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[Assistant] Uhm, it came down to us having to take a taxi boat back across the water again, uhm, and that was another 30 minute ride and then we


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[Assistant] Ran to our hotel, which was like a half a mile away. Thankfully got my passport.


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[Assistant] And they were like, sorry, uh, we can't give you any more rises. We're, we're done for the day. And I was like, please, please.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I need to catch a flight, I'm gonna miss my flight, and thankfully,


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[Assistant] Thai people are so sweet, uhm, that they let me on. We basically had to like, the boat was pulling out and we had to jump on as it was pulling out.


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[Assistant] So that, uh, when you're packing up, you'll remember why you're missing one shoe because your passport is in the safe.


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[Assistant] So that was my crazy travel story. I'm so happy that I made it to the airport fine and I'm sure I'll never make that mistake again.


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[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show, our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life. Today, I've got an update on my health and some advice for others, specifically us as guys.


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[Assistant] Terms of what we need to do to take better care of ourselves.


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[Assistant] Also, this weekend is the unofficial start of summer.


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[Assistant] I'm going to tell you how prices on gasoline, your air conditioning, what you're going to be facing this summer, what you need to know about what summer


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[Assistant] And energy costs are gonna do to your wallet.


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[Assistant] So, if you're not aware, long time listeners are.


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[Assistant] I was diagnosed with prostate cancer fourteen and a half years ago.


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[Assistant] And I had, uh, early stage, relatively minor prostate cancer.


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[Assistant] And I elected to do something at that time that was very unusual in the United States.


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[Assistant] Having surgery or radiation or anything like that.


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[Assistant] I've been in a program now for 14 and a half years called active surveillance where I have continual testing now once a year


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[Assistant] To make sure that my cancer is still, uh, doing A-okay, not threatening in any way. And here I am, nearly 15 years in.


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[Assistant] And I was just at UCLA Medical Center where I go for my active surveillance and I had an MRI that is fairly, type of MRI that's fairly rare in the United States, very common overseas where they're able to


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[Assistant] Uh, figure out down to the individual cell, essentially,


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[Assistant] What cancer you have and the nature of those cells.


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[Assistant] And you spend a long time in the machine, used to be an hour and fifteen minutes, now it's about fifty-five minutes, as they've refined this.


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[Assistant] When I almost 15 years ago found out that I had prostate cancer,


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[Assistant] There was really no such thing in the United States as active surveillance. It was very rare at a very small number of research based medical centers. Everybody else just got treated, uh, surgery or radiation or whatever. And there are a lot of, uh, ugly side effects with it. Well now 60%


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[Assistant] Of men diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer.


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[Assistant] Are now doing active surveillance like I'm doing. Uh, the other 40% who have early stage, uh, should consider it, uh, so that they don't have to go through, uh, radiation or surgery or whatever. You know, when you are diagnosed with prostate cancer and you have a biopsy for it, the pathologist


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[Assistant] Is a clear indicator of whether someone has, uh, relatively minor prostate cancer, which about, uh, somewhere close to 40% of men as best can be determined will never have a need for treatment ever.


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[Assistant] It's figuring out who that 40% is and today's technologies are not clear enough at who those people are.


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[Assistant] So the Gleason score gives a very important indicator.


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[Assistant] And so just because you hear you have prostate cancer,


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[Assistant] It doesn't mean that you have to rush out right away and do something radical to it. It depends on what you got. And the Gleason score is the greatest indicator.


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[Assistant] Uh, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, which I used to be on the board of for years, pcf.org.


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[Assistant] Has information if a family member or you yourself are diagnosed with prostate cancer, you're able to understand all the terminology and the decisions that you need to make. And remember, doctors vary on opinions and it is your life, it is your body. And that's why it's so important when you get any


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[Assistant] Diagnosis of an illness. If it's a major one that involves choices you have to make.


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[Assistant] That you read medical journals, not who knows what website, but medical journals. You go to get second opinions, maybe third opinions.


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[Assistant] That you don't just take the word of whoever you're standing in front of.


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[Assistant] Yes, he or she as a oncologist or urologist spent many, many years studying


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[Assistant] It's really hard to get through medical school. It's really hard to get the advanced education, but they're really busy and


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[Assistant] All of us as professionals, we get stuck in our ways and our habits.


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[Assistant] And so it's up to you to be your own advocate with any medical situation.


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[Assistant] And in my life, it's made an enormous difference.


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[Assistant] Not having to go through a treatment regimen that was not needed at least these first nearly 15 years. And you know what, if the time comes that it is needed?


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[Assistant] I'll get the treatment that is best at that time for me if I need to.


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[Assistant] One thing don't do is what most men do is ignore their health. Uh, gosh, there was a new report recently


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[Assistant] Showing the rates of the most, typically most serious widespread skin cancer, melanoma, how it's overwhelmingly a male disease. Overwhelmingly.


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[Assistant] Uh, guys are not good at protecting their skin from the sun with clothing. They're not good at protecting it with sunscreen. And when something goes wrong, there may be something suspicious on your body.


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[Assistant] Men don't go to the doctor in many cases till it's too late.


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[Assistant] And you look at the fatality rates, they're so high. So I want you to think about what I'm saying here. On the one hand I'm talking about disease management.


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[Assistant] With the second leading cause of cancer death in men, prostate cancer.


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[Assistant] And so I'm giving this mixed message that prostate cancer, most common cancer that hits men,


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[Assistant] Second leading cause of cancer death of men and


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[Assistant] When you find out you have it, you just don't have to rush right into treatment because you got to know what you have. And so that's confusing for me to say that. And then with the melanoma say, Hey, by the way, men ignore it. And then they die. Each cancer has its own thing about it. The important thing is that you stay on top of it.


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[Assistant] You know, I would not have been a candidate for active surveillance with prostate cancer if I didn't stay on my game, if I didn't follow the protocol, if I didn't have the testing that I have had to have over these nearly 15 years on a regular schedule. So managing your own health and doing things that, that can help keep you out of trouble, i.e. uh,


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[Assistant] Wearing protective clothing. My oldest brother has melanoma.


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[Assistant] And he believes he got it fighting in the Vietnam War. Who knows? But he has it.


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[Assistant] And so he wears protective clothing, he wears these big, big, big hats when he's out and about to protect himself from the sun and he goes for his checkups as required and he is


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[Assistant] In active disease management of his melanoma. So it's not necessarily a life sentence.


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[Assistant] Even in a case where you get it, as long as you do what,


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[Assistant] Like skin cancer that men die at a much higher rate than women. It is the choices we make that would help prevent it.


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[Assistant] And then the choices we make when we don't do the follow up, when we do have it, that makes the difference. And men live a shorter lifespan than women, even though there's not the huge difference


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[Assistant] Between the work activities today that men and women do,


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[Assistant] And still men have a much shorter lifespan. And I would allege that overwhelmingly it's because of the things I'm talking about right now, ignoring your health with what can be deadly tragic consequences. Now, Chris said that was not the happiest thing to talk about, but, uh, you know, men ignore their health. Men won't talk about it. And,


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[Assistant] You leave behind grieving loved ones. That's why you got to pay attention to this.


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[Assistant] And by the way, I should have said, and I apologize, I did not say, I am so grateful to all the people who


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[Assistant] Have prayed for me, have been thinking about me all through the years. The thing that I hope


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[Assistant] That I've been able to do by being so public about my cancer over these, uh, nearly 15 years is to try to get people to be their own advocate and to pay attention.


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[Assistant] So we're talking about two different things here. So title insurance is something that shows that you had clear rights to buy the property and the structure of the house that sits on it. When you bought the house and it protects you,


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[Assistant] From a claim that could come at any time, but usually fairly early in ownership.


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[Assistant] You're required when you have a mortgage like you had that you've now paid off, you were required to have owners, uh, you were required to have lender's title insurance that protected the mortgage company. But only if it your option and you paid a little extra money would you have what's known as simultaneous issue.


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[Assistant] Or owners title insurance that protects your equity, your money. And when you pay it off and full like you have.


