The Clark Howard Podcast

Problems in the energy industry are working to consumer advantage. Natural gas is in oversupply and at wholesale, the price has been driven down. But for consumers, in states where savings are passed on to the ratepayer, there’s a direct benefit. In some states, you select a natural gas provider. Those states usually offer the option to lock in a fixed rate for a period. There will be a strong advantage in doing that before the cold weather season kicks in. This Fall is a great time to lock in a rate for your home or business.Check out this awesome deal for Disney's new streaming service.Cruise lines are changing itineraries to stay out of harm’s way during hurricane season. Travelers can be left out the money and no trip. If the weather could be a factor, for example, a fall cruise out of a FL port or a Caribbean resort booking, you can buy a trip insurance policy allowing you to cancel for any reason for a partial refund. These policies cost more, but most others don’t cover weather interruptions.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Individual discount codes are hit or miss these days, because they’ve become more personalized. Online sellers are using algorithms to target individuals specifically with tailored coupon offers, often specific to that calendar day. It’s a code only for you, only for today. This started with electronics sellers and has been spreading. These codes pierce privacy so consumers need to decide if they’re worth it. Also, it’s important to hide your identity while shopping. Online sellers have become more sophisticated and give convenience shoppers potentially higher prices. Shopping anonymous may yield a lower price.Ford knowingly built 600,000 vehicles with defective transmissions. The Detroit Free Press published a long-form investigative series on this. Whistleblowers and leaked documents offer proof Ford sold Focus and Fiesta models that were potentially dangerous and routinely required costly repairs due to defective transmissions. For owners, thanks to the Detroit Free Press, Ford will offer extended warranties to 600,000 owners of these vehicles. They will repair and reimburse transmission repairs for 2014-16 Focus models and 2014-15 Fiestas.We’re numb with data breach fatigue, but Marketwatch reports how brutal and multi-layered ID theft can be, profiling one case.  This couple faced $25,000 in fraudulent charges and while dealing with that, the criminals doubled down, creating a change of address with the USPS. In addition to unknown accounts being opened, this couple’s mail vanished. It took 2 months to unwind this at the postal service so they could again receive their mail. In the interim, despite their best efforts, they missed some bills and late pays damaged their credit further. 1. Freeze your credit. Freeze your kids’ credit. A credit freeze would have prevented this. 2. Have a system for keeping track of all your bills, a list on paper or reminder system via on an online calendar.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oil and in turn gas prices which were expected to be headed higher now, are in fact  lower. AAA reports as we move into the Labor Day holiday period, gas prices will average .30 cents less per gallon than one year ago. Traffic will be the problem this Labor Day holiday.  Also, electric vehicle purchases are a small part of the market but enough people are buying to affect the demand equation for gasoline, and that is helping to moderate prices. There will still be ups and downs based on temporary factors, but the trends for low gas prices are positive.A 3 year investigation resulted in a federal bust. Be on your guard for the techniques these scammers used – this won’t be the last criminal ring employing them. The number one scheme here: online romance scams - an active fraud method for at least 15 years. This time, the fraudsters were pretending to be U.S. military personnel.  No matter how much you may have fallen for someone online, don’t believe the story until you’re face-to-face and know who you’re dealing with. Criminals exploit the military or anything else to exploit your affection as a gateway to your wallet.A WSJ investigation has found unsafe and counterfeit sales on Amazon.  Their intense digging uncovered safety issues. Most Amazon sellers are third party, much like online marketplace eBay. Amazon muddies the waters by including many 3rd party items as Amazon Choice or Prime. Some kids’ toys contained led, and counterfeits were found. There’s hazard for adults as well such as counterfeit motorcycle helmets. Amazon is selling items that have been banned, including mats that are a suffocation danger to children. 4 out of 10 Amazon Choice kids’ items failed federal safety standards. Amazon sells 3 different ways: Listing for a third party, fulfilling for a third party and direct selling by Amazon themselves which they control. It’s hard to tell.  Amazon has a broken system right now. Don’t allow yourself to be harmed. Follow the steps to identify the actual seller. Important: Amazon does NOT stand behind anything sold on its site that is NOT sourced by them. eBay – also a listing service, is more customer friendly to buyers. Know that Amazon is not necessarily a safe place to purchase until they clean up their act.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clark's neighborhood recently got 1gig internet service. He signed up. Speed tests show that they are not getting 1 gig. The WSJ did an in-depth testing of home internet service and found that people do not need ultra-fast internet. They couldn't find a home circumstance requiring more than 100megabits per second. There are specialized needs for more robust internet. Some consume massive internet video on their phones without ultra-fast internet from their cell carrier. Clark plans to cut costs and reduce his home internet speed.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

College students and their parents are being ripped off by the very colleges they’re attending. Banks approach universities to create co-branded campus debit cards, promising kickbacks to the school for every student that signs up for their debit. The fees on these co-branded kick-back cards are 2 to 3X normal. Meanwhile, most colleges have credit unions available to faculty, staff, administrators, and students – offering great deals and typically no to low fees. There is NO requirement you use the co-branded card and that behind these cards are dirty money kickbacks paid to the college. Nike has launched a kids’ shoe subscription service. These plans are $20 to $50 a month - $240 to $600 a year for a Nike shoe subscription. Availability has been filled and now there’s a waitlist. Parents, don’t do this. Don’t give your kids the message that brands matter, setting them up for lifelong problems with money.Facebook’s rep has been heavily tarnished over privacy issues. They say they’re addressing the problem giving users new control over personal info, at least in part. They’re launching a new tool – ‘Off-Facebook Activity’ to give users the ability to see what info has been collected and sold to third parties. You’ll be able to manage that data, control how it’s used, disconnect history tracking and short circuit sharing with third parties. Facebook is rolling this out in Europe and South Korea to work the bugs out, promising availability in the U.S. in a couple of months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 737 Max remains grounded as Boeing struggles to find fixes. The FAA, having lost its credibility from lack of oversight of the Max, is now relying on the recommendations of a world panel, with no service date in sight. This affects travelers as airfares are higher because of this and Southwest, the largest operator of 737s in the world, is now discontinuing 20 unprofitable routes, moving those aircraft to Hawaiian routes. This has triggered great competitive deals from the west coast to Hawaii again, and higher fares in the markets Southwest is leaving.The MoviePass database contains 160+ million records and has been breached. TechCrunch reports the database was not password protected. The guess is 60,000 records contained credit card data. Past subscribers need to watch activity on the cards they used with MoviePass. If you used a debit, the risk is great. Consider getting a new debit card number.As the economy slows and interest rates go down, a rare saving opportunity has re-emerged; Series I Savings Bonds. When you buy bonds, you have to own them for at least a year and can hold them for up to 30 years, earning interest. With a slowing economy and interest rates headed down, Series I Savings Bonds are again a good place to stash cash. Series I Savings Bonds pay a .5% base rate + the rate of inflation, reset every 6 months, making the current rate 1.9% - not huge but as rates drop, you don’t have to worry about falling behind inflation, remaining ahead by half a point. You can purchase up to $10K in these bonds yearly, per person with a $50 minimum.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

iBuyers are the real estate organizations that can buy homes to simplify the process. They have big money behind them to accomplish this and include Offerpad, OpenDoor, Knock and others including Zillow. In addition, traditional agencies are entering into alliances with iBuyers. MarketWatch reports Keller Williams is partnering with Offerpad in 12 cities. These organizations are experimental. Their business models keep changing. Clark sold a rental condo recently and listed with an iBuyer (Offerpad) after talking with several. The process has interesting wrinkles. Knock is working with builders and provides the bridge between selling and buying. All base their buy offer on the condition of your home. They’ll offer less to do improvements with their contractors for a quick turnaround. The iBuyer process has its limitations. It works well in the South and the West suburban communities with comparable homes from large production builders. This doesn’t work in older communities, in the NE U.S. iBuyers concentrate in the middle of the market. They may never serve certain markets. Traditional agencies will likely be expanding their services aligned with iBuyer business models. If you’re putting your home on the market, get quotes from iBuyers if available, along with traditional agents. You get fair market value info from their various algorithms.The NYT has investigated continuing egregious practices by Wells Fargo. This bank can’t get out of its own way, despite their ads indicating reform. Their latest outrage: arbitrarily closing accounts, generating overdrafts on auto payments. These fees are a huge profit center for them, and costs customers huge fees. $1500 was the damage on one account. WF then puts their customers/victims on the bad list for the banking industry, making it hard to impossible for them to even bank elsewhere. Wells Fargo was defiant in their response to the NYT. They’re not close to becoming customer focused or honest. Beware.Laura from Team Clark was an identity theft victim and has experience navigating the process. Laura went to the Equifax Claim site and was indeed eligible to file, as her id theft about 2 years ago, was a result of their data breach. Someone opened a credit card in her name, applied for multiple loans, cell service and more. Damage control took weeks of phone calls. Since, Laura has frozen her credit and monitors it with Credit Karma. Her credit has bounced back by now. She considers herself lucky they didn’t do more damage. They could have. Many expecting to receive compensation won’t receive much. Using the link at Clark.com, Laura applied for the $120, but so many have filed claims, the awards won’t be that much. But problem solved because she worked hard to advocate for herself, and fortunate more damage didn’t occur. Laura says FREEZE YOUR CREDIT NOWLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The student loan forgiveness program has failed, denying those in the public service profession forgiveness after 10 years of service in good faith. Now, the appointee in charge of protecting student borrowers’ interests comes to that job in the federal government from a lending company so please remember it's up to you to fight for your rights.  You have got to know the rules and make sure you’re doing all required under the federal student loan program. Document every payment.New lower price on Disney admission! The only requirement: Enter Noon or later. Accommodations in Central FL are at off-season prices as well.As companies move away from using SS numbers as identifiers since the Equifax breach, more and more are using our phone numbers as identifiers. More databases are tracking us based on our phone numbers. Many loyalty programs require phone numbers.  It’s easy now to use an alternative number to keep your main one more private. Sign up for Google Voice to receive a distinct phone number. This can be a replacement identifier. The Burner app provides a continuing stream of different numbers. A NYT tech writer investigated what info could be gleaned about him from his phone number. It was massive – full dossier – all from databases using phone numbers. Personal safety and privacy are tied to your phone number. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the ACSI, pay TV, internet service providers, and traditional phone companies are the 3 industries that rank the worst in customer service. What happens when you call customer service? You go through a phone tree maze. Many require you to speak, so they can use AI software that patterns your voice to gauge your patience, track you through caller ID, check your profitability index score, and answer you call (or not)  accordingly. Clark has found attempting customer service via phone is only effective if you’re prepared to fire a company and have your next provider in mind. Often you only get results when customer retention is engaged because they get that you’re leaving. Always being willing to walk is key to getting the customer service you’re looking for. 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

Housing prices have gone up way beyond income. In an effort to jumpstart home buying for those in their 20s & 30s, the Feds are offering a new FHA loan for first-time condo buyers, with a 3.5 down and lower credit standards. Know the condo market is more volatile than the single-family home market, with values going up or down more quickly, creating more short-term risk. Ideally, go into a condo purchase using Clark’s rule of thumb if possible, with the intention of living there 10 years or longer. Otherwise you should rent instead, despite this new FHA financing.On the heels of a similar disgrace in PA – stripping consumer protections from teacher retirement plans, Texas now has one of the worst law changes for teachers retirement in the country. Teachers are shunted into retirement plans vastly inferior to 401Ks or IRAs, called 403b’s. These plans have poor disclosure and massive fees. In Texas, teachers can be charged massive fees on 403bs, typically 40 times that of a company 401K. The U.S. is the only developed country where consumers continue to buy primarily brand names. Roughly 1 in 4 items tend to be store brands vs nationally advertised brands. Well-targeted national ads are effective. Americans spend massive money buying brand names. That market has been eroded some, so brand manufacturers are pushing up their prices to generate higher profits. It’s working. Store brands historically have been 30% cheaper and that gap is getting larger, even as store brands are improving in quality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bond rates are at all time record lows for 30 year federal treasury bonds, a strong signal of coming recession. If the economy slows or declines, workers are impacted with less overtime, reduced hours, pay freezes etc. Think through how you can be more careful with spending. Take the time to look through your bills, trim costs and build some breathing room. Things happen and we need to be prepared for surprise expenses – medical, home, vehicles etc. Investors, if you’re going to need your investment funds in the next 24 months, keeping it in stocks may not be the best choice. Otherwise, continue to contribute to your retirement plan as normal. According to the CDC, vaping has gone up 50% in one year among middle school students, 80% among high school students. Juul voluntarily discontinued over-the-counter sales of flavored juices attracting teens, so other companies are filling that void. Be aware of the unknown health risks. Vaping is a nicotine delivery system that can create lifetime addiction. Parents are encouraged to have continuing conversations with kids about the dangers, because remember, they think they’re invincible.Cell phone plan deals!  