The Clark Howard Podcast

We get many calls about online banks. Last December Clark was talking about stock trading app Robinhood launching a 3% checking account. That was shut down in 2 days by regulators because it was non-compliant with insurance rules. Robinhood has just launched a savings account paying 2%+ with a debit MC - this time with FDIC insurance of 1.25M. They followed the playbook of Seedrs (?) - a private program that allows you spread money over multiple institutions. Robinhood has 5 banks that have joined them in offering FDIC insured saving/spending accounts. Credit Karma has launched their savings account to their 100M members. If you get internet from a cable monopoly, they make you rent your modem from them. That's a ripoff of $10- $12 a month on a modem you can buy for $40- $60. Go to the company to search what modems are compatible with their internet service - and buy your own. Check speed requirements. Docsis 3.0 is an example of what you'll need. Also know if you get TV from a cable monopoly, they my quote you a package price of $59, and not to mention additional $40 junk fees. Look into streaming to save money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clark promised recently to convey the key components for fixing healthcare in the U.S. He starts by asking how to align free market incentives with more efficiency and less cost. We have by far the highest % of national income going towards healthcare of any country in the world. It's shocking we spend 1/5 of our nation's wealth each year on healthcare. The next highest is 8 or 9% of a nation's output for healthcare. We must address cost first. How do we make healthcare more affordable? The industry doesn't think of patients as customers. The system is distorted with employer coverage creating corporate incentives. Big employers have a marketplace advantage, creating job lock. Employers being able to deduct employee health care from taxes should end right away. The best marketplace will happen when the customer is the buyer and chooses where to go for care. Healthcare cost will never come under control unless we get federally mandated price disclosure for any treatment in advance, to inform consumer decisions. Consumers should make the cost/benefit choice. In addition to requiring easy-to-read price lists - those prices must be guaranteed. No more surprise balance billing. The price is the price, period. ACCESS: Many American counties have no access to primary care providers. We need national law allowing Physician Assistants and NPs to set up their own practices independent of any doctor where needed. INSURANCE: More than half of all medical care comes through the government at federal, state and local levels, eliminating private marketplace incentives. The role of government should be providing reinsurance, after an insurance company cap is reached. This would get us away from insurers cynically manipulating the political process, selling fake policies full of exclusions and riddled with limits. Insurers could sells medigap like policies with clearly stated coverage and no requirement to buy. There could be no exclusions for any pre-existing conditions UNLESS the insurance was allowed to lapse for a period exceeding one year. Then they could exclude a pre-existing condition for a period of 6 months. This would create a marketplace incentive to stay covered. Selling insurance would be less risky if they capped it in the hundreds of thousands of dollars vs. the millions they now fear and refute. Having government in the reinsurance role would lower risk for the private market for routine healthcare. And allowing consumers to truly be shoppers changes the equation as well. There are many other elements to this including Rx. Know the arguments we've had in the prism of politics have looked at this as a zero sum game. Wrong. How do we make improvements to make healthcare more affordable and more predictable? That's the central question. The Commerce Dept. has issued a new report indicating Americans now save the most % of their pay in a very long time - 8%. Last decade, Americans had a NEGATIVE net spending rate, spending $1.01 for every dollar earned. Today, people on average are living on .92 of every dollar made - greatness. But it's not evenly distributed. We're of 2 minds about money. Some shiftied their thinking after the Great Recession and have become savers. At the same time, we have record credit card debt. There are many circumstances that lead to deficit spending. But for some, it's lack of planning. Take Clark's 1% challenge. If you're not saving yet, just divert 1% to savings and step it up another 1% every 6 months. If no employer retirement plan, set up a savings account or Roth and have money automatically put in every pay period. We build new habits over time. Slow and steady wins the race. Ideally, work up to saving at least a dime of each dollar. It changes your future and lowers anxiety in your life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Move.org has published a new survey on the average cost of living in the 75 largest metros in the country. San Francisco is the most expensive city, costing over $4200 a month on average. The cheapest: El Paso at $1100 month - 1/4 the cost! Honolulu: $2600. Of the 75 metros surveyed, more than half require less than $2k a month to live comfortably. See list. Clark names each affordable metro because so many live in high cost cities where home ownership out of reach. If you're at an inflection point, be aware of affordable alternatives. Your future, your wallet - You're NOT stuck wherever you are. More products and services have become available for purchase on a per use basis. Transportation via ride sharing or Zip car, renting vs. buying a home, music and video subscription services. Renting or paying via micro loans for various things is trending. But clothing? The WSJ reports many retailers are offering this option for inexpensive clothing items. You can finance a $30 pair of pants over 3 to 6 months, usually with interest. If there's a piece of fashion clothing you want and you can't afford to pay for it, you should wait until you can. If it's gone it's gone. Borrowing for lifestyle harms your financial future. When you RENT something like clothing, or pay with a microloan from the register - these are not good choices. Just as with a car, you don't lease because you can't afford to buy. Make good long term choices for your wallet, not just what feels good at the moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clark loves the Impossible Burger - not a fan of Beyond or veggie burgers. Recent reports reveal the Impossible burger isn't particularly healthier. That high calorie meat taste comes from multiple plant fats. Experts initially thought these meat substitutes would only sell in white collar environments and high end restaurants. Turns out Carl's Jr. and Burger King are successfully selling meat substitute burgers and manufacturers are penetrating world markets. Just know it's not a guilt free card healthwise, but much greener on the manufacturing side. In addition to meat substitutes, expect lab grown meat on the market in the future. Lab grown diamonds are chemically the same, eliminating danger and cost. So lab meat will be real meat, but will not come directly from cows. Is it a deal - smart - to buy the latest greatest smartphone? Cell phone carrier contracts incentivised consumers to buy new phones every 18 months to 2 years. That's not the case anymore. We're out of contracts, making for happier customers. We're all free agents but we have to pay the real price for phones. So now we keep phones 3 years on average. Keeping phones longer - buying last year's model - makes sense. Clark buys various phones frequently to test and finds them all to be fantastic. Apple learned the hard way you can only drive up the price so much, and has regained initiative introducing the Apple 11 at $699 (The 10 / 10S was over a grand). Samsung has also adjusted pricing. Your phone will perform longer than you might think. As long as you can get the updates on the OS, there's no reason to prematurely dump your phone anymore. It's cheaper to just replace the battery when needed. It's AOK now to keep a phone 4 or 5 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even with solid education, skills and jobs, it's difficult for many in high-cost cities to live without wheezing financially all the time, often with dim prospects of home ownership. Especially in the NE, DC and the I5 corridor from Seattle to SanDiego - people work hard to just tread water. If this is your situation, think about relocating. Even taking a lower paying job in a community with a much lower cost of living can pay off, and allow for home ownership. If such a move buys you a better lifestyle and allows you to accomplish financial goals, it can be worth it. More companies are relocating or establishing branches in lower cost areas for their employees- who want an affordable life often not found on either coast. There’s a type of health insurance originally designed for young adults between jobs. These were designed as temporary policies. They exclude pre-existing conditions and generally don’t cover major illnesses. Because of a loophole in the law, unethical insurers are selling these policies to anyone, renewable up to 3 years. Only when someone is down do they find out they have no real coverage. These policies are cheap, don’t have big deductibles and cover routine care. So people think they’re great …. until. Stories have emerged of people facing huge medical bills forcing them into bankruptcies. Relatively brief hospital stays aren’t covered and can be billed in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. There are tight limits on what these policies cover and a long list of exclusions. These policies are marketed as health insurance, but are NOT real health insurance at all. They pretend to cover you, but the low premium you pay isn’t worth it. There’s not a free lunch. The real issue is dealing with the cost of health care itself. Clark will be forthcoming with his solutions to get the cost of healthcare down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travel agents are a thing of the past, right? Nope! While booking travel online has become incredibly easy and also allows you to compare prices more easily, travel advisers still have a helpful role to play in how you book. Specifically, if you tend to book stays at more expensive hotels or love to go on cruises, booking via a travel agent can gain you perks and discounts that you wouldn't otherwise have been able to score booking on your own. Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Home internet has been way too expensive without much competition. Monopoly cable companies have cornered the market in most of the country. Clark predicts this is the last year we’ll be suffering that lack of competition. In 2020 & 2021, we’ll see the roll out of various forms of high speed home internet, changing the equation for consumers. T-Mobile has launched a wireless home internet service for a flat $50 a month, no contract – no data caps. It’s largely rural now with expansion expected. Over the next 2 years, overhyped 5g will be rolled out. For cellular customers, T-Mobile is launching 5g for about 2/3rd of the country’s population the first week of December, but certain phones are required. This will be for early adopters in the first wave. AT&T and Verizon will also roll out fast home internet, plus satellite internet will be an option. T-Mobile is out of the gate here early. Criminals have infiltrated courtesy USB charging stations in airports, café’s, hotel rooms etc. They have installed illegal reading devices that can skim the info from your device. Ports and cables now pose a risk. They can install malware allowing them to steal your data. Go back to charging your devices in a traditional outlet, with a charging brick or portable batty. Don’t use the easy USB port, cause they’re also easy for criminals to invade in order to drain your info. This Christmas season is the first that one of the nation’s fastest growing retailers has a presence in much of the country. Five Below – a shopping mecca for teens, offers affordable gifts. Most items are sold at $5. Five Below sources their own goods, overseeing the design and manufacturing of their private label merchandise. Hurt by tariffs, they now have ‘Ten Below’ corners within their stores, forced to break the $5 barrier. Five Below follows a business model perfected by Aldi. Aldi sources their private label goods as well, allowing consumers to save around 40% on groceries. Sourcing allows retailers to undercut the price of competitors’ goods. Five Below shoppers determine quality of goods over time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clark has a Spotify family plan. $15 a month includes 5 different streams - $3 per person. Spotify faces competitive market threats from Apple Music. Pandora seems to be fading a bit. Now all face a new threat from Amazon. Amazon’s free, ad supported music service for Prime members has greatly expanded music offerings in an effort to hook users on the pay service. Joel’s already paying. This competition is a win for consumers. Maybe someday the artists and composers will win too. Unbelted passengers at impact in an automobile accident: Centrifugal force has no mercy. As we move into the holiday season, make sure backseat passengers wear seatbelts, as well as front seaters. According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, many fatalities occur each year due to back seat passengers not wearing seatbelts. Uber and Lyft passengers typically ride in the back and seldom put on their seatbelts. This endangers all in the car. Buckle up for safety. Episodically around the country, scandals of neglect and abuse emerge concerning nursing homes, assisted living and other senior facilities. When trying to find a suitable environment for a loved one needing care – it’s a shot in the dark. You’ll get a pitch designed to earn trust. But what goes on during the third shift? What’s actually happening in these places. You can hire a geriatric social worker for evaluation and placement consultation. They know which facilities do a good job. But most don’t go this route, and fly blind trying to choose a facility. Nursing Home Compare - Find and compare Nursing Homes | Nursing Home Compare. Cited nursing homes are marked with a red icon as a warning to consumers. These homes have to be in compliance for a full year before they lose that red mark of shame. This helps consumers ferret out potentially harmful places. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the FBI, wire transfer fraud is growing exponentially. Typically homeowners, small to mid-size business owners and nonprofits are targeted. When buying a home, you receive wire transfer instructions for the home closing from your real estate agent, escrow agent or closing attorney. Criminals are infiltrating email services, taking over the email of real estate agents, lawyers and escrow agents. They’re lurking. When they see a wire transfer instructions email, they wait until just before closing, go into the email and send a revised wiring instructions email. This diverts the wired money to them. You show up for the closing and they money has not been received – gone forever. The banking industry hasn’t come up with any security procedure to protect your money. This is having enormous consequences for consumers. Businesses and nonprofits have suppliers. Crooks lurk in email to discover payment patterns, duplicate payment instructions via ACH or wire, and money is sent to them on a one-way trip. Know that you cannot trust wiring or ACH instructions that come by email. Call the party and verify instructions over the phone using a verified phone number. Follow this procedure every time, because there is no way to recover money stolen this way. The New York Daily News reported on a family in San Antonia required by their HOA to pull down their Christmas décor because they put it up too early. Really! They decorated in November because the woman of the house is 8 months pregnant and wanted to get it done while she could. The couple told the HOA to sue them, they’re NOT taking down their decorations. HOA board members should anticipate being visited by 3 ghosts this Christmas Eve. Clark has long recommended buying OTC meds at Dollar Tree for a buck. The same items at chain drug stores go for $7 or $8. But Dollar Tree has harmed their reputation. The FDA has issued a warning to Dollar Tree for having foreign manufactured drugs on their shelves found to be adulterated. This pertains to topical medications on their health aisle – not any type of pills or medicine you take orally. Dollar Tree says they’re cooperating with the FDA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration has issued rules that has the medical industry in furious. New rules will require consumers have access upfront to costs for medical care and procedures. What other industry is so arrogant to think they could avoid price disclosure forever? They’ve hired lobbyist to spread money around to politicians, most pretending to be non-profits – all to hide their prices. Many consumers have suffered bankruptcy. Half of negative credit items are due to medical debt, while the industry works hard to keep costs secret, which leads to financial harm to people because it’s impossible to price shop. Hospitals will be required to show pricing per insurance provider and non-insured pricing. Consumers will be able to compare prices across all hospitals to make informed decisions on upcoming procedures. Last holiday season’s Secret Sister social media scam has roared back the BBB warns. You get a solicitation about a Secret Santa gift exchange. If you send cash or gifts to people on a provided list, you’ll be showered with money and gifts 36 fold! This is a pyramid and just a con. You’re just sending money / gifts to scammers. If you see this on social or receive a text or email, ignore and delete. Clark talks about the best current deals and also upcoming Black Friday deals with the Chief Deal Digger Charis from ClarkDeals.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many fly only during the holiday period near the end of the year. Airlines gouge you on checking a bag, so many bring carry on bags. Airlines quickly run out of overhead bin space during boarding so – gate check - they seize and tag some of them at the gate. If you put everything important in your carry on, once it becomes a checked bag, airlines don’t cover anything of value. You are vulnerable to having things disappear with no compensation. If you do carry on, have a personal item that will fit under the seat in front of you, that will not be seized at the runway. That way you can keep your meds, jewelry, electronics and anything you valuable to you. If your bag is seized at the jetway, you only have to worry about losing clothing. If there’s a dishonest person, don’t tempt them with anything of value. Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google’s Project Nightingale is a huge initiative by the second largest hospital system in the U.S. Some are hostile to Google doing this. But this is an important initiative. With the tech available today, it’s ridiculous we don’t have solid medical databases for continuity of care. Patients themselves don’t keep track. It’s important this succeeds and expands. A woman at an exclusive country club in the tri-state has wine spilled on her $30K purse. She sues the country club, which in turn sues the waiter. Really? A $30K purse for starters, and the rest is Clarkrageous as well. Clark shared his iBuyer selling experience this summer. The iBuyer market uses deep data to establish an accurate selling price and make an offer, allowing the seller to choose their departure time. No showings or traditional hassle. They may front the money for repairs and updates the seller agrees to, and get the money back at closing. They’re own staff gets the work done and the home is listed. A recent analysis of Zillow and Open Door found the prices being offered are actually too good. After expenses and sell prices, they’re not making money. Zillow agrees. It’s very important to get offers from multiple companies, which include Knock, Zillow, OfferPad, Opendoor and more in different areas. They have to have the right data to make an offer. IBuyers are working the great middle of the market, eschew both the high and low end. Clark’s experience turned out great. Research suggests this is a fair deal for home sellers, offering certainty, and eliminating hassle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California passed a law that is having national impact. In the U.S. we lack any digital rights to privacy, while internet behemoths collect our data, compiling deep dossiers to sell off for marketing purposes. Due to the breakdown of political function in D.C., technology is moving faster than a do-nothing Congress. So California has emulated Europe’s privacy law, The Right to be Forgotten – which works magnificently there. Ironically, California has defied all it’s tech firms and passed a Right to be Forgotten law. Microsoft has announced they will follow, leading the way in the right direction. Other companies will hopefully follow the California standard in other states. Take caution over the next 6 weeks when you receive notifications by text, social, email or popups promising free coupons, gift cards or vouchers – assume it’s a scam with nothing good coming next. Last year there were fake Walmart gift card solicitations. When people clicked the link viruses were unleashed. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports on a new one circulating all over the country claiming Costco is giving away $75 coupons. Costco cries SCAM! These are recurring hoaxes showing up as internet popups, websites and social posts. 100 million American adults don’t have Real ID yet. Without Real ID or a passport, you won’t be able to fly. 40% of Americans, 2 out of 5 are not compliant to fly. The full fare airlines – American, United and Delta are taking reservations past the deadline. Only American so far is alerting ticket buyers of the requirement. There should be an automatic popup when booking past the late summer deadline, warning people they will NOT be able to board without Real ID with an explanatory link. If you don’t have a star, call your DMV, make an appointment to have your identity verified. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Waffle House has been in the news lately!One recent late night, only 1 cook showed up for his Birmingham Waffle House shift. So the customers pitched in taking & serving orders and washing dishes. The customers ran the joint for no pay. Waffle House acknowledged the incident as gracefully as possible, suggesting the customers fill out applications. What’s it take to work there? Ironically, the day before that happened, the WSJ ran a story about how working at Waffle House is great training for corporate management. Waffle House managers do every job that needs doing so employees know they’re all in it together. An experienced Waffle House manager can make $115K per year. But it’s not for the faint of heart. AT&T wireless customers in grandfathered plans are being moved to more expensive plans without being told. You don’t have to pay this. As AT&T struggles, you don’t have to suffer in the wallet. There are plans a lot cheaper with other players in the industry. Visible, T-Mobile and more – check the alternatives. Do not be a sitting duck for AT&T's financial problems. Money is tight this Christmas season for most of us. Before you spend out of obligation, consider alternatives. Forget deals if money is really tight and consider what people cherish most, like experiences together. Bake for a loved one. Don’t spend yourself into debt that takes months to pay off. If there are young kids in the family, buy for them, but not for the adults. This season you’ll see deals online at sites including Amazon, eBay, Craig’s List, Facebook marketplaces - where some items may be counterfeit or recalled. When a deal looks too good to be true, be suspicious. If it's new inbox electronics listed for way less than elsewhere, there’s a chance the item is stolen. Use your common sense. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clark comes from an immigrant family. All 4 of his grandparents were born overseas. From the time they became citizens, serving in the military became part of the Howard family culture. Clark’s had the privilege of speaking at 3 Veterans Day events over the last 3 days. All gratitude to the brave people who have served our nation. The all-volunteer military structure today means only a small portion of the American people serve and are called upon time and time again to redeploy. We ask so much of so few to serve so many. Most members of Congress have never served and are clueless about military service. We’ve lost an understanding of each other in the U.S. because of this schism. On this Veteran’s Day, Clark expresses his belief that it would be an enormous benefit to America if we had 2 years compulsory public service. Young adults would work for nonprofits, charities or serve in the military, to work for the common good of all. This gives us the shared purpose we need to get back. People have become tribally divisive in America. We need to return to the core principle of America – an incredible republic offering religious and democratic freedoms and economic opportunity. We have a phenomenal country. Take a moment this Veterans Day to think about the freedoms we enjoy, that our veterans have served to protect. Hating those we disagree with makes us weak, narrow-minded and diminishes our world status as a beacon of hope. We’re approaching a year since Boeing 737 Max aircraft have been grounded after the 2 tragic crashes. A disturbing cultural problem at the root of Boeing emerges. Leaked information indicates Boeing is attempting legal maneuvers to reduce their financial risk and legal liability to the grieving families of those killed in Boeing crashes due to the company’s gross negligence. Boeing may have known as early as 2015 of design safety concerns, did nothing, covered up defective devices, and now they’re trying to shirk liability. When asked if he was aware of the liability avoidance, the Boeing CEO denied knowledge. Others dispute that. Either way, the CEO needs to go. This company seems to have no focus on safety. We are right at 500 different series being produced in the U.S. That’s up from 80 in 2014. There’s never been a time in the history of video with so much compelling content. This has created a battle for market share. Disney is launching its new streaming service tomorrow. Apple is in early stages. Netflix remains the behemoth and Comcast is launching Peacock. AT&T is launching HBO products in addition to their traditional streaming service. See our guide, continually updated. We’ll see more change in this area in the next 2 – 3 yeas than has existed since TV began, around 1953. Fast forward to 500 series available on demand, and they’re subsidizing us, while losing money for various reasons. Amazon’s losing on Prime instant video. Google’s is losing on YouTube TV trying to become dominant. Hulu is offering both on demand and live streaming – Yes it gets confusing. Be wary of signing up for programming packages with AT&T. In financial trouble, they have a tendency to raise prices without notice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new study shows that the effects of screen time on small children could be physically changing their brains. The study which was published in JAMA reports a decline in "white matter integrity" of 3-5 year olds because of time spent using screens. Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement was a hot topic last year. People set early retirement goals and modified lifestyle dramatically to make it happen. Now we can add the ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) movement, giving people the freedom to work when and where they want. Many employers can’t handle this. But if you do task oriented work with measurable results, this can be liberating. For example, radiology is performed around the clock, so practices can hire radiologists across the globe in different time zones. An Australian radiologist can be on duty there for overnight needs here. The downside: Out of sight out of mind. Off location workers can be thought of differently and are unlikely to be promoted. But depending on the job and the employer, this can be a win-win. A follow-up on the discovery 5 years ago that AT&T was not honoring its claim of unlimited data. It took 5 full years for AT&T to be held to account for pennies on the dollar. AT&T has reached a deal with the FTC to pay restitution to the customers they lied to - a measly $60M for the 3.5 million affected. If you’re still with AT&T, you’ll get a mysterious credit on your bill one month. If you’re no longer a customer, they’ll send you a check. It’s real. It’s your money. But they shouldn’t have lied in the first place. So many are weighed down by student loan debt. Many questions are coming in about refinancing – a confusing area. First, know what kind of loans you have, how many and what rates you’re paying on each loan. Knowing the difference between federal and private loans is key. If you refi a federal student loan into a private loan, you lose all the borrower protections built into federal loans. Rules: If you find a deal to refi private loans into a new fixed rate loan, that’s probably a food idea. With federal loans, only refi if you can reduce the interest rate by 2 points or more, and have a secure, solid income. Then it may be worth it to give up the borrower protections. See the briefing at Clark.com, which includes who is best to shop for student loan refinance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roughly 20% of American adults have no credit file at all. There’s not enough data to establish credit risk. Around 25% of American adults have low credit scores. That’s 45% total. Lenders use different strategies to figure out who among them are worth taking a chance on. Data is more sophisticated today than traditional credit reporting. The Pedal Card uses proprietary criteria to issue credit cards to those with no/low credit. Last decade credit reporting and scores proved to be an inaccurate predictor of who would default or foreclose after the great recession. Many people with high scores defaulted on multiple debts at that difficult time. Experian is using a new score called “Lift” experimentally with a dozen lenders. The WSJ reports that Lift takes rent payments into account, and also – state issued professional licenses. More organizations are looking for different, non-traditional ways to decide who is credit worthy. The college student entrepreneur who worked importing Krispy Kreme donuts from Iowa to Minnesota was the topic of yesterday’s Clark Rage because Krispy Kreme shut him down, siting liability concerns. It appears media coverage made a difference here, and young Jason has been allowed to resume as an independent operator, gifted 500 boxes by the company to help him in his new sanctioned role. Jason can continue to work his way through college, bringing donut happiness to Minnesota. Recent reports point out how much we’re spending on subscription services. These charges hit automatically month after month, often with auto renewal. Until you get around to stopping them, the money keeps coming out of accounts. Subscriptions come in many forms. There’s even one for toothbrushes. Every 90 days with the change of season could be a marker to change your toothbrush. Clark despises subscriptions. Most of us forget what we’ve signed up for. When’s the last time you went to your gym your paying to be a member of? Video, razors, clothing all come via subscriptions now. Sit down with your statements and figure out what you’re being billed monthly for. If you’re not using the service, can it. When you call or try to cancel online, be sure to watch your next statement to make sure you’re truly canceled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clark recommends a minimum ownership cycle of 7 years for houses and 10 years for condos. There’s enormous expense involved in both buying and selling a home – 10% in and 10% out. In addition to expenses in and out, condo values are more unstable than home values. So owning for a decade is best for your wallet. Historically, 7 years has been the typical amount of time people stay in a home. But according to Redfin, the ownership cycle now averages 13 years. People are choosing to stay longer and there are less job transfers. The untold story: The longer you stay in a home, the more profitable that home becomes because you’re not paying in and out costs. If your neighborhood is in decline, that’s a good reason to move. But as people stay longer and improve their homes, neighborhoods generally become more stable. Minnesota college student Jason Gonzales defrayed school costs by driving 2+ hours to the closest Krispy Kreme in Iowa, buying in bulk and bringing them back to Minnesota to resell. It’s not a crime to bootleg donuts. He received no bulk discount, and sold by the dozen in the original boxes. Jason made a markup importing and selling the donuts, not available in Minnesota. After a story was published about this young entrepreneur, Jason got shut down by Krispy Kreme because he was “creating a liability” for them. What about all the charities that buy in bulk and sell by the box? Better to appreciate Jason for keeping the love for Krispy Kreme alive in a place that doesn’t have them! For the last 7 years, Clark has had the privilege of driving a Tesla. The model 3 is one of the best selling vehicles in the U.S. now. The car is like a rolling computer. Tesla is always connected to the internet through cellular and home Wi-Fi, and sends regular software updates. You simply download updates as they come. Via these updates, Clark has seen the self-driving capabilities steadily improve to now extraordinary performance levels. This has been the envy of the automobile industry. Ford is now adopting this update capability starting in 2020. The vehicle that comes off the assembly line will evolve with updates. This is a game changer all automakers will likely adopt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ID theft criminals are entering post offices with fake IDs and doing address changes. The USPS gets 37 million address changes each year. An unwitting pawn in ID theft, they say working to prevent false address changes, but determined criminals can get this done. If your mails suddenly stops coming, it’s 5 alarm fire drill time for your finances. Immediately freeze your credit with Equifax, Transunion and Experian. That prevents the crooks from applying from new credit as if they’re you. Meanwhile they get your existing account statements and can engage in account takeover fraud, and buy things as if they’re you. Watch account activity closely. Think through which bills you should be receiving and contact creditors. Go to the post office and make corrections. The faster you do this, the more you limit potential damage. The FDA had information months ago concerning an E.coli outbreak in romaine lettuce that sickened people in a dozen states in July, August and September. The FDA kept this secret to protect farmers, because when this happened prior and the info was published, it devastated the farmers. The FDA and CDC were finally able to verify the source in October but still did not disclose until now for unknown reasons. This is NOT OK. We need to have confidence in the watchdogs for our nation’s food supply. Recently there’s been another outbreak of salmonella in 6 states involving ground beef that HAS been announced. We need confidence in our food supply and know there will be quick action when issues arise. At an Airbnb CA property last week, 5 were killed and several injured in a shooting at a Halloween party. Airbnb has been under a cloud concerning party house rentals. Individuals will troll listings, rent a house for 1 or 2 nights, and advertise a party on social media with paid entry. Party house rackets have been a problem in many cities, with Airbnb noncommittal on the subject. But now that fatalities have occurred, Airbnb says they will ban party houses. How we don’t know. Airbnb is going through an awkward adolescence, having trouble handling its growth. Vice.com discovered crooked landlords, listing places on Airbnb that are either non-existent or owned by someone else. On arrival day the hapless renter gets notified of some terrible problem and is diverted to what’s in fact the real, far inferior rental to the bogus one advertised. This is happening in cities around the country. Airbnb does not stand behind the renters getting scammed this way. Airbnb needs to protect its platform. If people cannot trust that they’ll be treated honestly, the platform will lose validity in the marketplace. Operators need to beef up their investigative force and customer service operations to deal with problems as they happen and to weed out the crooks. 5 people are dead. Airbnb offers potentially great environments, they’ve got to make it work better. If you’re a renter, be cautious and read reviews thoroughly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ClarkDeals has created a new poll that reveals some of the Holiday consumer shopping trends. Clark discusses the findings and how you should approach Holiday shopping in order to save the most money. Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clark talks about the best places to open an HSA. Some providers do a better job for people attempting to save money in their HSA while other providers do a better job helping people invest well inside of their HSA. Two of the best overall providers are Fidelity and Lively. A new TX law allows sky high fees inside of teacher 403b plans. This is Clarkrageous and will have a major impact on the overall amount that teachers will have saved in retirement. Most people taking out student loans will be paying on them for close to 20 years. Clark has recommendations for paying off your student loans more quickly and how to avoid student loan regret. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clark discusses the fed rate cut and how the economy is slowing. Online installment loans are rising to prominence. The interest rates are almost as high as payday loans. You should never sign up for an installment loan when attempting to purchase something online. Amazon has stopped charging grocery delivery fees for Amazon Prime members. Clark discusses the details and what this means for Amazon competitors also prioritizing home grocery delivery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Open enrollment is near for corporate workers and individuals on the federal exchange. Employers are facing major cost pressures providing healthcare for workers. Strategies to reduce costs include sending workers to seek out of state care, and in rare cases care outside the U.S. This is a result of the hospital system chokeholds in most metros. Employers may waive your deductible if you go out of market for specific care. Read your open enrollment kit carefully. Look closely at deductibles. You may be better off with a lower premium with higher out of pocket, depending on your situation. For individuals buying coverage, you’ll see more plans offered and insurers returning to exchanges in metro areas. This year, be aware there are fake sites. Healthcare.gov offers compliant plans with no limits and coverage for preexisting conditions. The Washington Post reports on how some employers are using an AI algorithm that scans faces during video interviews. Expressions, eye contact and enthusiasm is all analyzed, responses dissected – to help employers eliminate candidates. Applicants