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[Assistant] The title to your property that you're good, even if somebody ever successfully challenged your title saying you didn't get


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[Assistant] A clear deed, you didn't get clear ownership, the title insurance pays off all your money for that house. Very rare occurrence. The other thing is title lock, which is where


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[Assistant] They're trying to protect you. It's almost like an alert service from somebody trying to steal your house with forged documents or steal the value of your house. Now we've talked to five different


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[Assistant] uh, real estate attorneys and got a unanimous answer from them. And there was no group think because we talked to each of them individually. They didn't know each other.


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[Assistant] And we got a unanimous reading that it was not worth it to pay for a subscription for one of these policies that alert you when somebody's trying to take out a loan against the home or something like that.


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[Assistant] The times that this is happening have been pretty clear. It's happening when a house is vacant, when a house is owned by a quite elderly person, maybe that individual has moved into assisted living.


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[Assistant] The crooks that engage in this are looking for houses that are looking sad, yards not taken care of, uh, gutters falling off the side, that kind of thing.


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[Assistant] They're not going after people that are typically actively living in their homes.


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[Assistant] That there's a risk to you. So I would say based on having talked to these experts in industry,


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[Assistant] That I would not pay for one of those subscriptions that alert you.


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[Assistant] Toos, possible criminal activity going against your title.


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[Assistant] You didn't say this old card has any annual fee on it. If it doesn't, I don't want you to close it. I want you to leave that line open.


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[Assistant] And use it occasionally, uh, very sparingly. Keep that card active. You want to have multiple lines of credit. In your case,


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[Assistant] You take a victory and you're turning it into a bit of a defeat if you can this card, if it has no annual fee.


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[Assistant] You wanna get another card? You wanna get a different one? Uh, you wanna get an Amazon card? Whatever it is, get another card!


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[Assistant] But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Don't get rid of a card.


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[Assistant] That's worked well for you over the years, fits in your credit mix, shows, uh, continually, uh, one of the things that's a minor factor with your credit.


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[Assistant] Is the age of your accounts, but the bigger factor and why you would want to leave this account open


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[Assistant] Is available credit. The more available credit you have, the better. The more it boosts your credit score. So get another card.


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[Assistant] But if you do get that other card, keep the old one. The only time you even consider closing an old card, there are two.


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[Assistant] It's what's called a junk card, which is a store only card. One that's only good at one particular store.


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[Assistant] No major logo on it like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover. It's only good at a particular store. Those are garbage cards.


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[Assistant] If you want to close one of those, fine. Uhm, the other case is when a card has an annual fee,


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[Assistant] So let's say you have an American Express card and you can't justify the big annual fee you're paying on that Amex card.


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[Assistant] There are now so many American Express cards that don't have an annual fee.


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[Assistant] So you can just exchange the one with an annual fee with American Express for another one that doesn't have an annual fee. And think those ways.


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[Assistant] Don't reduce the amount of available credit you have because that will hurt


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[Assistant] So, we'll talk about Amex specifically. American Express, even if your credit's frozen.


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[Assistant] Well, uh, since they have access to your credit as an active card member, uhm,


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[Assistant] We think because the brand on that card is the brand on that card, that that's the only card of that brand we can have. But you look at the big issuers of cards, uh, Chase, City, Capital One,


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[Assistant] And American Express I think are the four giants of the credit card business. I don't know if I'm missing anybody. They have broad card lines. They have so many choices from cards that have, uh, potentially big annual fees.


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[Assistant] To many, many cards with no annual fees, many with great rewards built into them.


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[Assistant] So you just migrate within their system instead of dumping the card you have in their system. Coming up ahead, what can you expect for your wallet from air conditioning this summer and


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[Assistant] Gasoline for your vehicle. We're gonna talk about what energy is gonna do to your wallet over the next three months. I want you to know that the headlines you see are always scary.


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[Assistant] And almost always negative news. Negative news is what becomes news. So when something positive happens, we don't pay that much attention. And I wanted to tell you


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[Assistant] For this summer, there's a lot of positive news for your wallet.


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[Assistant] Number one, let's talk about gasoline because we're moving into the peak of gasoline use during the summer driving season. And I'm looking at the trends and it's so fantastic.


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[Assistant] The price of oil that then translates into what you pay for gasoline.


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[Assistant] Is so favorable and so different than it looked like it would be three months ago. It's why predicting the price of energy


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[Assistant] And anything other than a relatively short period like a few months becomes so hazardous. But you look at the price of oil over the last year.


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[Assistant] And the price of oil has fallen by 40 plus percent. So in turn, that means during the time of year,


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[Assistant] When what you pay for gasoline normally goes up and up and up. Gasoline usually peaks.


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[Assistant] The second week of July and then starts trending back down. This year the prices will trend down.


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[Assistant] Leading into the 4th of July, almost certainly, almost everywhere in the United States. All bets would be off.


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[Assistant] If some, uh, crazy unexpected event happens in the world, some war, whatever.


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[Assistant] Or a big turn in the Russian invasion of Ukraine can lead to higher prices again. But the trends for oil in turn, what you pay for gasoline or diesel are so favorable looking through the summer.


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[Assistant] And that's great news. Gosh, you go back a year ago, it's crazy the difference in the price of oil.


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[Assistant] From a year ago, price of a barrel of oil a year ago, $122, today $70. That's a, that's a huge difference.


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[Assistant] And what then translates into what you'll pay per gallon of gas. And the good price news.


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[Assistant] has been going on for a while but accelerated recently again at a time of year usually goes the other way in particularly


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[Assistant] The, uh, conspire, the conspiring of Saudi Arabia and Russia to try to hurt


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[Assistant] People in energy markets that that conspiracy of Saudi Arabia and Russia to hurt the rest of the world did fail.


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[Assistant] And such good news for our wallets. But wait, I'm not done. I got more great news. After Russia invaded Ukraine,


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[Assistant] The cost of natural gas, which is the most important source of energy for homes, uh, retail and industry.


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[Assistant] The cost of natural gas went crazy high after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And since then,


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[Assistant] The price defying all expectations of experts in the natural gas industry. The price of natural gas has gone down and down and down and down. In fact, compared to just, uh, gosh.


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[Assistant] About eight months ago, natural gas was four times the price, four times the price that it is now at wholesale. Why would you care what it is at wholesale?


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[Assistant] Because most electricity in the United States


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[Assistant] Is generated in most places in the United States from natural gas, number one source.


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[Assistant] of the energy provided to us through electricity to our homes and businesses, schools, factories, blah, blah, blah, is natural gas. Number one source. And so most


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[Assistant] Power providers, the cost of the actual energy itself is a direct pass through good or bad and in between to you and me and our electricity bills. So this is wonderful news.


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[Assistant] And it means that the cost of cooling your home


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[Assistant] In most states around the country and most jurisdictions within a state are going to be much more favorable


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[Assistant] There are exceptions. There are states that don't allow the free market to rule in the energy markets. It's a corrupt process with a monopoly power provider and the politicians bought off by those utilities


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[Assistant] Come up with power prices that are really ridiculously high and it's unfortunate when the free market is not allowed to do its thing.


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[Assistant] Because there are times the free market will punish our wallets, but allowing the free market to run ultimately leads to more efficiency and better prices for your and my wallet. And for those of you who don't believe in the free market, go to Clark.com slash Clark Stinks and let me know.


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[Assistant] So your wife is always right, except in this case. She's, uh, I respectfully disagree with her and support your position. If a young person


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[Assistant] It's available to him as a brave person who has chosen to serve our nation in the U.S. Air Force and thank him for that for me.


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[Assistant] And one of the benefits you get is you get access to the TSP. Thrift Savings Plan is a incredibly superior savings plan compared to what the rest of us have available to us.


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[Assistant] And the rules have changed for military TSPs. There's now a match for what your son puts in it.


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[Assistant] I'd want your son to go in the lifestyle fund, life cycle fund, sorry, lifestyle. We're talking about lifestyle. The life cycle fund available to him through the TSP, go in the Roth version of the TSP. And that's where I want him shoving a lot of money into.


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[Assistant] And the fact that he's, uh, choosing to eat out, even though he's got free food on base.


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[Assistant] I've had a lot of free food on base, and uh, but eating out sounds like a really good idea.


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[Assistant] How wonderful, Greg. And this is a pattern across the United States. I talked recently


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[Assistant] About what percent of American households are now multi-generational again. It's like what's old has become new again.


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[Assistant] And most care to older loved ones is being provided by younger loved ones. And that's who's filling the gap is caregivers also providing financial support.


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[Assistant] I would recommend, Greg, just so there's no misunderstanding that, uh, these are your


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[Assistant] This is your mother-in-law. Your wife should have a conversation with her siblings and talk through with them what is fair.


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[Assistant] And you just want their buy-in. You never want there to be any feeling.


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[Assistant] That the two of you are in any way taking advantage. You two are doing a labor of love.


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[Assistant] Providing a place and care in your home or your mother-in-law at 90 years old.


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[Assistant] And the siblings, your wife's siblings should be very supportive. It's just that's a conversation she should have with them.


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[Assistant] about how you're handling the social security money and as long as they're, uh, aware they should be completely supportive


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[Assistant] And it's what people don't know, what's not communicated to them that causes distrust later.


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[Assistant] Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Can you stop right there for a second, please?


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[Assistant] You know, I hear from people over and over again that we would be able to save money if we didn't have young kids. Here we've got a couple that has three young kids, 14, 11, nine. Is that what you said? Yep. Wow. That was good. I can't believe I remember that anyway. Um, and they're maxing out saving for retirement. Okay. That's incredible. That's great.


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[Assistant] I hate these self-directed IRAs. I can't stand them. They have very, very high costs and they're an area that's been abused by a lot of people. And so you're more subject to oversight from the IRS, potentially them disallowing.


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[Assistant] What you've done and real estate has its own embedded tremendous tax benefits, having it as a regular taxable investment. So there's, uh,


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[Assistant] Build up enough money so you can make a down payment on investment property.


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[Assistant] And you own it as a personal investment rather than inside an IRA. You know a Roth IRA already has the benefit of being tax free money, tax free growth, tax free spending. You lose the tax advantage of owning


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Real estate as an investment when you hold it inside a Roth IRA.


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[Assistant] Holding it, which most people do inside a traditional IRA.


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[Assistant] Remember, every dollar you end up making in a traditional IRA is taxed at ordinary income tax rates.


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[Assistant] Real estate owned outside as an investment, not inside a retirement account is subject to very favorable tax rules. And so you are potentially creating a tax time bomb


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[Assistant] Owning it inside a traditional IRA. So you'd never want to own it inside a Roth.


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[Assistant] And you've got lots of problems owning it inside a traditional. So I know there are pitches everywhere, everywhere, online, on social media, websites, advertising online, telling you that this is Nirvana to own real estate through an IRA.


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[Assistant] It's what I believe in my heart and my head or my head and my heart. So.


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[Assistant] Wanna tell you, we had a Clark Stinks recently.


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[Assistant] I'm saying that you miss me saying save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. So here it is, there it is, cause that's what we're about.


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[Assistant] Is you taking control of your wallet each and every day. And remember, we serve you around the clock at Clark.com.


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[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show, where our mission is to serve you and empower you to make better financial decisions in your life. So question for you, if an oops happened in your life, can you afford it? Unfortunately,


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[Assistant] Most Americans don't have enough cash to handle an oops. And people are turning to


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[Assistant] Really troublesome ways to get that money, to borrow that money. I want to talk about,


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[Assistant] How prevention is the best cure with your wallet. Later in the show, I'm also going to talk about grocery shopping.


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[Assistant] And the method that is saving more and more and more of us money that's been there all along.


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[Assistant] Surveys ask the question all different ways, but generally somewhere close to half of Americans, even those of higher income, big percent of people with higher income, cannot cover


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[Assistant] A theoretical $400 unexpected expense.


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[Assistant] Sudden visit to a doctor not covered by insurance.


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[Assistant] Or a problem with your vehicle or the water heater goes out at your house, whatever it is, we're living so tight that we can't afford


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[Assistant] The unexpected, but the unexpected always happens. You cannot price life for perfection.


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[Assistant] And I'm very worried about how this mentality is taken hold.


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[Assistant] As just this piggy bank that the 401k becomes the thing you go to to grab money


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[Assistant] When you need to do a repair of some kind and


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[Assistant] It's funny because people will call me and they'll, or they'll ask me a question or we'll have one on the podcast from someone who's like, is this an exception?


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[Assistant] To your 401k rule about not borrowing from a 401k.


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[Assistant] A reasonable exception to borrow that money from the 401k.


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[Assistant] Because you can't look at things just in isolation. What does it do?


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[Assistant] To your long-term financial independence and trajectory when you pull that money out of a retirement account. At the same time, what do most people do?


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[Assistant] If they have it, they pull out a credit card and they charge it at an interest rate that typically is gonna be close to 20%. And then for every dollar you borrowed,


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[Assistant] You're paying back the equivalent of a dollar twenty if you get it paid off in a year. It's not great either. I mean these are tough, tough issues. So it's why I have my obsession with having from every paycheck some money, any amount of money,


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[Assistant] Go into a savings account that you do a split deposit. It's not a payroll service out there that doesn't have the capability.


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[Assistant] To put money in two different places from that paycheck because you want the money in


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[Assistant] A high interest earning online savings account instead of with a traditional bank.


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[Assistant] Because traditional banks pay like nothing on your savings.


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[Assistant] And I've got my one cent rule.


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[Assistant] I invented it. No. Anyway, the one cent rule is that if you have, feel like you can never save a penny, that you just can't do it.


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[Assistant] Start with one penny of every dollar you're getting from your paycheck.


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[Assistant] And the whole idea is to create that habit of diversion into savings, to start building it up so that when the rainy day comes, you've got that money to draw it. And yeah, the penny of every dollar you make may not build up enough over time to pay for whatever the oops is, but


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[Assistant] And you're creating a new habit in your life because the alternatives, it's like,


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[Assistant] Uh, do you want me to jump in a fire pit?


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[Assistant] Or do you want me to go into a line of people with, uh, machetes? I mean, you know, that's the thing.


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[Assistant] That I'm presented so often with is this thing like, well, something terrible is going to happen to me. Which terrible thing should I do?


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[Assistant] Right? So you want to avoid the fire pit and the machetes.


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[Assistant] By saving money regularly, and then you don't even have to worry about that question.


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[Assistant] Yeah, okay. So, the credit card companies,


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[Assistant] Are in this ongoing thing with Venmo and Cash App. And they are treating them generally as a cash advance and not as a traditional purchase.


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[Assistant] When you put money into your account, use them for a transaction.


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[Assistant] And, uh, gosh, this is inexpensive. So the, the cost of the book was 70 bucks.


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[Assistant] Plus the cash advance fee plus an additional $20 to Capital One.


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[Assistant] It would appear on your card, but the credit card companies don't want to end up in something where you're then disputing.


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[Assistant] As a purchase that, let's say you didn't receive the book and then say you're like, well,


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[Assistant] I'm going to dispute the charge and so that's why they want to do as a cash advance any transaction you do with Venmo or Cash App which protects them from a charge back and then costs you all the money up front


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[Assistant] So that's why the best answer if you ever had to use


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[Assistant] Venmo or Cash App or something like this. If you have Venmo or Cash App set up the way I want you to in the first place which is tied up into a checking account that does not have access to any of the funds you normally use


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[Assistant] To pay your rent, mortgage, car payment, anything like that. So in other words, you have a, a separate checking account, not at the same institution you do your normal checking.


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[Assistant] You eliminate the risk because the only money at risk is the money you have on hand in your account. I'm really sorry this was so messy for you


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[Assistant] With the cards. Anytime you get into anything that's considered to be a cash advance, it gets ugly quick for your wallet.


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[Assistant] So Carrie, uhm, alright, maybe I failed to explain this well. The purpose when you travel overseas,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is you use the chase card, it's considered to be one of the best deals in travel cards. It's $95 annual fee for, uh, the preferred.


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[Assistant] It's like 550 for the reserve, I think.


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[Assistant] But the $95 card is considered to be an out and out great deal.


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[Assistant] It's designed to use overseas. It's designed to be used for travel. You pay no foreign currency transaction fees using it for purchases as a credit card.


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[Assistant] Not as a source of getting cash from ATMs. If you want cash from ATMs,


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[Assistant] If your financial institution have your ATM card is fee free.


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[Assistant] On ATM withdrawals from others' ATMs, you're good.


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[Assistant] If it's not, then you have a problem. If you have a Charles Schwab account


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[Assistant] Uh, for foreign currency or for using an ATM anywhere in the world. And that's, uh,


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[Assistant] The best card to have is an alternative for getting money overseas. So I've talked about before, look at Revolut and Wise that are both specialists in being able to use, uh, your U.S. dollars


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[Assistant] account basically overseas. The good news about ATM's


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[Assistant] Is that very seldom in most of the world do you need actual


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[Assistant] Physical cash anymore. A lot of countries, you're gonna find actual cash hard to use.


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[Assistant] And what I've discovered is that if when I get to a foreign country and I pull money out in cash using my fee free ATM card, that I end up at the end of the trip still having almost the same amount of cash as I started with.


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[Assistant] USAA, uh, what, 60 million? I forget. No, that's Costco 60 million. I forget how many people have USAA. But if you have access to USAA, that's a great suggestion.


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[Assistant] Wait, wait, wait, you said, key word you said in Florida?


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[Assistant] Yeah, so this is a plague in Florida that's been driving up homeowners insurance rates like you can't believe. Uh, the legislature in Florida has been


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[Assistant] Uh, really struggling with this for a long time. They're so influenced by all the lobbyists that they just never get this quite right.


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[Assistant] But there have been some tightening of the rules recently because it's been a curse in the state of Florida where the insurance companies basically have


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[Assistant] One to two hands tied behind their backs with unethical


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[Assistant] Roofers saying, oh yeaah, yeaah, this roof's terrible, look at all this hail damage.


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[Assistant] And then you're billed as the homeowner, uh, the insurance company on your behalf is billed for a roof. And you're like, I got a free roof. What a great country. But then it's has drive driven.


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[Assistant] And yeaah, you have one of these people who drives through the neighborhood go up on the roof and they're gonna fill out the forms and tell your insurer, yeaah, the roof was completely destroyed by hail. And it's possible there are houses that do in fact have legitimate hail damage.


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[Assistant] But not at all at the ratio that's been going on in the state of Florida. You don't want to play a crooked game. You would want to invite a roofer in.


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[Assistant] To your house to go up and inspect it who is one


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[Assistant] That is a really good question. I think if you ask your homeowners insurance company, they may have some that adjusters trust that you could have come. Uhm, but it is a terrible problem.


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[Assistant] In the state of Florida and just imagine this is going to be the worst free roof people got when nobody wants to write homeowners insurance in Florida anymore and that's why


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[Assistant] I wish the legislature in Florida would get its act together.


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[Assistant] And shut down this crooked practice coming up ahead. And by the way,


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[Assistant] I'd love to have your opinions on it. I'm sure that's the kind of thing that generates Clark Stinks. Clark.com slash Clark Stinks. You have something you wanted to talk about with Roofing.


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[Assistant] There's a shift that the inflationary cycle we're in has brought to the grocery market and you're not a sitting duck.


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[Assistant] And I'm going to give you an alternative that is booming for your grocery dollars.


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[Assistant] Something happens in an economy that's really radical. It changes people's behavior. And we've seen this in different industries when there's been like an inflection point. And the enormous inflation


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[Assistant] And grocery prices that we went through for about 14 months was so severe.


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[Assistant] That it has led to a change in buying patterns and buying behavior of consumers that I don't think is done.


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[Assistant] I was reading one of the industry publications on the supermarket industry and it's Winsite Grocery Business.


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[Assistant] And there was an article written for the supermarket chains themselves and supermarket operators about where the danger has been for them. And guess what? One of the real danger spots for them has been the warehouse clubs.


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[Assistant] large market share from traditional supermarkets because


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[Assistant] The best guesstimate out there is that like for like the typical grocery item that is available with much less selection at


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[Assistant] Costco Sam's Club or the regional retailer, BJ's Wholesale Club, is that you save 25% overall on your grocery bill. And it's not like, uh, just a made up thing.


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[Assistant] People's behavior in shopping shows that it's true. The warehouse clubs


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[Assistant] Or having record high renewal rates. You know, normally people will join a warehouse club


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[Assistant] And they're paying whatever the annual fee is or whatever level of membership they are. And you're going to have churn. People say, you know, I never really go there. And they let their membership expire. But the renewal rates are the highest they've ever been for Costco, Sam's and BJ's wholesale. And it's because people have found such relevance in two industries at the same time.


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[Assistant] Last year when Russia invaded Ukraine and the cost of oil and then in turn gasoline went through the roof, people were using the gas stations


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[Assistant] At the warehouse clubs and much greater numbers than they had before because there's a big savings on the gasoline.


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[Assistant] And then once people were at the pumps, they'd park, they'd go inside. They started buying groceries in greater numbers and it stuck. Both have stuck.


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[Assistant] Buying the gasoline and buying the groceries. Because when people are stretched and they are right now, they're buying


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[Assistant] More of the things they've gotta have at the warehouse clubs. Now I'm obsessed with the warehouse clubs. I mean, we've got a dog named Kirkland Signature. Maybe our next one will be called Members Mark. The thing is,


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[Assistant] I love what they do and you know my rule, I only shop in stores with concrete floors because I don't want to pay


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[Assistant] For fancy flooring or fancy fixtures or a beautiful store. I want beautiful prices.


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[Assistant] And I am willing to accept less selection for lower price.


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[Assistant] And that's key in the warehouse clubs. What if you are a single individual and you're thinking


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[Assistant] I can't buy groceries at one of these places because it's gonna go bad before I'd ever finish an item that's got a poll date. That's right, if you go in


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[Assistant] And you buy a pack of 24 yogurts?


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[Assistant] And you're just one person, they're gonna go bad probably before you've eaten the last one.


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[Assistant] That's true, but it's not true for everything in there. The smartest thing people do is what the warehouse clubs hate. Share your membership with another single individual.


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[Assistant] You split the Charmin. You buy a big thing of Kirkland Signature paper towels or members mark paper towels or whatever. Split the big bundle.


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[Assistant] Or if you have a BJ's Wholesale Club near you, they offer


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[Assistant] So many of their food items and other items in much smaller sizes and quantities.


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[Assistant] Then you're going to find at Sam's or at Costco.


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[Assistant] And when you look at warehouse clubs, reason I don't talk a lot about BJ's Wholesales, their market share is 7%.


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[Assistant] Uh, Sam's is about 30, Costco's 60 something percent of the market. But these, these places,


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[Assistant] Will save you substantial money. Think about it.


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[Assistant] 25% overall reduction in your grocery bill. And as I've talked about before,


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[Assistant] The traditional supermarket chains are getting squeezed. They're getting just clobbered by the competition from the specialties like Aldi and the growing Lidl, the two German


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[Assistant] Supermarket chains that have come in the US are taking more and more and more market share by market in the US. Even Dollar General and Dollar Tree are taking market share in groceries.


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[Assistant] Because when people's wallets just don't buy them enough, they adapt and change old habits.


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[Assistant] And if you are fed up with high grocery prices where you shop, consider the alternatives. Krista?


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[Assistant] The advantage of using a meal delivery service is it eliminates the impulse buying.


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[Assistant] And you, if you look at the cost of


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[Assistant] The convenience of a meal that is, uh, virtually an MRE just to heat and serve. When you look at that, if it gets you to divert eating out at a nice restaurant and you eat at home, it will be more potentially economical for you. The other thing is that if your health is a big factor for you, uh,


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[Assistant] Subscribing to one of these services or having delivery from one of them may actually improve the quality of the health content of the food you're eating. As I say that though, the, uh, food, the meal delivery services have been in a world of hurt. They were doing so well during COVID. They're having a really hard time scaring up customers right now.


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[Assistant] I live in a very affluent household, which means that you've gotta make a gamble here.


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[Assistant] That the parent's income by itself


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[Assistant] Is going to limit the kids eligibility for financial aid for college.


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[Assistant] If in fact they do go, the parents already have the 529s, you said fully funded, meaning this is a wealthy household.


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[Assistant] And if I were going to do anything, can't do the Roth cause they're not working yet, five and eight years old.


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[Assistant] They're too young to be able to do that. But uhm, that is an idea and you could have no appreciation from the five and eight year old. If you gave money in their honor, if you asked each of them, Hey,


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[Assistant] What, what matters to you? Like what, you know, five and eight being like, I hate when a kid has cancer. I hate, uh, when


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[Assistant] A kid doesn't have a home or whatever it is and you could give money in their honor to that kind of thing. It's funny that both of us were thinking.


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[Assistant] We're both thinking charity right away, but if it's one of those things, charity begins at home.


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[Assistant] I would open the kids a Fidelity investment account.


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[Assistant] And put money into an index fund since they're not likely, uh, to qualify.


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[Assistant] For financial aid for college. Anyway, you're not hurting them qualifying by having money in their name in an investment account.


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[Assistant] They go in one of the Fidelity Zero funds, takes one dollar to open one of those accounts, but I still like the charity angle.


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[Assistant] Well, it's so funny that you asked this question because


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[Assistant] I started off this segment talking about the warehouse clubs and buying gas.


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[Assistant] Getting one of their cards, Sam's Club card, you're going to get five cents, uh, five percent off. So if you're paying three and a half dollars a gallon right now, it'd be 15.


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[Assistant] 17 and a half cents you'd get off every gallon using the Sam's Club MasterCard.


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[Assistant] More than the cash discount difference.


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[Assistant] If you have a membership at either of those clubs, get the accompanying card. Use it for gasoline.


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[Assistant] You'll be better off than you are with the rewards account.


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[Assistant] That's still leaving you a nickel higher per gallon on the credit versus the cash price.


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[Assistant] And the warehouse clubs, I mean, they are the answer to every question in life, right?


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[Assistant] So, uh, so that's what I would do. You had a pretty good chance.


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[Assistant] With the percent of Americans that are a member of Sam's or Costco, uh, that you have one of those memberships you'd be able to get the card


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[Assistant] And get the big discount per gallon of gas. And go by, you can see the, the big sign, the, the Christa, uh,


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[Assistant] And Ms. Hunningsbaum, you are a member of team Clark. Thank you so much for that. And I hope you've enjoyed today's episode of our podcast. What are we about? You learning ways to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off.


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[Assistant] My pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show, where our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life. Uh, we're not going to have a podcast Monday.


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[Assistant] In honor of Memorial Day, I hope that you have a wonderful Memorial Day holiday weekend and enjoy it. Just remember for a second, the brave men and women


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[Assistant] Memorial Day and Veterans Day as I talk about


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[Assistant] In this podcast, but first it's time for the people's absolute favorite segment, Clark Stinks. The people's favorite segment or your favorite.


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[Assistant] You know, we get stuck in our ways, we get stuck in our habits, we get too narrowly focused, and it's so helpful to me for people to say, Clark, you missed this, you didn't think about that.


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[Assistant] You're just wrong, whatever it is. It's helpful to me.


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[Assistant] Thank you very much, Trevor, and it's great to have a trial period with, because you need a budget. YNAB is not cheap, but it can be priceless.


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[Assistant] But if you get it and you don't really use it.


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[Assistant] Then you're wasting even more money in your life. So I love the trial period and I love that, uh, people with EDUs get a free year. No one's ever told us that.


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[Assistant] Well, Eric, thank you. And first of all, you know, Jersey City's on a roll. It's really become a beautiful place. Uhm, so Amtrak save


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[Assistant] Uh, saved our holiday season when we were caught up in New York City with the multiple day meltdown of Southwest Airlines. And if it hadn't been for Amtrak,


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[Assistant] We wouldn't have made it home in time for Lane to be with her family. So yes.


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[Assistant] Amtrak is something I don't talk a lot about because Amtrak


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[Assistant] Is very effective in the Washington to Boston corridor, not so much elsewhere in the country.


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[Assistant] I remember we were in a massive blizzard in New York. We were meeting with my publisher.


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[Assistant] Back, uh, for another event and we ended up taking Amtrak in the blizzard to Baltimore.


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[Assistant] So if it had not been for Amtrak twice, I would have been stranded in New York.


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[Assistant] There are people who love New York so much, they'd say worse things could happen, but we had places to go, things to do. Story song's fun, right? So, uh, Amtrak did make it happen for us.


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[Assistant] Curtis, thank you. Every time people in the banking business think that interest rates are going to decline.


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[Assistant] That's when the callables rear their ugly head again.


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[Assistant] And normally you're not even going to realize in that mice type of a CD contract that you're buying a callable, which means you can be thrown out.


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[Assistant] Because they can now get money cheaper than what they promised to pay you.


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[Assistant] And that is a wonderful point I had, I had not noticed.


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[Assistant] That the banks were going back to what to me is an unethical practice.


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[Assistant] With the callables where they say, well, if it benefits us, you keep it for the five years, but if it doesn't benefit us, we're going to kick you to the curb when we want to.


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[Assistant] Okay. I got to figure this out because I just got my renewal recently for the wall street journal and it wasn't like I was trying to buy the wall street journal. I was just trying to get my regular six day a week subscription. Okay. I'm going to work on that one.


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[Assistant] You know, this has become a thing in the digital era with what happens with video streaming services. We're talking about news publication subscriptions is that the business model of offering teasers and then having them spring to higher prices.


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[Assistant] Doesn't work that well in this era and publications have got to be realistic.


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[Assistant] About charging the price they need to charge.


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[Assistant] Instead of putting people into something where you offer a low rate.


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[Assistant] And then it goes way up because people are going to do exactly these kinds of things.


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[Assistant] David, thank you, alright. So, what's the trade-off?


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[Assistant] It is true that they're not going to have you in and out typically in an hour. And it might be a long, long time. My daughter,


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[Assistant] Recently, her tires were from Costco. Steffi's tires were from Costco and she had, you know, you got the road hazard from them and the tire was damaged and she had to wait four and a half hours


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[Assistant] Till the tire was, I forgot if they had to repair it or replace it because all I heard from her.


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[Assistant] Is, you know, that she lost the four and a half hours and I said, Stephie, don't you remember? I said, take it there and Uber somewhere. You need to be.


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[Assistant] And then if you need to, get a ride from somebody or Uber back because


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[Assistant] The car will be there a long time. I mean, you know, when you buy tires from one of the warehouse clubs, you got to know it's not going to be the same, uh, normally quicker experience you'll have somewhere else, but you'll have lower prices.


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[Assistant] And you'll have service after the sale from them. It just may not be quick.


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[Assistant] They only have so many bays, you can only have so many people doing the tires.


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[Assistant] That we just heard about, you experienced, my daughter experienced, and so,


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[Assistant] If you know going in, that's what it is, fine, but what a good point.


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[Assistant] My head thinks about, and you brought up a perspective that I don't really address or think about.


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[Assistant] Craig, you are completely right. I mean you look at the devaluation that


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[Assistant] Several of the Fulfa Airlines just did with their miles, where you had miles you thought would buy you a trip here.


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[Assistant] And now they'll buy you a trip three miles away. I mean, it's brutal, it's vicious what the airlines do in good times to their, to their customers who are supposedly their most loyal customers. So miles do not get better with time.


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[Assistant] They deteriorate in value and when you have miles to take a nice reward flight, use them. Don't sit on them.


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[Assistant] Robert, thank you and, uh, sounds like you are, yeaah, you're an independent agent. I love-


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[Assistant] Independent agents, most people don't even know they exist. Instead of being most


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[Assistant] Agents in auto and homeowners insurance, or what are known as captive agents, they only can sell


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[Assistant] Insurance coverage for that one company.


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[Assistant] A captive agent is never going to be able to offer you the lowest prices in the marketplace.


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[Assistant] Independent agents don't have the billions of marketing dollars that the big insurers have and so people tend to gravitate towards


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[Assistant] Those captive agents, you are much better served with an independent agent. And Robert, I defer to your expertise if it is actually cheaper.


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[Assistant] For people to individually shop each facet of their property and casualty insurance, I take your word for that.


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[Assistant] JL, uhm, I have had the misadventures of driving my own rental moving truck and thank goodness I have never wrecked one.


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[Assistant] But yes, the items are in your possession. You will save a lot of money doing it. Know that the auto insurance you have usually will not cover you.


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[Assistant] For use of a rental truck, you will have to buy the overpriced.


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[Assistant] Insurance offered by the rental truck company.


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[Assistant] For the move and know that the prices vary a lot on a rental truck based on day of the month that you rent the truck. Also the direction you're moving.


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[Assistant] And that's why it's important to compare from different companies because


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[Assistant] The algorithms they use to set the cost of a truck


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[Assistant] Very so much from one company to another, one date to another and one move if you're moving a one way rental.


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[Assistant] The one way rentals can be so different in price from one company to another.


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[Assistant] Your possession. Your possession. So if it stays in your possession, you would have to be driving a truck. But the pod thing is very popular now where they drop the pods at your home and there are many different companies that have those. You load it, then the company comes with something that looks kind of like a commercial trash hauling truck. It comes in, it scoops it up, goes on there.


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[Assistant] And when they have enough loads going the direction you're going, it comes across.


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[Assistant] To whatever one way destination you're moving to. They can also be used potentially locally for a local move.


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[Assistant] Carol, thank you. And in the midst of that question, I talked about how appliance prices having spiked so much in the time of factory shutdowns because of COVID, supply chain disruptions, so they couldn't make


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Appliances, the price of appliances went through the roof and they've been going down, down, down, down.


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[Assistant] That was the main reason I mentioned to delay buying them. This is another reason.


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[Assistant] That the warranty clock starts ticking right away.


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[Assistant] So Mary, here's a dirty little secret. In the years I was in syndication radio, there were 18 minutes of commercials.


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[Assistant] In that hour and then local cutaways at the top and the bottom for if stations ran local or syndicated network news


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[Assistant] Cast or whatever. So the minutes of the podcast average equivalent


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[Assistant] To what we did in syndication all those years, which was 33 minutes. And the advantage with the podcast is some of them will be longer, some will be shorter.


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[Assistant] And do we, do people see when they


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[Assistant] They can see how long it is. They can see how long it is. So take me back to a .9 or .8.


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[Assistant] Will you listen to my slow delivery even slower? And we'll get you to the 30 minutes because most podcasts


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[Assistant] That 30 minutes that you do is great. You keep that up. That half hour day is going to make your life not only longer, it's going to make it healthier and


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[Assistant] Allow you to stay more active much longer in your life. Uh, coming ahead, I am so grateful to the wonderful and brave men and women who are part of our US military. And here we are at Memorial Day and I want to talk about


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[Assistant] The whole idea of commitment to service and then.


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[Assistant] Also mention there are wonderful benefits out there.


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[Assistant] That a lot of people who serve don't even know are out there.


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[Assistant] I come from a family of military tradition.


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[Assistant] Even though we're an immigrant family to the US, all four of my grandparents were born overseas. But when our families arrived in the United States, we were so grateful.


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[Assistant] To be able to live in this incredible, wonderful country of ours.


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[Assistant] And yes, we have problems. We could spend all day talking about the problems. And I'm dismayed and distressed about the


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[Assistant] Angry divisions we have in our country right now, because we only stay strong when we're united. You are the United States of America. And I ask you, the one thing I ask of you, when you think about the sacrifice of those, this Memorial Day, who gave the ultimate sacrifice so you and I could be free, remember United


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[Assistant] And we're in a time where we've decided we don't like each other much as Americans anymore and that really really hurts me to my core.


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[Assistant] A lot of the things we've gotten all fired up about with each other. We've been manipulated on that. And I ask you something to think about as we appreciate what others have done giving up their lives


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[Assistant] So we could have the freedoms we enjoy in this great country. Think about what these divisions are doing to the strength of our nation, particularly at a time there are a lot of people out there in other countries that wish us harm and we're doing harm to ourselves. And I know enough about that because this is not a political podcast. That's not what we're about.


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[Assistant] Some of you know, many don't, that after the terrorist attacks on September 11 of 01, I wanted to join the military. I was too old, but I was able to join my state guard and enlisted in my state guard


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[Assistant] In November of 01, didn't even know one existed, about half the states have state guards. And I served for 21 years and it was something that was great for me to do, particularly since


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[Assistant] In addition to the prior generation, everyone serving in the military, I have cousins who served, both my brothers served in the military. Uh, my father was a captain in the army during World War II. My brother was, um, his rank in the Navy got promoted several times as an officer. I think he was in 03 or 04 and


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[Assistant] My other brother was a sergeant in the, uh, in the Air Force reserves and it's just part of our tradition. I did not


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[Assistant] Serve till after September 11th and was a state guardsman for all those years. And meeting


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[Assistant] So many, it was such a privilege to meet so many people that were in every branch of the military including regular military and the state


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[Assistant] And federal combined forces of the national guard army and air guard. And this is something in an all volunteer era that is so fantastic, the people who serve. And that's why we put so much effort in just updated our guide to benefits available and deals available to military personnel, veterans and their families.


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[Assistant] And our military guide at Clark.com, you've gotten a little stale. Uh, we wanted to do an update and we've done it and it is there for you. And anyone, you know, family member, friend who serves or has served, you have rights and you have privileges and benefits as well from serving.


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[Assistant] And I want to make sure you get all of those and it goes beyond just getting a discount of 10%.


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[Assistant] At some restaurant or something, there's so many things out there for you and I want you to have the advantage of them. And I know we don't have a culture today where today's teenagers overwhelmingly, they don't even think about serving in the military. And I've long had this bias or belief


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[Assistant] That we should have two years of national service in the United States that you go into after high school, whether it be for the military or some other cause that would serve the country. And when I've talked about that from time to time, we've gotten very hard pushback from people who think that that is not a good thing at all. I really think that we,


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[Assistant] Part of that division I talked about earlier is because we don't know each other like we used to. We don't have that common purpose that we need. And the common purpose so often comes from a foreign enemy. I would rather as short of wartime be able to have that sense of national purpose. But enough about that.


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[Assistant] If you do serve, thank you so much. If you did serve, thank you very much and know that we got a lot of info for you on our military guide at Clark.com. And with that having been said, Krista, it's now time for questions on today's podcast.


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[Assistant] So the debit card has some dangers to it. Uh, where if you buy something in advance, you buy something online. The way I look at it with any of these plans,


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[Assistant] That you get, you only get the interest on the money you have with the bank or credit union.


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[Assistant] If you do the trigger transactions, which usually is 12, 15 or 20, you have to do in a month.


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[Assistant] Is that just the ones you avoid is what counts.


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[Assistant] Nothing you're buying now that you'll receive later and nothing you buy online. Uhm, but other things, particularly you don't have to, you know, do any large purchases on it. I'd keep the threshold below $50 for a transaction because you have to do 15 anyway and get those done and you're good.


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[Assistant] You know, the thing about the debit card being an inferior way to buy things is because you don't have protections you do if you use a credit card. So there's a risk to you using the debit card, but that's a possibility. The certainty


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[Assistant] Is if you jump through the hoops your credit union wants you to do, you're going to earn good money. So in that case, the trade off is worth it.


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[Assistant] Just remember the don'ts of where you don't use it.


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[Assistant] And the purchase amounts you don't use it for, you'll be fine.


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[Assistant] Well, but the thing is, anything that has risk, you can over come that.


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[Assistant] It's like when people kept asking me about the Wells Fargo 2% credit card, with all the things I've said about Wells Fargo, how could I recommend the card? Because it's a really good card.


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[Assistant] I wouldn't carry it because I've heard all the nightmares from people, but it's a good card.


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[Assistant] And the risk is that Wells Fargo isn't there for you if you have a problem with it, but it's a really good card.


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[Assistant] You could do that, but you know, these checking account offers have been so good because, and the reason they do this,


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[Assistant] With using, you have to clear the debit card as if it's a credit card, you know, they'll ask you debit or credit. The merchant fees that the credit union charges is so higher. The bank offering one of these accounts, they're so high.


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[Assistant] That that subsidizes the high rate of interest they pay you on the account.


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[Assistant] I must tell you the, uh, lab created diamonds have become such a big part of the diamond market and usually we'll hear patterns and you found


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[Assistant] About people buying a lab created diamond. Am I right about that?


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[Assistant] Many of these companies out there, and anytime you have so many, you're gonna have some that


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[Assistant] Turn out not to be running a stable business or they may not have their act together or they may not be run by the nicest people. But so far we have not heard.


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[Assistant] I've not heard this thing about the broker aspect. It's never come up in any of my reading because I've read a lot on this area and I've done a lot of stories on this on television.


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[Assistant] Uhm, and so I've not heard of problems. The biggest player I think in the market now is the one to beer zones, which is Lightbox. And they may not, I don't know what size diamond.


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[Assistant] You're intended once, but their biggest stones are two carrots and these diamonds


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[Assistant] That these companies sell, they're just ridiculously nice. Uhm, now there are more and more sellers of lab created diamonds where you can go to actual retail stores and you'd be able to see the stones in person that they have an inventory


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[Assistant] At a retail store, and that would be another way to approach this.


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[Assistant] And more and more traditional diamond selling jewelers are now stocking both lab createds and dug out of the earth diamonds. So you have alternatives other than just looking at online sellers.


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[Assistant] So renter's insurance for a dorm is something that is not a high priority unless your son


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[Assistant] Has a lot of very expensive possessions.


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[Assistant] Is when your son Eric moves into off campus housing, moves into an apartment or a private provider, uh, uh, kind of dorm apartment kind of hybrid, which are more and more common near large state university campuses. Uh, so the renters insurance day certainly comes. I'm not sure that the dorm is a high priority for that. Um, having,


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[Assistant] Power of attorney, uh, particularly a healthcare directive would be really good. Each state typically has its own statutory


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[Assistant] Uh, durable power of attorney for healthcare. Everybody in your family should have one of these, not just your 18 year old son. It's one of the most overlooked documents.


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[Assistant] That in the event someone cannot communicate for themselves, you need somebody who has power and the clear instructions that each family member would like. And so, uh, with most state, uh, statute, uh, powers of attorney for healthcare, it names the messenger and the message, and they're really easy to do. Um, a general power of attorney,


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[Assistant] There would be, need to be a fairly unusual situation for that.


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[Assistant] Uhm, but again, if you have the durable power of attorney for healthcare, it deals with a variety of health issues that may arise while your son is at college. The good news


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[Assistant] Is that most teenagers where they go to college, trade school or go straight into work, they're usually incredibly healthy and there won't be a concern with that. And I hope that freshman year of college is fantastic for your son. And I want to thank you so much for being with us today on today's podcast. And I appreciate so much those of you who take time to improve


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[Assistant] What we offer and what I say by your very, very thoughtful posts on Clark Stinks. I appreciate them.


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[Assistant] So very much. I hope that you have a wonderful holiday weekend.


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[Assistant] And that this unofficial kickoff to summer


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[Assistant] Presents you with the best summer of your life.


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[Assistant] We received a lot of Clark Stinks about something, about an advertiser that is on one version of the podcast. It was an ad sold by our ad partner, our publisher.


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[Assistant] Uhm, and it is from one of the big banks.


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[Assistant] Um, advertising business services.


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[Assistant] And so people feel like you've sold out by accepting money from one of the big banks and they want you to respond to that.


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[Assistant] But that the drink package is not worth it. This is very wrong. The first cruise I took, I did not get the drink package because the travel agent said a glass of wine was $5 and I would have to drink 10 drinks a day to make it worthwhile.


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[Assistant] I am booked on my third cruise this July on Norwegian. The drink package is included, but you have to pay for the gratuity, which was $190 each.


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[Assistant] So it comes out to $19 a day. A single glass of wine on a ship is at least $10 or more.


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[Assistant] The drink package also includes soft drinks, which are $3.50 per can of soda. Even if you only drink two glasses of wine a day, it is still worth getting the drink package. Like my first travel agent, you keep saying you would have to drink 10 or more drinks a day to make it worth paying for the package, but that's just not right.


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[Assistant] Since you don't drink, I can see how you could get this wrong, Cathy.


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[Assistant] When Clark talks about cruise deals, there's something that isn't mentioned. Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian all offer shareholders of 100 shares or more, an onboard credit for every cruise. The credit varies by the length of the cruise. Even if someone didn't want to hold onto the shares for long, they could be purchased, the credit claimed, and then the shares sold. Eric.


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[Assistant] Mark, your recent advice on student credit cards is incomplete and out of date. You advised a student to apply for the card before graduating so that income requirements would not apply. Due to the Card Act of 2009, borrowers aged 18 to 20 must prove they can independently pay back their debt to get approved for a student card without a co-signer.


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[Assistant] Something most credit card companies no longer allow, most major ones. This means they can't use their parent's annual income.


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[Assistant] Applicants 21 and older may not include their parents pay as student income for a credit card application either. Israel.


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[Assistant] Turtles are often quite fast. I assume you're referring to the traditional tortoise and the hare race when the slow but dedicated tortoise wins the race. So please distinguish between the slow reptiles and the quick amphibians. Thank you for all the great advice you share. It helps us in many ways, David.


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[Assistant] I don't think you stink, but I did want to add a little more to the caller who asked about tattoos while traveling to Japan. My wife and I went to an onsen, a Japanese spa a few years back, and they prominently displayed on both their website and in the facility itself that individual tattoos were not allowed. Best to check with the individual spots if you're concerned, Alex.


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[Assistant] Clark you stink like the dead fish that will be washing up on beaches due to your advocacy for chemical based sunscreen and unfair treatment of mineral based sunscreens. My wife and I have used Alba mineral based sports sunscreen SPF 45.


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[Assistant] For more than a decade for ourselves and our kids. It's only $6.79 at Target and none of us have ever been burnt, sunburnt despite being avid outdoor hikers and beach goers. It works better than any sunscreen we've ever tried including chemical based sunscreens and works great even after playing in the water.


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[Assistant] We all get a very mild tan, no burns. And the best part is our epidermis isn't absorbing carcinogens and we aren't putting ecologically damaging chemicals into the water. Thanks for everything you do. Love the show, Steven.


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[Assistant] We also had some complaints that you say you do this leading into summer when you should wear sunscreen all year.


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[Assistant] Uhm, so that was another thing. And then, uhm, there was another one about the sunscreens. Oh my gosh.


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[Assistant] I use this to configure titling of all my bank accounts to determine the coverage and print out in a folder with bank information. It helps with assigning beneficiaries, etc.


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[Assistant] Don't let small banks suffer with only small depositors due to incomplete coverage info and scare your viewers into not depositing more than 250,000 per institution, Laura.


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[Assistant] Clark stinks worse than I do after our trip to Taco Bell. Recently, he went on and on about how there's no such thing as free shipping, that the retailers build the cost of shipping into their prices. But his next sentence went on and on about how retailers were doing away with free shipping because it was eating into their profits.


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[Assistant] As a lifelong saver and cheapaholic, which gave us the opportunity to be early retirees and travel friends, I was groaning listening to Clark and Christa talk about the money they spent on haircuts and restaurants. Yikes. My hair gets cut once a year, which works as the long hair keeps me warmer in the winter.


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[Assistant] And we so, so enjoy eating at home. We even pack an ice chest with leftovers from the freezer for our road trips. I thought this was a money saving show. Sherry.


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[Assistant] Alright, Luke in Colorado says to save on high checked and carry on baggage fees when traveling with discount airlines. My family has started shipping our clothes and toiletries ahead of time. We use pirate ship and send our packages through UPS or USPS to our friends or family at our destination.


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[Assistant] This method costs about half the price compared to paying for luggage on the flight. Additionally, we don't have to worry about traveling with luggage or waiting at the baggage claim at the airport. Just make sure to keep any essentials with you in your free personal item.


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[Assistant] I would only recommend this if you and your host can pick up the package promptly and you're not visiting an area at high risk for porch pirates.


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[Assistant] Paul in South Carolina says I travel internationally for about a month, twice a year, and go to different locations around the world.


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[Assistant] What is the best way to take my home TV or an equivalent substitute with me while traveling? Streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, and YouTube TV do not work.


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[Assistant] Because I'm in a foreign country. I've tried using a VPN service and was unable to get that to bypass the controls of any of those streaming services. Ideally, I would use a Roku streaming stick to access channels.


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[Assistant] Yeah, so Nick, uhm, who writes all of our streaming content, he did say that people are still reporting the VPN is working.


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[Assistant] Uhm, and then watch it that way. So he's looking to see if there are any other options and we'll report back if we can find any.


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[Assistant] Brittany in Arizona says, I listened to your show about not paying for deposits with cash or a debit card and using a credit card instead. I'm currently planning a wedding and some vendors will charge up to 5% more if a credit card is used for the deposit and remaining payments. Would you still recommend a credit card for these prepaid expenses?


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[Assistant] Vanished. I got some proofs and so we were able to like have those scanned and make a, make an album. So we, we weren't totally lost, but yep, she left the state.


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[Assistant] It's great to have you here on the Clark Howard Show. Our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life.


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[Assistant] So many of us are planning summertime travel.


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[Assistant] And I've talked about hotel fees and issues with Airbnb. I gotta give you some good news. I'm going to talk about


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[Assistant] What is referred to as transparency, something I believe is so important for


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[Assistant] People to have a good opinion of the free market, of capitalists, of business owners is just be honest with people. Also today, special warning about how you pay for medical services. So,


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[Assistant] I found a deal for him on Priceland that was fantastic. And it was one of those things where you don't know the name of the hotel until you book, but


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[Assistant] I've learned over time how to be about 95% accurate on what hotel it is that's a secret deal and it saves you a lot of money.


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[Assistant] So this hotel that is, uh, if you knew the hotel name is 200 and something dollars.


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[Assistant] Not knowing for sure it was going to be yet, but there were certain clues. I explained those on how to use Priceline on Clark.com. But what you look for is you look for hotel level.


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[Assistant] This case I was searching four star above for my friend.


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[Assistant] And I was looking for, uh, reviews of eight or above. Priceline uses a system of, uhm,


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[Assistant] Up to nine plus, you never want to go below an eight and know that a hotel is going to be okay. It's kind of like great inflation in school. And then I look at how many reviews. So when you're looking at a, at an,


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[Assistant] What they call an express hotel where you don't know what hotel it's gonna be.


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[Assistant] If you can cross reference the neighborhood and those three other things, star level, eight or above, and how many reviews there are,


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[Assistant] You got a really great shot that you got the right hotel. And.


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[Assistant] I knew the hotel was notorious that chain for having extremely high, uhm,


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[Assistant] Amenities fees, resort fee, that kind of thing. And so I'm looking and


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[Assistant] It's showing me the price and it's showing taxes and junk fees.


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[Assistant] And the rate for three nights is still an incredible deal. So I then go to the hotel chain, look directly at that hotel, and lo and behold,


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[Assistant] They've changed their policy, and now you don't get hit with a curveball.


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[Assistant] Of a massive daily activity fee when you get to the hotel, it's included in the price.


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[Assistant] It is not the room rate, but then before you check out, it shows you that you're paying it there. And that's how it should be. It shouldn't be this bait and switch where you're shown a very, very decent price on a hotel. And then the gotcha.


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[Assistant] Is the resort fee. I remember my oldest brother, his wife were in Vegas a few months ago and it was during a slow time in Vegas and they got a $29 rate on a hotel on the strip, a good hotel, not the greatest, but a good hotel. The daily resort fee was 70. So their 29 ended up being 99. I mean, what a rip.


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[Assistant] Marriott, as I told you a while back, was in a lawsuit that they were the defendant about this bait and switch with people. And now,


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[Assistant] Marriott is going to transparency, having lost this suit.


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[Assistant] And when you go to Marriott's own website for any of the zillion chains they own, well they own 40 now. Anyway, you'll see if there is one of these ripoff, resort or amenities fees, you'll see


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then as we've talked about for years, resort fee checker. If you want to see with hotels that continue to be stingy with the information and then rip you off when you get there.


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[Assistant] Resort fee checker is kind of like a bulletin board almost.


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[Assistant] of the resort fees as best they've been reported to them, as best they've been able to keep up to date, but it gives you a good idea resort fee checker.


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[Assistant] Thank you, Krista. And so, this is, this is an improvement to know.


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[Assistant] Now, uh, I want to tell you about Airbnb because I've been harsh on Airbnb lately. Have I not Krista?


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[Assistant] And people have, uh, complained about all the hidden fees, the cleaning fees, the, uh, the chore list that you have to do when you stay in one


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[Assistant] That before you check out, you basically are the housekeeper who has to completely clean the place, wash the sheets, wash the towels, make the beds, put the new towels up, blah blah blah blah blah. And people have been freaking out. Well, I gotta give the CEO of Airbnb credit.


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[Assistant] Because he dug in there because he couldn't figure out why the impressions in the marketplace of Airbnb kept going down and down and down and down. And it was because people were angry.


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[Assistant] That they didn't know that they were going to get hit with all these fees and all these responsibilities after staying in one.


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[Assistant] And so they just had a media circus where I guess they flew in all these media people from around the country to a presentation, uh, I don't go on junkets like that, don't worry, presentation about, uh, they've heard people, the changes they're making,


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[Assistant] And the CEO has been completely frank recently, uhm, talking about


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[Assistant] That they weren't listening to people, they weren't hearing.


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[Assistant] And now they are, and here are the new policies. And you'll find that Airbnb


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[Assistant] Has, as they refer to it, fixed their core design problems. I love they call them design problems. And so,


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[Assistant] There are dozens of things they're doing now for clear disclosure and changes in procedures for both hosts and for the


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[Assistant] Tenants, whatever, the guests staying in an Airbnb. They also are trying to go back to their roots where they're looking more for Airbnb hosts that are renting out a room in their place.


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[Assistant] Instead of the investors that are buying places just to put in the Airbnb system.


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[Assistant] Because there are so many new laws and ordinances being passed around the country that are making these Airbnb's illegal. Uhm, because they've been disrupting buildings, you know, condominium buildings.


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[Assistant] They're having a lot of problems with transients because of the Airbnb units and a lot of condominiums are now going to six month minimum rentals.


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[Assistant] To try to push out the Airbnbs. So going back to its roots of you hosting somebody in your home.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is one of the big emphasis areas they're going to. So uhm, I would say that I need to open my mind and accept that these changes may actually make Airbnb again an acceptable platform


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For consumers to book a place to stay where I had put them on the KBOSH list. You know, you're using Airbnb at your great risk and we'll see.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If in fact the changes really do change the culture,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of what it's like for you to stay in an Airbnb and you'll be one of my samples, Krista, cause you love staying in Airbnbs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So this is, uh, gosh, this is an area that, uh, has some issues.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's some nuance and then there's some clear problems.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and our Team Clark Consumer Action Center are off air.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Free service where you can get one on one advice. We have gotten a lot, a lot of complaints about third party booking sites. The main area of problem that we're hearing about has been involving air travel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That when people book air travel through a third party site.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And something changes, something goes wrong, an airline has, uh, a schedule change, whatever, they discontinue your route. Somehow those dots aren't connecting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And if you find a good deal and you want to buy an airline ticket through any third party site,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What I recommend you do is you immediately go after you have your confirmation number from the airline, you go to their website and pull up that reservation, add your contact information in there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you monitor your reservation, particularly if you booked it more than six weeks in advance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You monitor your reservation manually, yourself, going in and checking that reservation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Several times before the travel date, because you may not ever find out that that