[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the internet, you actually, if you're having to, uh, somebody passes away unexpectedly, you're the one who has to make arrangements. You know, they want a cremation. You can go online and comparison shop right online and it is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You just won't believe the price differences from the most expensive place to be cremated to the least expensive to be cremated in your case wanting to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Set up arrangements in advance. Go for it. It will take one worry away from your loved ones and we'll take a big worry about you feeling like you've left an obligation on them. And coming up ahead, we're going to talk about completely different topic. We're going to talk about when you buy a home,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are you also buying another government?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you have to deal with other than your city or your county. We're going to talk that through. Homeowners associations are a choice that you can make.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And overall, roughly a quarter of Americans, according to Bloomberg, now live in homeowners association communities, uh, what are known as mandatory communities where you must pay a monthly fee or an annual fee or quarterly or whatever it is, but you gotta pay. But it's not just the fee, it's all the rules you have to live with. And there are people who love that because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is a non-homeowner association controlled neighborhood.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And somebody could let their house...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Deteriorate. Their yard grow up with weeds.


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[Assistant] And your only option if you're not in a homeowner association community is you've got to see if you can get the county health department or code and enforcement to come out and do something about it. And let me tell you, most jurisdictions, good luck with that. On the other hand,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In a homeowners association community which, uh, new homes overwhelmingly are in these, over all again about a quarter of homes. You gotta live by their rules. I was very young. First property I ever bought was a foreclosure when I was 22. And the door was really faded. And so I just went to the paint store.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At 22 I learned about homeowners associations because the next thing I got was a unfriendly letter


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Telling me I was being assessed a daily fine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I did it right away to stop the daily fines. And that's when I learned.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that was two generations ago, I learned about it. At that point, not many people lived.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And homeowners association communities, but they control, uh, what fence you can have, what color roof you can have, whether you can have a solar on your roof or lesser state law in your state that says they can't keep you from having solar.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And all this stuff, I mean, and there are people who just can't stand it. They say what kind of grass you have to have and how tall it can be and on and on and on. It can be, it can be hyper specific.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And one of the things with homeowners associations and condo associations is there's no separation of powers. The condo association board


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or the Homeland Association Board. They're judged jury and executioner. There is no.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Normal process for appeal and sometimes they can be a real pain.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And can be an enormous positive because the thing I talked about about somebody's yard falling apart, that they have cars up on blocks or whatever. I mean, the advantage of a homeowner association is clear too. You have to know upfront though, like I did not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I didn't know I couldn't paint the door. I mean it was my door, but I wasn't allowed to paint it whatever I wanted to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You gotta know that in a, uh, homeowners or condominium association, you're gonna have these rules. You must live by them. And...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then organize yourselves, run for board seats, and take it away from the people that are being abusive. But do not decide you're gonna get in a fight with the board when they tell you, you can't do this or you can't do that or do the other because they have extraordinary powers. And in a number of states,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They can issue fines to you and then foreclose on you. They can just take your home away. You're out of your home. So know the scoop, know the rules, and if you don't know the rules and you got in trouble, comply because failure to comply is bad ugly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] See it's football season, so I can go back to saying bad, ugly.


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[Assistant] Well Maureen, I'm really, really happy about that. And there's a tendency to try to make this stuff confusing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And a lot of it is confusing. And so, but it should not intimidate because every bit you learn, it puts you more and more in control. And this is a perfect example. So here you are. It's kind of like this hidden number. How much are you saving with what they call tying where you have,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, auto and homeowners with the same people. Are you getting a substantial discount? You're getting a tiny one or somewhere in between?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well in most states, and you live in Michigan, you'd have to call your state insurance department, you can find out. They have to file rates with the insurance commissioner's office.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or the insurance department. So you can call the consumer line there and say how much discount.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do I get with my insurer, tell him the name of the insurer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For having auto and homeowners together, it doesn't say on my bill, can you tell me what rate they filed, what the discount is? And in most states, there would be a stated amount that the insurance department can tell you. So you know, is it a 5% discount, 2%, 10%,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, usually it'll be somewhere, uh, roughly more or less 10%. So,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's worthwhile once you find out that number or use 10 as a likely marker.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To call around and see what's available from other people for your car insurance. And then when you call your agent


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you say, hey, I'm going to switch my auto insurance because I found it much cheaper elsewhere.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Don't be surprised if the agent, this is a captive agent company where the agent works for the company, if they say, Oh, well, let me, let me see if we can rerate your policy for you. And they come back with a lower premium for that auto insurance to keep both your auto and homeowners.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A U.S. citizen working outside the United States can


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fund a Roth IRA, but the rules for it, funding it, are, I mean, they're gonna make your eyes glaze over. So it's gonna take her some work, uh, and congratulations to her, by the way, on completing a PhD program.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Years ago, after I got my masters, I enrolled in a PhD program and then I decided, you know what, I've been in school long enough.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so, there's a lot of people that are, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, to get all the way through is an incredible accomplishment to get a PhD. So,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I would, when I think where I'd start, maybe I'd start an Investopedia.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so there's a foreign tax exclusion and then that reduces the amount that's eligible to go in a Roth, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It is a technical area that you don't want to mess up on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also, if you're an American working overseas, you may want a specialty tax accountant.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who is expert at dealing with people who are Americans working in other countries. This is a specialty thing. She's going to the United Kingdom.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People who take a job in Canada as US citizens.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You unleash a tax, a complicated tax nightmare like you've never seen. And so people will hire a specialty tax attorney, a tax accountant.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who is expert at Americans working in Canada.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You don't necessarily need that for the United Kingdom, but you would possibly benefit from having an accountant who is familiar with foreign taxation or Americans working overseas.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly right, so you don't get those nasty grams from the IRS.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, that's fantastic news with a much higher income. So there's a new law that permits employers to match with either pre-tax or post-tax dollars if the employer participates. I have no idea if federal agencies are participating in this yet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so it will be your option whether the matches, if the feds are allowing federal employees to do this at the agency you're going to be at.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You will have the option of either having pre-tax match on the TSP.


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[Assistant] Now, for most taxpayers, because tax rates are historically low right now, most taxpayers would benefit


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Except for ultra high income earners doing the Roth version of whatever retirement plan is you're doing and paying the tax for whatever employer match there is if permitted where you work to go Roth match instead of traditional. As for the 403B, 403B money


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pay you even in a lower cost provider.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're paying much higher fees than what are going to be available in the TSP. So moving money over from the TSP


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, from the 403B, into your TSP over time would be very much to your advantage.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Even if you're going to have to pay out taxes to do that conversion over time. As best we can find online though, the federal government is not yet permitting


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] TSP match from the government to go in post-tax. So far, as best we can find, still only pre-tax.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I want to thank you so much for being with us today. Remember.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Our Team Clark Consumer Action Center provides you one-on-one free advice and guidance and information when you need it.


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[Assistant] Available to you Monday through Friday. You can see how to talk with a member of our team for free if you go to Clark.com slash CAC.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, hello, Team Clark. Hello, Clark, Krista, and the team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I do consider myself a Clarkie. You've helped me several times and I've taught the Consumer Action Center before and they're very helpful.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I prefer the Tim Clark vs. Clarky, but that's just me because I think


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[Assistant] You know, you have a whole team obviously, and then we're also a part of your team.


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[Assistant] And uhm, I'd say I'm a Clarkie cause when I have a hard time falling asleep at night,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do turn on your podcast and it only takes about 10 minutes before, uh, I don't know if I said Joanne from Virginia is a slate.


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[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show where our mission is to serve you so you're empowered with knowledge so you can make better financial decisions in your life. How do you decide?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which items to purchase? Which restaurants to visit? Which tour you might want to take? Reviews!


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[Assistant] But how can you tell if you can really trust the reviews you're seeing?


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[Assistant] I'm gonna talk about that. And also in this episode,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Diamonds. What's the old slogan? Diamonds are a girl's best friend? Well right now the price of diamonds.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is a girl's best friend because the price of diamonds is going down. We're gonna talk about that. So I've been


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[Assistant] Talking for probably five years or more about why


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[Assistant] Five stars doesn't mean anything anymore when you see reviews because so many businesses are paying these third party


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[Assistant] Services? To write fake reviews?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Boosting how a business looks to a consumer who's just doing a quick glance at let's say Yelp or TripAdvisor or Google reviews, Amazon reviews, whatever it is, that this has become a big business


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To write fake reviews to boost the reputation of a business. There are also, uh, the seeming underbelly of this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is where people will pay to have negative reviews posted of a competitor.


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[Assistant] Now what's clear to me over the years is that if you read reviews, you'll see that the reviews, you can pretty much tell when the reviews are fake.


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[Assistant] The way they're worded, it's just like the same gobbledygook over and over again. It's generic kind of stuff because the person's never eaten there, never stayed there, never bought that or whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so the ratings that you see, you know, four circles filled or five stars or whatever it is,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That doesn't mean anything because of the manipulation that's happening.


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[Assistant] But there's another thing that I didn't think about that I read in a Wall Street Journal story that people feel bad even after a bad experience.


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[Assistant] Giving, uh, business, hotel, restaurant, whatever.


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[Assistant] A low score, even if the circumstance the experience would call for it.


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[Assistant] And so after reading the Wall Street Journal story,


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[Assistant] When I was reading reviews, cause I always read reviews instead of look at the overall rating. I was seeing things where somebody would,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Talk about a really bad experience they had, you know, bold or, uh, you know, loud noise or, uh, the air conditioning didn't work or whatever. And they'd be giving the hotel a rating of four out of five. And I'm thinking, wow.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that was what the Wall Street Journal story was about as human nature being what it is. We feel bad.


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[Assistant] Saying something bad about somebody else, most of us. And oh, the funny thing with the hotel reviews though.


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[Assistant] The corporate traveler types who have some kind of status with Marriott and Bonvoy or Hilton and, uh, Honors or any of the programs. It's always about the hotel stuff.


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[Assistant] That if they're not properly recognized at the front desk when they get there because of their status, they give the hotel as low a rating as possible.


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[Assistant] And they just whine and complain and whatever. And I didn't get a choice of cocktails, even though my status is supposed to get it for me. I mean, man, it must be brutally awful.


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[Assistant] To travel for some big company and be away from home.


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[Assistant] And it mean that much to you to have the, uh, crumbs handed to you by Marriott or Hilton or Hyatt or, uh, you know, Holiday Inn or whatever.


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[Assistant] That you get that upset about it, but I'm warning these idiosyncrasies, these patterns, but there's a long way around of saying,


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[Assistant] You cannot decide, or I can't say cannot, it would be advisable to not choose a business or service


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[Assistant] Based on how many circles are filled in or how many stars read the reviews. If your money's really at stake.


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[Assistant] So you have a better feel for whether or not it is a place or service or product or whatever that you would want. Krista?


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[Assistant] See, I was really happy in school when I didn't get an F. That was the difference between the two of us.


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[Assistant] So uhm, first of all, congratulations because nobody knows what a Coverdell is. It was named after a U.S. Senator, Paul Coverdell, and it was uhm, really the predecessor


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Individual stocks that have significant risk to as your kids approach college age.


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[Assistant] Going into more conservative, smart, right thing to do.


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[Assistant] What I would do is you can move money from a Coverdell tax free into a 529 account.


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[Assistant] And I've got a guide at Clark.com Paul that walks you through the best of the 529 accounts and


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[Assistant] You move the money into what often is called enrollment date or, uhm, age-based portfolio. It will be very conservative as your kids


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are already sophomores in high school. It'll get steadily more conservative from there.


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[Assistant] By the time they're enrolled in college, and that way you're basically, uh, taking your gains and you're locking them in with much smaller returns going forward, but the odds of losses, teensy-tiny.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So fantastic. Seventy grand each is going to help you so much with your kids college.


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[Assistant] Alright, so first of all, if you're a light starter, Erin, what am I? Since I have a teenager, Ed.


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[Assistant] You liked the culture of personal advisor services. Give the new person a chance because the fees at Vanguard are so ridiculously low.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That much being with Vanguard, you're kind of like, yeah, it was okay. Uh, then, then I would use the transition time with the new advisor to go shop what you might find with going with Fidelity or Schwab.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's gonna be a different kind of cultural experience with both of them. The fees will be higher with both of them than what you have with PAS. That's why


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you have had a good experience with PAS culturally and with the individual you were with, I would give the new individual a chance to earn your trust.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Potentially, yes, the, you know, we've had so many complaints over the years that the, uh,


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[Assistant] Installation companies for residential solar have become the new used car salespeople that we hear


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[Assistant] Story after story, complaint after complaint. There are perfectly fine, decent operators in the business. It's also been an industry that seems to have attracted a lot of fly by night types. So it is partially true. New Jersey has a big,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Incentives for people to put in solar panels. There are big federal incentives, but you're doing business with a private organization. People have done it so heavily in New Jersey because with the incentives, it's had a really nice payback for so many people in New Jersey to have solar panels. So you wouldn't think of New Jersey being in the North as being a big, uh, solar install base, but it is, it has been,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A place that people have done it a lot. So you're asking two questions. One is, should you be concerned about your dad being taken advantage of about the solar or I'm reading in between the lines should be you, should you be concerned about your dad and the more you, and if you have siblings know about what's going on with your dad and the more nosy you get as a parent ages, even if they push back,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The better it is to know what's going on with them. So this could be an early warning sign for you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That your dad would be more susceptible to scams and con artists and things like this, or it could be just the way solar is so often marketed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You want to make sure your dad did not sign a lease for solar. If he did at 78 years old, New Jersey may have an elder abuse statute.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And these leases are usually extremely unfavorable. Create a liability situation and cause a problem in the event of your dad needing to go into assisted living or he passes away and, uh, as an heir, you want to sell the property.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You could have difficulty selling the property if it's in one of these hideous, disgusting, awful,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Solar leases. So that would be, you'd want to see the paperwork that your dad signed. And if in fact, thank you, Christopher, reminding me of that. If it was a solar lease, you want to find out from whatever the, uh, state agencies called on aging, whatever it is, it could be the state attorney general. You want to find out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, if this would qualify under elder abuse.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you could get the transaction reversed and the solar removed because you do not want


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Least panels on a roof. I don't care what your age is. You don't want least panels on your roof. Coming up ahead. Diamonds. A deal? Seriously? Well, I'm going to tell you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That the diamond market is changing in multiple ways to your advantage. I got great news for you. If you like diamonds, love diamonds, the cost of diamonds goes up and down like oil does or any other commodity, but the diamond market


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Has some very unusual wrinkles going on. You need to know. Uh, diamond costs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For traditional diamonds, dug out of the earth diamonds.


