-on, like Smethub's an all-conference player at the mid-major level, almost, in most.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, conferences that are outside the power five. He looked, he looked annoyed that the crowd went crazy for him when he scored.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That is his move. I'm trying to see the rest of this lineup here with, uh, Jared Fowles out in game one. Plays well offensively, but you can see the veteran presence of that, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] First, we certainly have more files than them. Uhm, I'm trying to look at this here. What's files? T, no, files is, okay, right here. 16 to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We had 18 files, they had 16. Yeah, we were in the bonus. I'm sorry, they were in the bonus in like 6 minutes maybe? Early. It was quick.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, they talked about it. Yeah, we had the refs come in, um, talk to us preseason and say that we're going to try to call significantly less charges. They said, I think the number they put on was like 80% less charges. That could have gone either way last year are going to be called, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Blocking fouls this upcoming year, not good for guys like me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Big game coming up, uh, we wanted to, I almost felt like this first game, although it's the first game of the year, it shouldn't be, but it feels like a trap game when you have.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, two of the first three are big ones, you know, preseason rankings, all that. You're talking about it for weeks and weeks. Um, months before the season starts, you have these games scheduled and they're big ones. Um, so I was, prior to the way we came out today and didn't overlook a team that we might've been more talented in coming in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that's exciting. That's what Coach Shire said in the locker room a few minutes ago. This is, these are the games you come to Duke for to play in. Uhm, so it'll be a big test for us. What do you think are the most important things going into that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Talk about what cameras are gonna look like. I feel like I've been a part of last year when, when these like, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, Carol Wall talks about it, Shire talks about it, but they call some games, like it feels like it's a retro Cameron, like old style Cameron indoor. Uhm, and last year they talked about it for Pitt and UNC, maybe one or two other games. It feels like the hype around Arizona is going to be one of those. What is that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good question. Uh, it's a big deal. I feel like I tried to, tried to talk to you guys about it last year, because I feel like I have the perspective of teams coming in, like at Northwestern, we were about the same size as Duke, playing in the big tents with small school by a lot, and we would go in and play these huge schools with


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, nothing to lose. You play freely, uh, when you're going into these other atmospheres, especially, you know, we didn't have much success in the win-loss column, specifically in conference, so, uh, it was,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I feel like I could see it from this other team's perspective when they come into Cameron, but no, it's, it's a big deal. Uhm, again, I feel like I don't get to like, I have the advantage of not taking it for granted. You and a lot of the other guys that haven't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, played for other programs. You don't get to appreciate it to the level that I do. The camera crazes and the advantage of having such a home court advantage. They were just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We struggled to get people in the seats at Northwestern. There were games, you know, if we'd play anybody relatively close, Illinois, either of the Michigans, you know, Wisconsin, uh, Iowa, there'd be just as many fans for the opposing teams as they were for us. And like, if we'd lose on a home court, there'd be times where


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Feel like we're supposed to win and play with that momentum and then you could feel it. You could see it in opposing players when they come in. We go in that room and you come out today.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You come in, what, we have a couple and ones consecutively, a couple stops, a couple threes. I felt the, I felt the floor shaking when you had your and one, right after flip I think too.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Easier to go to the next season when you got only a couple guys leave, a couple guys come in. So last year, I'm sure you felt it, just first few games of the year, first like 10 games or so. I feel like we're kind of looking for our identity last year, trying to figure out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How are we going to come out and play defensively? What are we going to hang our hat on? Like what's, you know, what do we take pride in? And this year it's, it's so much easier to identify that early in the year before the season even starts. You know, we know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're returning really talented guards. When we flip coming back, uh, we know who we're going to be. We got to be a team that works defensively. We're a little different.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but it's gotta be defense, rebounding and just playing aggressive, playing your heart out out there. Uh, so I think what I'm most excited about answering your question is just not to not have to figure that out and take, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Take games into December and still try and learn, uh, those things. You know, we, we have those values instilled already. We have the experience. It's going to be about bringing the young guys along and, and adding more to it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What do you tell the young guys, um, obviously Jared started tonight, but the other three are coming off the bench and, uh, I'll answer my own question after, but I'm just intrigued to what, to what you'll say.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'll go off that. It's, it's, you know, we talked a lot about it in the preseason, but the word sacrifice keeps on coming up. It's a lot of times we had Coach K a couple weeks ago on the pod and he was talking about how important it is to get people to commit to their roles. It's like you said, you could be, you know, we have so much talent here, specifically at Duke, like so many of our guys, especially young guys that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, they could have went anywhere and been, you know, the main guy taking the most shots on the team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's, you know, if you want to come here and you're here to win a national championship, that's the goal. So it should be about, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Getting guys acclimated to the roles and making that sacrifice. The other thing I was going to say is it's difficult. You see a lot in young guys when you come out and your head is in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The mindset that if you're not scoring, you're not contributing and it's hard to get over that hump when you're coming into the game and not think, all right, I might only play, you know, six to 10 minutes today. You got to be okay with, you know, coming into the game. You can't be thinking I need to score to help his team when I need to score to prove myself to, you know, try and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Boost my role to try and play more minutes. It can't be coming in and thinking, I gotta score. It's gotta be the first thing. And I try to tell that to the young guys all the time and anybody, you know, coming in, don't put pressure on yourself to make something happen. If you come in, play as hard as you can on the defensive end, rebound.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and just come out and bring a spark of energy. You know, the scoring and making good plays will come. Don't, it's got to come naturally. We were almost a little timid out there as a group today, I thought, to start. And then once we settled in and committed to those values of defense, you know, rebounding and playing hard.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, it's been 20 minutes, it's past the regulated time, so. Yes sir. I appreciate everybody listening to the Brotherhood podcast, uh, post game one, Duke 1-0, uh, big game on Friday, super excited the team will be ready to play, and uh, yeaah. That's a wrap. Let's get it done.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show, where our mission is simple. It's to serve you, to empower you, so you make better financial decisions in your life. I can't believe I'm talking about this again today.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you're thinking of booking or you are booked, special warnings for you. Also, if you're going somewhere


