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[Assistant] Uh, they may be doing a galley kitchen to save square footage instead of a grander kitchen. And the sweet spot in the marketplace, although there are a lot of headline grabbing stories about


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[Assistant] With computer aided design can be a very good functional efficient space that gives you enough room to live in.


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[Assistant] You've got less to heat and cool, less to maintain.


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[Assistant] And the lots are smaller because the houses are smaller and so the builders are able to give you ultimately


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[Assistant] More value in an odd sort of way instead of how we used to think about how many bedrooms, how many square feet, how big is the yard. The yards are smaller, the houses are smaller.


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[Assistant] And the spaces are more practical, including in a lot of cases, smaller bedrooms. And Krista, I know from all my years volunteering with Habitat for Humanity that we are able on a tight lot,


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[Assistant] To build a four bedroom, two bath home.


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[Assistant] That is around a thousand square feet and feels spacious inside because of computer aided design.


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[Assistant] And it's something that's the opposite of where American mentality has been for since the 1970s, but it is taking us almost back


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[Assistant] To a different era with smaller, more practical spaces.


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[Assistant] So I'll tell you who the dominant player is as an alternative to a traditional stamp machine, uh, postage machine. I haven't had a Pitney Bowes question.


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[Assistant] 10 years? 15 years? I mean, we used to get questions about, uh, going with different stamp machine companies. That was a common question we got, if you go back 20 years ago, and I don't think in the last 10. Uhm,


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[Assistant] Stamps.com is an alternative that's probably the largest alternative where you use a printer if you still have one.


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[Assistant] Use a printer to print postage, it tracks it, and it...


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[Assistant] Is, uh, an efficient process. There are some other smaller players out there. But usually now anybody starting in business would no longer have a postage machine. They would use an electronic version.


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[Assistant] Like Stamps.com are one of their competitors.


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[Assistant] It's not common that people would use any of them anymore.


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[Assistant] So Steve, uhm, Credit Karma bases the credit scores you get on something called Vantage. Vantage is very volatile. It is a joint venture


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[Assistant] Of Equifax, TransUnion and Experian trying to take market share away from FICO, which is the, uh, more...


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[Assistant] Reputable scoring model, more recognized scoring model for granting credit. And you probably have, with the credit cards, you have your scores that high, generally around 830.


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[Assistant] On the store card, it's probably that buying a big refrigerator, you're using a big percent of your available credit on that card. And even though your overall utilization is still quite low running up a big balance on any of your cards.


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[Assistant] On a credit card that used up a big chunk of its limit and my credit score fell about 40 points temporarily and then I had to wait a whole billing cycle till I paid that off. Then my score went back up.


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[Assistant] Well, Tony, thank you very much for that compliment. And I bet you also have really good suggestions.


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[Assistant] I'm sure there are things that we do that have to annoy you that either of us do, probably me, uh, not you, Krista. But anyway.


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[Assistant] Yeah, that is, that is really true. And what we try to do...


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[Assistant] With all the elements that we offer here on the YouTube show, the audio podcast, our websites, our newsletters, social media, our Team Cart Consumer Action Center, it's all designed


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[Assistant] To give you confidence, knowledge, power in your own life over your own finances.


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[Assistant] And I know I can tell by the words you wrote.


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[Assistant] That you have felt that empowerment and that's why we do what we do with every element we do.


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[Assistant] And so, thank you so much for your years of loyalty. And I hope that somebody else will.


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[Assistant] Welcome to the Clark Howard show where our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. In today's episode, I'm going to start by talking about CDs.


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[Assistant] Is there still a deal out there? I'm going to let you know what I think and how you can put your money to work for you.


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[Assistant] Also, reports come out about the best supermarkets in the country. It's from one of the most respected sources, the American customer satisfaction index. And I'm going to tell you what makes a supermarket great.


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[Assistant] In your opinion, as a consumer, and who are?


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[Assistant] The good operators, who's not doing so hot serving you. So, okay, this was really funny. I saw a survey the other day about what


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[Assistant] Some of the largest banks in the country are paying on one year CDs.


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[Assistant] And you're not going to believe this. One one hundredth of one percent


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[Assistant] And three one hundredths of one percent on one year CDs. It's some of the, what I call the giant monster megabanks. I mean, come on.


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[Assistant] And we are at a tipping point. I talked about this like six weeks ago.


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[Assistant] You may or may not have heard me talk about it then, but we're really at that curve. So inflation.


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[Assistant] Is coming steadily down. Some categories we are in what's known as deflation, prices dropping. But then others, prices have stayed stubbornly high, like we talk about the supermarkets. Uhm, and even though the prices are high, from where they had skyrocketed to,


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[Assistant] They're not really rising any meaningful amount now, but they're already much higher, which is why people are so dissatisfied with what they're paying. But it's clear


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[Assistant] From what the Federal Reserve has said and the inflationary trends, or disinflation,


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[Assistant] Is that interest rates are headed on their way down and I was looking just now. So what's funny is there I'm telling you about how


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[Assistant] The wonderful giant monster megabanks are cheating people.


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[Assistant] By paying at a time that online banks are paying consistently over 5% on one year CDs, five and a half, five and a quarter. Um, but somewhere around.


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[Assistant] In that range, five and a quarter to five and a half tends to be where the online banks are offering.


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[Assistant] By comparison, Bank of America, three one hundredths of one percent. Seriously? Chase one one hundredth of one percent.


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[Assistant] Now let me tell you, if you have a BOA credit card, or a Chase credit card, and you're running a balance,


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[Assistant] They're not charging you one one hundredths of one percent or three one hundredths of one percent in interest. They're charging you.


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[Assistant] And allow themselves to be taken advantage of through inertia. Move that money.


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[Assistant] You can look, uh, we have a list at Clark.com. Bank rate has a list. There are a number of lists. You can see the best rates right now on CDs of various lengths.


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[Assistant] The other thing, and I realized, I didn't mention this six weeks ago,


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[Assistant] The value of looking, if you're a customer of Fidelity, Schwab or Vanguard, looking at any of those three,


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[Assistant] And often those rates will be higher than what you're going to find even with the typical online bank direct offer. But.


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[Assistant] The five year CDs that we're paying the most, paying above 5%, in some cases up to 6%.


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[Assistant] Now they've fallen a point below what you earn on the one year CD.


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[Assistant] That's called an inverted yield curve. Why is that happening? Because the marketplace is pricing in. Wall Street is pricing in.


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[Assistant] That we are at peak interest rates. So longer term money is now earning less than shorter term money. But.


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[Assistant] If you have money that you don't need for a while, I love the ladder. The ladder is where you take your money, divide it into five.


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[Assistant] Or at least three. If you do three, you buy, take a third of your money, put it in a one year CD, a third put it in a three year CD, and a third put it in a five year CD. So you're playing shorter term, mid term, long term.


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[Assistant] A classic ladder is you buy five CDs, five different piles of money. One year, two year, three year, four year, five year. So that you're spreading out.


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[Assistant] Your risk of time versus the reward of the interest you can earn. So this is a time that's really good for savers.


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[Assistant] With money you don't need immediate access to.


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[Assistant] To lock it down. Not as good as it was six weeks ago, but still, you know, this curve is, is turning. So it's very much to your advantage, particularly with longer term CDs, to get that money locked away. Now, there is another thing for people that are more investment oriented and need money in the equivalent of savings kind of instruments, which would be


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[Assistant] The closest equivalent but with risk to your holding is bond funds. And there's a lot that's been written lately


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[Assistant] There's now advantage again to looking at tax-free municipal bond funds. The king of that is Vanguard. And they sell a variety.


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[Assistant] By a short term, intermediate term, long term, a mix of those, you'll be exempt from paying, uh, tax on the earnings at the federal level and


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[Assistant] You have the upside benefit potentially that as interest rates do decline the value of the bond funds goes up. You also have the risk that if the market's wrong


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[Assistant] More for people that are of an investment not mindset and especially people in higher tax brackets than it is for people just looking to do run of the mill savings. But here's the rule. This is when you want to have your money


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[Assistant] In either one of the four giant monster megabanks, or what's known as a super regional bank, the big regional banks,


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[Assistant] Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Then you've got a bunch of these super regionals. When you want to have your savings or CDs with any of them is never, never. CDs, never. Savings, never. Because they will rip you off. Krista.


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[Assistant] Bank, there's not another one like it in the country.


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[Assistant] Where they both offer very aggressive, good online offerings and have a network of branch banks. So they are a hybrid unlike any other and they do a lot of creative things. So Scott, the way you'd know,


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[Assistant] If you're in the clear doing this for your Venmo account by having the separate, uhm, account, electronic account is


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[Assistant] Read in the terms of the account.


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[Assistant] If it's subject to what they, uh, they may call a cross-collateral clause or something like that, you'll understand as you read in there, if you, if your eyes don't glaze over too much, is that


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[Assistant] Banks often reserve for themselves the ability, let's say a criminal got in there through Venmo and was, and overdrew that.


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[Assistant] The bank may reserve for itself the ability to go into any other account you have with them and grab the money.


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[Assistant] And as long as Capital One is not doing that, what you're doing works perfectly and it's a great idea and ultra easy.


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[Assistant] Is a way to manage for Venmo or Cash App to make sure that criminals don't get in there and grab all your money.


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[Assistant] Reason I did is I read a recent story in the wall street journal about how the store cards are so obscenely profitable for a lot of major retailers that a number of major retailers now make lose money selling


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[Assistant] The, the stuff they sell in their store and all their profit comes from the store card. In fact, three big retailers that push their store cards really big time on people.


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[Assistant] We're profiled in the Wall Street Journal making some or all or most of their profit


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[Assistant] That they sell the stuff almost as a loss leader.


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[Assistant] You're paying your bill in full, but you love the discounts that come with the store card. By the way, this would apply to other junk cards too, store cards. If you do it just for the tie-in for all the special discounts, offer just card holders, and you pay the balance in full when the bill comes.


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[Assistant] You can accept the terms from the Home Depot card, keep using it. And this would be true like even with the ripoff terms of any other store card, if you're not running balances.


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[Assistant] Thing, Target must send out some kind of.


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[Assistant] Tone or something that appeals to women and drags women in the story. You ever notice you walk in a Target?


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[Assistant] And I don't buy anything in Target cause I'm shocked by the prices cause I guess they're better than like.


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[Assistant] Really? Oh yea. So I read the reviews and I got a brand called the Sapphire. They've got two of them they sell at Sam's. The one I bought was $19.98 and it worked very well. We were using it to hang this really heavy, um, picture. Painting? Yea, painting. Thank you.


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[Assistant] So, uh, first of all, you don't buy Coke Zero cause it's not a 20 pack.


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[Assistant] So, uh, you know, that's an interesting thing because we're talking about supermarkets straight ahead. You know, Pepsi and Coke raise prices to the sky.


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[Assistant] And they kind of hit a wall with consumers and I'm now noticing a lot of deals at the supermarkets again with discounts on Coke and Pepsi. And what I do is I know people tend to be with soft drinks very loyal to one particular thing.


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[Assistant] Whichever is cheaper for me, uh, Pepsi zero sugar or Coke zero sugar, whichever one's the deal, that's the one I'm getting and they are deals again. Uh, enough about that. Cause I'm going to tell you what supermarkets people love.


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[Assistant] Based on the newest research data and which ones they don't care for so much. It's coming straight ahead. So, people became really sour.


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[Assistant] About supermarkets over the last few years from the galloping inflation on things in the supermarket where people went in with a list intentionally to buy things. And then they're like, I can't buy these things. Look how expensive they are. Well, you know, now we're in a different mode with supermarkets.


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[Assistant] And supermarkets know that we've been in a foul mood. And what's clear


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[Assistant] Is supermarkets are doing a better job and it's not anecdotal.


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[Assistant] The American Customer Satisfaction Index that surveys such a large pool of people.


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[Assistant] Comes up with a list once a year and the first most significant thing


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[Assistant] Chain, big ones in the United States, had higher customer satisfaction today than they had a year ago.


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[Assistant] And significant movement. Usually you don't see such large movement. So people are not.


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[Assistant] Uhm, angry like they were, and supermarkets must be doing a better job. But there are three chiefs at the top, if you will. Three supermarkets.


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[Assistant] That came with the highest customer satisfaction scores of any of the big regionals and national players.


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[Assistant] And the one that got the highest overall score by a whisker is not really a supermarket. It was Costco wholesale.


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[Assistant] That pulled in an unbelievable 85 customer satisfaction score. That is very, very high. Give you a comparison. If we were talking about cable companies or something like that, the scores would be in the fifties or sixties. So Costco,


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[Assistant] One that has done well in survey after survey is one that most people in most of the country have never heard of. H-E-B. Which is Texas based. And people


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[Assistant] Who shop H-E-B are loyal to it like it's a member of the family. They are intensely loyal to the store.


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[Assistant] And I've been very impressed when I've visited HEBs. And so it matters because


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[Assistant] Regional supermarkets have basically been going extinct in the United States, getting crushed by big national players, but the very best of them continue to do very well. Another regional also


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[Assistant] Came in a virtual dead heat with Costco and HEB and that's Publix, which is a Florida based supermarket chain that's up and down a lot of the southeast and eastern seaboard. Publix is employee owned.


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[Assistant] And having ownership being owned by your employees.


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[Assistant] Is a big motivator and Publix has continued to defy gravity.


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[Assistant] And Publix has a reputation as being a more expensive place to shop. But people who shop in it love it.


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[Assistant] Because it's clean, the employees have hustle, they're well run stores.


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[Assistant] Now last year's champion who's been champion, I think five years in a row prior fell behind these three and that is TJ's Trader Joe's still


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[Assistant] At the top of the heap, but not the very top anymore. So let's go to the bottom.


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[Assistant] Who is, again this year, rated by consumers, is having the lowest customer satisfaction in the supermarket aisle.


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[Assistant] The nation's largest supermarket, Walmart.


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[Assistant] Walmart improved, but still a bad score and the lowest.


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[Assistant] Of all supermarkets. Uh, Walmart is 20% cheaper more or less for groceries than the typical grocery experience. But at the same time, not making people happy.


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[Assistant] And that's obviously something that they need to work on. And the, the second largest supermarket in the country is Kroger and all its brand names. Kroger did not get a good score again this year. Better than Walmart, but not that great.


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[Assistant] And that's a problem for Kroger. Their market share's gone down and down and down. They're now down to 9% of grocery sales in the country. Walmart is over 20%. And...


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[Assistant] Kroger has got to get the customer experience better if they're going to rebuild market share and maintain profitability. In the middle of the pack, Aldi, Whole Foods,


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[Assistant] And historically Wegmans that some surveys list at the top was more in the middle of the pack this time. But the, the idea is you provide people a good experience and over time you build market share.


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[Assistant] You make people happy, they want to come back.


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[Assistant] You have dirty stores, you have bad checkout experience, whatever. Eventually people decide it's not worth it and they go somewhere else.


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[Assistant] And normally I buy a lot of our grocery staples at Aldi. I was in sticker shock beyond all sticker shock at what things cost there. And Aldi to its credit


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[Assistant] Uh, has more and more a share of the merchandise I have in the store is organic. So it's not even like you have to go pay all that money at Whole Foods.


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[Assistant] To get organic because you can't get it elsewhere. Organics available so many different places.


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[Assistant] You're not wrong. I don't know that anybody...


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[Assistant] Has established a presence in the marketplace.


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[Assistant] Doing price comparison by a zip code or area.


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[Assistant] For groceries. It's a hard thing because that data is not electronic. If you think about price comparison sites,


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[Assistant] Like honey or, uh, the ones that track various items on Amazon, like camel camel camel, is that right?


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[Assistant] To do the sorting and come up with the price recommendations. At the same time that...


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[Assistant] Such a chore with stuff where the prices are, can be different store location to store location when you're looking at physical stores.


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[Assistant] So maybe somebody's tried it. If they have, I'm not familiar with it. And so it's left to us. So what I do is on, uh, sales flyer day, I have Lidl in my market and my market Wednesday is sales flyer day.


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[Assistant] I look at the Lethal Flyer, and I look at the Aldi Flyer of course, and I look at the Kroger Flyer.


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[Assistant] I do the inefficient thing you're talking about. I do go to multiple stores to do my shopping.


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[Assistant] Well first of all, thank you so much for your service to our great nation in the U.S. Navy and now your daughter doing so as well.


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[Assistant] Uh, Verizon's a great company. They're a bad choice in this case for your daughter. There's a little known company.


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[Assistant] That is the right choice for her, and it's called Google Fi.


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[Assistant] Go look at Google Fi, and it is a cell phone service that's owned by Google, naturally enough. Supports iPhones, Androids.


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[Assistant] And it gives you the same calling and data privileges outside the United States and most any country in the world except maybe 20 of them. Uhm, and you don't pay any extra using it.


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[Assistant] Outside versus here. And since she's iPhone, any country she's in, she doesn't want to make phone calls back to you or you to her. You want to use FaceTime.


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[Assistant] And use that FaceTime audio or FaceTime audio and video to communicate because that's on the data backbone that would be completely free.


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[Assistant] And we've got a full briefing you can send her on googlefi at clark.com to see how it works and what you pay. But it is


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[Assistant] Absolutely, for people who travel to multiple countries in the world, it is hands down the best deal.


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[Assistant] Whatsapp, Viber, uh, and you want to have accounts with more than one. So if you're having trouble using one of these, you then use another. So on my phone I've got, uh,


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[Assistant] I've got the Google meets. I've got, uh, I've got Viber. I obviously don't have FaceTime cause I'm an Android guy and I've got WhatsApp so that I've got multiple platforms to be able to communicate over.


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[Assistant] You hit a serious hot button in the investment community. People are spending a fortune by people, I mean big enterprises, trying to figure out


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[Assistant] Will happen successfully well before the


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[Assistant] Use of AI is successful likely doing individual stock picking because the things that people would use AI for with individual stock picking


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[Assistant] Are always going to have biases built into them. Because people analyze companies.


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[Assistant] Have put in certain inputs that create biases on what the output's going to be, what they're going to recommend. So there's nothing yet


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[Assistant] That I've seen in the financial literature.


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[Assistant] That shows anybody who's come up with a winning strategy that's


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[Assistant] Specific stocks, uh, buy sell signals, things like that.


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[Assistant] That has been a path paved with misery. When people get into the red light, green light kind of stuff, buy this, sell that, do this, do that, do it right this second, buy this, buy this other thing, add more.


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[Assistant] So I'm skeptical about that being a big thing or something we're going to see soon. I could eventually be proven wrong.


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[Assistant] And AI will have so many tentacles, good and bad, that no one can even anticipate yet.


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[Assistant] But on that one, I'm not holding my breath on being able to give buy sell signals on individual stocks. Now, I want to tell you, there's a buy signal I have for you. It actually costs you nothing.


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[Assistant] To give you information in our newsletters that will be valuable to you and we have


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[Assistant] Uh, we've been successful with it and I know because what's known as our open rate.


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[Assistant] Is unbelievably high. You know, a lot of people subscribe to newsletters.


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[Assistant] Ridiculously high open rate, which means we're doing a good job with the content we're providing to you. If you go to Clark.com slash newsletters.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And when you sign up for our free newsletters, if you later hate them, this is my pet peeve.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We make it as easy for you to unsubscribe as it was for you to subscribe to. Give it a try.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I hope you have a great day remembering what we're about, that you learn ways to save more, spend less, and don't let anyone ever rip you off.


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[Assistant] Glad you're with us here on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and info that empowers you.


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


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[Assistant] Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I thought it'd be a good opportunity for me to give some advice to couples in love on how to avoid


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[Assistant] One of the things we tend to fight about a lot and can cause distance in a couple and that's money and later


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[Assistant] I've talked about assumable mortgages before, something that was just the way mortgages worked two generations ago. And then assumable mortgages where you could, somebody owns a home, they've got a mortgage, they got a good deal on it. You in the old days could assume


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[Assistant] The mortgage at the rate it was.


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[Assistant] Instead of having at a time with higher interest rates like now, having to take out a new mortgage.


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[Assistant] Well believe it or not, there are mortgages available.


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[Assistant] Not the majority of loans in the market, but quite a few that you can assume


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[Assistant] The existing rate. But finding them is like a needle in a haystack. And I want to give you some advice how you find those. Uhm, but right now, Valentine's Day. First things first.


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[Assistant] I would be terrible if I didn't talk about the fact that tomorrow there's going to be deals on flowers.


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[Assistant] If you're a last minute kind of person, you're going to be able to go buy flowers at supermarkets.


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[Assistant] Trader Joe's has done this forever.


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[Assistant] Starting a couple years ago, whole paycheck, whole foods started doing this where you could get roses.


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[Assistant] At a really great price, a lot of regional supermarket chains sell large quantities of roses at very affordable prices.


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[Assistant] For Valentine's Day, the forest, they're already booked up.


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[Assistant] Uh, those are a whole different thing, different kind of flowers, pretty expensive, but it's a different thing, they're delivered.


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[Assistant] This case, you become your own delivery person. My kind of style. And this year, like all prior years,


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[Assistant] I got my wife two dozen roses at Costco.


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[Assistant] For 1899, before Costco raises its prices for Valentine's Day, I always do that two weeks out and give her her flowers then. So last year,


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[Assistant] And from a whole paycheck and I walked over to traders, they were sold out of roses when I got there. So then I walked the other way and went to whole paycheck and I got a great deal on roses. So my wife got them both two weeks out and got them the day of Valentine's day.


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[Assistant] So yes, I buy into all the flower hype. That's just who I am. But let's talk about,


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[Assistant] The other thing, you got romance, then you have things that eat at romance. You want to eat at romance in a hurry? You lie about money. You know, bank rate


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[Assistant] Every year this time does a survey. They found, survey says over 40% of people in a relationship


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[Assistant] Marriage, living with someone, whatever. Lie about money to their significant other or spouse. Lie about money. You want to create distrust? Lie about money. People hide accounts.


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[Assistant] People hide, they call it financial infidelity. They have a catchy term. People lie about accounts, hide accounts, hide credit cards, hide debt. Wow. That is a poison for passion. So I want you to think about


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[Assistant] Come and clean with that person you love.


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[Assistant] And I know there can be unbalanced relationships.


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[Assistant] You could potentially be in a relationship that has, uh, unfortunately some abusive nature to it.


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[Assistant] Uh, mentally prepare yourself, trying to plan how you're getting out of a relationship, yeaah.


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[Assistant] In a circumstance like that, we're talking about a different thing. And you do.


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[Assistant] Hide assets in a situation like that. But as a general rule,


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[Assistant] The more you're honest with each other, the better. And I think it all starts with the assumptions we make.


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[Assistant] Uh, non-confrontational way, in just a conversational way.


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[Assistant] And those kind of things are not in any way uncomfortable questions, but they get a conversation going with someone you love about what you're about.


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[Assistant] And over time you ask questions, not when a bill comes in that's past due, but yeah, how do you feel about caring debt?


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[Assistant] What debt's okay to you? What debt's not okay? Conversations when there's not already a crisis is very important. Cause it then informs, uh, when you love someone, you don't want to create problems


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[Assistant] That would tear at that fabric of love. So you want to have.


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[Assistant] Conversation, so you then learn what strategies are going to work best with money in your life. You go in with open eyes knowing that one or the other of you is a spendaholic, or one or the other of you doesn't mind having credit card debt, or one or the other of you saves money for retirement, the other doesn't.


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[Assistant] So in that kind of situation, as long as everybody understands and everybody's got their different ways of handling money,


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[Assistant] And that kind of thing, you don't co-mingle a lot of stuff other than a household account to pay commonly agreed bills, utilities, rent, mortgage, car payments, whatever it is. Even with cars, you could each pay for your own if you have really different attitudes about money. The important thing is knowledge.


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[Assistant] She and I get married and you know, I'm always talking about money.


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[Assistant] Not like money's a god, but that money is something that, that you manage, you plan for, you save, you have goals. And for me, uh, from a very young age, financial independence was important. And it took a while for this to become a comfortable conversation for her.


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[Assistant] But now, uh, I mean, ask Lane a question about money. She can talk to you about it in great depth. Cause I mean, we've been together


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[Assistant] For such a long time, we've been married more than 28 years. So, early in a relationship,


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[Assistant] Is when you establish the understanding of each other and your attitudes about money.


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[Assistant] Cause it's really important for the relationship to thrive.


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[Assistant] First of all, I understand the frustration and I'm so impressed with how the two of you handle money. This is great. Uhm, and housing prices stink.


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[Assistant] You know, the amount of income it requires, weeks work, you know, and all that.


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[Assistant] In order to be able to afford a place to buy and live.


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[Assistant] Is terrible right now. I have stated before and I believe strongly that we're going to see a moderation of


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[Assistant] That lack of affordability doesn't mean housing prices drop, but it means that housing prices meander.


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[Assistant] And so those payments will become more affordable. In the next three years, with the way you've saved money, the way you handle money, you're going to be fine even in that cycle. You will be able


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[Assistant] Has the land, it's not land constrained like, uh, certain other places in the country where it becomes really hard, like along the coast to build more affordable housing.


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[Assistant] Most of North Carolina, that's not an issue. It's about building more inventory for natural population growth and the rest. It's gonna happen. So I'm not worried.


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[Assistant] About you with your financial habits, the way you handle money as a couple, being able to afford a home in that three year cycle. Right now, you're right.


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[Assistant] Rents are much cheaper in most of the country effectively than buying a home. In fact, one of the greatest gaps of my memory between the effective cost of purchase and the cost of rent.


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[Assistant] So Jackie, I understand the, the risk you face with an uncovered asset, land you own free and clear, and I'm sorry for your husband's loss of his uncle. It brought you this land. So.


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[Assistant] The easiest way since the land is owned free and clear is you can move the, the title of the land into an LLC, limited liability entity, limited liability company or corporation, depending on what it's called in a state. And then you have shield.


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[Assistant] Against personal liability with that land.


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[Assistant] Having good liability insurance coverage in your life, potentially even an umbrella insurance policy, which is an overlay of liability insurance that is not expensive. We're talking about a couple hundred or so dollars a year to have a liability shield. You have enough assets, even forgetting the land, uh, that your husband inherited from his uncle.


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[Assistant] It would be a great idea for you with the amount of assets you have to have an umbrella insurance policy which either your insurance company or if you have an agent, your agent can explain to you and make happen for you.


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[Assistant] Wow. Wow. Isn't it funny in families that siblings can have completely different attitudes about money. And here you are. You're now a millionaire in your thirties.


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[Assistant] And your sister, well, uh, she's just not into having any pennies to rub together.


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[Assistant] Joyvive, is that how you say it? Thank you.


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[Assistant] Uh, one thing you will find, I'm just giving you a fair warning. Later in life, you might find that you're looked at as the bank of Laura to help with, uh, your,


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[Assistant] Your sister's finances. Just know that may be coming down the pipe. So if your family culture


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[Assistant] Is one where people generally attend college?


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[Assistant] Absolutely, the answer is you.


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[Assistant] A 529 account for each child. So the kids, each kid would have two 529s. One owned by a parent, uh, grandparent, I'm sorry. One owned by one of...


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[Assistant] And then that money cannot be grabbed by the parents. It will not have a meaningful impact on financial aid for the two nieces later on if and when they go to college. And then the other aspect of this is that


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[Assistant] If college does not turn out to be the play for one of these kids, up to 35 grand with a whole bunch of rules you have to follow.


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[Assistant] Can be migrated, tax free, penalty free.


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[Assistant] Ultimately in adulthood into a Roth IRA for the benefit of the child. So you keep everything tax free, growing tax free, spent for education tax free, no education Roth IRA tax free. So it's a really great set of circumstances


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[Assistant] For your nieces and it's just, again, it's always so crazy true how different the attitudes about money can be among siblings. I think all of us that have siblings have seen that movie. Coming up ahead,


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[Assistant] We were talking about the lack of affordability of homes and the lack of affordability of mortgages. But what if you could dial back history and grab one of those ultra low mortgage rates from the previous era? I'm going to tell you how that plays straight ahead.


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[Assistant] So, there is an opportunity in the marketplace that negates a lot of the negativity I was spreading.


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[Assistant] Just a few minutes ago and I, and I should talk about this.


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[Assistant] With a couple that has been such great savers, they have no debt, they want to buy a home, and they're so frustrated.


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[Assistant] How ridiculous homes are right now in cost versus renting a place even though they'd love to own a home.


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[Assistant] There is a shortcut that I talked about before and obviously did not talk about it clearly because the number of questions people have had about it. So, assumable mortgages. An assumable mortgage is one that you, uh,


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[Assistant] They could be non-qualifying or qualifying, usually they're qualifying, where you're able to take over somebody's existing loan at their interest rate, what's known as non-escalating.


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[Assistant] And this is true, the biggest part of the market this is true for, but there are other loans available as well, is FHA VA.


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[Assistant] Savvy real estate agents when they're doing a listing for somebody selling a home are putting in it


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[Assistant] Assumable rate at 3.5%. Assumable rate at 4%. Assumable rate at 2.75%. Whatever it is.


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[Assistant] And you got some paperwork to jump through and some of the banks hate this and are defying the law and not cooperating.


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[Assistant] with these assumables but this is what they're supposed to do and this is what the law allows is that you can assume these FHA and VA loans


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[Assistant] And have the rate that those loans have. And then you completely change the math on buying a home. People have had a hard time finding these needles in a haystack. And there's a startup called Rome.


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[Assistant] That I talked about before and confused people talking about it. The website is WithRome.com


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[Assistant] And they're in a bunch of the fast growing states, you know, Florida, Texas, Georgia. I think they're in parts of California, maybe Arizona. Anyway, they're in a bunch of


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[Assistant] of the, the, uh, fast growing states, not so much in the states that aren't seeing population growth. And with them, uhm, you're able to see a listing of these. But if you go through Rome,


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[Assistant] As a buyer you have to pay a 1% fee to them for them having located an assumable loan for you at a really low interest rate. You should expect that your agent


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[Assistant] Is gonna do this work for you if you have a buyer's agent.


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[Assistant] That he or she, knowing you're interested in this as a segment of the market, they'll go out and find these available. But the savings over time,


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[Assistant] The 1% to Rome, I mean ultimately you make back way more than that.


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[Assistant] And what you save in what you're paying in a mortgage, if you're able to assume somebody's let's say 3.75% mortgage versus paying 6 point something percent mortgage interest rate, it's a potential game changer for you. For a seller,


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[Assistant] If you're in a home with an FHA or VA loan, and you're able to market that,


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[Assistant] As an assumable interest rate, it means you may get more for your home than you would if somebody has to go out and qualify for a loan at today's rates. What's the downside as a buyer? Okay, there is a downside.


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[Assistant] So let's say somebody bought that home any number of years ago, they got that cheap loan.


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[Assistant] You're only assuming the balance on that loan that could be quite a bit less will be quite a bit less than what you're buying the home for. So you either have to be somebody who's got a lot of money you can put into the deal or you're going to have to take out a second loan.


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[Assistant] It will be at today's higher rates plus because it's in second position.


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[Assistant] To be able to buy it. So this is not a free lunch kind of thing, but for a buyer who's got a lot of money saved.


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[Assistant] To put into a home purchase deal and can cover that gap between that assumable low cost, low interest rate loan and the purchase price of the home.


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[Assistant] This could be a sweet ticket for you to be able to buy a home now. I hope that explanation was better than my last one.


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[Assistant] Ernest, you're in my head. I just did this and closed two bank accounts that really became surplus in my life. Well, they were actually credit union accounts and closed them.


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[Assistant] And you doing this is really great because who can handle all these statements, all these accounts and all that. And we think it's a hassle. They're actually pretty easy to close. You'll find out particularly if there's no automatic payments or automatic drafts tied into one.


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[Assistant] Well Tracy, thank you very much. Krista and I have always had different opinions about the green light card because it comes with fees, but Krista feels, well I'll let you say.


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[Assistant] Okay, so that's what I say. I mean, that's what Chris has always said. I've always thought it was the 60 bucks a year was better in the kids hands. And, uh, but the, the,


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[Assistant] Goals, control and oversight that comes with green light. You have to make that decision in your case.


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[Assistant] You're helping out your niece. The parents have made the decision. They feel that this is a worthwhile tool and a worthwhile expense. And so I think that's how you make the decision.


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[Assistant] So Jay, you're not going to find necessarily that it's going to be an easy group movement to buy last minute for things. But the thing is, if you plan well in advance and you can use the calendars, your friends, since you say you're flexible on dates, that's the whole game.


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[Assistant] When you, if you, as an example, just, you need like an hour and a half to do this.


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[Assistant] But if you just like look, take a particular cruise line and you write down this old fashioned pen and paper, you write down by week how much different cruises are from a cruise line that you're happy on going on.


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[Assistant] It's a stunner how much different the price is from one week to another on the same ship and how different the prices are from one ship to another with even the same cruise line. Uh, with cruises and a group movement, there's not a magic


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[Assistant] Looking at the last minute. You know, it used to be before the sophisticated, uh, computer programs.


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[Assistant] They'd figure out they had eight empty cabins and the first eight couples as standbys would get those cabins at like screaming fire sale prices at the last minute. Plus you can go on


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[Assistant] Cruise critic, cruise compete, different websites and see what deals there are. Uh, there are lists of what they refer to as last minute cruises, which usually means booking six weeks out or less. But I think because you have flexible dates and location, that's the key to you saving a lot of money.


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[Assistant] You know, in this case, you could, if you find a deal and you want to book through Costco travel, you could. What's more important in this case is


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[Assistant] Surveying the waterfront and I think you start it either if you got a favorite cruise discount or you want to see what deals they've got, or you do the methodical slow thing looking week by week.


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[Assistant] After kids have gone back to school is a real bargain time for cruises. The December period after Thanksgiving before Christmas is a dead dead time for travel, resorts, cruises, whatever. It's most years the cheapest


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[Assistant] 10 to 14 day period of the year for travel. So the calendar in your case is your key to savings and it's your friend with your flexibility.


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[Assistant] Polestar, if you enjoy driving it, you like the experience. I mean, electric cars are just fun to drive. Uh, Polestar 2.


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[Assistant] Is cheaper in the marketplace than a lot of other choices. The big drawback with the Polestar 2 is charging.


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[Assistant] The charging infrastructure for anything not called Tesla is a problem. And so that is the bad part, is that


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[Assistant] It's, we're years away, probably three years away, maybe two to some places in the country.


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[Assistant] Where the electric vehicle over the road charging network will be reliable, adequate, and fine to use. Today, with the Polestar and many other brands,


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[Assistant] And I gotta tell you, it's funny, electric vehicles are so out right now, which makes them now the best deal to buy they've ever been.


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[Assistant] Because people are down on them. Used ones, new ones, and so electric vehicles this year are quite a buy. I'll mention another one.


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[Assistant] The Mustang Mach-E, which when first came out, people were paying way above manufacturer suggested retail price for them. They are sitting there by the zillions unloved


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[Assistant] On either factory lots that Ford has or on dealer lots.


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[Assistant] They're making deals. And so if one fits your lifestyle,


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[Assistant] This is a great time to look electric.


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[Assistant] And I hope you have an, a wonderful rest of your day and know what we're 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. Our mission is to serve you with advice and info that empowers you so you can make better financial decisions in your life. I hope one of those decisions is to subscribe to one of our free newsletters.


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[Assistant] If you haven't, you can do so at Clark.com slash newsletter or newsletters.


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[Assistant] I get to find out where I messed up.


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[Assistant] In our weekly Clark sync segment, also something that I'm obsessed with fitness trackers. They don't have to cost a lot of money. You have two.


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[Assistant] Oh I gotta hear about your aura later. Gotta hear about that to see if I put you in a bad way. Bye.


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[Assistant] Gino, thank you for doing the price match research. So I'm a member of both clubs as you know, I shop from both and I do it because


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[Assistant] No one club is going to be the best deal or have the selection I'm looking for all the time. For example, the clothes I'm wearing come from Sam's Club because the Costco clothes are more expensive than I'm willing to pay for clothing.


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[Assistant] And a bunch of these items, obviously you did the research, are meaningfully cheaper than they are at Costco. Uhm, the warehouse clubs shop each other. So if you are shopping at a Sam's Club that's within the retail trading zone of a Costco,


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[Assistant] They go around and they, uh, see what items are priced, popular items are priced in Costco, and they will go back and lower the prices at the individual store. It's why if you're a regular Sam's Club shopper,


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[Assistant] If you go to different locations of Sam's, you will see different prices on the same items.


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[Assistant] Depending on whether in the retail trading zone of that, Sam's, they compete against a Costco or not. So if you want the cheapest prices on a warehouse club, at a warehouse club, go to a Sam's that is close by a Costco


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[Assistant] And you will find the best prices you'll find from a Sam's. Sam's even has some wording now for those of us that are plus members. If you go to order online with the free shipping,


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[Assistant] Then what you see for shipping, even though the shipping is free because of the local price differential the local Sam's Club manager has. So that manager of the store you shop at is really taking an eagle eye to being price competitive with Costco to the point that you're saving money


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[Assistant] Buying equivalent items at the Sam's versus buying them at the Costco nearby.


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[Assistant] Well Costco, Costco online is, uh, really not good for items that are sold in the warehouse. They are sold at a much higher price. Costco doesn't have a system like Sam's where you can pay a higher membership fee.


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[Assistant] And buy items shipping free at the price roughly equivalent to what you pay in the store. Costco on the other hand says, you know, cost us money to ship things to you. We're going to charge you a higher price if you buy Costco.com instead of Costco in the store.


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[Assistant] In the heartland, in what is originally referred to as flyover country, who could tell you about the cultural activities and


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[Assistant] Nightlife and all the rest available, for example in Kansas City, which a lot of people from the west coast have been moving to. You give San Antonio as a perfect example, people instead of living in Austin, which is so in,


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[Assistant] They go to San Antonio and find a lot of the cultural life at a much lower cost with less congestion.


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[Assistant] Then they would find in Austin. So I understand what you're saying. There are reasons so many people live on the two coasts, but to say that most everything in between is a place, no one in their right mind who's young would want to live. I respectfully disagree with that.


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[Assistant] Kevin, thank you. I think about uhm, the layoffs earlier this week announced by UPS.


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[Assistant] And UPS was talking about how many thousands, I think it's past 10,000 workers they're laying off and talking about in the release how much money it's going to save the company to lay off all those people. So,


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[Assistant] Whatever that, wherever the ivory tower people are, I don't think they really sweat it that much. I could be wrong.


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[Assistant] I, I find that, uh, in very, very large companies, people in the executive tier tend to be too insulated from the rank and file and everyday worker. That's my bias, and I accept that that is a bias and a closed-minded statement for me.


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[Assistant] Eric, thank you. And donor advised funds are extremely controversial in the charitable community. Uhm, a lot of charities feel like they would have received current


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[Assistant] If there's an organization you want to have all that chunk of money at one time, you're right. If the charity is equipped to be able to receive shares of appreciated stocks,


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[Assistant] Then give it directly. A lot of times people are giving appreciated shares with the idea of donating money over a long time to any of a number of charities and you nominate who you want to receive money each year.


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[Assistant] So the Donor Advised Fund is really good for tax planning and for being able to give money for years to come in the future.


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[Assistant] Yeah, so most Americans who travel infrequently do much better doing what you said. You're getting less data for the bang for the buck when you do it where you pre-purchase through one of these third parties


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[Assistant] Where you, instead of having one of these third party aggregators that make data available to you, where you buy data when you arrive, you tend to get a lot more data for the same money or even less money. So an experienced traveler,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel is best off in most circumstances just buying data when they arrive. Somebody who travels less frequently, yeaah, going through one of the third party aggregators, that's fine.


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[Assistant] Lynn, that is really a smart suggestion. Is that you set up your two factor before you leave for banking to your email instead of to your cell phone number. Uh, that is past brilliant.


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[Assistant] Oh Michael, you don't understand Clark Stinks if you don't think that that's going to be read. Uhm, it's funny because after the last Clark Stinks about the, uh, CTE, the brain injuries,


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[Assistant] With, uh, football players, I was talking with my family about it and how I'm trying to process this because that was such a good point raised in the last Clark Stinks and


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[Assistant] I don't know what to say because the brain injury thing, the focus has been on the NFL, but the brain injury thing is happening in a number of sports, lacrosse, soccer, trying to think what others


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[Assistant] With me about it. Uhm, I, I don't know.


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[Assistant] Fully how to resolve it. I'm thinking it through and I appreciate it. And this is, I mean, you're trying to help me grow as a person, as the individual as well. The last Clark stinks. And I, I just, I mean, I think about how much I enjoyed


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[Assistant] And how much pleasure I derive from it, at the same time I think about when I see a bad hit in one of those games, like in the Ravens Chiefs game.


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[Assistant] You know, what happens to a player long term who gets hit like that in the head? And that is something I've really got to process.


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[Assistant] Wayne, thank you. I find that what you're talking about is a discipline that's fantastic. Most people when they get any kind of


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[Assistant] Equivalent of a cash bonus. They treat it as extra spending in their lives. And what you've said would be the best logical conclusion. Uhm, but the problem is consumer behavior is when people get something like that, they just treat it as foul money and extra spending.


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[Assistant] I thought about that one as well.


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[Assistant] And how often medical bills, uh, the insurance company slow walks paying, and you may get a late notice saying, you know, it's 30 to 60 days old or over 90 or whatever. That doesn't mean you pay it. You want to make sure, even if you're going to the legitimate sources you described, that you get


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[Assistant] Uh, involved with their insurance company to get them to stop slow walking and pay the bill, which is fine because that's exactly


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[Assistant] What the insurance company doesn't want you to do and what the medical provider wants you to do is be your own advocate and help them get that bill paid by insurance. And I appreciate so much all of you with your passion


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[Assistant] And your thought processes on the Clark Stinks. I'm not always going to agree with you, but I really appreciate the opportunity to hear from you. We are all in this together. None of us are the last word on how to handle our wallets. We all learn from each other. Coming up ahead, we're going to talk about physical health instead of physical health.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, here we are at February and already people who did New Year's resolutions have stopped going to work out. It's like the craziest thing.


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[Assistant] I used to be a member of a YMCA that I would work out at.


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[Assistant] And it was the January curse for those of us that were regulars, because suddenly there wouldn't be spaces in the parking lot, there'd be all these people, and by the third week of January, the herd was already thinning.


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[Assistant] And by February, much thinner is hard.


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[Assistant] To sustain, to maintain. And you think about going back.


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[Assistant] Six weeks ago, seven weeks ago, all the ads started hitting heavy rotation.


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[Assistant] Online, on TV, wherever, trying to get you to sign up for expensive gym memberships with a long term contract.


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[Assistant] Because what they all count on is you're going to join thinking that will make you work out because the money you're paying. And then, well, you peter out.


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[Assistant] And so what I like you to think about is that fitness is not something that you just spend money and make happen. There are so many things you can do that are absolutely free or really cheap.


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[Assistant] That's why every December we do in competition with all those ads everywhere.


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[Assistant] We do something where we talk about free ways for you to work out and have nagging apps and stuff like that. And so in February I want to mention


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That we did this just seven weeks ago. We have an app, we have an article on 15 free fitness apps, 15 free workout apps, walking, running, yoga, overall fitness,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, these are ones that work with iPhone, these are ones that work with Android, whatever. And you can use them for nothing.


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[Assistant] We even have a thing where we divide them up best for beginners. If you're just trying to start a new habit or you tried to start one a month ago and it kind of fell by the wayside.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back in the game because


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[Assistant] Cause I think back to when I had my heart operation, had my valve replacement for my aortic valve.


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[Assistant] And the surgeons, the pre-op meeting, they said, now the most important thing for you to do.


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[Assistant] Is immediately after the surgery is to get out and walk and walk more every day.


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[Assistant] I have a follow-up meeting three days after the operation. And so they wanted to know if I was walking. I said, yeah. So pulled up on my phone. I walked, uh, these main steps, the first day, these men, the second day, these men, the third. And today I'm at 11,000 steps.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, what we were trying, most people just won't get out of bed after the operation. We're trying to get them to be active, but your heart's not ready for that yet.


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[Assistant] Yeah, so uhm, once they gave me medical clearance later in December, I've been averaging 18,000 steps a day since. And I feel really proud of that because I think it's helped so much with my recovery and I feel really great.


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[Assistant] And, uh, somebody who's funny, I don't think I've mentioned this yet. I was on a tour of a television and movie production facility.


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[Assistant] And there's a catwalk up there and, and we were touring the catwalk and I go running up the five and a half stories up the stairs and I didn't even think about it until I got to the top that I never had to stop to catch my breath or anything before my surgery.


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[Assistant] I would have had to stop over and over again going up five and a half flights of stairs and it was nothing for me. That's awesome. So that was good. So anyway, that's enough about me. This is about you and exercise. So,


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[Assistant] Fitness trackers are something that really do work. And I remember when that was the big corporate thing like 12 years ago, 10 years ago, where the companies were convinced by their insurers that they, if they could bribe people to work out,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fitbit did all these corporate tie ins and companies would give employees the Fitbit and they track and they have contests and the winner would get so many thousands of dollars and stuff.


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[Assistant] And you have to be willing to strap one on your wrist or do one of the, the ring devices. Aura used to be the lone ranger and now there are a bunch of them. I might ask you about your aura in a second. And so,


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[Assistant] These things only can do what you have them do in your life. You gotta put them on your wrist and you gotta let them nag you to get the extra exercise. Yesterday, bad weather, I was short of steps, what did I do?


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[Assistant] Yeah, I did. Back and forth, back and forth, till I hit my daily goal. That's pretty lame, isn't it?


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[Assistant] So I got it done. So uhm, if you have never worn a fitness tracker and you don't want to spend a lot of money,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Z-F-I-T, but Amazefit makes these, uh, imitation Apple watches. They also make, uh, fitness trackers that cost 40 something dollars without any monthly fee.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you can strap on on Triumph and then what you'll find is that if you really love it, you'll eventually graduate probably to one of the one million different varieties of Garmin. It's a Chinese company headquartered in Haifei, Heifei, wherever that is. Owned by Zep Health.


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[Assistant] You know, you can even join these no-frills gyms that don't have contracts that are 10 bucks or so a month. Just make sure how you cancel when you're done because there's been a lawsuit about Planet Fitness is that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A month away from where there's the hints of better weather around the country.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My, my sleep quality has gone up so much over the four years by Aura haranguing me to live my evenings differently and follow their guide on bedtimes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I've become a, I was already dull enough. Now I'm really dulled by following their bedtime recommendations, but my sleep quality has gone up exponentially over the years where usually people


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, claim every year of their life past 50 their sleep deteriorates. Mine has improved because of aura.


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[Assistant] I don't know when this aura dies, this is version 3, they're still gonna grandfather in original aura people for aura 4, we'll see.


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[Assistant] We're secured. They released the security. They're gonna want some amount of time.


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[Assistant] Before they'll entertain a credit limit increase now. They want to see what risk profile you represent to them and I don't know what that time period is. I don't know if it's 12 months, 18 months, whatever. And here's something you may be able to do and it depends on the issuer. You may be able to overpay


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[Assistant] The balance on your Capital One. So you go to a negative balance with them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That would take you to enough credit limit for you to be able to book the trip.


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[Assistant] And it depends on the issuer if they will, let's say you have the $3,500 limit, you need $5,000 in order to be able to book the trip.


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[Assistant] Would they then allow you to charge through their portal, their travel portal, the $5,000 just in theory. Don't know.


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[Assistant] It wouldn't hurt as a way for you to try. The worst that happens is that month you would have prepaid part of your balance.


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[Assistant] So the value in the marketplace, uh, Delta Sky Pennies, as they're now derisively referred to, because Delta has devalued the value of their points so much, is about 7 tenths of a cent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you're selling those points. That violates the terms of service of every one of these frequent flyer programs. Instead, you just sign into your account and, uh, Jeffrey, you're sitting there with your friend


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you're looking at the travel, your friend wants to book, you book it, and then somehow magically your friend gives you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] International business class that the value of the points is a joke. Uh, the real value is going to be, uh, international premium economy or economy or economy and potentially front of the plane domestic on Delta.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They do a great great job and what they're trying to do is they're trying to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Reduce the value of the free product so low that you'll go ahead and pay. So like fish hook and mouth, I'm saying if you want the deals.


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[Assistant] Is really, really great. They do a phenomenal job giving you that heads up on deals that you're not at this point going to find anywhere else. And Scott Kyes, why did you do it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Getting the alerts. If the whole idea is a deal pops up, you want to grab something that you would not have been able to do otherwise.


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[Assistant] And if you love to travel and you especially love to travel at real bargains, pay them for the subscription.


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[Assistant] I said it. I said it. I mean, we started talking about all the free ways to become fit.


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[Assistant] On travel. I mean, if you're an armchair traveler and you know yourself and you're gonna see me and say, wow, isn't that a great deal to Panama? But I'm never gonna go to Panama.


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[Assistant] And I want to thank you so much for joining us today. Remember what we're about. You learning ways to save more and spend less. And don't let anyone ever rip you off. Have an outstanding weekend.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because the job ended up being detrimental to my life and I quit the position in early 23.


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[Assistant] My coworker also quit, but she left in the same tax year, so she only needed to pay the net, but not without some mildly intimidating and slightly harassing emails from corporate. I guess my question is, what should I have done to avoid this whole mess in the first place?


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[Assistant] He in New Jersey says, is the affordable connectivity program real? And if so, how come I haven't heard about this government discount program on your show? Is this a legit program to apply for to reduce my monthly home internet bill?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Slash ACP. Benjamin in Washington says, I have often heard Clark talk about frequently renting cars and his procedure to photograph the car, set up his toll device, etc. Can I ask if he has any safety related checks that he performed on the car? I recently rented from a major company and drove for several days before noticing the tires were mostly bald.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The car had 46,000 miles on it and probably the original tires. Friends tell me that since COVID, cars have been kept longer and are often in poorer condition. A few friends told me they routinely check the tires, but most say they don't.


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[Assistant] You know what freaks me out? And I'm seeing it less and less, thank goodness, when you drive out of one of those and they have the one-way spikes.


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[Assistant] I hate driving over, it just freaks me out. I don't know, I hate them. I'm so terrified that it's gonna, like, somehow the car will back up and it'll spike the tires, I don't know. I just really don't like those. I guess, I don't know, maybe I'm alone.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You brought this topic up and I thought Sharon in Illinois, she wrote in with this question, I thought it would be perfect to lead into your segment here. My husband and I would love to build a home.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the cost is so high. What are your thoughts on modular homes? I'm not talking about manufactured or mobile homes. These are homes that are stick built like a normal home but are built mainly in a factory and put together on site. Are they a good value and how do I find a quality modular home builder?


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[Assistant] It's very cool to go on YouTube and watch some of the videos of these homes being built in the factories and then moved into site and how nice they are.


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[Assistant] CJ in Alaska says, I'm thinking of buying a condo out of state. What do you think of using Schwab as a mortgage lender? Is there any downside?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show, where our mission is to serve you with advice and guidance that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. To start out today's show,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm going to give you an update because so many people are wondering about what's been going on with my health and I was just in the hospital.


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[Assistant] Again, just the other day for a half a day of tests and I can fill you in on what's going on. And, it's good news. Speaking of good things, wow, one thing I love


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[Assistant] My wife can't stand is how much I love a giant screen television.


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[Assistant] And I want to tell you, and it's all about football for me.


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[Assistant] There are absolutely ridiculously great deals here in January on giant televisions. And I'm going to tell you how to look for them, what you should be looking for. And before I get to all that, I want to remind you the team Clark Consumer Action Center, now 31 years old,


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[Assistant] Is ready to take your phone calls Monday through Friday with one-on-one free advice, guidance and information.


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[Assistant] That for decades just went right along. I always had a bad heartbeat.


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[Assistant] And about 10 years ago, I became very familiar with my cardiologist and started going regularly because the defect I had, or have, is a defective aortic valve.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the fall where I could have died any day. I mean, I was, I was in really not great shape. And so I had to have an operation.


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[Assistant] And because of the advances of modern medicine, I was able to have an operation that did not involve


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[Assistant] Doing what they call the zipper where they cut you open, do full open heart.


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[Assistant] And that has its own problems with extremely lengthy recovery times.


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[Assistant] And instead I was able to have a procedure called a TAVR, which is a


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[Assistant] Trans catheter aortic valve replacement.


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[Assistant] And so, in me now, and by the way, they do that with, I had three cuts, uh, three arteries, they went in through my body.


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[Assistant] With various devices, robotic type things. It's much more interesting than I'm describing it. And intricate. And these brilliant surgeons and medical teams were able to temporarily stop my heart, put in a new valve that is called the Sapien X4.


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[Assistant] And I'm a science experiment because of Sapien X4.


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[Assistant] Is not FDA approved yet, so I'm in a 10 year research study. And I'll tell you a funny thing about that in a second. So, anyway, in this 10 year study to see


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[Assistant] If this will improve the survival of people who need, uh, aortic valve replacement.


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[Assistant] And so I now have a valve in me that's part metal, part fabric and part cowl and


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[Assistant] It took over the operations.


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[Assistant] of my aortic valve placed inside my aortic valve and instantly


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[Assistant] My heart that was failing suddenly is pumping blood just like it's supposed to.


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[Assistant] So I had, uh, the battery of tests I just had one month out from surgery and


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[Assistant] The valve's working almost like it should. I still have a blood leak around the valve and so I'll be tested three months from now and three months after that. But anyway, this research study


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[Assistant] Is a kick because I have to fill out these long, long, long questionnaires.


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[Assistant] Uh, every 90 days that are all these arcane questions that I can't figure out what they have to do with anything with my heart.


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[Assistant] You got to see me in the hospital. I did. In recovery the day of surgery.


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[Assistant] Well they had the appearance of mashed potatoes. You know what it looked like? It looked like, the food looked like when a little kid has a play kitchen.


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[Assistant] Congealed chicken, it just won't do anything, and so.


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[Assistant] And then the mashed potatoes, I knew I was putting a substance in my mouth, but it had no taste at all. It was like, so.


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[Assistant] Anyway, we'll see, because the big thing is I was going to die.


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[Assistant] And now I'm not, and I've been averaging 18,000 steps a day.


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[Assistant] I just got permission to go back to my twice a week yoga.


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[Assistant] I've lost strength in my upper body because I haven't been able to do yoga in four months. I'll be able to do that. I can lift weight again.


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[Assistant] So it's a problem. Yeah, but the problem, the real problem is now a solution. I'm not going to croak right now. That's good.


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[Assistant] Thank goodness. Okay. And by the way, thank you so much. So many people.


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[Assistant] Uh, have done so many kind things with, uh, including me on their prayer list, having me in their thoughts, sending these really nice cards. It was really wonderful. It's awesome.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You'd still have to enter, you'd still have to enter payment data. That is crazy. First of all,


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[Assistant] Who has a credit card with a limit that'll take a $19,000 purchase? Usually you'd get a decline on that.


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[Assistant] You know, they're not give, generally they're not comp those. They're paying for those expensive court said seats. Wow.


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[Assistant] I mean, it's just hard because if there's been no other hack in a mother's life, there's no pattern that would show that this was a result of a hack.


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[Assistant] Well, we certainly need to know, Cory, from you what happens because there's not a normal, uh, pattern or path here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That we could tell you, okay, your mom should do this, that or the other. She's done the one thing we would recommend.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which is to dispute the charge, but hard to say what would happen with that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] First of all, not abroad. Uh, people figure out workarounds using, uh, virtual private networks outside the United States, but digital rights


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Almost always with streaming services and when you cross a border. And there's been a big gripe of people over time.


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[Assistant] That you don't have the right to.


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[Assistant] To do this, to, uh, take, to pay a subscription for whatever and watch it wherever your eyeballs are at that time. Then the second thing you asked to watch a streaming service wherever you are in the United States.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That depends on the terms of service of that streaming service. As an example, we have YouTube TV and so if I'm traveling


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's a pop-up on YouTube TV that asks if I am temporarily in this area or if I am permanently in the area that I'm now watching.


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[Assistant] And so this is up to each service. The other thing they're doing


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is in families where people have shared passwords.


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[Assistant] They're trying to force you to have many streaming services. Netflix caused a lot of hurt feelings when they went to this system where


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you are like the YouTube example, YouTube TV example, if you're just traveling temporarily, they do let you take it with you wherever you are in the United States. But again, not outside our borders unless you do a technology work around.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, what is streaming service? So, it's really broken into three categories now.


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[Assistant] First, our streaming services that mimic what we used to have with traditional cable television. Broadcast channels, uh, ca- what we called cable channels. So it could be all the things that Turner Broadcasting had like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] TBS and TNT and, uh, Lifetime from whoever does Lifetime and all those kind of things and then the networks. That's like, like the YouTube TV I was talking about or Hoon Loong Live or, uh, Fubo or things like that.


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[Assistant] For that kind of stream, it all depends on what channels matter to you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We have a tool we update regularly. You can go in and you can put your favorite traditional channel you like to watch in there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It'll tell you who's the cheapest for you to watch that on.


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[Assistant] To 65 a month. You say, well, I can really live without my fifth favorite channel.


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[Assistant] So it gives you the ability to keep that traditional cable kind of stream.


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[Assistant] And, uh, Max, which is the old HBO, and all those kind of things. That category, it really has to be what shows your interest in. My favorite of every one of them are the ad-supported ones, because they're so much cheaper.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also you may with a credit card or like with Walmart Plus or whatever, you may be able to get a streaming service for free or really cheap through your subscription.


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[Assistant] Free advertiser supported television. We've got a whole guide on Clark.com to fast services. Free channels that you can get that have tons of content and I'm more than happy to watch those and never have to pay a monthly bill.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm gonna talk about deals on the actual TV that you'd watch this stuff on. Man are there deals right now. Incredible. But in one particular category is where the deals reside right now. Alright, every year at this time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is wearing NFL playoffs. Headed towards the Super Bowl.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are always ridiculous deals on the TVs that are the ones that are going to be discontinued


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[Assistant] And the new season TVs will come in. So I'm not talking about absolute


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's gonna be a degradation of the video quality through streaming.


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[Assistant] And so, there's no reason for you to reach for that aspirational TV that you'd pay a lot more for. You buy what's current. I teased at the very top of this podcast,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You gotta have a decent sized room or basement or whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Rec room to use an 85 inch TV, but you want one, let me tell you. Particularly if you like sports.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Sam's, I was just in Sam's, and they have a bunch still on the floor. You can't get them at samsclub.com right now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm seeing them at $4.99 but without even trying you can buy one $6.49, $6.99 just looking around without even trying hard.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And these are all great 4K televisions. A lot of them, uh, brand, regular brand names. And then the Rockut Cheaps, like that 799 at Sam's Club is a TCL.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I have a TCL TV. I love my TCL TV. You may not want a TCL TV. You may say, well I gotta have a Samsung or an LG or whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Another brand that has been very heavily discounting in the very large TVs is Hisense. Now the thing that Hisense and TCL usually do, because people are like, what's that? I can't even say it right. What does TCL stand for? No idea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They tend to sell them with a three-year manufacturer's warranty on the TV.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're okay, other than the hassle of dealing with a repair and exchange. Uhm, so you got 85s and 75s, some places 86s, it'll be really cheap.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pretty mediocre on the 65s on the deals. So this year, leading into the Super Bowl, the real deals on the giant screens. Who knows what next January will bring? Krista?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is too good to be true. Leon, I'm glad you asked me before you spent the $30,000. Uh, this company's method of operation


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so they say, this is an instant business. We're gonna teach it to you. We're gonna sell you the kit. You're gonna be out there making all this money, handling billing for primary care, specialty practices, uh, whatever in medicine. Don't believe it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you think about bills you get from medical facilities and doctors practices now, labs, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Imaging services, they're all professional companies. This area now is in the hands of a lot of fairly big anonymous companies that are handling billing. And the idea that you can just buy a kit


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In a field you're not experienced in, you don't have years of work history, and suddenly you're going to be running a medical back office billing service? No.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, Mark, thank you. Why do I say vehicle instead of car?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is what did you say it was? It's an SUV. And so that's shorthand for whether it's a van, a pickup truck, an SUV, or a car. I should maybe say automobile. Whatever. Okay. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You started off with a statement that I disagree with, Mark. You don't want to transfer ownership to your granddaughter. In this case, you're creating problems with liability for yourself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By not transferring ownership. The right thing to do in this case is give this car this, uh, SUV


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To your granddaughters. 2014, not gonna have a lot of book value. You want her to have the advantage of it. So you should transfer it to her.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the liability side, and that's why you don't want to still be owner. Cause a teenager, inexperienced behind the wheel, the accident rates higher.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uhm, you don't wanna stand the risk of the liability. That's why she needs to own it. And just go all in and let her sign it over and let her have ownership.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, first of all, it's one of the weirdnesses about Google. Google has this thing they call their moonshot. I think they're the ones that use the term moonshot. Where they have all these different little ventures.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That they try to create their next big entrepreneurial success by getting things out of the lumbering corporate bureaucracy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so what happens is they'll throw money at these moonshots for a while, maybe years, and they'll say, oh well, that was nice, that didn't work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You'll see a bunch of choices where you can listen to us for free, iPhone or Android. You just click on them and you listen to us that way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's true. That's true. Either way. And with YouTube, if you go to our page on YouTube, you can see, there's a podcast button on our page.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I always call these things buttons. I don't know. That's an analog reference since I grew up in the analog era. And you'll see our episodes one after another just listed. Yep.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so you can just click and watch whatever you want. Cause our YouTube, uh, watching audience keeps growing and growing and growing. In addition to people just listen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And what does that do to your brand credibility? You should have some kind of off-ramp for people where maybe you sell


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Anyway, that concludes this episode. And what are we about? You learning ways to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, that's up to you. However, I did see one person gave a great review but only left two stars. I'm not sure why. And this is another one that was two stars. Good advice but is biased. So this is a two star review.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so if you get a chance, if you could give the Clark Howard Show a review, that would be amazing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Clark, you stink about as much as the whipped cream can I haven't cleaned out in two months. You have made repeated comments about how to get cheaper TV and you always forget the cheapest option. My husband and I have totally ditched internet and just enjoy watching DVDs of TV shows that have already stopped making new seasons borrowed from the library.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All the binging options, none of the costs are commercial breaks. Granted, we couldn't care less about your beloved sports, so it works for us. But we love not showing out anything for our favorite shows unless we decide to buy a series so we never have to wait for it to be available at the library. Judy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you close your Chrome browser but do not power off or sign out of the Chromebook session, you'll be signed into LastPass the next time you open the browser. The risk is that if someone else happened to get possession of your Chromebook, they could easily open the browser and have access to all of your accounts. Larry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and that's if you had LastPass on there, uhm, or if you didn't sign out of your accounts, I guess is what Larry's saying, so good to think about.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Clark, you don't stink, but maybe you should explain to people, if you want to find a Roth IRA for a child, fund a Roth IRA for a child or grandchild in the future, they can give money to them to do this. Purposely putting money into a 529 to only plan to use the money to transfer to a 529