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[Assistant] The cost is down by about a quarter from where it was just a year ago. So diamond prices for traditional dugout of the earth are much more favorable than they were. If you shop around the second thing,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is if you've listened to me for a long time, you know I have my obsession with lab created diamonds, factory produced diamonds that chemically are identical to ones dug out of the earth. They're essentially clones of dug out of the earth diamonds.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that market is now accounting for close to 40% of the diamond market and they are chemically identical. So now if you buy a lab created diamond, it should have a marking on it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you can see under a jeweler can see under a scope that shows it was that it was in fact lab created factory created, but to the naked eye, they are identical. But the great news,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is this type of diamond that is now 40% of the market. Okay. The price of those has fallen in half and basically the last three years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because there's enormous economies of scale with producing a diamond and a factory versus one that somebody's having to dig out of the earth. In theory, there is a finite supply that can be dug out of the earth with the danger to the miners.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the risks involved in that and for people that are into that whole blood, uh, where they call them blood diamonds, where they feel like there's exploitation, uh, for a number of reasons, buying lab created,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is a double benefit because you don't have to worry about that and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's not a finite supply. There's basically an infinite supply of diamonds that can be created in a factory. And so the,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Prices of those are going down, down, down. And so what's amazing is a one carat ultra high quality diamond when you buy lab created.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is now one third the cost, one third the cost for a one carat diamond for an engagement ring of what a dug out of the earth one is. And let me tell you, you look at them,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You cannot tell a difference other than that probably the lab created diamond is going to be better.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So this is a massive change.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where the deals are extraordinary, but the best deals.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or if you want to think of it this way, if you have a budget for a diamond and you were going to buy one size,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you had in your mind of a dugout of the earth diamond and you want to use the same budget.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You will be able to get a far, far, far larger stone of the same quality.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For the same price. So either you can look at it as you're spending much less money on the size and quality diamond you were thinking of buying by buying LabCreated or you can spend the same money and get a ginormo diamond.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your choice. A lot of traditionalist jewelers were extremely hostile to the lab creatives.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And now, you know, marketplace speaks, now they're generally not so hostile. I remember years ago, I was having a bagel with friends and an owner of a jewelry store came up to me and started screaming at me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] About trying to sell people these counterfeit diamonds. Well, this jewelry store now advertises lab created diamonds. So what happens is,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If I'm a good capitalist, I adapt to the marketplace and the marketplace has changed. If I'm a smart consumer, I adapt to the change in the marketplace and save my money. Krista?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is not legal. I know of no circumstance today where a gift card can expire sunset in one year. Um, a local business may not be aware of the law and maybe selling one with an early sunset, but it's clearly not permitted. And in fact, most States have laws that predate the federal law.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They give you much more than one year anyway to redeem a gift card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very good thinking. It will not help him. You have to contact Chase Back and provide his social security number.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because then you're lending him your good credit history, your good credit name, and it will establish him with some current credit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have him named as an authorized user from a different issuer other than Chase. The combination of the two cards should give him the good on ramp.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To be able to get his own credit card. I would say within 90 days.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of you having established him with that social security number with Chase, the second card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The best thing to do would be not to apply for a mass market card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But potentially look at a credit card from a credit union that I hope you're both members of as a way to get a card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Otherwise, have him set up a Credit Karma account.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Credit Karma will track his credit standing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then they use artificial intelligence and whatever proprietary methods.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They will show over time as they track his credit score.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What cards he has high likelihood of being approved for a mediocre likelihood and basically no likelihood. And they get a commission if you end up applying through their portal, but they will be able without taking a hard hit against the credit, be able to tell you if it says, uh, great likelihood or whatever they call that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then odds are overwhelming he'll be approved for a card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, you don't need to do it. Uh, there's been so much conversation about how


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So many people are basically unbanked for credit and so they're, they are denied because they have no history. So there's more and more, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Computer models that show how somebody pays their utility bills, how they pay their rent, how they pay various non-credit regular occurring expenses.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A pointy headed kind of study kind of thing to now becoming part of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Credit granting decisions. So in your case, no value.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But for people who have no credit, what are known as extended credit scores is what they're generically referred to are something that more credit granders are using than used to and it's somebody who's gaining acceptance in the financial industry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So for people who are given that opportunity, you don't have credit or had a history of bad credit, having your rent payments, utility payments, cell phone payments, things like that tracked,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can lead you back to a path of being able to obtain traditional credit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So this is the 55 inch free TV, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I have the tele app. They rejected me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because you have to say it will be your primary TV. That's one of the terms of service. And I was just doing it to test for you and your fellow listener and so I'm


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't give you any sense of what's going on. We had some members of team Clark, Clark.com.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They haven't heard anything either. So this may be, uh, something that is slow getting off the ground or may do a belly flop or face plant.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that's why we're testing it as well. And so we've got nothing to report yet. But so far, uhm, there's nothing for you to watch. There's no TV for you to get. So uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As soon as we know something, we'll post it on Clark.com and we'll give an update on the podcast. And if anybody else signed up for Telly and you got your TV, please let us know that at least somebody has gotten that TV.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that does it for us today. And know this about televisions.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're so cheap right now! If you do have to buy one, it'll feel like it's almost free. Cheapest month of the year to buy TVs? The month of November!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they're, they don't pay, post just the rock cut cheap ones like I buy. They post like real brand names I couldn't care about.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But you can buy either the rock cut cheap or you can buy the brand name of whatever size you're interested in. The best deals lately have been 75 inch TVs, which recently I've seen at $599 and $699. And if you want a ginormo TV, I saw


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, 85 inch is the ginormo size now. I saw a sale recently for an 85 inch for


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Think about that. You don't have to worry if...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The field goal kicker kicked it through the goal post. You will see it clear as could be during football season.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From Costco. I paid more because Best Buy had the one for $8.49 and the reviews were mediocre as I read them. And then Costco had one for $9.99 and it was an off brand.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but the picture is extraordinary and now I'm ready for football season.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cause you know, football is your life. Football is my life. That does it for us today. Remember what we're about though. Save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off.


[User] Please transcribe this text

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


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm putting on my Professor Clark hat today.


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[Assistant] And doing a 101 refresher about credit scores, because man, are we getting a lot of questions.


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[Assistant] Both here for the podcast and at our team Clark consumer action center where people call for free one on one advice and guidance and


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[Assistant] You know, you may think you don't need to worry about your credit score because you don't need to borrow any money, but let me tell you.


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[Assistant] There are really important reasons, even people who are not borrowing money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Need to pay attention to their scores and understand how they work. And later,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Small business owners are in a structural marketplace squeeze play right now when you try to borrow money. And I want to tell you


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[Assistant] What's going on behind the scenes and what you need to be wary and aware of?


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[Assistant] There are so many different credit scores each of us have that it's crazy. You know, if you take your blood pressure with a blood pressure monitoring device,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you could take it time after time with that same device. Your, your blood pressure score moves around, but also.


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[Assistant] Each blood pressure device will come up with different numbers and many aren't very accurate. So think of credit scores as all of that mixed together.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You pay every bill every month on time. One late pay for someone who's had a great credit score will blow your credit score apart for a lengthy period of time to how much of your available credit you're using both as an overall and per card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Those two things, paying on time and how much of your available credit you're using.


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[Assistant] Is roughly again, depending on the scoring model, two thirds of the action.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The other factors are not nearly as significant. Age of your credit, variety of your credit, all that. I mean to have a perfect score on the most common scoring model, which is FICO,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Requires that you jump through a bunch of hoops, but having an 850, never necessary.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And a percent of people who have an 850, I think it's somewhere around 1%. And it's really, it may feel great, but it makes no difference in your life.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As a general rule with the most important accepted scoring model in the country, the FICO score, having a score of 760 or above should get you most any loan on the most favorable terms you could ever expect.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Small number of lenders may have that cut off at 780. But let's say you don't have a 780 or 760. If you're in the 700s, you're still going to qualify for most great loan products available at very favorable terms.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Here's the thing though, your score on the FICO system,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The same time, there's not, none of us have a credit score because then there are different credit scoring models. There's a mortgage scoring model, a car loan scoring model, uhm, a breathing scoring model. I mean, you name it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So what you're looking for is a direction with your scores, not a precise one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There is a credit model, scoring model that is owned by the cartel of Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, the three major credit bureaus. It's called the Vantage Score.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not used by a lot of lenders in spite of years of effort trying to push lenders by the major credit bureaus to use Vantage instead of FICO. And the Vantage scores tend to be more volatile based on how the scoring models work. But even if your Vantage score is in a general good range,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're likely when somebody pulls a specialized credit report on you, most of the time you're going to be just fine. You're looking for where you are, the temperature basically, that you got a good temperature.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is not what our score means for credit. It's what it means for, uh, things like insurance, homeowners, auto, your credit standing overall, not necessarily a score matters to a lot of employers. There are, there are a variety of circumstances where the, uh, credit report or the credit score or the combination of the two affects you in ways have nothing to do with credit.


