The Clark Howard Podcast

Way too often people will raid their 401(k) at some point. They take out a loan, do a hardship withdrawal, or spend it away when changing jobs. The Federal Reserve finds that people withdraw around 40 cents of every dollar put in their 401k - money that WON'T be there for retirement. Pew Research calculated the average amount of a major unexpected expense to be $2,000. Most don't have $2k for emergencies. The WSJ reports more employers are offering personal finance programs, with emergency fund rewards for participating. There are now hundreds of companies offering these programs in order to increase productivity and reduce turnover and stress in employees.Deal or no deal: Private real estate placements. They're hot. Do they have any place in your life? A major U.S. landlord has been accused by the Justice Dept of running a criminal Ponzi scheme. This individual owns properties across 14 states. He raised $110M under the pretense of investment, converted to personal use and sustaining the Ponzi. This is the danger with any offer of private real estate investing. If you put money in, it's a hard time getting it back out. Be aware. Be careful. A potential money-making opportunity: Renting out your car an hour, day or week at a time. Years ago Clark shared how luxury  & sports car owners were listing their vehicles and Turo and Getaround. Now entrepreneurs are buying low mileage, young used cars, building fleets and making a living renting them out via car-sharing app business platforms. The app takes a quarter cut typically. Car rental companies are spending a fortune to get state legislatures to pass laws to essentially outlaw car-sharing apps. Don't invest too much into a business that could disintegrate.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American debt and delinquency are increasing in a time of low unemployment. The Census Bureau data finds Americans buying homes with double the square footage per occupant compared to 2 generations ago. The average home has 1000 square feet per person. The average U.S. home now is around 2500 square feet - up from 1500 not that long ago. That's more square footage to heat, cool and repair. Housing is the number one cost of living factor that affects your future financial security. When home shopping, put needs first and stick to living on less than what you make.Shopping online reveals a big push to get consumers to click to purchase now. Clothing sellers flash purchase reports of what appear to be real-time buys going on. That can be faked. Priceline uses this tactic as well - pushing you to click to buy now because some person just got some hotel deal. Car rentals sites may tell you there's an urgent shortage of available cars so book now!! Know these manipulations exist to counter the problem of abandoned carts. Online retailers are using mind-games to create urgency and/or excitement. Don't let them fool you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check out our new free online movie guide. Ad-supported streaming services heavily featuring movies are a fast-growing part of streaming. Big Five Glories features classic movies, no subscription, no sign-up, lots of free movies. Sony Crackle is a free streaming service, mostly movies from the 80's and recent bombs. Crackle is polarizing because there are ads inserted, but it's free. ClassicCinemaOnline features westerns, classic and independent films.Home HVAC units may need replacing. Rip-off Alert! R22 freon is usable this Summer but will be banned next year. There are reports emerging from around the country that HVAC salespeople are telling customers their AC units will no longer work after this season and they have to buy a new one! Go to the manufacturer's website of your HVAC unit and enter your model number to see if your unit will be obsolete next year. Most any unit manufactured before 1996 - 23 years old or older - will be impacted and will need to be replaced. You can retrofit, but as a general rule, retrofitting is not recommended. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Food company CEO Scott Nash spent a year eating food past its expiration date, tortillas a year past, yogurt months past and heavy cream 2.5 months past its expiration date. Truth: Most expirations dates on medicine and food don't mean ingestion will be dangerous past that date. Meds can be fine years out of date, perhaps less effective but most are not harmful. Expirations dates should be honored on certain foods, including deli meats, unpasteurized cheeses & milk. And tossing picnic foods that have been unrefrigerated too long is still the best advice. Implementing a voluntary system, 2 years ago the food industry came up with a compromise of 2 labels: Best if Used By and Use By - to reduce confusion. Nearly 90% of us toss expired foods. But that's not necessary with most food items. Scott Nash was just fine!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

People have issues with financing, builders, selling, and buying used homes. There are many confusing moving parts. Clark discusses 9 steps to buying a home involving credit, qualifying and shopping for loans, shopping homes, negotiating etc. Local communities have design rules that have crushed affordability for first time home buyers.  In dense urban areas, the value of land drives the cost of homes. So out-of-date rules on land use create many inefficiencies, including affordability. The next wave of urban planning should take into account creating efficiencies that will allow more affordable, smaller single-family housing in metro corridors. Clark's 13-year-old son was all over getting a cell phone protection plan. We're so connected to our devices that when in a cell phone store, we're susceptible to the pitch to buy their junk insurance product. Don't do it. Cell phone insurance is horrible, trashy junk. Don't do it. It's overpriced, and you have a big deductible for what's usually a refurbished replacement phone. Have wide insurance in your life disability. Use a credit card hat provides free cell phone insurance when you use it to pay your monthly cell bill. There's one thing higher and trade education students can do to boost their chances of good-paying jobs after school - work while in school. ​Working in college makes for higher paid grads. Northeastern University grads tend to easily get good jobs after school because working is built into the curriculum. Students alternate semesters with working full-time. The degree takes an extra year, going year-round. New grads have years of experience in their field of study. Having work experience provides maturity so valuable to employers. Clark was a full-time working night student in college and grad school. That work experience served him well, allowing him to retire (the 1st time) at age 31.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back to school sales have begun in much of the country. Overwhelmingly, schools have migrated to Chromebooks as the computer of choice. Chromebooks are easier to manage and maintain and are less vulnerable to viruses. No frills Chromebooks are under $100. If your child is going to a Chromebook based school, your cost will for a really capable one will be around $150. If your child is going to a Windows school - a good Windows laptop will cost around $199. Yet another medical bill shock. In mid and large size communities hospital systems are expanding to gain market control, with generally 3 such systems dominating a metro.  In addition to 'roll-ups' - the buying out of smaller independent hospitals, large hospital systems buy up individual doctor practices. If the doctors choose not to sell-out, they get no referrals. When your doctor's practice is purchased by a hospital, know that is a landmine for your wallet. Clark is not an athlete but is a self-motivated fitness nut. In order to sustain an exercise program, many find they do much better as part of organized group activities. That's a hot trend right now. Many traditional fitness centers are failing (so don't pay big money upfront for a gym membership). Experiential facilities offering group classes are the rage now. This is labor-intensive for a facility and therefore expensive for consumers. If you know you need group motivation, consider your local YMCA as an affordable alternative, where classes are offered for less. Also, all over the country, there are free exercise group activities to be found. Search a site like MeetUp.com to locate a free local meetup group.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's much confusion surrounding life insurance - Who needs it? How much? How do you go about buying it? Only ultra-high income earners might be candidates for whole life. Avoid universal life and variable universal life -  those are recipes for disaster.  Most people should have level term life, wherein the premiums do not change for the term of the insurance. The purpose is the replacement of income to provide for loved ones. Term life only pays in case of death and is easy to comparison shop for and buy. In the midst of seaside nuptials, a distress call occurs. A teen surfer is being dragged out to sea, as 2 others attempt a rescue. Groom Zack Edwards, a Coast Guard member, springs into action. All make it safely back to shore. Link to the video at Clark.com. Often we only get the bad news. Zack Edwards made the decision to risk his life for others.What do you want to achieve? What's important to you? The FIRE movement is getting backlash today against people who've set the goal to retire early by saving maximum money to do what they want in early retirement. Have the goal. Track your spending. Paying with cash makes for more mindful spending. For those who can't get spending under control, living on a cash basis only drastically reduces spending. Make sure to automate savings into your retirement accounts.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The cost of home broadband has gotten so expensive and more consumers are disconnecting home internet in favor of cell phone Wi-Fi. USA Today reports 40% are using cell phone internet exclusively now for service. They're finding that it works out fine.  On cell phones, people don't have to worry about data overages. Some carriers may impose network management for those who've used a lot of data that month and find themselves in congested areas, by crawling service till the next billing cycle. But there's no overage. This is a great alternative to paying huge money to a cable monopoly for home internet service. The simple scam hitting millions of us is an easy rip-off to watch out for.  Consumer warning: What you don't notice on your monthly bills can cost you. While a big bank looked the other way, criminals stole untold hundreds of millions from consumers. The bank had sold all the credit card numbers in their portfolio to crooks who put fake charges through monthly for 3 years. The bank played dumb and 93% of consumers never noticed fake charges hitting them every single month. The worst part is that the criminals are heavily targeting debit card users. If you don't notice immediately a fraudulent debit, you don't have the rights that come with credit cards. The money is gone forever even if your bank acknowledges the fraud. You're out the money. It's up to you every month to look through credit and debit charges. If something doesn't look right - dispute it. Much of the country has seen devastating flooding. Even outside federally designated flood zones there is risk. Facing that risk is vital.  By FEMA's own admission, current flood maps are out of date and incomplete around the country. 3 additional factors: rising sea levels, development replacing ground cover with asphalt and increasingly severe weather patterns - are putting more properties at risk of flooding. The Midwest is suffering mightily from extreme flooding, devastating the lives and finances of many. The terms "1000, 500 and 100 year floods' refer to specific math formulas and are not to be taken literally. Be realistic. If you can see development above you, you could be a sitting duck for flooding, which regular insurance does not cover. Check prices at Floodsmart.gov. If you're in a low risk area, the premiums vs the coverage are reasonable - a few hundred a year in a low risk area for around $250,000 in coverage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The app Tinder has changed the way you pay for its services because Google Play charges apps a WAY too much 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

Solar prices have plummeted. More consumers should strongly be considering purchasing whole-home solar; Almost 20% of kids carry a credit card. That is incredibly dangerous; You should strongly consider changing banks.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The T-Mobile merger is likely to be approved very soon. And it's not all that bad as it turns out; Don't take "anonymous" surveys that your work sends you. You aren't really anonymous; Clark tells you when to call customer service to avoid waiting forever for help.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Putting in fake grass could be better for the environment and for your wallet; The CFPB has created a co-branded card with H&R Block. The CFPB is siding with businesses now instead of consumers; It's really hard to find cheap contact lenses. Clark tells you where to shop.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clark tells you what you need to know about the Equifax data-breach settlement; One school district threatens parents over unpaid lunch money; Consumer Reports rates the best (and worst) payment appsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google's Chrome browser is tracking you more than you realize. Clark gives thoughts on searching and browsing and not being tracked; 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 Swedes are getting microchip implants to pay for things; Marriott has been sued over astronomically high and deceptive resort fees; Check out this prescription drug tool that could save you moneyLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices