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[Assistant] Whatever you call that. So they have this thing on them that is machine readable.


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[Assistant] And a lot of places that sell beer, wine and or alcohol have these readers that can validate


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Problem generally in the marketplace that underage kids are going to try to game the system and buy. And so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's kind of ridiculous when, I don't know your age, but I'm, I'm gonna be 67 soon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh yeaah, right. And I go in somewhere and I'm buying, you know, I'll see wine on sale by, I don't drink wine, but I buy wine when it's on sale from my wife.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They'll ask for my ID and they run it just like you're talking about. I say, do I really look like I'm under 21? And sometimes they respond and say,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They look like they're, yeaah, they look like they're kids. I don't exactly look like I'm...


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[Assistant] That, I wish that common sense ruled here.


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[Assistant] But this is a case where it's not necessarily the retailer's fault. It is the fault of the authorities and the state.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That enforce this without common sense and judgment.


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[Assistant] I actually am happy to fly on a Max. I'm such a bad person to ask.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Poor Christo will hear me when we're traveling for work and I'll say, look, we got this kind of plane. Can you see the engine is like so and so? And so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The other day we were flying on a 737-800 series and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Our son told my wife who's a somewhat nervous traveler, not as nervous as you are flying, but told my wife, oh yeah, we're on a max.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Lane got all nervous and I said, honey, it's not a max. Look over there with the cowling of that plane. That's how you can tell it's a max. But besides the max is fine now, it's been through so much scrutiny that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, people say that, but I'm not really worried about flying on a Max 8 or a Max 9 or when the Max 10 comes out, Max 7 is coming out. I think you're just fine because the, the elements that cause the crashes have been addressed, have been fixed.


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[Assistant] Was it a smart idea for Boeing to build the Mac series? Absolutely not. It was a cynical


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Decision that cost people's lives. The plane is a design from 1967.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Boeing, instead of doing the hard work of developing a new airframe, did the max, which was...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A terrible decision turned out for them financially and then the tragic loss of life, but today I would feel fine going on the max. So, and that's said by somebody


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who was never good in science, so you're going with my opinion only on that. But I want to thank you for listening today.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wanna tell you, if anything we talked about, you got questions about, uhm, we have one-on-one advice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] or the circumstance that applies to you, it is free.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To talk with our Team Clark Consumer Action Center. They are here to serve you Monday through Friday.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or you can go visit Clark.com slash CAC for all the details to get what should be wonderful and precise one-on-one advice and guidance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show where our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life. Well, it's that time of year I'm going to begin today's show with the story of an entrepreneur who is bucking the system. It's going to be fun, but what's not fun


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is your fellow Americans are saying charge it way too often right now. I'm worried about the amount of volume individuals are putting in charges on their credit cards. So you ever had an Arizona iced tea? Arizona iced tea is a brand that's very familiar to me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because it's always been a bargain if you're out and about and you're getting a refreshing cold beverage.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so it's a can that is much larger than the typical can.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, uh, I thought it was 24 ounces, but it's 23 ounce can.


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[Assistant] And there was a wonderful, well researched story in the Los Angeles Times recently about how they have chosen


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Making that tea, canning it, distributing it, all their costs have gone up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But they've kept the price 99 cents and that's always been their business model.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was to offer a better deal than other people and, and when they started,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What they did was it was all about offering you more for less. So Snapple, which has been kind of legendary in the ready to drink tea market used to be a buck. It was the same 99 cents is Arizona iced tea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But they gave you 16 ounces, Arizona Iced Tea gave you 23, again I always thought it was 24 ounces. And now that Snapple typically is a buck 80. And Coca-Cola and Pepsi are both in this business. And Coke's equivalent brand is 2 bucks, Pepsi's is 2.09.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you got Arizona iced tea staying at 99 cents. So this little company owned by an individual, an individual owns it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now sells one in every six ready to drink iced teas in the United States. I mean, that's unbelievable when you think about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Going against these big, big companies. But this guy.


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[Assistant] It's in, it's on Long Island in New York. It's where the company is based. The guy is 70 years old now, who started his name is Don Voltaggio.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With this lame idea to take on some of the biggest consumer products, food companies in the world.


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[Assistant] Entrepreneurs, do they find that weakness in the market?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they go after it and they fill that unmet need in the marketplace. And in his case, Don did that long ago and continues to do. So when you think about him keeping the price at a buck, even though


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] His expenses have gone up and up and up, especially lately with the general inflation on all the various components that he does. And I think this is really, really an impressive thing to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the price, remembering that this was this, it was like me with the yogurt.


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[Assistant] Telling you, you know the yogurt I get at Aldi, that had gone from 29 cents to 34 cents to 39 cents.


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[Assistant] I'm really aware of those two price moves up a dime in this inflationary cycle.


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[Assistant] Here's a guy in Aldi, I can't pick on them because they're such an incredible business, but this guy came up with his own way of doing it, having this fixed price


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That is so much better than his competitors.


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[Assistant] That he doesn't have to advertise. It is his advertising. That banner is that price. That's why I, along with everybody else who was such an easy target, picked on Dollar Tree so much when they went from being Dollar Tree to Dollar 25 Tree. It just, that one still bothers me. I don't know why.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The paying a dollar twenty-five bothers me so much, a dollar tree versus paying the former dollar.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is, uh, it is something, psychologically I haven't even been able to get around. Does that mean I am too thrifty?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so Battleface is a very interesting and well thought out portal for buying travel insurance. Have you had a chance to look at it, Krista? I really like it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, trip insurance from many different providers. But what it does, it makes up for in simplicity and clarity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So when you go to Battleface to look at buying insurance, they've got a variety of trip related insurance policies you can buy, and you see right away


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What it will cost and for whatever it is you're buying.


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[Assistant] And the elements of coverage you actually have, they used a lot of uhm, I don't know if they're called pictograms or whatever, but where you just click on something,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, for a type of travel coverage you're looking for, and then voila, it asks you some questions and gives you the cost of the coverage.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I love how they have been so transparent because that's always been a problem.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the insurance industry is the lack of clarity and transparency in the purchase of insurance coverage.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Battleface certainly has conquered that.


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[Assistant] Often though Stacey is actually a prior or subsequent guest and somehow you are the one they picked on. So I have a rule when I get to a hotel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I go into a room and there's that stale smell that someone has smoked in.


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[Assistant] And if they say, I'm sorry, we're full, normally they give me another room, but if they say, sorry, we're full, I say, well then I want it noted in the record that I complained about a smoke stench when I checked in the room.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In your case, you had no reason to do anything like that because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you went to the room, you didn't smell any such thing. First thing you do now is you dispute the $150 charge with your credit card company.


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[Assistant] That will put it into a conversation with the hotel. We've had this repeatedly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Most people don't smoke now. So this is a, uh, pretty rare event that it will be an actual smoker who was smoking in a car rental or smoking in a hotel room. And then in turn, by hotel policy or car rental policy, they get a valid charge against their car. But so often it'll be your case, Stacy.


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[Assistant] And in addition to everything you've done trying to work within the system, you need to post on social media.


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[Assistant] And make it clear the problem you're having. Name the individual hotel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did you name the hotel? No. You did not name the hotel or hotel chain. Anyway, you do so on social media and


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[Assistant] That will also generate a response from either the chain or the individual property. But get started with your credit card company as the first line of offense, not defense, doing that dispute of the charge.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is the credit card companies are really worried with how much people's incomes have changed


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[Assistant] Over the cycle of the pandemic with how much people have changed jobs and all that, people early in the pandemic, very heavy layoffs, that you're not going to have the income to support the credit card credit limit you have.