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[Assistant] People will go to apply for a car loan, let's say. And that is a form of credit. And you go to apply for it.


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[Assistant] And you're told, well your credit score is blah, blah, blah. You say, wait a minute, right here on my phone it says it's blah, blah, blah, blah. Again, as long as it's in the good range.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or is in a great range of 7, 60 or above, you're fine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where somebody will have a credit score for a specialized purpose that will be a lot lower than you've been seeing with the models.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it may be something on the particular credit report that that score was based on.


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[Assistant] And truth be told, there are also times that people are told who aren't monitoring their scores generally that their score is lower than it actually is.


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[Assistant] To try to sell you an inferior loan rate or loan product.


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[Assistant] So don't fixate on having a particular perfect score.


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[Assistant] And don't be, uh, freaked that you thought your score was this and somebody tells you it's this amount lower if it's in a small range. If it's a big number difference, you need to do your homework.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I have a credit karma dashboard, which gives me a facsimile of a score based on the vantage scoring model. Again, not the preferred industry version of FICO, but I'm able to have a real sense of direction and how I'm doing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As for those two things I talked about, I told you upfront, you gotta have a system, whether it's manual,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or it's calendar based, electronic or whatever, where you never forget to make a payment. You'd be amazed how many people foul up their credit score for months or years because they just forgot to pay a bill.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a better problem to have than people who can't afford to pay a bill. But you don't want to have the forgot.


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[Assistant] Because the forgot will eat you up just as if you didn't have the money. Make sure you have good financial habits so that the bills get paid. And if you know you're really flaky, set up automatic payments for those cards so that you at least are always going to be reported as current.


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[Assistant] Second thing, on the amount of your available credit you're using, never higher than 30%.


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[Assistant] As you move up from 30%, your score goes down, down, down, down, down, down.


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[Assistant] Because the scoring models show clearly that people that are using above 30% of their available credit are much more likely to default or bankrupt out on the debt owed. Huge danger sign for the banks and credit issuers. If you really want to have a great score, use less than 10% of your available credit.


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[Assistant] Yeaah, I know. They give you a credit line of whatever and you think that is your permission to spend. So if you have a $5,000 limit on a card, yeaah, so I'll spend up to the $5,000. Uh, uh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the case of a $5,000 credit limit, you never want to have charged up more than $1,500.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I've talked strategies before for people who want to push their score up from where it is. And this moment is not about that.


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[Assistant] This is about just good financial habits and good financial health. Krista?


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[Assistant] As best I know, there's no easy way for you to see the auto lender scoring models.


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[Assistant] Uhm, but if a lender tells you, let's say you make the mistake that 80% of people do,


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[Assistant] And you make the terrible error of financing a vehicle at a car dealer. So you're saying why that's horrible thing to do. Anyway, the, the finance person, the car dealer may say, Oh, well, I don't know. I mean, we might be able to get you financed here, but I'm really worried about this. This credit report of yours is going to be terrible. And you say, well,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I'm looking right now at my current FICO score and it's a blah, blah, blah.


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[Assistant] And then they may fold because they may be trying to fib on you. Or there could be something on a particular report that shows that auto loan score being lower.


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[Assistant] So you need to be armed with your own knowledge and remembering that a lot of the people you do business with on their apps give you a current to that moment credit score and you'll have to see theirs at FICO or Vantage.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But either will give you that indicator. Why do you never finance at a car dealer? At least not up front?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So much versus even a regular bank loan, but.


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[Assistant] So much more than a credit union issued vehicle loan. I mean the interest rate on a credit union vehicle loan could be half the interest of what a car dealer is going to try to sell you. Now if there's a special factory subsidized loan


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you can get a better deal at the car dealer. You'd already know because they say, well, we've got this special deal and you know what the credit union said, then you could make the call to go with the credit, with the.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was really not classy of me, Susan, to say something about how much you spent on a mattress as a personal choice, personal decision.


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[Assistant] I mean my mattresses always come from warehouse clubs and I roll them out of the store myself on the rolling pallets.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because it's reported right now that you have a $9,000 limit on that financing with a $9,000 balance. So it's like 100% utilization on that card and that's what attacked your overall


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If it's a credit karma advantage score and that will heal steadily gradually.


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[Assistant] Okay, so makes no difference if the account's closed, uh, unilaterally by Apple.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which was actually Goldman Sachs that operates that program for them, although I've heard they're going to sell off that portfolio. And then, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or you voluntarily on your own close the account, the impact on you is identical.


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[Assistant] And I'm sorry that Apple did that to you, but


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[Assistant] If you have lots of other credit cards and the available credit that the apple card represented was a very small portion,


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[Assistant] of your overall credit profile in terms of available credit. It will not impact your credit score in any meaningful way. If on the other hand the credit available with that apple card represented a substantial amount of your available credit


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You want to take out another credit card with someone else to raise back up your available credit. The Apple Card, as we talked about before, is only useful


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[Assistant] To people who are totally in the apple orbit.


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[Assistant] iPhones, uh, in particular, most important.


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[Assistant] And you use it exactly as Apple intends, then the card can be useful and rewarding with 2% cash back. Any other circumstance, the Apple card is a waste of your time and your money is better charged on something else, somewhere else.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it's really designed for tap and pay. And I should tell you a funny thing. I was reading a story recently about how terrified


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[Assistant] The banks are of Apple's ability with tap and pay.


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[Assistant] To seize power from the banks, and I'm cheering for you, Apple, all the way on


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[Assistant] Bringing the worst fears of the banking industry to life. Uh, coming up ahead, speaking of banking, we're going to talk about


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[Assistant] There's serious issues for small business owners who need working capital and the marketplace is offering some ugly options. I want to make sure you're aware how to protect yourself and your business.


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[Assistant] If you are an entrepreneur, you are a small business person, you're operating your own business, you are key and core.


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[Assistant] To future economic growth in the United States. I mean that's where it happens.


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[Assistant] Is companies that are successful get so big, they become bureaucratic, they become, uh, lumbering giants.


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[Assistant] And as I've always said about dinosaurs, they went extinct because their brains were so small, no matter how big they were. And that seems to happen as companies grow, as their IQ steadily goes down. So the innovation, the disruption comes from small businesses.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Unfortunately, changes in the banking sector have made it really hard for small business owners and entrepreneurs to get working capital. Very hard for them to borrow money because the banking sector


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[Assistant] Has gotten to a point where we've got the four giant monster megas and then we have the regionals.


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[Assistant] That are too large to be close to customers.


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[Assistant] And make the kind of decisions that banks used to make.


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[Assistant] If you go back when we used to have, uh, gosh, more than 10,000 banks in the United States. Now we've got four that account for more than half of banking in the country and everything is a bureaucratic, uh, ridiculous process. So the marketplace finds a way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And today we have a lot of what are referred to as small business fentex.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That are these lenders that I get solicited by them. I don't know how many times a day by email, regular mail, uh, spam text messages saying, Hey, you know, you need money for your business. We make, uh, instant decisions in most cases.


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[Assistant] And so I instantly can borrow money for my company. The problem is federal law did not keep up.


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[Assistant] And there's not required robust disclosure of fees.


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[Assistant] Interest rates and other charges you face, junk fees that you face as a small business owner taking out a loan.


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[Assistant] So here we've got this wide gulf that's opened up of traditional small town banking.


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[Assistant] That has mostly vanished in the United States, which is known as community banking. And that's what was best set up.


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[Assistant] So as a business owner, the time you need to establish that relationship is not when you've got to worry about how you're going to meet next week's payroll or pay some other key expenses for your business. First best thing is to go find a real local one, two, three office bank. Not one that's pretending to be local, but isn't an actual real one where you have someone you can talk with. Key.


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[Assistant] Failing that, a number of credit unions now


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[Assistant] Have as part of what they do, they can take on a certain number of small business clients.


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[Assistant] If you, neither of those work for you and you're left with the small business fentex.


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[Assistant] Never take out one of those instant loans until you have an email confirming and writing interest rate


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[Assistant] Upfront fees and other fees that are required.


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[Assistant] If you borrow from them. Do you know there are small business loans people are getting?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That are charging rates, not at all unusual, 50% or more in an interest rate. Very easy to get, brutal to have. A lot of small businesses run their businesses on credit cards.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, when there are certain times a year, cash flow sinks.


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[Assistant] And that, in many cases, is a preferable option.


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[Assistant] To the lack of disclosure from the small business fentex.


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[Assistant] But still inferior to having that relationship with a small local bank.


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[Assistant] Or a local credit union that does the small business loans. Krista.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, so those are great questions and Chris, I'm not a lawyer. I will tell you that if you're providing more than 50% of the financial support to your son, there was a liability risk with something he did doing hardscape at someone's business or their home. There is the potential risk


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That they could pierce your assets in a lawsuit. It varies by state.


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[Assistant] It is possible, but again, the key trigger is that he is your dependent, not financially independent, which is generally considered to be again, if you are providing 50 plus, uh, 50% plus one or 51% let's just keep it clear of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The financial support him, then yes, potentially you could be.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The easiest solution in this case is that your son do business as an LLC.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very affordable to set up an LLC now online. You could operate that limited liability company.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Always needs to do business as that limited liability company and that would prevent


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The risk is the alternative you mentioned that's very wise is a business liability policy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But with the volume he's doing and that sort of thing, at this point,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Having an LLC to me seems to be the better strategy, better idea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're not missing anything. What is that insurance salesperson doing to himself or herself? Oh man! They could have just given you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, before your son ditches his account, he needs to, the whole purpose of this account for him was to establish credit. He needs to make sure that's happened.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That he's crossed that bridge. That he can get a card, preferably from a credit union.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And have a credit union issued visa or master card. A pedal card has been a great product.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I guess they need to bring in some money. Cause they've been doing some weird stuff. So your kids were randomized. Only certain people


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[Assistant] Credit, it was a bridge without doing a secured card to establish good credit as long as you handled it right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well now, again, randomized. Some people are getting the $8 a month notice and other people aren't. Petal isn't saying at all how they decide.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who is gonna be charged the fee or not? They have another product.


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[Assistant] That they've had for a while that has supposed enhancements that comes with I think a $60 annual fee. But they're not letting people move.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who are being told they now have to pay the 100 bucks a year. They're not allowing them to move the $60.


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[Assistant] So your son is doing the right thing as long as he does it in the right order, because Petal says there's no appeal.


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[Assistant] If you're the unlucky one selected for the $8 a month fee.


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[Assistant] To make sure before he bails out of the $8 a month fee.


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[Assistant] The, is able to establish that credit elsewhere. Otherwise,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Believe it or not for right now, it's worth it till he can to keep paying the $8 a month junk fee. And I assume.


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[Assistant] On our review of the pedal card on Clark.com this information that other people need to know.


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[Assistant] That you could randomly be assigned a fee on what was a fee free visa card. And thank you so much for being with us today.


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[Assistant] And in addition to Clark.com being there for you every day of the year around the clock, our Team Clark Consumer Action Center


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] is there to serve you with free one-on-one advice 30 hours each week. You can see


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How to reach the Team Clark Consumer Action Center and talk with a member of our team one-on-one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Go to Clark.com slash CAC. Have a great rest of your day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The 13th of October, so what does that mean coming up? Halloween! Your birthday! I think we should dress up in Halloween costumes for that episode.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sister from another mister, brother from another mother. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, Clark, you don't stink, but you don't have up to date information on the Japan rail pass. Effective October 1st, the rates went up 50% to 70%. Thus, the rail pass is no longer a slam dunk for foreigners.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And prices have gone from very expensive to very inexpensive. You can now get a full lunch for 1000 yen, which is less than $7 tax and tip inclusive. David.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When I tried to call them on a weekend, they had no one to pick up the phone for assistance. You may save money using them until you need customer service assistance, Chad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, when I've used it before, uhm, they show me the cheapest deals, but I have to click through to, in my case, I ended up booking through Priceline, you know, I took their link to Priceline.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I booked on that site. So I don't know if maybe they booked on another, they said third party sites. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, let's go to this one. Sir Clark Howard, I regret to inform you that your opinion of the anonymous writer from California's email explaining that their insurance salesman neighbor


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You stated they weren't missing anything. Well, they were most likely following their insurance company policy as many insurance companies have fine print about reporting all incidents. And if they were to find out you did not report an incident, you could be dropped as a client.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Rear ended and having the other driver offer to write a blank check to pay for repairs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Long story short, I declined their offer. The vehicle was deemed a total loss by insurance. The good news is that no one was injured, only my wallet as I had to put that I'd put thousands of dollars in repairs into the car in the past two years. And I had planned to keep it for many years to come.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That just goes to show that plans can change in a matter of seconds. And that's why I'm glad and thankful for you and your amazing team for helping me find new ways to save more money. Dan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hello Clark, I assumed someone would respond to your reply to the terminally ill poster who asked what else should I do?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But only crickets. He had the normal stuff taken care of. Will, power of attorney and directives. And you said he was good to go. He is not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Every year in January, I prepare a spreadsheet for my wife entitled Just in Case.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The crucial information was missing from your advice and the person needs to make sure this info is available.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For the time when he is no longer able to provide it. You've covered this before but you dropped the ball this time. Smelled like a Halloween pumpkin left out in the porch until Christmas, Tony.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've noticed a lot of websites no longer give the option of not accepting all cookies. There will be something that says we use cookies to optimize performance and a button to click that says okay. I've started closing that window of the browser and if it's not something I really need to do, I'll go to that site on the Brave browser.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would like to be given the option to reject marketing cookies. Thanks Clark and you usually smell great, Amy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You were talking about how you're, you're offered to accept all cookies or remember the pop ups.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Clark, your recent discussion about checks and how risky they are to use does not take into account the fact that many service people only take cash or checks for payment.


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[Assistant] Think about whenever you have someone performing a service at your residence, like a handyman, lawn service, etc.


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[Assistant] These are many times sole proprietorships or small companies that are not set up to accept credit cards for payment. I think checks will be around longer than you think, Vince.


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[Assistant] Clark, thanks for what you do. I'm a long time listener, but I'm tired of hearing you obsess about credit scores and chasing credit card points like they're going to make people wealthy. It seems like that's all you ever talk about. People don't get wealthy chasing credit card points or credit scores. Banks must love you.


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[Assistant] Help people by taking them out of these traps and talking them out of these traps and please stop giving your typical excuses for doing this. Debt is the enemy.


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[Assistant] You need a large dose of Dave Ramsey. Yes, what he preaches works and gives hope. What you do doesn't. Krista, please have the courage to read this in its entirety. Donald.


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[Assistant] I don't even know what that means. That's a smelly cheese. Left in the sun.


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[Assistant] This is merely an observation of a language tic you have. I thought it was crazy, but it's true. You seem to never say the word car.


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[Assistant] Always vehicle. What's the deal with that? Is car some kind of low rent word? Even a second or third reference in a sentence will have you using vehicle over and over again. Consumer Reports, a favorite of yours, has never each spring published their annual magazine about our four wheeled friends and called it anything other than what it is, the new car issue.


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[Assistant] Baha'im. P.S. In 2006, Disney put out an animated movie called Cars. It did $462 million in worldwide box office. I bet they never considered calling it Vehicles for a second. Bradley.


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[Assistant] Clark, this isn't a major stink. However, you need to stick to clean the bottom of your shoe. You need a stick to clean the bottom of your shoe.


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[Assistant] You can look up the drug online with this information and get an accurate description of what the drug, depiction of what the drug is. As a bonus, it will probably show any adverse side effects. Keep up the good work, Sean.


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[Assistant] You don't stink, but I have some advice for you. When someone asked you about saving money at sporting events, you didn't mention that you're allowed at a lot of sporting event venues to bring in two clear unopened bottles of water. You can also bring in snacks in clear gallon size Ziploc bags. Go Bills, Christine.


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[Assistant] First, please let me say thank you for all that you and the team do. My husband and I are both in our 50s, and this is both of our second marriages. We both have many kinds of financial accounts. We change the beneficiaries on both accounts to each other. I feel like if something happened to him, I would be lost financially though, since we don't have any shared accounts. We never saw the need, we haven't seen the need yet.


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[Assistant] What should we prepare for each other just in case that we don't have that added stress? I recall you saying that you and Lane sit down once a year to go over such matters.


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[Assistant] Uh, qualified claims at the time of need.


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[Assistant] And I, uh, gave you a link as well, uhm, to Jenwer's site where they talk about the rising premiums.


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[Assistant] You hate whole life normally, so people are going to gasp at that suggestion.


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[Assistant] Dana in Alabama says my husband just applied for a credit card with our bank after receiving a great cash back offer. We both have excellent credit and received our cards in the mail yesterday. However, after reading more of the fine print, the great cash back percentages are based on having $15,000 in our accounts with the bank.


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[Assistant] We have never kept that much money in our bank's check-in savings accounts because we know there are better ways to use those funds. We haven't activated the cards. We really just want to cancel the cards but are afraid it will hurt our credit long term since we know the new credit account is technically already open. What is our best option?


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[Assistant] You don't stink, but I have a feeling you're not being completely honest.


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[Assistant] You recently shared a story about a rental car company trying to charge you more to rent a vehicle because they did not have the compact size you reserved.


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[Assistant] You said that you said, no, you need to charge me the rate we agreed on. Then the lady rolled her eyes and gave you that rate. Be honest, didn't you follow up by saying, do you know who I am? I know I dropped your name to drive home a point. I'm certain if I were Clark Howard, I'd use it. Jefferson.


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[Assistant] You always say that if you're going through something terrible, you're like, well, now I know when people complain about this company that it's legitimate. They're treating me terribly.


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[Assistant] You talk about how to save on utilities, but you seem to leave out a commonly missed potential savings. I moved into a home that didn't have an attic fan. It would get well above 150 degrees up there in the summer, which even with insulation was causing my electric bill to be 30% higher in the summer.


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[Assistant] It took five summer months to earn my money back in savings. Please share with your listeners and have them check to make sure they have one and that it's properly set. Melissa.


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[Assistant] Clark spoke about some family living the nomad renter lifestyle. He specifically stated that they moved every few months and do not own a residence. However, he failed to mention how they handle the logistics of mail, driver's licenses,


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[Assistant] Insurance, filing taxes, etc. I used a contact form on this website to express my curiosity about all of these just mentioned logistical items and then they posted to us. For some comments on the YouTube video, I'm not the only person interested in this lifestyle, Charles.


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[Assistant] Clark, your response and advice about trip insurance was a swing and a miss. Trip travel insurance is not simply about the cost of the trip. When traveling via cruise or internationally, an illness or injury could put you in a potentially dire situation.


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[Assistant] Travel insurance would provide you with medical care if necessary.


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[Assistant] Repatriation, Kelly. And if necessary, repatriation.


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[Assistant] A listener called in about a MacBook that was no longer supported by Apple for security updates. I can't believe you recommended ditching this fully functional computer and buying another MacBook or at least a better option, a Chromebook.


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[Assistant] I would recommend Ubuntu Mate or Linux Mint as examples. Both of these distributions have long term support versions that provide several years of security update support and they are free. Rick and many other people who wrote in with the same thing. Many people.


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[Assistant] And another one, you could have smelled a lot sweeter if you had told the person with the old Mac, if you had mentioned that Apple's recycling program exists, they will send a return label and you can mail it and any other electronic equipment to them and safely dispose of it both securely and ecologically, Laurel.


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[Assistant] Yep, uh, Laurel said, I have an extra 2010 Mac, still going strong. Clark, you stunk up this one worse than a... what? I guess I won't say it.


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[Assistant] I too have the same issue because I purchased one of the Gerber Grow Up plans, I'll just say it because that's a big one, for all three of my children. It was 25 years ago and very affordable at the time, $36 a year each. The policies were $5,000 and automatically doubled to age 21, so they're $10,000.


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[Assistant] You told the caller to either cancel the policy or continue to pay it since it's only $36 a year. The better option which you failed to tell him


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[Assistant] Was since he probably has the same plan as I have, after 25 years the cash value is approximately $1200. I have elected to have them spend down the cash value at $36 a year, giving my kids the same $10,000 coverage for the next 30 years at no additional cost.


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[Assistant] I know you despise child life policies, but 25 years ago we were barely getting by in life and the thought of losing a child was bad enough.


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[Assistant] But the financial burden would have ruined us. $3 a month was worth a little peace of mind, Michael.


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[Assistant] You advise keeping a 4.99% car loan in order to fund a 5% CD, but you totally failed to account for taxes. The winners here include the bank that holds the car loan, the bank that holds the CD, and the government.


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[Assistant] The consumer is just making themselves busy pushing money around in order to lose money or worse yet, the consumer also bears the risk of penalty due to failing to make timely payments. There is no scenario in your recommendation here in which the consumer comes out ahead. The best case is a wash and the worst case is worse.


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[Assistant] Love the show and appreciate the humility, stinky pants. Keep up the good work, Erin.


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[Assistant] Sorry to say it, but Clark is smelling like the laundry pile from his beloved Atlanta Falcons after a sweltering game day. You answered my question regarding having camping charges reclassified on my Chase Sapphire Preferred card to the travel category so that we can get our two times rewards points. You told me to contact Chase and ask for this change.


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[Assistant] Not previous ones. I wonder if Chase charges merchants higher fees for travel category charges causing some campgrounds to opt for possibly lower fees with the different categories. Tim.


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[Assistant] Mark, you don't stink but on a recent podcast you said dash cams are a must and I think this is good advice. However, listeners need to understand that dash cams can work both ways.


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[Assistant] If you have a dash cam and are involved in a serious incident that could be your fault, you must maintain all evidence. It is likely the police will obtain a warrant for the camera and another for the video content.


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[Assistant] That said, a dash cam makes me a better driver, Bill. And several people also wrote in saying that the quality of the dash cam matters, that some of the cheap ones you talk about are not great.


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[Assistant] Well, I care. I care. So if I have an option like that, I do opt out. But I do feel like there's so much out there that in general, like I know that my information is floating out there.


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[Assistant] Kurt at Wisconsin says I'm looking into estate planning with creating a will and trust for my kids. I've been quoted around $2,000 to work with some local attorneys. My employer offers a paid legal service that I can roll in for $17.95 per month.


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[Assistant] The paid legal services offers access to attorneys to establish wills and trusts. Would it make sense for me to enroll in the legal service for a year, do our estate planning, and then drop the legal service? Or should I just pay the lump sunk to go with the local attorney?


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[Assistant] A chat GBT subscription. I immediately reported my card stolen and asked the company how my card could have been used when it's been in my house for two years.


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[Assistant] They refused to take any responsibility and simply issued me a new card. I normally don't check this account too often because I only use the automatic invest feature right now. Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening again in the future?


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[Assistant] It's a good, uhm, reminder to all of us to check our HSA accounts. I never check ours either. I'm gonna be going in and looking at it.


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[Assistant] Simon in Florida says, Clark, you're always telling us what we do poorly in the United States to other countries when it comes to our money habits compared to other countries, I think.


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[Assistant] Please tell us three things that we do better in the United States that other countries don't do. Thank you for everything and go Browns.


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[Assistant] So you didn't even mention one of your favorite things about the United States that we have that no other country has, does not have.


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[Assistant] Alright, Patrick in Wisconsin says, I would like to know what Clark recommends we do with our passports when traveling abroad. We have a trip coming up and we're wondering what the best ideas are. Should I carry it around? Should I leave it at the hotel? That makes me nervous. Zippered pockets? How about a passport holder?


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[Assistant] Two times points. Am I able to dispute the category so I can get the promised two times points?


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[Assistant] The whole time I thought Clark Howard would not approve. It hurt my feelings to pay $18.95 for a Reuben sandwich, but we ate every bit of it. I even made my husband eat the extra pickle because I wasn't going to let one crumb of that food go to waste. Keep up the good work and thank you for all you do.


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[Assistant] Okay, one last quick one about travel from Jerry in California. I have a new goal for Clark. Forget about trying to visit all 50 states. Clark should be on a mission to visit every Costco on Earth.


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[Assistant] The Costco's outside of the U.S. are not the same as in the U.S. They are tailored to local customs and food preferences. I would love to hear about how Clark got to a city by cruise ship and then the only excursion in that port was a trip to the local Costco.


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[Assistant] She was really surprised like that I had these amazing angles and there were different angles of it to show that he had come into my lane and sideswiped me.


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[Assistant] And the, I mean, he was a young man and he was contrite. He just, he wasn't sure. He said he had been confused.


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[Assistant] I showed him some of the videos, like see here where you come into my lane and hit my car.


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[Assistant] That's what happened. And what did he say then? He's like, Oh, I didn't, I didn't realize that. But he still was trying to say, well, I'm not sure what really happened to the officer. And she's, she's just said, well, it's pretty clear there on the video. So it was fine.


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[Assistant] Robert in Florida says, my wife has been bugging me about getting a new car. Our current one's 10 years old, has only 50,000 miles on it and runs like a charm. But we're doing pretty well for ourselves and she's looking for something comfier.


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[Assistant] I've been toying with the idea of getting a new ride, but with the economy being unpredictable and car prices all over the place, I'm not sure when the right time would be.


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[Assistant] When do you think it would be smart to pull the trigger on a new car?


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[Assistant] Any economic hints or trends I should watch out for before deciding? And do you know of any websites where I can get some guidance? There's also talk of a recession coming up. Would it be wise to hold off until then?


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[Assistant] We're thinking about SUVs. Does that change anything?


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[Assistant] Ricky in Oklahoma says I want to buy a used electric vehicle, but how many miles should it have? I'd buy a gas vehicle with 100,000 miles, but I don't think I'd buy an EV with that many miles. What are your thoughts?


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[Assistant] Lewis in Ohio says I purchased an extended warranty with a new vehicle with a stipulation that if unused, I would receive the entire amount paid $2,000 back.


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[Assistant] After submitting all the required information, I've been told the warranty company has a class action suit against them and I will probably not receive a refund.


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[Assistant] Tyler in California says I am a 25 year old working professional. My employer currently provides a 401k plan with 50% matching up to 8% in contributions.


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[Assistant] Do you have a recommendation for an account? My company recently transitioned


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[Assistant] From Vanguard to another company I put in there for you for our 401k management.


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[Assistant] Rose in Idaho says, can you tell me about the Red Pocket cell phone plan? Have you tried it?


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[Assistant] Gia of Oregon wrote in and she says, my dad listens to your show every night without a doubt. It's part of his nightly ritual as he tells his Alexa to play the Clark Howard show on Spotify while winding down for bed.


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[Assistant] And if he missed anything that you said in the podcast, he would tell Alexa to rewind five minutes multiple times a night. And that's in all caps. Today, he told me the story about how you bought


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[Assistant] Seven black polo shirts at Sam's club on clearance. That is not even his story. You clearly add a bright spot to my dad's day. So thank you. If you could give a shout out to Hitesh Patel on your show, that would be greatly appreciated. And PS, I'm starting a Roth IRA at the age of 18. How do you feel about that?


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[Assistant] Alright, we'll go to some questions now. This one is from Christine in Florida. She says, I'm looking for a laptop deal. I need at least an i7 with a 16 inch screen. My budget is under $1,000. Can you help?


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[Assistant] Yeah, and I've found lots for $6.49, you know, around that, that range as well.


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[Assistant] This one is from Kyle in Utah. I've recently been offered my dream job, congratulations, but it will require relocating to the Seattle area.


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[Assistant] I expect that lower rates will result in higher competition for homes in our price range.


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[Assistant] Fred in Wisconsin says, I had a visit from a young man, really knowledgeable in finance and insurance. He represents an insurance company I put on there for you, Clark. And the sales pitch felt like pressured pressure as he started asking a lot of information to just get a life insurance quote. Is this company legit?


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[Assistant] She's doing much better in school than I did. Let me tell you. She really is.


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[Assistant] Okay, I was trying to find the Four Boston song, I was gonna play it, but I will, I will refrain.


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[Assistant] I was notified that their new policy is that a patient must provide them with a credit card to keep on file which they will turn over to their bank. The policy states credit card on file will be used to pay account balances after insurance adjudication which remain unpaid for 60 days and copays and balances due for telehealth visits only.


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[Assistant] Since I've never not paid a bill, I refuse to expose my credit card to yet another secure database, supposedly secure, that could be vulnerable to hackers. My appointment was cancelled because I would not comply. The claim, they claim this process is a new standard in healthcare. While it certainly provides them a way to avoid turning bills over to collection,


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[Assistant] It puts the patient and consumer financial information at risk. I now need to find another dermatologist.


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[Assistant] William in Nebraska says I'm confused. I reduced my credit usage from 89% to 78% by paying some accounts down in the last few months and my credit score dropped by 25 points. What gives?


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[Assistant] The reason was, quote, because people on Reddit think it will make money, end quote. Uhm, and she names the stock.


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[Assistant] Several years later, I've now learned he never got rid of that stock and thinks there's no problem with this. Can you please explain why this is a very, very bad idea? I'm assuming any money it makes gets eaten alive by fees he doesn't even know he's paying.


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[Assistant] I made this mistake once. I bought an individual stock and I lost a bunch of money on it and I learned my lesson.


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[Assistant] Oh, I just, everything's in funds. So, I don't do that.