AT&T is offering a year’s service for $300 per line, only at AT&T.com – unlimited talk & text and 8 gigs of data per month. MintMobile.com offers 6 months of service for the price of 3 at $60 for unlimited talk & text + 8 gigs = $10 a month – on T-Mobile’s network. Verizon prepaid is $35 a month with autopay for unlimited talk & text and 6 gigs of data per month. Sprint’s Unlimited Kickstart plans offers unlimited talk, text & data for $25 a month.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Movie Pass and Sinemia are both effectively out of business. But in the process they taught the film theater industry that if you offer a deal, many will take advantage of it. The movie industry has faced stagnation and steady decline with fewer people going to movie theaters. AMC was the first to offer a subscription through Stubs A-List – around $20 month for 3 movies a week.  Regal’s program is $18 - $24 per month – offers unlimited movies! Only subscribe if you’ll really use the subscription.Zombie debt reaches into the past to cause havoc in the present and future.  Rogue collectors buy very old debt for a fraction of a penny on the dollar.  Old debts can’t be sued against. But crooks in the industry are contacting people and conning them with trick offers. They suggest you pay $1 or another nominal sum to settle an old debt. BUT in many states, as soon as you do that, the debt is treated as new – and you can be sued against it again. You no longer have a statute of limitations protections. Never agree to any partial payment against an old debt.Nicole from Team Clark has a relative who got a pitch in a retail parking lot. Her sister-in-law was approached in a Kroger parking lot. The person noticed dents in her car and offered to fix them for $160 – far less than a body shop would charge. He said he had the equipment in his car, was off early – let her know he was a family man. Nicole's sister-in-law noticed his car was beat up, and politely declined. This scheme has been around at least 10 years. NEVER fall for a parking lot pitch to fix a car. Just say no.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Credit card interest rates are at an all-time high. At a time when interest cost to banks is very low for what they borrow to lend on credit cards,  they’re charging the highest rates ever. Users don’t worry about rates likely because they don’t intend to carry balances. Meanwhile, if you’ve financed a vehicle at a bank or dealership, now there’s an opportunity to refi for a much lower interest rate through a credit union. With the trade related reduction in interest rates, this is a side benefit. Home refi opportunities are great again. Shop around. With good credit, you can refi a 30 into the low 3s, or move to a 15 year loan for around 2.34%.With all the publicity surrounding the Equifax settlement, people are doing searches to find out more and ending up at spoof sites. There are scam sites taking personal info. If you are interested in the settlement, go to ftc.gov/Equifax.  Nearly 1 in 5 American households have cut the pay TV cord. Streaming packages generally range from $20 to $60 a month. Philo and Sling are the bargains. (Sling TV is a service of Dish – always priced favorably). Coming this fall: the new Disney bundle, including the Disney film and video library, ESPN+ and a stripped down version of Hulu for $13 a month. Consider free streaming. Ad supported streaming is the fastest growing form of video content. Roku offers massive free content.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Complaints against American Airlines have been filed for their refusal to accommodate passengers with nut or any food allergies. The DOT has determined American was putting people in harm's way. Now airlines are required to accommodate those with food allergies, which comprise 1.5% of the population. While other airlines have done away with nut snacks, American continues to serve them,  allowing pre-boarding to wipe down seats for designated passengers. They need to take the next step and stop serving nuts. 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

Social security hacking is a rare but ongoing crime, wherein a criminal hijacks someone's social security benefit, convincing the authorities of an address and bank account change. Impersonating you, the criminal starts receiving your benefit. Criminals will also apply before you do - just in advance of your 62nd birthday, while you may be planning to take the benefit years later.  Set up an account at MySocialSecurity.gov long before you're eligible to receive the benefit. If an address change is attempted, you get an alert letter. This account allows you to monitor your benefit. Pay attention to alerts and letters. And before you ever call social security - verify the number given to avoid ss scams. It's back-to-school time for many districts in the country and for most, the morning bell rings way too early. The early bell is a convenience for working parents, but it's not what's best for kids. Adolescent circadian rhythms have been studied. Kids this age are night owls for whom getting enough sleep is critical to development. They perform better if school starts later. Some school districts have made the adjustment. One district at a time..... Family and individual phone plans -  / Clark.com Cell Phones  /  ClarkDeals-Phone PlansLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices