[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Take away the home field advantage of the dealer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you go to the dealer and you're in their environment,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have welcomed yourself into the grind. It's where the dealer


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can take advantage of you over multiple hours.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And get you not only to pay too much for a vehicle, get too little for your trade in, pay too much for financing, and buy a whole bunch of stuff, you don't even know what it is that's been added into the deal. That only can happen to you if you are the visiting team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You go to that dealer and you are on their turf. This is what they do every day. The power resides with you. As long as you negotiate a deal on a vehicle from your home, from your office, from your laptop, that's where you're going to save


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Many thousands of dollars and if you are not a member of a credit union yet when you are buying a new or used vehicle,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is mandatory. You must join a credit union.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is so much ridiculously cheaper than what you're gonna get from a bank or a car dealer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so they're not going to mark up that vehicle loan to send a profit to stockholders. When you finance a vehicle at a dealer, you've got two markups, one for the bank and one for the dealer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So whose money is it you're spending? Who worked for that money?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whose wallet is it that's being picked? It's yours. Do this stuff right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And your wallet will thank you every single month. And as for how long your loan should be,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Go see what I say at Clark.com. Make sure you're sitting, because if you're standing and you see the longest any vehicle loan should be, you might pass out and hit your head. Krista.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Use vehicles are particularly those that are three or four years old. And right now they're not a deal at all. They come with very high miles on them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And really not a meaningfully lower price than what you'd have on a new one. So you've got a little bit of time before you really need to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do something and every month that goes from here is going to be beneficial to you for


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The price is going down for all the factors I just talked about. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] February is going to be better than January, which is going to be better than December, which is going to be better than November and on like that. So I know that people think that something really happened to me. Like I got hit in the head with a baseball bat, but right now in your scenario, buying new would actually be better than used. I mean, when, and,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, Chris, we've been together since 1997 doing this stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because you've gotta pull the trigger in the next, uh, you know, 120, 150 days, whatever it is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And congratulations again on the upcoming birth of your child.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so Julia, the only good part of your story is nobody was hurt. Uhm, as for


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Insurers, the other parties insurers say, well, we, we just have decided that our driver's telling the truth and you're at fault and you're responsible for all this. Uh-uh. It's not how it works. There's a process that insurers use. It varies because, uh, insurance is regulated by the states.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But generally the way the process works is a process called subrogation. And the insurers...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, you say to your insurer, no, it was the other driver's fault. The other driver says it was your fault. And then subrogation is where the insurers...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, reach a deal upon among themselves.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Allocating blame to each party based on the lack of a police report it really depends on your statement versus the statement of the other driver.


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[Assistant] In whatever way you can provide any proof at all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And do not beat yourself up about the dash cam. They are awesome, they cost very little money, and this is a good


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Warning for other people, why you spend the $15 or so to install a dash cam because then they are true serum and, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As far as what else you can do, that's really going to be it is your insurer needs to stand up for you just as the other party's insurers standing up for them. And in the best case at this point, you're going to find that there will be shared fault assigned.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that you're not paying to fix that other driver's vehicle. And Krista, you had a situation where you were able to show a police officer your video from your vehicle. Were you in that accident or were you just a witness to an accident?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, this is shocking that there's no police report, by the way. Uhm, but the police officer


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Saw the video and determine that the other driver was at fault. And so that's why having the video recording in your vehicle is so valuable. And a lot of countries where, um, where you can't necessarily trust law enforcement overseas, dash cams are in every single vehicle on the road because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People end up having to advocate for themselves after an accident with insurance. And that's why everybody has them. What's so unusual in your case.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's very odd and obviously not helpful to anybody.


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[Assistant] Well I want to thank you so much for joining us on today's podcast.


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[Assistant] And if we didn't get to a question that's really burning in your head, you really want an answer to it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, we offer one on one advice and guidance from the Team Clark Consumer Action Center.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From 10 in the morning Eastern time till 4 in the afternoon Eastern time, Monday through Friday, and you can get that one-on-one advice and it's completely free. It's 636-49-Clarke. Have a great day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show, where our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better decisions in your life. In today's episode, I have a personal story to share with you about something every parent worries about their teenager having a car accident. Later, mortgage rates have been rising.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, obviously they're way up from where they were when they were artificially suppressed by the Federal Reserve. And it's putting a lot of financial pressure on people. There is a trick that people have not used in forever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That some people are using to lower the cost of home purchasing. I want to tell you something else going on the mortgage business because of the lack of interest in people buying homes right now that could save you money if you are one of the individuals still trying to buy. So my son, Grant,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was in an accident that was his fault. Minor accident, but it was his fault. And, uh,


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[Assistant] I went two for three with my kids having accidents when they were 16. My oldest was in a head on collision.


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[Assistant] She was 16, both vehicles totaled. It's not her fault. Ironically enough, she was hit by another 16 year old who was on the wrong side of the road and ran into her. And, uh, my wife is still traumatized by being at the accident scene and seeing the car destroyed and my oldest Rebecca hurt, not badly. Um, for some reason,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My middle child, Steffi, never in an accident to this moment.


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[Assistant] I got the nose of his vehicle, he was actually driving my wife's vehicle, into the road just too much.


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[Assistant] Getting ready to turn right, should have been further back, and a pickup truck that was in the lane, fully in the right, uh, kinda scraped Grant, kinda scraped Grant, or Grant scraped him, Grant was sitting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm a terrible witness, aren't I, describing this? Anyway, the video is unreal because Grant was in my wife's Tesla.


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[Assistant] And so you have perfect high def video of the accident. Clearly, Grant's fault. Uh,


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[Assistant] Took meaningful damage, no structural damage, but meaningful damage and who knows when it'll be ready. So Grant calls me, says, what do I do? I said, was it your fault? He said, yes.


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[Assistant] To admit responsibility, because everything tells you, even some insurance carriers say, don't admit fault.


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[Assistant] But it was clear and there was video evidence. It was completely his fault. And it was a minor accident. Uh, no, nobody injured in any way, shape, form or fashion. I said, call the police.


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[Assistant] He scraped the side of his vehicle. Bob could not have been a nicer man. And, uh, turned out he was a test pilot.


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[Assistant] And our son is in flight training, so they just completely hit it off talking about the stuff. The funniest thing, the guy sent a text message later to Grant saying, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good time talking, you know, with a fellow pilot and all that. But anyway, this thing about, uh, not admitting responsibility. I know


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's standard issue. You're not supposed to admit responsibility, but what are we teaching our kids? What are we teaching? What would I be teaching my son at 16? He's now 17, but 16 that day.


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[Assistant] What am I teaching him if I say, oh no, you lie. You say you weren't responsible. You refuse to accept responsibility.


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[Assistant] In a parking lot and a woman had a dog in her car. The dog was jumping around. She's not looking and she drove right into me.


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[Assistant] And then she tried to lie to the police officer and say it was all my fault and there was a lady who'd stayed.


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[Assistant] And you know, people automatically assume it's a teenager's fault, and the lady stayed and she said, No, she's lying!


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[Assistant] She ran right into him. He was sitting still. She hadn't been there. Who knows what would happen, but I learned right then and there at 16, such an important lesson about telling the truth.


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[Assistant] The, to do the right thing, even if it's not procedurally what the insurance company would want


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[Assistant] And certainly a lawyer would not want him telling the truth. And so the consequence is financial, right?


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[Assistant] So more and more cars have the video capability, but a lot still don't, which is why I love dash cams.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they kind of look like a radar detector up on the screen, but they're not, you know, up on your windshield. They cost like 10 to 20 bucks typically, and they record


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're last, depending on the model, 90 seconds to five minutes of driving and you'll have that video evidence because people will in many cases refuse to take responsibility. Having the video evidence is great. Um, it's not so great.


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[Assistant] When you have that video and it does deal with people who don't


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[Assistant] Take responsibility for mistakes they've made.


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[Assistant] So this is long standing tradition goes back to the hotel industry and keeper statutes that basically is finders, keepers, losers, weepers on stuff you lose at a hotel.


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[Assistant] And Airbnb has pretty much taken the same position, you know. Ah, well, you left something, uh, tough.


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[Assistant] And that is historical in the industry. There is one possibility for you, Bridget.


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[Assistant] And that is that you may have, if you used a particular credit card for your Airbnb booking, you may have with using that credit card,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For a travel related thing, the ability to make a claim for the, I would call them in this case, stolen air pods.


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[Assistant] And so, think back, what credit card do you use on Airbnb?


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[Assistant] See if it comes with travel related protections.


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[Assistant] And the claims, I think they cap out like a thousand dollars for lost and stolen stuff while you're traveling. And AirPods obviously cost a lot less than that. And I hope that you have posted


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This on a review of the Airbnb host and his or her property.


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[Assistant] So you found out a lesson the hard way. Home warranty companies are


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[Assistant] Generally the equivalent of snake oil salespeople.


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[Assistant] And home warranty companies have been a source of complaints.


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[Assistant] Since the 1980s in my life, I've heard from people that the brochures that are so shiny and glossy and friendly and promise the world to you.


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[Assistant] For today like five, six hundred dollars a year typically. And then if it's a little teeny thing at your house, you're like, wow, that was great. I just paid my deductible and they took care of it.


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[Assistant] But if it's anything, it's a significantly costly thing.


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[Assistant] They go into the full rope a dope and they do everything they can


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[Assistant] To avoid paying your claim and wear you down, wait you out.


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[Assistant] And you realize that that glossy brochure


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[Assistant] Isn't worth the paper it's printed on. So what I recommend is your, your own company for


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[Assistant] These things and that is you instead.


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[Assistant] Make sure that you take that same money you would have put into that home warranty. Put it in your own maintenance account for your home. Open an online savings account. They're paying around close to 2% now. Just pop that amount of money in each year.


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[Assistant] And then know that when something goes wrong with something in your home, you've already pre-funded the cost hopefully.


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[Assistant] Most or all of it of repairing or replacing that item.


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[Assistant] So, you're in a bit of a sticky situation now, Eddie, because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your insurer or the regulations in your state of California. I don't know what the regulations are.


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[Assistant] Because auto insurance is regulated by each of the 50 states.


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[Assistant] So it's up to the state regulators whether an insurer can say, well you didn't report on a timely basis, therefore we wash our hands of it.


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[Assistant] There's one billboard after another after another after another as you drive down the freeway.


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[Assistant] And you'll see somebody smiling with a picture of their $3 million check or $5 million check or $1 million check. And you know, it's like, Bill got me my money or Mary got me my money or whatever the lawyer's name is. And so people think they won a lottery. Hopefully that's not what's going on here, Eddie, but.


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[Assistant] I want you to at least call the California Department of Insurance and see what level of risk


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[Assistant] You may have opened yourself up to and if you're not too late to contact your insurer.


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[Assistant] Go ahead and do so. It's always a tendency to


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[Assistant] Want to settle something outside of insurance.


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[Assistant] If you hit somebody in a parking lot, they're not even in the car, you hit their car.


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[Assistant] That's a perfect example of where if it's a small dinner, whatever.


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[Assistant] Pay yourself, don't report it to your insurer. On the other hand, if it's on the road there's always the risk that somebody gets really excited


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[Assistant] Seeing one of those TV ads or one of those billboards and suddenly decides that they've got severe injuries of some kind and they're coming after you. And if you're insurers in a position to say we're out of this, not our problem, that can be really ugly for you. So think about the bookends of how we started with the ethics involved


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[Assistant] With my son's accident and did I do the right thing or wrong thing by having him do the ethically right thing?


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[Assistant] And then we're ending here with somebody trying to settle something with somebody without insurance. And now they don't know what's happening. Um, this is messy. So.


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[Assistant] Uh, hopefully it means nothing. Maybe something's just going on in her life and that's why she's ignoring you. So if you're trying to buy a home right now,


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[Assistant] You know that your monthly payment is so much higher because of mortgage interest rates. But there's a trick out there some people are using. I want to make sure you know about too. Long, long ago and far, far away in 1980, the re I think it was mortgage rates in the United States


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Were through the roof. People were having to take out mortgages at, don't check your hearing, 20%.


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[Assistant] We were in an era of near galloping inflation that had gone on for years and years and years.


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[Assistant] Every attempt by the federal government to squeeze inflation out had failed.


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[Assistant] And so borrowing money was unreal on the money market accounts back then. You were earning 17% interest. 17%. That tells you how much inflation was a factor. Well,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the midst of that, bought a house, because housing prices were depressed because of the very, very high interest rates. But my mortgage


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That I took out was unusual. It was something called NQNE.


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[Assistant] Non-qualifying, non-escalating. What that meant is that I could take over the seller's mortgage and their interest rate and just waltz into the home, except


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That mortgage, the remaining balance on it was


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[Assistant] Only part of what I was buying the house for.


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[Assistant] So the seller, to get the deal done, took back a second with me at 12%.


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[Assistant] So my first mortgage was in those days unbelievably cheap at eight and a half percent.


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[Assistant] And I had a second for 12% and then my down payment. So.


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[Assistant] The seller was thrilled because they were earning decent money on their money with the second. I was thrilled because my blended


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[Assistant] Amount of money that I borrowed was just under 10% at a time that interest rates were 20.


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[Assistant] And I didn't have to go through the blizzard of paperwork applying. I just had to sign one form and took over the loan.


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[Assistant] Well, believe it or not, there are still certain loans that you can do part of that. And it's something I hadn't even talked about.


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[Assistant] Because I didn't know anybody was doing anything like this right now.


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[Assistant] An item in the Wall Street Journal that people are actually doing, not the in queue, the non-qualifying part, but the non-escalating part, where even though mortgage rates have stepped up, they may be assuming somebody's loan at two point something percent or three point something percent helps the seller get more money for their property than they might have otherwise as the market softened.


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[Assistant] And the buyer ends up with a much lower effective monthly cost for the home because they assume that low.


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[Assistant] So the NQ non-qualifying, that's not part of the equation typically now.


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[Assistant] You have to qualify to assume that loan and only roughly one in five loans are assumable that are in the marketplace. They tend to be government loans like VA loans, that kind of stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And sellers would be wise if they're in a government loan.


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[Assistant] At the existing interest rate, the NE is non-escalating, the rate stays the same, then you've got


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A real market opportunity selling your home because you're able to sell it.


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[Assistant] The, if you're selling yourself or you're using a real estate agent, you're able to say, uhm,


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[Assistant] Assume my loan at 3 point whatever percent, instead of paying the 5 point whatever that the market's at now. I mean that's really a great opportunity for the seller and the buyer. Now if you are a veteran,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you're allowing somebody to assume your loan to get your home sold.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Know that you need to understand the VA rules.


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[Assistant] On whether you can use your VA benefit for another home loan while that person has that loan of yours that they have assumed. You wanna know the rules for that? The VA explanation is fairly clear on that at the va.gov website.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so this is a potential opportunity. Remember somewhere close to one in five existing mortgages have that assumability in them where the buyer can get your existing rate. Okay. The other thing.


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[Assistant] Is that mortgage lenders have seen their business fall like a rock. There's no refi activity anymore and purchase activity has declined because of the higher rates.


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[Assistant] That means if you are a buyer in the marketplace, there's a lot of market share fighting going on.


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[Assistant] One of the largest players in mortgage lending has raised the white flag. They're getting out of the business. That's Wells Fargo. They're getting out. So people are fighting over market share. And so a lot of lenders are using this lull and activity


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This more than any other time I can recall in recent years is a time that if you're shopping for a mortgage for buying a home,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You've got to shop around. You don't go to any one lender. You shop the market to see what the best deal is out there for you, because it's not just rate. It's all the other junk that comes along with the rate, all the closing costs. Krista?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] First things first, thank you for your service to our great country. Second,


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[Assistant] What brainiac, MBA at Verizon, came up with such a lame, stupid policy, figuring, ah, this is going to be great. We know only a small number of people will know they have to re-up each year, and we're going to run the prices up on them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I wanted somebody at Verizon to explain to me how a veteran becomes a non-veteran 12 months later.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not every problem like that in corporate America is an MBA's fault. Just most of them. That's said by an MBA. Anyway.


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[Assistant] What I would do is I would use this as your signal that it's time for you to dump them and go to T-Mobile where they don't play these games with vets and you get these great rates for they also have the 55 plus.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I, I think that's ridiculous. You're bringing a focus to it. You know, Chris, I think it'd be wonderful if we checked in with Verizon and had their PR doublespeak people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Tried it with a straight face, explained to us why they make a veteran re-qualify each year. Maybe we can get the policy changed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because that is an insult David to you and every other veteran. Because number one, being with Verizon, you're already paying the most rates, the highest rates you could possibly ever pay for cell phone service. You go anywhere else and find it cheaper. And then to do this to you?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wow, that's not really honoring you and other people who serve to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, this is so unbelievably complicated.


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[Assistant] What we don't know yet is 23 considered to be the federal physical year of October 1 or is it calendar year 23?


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[Assistant] So my advice for anybody wanting the, the wonderful heat pump rebate to wait till next year. And as I talked recently on a podcast,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This was a boo-boo on my part. Not really talking about how much you'll save on your electric bill.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, using a heat pump instead of a traditional air conditioning system. And then with this rebate,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You get the upfront cost greatly reduced cause heat pumps cost more than traditional AC.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then you're going to save this massive amount on your energy bill every month. So I would say, uh, err on the side of safety. We're not that far away from 23. I would wait till 23 to do it. And if later it does turn out to be true, that it starts with the, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] FY23 for the federal government, which would be October, I will certainly update that advice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is not a kumbaya moment for Sam's and Costco. They each on their credit card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Expressly, in their terms of service, keep you from earning the higher gas rebate if you shop at their competitor for gasoline.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can get it, uhm, at Costco, obviously you get your 4%. You shop at a regular gas station, you get the 4%. You go to Sam's Club, you get 1%.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know if they prohibit Kroger has, uh, you know, all his brand names, has so many gas pumps around the country. I don't know if supermarket gas is prohibited or not on the Costco visa.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't have any of those near me, those supermarket ones, but if you are a Sam's Club,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Shopper, you're a Sam's Club member, get their Sam's Club MasterCard, because on gasoline with the Sam's Club MasterCard, you get five percent cash back, not four. So,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's an even better thing. So you're trying to find it, Kristen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can't find it at almost all gas stations. There were non-qualifying fuel as well as supermarkets.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Supermarkets, uh, Walmart super centers. That's what they mean by super stores.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And warehouse clubs other than Costco. So you can't go to BJ's wholesale and buy gas and get the 4%. You can't go to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kroger, any of its brand names. Kroger has what, 25 brand names around the country for its stores, whatever it is. Can't go to any of theirs. Uhm, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Those things aren't gonna, are gonna keep you from getting your 4% cash back. But remember the Sam's Club MasterCard, no annual fee and you'll get the 5% back on gas. So try that and I hope


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[Assistant] That today you found something you can use in your life because that's the purpose of why we do the podcast.


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[Assistant] That's why we have our websites. That's why we have our newsletters. That's why we have the one-on-one.


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[Assistant] Free advice available to you through our Team Clark Consumer Action Center. We want you.


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[Assistant] To be empowered with knowledge that you can act on in your own life to improve your own life. That's what we're all about. That's why we do what we do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you've enjoyed this podcast, I hope you'll subscribe. I hope you'll rate the podcast and remember if you enjoy our podcast, tell your friends and your family.


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[Assistant] And if you don't enjoy our podcast, make sure you share it with people you don't really like.


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[Assistant] What's going on with the housing market, the job market. Also, lots of people have been moving recently, some to other States for more affordable living, but there's a significant danger moving to a place that's unfamiliar to you. I have an important warning for you before you sign the sales contract.


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[Assistant] Economic data, I mean, constantly, because I know front of mind for you and a wall of worries is how you go shopping at the supermarket.


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[Assistant] And it seems like every month it's more money than the month before for groceries and it seems like because that has been the case. The average American


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[Assistant] A significant and real and strong burden. We're going through a rotation with inflation. Why are the things that really were engines of inflation have settled down?


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[Assistant] Uh, goods based inflation overwhelmingly has been squeezed out. Things, stuff, a place to live, housing prices.


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[Assistant] That went up, up, up and away, whether for purchase or rental. That has now changed. And...


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[Assistant] There are a small number of markets that housing costs have gone down somewhere around one, one and a half percent recently after the long, long, long run up. And we're going to see more moderation in housing costs. And especially for the, a little bit more than third of Americans who rent, who've been hit with brutal rent increases, we're going to see


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[Assistant] More and more deals popping up on rent, gasoline.


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[Assistant] I mean we've seen continual decline in the price of gasoline, but it's unclear where that's going to go next.


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[Assistant] Because we don't know what's going to happen in the war in Ukraine next. But for now, that's been a better picture. But what has remained rough and tough? Anything to do with services because as the cost pressures have hit people,


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[Assistant] Uh, the job market has been so very strong. People have been out seeking more money.


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[Assistant] Whether they've stayed or they've left to get more money. And in the service side of the economy,


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[Assistant] Labor costs are so much of the overall cost of running a business. Imagine you're a service business right now. Just try to put yourself in the place of a service business owner. He or she facing enormous pressure


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[Assistant] And dealing with the costs of running that business and at the same time, resistance from customers about facing higher costs for the services they're getting from you at your business. I mean, this is a tough time. So the federal reserve.


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[Assistant] When you look at the inflation report that came out last week,


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[Assistant] What the Federal Reserve is gonna have to do is they're gonna have to keep trying to put the brakes on the economy. They're gonna squeeze the economy. And the reason is the job market is incredibly strong by historical numbers. And they're gonna apply brakes to the economy, slow down the job market,


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[Assistant] Slow down the economy in order to get rid of the services inflation. And so it's going to hurt.


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[Assistant] This is not going to be a brutal economic cycle we're going into, but if they don't do what the federal reserve is doing, what it means is an inflation becomes an expectation. We're not there yet.


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[Assistant] In fact, financial markets are already pricing in inflation being under control when they look forward the next year or two, but getting through squeezing this inflation out


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[Assistant] Depending on where you sit in this economic mix, you're gonna feel some of that. Or a lot of it, depending on where you are. But you're going to see improvement


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[Assistant] On the inflation front, not month by month, cause that can have a bit of a wave effect, but moving forward, you're going to see the improvement borrowing some really unexpected increase in war activity in Europe or elsewhere. We're going to get the U S economy under control. Know that inflation,


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[Assistant] Is a worldwide problem right now. It is an ugly problem around the globe and we are actually weirdly doing better than a lot of the rest of the world with managing


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[Assistant] And we're further along in the United States than many other countries at getting this inflationary cycle broken, but the breaking of it is going to hurt.


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[Assistant] The things that have hurt us though over the last year with that $15 more a day needed out of our wallet that may not be there. We got to deal with that and we're going to get there. And eventually even at the supermarket.


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[Assistant] No, you don't need, uh, annualcreditreport.com anymore. If you've signed up for Credit Sesame, Credit Karma, you're getting alerts from the various credit cards. We've gone from, this is so funny.


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[Assistant] Where knowing about your credit was treated by the banks as if it was a state secret and only they were allowed to know and you weren't allowed to know anything about your credit standing to now everybody's throwing us these alerts every day. And I find.


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[Assistant] That there's so many alerts coming now about my credit that I'm almost zoning out and tuning them out.


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[Assistant] Yeah, it's when, it's when there's a big movement that then it's like an oops.


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[Assistant] And the most important things, the only things that really matter outside of identity theft.


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[Assistant] Or that you pay every bill you have every month on time. And that's one that requires perfection. Because even a single late pay can really hurt you.


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[Assistant] And then the second thing is that you keep your utilization of credit very low. That's the amount of the available credit you have.


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[Assistant] That you never using more than 30%. If you want to turbo your credit score, always keep the amount you're using at less than 10%.


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[Assistant] So Anita, my goodness, I'm really, really sorry that a sick demented person, uh, was trolling Craigslist. I mean, that is weird.


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[Assistant] Really? Yes. So blocking the number, reporting it, uh, because of burner numbers, it's not really, uh, going to, you're not going to be able to do anything about it really. Um, I'm just so, so sorry this happened.


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[Assistant] And you say it's common and regular on Craigslist?


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[Assistant] Right. But it's such an obscure, it's such a hard trail to track down.


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[Assistant] Well, I mean, you think about when Craigslist started, it was such a incredible breath of fresh air and wonderful idea.


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[Assistant] And, but it's free and open to everybody, ultimate libertarian kind of thing. So you end up with, uh, with sickos out there.


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[Assistant] So, Laurie, cars are actually vehicles much, much more reliable than they used to be. And, uh,


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[Assistant] I know people always think, well they don't build things like they used to. Vehicles actually are built better and are much more reliable. And so I think it is very possible


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[Assistant] You can find one that will last an exceedingly long period of time again. So,


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[Assistant] The biggest issue with reliability in vehicles today


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[Assistant] Are all the electronics and computers being put on them. The simpler a vehicle you buy, the easy, more easily it can be maintained.


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[Assistant] And the lifespan of it can be extremely long. And I know there are a lot of people who tell us their stories about, well,


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[Assistant] You know, we hear more about Toyotas than anything else with the ultra long life, but we'll hear about it with any brand that somebody maintains it well and they're able to get.


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[Assistant] More than two decades of use out of a vehicle, but I would not worry.


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[Assistant] That just because you're buying a vehicle today, that suddenly it's not going to work for you long term. I think to the contrary,


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[Assistant] The auto market is so unbelievably competitive today that it's very possible that you could have a vehicle last an ultra long time. So speaking of something that needs to last a long time, that's the home you buy. But before you buy a home,


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[Assistant] There's an important step I need for you to take.


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[Assistant] Americans for a long time have not been on the move. We've been staying local for a long, long, long time.


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[Assistant] And then patterns so disrupted during COVID and


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[Assistant] Americans went back to being more footloose and fancy free like in prior generations.


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[Assistant] And people who've locked in really low rates, what's being referred to as mortgage lock that we may now go to people being more in place. But I want to talk about being on the move.


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[Assistant] And that is if you decide to move to an unfamiliar part of the country, far away from where you've lived.


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[Assistant] One, you may think particularly an area that you've loved to vacation in, that you think you want it all the time and you get there.


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[Assistant] Not as a vacationer, but as a permanent resident and you're like, wow, this isn't as much fun as it was when I'd come here a week, a year. That happens a lot. Renting is really valuable, but then we also have another factor today and it's when


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[Assistant] That you normally wouldn't as you're excited about moving to an area.


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[Assistant] You're only gonna normally focus on it as an afterthought.


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[Assistant] And that's ensuring a home that you buy in an area you move to because homeowners insurers


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[Assistant] They'll treat homeowners insurance completely differently than they used to. If you go back even one generation, homeowners insurance


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[Assistant] Used to be a pretty meat and potatoes kind of thing. You would be buying a home, they'd ask what it cost.


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[Assistant] From one area of the country to another, one state to another.


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[Assistant] Homeowners insurance because of the computer technology that's available.


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[Assistant] And the ability to much more precisely calculate risk.


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[Assistant] Believe it or not, in a situation where your homeowners insurance premium can rival what you might be paying in mortgage. I know that's weird, but it can.


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[Assistant] The calculated risk in certain areas.


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[Assistant] Gets higher and higher. I think about all the stuff in the mountain west and in California with fire danger. And so insurers are looking at a risk level of total loss that


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[Assistant] Is much higher than what they saw before and now they have the computing technology with the massive computing power to figure out


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[Assistant] Much more precisely the risks that may exist in this neighborhood versus a neighborhood a mile away. And so this is becoming a much, much bigger factor. You know, you take fire danger. We're talking about millions and millions and millions of homes.


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[Assistant] That insurers now essentially redline as facing extreme fire danger and then either don't want to insure anymore or the premiums they charge are backbreaking. Obviously you already know about what's going on in coastal areas with the insurance being canceled or the costs going up. This is a real, real, real,


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[Assistant] Experience that everybody knows that's a Florida thing, but did you know it's a Texas thing and is now in other States where the risk coming from hurricanes, storms is now making insurers say we're out of here or charging much more money. But what about general flooding risk?


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[Assistant] Where low lying areas that didn't used to be subject to potential flooding now are because of so much water runoff due to trees being cut down, vegetation gone, pavement, buildings, all the rest. So this is the reason why it's a twofer. If when you're moving to a new area,


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[Assistant] You rent before you buy and before you buy at a place you're thinking of buying.


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[Assistant] Get quotes on what that homeowner's insurance would cost so that you know


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[Assistant] Are you facing something that's going to be an unexpected and large expense or even potentially being told, nobody really is interested in ensuring you where you are. Floridians face an ongoing challenge and there's yet going to be more hearings and the state legislature


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[Assistant] About what to do about the broken homeowners insurance market in the state of Florida, where insurers practically can't even calculate what the risk is overall from a major storm that hits a big population center.


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[Assistant] And Krista, we got a lot of questions about this with the homeowners insurance.


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[Assistant] So Patty, you're not going to in coastal areas. I mean, this is the short answer.


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[Assistant] You're gonna have a really hard time finding affordable coverage. And so,


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[Assistant] You have to consider being your own insurer as much as you can, which means more and more in coastal insurance markets, you have to be willing to take on very high deductibles where the insurers know that basically at that point


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[Assistant] They're only providing catastrophic coverage to you. Normal homeowners insurance that you're used to really is not part of the picture.


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[Assistant] With a home that is in a coastal area in most of the country now. And so, um, we have the privilege and the responsibility myself of having my wife and I having a home at the beach and our homeowners insurance premiums are crazy high.


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[Assistant] And we've taken on an extremely high deductible. And this is where the market's moving.


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[Assistant] Early dollar responsibility and then they're only there for the tragic catastrophic kind of losses. And so that mitigates it some, but the reality is this is a


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[Assistant] This is like something that hot potato, everybody's trying to get rid of the homeowners, the states, the insurers. And so particularly if it's a second home,


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[Assistant] You're going to find that the burdens expected of you are going to be much higher because the interests of the state don't support propping up people who are second homeowners, but will


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[Assistant] Provide, like Florida does, indirect subsidies.


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[Assistant] To people that are first homeowners, South Carolina. I don't know if South Carolina is doing anything for primary homeowners, but you're going to find as a general rule around the country.


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[Assistant] That states are not going to provide any indirect subsidies to the insurance industry for second homeowners.


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[Assistant] And it's not just any attorney Coleman. I mean, it is, this is a situation where.


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[Assistant] You're gonna need that individual who's an eyewitness seeing stuff moved out of the house and things like that.


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[Assistant] You're going to need to have proof, not your word alone, that the water issues were known and clear and documented. And you're going to need to find a, go talk to a real estate attorney and ask him or her for referral to a litigator who


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[Assistant] They would recommend it may be a construction oriented attorney, whatever. And that would be your chance to potentially recover some of this money. If the real estate agent was aware, I knew that there was a cover up going on.


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[Assistant] You have an additional party to potentially claim against in addition to that homeowner. But this is why you need to go see an attorney, get referral because this is a specialized


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[Assistant] Who do this kind of work are involved in commercial litigation. You're going to have to find somebody who's interested in doing a residential issue with a cover-up


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[Assistant] Apparently clearly in place and I'm really sorry. I know that, uh, going through pregnancy is hard enough anyway. Your wife to be looking at this home is as a refuge, as a castle and have all this going on. This is really bad.


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[Assistant] Uh, Robin, there's so much controversy about tax rates and


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[Assistant] Uh, Florida does have, in the case of Florida, does have an advantage that a huge number of tax dollars flow in because of the tourist dollars that are spent in the state of Florida.


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[Assistant] But Florida has had a philosophy forever that, uh,


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[Assistant] That government does less for its citizens than government might do other places. And a lot of people who do move from Connecticut, New Jersey,


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[Assistant] Uh, New York, where taxes are much, much higher and resent those taxes.


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[Assistant] Also, there may be a situation where suddenly you're wearing a second hat and you miss some of the things that government, maybe not so efficiently, but government did in that part of the country. Now having stepped into that,


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[Assistant] Just know you can go to Clark.com slash Clark stinks and post. So no matter where you live, no matter where you move.


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[Assistant] We're here to serve you and I want to thank you so much for listening to today's podcast.


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[Assistant] I have not, but I guess I need to get on that, so.


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[Assistant] About $20,000 and take advantage of a 3% CD for 2.7, 2 and 3 quarters of years. 2 and 3 quarters years?


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[Assistant] Will those of us that were with Total Wireless previously be grandfathered in with our old rates, or will we be automatically switched to one of the new higher rates?


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[Assistant] When I used my credit card, I then had to choose the amount of tip to leave. I wonder if they have one of those flip things, you know, the old iPad we talked about a while ago. I stood in line to order, then stood around waiting for my order. No one waited on me. Food truck and beer truck prices are inflated to begin with.


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[Assistant] I just read that, uhm, hotels are finally putting in QR codes to tip the housekeeping staff, which I always like to tip them and that is a problem for them because people haven't been carrying cash.


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[Assistant] Are there any of these sites that get the Clark stamp of approval?


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[Assistant] or far above the competition. It would also be great if you had a guide on Clark.com that ranked the best based on liquidity, fees, historical returns, etc.


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[Assistant] Rachel in California says, as an independent delivery driver for Spark, what percentage of my weekly gross income should I set aside in my savings account for taxes? I'd like to do it on a weekly basis. Also, is there a way I can invest that savings since it would be just sitting there for a time?


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[Assistant] This was from Tony in Kentucky. Clark was talking about erasing one's data from LexisNexis. I looked into that and their website says by doing so one may encounter difficulty using online systems for identity and insurance verification. What are the negative ramifications?


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


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[Assistant] Today, with car prices the way they've been, a lot of us are choosing to maintain and fix our vehicles rather than buy a used, a newer used one or a new one for ourselves.


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[Assistant] And so there's something you need to know about that.


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[Assistant] That when you're told, Oh, if you don't bring that back to the dealer, Oh, let me tell you what's really going on. Also, there's really good news on the personal safety front.


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[Assistant] Involving how your cell phone can be a lifeline. I'm going to talk about that straight ahead.


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[Assistant] I want to talk about something that Congress passed 50 years ago that it seems nobody even knows about.


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[Assistant] You'll hear over and over again with the electronics you have, appliances you have, TVs, cars, just about anything that I will


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[Assistant] You're going to void your warranty on this because you did blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay. Big fat lie because forever ago the Congress said, you know what? You bought the product. You can maintain it as you wish. And so an example of this,


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[Assistant] Anything to your vehicle while it was under manufacturer's warranty, anything, you added a new label on the back of the vehicle or something like that, that you were voiding the manufacturer's warranty. That if you went to have an oil change done at one of these quick glue places,


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[Assistant] That you were voiding your manufacturer's warranty.


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[Assistant] On your vehicle. That the only way to make sure that a product maintained its warranty was while it was under warranty.


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[Assistant] That anything done to it was done at an authorized service center, in the case of electronics or anything like that, or with a vehicle that it's done at the dealer.


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[Assistant] Regular old maintenance. Done at the dealer. No! No! No!


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[Assistant] I don't care what fish story you're told that you have to.


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[Assistant] In order to maintain a warranty that you have to use,


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[Assistant] Whoever they tell you to use, that is not true.


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[Assistant] So with your vehicle as an example, cause that's the most common issue and the one with the greatest dollars involved, you are allowed


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[Assistant] To go do maintenance, however, wherever you wish. How could you get in trouble potentially with a warranty on manufacturer of a vehicle?


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[Assistant] This gets into a gray area, but if you do any significant modifications to the major mechanicals of a vehicle, then you could get into,


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[Assistant] Potential difficulty on the warranty.


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[Assistant] But just doing maintenance to a vehicle or cosmetics to a vehicle. No, don't listen to anybody about that. And you know, this big thing that went on with


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[Assistant] The consumer products manufacturers, electronics manufacturers, not wanting to make parts available to you. Law violation.


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[Assistant] That's funny because some of them have now made the cost of repairs that you do yourself more money than if you went to them, obviously not living within the spirit of the law. But the point is you bought something, it was warranted for whatever period of time that warranty barring abuse on your part, something you've done that violates it with your use of it.


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[Assistant] Otherwise it's still warranted and choosing to use a third party for maintenance is not an issue.


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[Assistant] And don't let anybody ever con you or trick you into thinking you have to pay more to maintain something than necessary in the marketplace.


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[Assistant] That you're going to lose that manufacturer's warranty coverage. You're not. Krista?


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[Assistant] This is a pain. I'm going to tell you, I'm going to lay it out for you right now. Child credit freeze is a pain.


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[Assistant] You were able to do so and hopefully Matt, you've done this with all three credit bureaus for you and your wife, but for your kids where you could just go online in a couple of minutes.


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[Assistant] Freeze the credit file for each of you with kids. You have to do it in paper form as you have to validate, verify that you are the parent.


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[Assistant] And so it's a lot more work, but in this case, because it's a time bomb.


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[Assistant] Uh, for a number of different purposes to, for people to establish a new


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[Assistant] Each bureau explains what documentation you have to send for your kids because you got four kids. Uh, your learning curve will be pretty quick.


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[Assistant] You'll know what documentation to put together for each child to set up those credit freezes. The credit freezes go away when your kids turn, I think it's their 17th birthday and then the kids are on their own forward setting up a traditional credit freeze.


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[Assistant] Uh, the, the thing you're supposed to do is you sign your name and put next to it CID. Don't just put CID because let's go back to the prior thing from, uh, Matt, someone today can produce a fake ID as if they're you instantly. And then they have a signature that is their signature pretending to be you. So you want to do both. You want to do.


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[Assistant] You stole my next thought. No, that's fine. You reached right in there and grabbed it.


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[Assistant] Right. And most of the time now, uh, well, I only shop in stores with concrete floors. So I'm, I'm tapping my own card. Nobody's ever looking at it. So, um, this is, this is a problem that the system


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[Assistant] Is all designed around there's going to be a certain amount of fraud and everybody in the banking business knows there's going to be a certain amount of fraud. And so everybody's taking a pretty lax attitude about the signature thing. So, uh, I guess.


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[Assistant] The old answer is when people would have looked around at it, it's great to have your signature and CID. But today,


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[Assistant] I can't remember when's the last time somebody turned a card around on you to look at it.


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[Assistant] You're 300 that you have in fidelity. I don't know if this is a fidelity 401k or what it is. If it is anything that's got a ticking.


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[Assistant] So it is, it is a 401k or something like that. Since you've got this money, you could steadily move money from traditional into Roth and then you avoid the RMD later. Uh, but you would do it in small chunks. You would not do big chunks of money.


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[Assistant] Since you're still working, that would be an alternative, but I love for you to just go ahead and do the Roth with the money you have now. And I love that you love to work and you work, uh, roughly two days a week just cause you enjoy it. That's pretty, pretty great. And you're there serving people at a time.


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[Assistant] That we need nurses so badly in the country. We are so short of nurses that you still being there as a labor of love is really valuable. Thank you. So speaking of the chips being down, just a situation in California.


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[Assistant] Where a couple was hiking, I don't know if you saw this.


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[Assistant] They became dehydrated. The girlfriend became very dehydrated.


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[Assistant] The boyfriend went to look for help. Cell phone wasn't working and he got lost. She was rescued. He died.


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[Assistant] Is fortunately soon going to be in the rear view mirror. I'm going to talk about that straight ahead. Why? You know, there are times that we're out having fun and something will happen and we have no way to reach anybody because there are so many dead spots with cell phones around the United States, around the world.


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[Assistant] And there could be situations that you need emergency help. Well, first there was an announcement by T-Mobile about a month ago that T-Mobile has teamed up with SpaceX and even for non-emergencies T-Mobile customers for free on


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[Assistant] Certain T-Mobile plans, which always seems to mean Magenta Max, are going to be able to text


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[Assistant] Unlimited for free, even at places on earth where there's no cellular service available. Tell you a story about that in a second. And then Apple followed up on that weeks later.


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[Assistant] Uh, with technology, believe it when it happens, but the intention is November that iPhones are going to be able


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[Assistant] To send an emergency alert for help. So more limited kind of thing, but.


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[Assistant] We'll be able in the US and Canada, at least at first, to be able to send an emergency alert for help.


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[Assistant] Through a satellite cooperative effort built into


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[Assistant] The latest iPhones and you'll be able to.


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[Assistant] Send a beacon where you are and that you need assistance. And this is early innings on the ability to be able to communicate from anywhere on earth.


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[Assistant] Because of the advances in satellite technology and it's going to start being for death emergency situations.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then it's going to become more and more routine. In fact, T-Mobile, in its announcement with SpaceX,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Says the intention eventually is for you to be able to use your phone just as you would otherwise at no additional cost anywhere on planet earth. Not just to be able to send texting. Again, theirs is not specifically designed for emergencies. You'll be able to use it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That they expect eventually you'll be able to do voice calling and data as well. Eventually don't know when that is, but the texting capability is months away, not years away from T-Mobile. Again, the Apple offer is coming maybe as soon as late fall.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We'll see the actual launch date. Now what's going to happen in terms of cost? Apple is offering this for two years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To new purchasers of phones for free.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then after that there will be some subscription or price that they have not disclosed yet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I can tell you that this is going to go from something that is kinda out there being really remote and being able to be in contact


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To something that will be kind of like, I think about Wi-Fi on airplanes. Wi-Fi first was available on airplanes. It was pitiful. But people thought it was really cool. You could, you could.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Almost do something. Now the wifi doesn't work on planes and very self-important business people get all upset. I mean, I've got, I've got these reports due and I need to be able to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Send email messages and the wifi is not working. That's the way we get with technology. We go first. This is so amazing to where we demand it and we demand it to be perfect all the time and that will happen


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With the cell phones that we will have access all over the globe and quicker than we might imagine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you can use your phone now pretty much everywhere.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, uh, my, my wife and I, uh, forever ago went on a trip in the rural mountain west.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And one of the things she really enjoyed about it was there was no cell phone service.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Anywhere we were for six days, there was no cell phone service. There was virtually no wifi anywhere either at places we were staying. And she said it was so nice that we


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're just together that way the whole time that there were no.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Distractions. And I think about anytime you look at any restaurant and you see people at a table, they're there for maybe a romantic gathering or whatever. And what are they doing while they're at that table?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, yes, I would tell you actually to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I would get a phone that has a 5G radio in it because the cell phone carriers just as


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They each prior wave of technology, they steadily deemphasize it, make it less and less available.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your service will become unreliable over time. As somebody, you kept your seven, your iPhone seven for six years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you keep a phone such a long time in the cell phone space, they're already working on 6G. Did you know that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 5G really is a huge improvement over 4G, which was a massive improvement over 3G, but nothing was a bigger change than 2G to 3G. But anyway, uhm, I would get a phone


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With 5G capabilities, you have to step it up from that 11.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To a 12 in order to get that, but with the 14's out now, the 12's are going to be appreciably cheaper.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I think it's a really good idea for you to look ahead of time. I'm very familiar with people going to Thailand for, uh, operations that are much, much cheaper there. And you've got the Joint Commission.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] International, where you're able to see whether a medical facility meets those standards. Dentistry is a little more complicated.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Americans very heavily go to Costa Rica, Hungary, and Mexico for dental care, for extensive dental care. And it's not that difficult


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To find referrals to very high quality dental care in those three countries.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thailand, I don't know how you would shop for a dentist. I'm not aware of a network where you would be able to find out a high quality dentist in advance before traveling there like you could, especially with, uh, for Americans.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Costa Rica and Mexico. Europeans routinely go to Hungary for dental care.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's considered to be very, very high quality dental care for Europeans at much more affordable prices.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which is the same thing for Americans with Mexico and Costa Rica.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exhibiting the level of maturity you're comfortable with and you can't make


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] An 18 year old do what you want to do, you can only suggest. So the Roth, uh, he has to be working. I assume he is working.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's gotta have earned income in order to be able to put the 6,000 into a Roth. And that would be a good start. Uh, 80,000.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Will vanish a lot quicker than your son appreciates or realizes if he fritters it away.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And especially if the girlfriend turns out not to be on the up and up, an online girlfriend and takes advantage. So what's the other thing your son could do that would be really useful?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would be comfortable with a robo advisor platform like Betterment or Wealthfront. You know, I talk more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Traditionally about using Vanguard Schwab or Fidelity, but for him more approachable might be betterment or wealth front is a way to build a very tax efficient


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To get it invested and away from any potential harm the online girlfriend might cause.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The gaming at $300 a month, your son was gonna do that whether he had this settlement or not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he'll have to reach a point where he no longer is as focused on that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, maybe he'll get into investing as a new interest, but I like betterment and wealth front because they're both designed to build long-term portfolios versus the, uh, star cross Robin hood.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That has not played that way for people and has been about rapid trading, which would be very dangerous for your son to get into. As one other alternative


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We've been looking at the fidelity zero funds because it's a very efficient way tax wise and that there's no costs involved with the management of the funds, no commissions. That would be a way to put money aside and build a portfolio.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I, I thought about saying that and I could say that I don't know where we are at this point, how much Debbie's son is already.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Taking some of the money, but yes, the normal philosophy I have with an unexpected sum of money is that you take 10% of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you do whatever you want to with it, whatever it is, give it to the girlfriend, whatever it is, but the other 90%.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's designed for long term goals. I was thinking about my 10% rule.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When I read something about a big lottery winner, not a giant jackpot, but somebody who won millions, which is a lot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he was interviewed by a reporter when he was at the thing, the press conference when he got his, you know, his TV check. And the reporter says, so what are you going to do with the money?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he said, I don't know, I'm going to buy stuff for myself and give some of it to my friends and family. And I don't know, maybe I'll start a business. And I was like, Oh no.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All this money is gonna be gone in a blink.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is key anytime you come up with an inheritance, a judgment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lottery winnings anytime there's an unexpected large sum of money that comes your way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you don't really rationally think about it, maybe follow my 10% rule. I'm going to be crazy with 10% and have a plan for the other 90%. The money magically disappears and it's not a fun magic act. So want to tell you,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's not magic reducing ongoing expenses in your life. Monthly expenses you have.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are a lot of things that we pay month by month, almost by rote.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That we can have big impact in our wallet at a time that everything seems to be costing more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I talked about cell phone service earlier today. This is an area where you can significantly reduce your expenses if you're ready to switch and save.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We've got a fantastic cell phone guide for you on Clark.com. It's updated every single month. Check it out and have a great day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard show where our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life. In this episode, prescription drugs are the riddle getting more expensive and less expensive at the same time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How could both those things be true at once? We're going to talk about that. We want to talk about workarounds as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also, there's a new cell phone plan I want you to know about.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's actually for one individual, $25 a month, unlimited. That's cheap. But you gotta know the hoops you gotta jump through, I'm gonna tell you. So, new report out that new prescription meds


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Eight of the 13 new drugs that have been launched this year cost you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or your insurer, if they're involved or the feds, if they're involved over $200,000 a year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let me say that again. So eight of the 13 newest drugs once this year cost over 200 grand per year to take them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Average income in the United States, depending on how you measure it, let's say it's 60,000 a year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We spend half a trillion dollars a year on prescription drugs. Big money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's such a mixed bag of nuts on the prescription drug thing, because generics, which are most of what people take, just like 80% of prescriptions now are generics by one thing I saw. Those, there's all these strategies where you can save a ton of money on them and things you can do that will save you big bucks and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's something I talk about regularly, the strategies to save money on those prescription drugs that are generics. But what happens if you're a captive and you're written for a brand name? Because the brand name, that's where it gets really ugly. And even if you have a prescription drug plan at work,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You may still face enormous exposure of cost on that brand name drug. Okay. So a couple of things I want you to know. A lot of the drugs that don't have a generic are what are called, um, defensive drugs. I'm a pharmaceutical company.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A drug that I have is coming off patent and can now be made as a generic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I come up with a new improved version of it that's some kind of combo of a couple different things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then voila, I've got this exclusive drug again. You'll see this a lot. Uh, for example, with, uh, asthma meds is one category where.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The asthma doctors will be pitched by the pharmaceutical companies about how much better this new combo drug is versus the one that they may have been writing scripts for. And so the doctor says, oh great, I'm going to write this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he or she is not really thinking because it's not their money paying for the drug. Oh, so that patient's going to go from spending, let's say $15 a month for a drug to 2000 a month for a drug. And often what you can do is a lot of these combo drugs, you can take the individual component separately and take two pills.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At generic prices versus the one new and improved combo drug have the same medical benefit and at a fraction of the cost. This is why I always talk about you being


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, aware and savvy what happens with these prescriptions.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And when a doctor is writing one, you might not want to take up his or her time right there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, they're saying, okay, I'm going to prescribe blah blah blah for you. But before you leave the office that day, go online, use GoodRx or something like that. See what that drug actually costs. And if it turns out it's an eye-popping figure,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You say to the person at the desk, Hey, I can't afford this prescription. Can the doc write something else for me?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because that's why so many prescriptions are abandoned at the pharmacy counter, because you get there and they say it's X number of zillion dollars. Costco shoppers are so cheap.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That at Costco when, when a drug pops up that's going to be really expensive to fill, they contact you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And say, Hey, do you know this drugs are going to cost you $1,450 to fill? And they hope the person doesn't pass out and hit their head and need an ambulance to take them to the hospital for a head injury when they hear that cost. And this is, this is a real problem because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Meds don't come with a price list when the doc writes the script.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now sometimes when you make it clear that the cost is a real problem for you, suddenly a magic pad appears with a shiny slip with a code on it that gets you the prescription for free or for $25 or something like that. So,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are ways around these very high costs, but you gotta know how the game is played and be very aware that it's your money that's on the line. Krista?


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[Assistant] So, uh, something else about Costco and, you know, Costco has to fill prescriptions for you if you're a member or not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Costco now has something like the equivalent of member pricing on prescription drugs. And if you come in as a non-member,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You don't get the member price, but you're still getting a really cheap price.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With the prescription plan I have, it's almost always cheaper for me to do exactly what Edward has done.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And just pay the Costco price and not involve my pharmacy plan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because I almost always am paying a lot more money on the pharmacy plan than I do just straight as a Costco member.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, Mo. Let's go back to the beginning conversation with how expensive brand names can be. Don't drop your part D. Keep filling your prescriptions through GoodRx or through Mark Cuban. If you're not familiar with Mark Cuban's deal, he set up his own pharmaceutical selling organization.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That sells prescriptions a lot cheaper than they normally would be. Not as good as a Costco price, but really good prices. And so the reason you need that part D is because if you don't have the part D and you end up with an expensive brand name drug.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your wallet is going to be shredded. What's Mark Cuban's?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So there's, it's so much easier to use a password manager and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's no perfect password managers. I use the Google password manager.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would you explain for people who don't know what these do, how LastPass works?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the master password is an unusually complicated long password. It should be.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then the individual passwords are all different. So if a criminal


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is lucky enough to crack your password at one site. They don't have the keys to the kingdom to all of them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are you, so you're, you're still doing, you're lazy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So my wife is, uh, I can't reveal what it is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because then that would give the keys to our kingdom. But my wife came up with a very, very clever system for creating unique passwords at each website.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's just brilliant. So I've adopted her system and then we have the master.


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[Assistant] Storage with the Google password manager. So there are a lot of disagreements if you read the technology sources on what they say.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] About the password managers, we put together our best feeling.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Although there's controversy in the industry about whether or not you should use a free one, but a lot of people won't pay for these. So we've got Dashlane, LastPass, StickyPassword, among others. And you can see how each of them work if you go and look at what we have on our free password manager guide at Clark.com. So coming up,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We overpay for so many things in our lives just as creatures of habit. And I got something that's a bit of a reach.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But a way for you to save a ton on your monthly cell phone bill coming up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So what we pay for cell phones is one of the areas where we can make a big difference in our wallet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there are so many ways now to reduce the costs and not reduce the experience you have using a service.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Today I want to talk about a screaming deal on an unlimited plan for an individual. You don't have to be part of some family group or anything like that, but there is some sacrifice involved with it. It's with boost mobile, which is,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The cell phone carrier owned by Dish Network.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they offer a plan that's $25 a month.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Unlimited, you get unlimited talk and text, unlimited mobile data, uhm, it's a,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really, really great deal at $25 a month. What's the problem? Well, we tested


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What the customer's service experience was like at Boost and it's pretty rotten terrible.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They don't have their act together on customer service at all. In fact, they


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can make it in the list of customer no service companies with what it's like doing business with them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's a bit of a mind numbing experience.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Getting signed up, but once you do and you get established with the service.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] After that, you're just paying $25 a month and saving a lot of money. The network coverage is something that people have been happy with. Just so you know, the backbone is principally AT&T's network. So the service is reliable on it, but just $25 a month.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That we put a briefing together what you gotta be aware of with Boost. Uhm, by the way, the $25


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is not a teaser, that's the rate and that includes your junk fees, taxes and fees.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I mean it is really, really a deal that could save you a lot of money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you want to make sure you don't have the heartache. We've got a briefing what to know before signing up for boost mobile and the things that could go wrong. Uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dallas who writes are, who covers the cell phone industry for us, Krista, um, she earned her pay when she went through.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Testing out Boost in Dallas tests, uh, how many different companies does she do the full board testing a year?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And what you do to get everything to work just right, signing up for this plan. And if you follow those steps, it should be a breeze. You should have no problems. Everything should be fine. Knock on for Micah. It should, or whatever this fake stuff is from Ikea. Yep.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To lower the cost of your cell phone service. One of those bills that just goes on and on and on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then with the recent price increases from Verizon and AT&T for customers of those two companies.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now you're having to pay more money even as their costs are going down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You want to use their price increases as an opportunity to lower your costs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So for, generally it's going to be Apple Watch where it's just some Samsung that want to be connected like that and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is not easy because a lot of the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The lower cost cell phone carriers don't support smartwatch plans, at least not at this time. Probably visible would be the one that is the one that I would recommend because the smartwatches are really cheap with them on a plan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think as little as five dollars a month. Yeaah. I mean that would be great and visible, which is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Verizon's discount brand owned by Verizon, Verizon Network, the whole thing, uhm, is really cheap. $40 for one individual. It goes down from there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For, uh, to as low as $25 a month, just like the Boost, if you're part of a group.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're on T-Mobile and we're paying 15 and you're paying 10?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So this is a huge business in the iPhone space. You know, Apple and the various cell phone carriers have offered each time a new Apple model comes out of the iPhone.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They offer very generous trade-ins typically on prior versions and they support that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By creating a very large resale market, refurb market for Apple phones. The key with buying any refurb Apple phone, any iPhone, is what warranty comes with it. Because refurbs vary in quality a lot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I see that word refurb and I'm like, uh, be very, very careful and cautious. So you can get a refurb iPhone and it will be just fine. Or again, it might not be. What really matters is how they stand behind that refurb.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If they give you just a 30 day or 90 day coverage on it, not good enough. I'm looking for one year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One year on a refurb iPhone. Otherwise, you're fine as long as it's unlocked and it'll work on any network.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, you could do that, but you know, if you buy on eBay and it's one of the big sellers of used cell phones, they will tell you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The I M E I is they know is to be good or whatever and they offer a full.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, refund, return for refund within 30 days at the legit sellers of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] used and refurb phones on eBay. eBay is a huge marketplace for legitimate


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Buying of used and refurb iPhones. Now Amazon has a big business that they do selling refurb iPhones.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And with Amazon, be cautious. A lot of times they'll be on Woot, W-O-T dot com, which is Amazon's main clearance site.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You want to see how they stand behind that purchase of that iPhone before you buy it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, you're already doing a great thing with your Fidelity, uhm, zero cost or low cost funds that you're going into. I assume those are Fidelity index funds.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're already doing some is very tax efficient for you with the side hustle. You could do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A SEP. A SEP allows you to reduce current income, but it works like a traditional IRA later in that all the money in there plus whatever it earns is taxed. Uh, you could, since you're reporting so little income from that side gig,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would just keep pouring money into the Fidelity index funds you're in. They're a great, very efficient choice that builds on top of the rest of what you're doing. And I think that's great. Uh, by the way, on your thing about you were a late starter and you're 42.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So most people don't start saving for retirement till they're in their forties because they got life going on in their twenties and thirties. There's an enormous advantage. If you start particularly in your twenties saving for retirement because of how money grows over time, but you start when you start.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're obviously dedicated to building financial security and you're young enough with your aggressive intent to save to make it work for you. So don't worry, be happy. Except I don't know how you lived through an Alaska winter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With all that darkness and cold. Alaska is so fun in the summer. Can't do the winter there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I want to tell you, I hate that we get to so few of your questions here on our podcast.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I want to tell you we offer and have done so for just short of 30 years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Free one-on-one advice and information to you through our Team Clark Consumer Action Center. And we're open Eastern time zone 10 in the morning.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Till four in the afternoon, Monday through Friday only.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, let's go to a couple of questions that have to do with home improvement. Wendy in Tennessee says, my above ground pool has sprung a leak and it needs to be replaced. When's the best time to do that in order to get the best deal?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, and from John in Ohio, I recently bought a house. I lived in a rental home for 16 years. Upon moving out, the landlord presented a bill for damages and $400 and kept our deposit, which was $950.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We knew our cat scraped the wooden window sill, but the landlord charged $400 to refinish it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he says, I just want listeners to know they must request a walkthrough with the landlord when moving out. It would have prevented these massive overcharges due on our move out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We gave the landlord five weeks notice and felt like they should have reminded us to do this review during that time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, I've got a related question to start out with from Elaine in North Carolina. Since the new hearing aid program is going into effect, do you think this will impact the pricing at Costco? I purchased hearing aids from them a while ago and thinking of getting new ones.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We inspect the bedding right when we get into a room. Do you look for or have ever seen bed bugs in your hotel rooms?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You look for blood marks too on the mattress from them biting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I was, uhm, bitten by bed bugs one time in a hotel room and so now I check it out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I, I was staying there for a longer term.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I moved rooms and showed them what happened. Like all this, I just had blood all over my ankle, like these little bites from the night before Oliver, like from my ankle up. And so I moved rooms and made sure my everything in my suitcase was okay. Fun.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And from Diane in Minnesota, this is about how, about currency going totally digital. Will cash in hand not be able to be used at all? Only debit cards? How about selling things online? Will we next be paying taxes on these items? Could we get audited if selling things online?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have a couple of, uhm, suggestions too. There's, uh, there are websites like Glassdoor where you can see what average salaries are at companies around the country for different jobs. And then you can also join, like, you know, networking groups, like there are many on Facebook for specific professions, and talk to people in there and see what it's worth. And then if you're a contractor,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, you have to pay your own social security and, um, so usually, uh, the thumb rule of thumb is like whatever that salary would be, you add like 20%, right? 30% for benefits and all that stuff that you have to deal with. So, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, it definitely doesn't hurt to ask. This first question here is from Lucinda in Connecticut and she's asking, I'm 36 with one child and plan on buying a home as soon as I can, but I want to get life insurance on myself and my child first. Is this a good idea?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So by your level term policy, then by the House? Right. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thankfully my wife has a good job as a pharmacist. Now that my daughter is going to kindergarten and my health condition is under control, I returned to work last November.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now LA says that the landlord is required to pay legally evicted renters an amount equal to one month's rent. Should I just keep the unit vacant instead of renting it out?