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[Assistant] So this has gone from being an infrequent practice to almost every large credit card issuer in the country asks repeatedly for an update of income and I go ahead and do it


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[Assistant] Because my income has stayed fine. There's been no decline in my income. If your income's declined, probably not the best idea to update the income. But if your income has stayed the same or risen, do that update so that you're not facing the possibility of suddenly


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[Assistant] Or greatly reduce your credit line because what they don't know is what they fear could hurt them.


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[Assistant] About people getting notices that their card is now closed or that the limit is reduced because the credit card companies in a time of rising interest rates and the moves the Federal Reserve that give us a


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe one third chance we're headed towards a recession. They're really worried about


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[Assistant] People's amounts of credit card debt, which ironically enough is what I'm worried about is how much credit card debt people are taking on. I want to talk about that coming up.


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[Assistant] The big money center banks have reported their most recent profits and something that came through.


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[Assistant] And the profit statements from all the giant credit card issuers was that charge volume had gone way, way, way up.


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[Assistant] On their credit cards that people are carrying. Not the number of cards they've issued.


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[Assistant] The number of cards already out there, the amount people are charging per card.


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[Assistant] Has gone way up typically 25% or more over the last year. We are becoming again, chargeaholics and this is a big, big change from the behavior that people took on starting in the spring of 20.


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[Assistant] Where people paid down balances at unprecedented rates and charge volume on credit cards essentially collapsed. The amount of total outstanding credit card debt in the country went way into reverse. And I think people were really surprised


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[Assistant] And running up big balances at a time that the interest rates charged on credit cards will rise steadily over


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[Assistant] This year and into 23 because as the Federal Reserve raises the interest rates it controls, the prime rate goes up. Most credit cards are tied into a variable rate.


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[Assistant] Based on so many points above the prime rate and so any balances you're carrying


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[Assistant] In a culture, in a society, in a country.


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[Assistant] And we zigged for a while, now we're zagging again. So.


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[Assistant] I ask you to think about your own actions with plastic.


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[Assistant] Are you running balances that are increasing?


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[Assistant] Balance is that you can't pay off in full when the bill comes in each month. If that's you, you are a sitting duck. And what you need to be about


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[Assistant] Do something that is painful for us to do. It has become more difficult because what have the banks convinced us to do?


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[Assistant] Overwhelmingly the banks have convinced us


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[Assistant] To no longer get paper statements. You know, when the postal service was in its full meltdown last year,


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[Assistant] Seemed like every bank out there was using it as an excuse to say, well you want to get your bill on time. Forget having us mail it to you. We'll email it to you. It'll be so wonderful. And you know what happens with an email bill?


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[Assistant] Where with a paper bill, people will actually look, more likely than not, at their individual charges. When they get an e-bill, they only look at the balance, or the minimum payment due. They don't actually look at the individual


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[Assistant] Bill's the individual charges they had because it's more difficult with an e-bill by far than it is with a paper bill. So know that that was not as your friend. That was as your adversary.


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[Assistant] That the banks did that conning you to go to e-statements on your credit cards because consumer behavior being what it is.


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[Assistant] That when you don't really face what you're spending the money on, you're more likely to keep spending the money.


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[Assistant] When you see what you're spending your money on and that your spending maybe is a little too robust.


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[Assistant] You're more likely to change your behavior. So if you turned off paper statements,


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[Assistant] Go turn them back on if you're running balances. I want you to have that force behavior when that bill comes in, you open that envelope and face the music. Look at each charge, look at each page and see where your money's going and then get it under control. Krista?


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[Assistant] Yes, so Cindy, what you do with cards, you're thinking of jettisoning, jettisoning, getting rid of, however you say that, is you don't get rid of them.


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[Assistant] Who's doing so could significantly affect your overall credit score.


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[Assistant] computing to almost a third of your overall credit score. So what you do is you let those cards just kind of sit there and don't use them. Uh, the best strategy


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[Assistant] Is to use each of them twice a year for even a little charge, just so you keep them active.


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[Assistant] But you want those cards to stay in your life. The only exception would be if you have what's known as a monoline. Those are junk credit cards, which is where they're for a specific retailer.


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[Assistant] Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover, don't close that either because then that's not a monoline. It is a traditional general purpose credit card and you want to keep them in your life.


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[Assistant] Jason, you need to watch your credit like a hawk right now.


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[Assistant] Uhm, watch what goes on with your identity very closely.


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[Assistant] The credit freeze system worked in your case. It worked as it should.


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[Assistant] Because of a change that Equifax TransUnion and Experian have made in how you thaw credit files,


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[Assistant] It's become easier for identity theft people to crack in to the three credit bureaus.


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[Assistant] And thaw your credit without your knowledge and then apply for credit as if they're you. As a result, it's become more important than ever for you to set up a credit karma account.


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[Assistant] Where you're able to monitor at least two of the three major credit bureaus.


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[Assistant] And you will be notified easily and immediately if there is any application for credit on your account. Now, here's the funny thing.


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[Assistant] Credit Karma, you're going to have to temporarily thaw all three of your credit files just to be able to set up the Credit Karma account. Then they can refreeze immediately and you'll have that early warning system because the credit freeze system is still great


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[Assistant] Just not as solid as it was before the changes that the credit bureaus made which no longer require a secret, unique code for each bureau and each person as was required before.


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[Assistant] Earl, okay, I gotta congratulate you because no one has ever asked me this question about any fintech. Fintech is any non-bank, pseudo-bank.


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[Assistant] Which T-Mobile money is. It's not a bank. T-Mobile.


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[Assistant] Has these really great deals on savings and spending accounts.


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[Assistant] And they have a bank of convenience behind the scene that they don't own that handles all the.


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[Assistant] Uh, basic nuts and bolts of operating bank type accounts and this is not just T-Mobile money. This is true for virtually any of these online bank type organizations. So usually you're not going to have the ability


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[Assistant] To do a beneficiary designation or a POD, payable on death. So the way this is handled is in your will. In your will, if you say who's going to get what, then everything will be fine. Without a will, what happens, so many people die without a will, is then the laws of your state would determine who would have access to the money that is in that T-Mobile money account. So I want to tell you something.


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[Assistant] I love your questions and I love being able to give advice that's about something. Hey, I might, I never thought about that. I never knew. But what if you have a very, very specific individual question, concern or problem? I want you to know that we provide one-on-one advice to you. Been doing so for almost 30 years. It's free to get. And I want you to know that when you want that free one-on-one counseling advice,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All you gotta do is go to Clark.com slash CAC. I also want to ask something of you. If you're enjoying the podcast,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hearing it, watching it, whichever you do, or sometimes you hear, sometimes you watch, whatever you do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hope you'll rate us, review us, let us know what we're doing well, what you wish we could do better.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And if you're enjoying what you get from us, please share that we're here to serve you with others that you think could benefit. Have a great day.


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[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show, where our mission is to serve you, to empower you, so you make better financial decisions in your life. One of the ways we help you make better decisions is at Clark.com and ClarkDeals.com. I hope you'll visit


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] our websites and while you're at either one of them, you can sign up for our free newsletters.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, in this episode, I want to talk about something that was an ever present topic.


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[Assistant] On our show, the second half of 20 and through 21.


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[Assistant] There's stuff to talk about about where we're headed now in the aftermath of the Great Resignation.


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[Assistant] Uh, believe it or not, there are people who did quit their jobs who now regret it. And you know something?


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[Assistant] Tax time is just around the corner. Please forgive me for talking about tax time, but I was very surprised by a new listing showing the best states for taxes if you're middle income. Uh, one in particular is gonna shock you.


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[Assistant] Let's talk about the great shock of COVID. It's disrupted so many things. It has been a


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[Assistant] We sadly have lost somewhere more than a million people to COVID. Thank goodness the rest of us who may have had it.


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[Assistant] So the most part have gotten well and are doing okay. Some people have long COVID. Uh, but overwhelmingly Americans are okay and we're moving to the new phase endemic. Americans don't even want to hear about COVID now, right? There are some things that happened


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[Assistant] Through COVID, first we had 100 million people, approximately, who lost their jobs at least for a period of time, right?


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[Assistant] Feeling like you were securing your job and then like that your employer kicked you the curb. I mean there's a lot that happened. And particularly a lot of people over age 50 decided that they didn't feel safe going to work and they retired extra early.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I want to tell you something. A lot of people are now going back to work, uh, for many reasons. They may have gotten bored at home. They may need the money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, they're, they may need the engagement with other people. They feel lonely not being with other people. And so people are going back to work. There are people though, when employers last year


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Started bidding up wages and I kept encouraging you to do this and I feel some guilt over this reporting to you now that a lot of people who jumped to another job because it paid a lot more money now regret it because the place they went to, they hate going to work. So people might appreciate the more money, but if you hate where you're going, the paycheck


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[Assistant] You know, twice every other week or twice a month or whatever, once a month. And so that's a brief second where you're like, well, I'm glad I got that money. The rest of the time, you're working at that job you hate.


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[Assistant] And it's shocking how many people now tell pollsters, gosh, I wish I hadn't chased the higher paycheck because I actually had a better place I was working where I was happier where I was. Um, I saw a stat recently that nearly half of people have asked their old employer for their job bet.


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[Assistant] Who knows if the old employers are offering their jobs back. But all these factors that magnified what's called the rotation in employment, now some of them are starting to reverse.


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[Assistant] We still had a very high quit rate in the most recent month stats, so people are still saying, hmmm, grass looks greener over there, I'm going. But I want to talk first about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People that are older workers who bagged work.


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[Assistant] We've done a lot of reading about where


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[Assistant] People's heads are at and where employers need to be in terms of being accommodating.


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[Assistant] And mostly there's an older worker thing, although there are younger workers this applies to as well. You're going to get them back the more flexible you are about the work hours.


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[Assistant] You know, actually when people have to go to work, when they have to leave.


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[Assistant] Where you might have core hours that, uh, typically three or four hours a day that everybody needs to be there, but on either side of that, people can work whatever.


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[Assistant] Hours they want, come extra early in the morning, stay extra late in the evening, whatever. Make their commute better, give them the opportunity.


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[Assistant] To take kids to school, pick kids up from school, go see their soccer game, whatever. Flexibility with today's workers, that's going to be absolutely key.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Being flexible, if your kind of work allows people to do a hybrid, you're going to find that you as a company benefit and the workers benefit


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[Assistant] If you say, well we need you to come in two or three days a week, but the other two or three days of the week, you don't have to come in. That's where you're going to have that happy meeting of workers and employers. A lot of people have been working remote only.


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[Assistant] Miss the camaraderie of working with people. But the biggest thing you'll miss


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[Assistant] If you work remote only, so you're going to get, uh, passed over for promotion. There's no way that's not going to happen because when somebody is present for a supervisor manager


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They become more front of mind than somebody who's always working remotely. It's just how it is. So.


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[Assistant] Know that change is required from both sides.


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[Assistant] And for people that are older who realize, let's say you're in their sixties, you realize, gosh, you know, I jumped out a little earlier. I got pushed out a little early. I'm going to need more money.


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[Assistant] On letting you work a two day a week or three day a week schedule rather than the five day a week.


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[Assistant] You may have worked before that you don't want to work again, but bringing in money two or three days a week could really make a difference in your life.


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[Assistant] The opportunity is there now and speaking of opportunity, last thing I want to say about this is entrepreneurs. I'm so glad that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now with the technological abilities to start your own thing on the side.


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[Assistant] Could be done better. Why is nobody doing this? Why is nobody doing this this way? This is a time for you to get out there


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[Assistant] And give it a shot, even if it's just a little part time giving it a shot. Krista?


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[Assistant] So Karen, if you go in with a single hundred dollar bill, the government's not interested in that. If you go in with a wad of cash, the bank is legally required


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To track the movement of that money because of money laundering activities.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, there are lots of possible explanations. One, the bank is just being greedy, saying we're only going to give change


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[Assistant] Where someone who went into a bank as a non-customer to change money, they took a picture of their driver's license and that seems to be


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] An invasion of privacy that a number of banks engage in and what you heard loud and clear from this bank is they don't value you as a customer, as an individual and making people pay to get change where the bank ends up with the same money they had before, that seems pretty trashy to me.


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[Assistant] Charging more than on the menu is a great way to infuriate a customer who may have just had a really good meal.


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[Assistant] A lot of restaurants suffering from price inflation.


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[Assistant] Don't want to print new menus and that's why a lot of restaurants now have


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[Assistant] There are menus with those QR codes that I've told you could be dangerous. Uhm, or I just go to the website of the restaurant and look at the current menu. Saves them a lot of money if they don't print menus.


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[Assistant] And if they have electronic ones they can update the price at any time. They should have some disclosure that is added to the menu


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[Assistant] So that you have disclosure. I mean, giving disclosure is key because you're mad.


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[Assistant] Okay, so charging extra, oh, it went to $1.20.


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[Assistant] Uh, have become a huge hit to profitability of particularly small businesses.


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[Assistant] And telling you, you get, the way I would do it always is I'd say you get a cash discount. You pay with cash. Then people feel like they're getting something. In your case, this restaurant


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let you down twice with higher prices than were on the menu.


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[Assistant] And treating it as a punishment that you used to credit card.


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[Assistant] Uh, business owners should use the smart psychology as saying, we got a discount for you if you pay with cash and they win and you potentially win that way.


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[Assistant] Okay, so we're getting into a stickier situation. I don't know the dynamic or the relationship with your son-in-law.


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[Assistant] But if you add him as an authorized user, you don't have to actually give him the card. He would never have to know the number, but he'd have the benefit


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[Assistant] of it helping to establish a credit identity for him.


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[Assistant] Also want him to see if he can qualify for the petal card, PTAL card. It is a Visa card that uses alternative methods of establishing credit worthiness.


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[Assistant] Instead of a traditional credit report, there are other issuers doing things like this as well. And you can look on Clark.com and see how to get starter credit cards.


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[Assistant] And what ways to do it. So I would add as an authorized user.


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[Assistant] And then that's not the end of it, that's only the beginning, and then he adds applying for a card that's his own, in his own name.


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[Assistant] Now the cards that I recommend are ones that don't require


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[Assistant] Going through a secured card process that it's a real credit card, low limit, but a real credit card from the beginning. Now, speaking of low and high, taxes that states assess vary so much from place to place, and I want to tell you where


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[Assistant] State taxes overall and states that charge taxes generally.


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[Assistant] Where the overall tax burden on the middle class is actually the lowest.


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[Assistant] We make assumptions where the overall tax burden is the highest, lowest or in between.


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[Assistant] In the United States and I'm particularly interested on the typical middle income earner.


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[Assistant] Recently ran the numbers to come up with what were the 10 states out of the 50 that had the lowest overall tax burden


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[Assistant] On the middle class, this includes income tax, sales taxes, use taxes, other taxes. And the 10th least tax state in the country by their analysis is Delaware. I forgot property taxes as well. Um, nine Arizona.


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[Assistant] And 8th is gonna shock you because it shocked me to my core, California.


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[Assistant] How did California make the list of the lowest overall tax burden on the middle class? How could that possibly be?


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[Assistant] Because California has a very low 1% tax rate on a certain amount of income.


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[Assistant] And then after that, until you get to be a huge income earner, the income tax is pretty low.


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[Assistant] Because, uh, something called Prop 13 that happened two generations ago.