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And your thing is staying in an Airbnb or VRBO or even a traditional hotel. I got warnings for you about that and later.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I wanna talk about something that has been a massive consumer problem.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that is people who have paid deposits for stuff that is lost in space.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that money is lost in space too. I want to talk about what you need to know to protect yourself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you're buying stuff that is not readily available right now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At the retailer or other retailers you've gone to. So the cruise industry flat on its back for.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And even when they started sailing again in June, it was very low capacity, very few ships.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then as we move further into 21, the cruise industry,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That people were like, well, you know, I'm not quite ready to go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right now, but you know, 23, everything's gonna be great. I'm gonna be fine. And so bookings have been very strong.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that money that's come in and deposits has helped keep the cruise lines going along with the relatively small amount of revenue coming in from people who are going on ships right now and the money the cruise lines have borrowed. But now with what's going on with Omicron,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And am I calling it right? I pronounce it every possible way. Anyway, I'm a crying, I'm a crying, something crying. Anyway.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the experience passengers are having on cruise ships has deteriorated vitally.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you have to be vaxxed for most any cruise you go on. Gotta provide proof, blah, blah, blah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Apparently it's a federal offense if you provide a fake backs card on a cruise.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was an environment where people could wander around. They weren't really worried because they were around other Vax people. Well, then Omicron comes along and is extremely contagious. And the cruise lines go back to having to wear masks and indoors on the ships and all that. And the cases just start rising on the ships.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So a lot of ports have said, you can't stop here. And so these cruises are ending up being.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So we went on a cruise, the first cruise that sailed out in June of last year, and we ended up being restricted from getting off the ship pretty much the whole week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was really, really limited who could get off the ship, where you could get off, what ports there were, all that. And so basically we were at sea for a week. Fine with us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the reality is you could travel to get there and they say no cruise for you and when you find out is when you get there and that is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Terrible because you may have taken time off from work, your kids may have a break that week, whatever it is, and this trip you plan suddenly, bam, it's gone. So, cruise lines obviously


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In that case, they have to give you your money back. They can't just give you a credit. They will try to give you a credit. They may try to get you to take


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that's scenario one that's happening to people. I just, I'm laying this out because if you love cruising, you may be like, why is Clark putting another dagger


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the back of the cruise industry, people need to know that this could happen. So always have a backup plan. We are actually booked to go on a cruise the second week of March with, uh, my wife, my son and a friend of my son. And we're going on a cruise out of Miami. And if the cruise cancels on us, we've already come up with plan B. We're going to do a beach trip for a week and just, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, if we have to zig and zag, whatever, because of what happens with them, we'll be fine. We'll be at the beach. I mean, don't cry a river for us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We'll see what happens with the money, whether we get a refund or whatever happens, we'll deal with that with the cruise line. Now the second scenario is one that has been very upsetting to people. So what the cruise lines have done generally as a policy is that if you get COVID while you're on the ship,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They take you and they put you in an isolation room.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There'll be tiny little rooms or they'll have a little teeny porthole window.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe they don't even have symptoms, but somebody else in their cabin had symptoms.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So they test you, and you're symptomless, but you test positive, that my belief with the cruise lines should do is they should, uh, keep you in your quarters. That you are not allowed to leave your cabin, but you get to stay in the cabin you paid for on the ship. But the cruise lines are choosing, and I mean the reports are overwhelming, cruise lines are choosing to put people in these little basement dungeons and lock you away.