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[Assistant] Oh no, I think it's a good thing. That's what I'm saying. It was a great lesson for me. So sometimes we have to get burned.


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[Assistant] We recently talked about how you and I both used freeway on the, to make long distance calls back in the day. Try to explain.


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[Assistant] And I remember you used a, when you and your siblings were having some conference calls together, you used a free conference call system, right? And you only, how many minutes did you have? You tell everyone.


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[Assistant] Always take the time to ask if there's a price difference at the pharmacy.


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[Assistant] Which included a monetary determination for unemployment insurance. This was odd since I had not applied for unemployment and I am not eligible.


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[Assistant] I obtained copies of all my credit bureau reports and there was no suspicious activity. I'm sharing this in case your listeners encounter this situation. Don't ignore unsolicited correspondence from the Department of Labor in your state.


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[Assistant] Tony in Texas says, Clark, I remember when LED bulbs first came out they were going to revolutionize lighting.


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[Assistant] Last for over a decade, low heat, low electricity use. Fast forward and the last several LED bulbs I've bought from various big box stores have died well before their incandescent counterparts in my house. Is this just a coincidence? Is there a real difference in quality of bulbs based on where you buy them?


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[Assistant] There is one thing I have found out the hard way. My bathroom lighting fixture only, you know, it says how many watts of a bulb you can use. So if you buy an LED bulb that is the equivalent of more wattage than what your fixture can support, it will die.


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[Assistant] I remember when you were selling a condo you had, and you had replaced all the bulbs, was it fluorescents or early, early LEDs?


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[Assistant] I loved it. I remember how upset you were when the realtor was like, uhm, you need to...


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[Assistant] I'm so glad to be able to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is all about you, about serving you, empowering you,


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[Assistant] With knowledge that allows you to make better financial decisions in your life and I've already started getting questions here in September.


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[Assistant] About buying travel for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and


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[Assistant] How and when blah, blah, blah. Well, I got some key data to share with you that's been number crunched and later.


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[Assistant] Medical Bill Shock was supposed to go away?


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[Assistant] But people are still shocked by their medical bills.


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[Assistant] We're going to talk about that. What you might do.


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[Assistant] If you get a bill that just seems way too high, we'll discuss it.


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[Assistant] So I shared with you in, uh, late July, early August that domestic airfares are actually going down. And I recently, uh, helped my daughter find a fair


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[Assistant] From Los Angeles to Washington DC. And the fair shockingly.


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[Assistant] To go to the west coast to see my daughter in LA.


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[Assistant] To go coast to coast. I mean the fairs that have been so ridiculously high.


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[Assistant] With the wave of what was called revenge travel, the fairs are settling down and I think people who had


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[Assistant] Uh, flight credits they were using up and things like that. That that era has passed. And we're moving into the slow travel season anyway. But when you start thinking about


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[Assistant] Travel for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I mean Thanksgiving is the most expensive time to travel every year.


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[Assistant] You think about the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Sunday and Monday after. I mean, it's just unconscionably expensive, but the demand is there. So what do you do about that? First, Google owns so much of the database that


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[Assistant] The airline industry uses for fares and they have massive historical data. And so Google every late summer puts out.


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[Assistant] With their predictive analysis when the cheapest time is for you to buy Thanksgiving travel, cheapest time for you to buy Christmas travel. And so this is something I want you to look at two ways. First, for Thanksgiving, right around the first of October is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What Google's predictive analysis database says is going to be the point of lowest fares likely.


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[Assistant] Not certainly, but likely for Thanksgiving travel.


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[Assistant] But let's go back to something I've been saying every year as long as I've been talking about travel going back, uh, well 40 plus years is that if you can avoid those four days,


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[Assistant] At Thanksgiving, the fair picture gets so much better. If you can avoid flying that Tuesday or Wednesday before the Sunday and Monday after.


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[Assistant] Move your travel around somewhat, you're going to get a better deal, period. At Christmas travel, Google's predictive tools say roughly 10 weeks out of whenever you're traveling Christmas, New Year's, that's when you're going to get the best deals. So if you can use the calendar to your advantage when you book,


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[Assistant] So we're talking, uhm, mid October, basically.


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[Assistant] For Christmas travel. So for Thanksgiving travel right around the 1st of October for Christmas travel around mid October is going to be what's going to help you a lot with shopping for those airfares this year.


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[Assistant] The travel patterns for Christmas New Years are more difficult to save money because Christmas Day is a Monday.


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[Assistant] New Year's day is obviously a Monday, seven days later. And when Christmas and New Year's are


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[Assistant] Around the weekend, on the weekend, uh, they're on Friday, they're on Monday. You tend to have fairs that spike right around then because


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[Assistant] Because when people travel is much more spread out. So your mission,


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[Assistant] If you decide to accept it, as you shop for fares for Christmas and New Years,


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[Assistant] Is use one of the fair search calendars.


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[Assistant] And widen your scope of days that would be acceptable for you to go.


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[Assistant] If you missed our podcast the last couple days, Krista's out this week.


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[Assistant] So grace is here with us. Hello. Great to have you grace and


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[Assistant] Normally I was going back to the Google predictive. Google says 10 weeks out is likely the lowest point for travel to Europe. And the reality is though, I'm already seeing this fall deals on airfare to Europe that include the month of May. I would say that it's good for you.


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[Assistant] To start paying attention now. Now Europe, you've got so many destinations. What I would suggest is you use kayak.com slash explore where from the departure airports that work for you, where you live in Ohio. I mean, you've got, uh, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati.


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[Assistant] The three C's are all depending on where you are in Ohio. It's probably manageable to go to any of those for a flight to Europe and you can.


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[Assistant] On Kayak Explorer you can pull up a map of Europe put in the month of May.


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[Assistant] And see what the cheapest fares are right now that are posted.


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[Assistant] Out of the three of them to anywhere in Europe based on Kayak's database and that will give you


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[Assistant] A wider field like you might be thinking, hey, you know, I'd really love to go, it'd be fun to go to England, but there might be a great deal to Edinburgh.


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[Assistant] In Scotland or Manchester or Birmingham, England or whatever.


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[Assistant] And so you get that kind of feel when you look on kayak explore where you widen your search for deals that you didn't expect.


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[Assistant] And the deals pop up to so many places, so many different times. And I will tell you the cheapest airport, uh, pretty much


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[Assistant] By a good distance for travel to Europe and I shared this recently is New York.


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[Assistant] For travel to Europe and it can many times like living in Ohio might be better for you to buy one ticket from Ohio to the New York metro area and then a separate ticket


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[Assistant] Making sure you get there early enough, hopefully the day before, do some sightseeing in New York so you don't have danger of missing your over the water flight. But there are lots of ways.


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[Assistant] For you to save money doing this, as far as tracking fares to individual markets, I love google.com slash flights or hopper as my two favorite tools.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All right. So $225 to reinstate 17,000 advantage miles you already earned is a complete and utter and total ripoff. $225 would virtually always be better spent just buying the cheapest ticket you can find to where you're going. It would have to be an unusual circumstance that buying those 17,000 points would be worth it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then in turn redeeming for a flight somewhere.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Don't bother, just kiss those 17,000 points goodbye.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So funny thing is, uh, we're going to Europe this fall, and I always talk about how you re-shop rental cars. So I was re-shopping rental cars last night.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then I was losing my way going back to different, different ones and finding things. So it's very tedious doing what I do, looking for hotels, looking for airfare, looking for car rentals, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it would take really to really show it. It would be almost like an instructional video cause I'd have to explain why I went to this place, what I liked about it, what I didn't, why I shopped this other place. And, uh, the, the car rental thing is a perfect example of where people's patterns work against them. When people are taking a trip that involves a car rental,