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[Assistant] California generally has a low tax rate on real estate.


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[Assistant] In fact, ironically enough, some of the states that charge no state income tax don't make the low tax state kind of list.


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[Assistant] Because things like real estate taxes and sales taxes are potentially so high. Washington state, seventh, Washington state has no state income tax and that puts them way up on the list even though they, they have no state income tax. The other taxes


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[Assistant] Don't put him in a high tax category, followed by North Dakota.


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[Assistant] Gives us the crown as the number one energy producer in the world in the United States leads to.


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[Assistant] Instead of citizens paying taxes most years, they get a check from the state, a breathing check. You got a pulse, you got money. In fourth place, the state of Tennessee, again,


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[Assistant] No state income tax doesn't compensate it like some states with a bunch of other fees. Florida, number three. Florida has a great benefit. Huge numbers of tourists.


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[Assistant] That pay a lot of sales taxes.


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[Assistant] Uh, rental car taxes and other taxes, hotel motel taxes that are geared towards travelers helps Florida have one of the lowest tax burdens on residences, residents of any place in the country. Number two, Nevada.


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[Assistant] That's kind of self-evident too, the gambling revenue and the taxes associated with gambling give Nevada the second lowest tax burden in the country, no state income tax either. And the lowest of all on middle income earners, the great state of Wyoming, number one, no income tax and an extremely low


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[Assistant] Overall state sales tax rate. And how are they able to do it? Energy again.


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[Assistant] So there are reasons why good governance obviously plays a role, but there are other factors that also lead to lower overall tax burdens.


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[Assistant] And the thing going back to California that came in eighth.


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[Assistant] You know what negates all the benefit of what seems to be lower than typical taxes, the state level?


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[Assistant] What it costs to live in California, what it costs to buy a home or rent an apartment in California. That's why so many people are skedaddling. Uh, not to mention the traffic. Krista, you want to share what it's like?


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[Assistant] Uh, with two events throughout the state of California, nobody wanted to go with me, did they?


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[Assistant] So, one time with you in Connecticut.


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[Assistant] And one time with another producer in California.


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[Assistant] We both times were late to book signings because we were relying upon MapQuest. Remember MapQuest? You'd go online and press the pages out and, uh, we ended up way lost both of those times simply because we didn't have modern navigation tools.


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[Assistant] He does a tax return, which will take no time at all. And let me tell you, Ryan, there's a huge advantage to your son doing that tax return. Okay. My wife is an actress. So, uh, our two younger kids both did things in print and in commercials when they were really young. And so we did their tax returns and where did all their earnings go?


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[Assistant] And the Roth IRAs, and the money in there already has become real money for both of them. Neither of them know those Roths exist, by the way. They might now. Anyway, uhm, Ryan, I would set up a Roth for a 21 Roth for your son, and don't know how much money you got, but you want to put that money into a Roth,


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[Assistant] It will be able to grow tax free for your son for


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[Assistant] Vanguard Schwab and Fidelity, you earn less than a thousand. You have Schwab and Fidelity to choose from as


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[Assistant] Uh, low cost affordable places to open a Roth IRA for your son. And again, that return will take you less than five minutes.


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[Assistant] Okay, uhm, your credit's been frozen for years, you have your PEN code with the IRS,


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[Assistant] You've done everything you should, and on the thing with the bill collectors,


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[Assistant] Uh, years ago when I switched to this number, it became great content for our


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[Assistant] Has had the benefit of learning to pay your bills on time because the person who had that number that he has before him.


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[Assistant] Owe to everybody on earth money. He knows everything about this woman. He knows where she lives. I mean, he's, you know, he's dug online, he knows everything about her. And she left a trail of bills that is unreal.


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[Assistant] And so I tell Grant, talk to the bill collectors, learn how it works and tell them that you're not the person.


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[Assistant] And it's funny that sometimes they'll scream and say, put your mom on the phone. And other times they're like, oh, okay.


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[Assistant] It's much less frequent now, but they, the call should trail off over time. That is not a signal of future identity theft happening that people


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[Assistant] Yeah, and Mark, I don't think you will be. I find that packages are more about convenience.


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[Assistant] Fly on this airline, we're going to stay at this place and...


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[Assistant] We're going to do these transfers and we're going to get this rental car and you're trying to put that whole puzzle together with all the puzzle pieces.


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[Assistant] Generally packages are a convenience item, not a cheaper way to do it because every item


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[Assistant] Gets marked up a few times by first the seller of the package.


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[Assistant] And then the supplier they use and all that. So I don't think you're gonna find


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[Assistant] That packages are ever gonna blow you away.


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[Assistant] They are there for a different reason, a different purpose.


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[Assistant] Than necessarily getting you a lower price.


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[Assistant] And I want to thank you for listening to this episode where the price is free, the information is priceless. How is that? I love it. I hope you have a great rest of your day.


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[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show, where our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life. I'll tell you who else is here to serve you. Our team, Clark Consumer Action Center. I don't know if you know this, but for nearly 30 years,


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[Assistant] We have offered free one on one advice and guidance. This has been really important to me through these decades.


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[Assistant] Because a lot of times you'll have a very specific individualized personal question and you don't know who to trust and where to turn. And that's why we're here to provide you this help with both paid staff and volunteers. We're available to serve you in the team Clark consumer action center.


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[Assistant] From 10 in the morning eastern till 4 in the afternoon eastern time.


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[Assistant] So today I'm going to start with something that's been really important to me that people are so confused by. And over and over again somebody will stop me, doesn't matter where, be it getting a burger, uh, getting a veggie salad, Krista, or, or, uh,


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[Assistant] Intrepid leader. You have never been that happy with my eating habits. So for you, I'll say when I'm getting some kind of vegan dish, right?


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[Assistant] Yeah. Okay. So anyway, somebody will say.


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[Assistant] I don't know what's going on with my investments. My guy!


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[Assistant] Put me in, that's what he called him, my guy, put me in blah blah blah. And I was like, uh oh. And I knew it was a high commission kind of product. And he didn't really even know what he had, and he didn't know what kind of guy his guy was.


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[Assistant] So I want you to understand in clear terms how the industry plays the game and how to protect yourself when you're looking to put your money to work. Coming up later, grocery prices have gone up so much.


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[Assistant] And then we throw away 40% of the food we buy in the United States. I want to tell you what you do need to toss and what you actually can eat past whatever date is on that item. We're gonna talk about that later.


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[Assistant] Cuz I gotta help you stretch every dollar right now. Speaking of dollars and cents.


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[Assistant] Most people don't know how to hire somebody for financial advice. And there's a word that you'll hear me use


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[Assistant] That is one of those words that's like, I couldn't spell it if I had to probably, fiduciary. Fiduciary, it's a legal standard.


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[Assistant] It's where you hire somebody if you feel like you need advice to understand how to invest. When you hire a fiduciary, you're hiring someone who specifically is duty bound to do what's best for you.


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[Assistant] Almost everybody in financial advice refuses to be a fiduciary because they live by commissions.


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[Assistant] That's the most expensive free advice you'll ever get from somebody who says, oh I don't charge you a fee. I'm paid by the companies


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[Assistant] From having a huge amount less money in retirement. So, you want somebody and you only want somebody who is a fee only fiduciary.


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[Assistant] And I want you to know you don't have to remember all this while you're listening.


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[Assistant] Cause I have a guide at Clark.com on hiring a financial advisor, choosing one and all the steps. And we've got this colorful kind of cartoony graphic that walks you through. First of all, do you even need one? What do you need them to do? Understand why you want only a fee only fiduciary.


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[Assistant] How to search for one, so you don't get hoodwinked by somebody who pretends to be one.


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[Assistant] Oh yeaah, that's a term. Thank you for mentioning that Krista. Fee based. Boy, that annoys me. So what they say is,


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[Assistant] Yeah, you know, you pay me a fee for advice, but as you invest your money, it erodes the fee. And then ultimately I end up being fee free.


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[Assistant] How do they end up being fee free? By selling you garbage that has massive, massive, gigantic commissions to it.


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[Assistant] That find their retirement not yours.


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[Assistant] And it certainly doesn't hurt to talk to friends and family.


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[Assistant] But even if you get wrecks from friends and friends and family.


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[Assistant] You still have to do the things I talked about earlier, which is hiring someone.


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[Assistant] There are different methods of hiring a fiduciary.


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[Assistant] Or a lawyer for their billable hours, typically.


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[Assistant] You can hire a, what's called a one percenter.


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[Assistant] Which is how a lot of the fiduciary business works, where you pay them


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[Assistant] One percent of the money they have under management for you.


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[Assistant] Discounters all have various forms of fiduciary based finan- fiduciary financial advice. Vanguard Schwab Fidelity.


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[Assistant] Uhm, Vanguard requires minimum $50,000 for their


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[Assistant] And Schwab lower entry points. We have reviews of those and some of what are called the robos where you use a, a robo robotic advisor or robotic advisory service.


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[Assistant] And the fees involved with using that type of fiduciary guidance.


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[Assistant] So the most important thing I want you to remember is that hard to remember word and one that you can't spell, at least I couldn't spell it if I had to, fiduciary. You must use a fiduciary.


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[Assistant] You know, you look, I was looking at something recently of, you know how the people get ripped off the most are in retirement plans are our school teachers.


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[Assistant] And the NEA, the Union for the Teachers, has sold the teachers down the river.


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[Assistant] As have several of the other teachers unions. They're taking kickbacks to recommend garbage, garbage, garbage retirement plans to teachers.


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[Assistant] And I saw an analysis recently that a teacher putting in the same money as somebody with a private employer with a good 401k plan, putting in the same money a teacher in retirement has one third of the money


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[Assistant] That somebody with a low-cost 401k has with a traditional employer because


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[Assistant] The money gets eaten up in gigantic fees.


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[Assistant] Know that anybody the teachers unions are recommending, they're not fiduciaries. They are people that are smiling at you while they pick your pocket and steal your money. You gotta know how the game's played.


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[Assistant] Because you're not trying to fund that person's retirement. It's your retirement you're trying to fund. By the way, any teachers, anybody who works for a non-profit has 403B.


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[Assistant] They're the only advocacy organization I know of that exists to protect people that are teaching our kids from being ripped off on their retirement. That having been said, Krista, let's turn to questions.


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[Assistant] Yeaah. You're non-heirs. Well to make sure they're non-heirs, you said a key thing.


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[Assistant] And I want you to get out of your mind the idea that it's best to designate


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[Assistant] Where everything goes with beneficiary designations. Beneficiary designations are good to a point, but you could end up with other assets.


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[Assistant] That need to be disposed of that if you don't do a will,


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[Assistant] We'll end up going to those undeserving family members.


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[Assistant] If you want them to go to charity, you want whatever assets you have to go to charity, please, sounds like you got enough money here, you got money in a bank, you got investments, you got the home.


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[Assistant] Please go see a lawyer near you in Alaska who does wills, estates, and trusts and have a will drawn up.


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[Assistant] Uh, that way, oh and there's another thing you can do as well. So with your investments,


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[Assistant] Annuities. So there are a lot of charitable organizations that have, uh, what are known as gift annuities where they fund


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[Assistant] Money to you every month with assets you provide them.


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[Assistant] And they get all the money left over at the time you die, so you get an income and there's no question


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[Assistant] That things flow to the charity. Lots of charities do that. Some of the charities you wish to give to may have a charitable gift annuity


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[Assistant] That would be a use for an annuity that would actually be a good one, but please for the overall picture.


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[Assistant] I know you might not want to spend the money on the lawyer. This is money well spent with the assets you have. Krista?


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[Assistant] So you call them Ben stores. I have always heard them referred to as salvage stores. Yes, they are both a hazard and an opportunity. There are times you'll buy something where you're like,


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[Assistant] Well this is just a piece of junk, but most of the time if you're a discriminating shopper and you comparison shop, you will do fine. In a typical metro area you'll find like half a dozen.


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[Assistant] Bend stores or salvage stores that are available to you.


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[Assistant] And knowing that it requires some patience on your part to find the real deals.


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[Assistant] That are the diamonds in the rough, but yeah, I'd go for it. Speaking of buying things at a deal, you buy food on sale.


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[Assistant] And then you snatch defeat from the jaws of victory when you end up


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[Assistant] Not eating it in time, the date that it says on it, and you toss that food.


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[Assistant] When do you not toss, even if it's past date? We're going to talk about this at a time of very high food prices. We gotta talk. I mean, grocery inflation prices up depending on whose measurement you believe. Let's just call it up 10% over the last year.


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[Assistant] And depending on how long the war in Europe goes on,


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[Assistant] We could see meaningfully higher grocery prices ahead. So I don't want you


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[Assistant] To end up needlessly throwing away food out of your pantry or out of your refrigerator or freezer because of the arbitrary date printed on that item. Now most items are going to have a BB date.


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[Assistant] Most often, that's what they will have now. Best bye.


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[Assistant] Or they may have the older thing called use by or some notification like that to you. What does that mean? Okay. So it's no different than over the counter meds that will have an expiration date.


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[Assistant] And if you're a long time listener to me, you know that the military did a study that found that the date


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[Assistant] Put on over-the-counter meds normally is completely arbitrary.


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[Assistant] And that the meds keep the overwhelming amount of their efficacy I think is the right term or potency way beyond the date.


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[Assistant] That's listed as the expiration date on over-the-counter met. Well, same thing with food. You know, the Best Buy or whatever, that is a made up date by the food manufacturer. And if it says that, it means that


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[Assistant] It will be good for a good while longer.


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[Assistant] And there's no reason to throw it out. I mean, I saw a New York times food science writers story.


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[Assistant] Listing a lot of foods by food group and showing that those items


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[Assistant] And we throw them out anyway because it says their past date. So the food expiration guide


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[Assistant] That we have on Clark.com, some help from Consumer Reports on ours.


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[Assistant] Uhm, takes you through the different lingo.


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[Assistant] That a food manufacturer or a supermarket will put on food items and when you need to pay attention to it and when you don't. So there are some items that yeah, you need to pay attention to, but as an example, okay.


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[Assistant] Milk is, dairy is one of those things people freak out about, or yogurt.


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[Assistant] I'll open a yogurt that's expired weeks before and stir the thing up, taste it. Uh, okay, I hope I'm not freaking out, but I am a little thrifty.


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[Assistant] I'll taste it, if it tastes fine, I eat the thing. Milk, milk smells bad, I don't use it past the date.


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[Assistant] But if it still smells fine, I use the milk.


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[Assistant] Now a lot of people won't do any of the things I'm saying with dairy. Dairy is one of those things that terrifies people using past date. You'll have to make your own choice on that. But things like


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[Assistant] Uh, dairy products will have an expiration date on them instead of a used buy or best buy date, typically. The items, most of what we buy


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[Assistant] We won't even get into the controversy about, can you believe Clark's that stupid that eats a yogurt past the date on it? And I do eat yogurt past the date. Sorry. Anyway, but most other items, if they're Best Buy or Used Buy or whatever,


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[Assistant] They gotta be bad before I'm throwing them away. Now I had a product from Lidl that was a, uhm, bread kind of product and I realized, uh-oh, it's a month past, uh, it's pull date. It's best buy date. Best if, that one I think said best if used by. It was a month later and so,


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[Assistant] Took a bite and I'm like, is this going to be okay? I looked on it first, made sure there was no mold on it. It was absolutely fine. And I ate the items till we finished the pack.


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[Assistant] That are, uh, if you're in a hurry for breakfast, you're running out the door or whatever. Um, and they,


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[Assistant] They get bad after a while. They'll get hard. You don't want to eat them. But these were a month out of their date and they were still absolutely fine.


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[Assistant] That's one I have not done. Not done that. But the point is,


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[Assistant] A lot of this is just marketing. Get you to throw something out, see if I knew.


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[Assistant] And remember, it's your wallet, it's your money.


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[Assistant] And really be thoughtful about when you throw something away and when you don't.


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[Assistant] Uh, we were talking earlier about the Ben stores, salvage stores. There are a lot of people who specifically look for the clearance items on a lot of foods they know have good life on them after their sell-by date because some items will be marked sell-by date and the stores will mark them way down and that's how they save money in the store buying food items.


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[Assistant] Alright, enough about this because I've already grossed you out with the yogurt. So let's go to questions.


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[Assistant] Happy about that. I'm also so impressed how you've tracked down what all the bills are.


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[Assistant] And you know that's a wounded duck sitting out there that can eat you up. There is generally no statute


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[Assistant] of when you're billed on something, even if there's a statute of limitations on when somebody can sue you against a debt, a debt doesn't just go away because somebody hasn't billed you. You've actively tried to deal with it.


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[Assistant] You've talked to your insurer, I assume, about this. You want to ask your insurer if there's a deadline from date of service


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[Assistant] Till what's known, they call in the industry, a clean claim is submitted. What is the deadline that they will pay it?


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[Assistant] Because if they'll, uh, and this sometimes will vary by state.


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[Assistant] They may pay a clean claim up to a year late, up to two years late or whatever. I also want you to call the insurance department of the state of Ohio and ask is there a requirement


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That insurers pay claims that are clean claims by a certain date or is it


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[Assistant] An open thing that whenever it's submitted at what point under Ohio law is the insurer required to pay it. The reason this is significant that you talk to your state is insurance is largely regulated by the states.


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[Assistant] And that's really important. You've made phone calls. No, you have not actually sent a letter. I would send a letter to the provider saying, please submit this bill for you because you don't want to have a problem later.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With insurance paying the bill and them getting their money. Leave out the fact


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you could get into a fight with them about having to pay something when insurance later rejects it. It's like, Hey, you got to practice to run. I want you to get your money and let me know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What you're able to get done, Corey, because this is so weird. You're trying to pay money and the provider doesn't want to take it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Steve, the subscription business is really the key.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Security blanket for car washes and car wash chains now. Depending on where you are in the country.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] These tend to be either $19.99 a month or $24.99 a month, somewhere in that range.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you have unlimited washes on a particular vehicle through a month.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you have a car wash that's on your path and you'd routinely use that car wash weekly, then absolutely these plans work out. As to the paint, there's a lot of disagreement in the industry


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] About is it good for the paint on a vehicle or bad on it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Taking it through car washes regularly, and it seems to be that touchless car washes, nobody's really unhappy with in the automotive industry, but car washes that touch the vehicle while it comes through, instead of just using the force of water, they actually touch it


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Those are the ones that there's more controversy about. But as far as having one of these subscriptions, if realistically you really would wash it a time a week or even more, then the math works great in your favor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so our channel finder tool is something I'm so proud of. Took a lot of time, money, and effort to create. It's so hard to know what streaming service to go with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That gets you the greatest bang for every dollar you spend. So we have this tool


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where you can put in your absolute favorite channel you watch of traditional cable or satellite fare, you know, live programming and you put in your favorite one and then you put in your next favorite on like that and it will show you as you add a channel, what is going to be the cheapest and what it'll be per month. You see, you may find your fifth favorite channel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, that's gonna cost me 15 extra a month, maybe I can live without it. So it's a dynamic tool that we update every month. So occasionally, there may be a programming cost change that will be weeks behind, but very rarely. And we have this just to save you money. And you know that's what I'm all about, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is saving you money, helping you hold on to more money, helping you make more money. And I want to tell you, I appreciate you being a part of this episode by being with us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I know that life throws us a lot of curve balls.


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[Assistant] But my late father used to talk about life being 99 rounds. If you're in a tough one right now, you get knocked to the canvas, get back up, put that mouth guard back in and go back in the game or go back in the ring because life does have its ups and downs.


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[Assistant] And we're never tested by the ups, we're only tested by the downs.


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[Assistant] But there's something about our psychology as humans called inertia bias. If we're having a rough time right now,


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[Assistant] We assume that what we're having right now is what we're going to have going forward.


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[Assistant] We're having a great time right now. We assume that's what we're going to have going forward. Don't mind game yourself that way. Know that over the course of a lifetime, you'll have good and bad times. It's all about coming back from those bad times that gives you more strength of character.


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[Assistant] And gives you a fuller, more complete life.


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[Assistant] You'll enjoy the good times in your life even more having overcome the rough times.


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[Assistant] This first question is from Ingrid in Connecticut. I was notified by Discover that my social security number was found on the dark web. I am freaking out. What should I do? My credit has been frozen so I know that's good. I've not created an account on socialsecurity.gov as of yet.


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[Assistant] But now I'm afraid of my credit to do so. I love, love, love you. Thank you for all you do.


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[Assistant] Patrick in New York says my wife and I are fully enrolled in the Church of Roth IRA, but we've been fortunate enough to grow our income over the last year or so. It seems like we'll be very close to hitting the combined income limit of contributing to a Roth.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is it best practice just to do the back door up front or should we contribute right to the Roth and just do a transfer at the end of the year if we exceed the limit?


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[Assistant] All one is doing is burning fossil fuels just like gasoline powered vehicles. I see no gain to an EV. Where am I wrong?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'll just say also I love driving them. I feel so much safer because of how responsive they are. I mean it's really incredible.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, like, if you're trying to pull out and, you know, a car starts coming at you, you can get out so much faster than we can, like, because we have a gas car too.


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[Assistant] Get to some questions now. This one's from Alan in Tennessee. I took an early retirement package from my employer during the pandemic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I'm eligible to start my pension at 55 or I can wait and the pension payout will increase by 4% each year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't need the monthly payout now, but with high inflation should I consider taking it now and simply invest the money? How can I determine when to start my pension?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They pay 1% for all balances. If you're a phone customer, they pay 4% up to a $3,000 balance. Is this an unknown to Team Clark?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From Frank in Florida, with so many stores asking to round off my purchase amount towards a donation, I'm reluctant since there's no proof of who it's going to or if the stores are even really donating. Any advice for unsuspecting shoppers or suspecting?


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[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard show. Our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life. Today, I need to tell you there's yet another new benefit for you.


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[Assistant] If you're going to a doctor practice, a surgery center, a hospital, whatever,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've got some really exciting news about another disruptor offering individual checking accounts and savings accounts at a much better deal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then you're used to from the big bad bank. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's this piece of legislation we've talked about, this law, that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Deals with you when you're in a hospital or something like that and you're at a facility that's in your network that if they


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hit you with some kind of bill saying, oh, this might have been a network, but that was out of network, so I gotta pay these zillion dollars.


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[Assistant] That's something that you don't have to worry about anymore. And in fact, there's even a federal hotline you can call and report when a hospital is misbehaving


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[Assistant] On the no surprises law. But there's another thing nobody's talking about.