are not told their score on this algorithm. College career counseling centers now need to coach new grads on how to deal with this capability, called HireVue. The reality is almost all jobs are found via informal connections. Going through company AI with face scanning is garbage. Who you know is core and key to getting an opportunity with most companies. Real estate access to information for buyers and sellers is the best it’s ever been. Zillow, Trulia and others provide instant info on homes for sale. Pre-internet house hunting, Clark recommended the hundred home rule – See at least 20 out of 100 home selections. Today you can get a sense of real estate anywhere almost immediately, making the industry more transparent. But the transaction process is slower to change. Having an agent at a fixed commission of around 6% is now getting pushback and alternatives are emerging. Sellers can hire an a la carte agency or pay hourly fees. Many business models are coming alive. What has not changed: When doing a FSBO, protect the agent that brings you a buyer with 2-3% commission. In addition to using all the new tools, Clark remains old school in the belief that for most, having an experienced real estate agent is still the best way. Many transactions fall apart due to emotional issues. That’s when an agent can be key in getting a deal done. In this regard, real estate has changed less than many other industries, with the new advantage of abundant information and transparency – fantastic for buyers and sellers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Affordable housing is in short supply in the U.S. these days. It hasn’t been this difficult to acquire affordable housing since 1948. Restrictive zoning – a NIMBY problem, has made it difficult to impossible for builders. But zoning changes are making affordable housing more possible. A few months ago metro Minneapolis passed such zoning changes. Now Oregon has passed a law to phase in by 2021 to allow second structures and garage apartments. Many young adults under 40 have been shut out of the housing market. New methods of construction make it more cost effective to build affordable housing. The irony is that the hotel business is at the forefront of using these methods. The U.S. should become experimental and look at technologies including 3-D printing to fill the shortage in affordable housing. State and local law enforcement, firefighters and EMTs are honored today. Announced today and available Nov. 1st – T-Mobile’s half price Magenta plan for first responders. This works like T-Mobile’s Magenta Military Plan - $10 a month per person after the first 2, and new phones for half price. AT&T and Verizon usually respond in kind with such deals. A Priceline survey says more than half of all U.S. workers with a paid vacation benefit don’t take it! One third do not use up half their vacation allotment. That’s loco. If there’s unspoken pressure at work, that’s an idiot employer. Your performance deteriorates and loyalty diminishes when work is an endless treadmill. Taking time and getting away to clear your head is extremely valuable. Take your time off and cherish being with family/friends and experiencing other things. You come back better at what you do. None of us are indispensable. Please take your time off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More people would be willing to create a will if the process was easier. So states across the country are changing laws to allow people to create their will completely online. Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two US Senators have introduced legislation to get rid of non-compete clauses in almost all cases. This is GREAT news because these non-compete clauses are terrible for individual earnings an the overall economy. Moviepass has gone out of business after disappointing millions of customers. But Moviepass is STILL charging money to their former customers. This is truly Clarkrageous. Drone delivery is coming. And actually, it's here. Google Wing is actually delivering some packages in a test market. Drone deliveries are one areas of tech we should continue to watch because it is going to change the way we receive packages and could end up saving companies and consumers money in the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California has passed legislation to delay school start times. This is great for kids! Apple's parental controls for Screen Time have been easily bypassed by kids. Parents need to take more proactive approaches towards limiting technology use by their children. Hackers are stealing personal information while you are purchasing things online. Clark tells you what you need to know and how to protect yourself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Walmart is launching new healthcare centers around the nation. And up-front pricing is making things more transparent. You can get urgent care, x-rays, counseling, dental, and optical services at these new and innovative health centers. Equifax has responded to a recent inquiry from the Clark Howard Show. They don't require your PIN number in order to freeze or thaw your credit. This puts you at risk. This is not ok and it needs to change. The Boeing Max is still being investigated. The software for the planes is being updated in order to attempt to get safe planes into the air. Clark is not happy that no-one has gone to jail over this and that the CEO has not, at minimum, lost his job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Americans are doing record time on the roads in traffic crawling to work. As many metros have developed by sprawl, public transit is not the answer. Solutions require behavior changes, including from employers. To increase employee happiness and retention, they need to flex on how and when you work. Allow employees to work from home at least 1 day a week. Depending on the job, work from home can be done most or all of the time. Often productivity is higher at home. Flex schedules are helpful for workers too, allowing workers to shift their hours to avoid heavy traffic. In congested cities, some are turning to electric-assist bikes, as cheap as $500, for bike lane commutes under 10 miles. Full commission stock brokers are often tied to giant monster mega-banks. Wells Fargo, BOA's Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS are the big 4. A recent study by Cerulli Associates found that these 4 overwhelmingly put their investors into high cost mutual funds. They are not bound by the fiduciary standard. Go to an independent fee-only financial advisor or a low-cost mutual fund company instead. When you allow an authorized user on your credit card, you're creating potential hardship for yourself. The user has no responsibility for the debt they rack up. Don't make these decisions lightly. We hear the consequences when things goes wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The BBB has issued a new scam warning. Historically, scams have most often come via phone. Now, the most common point of scam contact is on social media. The most common way people have money stolen from them is on social media. The second most common scam point of contact: websites, like Craigslist or eBay. People are more than 5 times more likely to get taken on social media than with a con artist on the phone - 4 times more likely on social vs. through the mail. Beware. Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. has lagged behind in 'conversational commerce' enjoyed elsewhere in the world, where texting meets commerce for AI customer service. We spend most of our online time now throughout smartphones. Unlike other countries, the U.S. lacks centralized portals from which to operate in multiple ways, including shops, email, social and news. Now Apple is working to set up and integrated hub to drive the brand. For example, through the Apple platform - Apple Business Chat - and Delta's app, iPhone users have ease of communication for assistance from the airline. Emulating China's WeChat, Apple platform AI will allow better customer service response. Innovation like this can have very positive, unforeseen benefits for consumers. Facebook tried this kind of commercial integration, but a loss of trust is an obstacle there. The first best thing we'll see is perhaps the end of on-hold in-limbo no-customer service. A ProPublica investigative report finds the health data of millions of Americans is completely exposed on the internet. They were able to find medical data on more than 16 million people online, including names, birthdays and where submitted, social security numbers. Security in the medical industry is pathetic. DO NOT FILL IN YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER at ANY medical facility. A recent Wallethub study weighed 31 happiness factors to rate U.S. states. Above an income level of around $70, money ceases to be a happiness factor. Factors include work environment, emotional and physical well-being. Hawaii comes out tops overall, followed by UT, MN, CA, NJ, ID, MASS, MD, NB, CT. Unhappiest: WVA, ARK, Alaska, MISS, LA, KY, AL, OK, TN, MO. ​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Of the 4 major cell carriers, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile & Sprint - all the growth over the past 4 years has gone to T-Mobile, steadily taking market share. But all 4 also have captive discount brands on their networks, at a lower cost. The price points have kept moving. Total Wireless is a joint venture on Verizon's network, The 4-line family plan shares 100 gigs of data per month, starts at $100 a month, and it is available for $95 with auto-refill.. Available at Walmart and TotalWireless.com. Verizon's second discount brand, Visible is geared toward young adults, offering a single line at $40 a month - unlimited data - available only through Visible.com via their app. Metro PCS - now Metro by T-Mobile has gone up from 4 lines for $100 to $120 per month, including Amazon Prime and hotspot. Cricket Wireless - AT&T's captive brand - offers 4 lines for $100 a month with speed limitations, but adequate for most basic surfing and video. Starting in January, people with 401ks will have a much broader hardship latitude to make withdrawals under new regulations issued by the IRS. Clark HATES this. It's very difficult to ever restore retirement money taken out of a 401k. Statistically, those who take out loans end up with way less than those who never do. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Just say NO! Consider the money off-limits. Young adults now face more difficult money choices than prior generations. Over a full lifetime, 3/4 of kids end up more successful financially than their parents. That's a slowdown from 90% historically. There's a lot of uncertainty today and new challenges for young adults. Student loans are brutal for students and parents alike. Many in retirement are still burdened by parental loans. There are so many college choices, this can be avoided with planning and attending less expensive schools. Clark's tuition per year was $2400 in the '70s. Heavier burdens today require new decision making. Buying a home involves geographic considerations for affordability. Pensions no longer exist. Young adults are choosing no-car lifestyles in walkable communities. No car expense makes for a lot more financial breathing room. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are now more people working in wind / solar energy in the U.S. than in coal mining, which has become an industry in retreat. It's now cheaper to generate power from wind or solar, depending on geography. The new energy outlook from Bloomberg reports that wind is THE cheapest way to generate power in the U.S. In 2/3 of the world, solar and wind are more economical than even natural gas. Power companies are fighting in state legislatures and with utility, regulators to prevent consumers from a cost-effective home solar option. They see the threat and want to own solar to continue to supply power. Regardless, the mix of power is changing and costs will be coming down. Traditionalists claim wind and solar are intermittent and therefore unreliable sources of power. But battery backup provides the solution there, and these batteries are also getting steadily cheaper, along with solar panels. Better and cheaper in a continuing cycle brings these technologies to bear. The benefit flows back to consumers. More states are passing laws infringing on First Amendment rights for food producers to name their food. Missouri cattlemen are threatened by plant-based meat substitutes. Other states have joined in passing label restrictions. They should not be permitted to interfere in the free market flow of information. The clarity for consumers, not confusion - should be the priority. Edmunds reveals that the average loan amount to buy a new vehicle is $32,590. AAA reports is costs $774 per month to operate a new vehicle: Depreciation, the loan, insurance, fuel & maintenance. Many would-be new buyers are opting for used for more affordability. Meanwhile, the average length of a vehicle loan is just under 70 months, almost 6 years, putting the buyer upside down for the duration. Many will tire of a vehicle before paying it off and create a negative mountain of debt by trading in before the loan is paid. The trade-in loan is rolled into the purchase, leaving the buyer even MORE upside down. STOP! 10K a year just for transportation calls for a rethink. Is your old car working fine? Do you REALLY need a new vehicle? 4-year-old vehicles are the sweet spot in the market now. AAA reports electric vehicles to cost half of what gas engines cost per mile to operate. Within 2 years the compelling price argument for buying electric will be overwhelming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s increased interest in protecting privacy. We forget how things we say aren’t private in this electronic era. Text messages aren’t really private. But there are things you can do to protect privacy. When both parties use an encrypted third-party texting app – only the recipients get your text. WhatsApp, owned by Facebook – is a secure texting app so far, used by ¼ of the world’s population. For business and other proprietary transactions and for consumers, Signal is used for privacy protection as well. ProtonMail is great for protecting email communications. For Apple users, iOS 13 is coming with a variety of privacy improvements. Tech writers are recommending waiting a few weeks before download, as they’re still working out some bugs. Apple’s iOS 13 will provide auto burner-email addresses when you sign up with a company to prevent email spam. This allows you to hide your real email address. Con artist Andres Fernandez has been convicted for wire fraud, after stealing $31M claiming he had an opportunity to produce and promote concerts. There were no concerts. This Ponzi type scheme has been around for a century, but there’s been a great acceleration recently. Be very skeptical when you’re promised a private opportunity to score big money. Police officers, fire fighters, teachers and other state and local government workers get ripped off on their retirement savings. It’s common that 403b and 457 plans these workers are shunted into, cost 100 times the cost of a corporate 401k plan. Inexcusable that those working for the public good are taken advantage of in their retirement plans. There’s no excuse for this. Federal workers enjoy the TSP, costing about 1/50th of what state and local gov workers pay. Thank Congress for not caring about workers who earn less by serving the public. FINALLY – the SEC has launched an investigation of the insurance companies that rip people off in these plans. For affected workers, instead of putting your money into these plans, fully fund a Roth IRA with an ultra-low-cost company. Only contribute to a 403b or 457 plan proven to be low cost, only up to the match. Past that, open a low-cost Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FCC doesn't want states to be able to implement their own rules surrounding net neutrality. Clark explains what this court battle means for consumers and the future of our TV and internet usage. Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New tariffs will protect Boeing and hurt Airbus. The new tariffs could also mean higher prices on food and drink. AdvoCare has been fined $150 million for running a multi-level marketing scheme. The FTC has called it a pyramid scheme which means that AdvoCare pressures sellers to bring in new distributors. The emphasis is less on selling products and more on recruiting new people. Don't sign up for an MLM. 99% of people lose money. Clark discusses how to protect yourself if your luggage winds up missing or damaged while traveling. Stick up for yourself and push for a solution! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have the lowest unemployment rate in years, while wages remain relatively static. Most aren't seeing meaningful pay raises. Certain sectors of the economy are seeing layoffs, job losses, and closures. Many corporate sectors predict a recession or believe they're already in one. For others, times are great. Manufacturing is suffering because of the trade wars, here and abroad. The greatest job growth is in education, healthcare, state, and local government and the hotel industry. College graduates are in demand. As for static wages - for the low to mid-income earners, in particular, better pay may be found by changing jobs. Get a better offer to negotiate with your current employer if you want to stay. Until you have the confidence to shop what you're worth in the marketplace, employers won't pay more. Be your own advocate. Find better opportunities. You don't ask, you don't get. The NFL season is underway and scams follow. The season is about 1/3 over now. A variety of scams pop up every season, most around PCH - a legit, high-interest organization and popular target for scammers. The Fraud Watch Bulletin reports 2 versions big right now. One comes as a phone call pretending to be from PCH saying you've won and need to wire fee money. The other is a small fake check, requesting you wire money to receive the big check. Both bogus. PCH reminds all they never ask winners to send fees, taxes or other money to collect a prize. Pre-teens and teens pretty much spend whatever money they get. For school-age kids, money burns a hole in their pocket and vanishes. The American Institute of CPAs does an annual survey of allowance and finds the average kid in the U.S. now receives a weekly allowance of $30. That's doubled in just 3 years. Parents have lost their minds. Clark has recommended stepping up allowance yearly. The amount can match their age or grade and should be used to teach. The 3 jar system is a known method. Allowance is divided 3 ways: for spending, savings, and charity. Allowance should be in cash to teach the finiteness of money. And with an allowance comes responsibility. Parents give the money and should set ground rules about allocation - 3 jars or something similar. The savings can be for any specific goal chosen by the kid. Create a sense of purpose for money. If you just hand it out with no guidelines, they learn nothing and it disappears. Parents must teach the concept of spend and save. Giving can be time or $ for charity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow-up: the financial industry continues its radical transformation. Technology has made it possible to invest at a lower cost. Last week Schwab announced no commission stock buying and selling. There are free and low-cost robo advisors and robo/human hybrids. Investing with high-cost companies could cause you to end up with 40% less money than investing the same amount with their low-cost rivals. Even Ally bank is offering a no-fee robo-advisory service. Vanguard will soon launch its low-cost Digital Advisor service too. AT&T – get your act together. A long-time DirecTV customer passed away at age 102 and AT&T went after the relatives for the early termination