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[Assistant] Except some industry oriented blogs or industry publications that are about the right you have now to a good faith estimate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now think about that, when you go get a mortgage.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They have to give you something called a good faith estimate of settlement costs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's a requirement of the law. Not everybody in the banking business complies with that, but that's the law too. So now


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you're going to have a non-emergency thing, you have the right to a good faith estimate. And the rules are pretty tight. Once you know to ask for that and you get it,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For them charging you way beyond that. There are caps on how much you can be charged beyond that. But here's the beauty of it. I want to take you down a road I've mentioned before. So let's say, uh, you're told you need to get, uh, some kind of the most clear one where you can save a fortune.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're told you need to have a diagnostic like a CAT scan or an MRI or something like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're given a referral by your physician to a hospital based MRI or CAT scan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so here's the scam you should know on the scan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you just say, Oh, okay, I have insurance. I'm going to go to the hospital and I'm going to have this test done. Well, you're out of pocket on your health plan will be more than if you go to an independent scan center and you just pay cash, which you wouldn't know


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[Assistant] If you don't take advantage of the good faith estimate. So you'd find out, wow.


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[Assistant] So this scan is $6,200 at the hospital, but $420 at a free stander.


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[Assistant] Believe it or not, the differences are often that great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] More often, it'll be just five times the price at a hospital, where it would be at a free stander. And this is all part


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of how we've gotta think now with non-emergency care.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Focus that much on the price because well we have insurance and we only have to pay this much and the rest is paid by, by some tooth fairy somewhere. So now, you're the tooth fairy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're paying these big deductibles each year and copays on each thing you do often or cost share on each thing you do. So taking advantage of the good faith estimate and knowing what it would be


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The hospital market has gone through a dramatic change over the last 25 years.


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[Assistant] And hospitals are trying to establish massive market share and market strength by metro area. And as they get that market share and market strength,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They then take the prices for procedures.


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[Assistant] And normally, as organizations get larger, they potentially become


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] More efficient, there's something called economies of scale in business.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But in the hospital business it's the opposite. As they get larger the prices go up, up, up and away instead of down. So now you know that you as a consumer have tools now to go shop


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[Assistant] And those tools could save you a ton of money. Frista?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, so Michael, I'm so glad you're asking about this and I'm very puzzled because you're with an ultra, ultra, ultra high cost money manager investment company. I mean, massive commissions and expenses with who you're with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And in theory, the idea of being with such an ultra high cost provider is that you would be getting a lot of personal attention by your telling


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're getting the worst of all possible worlds. You're paying huge costs and you're getting no service at all. So what you're paying with this company versus being with, uh, you mentioned fidelity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're paying probably 40 times the expenses with them that you would be paying with Fidelity all in.


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[Assistant] 40 times. That's your money that's vanishing in huge costs that you don't need to pay.


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[Assistant] There's a couple of elements here and so I'm going to get you lost in the weeds for a bit here Michael, but hang with me. So Roth IRA money, you are allowed


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To sell the positions you have with this ultra high cost company, which is what I want you to do with no tax consequence and require that they send you a check of the money and then you're given


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 60 days, no more than, better be less.


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[Assistant] From the date on the check you received from this high-cost company.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Open a Fidelity Roth IRA or wherever low cost you'd go.


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[Assistant] And then you put the money into what you're gonna have in the Roth. If it were me at Fidelity, the simple button is to put it in their index-based


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Target retirement fund for the year closest to when you're going to retire. The cost of that is so close to zero, it's crazy.


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[Assistant] And your money will grow fine over the years. Now let me move you into the weeds.


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[Assistant] You're with an ultra high cost, ultra commission company.


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[Assistant] And the salesperson may have put you in things.


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[Assistant] That have what are known as surrender charges for selling them.


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[Assistant] So not only are they charging you giant fees to beend them,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There may be fees for you to exit from the investments inside that Roth IRA and that you're only going to know


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[Assistant] When you ask, obviously your salesperson doesn't want to talk to you. So you're going to have to call the administrative side and find out, or you could take your statement in to a Fidelity Investor Center and they'll be able to decode all the, uh, financial mumbo jumbo and walk you through the process and let you know how to get it done. Now let's move to the second thing you mentioned, college funds.


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[Assistant] I don't know if the college fund you're in is one of those garbage


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[Assistant] Insurance policies being sold as if they're a college fund, which is very common with this particular company, high-cost company you're with, or if they have you in a legit 529 college savings plan.


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[Assistant] If you're in a legit 529 college savings plan, you are allowed to move the money


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[Assistant] See if I've got a recommended one in your state of Alabama, and then


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[Assistant] The state would help you, the 529 plan provider.


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[Assistant] Or if Alabama is not one of the better plans, I just don't remember with 50 states.


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[Assistant] Pick one of my favorite plans on my Dean's List with high honors and they'll help you migrate that money if it is in fact in a legit 529 plan. If it's in one of those


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Crummy, uh, insurance policies pretending to be a college fund and this gets a lot messier. And then again, I would default to an investment advisor with, um, with fidelity who would walk you through what to do with the money that they put into.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, garbage insurance policy. But again, I don't know if you're in 529 or you're in some kind of pretend college fund.


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[Assistant] That is being sold through insurance. And Chris has pulled up the Alabama plan college counts 529 fund.


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[Assistant] Is, uh, an honor roll choice, so it's not the highest level.


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[Assistant] Of the 529 plans, but it is a good decent plan.


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[Assistant] And that would be where you'd want to save for your kid's college. And I apologize.


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[Assistant] For the length of my answer on that one, this was pretty complicated situation and it's one of those things that


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[Assistant] In life it can be a lot easier to get into trouble than to get out.


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[Assistant] And being with an ultra high cost, ultra com- ultra high commission.


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[Assistant] Organization where the representatives are not fiduciaries.


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[Assistant] You gotta stop the bleed and get out of there.


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[Assistant] Yes, if you can afford to pay.


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[Assistant] Your medical expenses that you face as a deductible that made you eligible in a high deductible health plan to be in an HSA. Pay them with cash. Let the HSA continue to grow. However,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you're doing this as a long-term play, a long-term strategy, I don't want you in an HSA that's a savings account kind of vehicle. I want you in investments in your HSA because HSAs are the absolute best tool we have to save for retirement.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because they have a triple tax benefit.


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[Assistant] You're able to use pre-tax dollars to fund your HSA that grows tax-free


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[Assistant] And superior to any other retirement type vehicle, you're able to spend the money way down the road tax free. So you took pre-tax dollars you never paid tax on, they grow tax free all through the years, and then you spend them tax free at the end of the game. Best, best, best.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if you think over the years, over the decades,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That a lot of organizations, gosh, it's like the fidelity segment. Fidelity is a very good player in the, uh, HSA market.


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[Assistant] With the ability for you to do ultra low cost investing with your HSA money.


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[Assistant] That you're getting older is when the preamble from a medical professional is as we age or as we grow older.


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[Assistant] That's when you want to spend your HSA money is when the medical people start using either of those phrases as they launch into talking to you about something. So coming up next.


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[Assistant] There's a new checking account from American Express that's a potentially great alternative for you.


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[Assistant] We have such an interesting time right now in personal finance and that we have these


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Legacy organizations with stranded costs known as traditional banks. Places that, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have branches with parking lots and people.


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[Assistant] That when you do business with one of these, uh, they're becoming slowly dinosaurs.


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[Assistant] You pay a huge amount of overhead by doing business with them.


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[Assistant] That in a modern era, the era of smartphones and the internet, that you don't have to do anymore.


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[Assistant] And so one player after another, after another, either a newbie starting up what are known as Fintechs.


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[Assistant] Or an old player, but one that's never had branches says, you know what? We could do that too. Uhm, I think of military personnel, retirees and their families.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Having access to USAA federal savings bank that is now


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[Assistant] One of the largest banks in the United States and to my knowledge doesn't have a single branch in the world, but does business worldwide and is able to offer a very low cost operation that passes the savings on to USAA members.


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[Assistant] We're now a very, uh, big profitable organization, American Express, that's trying to make money on everything they do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Has launched what they call a digital checking account. And so this


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[Assistant] The brand name for it is Amex Rewards Checking is available to any card holder with American Express and American Express is really looking at what


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Their card holders really are motivated by and how they've set up the checking account. It's a fee free checking account.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you get points as you use their account debit card.


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[Assistant] Not a product I think of American Express with, with their charge cards and credit cards.


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[Assistant] But now they're going to have an American Express debit card tied into this.


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[Assistant] They're going to have reward points that you can earn using that with your checking account.


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[Assistant] As well as, instead of looking for every possible way to fee you on a checking account, they're gonna pay half a percent on the checking account. I mean, no, not a lot.


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[Assistant] But you compare it to the giant monster megabanks.


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[Assistant] That are always looking every day for what new fee they can dream up to charge you.


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[Assistant] So this is, this is a tough one for me.


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[Assistant] Because their rewards are tied in to this debit card.


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[Assistant] And the risk with debit cards, if you use them for walking around kind of things.


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[Assistant] Then there's less risk of not having the protections of


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[Assistant] The American Express credit card you're carrying, because with that credit card,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You buy something, the merchant doesn't deliver the goods, you order online or.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're protected with that credit card. On the other hand, you use the debit card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You don't have those protections and if somebody does compromise that number, what happens is the money you have


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[Assistant] In the American Express checking account, it goes poof. With the debit card, that kind of scenario doesn't happen with a credit card.


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[Assistant] Very important and so anytime there's a scenario, like someone will ask me, so I've got this offer that I'll get 2% on my checking account if I use a debit card 15 times a month.


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[Assistant] And they'll say, well yeaah, I know you hate debit cards, how would I decide?


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[Assistant] And what I always say about something like this is you gauge risk. You know if you do that and jump through the hoops, you're going to get the 2% interest on your account. You know you're going to get that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's the possibility that someone will cause havoc in your life by compromising the card.


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[Assistant] And your money's vanishing and you're having to fight to get your own money back and all that. Uh, so.


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[Assistant] You weigh the reward you know you're going to get versus the risk involved.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well that is the other alternative is, but that's not what American Express is after. They're not after people having this as a,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Non-transaction account. They're looking for people to use this as their regular checking account because, I mean, think about when's the last time you were in a branch bank?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's not something we do. We don't go to branches anymore. And it's funny, if you go into some banks now and you have a problem with your account, they say, oh, we don't handle that here. You've got to call the toll free number. I mean, why'd you?


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[Assistant] And you won't help me in the branch? I mean, come on. So anyway, what I want you to know is that if I do decide to get the American Express account rewards checking, because I do have an American Express card, I won't be using the debit card. I will bypass those rewards. What I'll benefit from


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is the half a percent interest. That would be my war. And so I guess that's the long way around answering your question about the hazards and opportunity being offered here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't drink, so I don't know anything about liquor or anything like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Five different times over the course of a year I'll have a beer. Anyway, so I don't, I don't know anything about it, but then I read this story and I was like, my mind was blown. I had no idea that there was this huge collector's market for particular bottles of bourbon and scotch and things like that. I didn't know. I mean, I, I mean, when, when we have,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, party and we have to have alcohol. I just go to the liquor store at Costco and I buy whatever Kirkland signature there is of each kind of liquor and I'm done. I wouldn't think of this as like collectible, but there is big money right now and a lot of alcohol snobs. I was reading this story.


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[Assistant] Or like, I can't believe people are paying money for bourbon. I mean, bourbon's nothing, but I mean, it's definitely a big collector's market. So Jeannie, there's some work involved in this for you to get, uh, the best value for this bottle of bourbon. And one of the things you should do is find a local club. There are these clubs that meet and people talk about it and they buy and sell among themselves.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's going to probably be your best place to find true fair market value for this bottle of bourbon you have. And getting you to spend some time and you will hear a lot of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Talk from people that'll just go, if you're not into this, go right over your head, but all you need to know is how much money you're going to be able to get for this bottle of bourbon. And there are, the collectors are going to be a great market for you, and there are some specialty liquor stores


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're not going to get retail that way. Uh, but you will if it is the real deal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're going to get real money for it as long as you've done your homework and the local, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What do you call that kind of club? It's not a collectors club, is it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you're not being frivolous, Steven. You need to go ahead and buy that grand piano. Enjoy it. You've put all your finances in incredible shape. I mean, 48?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You've already saved 1.6 million in retirement funds. You've got this big rainy day fund.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You don't have the money to be like one of the pharaohs in Egypt and be buried with your gold trinkets around you. You're doing everything right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I will be upset with you if you don't buy the piano. And then you need to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Record playing it, send us a digital file so we can hear you enjoying your new grand piano.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so I hate to give the lawyer answer, that depends on how much


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your 17 year old has earned over the course of the year, whether there's a need or requirement to file a tax return, but there may be a benefit because the great benefit for your 17 year old is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I would really love for your 17 year old to develop the habit right now.


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[Assistant] Uh, opening and funding a Roth IRA. So the great news, Kimberly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is that you can file a tax return for free until your income is a pretty significant income.


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[Assistant] For your 17 year old to open that Roth IRA and I've got info on Clark.com how to open that Roth for your 17 year old because the benefit of funding a Roth as a teenager is unbelievable. How much wealth your teen can generate over a working lifetime by starting as a teen and I hope


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you've enjoyed this episode of the Clark Howard Show.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Please if you've enjoyed it, share our podcast.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With anyone you think who would enjoy it or benefit from it and your shares of it, your reviews help us reach and teach more people, which is what we're about. My goal is to teach. I was talking with a person of the cloth the other day and he said,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know what you do, but how would you describe what you do?


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[Assistant] And I say what I say to anybody who asks what I do for a living is I'm a teacher. And that's what I love doing. I love sharing the knowledge, empowering you.


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[Assistant] So that you can take more control of your life and have more options with your future because you did take control of your life.


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[Assistant] Remember how hard, what a fight it was to even get to see a credit score? I mean, you never, it was such a mystery for so long and you advocated so much for that, I remember.


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[Assistant] Got some questions here. This is from Doug in South Carolina. I just got an email from Capital One saying to check my virtual cards because a purchase was denied.


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[Assistant] I deleted the suspect card but was unaware I had 101 of these babies. Should I delete them all?


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[Assistant] Steven Alaska says when my ex wife and I got divorced I was tasked with paying off the credit cards. This is done and they're paid off. What is the best way to either turn them off


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[Assistant] Is there a way to just make them inactive so we don't have to pay the fees?


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[Assistant] From Sean in California, I just purchased a used premium brand vehicle. I know very bad timing, but sometimes you do stuff to make your spouse happy.


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[Assistant] We put $25,000 to $30,000 miles on our vehicles per year.


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[Assistant] Yes, they offered an extended warranty with extensive coverage.


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[Assistant] I know in general you're not a fan of aftermarket warranties, but in a case where repairs are outrageous, is there a place for them? I know you have, I know I have you cringing on many levels. My guess is you're going to say that if you can't afford the repairs, don't buy the car.


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[Assistant] I'll say one quick thing about the grocery stores that would save me money if I would do this delivery and I'll try the Walmart one.


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[Assistant] Well no, I was just agreeing, I remember seeing that when I would go in there to shop for groceries and I was, I just didn't love their produce generally, I think that's true, but I'm glad it's improved.


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[Assistant] This is from Kim in North Carolina. Do you recommend buying high end diamond jewelry online? I'm in the market for an engagement ring, but not sure if it's a good idea.