fee in strong terms. Only after the story went public did AT&T waive the termination fee, but didn’t apologize until they received more bad press. Where’s the heart and humanity? How stupid. Roughly 1 in 4 American adults is extremely politically engaged. This past weekend, Ellen DeGeneres and George W. Bush enjoyed a football game together. As their pictures circulated, ugly reaction ensued, with some referring to Bush as the ‘enemy’. After all the mean-spirited postings came an enlightened one which expressed that seeing Ellen and George Bush together restored their faith in America. When we lose sight of the fact that we’re all Americans in this together, we make our country weak. People we disagree with are still our fellow Americans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Current privacy concerns have Google in the spotlight. Google lives in fear the U.S. will finally pass privacy laws outlining restrictions and consumer rights, as exists in Europe. The Right to be Forgotten and to control online info in Europe puts them way ahead of the U.S. in the privacy realm. Google’s preemptive strike is a newly launched activity suite tool allowing users to better control their info and have their tracking data wiped automatically. Sign into Google. Type in myactivitiy.google.com. There you’ll see everything Google has on you – massive. Then you have the right to have them wipe out everything 90 days old and older. You can choose 90 days to 1.5 years to let Google retain your activity info until they delete it. The Inspector General is like the cop inside a federal agency there to expose wrongdoing and enforce the law. The VA Office of Inspector General found that 1 in 3 veterans who’ve sought emergency healthcare, are denied their medical claims by the VA, even when perfectly legitimate. Inexcusable and Unacceptable. The men and women who have served and put their lives on the line for American freedom deserve to have the promises made to them carried out. The average ATM charge in the U.S. is now $4.72. The cost to a bank is around .02cents. Beyond outrageous. Why do they do it? In the aftermath of the last decade’s banking scandals, the federal government bailed out the big banks and let small banks sit and spin. This led to a massive closure of smaller banks, and thus less competition. 4 big banks now have half of all banking market share. ATMs are disappearing around the country as people use less cash these days. Also, we now have an ever-expanding roster of online banks, offering lower costs and far better savings rates. The big banks pay essentially 0 on savings vs around 2% offered by online banks. And – credit unions have filled the void left by small local banks going away. Credit Unions provide much better deals than banks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roughly half of us have no access to a retirement plan through work. Most small employers don’t know how to make this happen. If they go to an insurance company or bank, they face extremely high costs and employees pay the price, making the plan essentially a rip-off. So many just give up. A new federal rule just went into effect allowing small employers to team up to create group buying power for lower costs. These can happen through Chambers of Commerce and industry trade groups. We’re about a year away from this taking hold. But don’t wait. There are companies offering 401k plans for small businesses. Betterment has one at a reasonable cost. Employees – if your small-midsize employer does offer a 401k – understand the fees. If it’s a high fee plan, contribute only up to the match, open your own Roth IRA with a low-cost company and make your contributions automatic. Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NEVER NEVER NOT EVER publish your birthdate and place of birth online or on social media. Why? That's 98% of what a crook needs to steal your identity. Also, when you get the 'magic formula' investing pitch - know to RUN. No-one legit can promise great results using their strategy - red light / green light investing systems - NO. Don't ever believe it. DO NOT answer your phone if you don't know who is calling. If caller ID says your bank or a government agency is calling, don't answer. Nothing good comes from it. New hires are being no-shows on day one and don't think it's important to let the employer know. Clark's eldest daughter did new employee orientation at a bank. Every week, new hires would be no-shows without notification. Some of these jobs were executive level. There are multiple reports of this happening in the retail and restaurant industries. Job markets are not always strong. It doesn't serve you to blow off a job offer. Have the decency to send a thank you note, to communicate, to be respectful, to notify. Roughly 1 in 3 folks are renters as the market is shifting throughout the country. Apartment overbuilding has resulted in more deals for tenants. Marketwatch reports that - desperate to sell condos or rent apartments, landlords are marketing properties that can be turned into Airbnb rentals. This is different than resort-type condotels - owned hotel rooms that are rented out most of the year. A condo buyer could find themselves surrounded by short-term renters via the developer. This is the opposite of the HOA vs Airbnb conflicts. There's a lot of shakeout with short term rentals - an area of constant change around the country. Condo buyers and apartment renters be aware of the policies. Know in writing condo/apartment policies or you could find yourself surrounded by transients. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We borrow principally for a home, vehicle, credit cards, student loans. A long-held frustration is how scoring models punish you for eliminating debt. Paying off a loan (other than credit cards) could drop your score 50 points. Don't worry about it. If your score is healthy enough, the payoff score pinch does not matter. You DO NOT raise your credit score by leaving a balance open on a credit card. That's a myth you pay interest on. With cards, using very little of your credit and paying on time boosts your score. The Securities and Exchange Commission ( the Federal agency overseeing the investment industry) reports that in recent years, 4.3 million Americans have been ripped off in investment schemes. The average loss: $150K. Historically the cons target small business owners, entrepreneurs, and senior citizens. The promise of non-traditional investments have of late touted 8-12% returns - which may appear initially, till the scheme collapses leaving its victims broke. Many times people dump their old car because it's no longer reliable. That's a good reason. But when it comes to the dollars and cents of this, Clark and Consumer Reports differ. Consumer Reports advises that when the cost of repair exceeds the remaining value, that's when it's time to let go. Clark recommends when the cost of a repair exceeds 50% of the remaining value - that's when to dump it. Ironically, you may need to pay for the repair anyway in order to trade/sell it. Otherwise, you get clobbered on value. Most people tire of and dump a vehicle prematurely and that is expensive. The longer you keep a car, the better for your wallet. The depreciation curve is a dive through the first 4 years, into gentle decline, as your money works for you. As the vehicle fleet steadily moves to electrics, they're more reliable. Today batteries are much more efficient. The cost of ownership on electrics is much less than gas engine cars. The best deal: Buy a used electric car and drive it for a long time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Southwest is having a sweet sale right now! An all-out price war to zero is underway with small company Interactive Brokers and giant Charles Schwab. Both are ending commissions on stock trades. Buying and selling stocks and ETFs will be commission-free. This will penetrate the investing world, with discounters also going to zero. This started earlier this year with Fidelity Zero, offering free mutual funds – no account minimums required. The ability to invest at zero cost is taking hold in the marketplace. Fidelity and Schwab are both trying to deal with the Vanguard juggernaut. Co-op Vanguard, operating as a credit union for investing, has taken investing market share gains for the last 7 years. As these behemoths compete, investors win, regardless of which one you choose. Meanwhile, those still investing with banks, full commission stockbrokers or insurance companies pay massive fees. Invest for free, to keep your money working for you. There’s a common rip off for credit card users traveling overseas. Often upon card payment, the processing machine will automatically convert your charge from the local currency to U.S. dollars. This is done to rip you off on the conversion rate. When overseas, NEVER EVER EVER say yes when asked if you want to pay in U.S. dollars. Be aware many Visa / MC banks are automatically putting the purchase in dollars, and you need to override that into local currency. The difference could be as much as 10%. Watch closely while purchasing. Before you sign any charge slip, make sure it’s NOT processed in dollars. You always want the charge in local currency. Today many cards don’t charge foreign currency junk fees. AMX doesn’t do this. See Clark’s guide to save while traveling. Survey says, of people age 38 and under, over 90% would consider eloping over a traditional wedding. The reasons: to save money, avoid wedding planning and make the event more personal. Destination weddings are expensive and limit the number who can be there. Helzberg Diamonds offers a wedding service with ring purchase. No hoopla. People used to go to Vegas for a simple, quick and cheap wedding. Now, just go to the mall to Helzberg. 1700 Helzberg employees are ordained / licensed to conduct marriage ceremonies. If you’re planning a post wedding party, don’t mention the word ‘wedding’ to any vendors involved or the cost can triple. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last week, there have been several stories published about why you should stop using a debit card. When you present your card in person, the merchant is protected. But when you shop online the liability moves from the banks to the merchant. The MRC reports that now over 8 in 10 cards have been compromised. If you carry 5 cards, crooks have the goods on 4 and may get around to using them. That exposure includes debit cards, enabling the criminal to strip the funds out of your checking account, leaving you to fight with your bank to get that money back, which is becoming increasingly more difficult. A special warning for small to midsize businesses. Recent press recounts a bust-out by a payroll company. Once this company had a healthy roster of clients, they vanished in the night stealing $35M. A crooked company could destroy your business and/or employees. Ask: How are payrolls protected? What insurance do you have? How do I know I can trust you? Ask these questions before you choose a company that may leave you, your company and workers high and dry. Renting apartments and hotels has not been a bargain in recent years. Apartment rates have been going up since 2011. Hotel rates have risen since 2012. Both sectors have been building like crazy. There's an enormous stream of apartments coming online leading to oversupply and better deals. The hotel sector has been overbuilt at a frenzied pace, even as business travel is slowing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By most estimates, 40% of the food in the U.S. is tossed – from expiration, restaurants, grocers. Some supermarkets route expiring food to food banks, but only a fraction. Some bagel shops sell them at 75% the next day. Some convenience stores sell off pastries at discounts to clear them out. U.S. restaurants have always served larger portions than elsewhere in the world. Our supersize mentality results in leftovers, which often get wasted. Some restaurants give you 2 price points to include a smaller portion. There are simple things we can do to reduce waste. Supermarkets should have an automatic strategy to mark down items at expiration. Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A gaming war is underway between Apple and Google. Both are offering subscriptions. For a monthly fee you get a number of games with no in-game purchases or ads. Apple Arcade is $5 a month, Google PlayPass is $1.99 a month for the first year, and then to $5 reportedly. Check out both. There's a new tax form that makes it easier for senior citizens to file their taxes. Clark’s been talking about interest rates dropping The best rates now are around 2.4% - .5 lower than a couple of months ago. In parts of Europe, savers PAY to save – with negative interest rates. Trump recently suggested the Fed should cut rates to negative levels. But this can lead to extreme economic problems. When the economy slows the demand for borrowing slows. Savings institutions don’t want deposits and cut rates as a deterrent. If they have fewer borrowers, they don’t need the deposits and cut rates on savings. Things would have to get much worse for this to kick in here. It likely won’t come to negative interest rates. But since rates are headed lower, if you have savings you don’t need, lock in the rate in a one year CD. Traditional banks already pay nearly nothing. Don’t save there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re nearing open enrollment. If your employer offers the option of a lower payroll deduction for a high deductible health plan or higher pay deduction for a lower deductible plan – It’s usually best to pay the higher premium, especially if you have health issues. Due to backlash, more employers will offer the option to pay more for a lower out-of-pocket. High deductible plans can be HSA eligible – a tax-advantaged account for medical expenses. Many employees don’t fund their HSA – which allow medical payments with pre-taxed dollars. Then they’re hit with bills they must pay with after-tax dollars. Fund an HSA – it amounts to a 20 to 37% discount on medical bills – depending on your tax rate. It’s important to have disability insurance. You have a 3 times greater chance of becoming disabled than dying during your core working years. Social Security disability is an arduous, lengthy process and is often denied. Take what your employer provides for free and beyond that, buy your own policy. Airline junk fees amount to $35B per year – this is true will all airline except Southwest. American, United and Delta advertise low fares, and the sell you up to fares way higher with all kinds of fees. United alone charges a huge fee for carry on now, taking that cue from the hard discounters. Before you buy, know what all the fees are and what you can handle. Clark and Deals Producer Charis talk about a recent Clarkdeals.com survey and the best deals around the web today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your phone may power up, but if your service is dead, that could be SIM hacking. Crooks have penetrated operations of the big 4 cell provider to hijack service. Because of the Equifax data breach, criminals know who has money, target individuals and steal their phone service via phone to usurp 2-factor authentication text codes so they can penetrate financial accounts. The go in a setup wire instructions to send money overseas where it can’t be reclaimed. While financial companies investigate, you’re broke. Get the anti-fraud guarantees and / or written fraud policy info from your financial institutions. Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T have been scrambling to come up with new preventive procedures. Two carriers have gone to no porting meaning you put in place a standing order not to port your number from that carrier. This is another layer to protect your identity, and existing accounts, whereas credit freeze helps prevent fraudulent new accounts. There’s is a fake grass-roots organization called Free and Fair Market Initiative. The WSJ reports this outfit is principally backed by the Simon Property Group – the big owner of malls around the country, suffering from Amazon taking 6% of retail market share. In addition to Simon, they’re funded by Walmart and Oracle (a web service competitor). There are plenty of reasons to talk about a company legitimately without sullying their reputation falsely because you’re afraid of the competition. Shame on Simon Malls, Walmart and others, funding an effort to slam Amazon. Two years ago there was a scandal involving Vizio TVs spying on viewers – collecting and selling data to aggregators for ad servers. Piercing people’s privacy, Vizio figured out how to monetize viewing. Update: That problem has gotten worse. The average Americans spends 3.5 hours a day in front of a TV. Since Vizio faced minimal consequences, now other TV makers are up to the same thing including Samsung, TCL and LG. These makers account for most of the TVs sold in the US. Princeton came up with software to track how this is done. Data houses link up what you watch with your phone, computer and even purchase activities. Laws designed to protect us are not being enforced. DC’s emersion in senseless partisan battles creates a vacuum that allows for enormous violations of our privacy. Europe’s Right to Be Forgotten gives citizens there the right to shut down data harvesting. When our Congress begins to actually serve the people, we need to have privacy laws in place and enforced that clearly provide protections to the American people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This summer came reports that cell phone carriers have been tracking and selling consumer location info. Lawsuits have been filed against AT&T for this practice, selling to 2 partners without consumers’ knowledge. But AT&T is hiding behind the arbitration clause buried inside consumer contracts, even though they’ve engaged in illegal activity. Clark is diametrically opposed to mandatory arbitration. If both parties are for it, fine. But ALL – 100% of arbitration forums between a business and consumer or employee are rigged in the company’s favor. The U.S. House just last Friday approved a bill outlawing mandatory arbitration – which is fantastic. The Senate remains a question mark. We live in a society where the deck is stacked with unfair rules against consumers and employees. The bigs have too much power and use it to our detriment. Kangaroo court arbitration is a manifestation of that. Hopefully, the Senate will follow the House lead. AT&T broke the law and it’s reprehensible they hide behind arbitration. Arstechnica reports the hack of city & state government payment portals, compromising people’s credit cards in all 50 states. If you use such a government portal – do NOT use a debit or enter your checking account info. If you pay on a gov portal, use a credit card. Credit cards have protections debits do not. Yahoo mail had a massive data breach and settlement info is now coming out for those with Yahoo email between 2013-2016. Watch for your class action notice and make a claim if this affects you. This data is based on the scarcity of buyers post Labor Day, while the number of homes available isn’t much less than the peak season from March to May. In many areas, an agent listing agreement runs for 6 months. Clark sees a more important bargain window November thru mid-January. That 11 week period is potentially the ultimate bargain week for buyers. It’s true there are fewer properties listed for that time period. They may be listed for many reasons – estate sales, job transfers, divorce – people problem sales, which put the seller in a weakened position, outside normal cycles. During the holidays, the number of people looking to buy drops dramatically. But there are still wounded duck properties on the market. Clark believes the greatest opportunity to get a deal is late fall through early winter. That’s when a buyer looking for a bargain will find it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices