07.31.26 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Property Taxes

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast — Episode Summary

Episode: 07.31.26 "Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Property Taxes"

Date: July 31, 2026
Host: Clark Howard | Co-Host: Krista

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Overview

In this episode, Clark Howard dives into two core segments: his weekly "Clark Stinks" where listeners critique and correct his advice, and a deep-dive into the current uproar over skyrocketing property taxes across the United States. As always, Clark maintains his focus on empowering listeners to save money, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off, referencing both direct listener experiences and the broader legislative actions around real estate taxation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Clark Stinks: Listener Feedback and Corrections (01:05–16:30)

Prescription Savings Overlook: GoodRx Highlighted

• Listener Ed from Massachusetts points out Clark didn’t mention GoodRx in recent advice on saving on prescription drugs.
  • Clark responds: GoodRx is a key tool, especially at chain pharmacies (02:47).

    "GoodRx can be an enormous price saver." — Clark (02:47)

Bill Pay System & Check Security Clarifications

• Ann from California (and several others) clarify Clark’s comments about bank bill pay systems and risk exposure.
  • The Uniform Commercial Code generally protects consumers from having to pay for altered/forged checks, but action must be timely (03:07).

    “You can't sit on your rights...the problems come when a check is swiped from the mail and you are blissfully unaware...” — Clark (04:26)

529 Plan Penalties & Recent Legislative Changes

• Lisa in Indiana corrects Clark’s explanation of 529 withdrawal penalties.
  • The 10% penalty applies only to earnings, not contributions.
  • Congress now allows up to $35,000 to be rolled into a Roth IRA, easing parent concerns (05:52–06:27).

    “The ability to turn that into Roth money up to $35,000 is a huge safety valve.” — Clark (06:27)

Airport Travel Habits: Checked Bags vs. Carry-Ons

• Tim in Michigan argues Clark’s aversion to checked bags is too rigid.
  • Shares strategies for traveling actively with checked bags and no lost luggage issues (07:21).

    “I am very, very rigid about this and I should be more flexible in life. That's what my wife says.” — Clark (08:32)

Tax Records Retention and Fraud

• Joe in Wyoming alerts listeners to unlimited IRS lookback on fraud.
  • Clark notes digital copies are sufficient and the personal risk is low for non-fraudulent filers (09:03).

    “There is no statute of limitations with the IRS on fraud.” — Clark (09:39)

Debate: Peer-to-Peer Payments — Zelle, Venmo, and Checks

• Ben in Texas calls Clark out for Zelle “fear-mongering,” arguing Zelle is more secure than checks if your mobile/email security is tight (11:00).
• Michelle in Arizona notes you can set up segregated bank accounts for Zelle just as Clark recommends for Venmo (13:17).
  • Clark’s core message: For all payment apps, the risk comes from linking them to your main account at the same financial institution, due to cross-default clauses (14:24).
• Eric in North Carolina argues Zelle isn’t automatically activated — users have to opt in (14:51).
• Clark acknowledges improvements, points to continued reports of unauthorized Zelle use, and underscores the lack of “normal consumer protections” for peer-to-peer payment errors (16:30).

  “With any of the payment apps, you don’t have the normal consumer protections...if you accidentally enter the wrong payee information and that money goes, there’s no way to recapture it.” — Clark (16:30)

Memorable Listener Moment

• John in Oklahoma sends in a fortune cookie that says "save more, spend less," adding “and avoid getting ripped off” — a fun nod to Clark’s mantra (16:11).

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2. Property Taxes: Sticker Shock, Revolt, and How to Appeal (19:49–26:13)

Historical Context and Public Backlash

• Clark sets the stage with the story of California’s Prop 13 (1979), the first major property tax revolt.
• Notes recent rapid real estate appreciation has triggered reassessments resulting in massive tax hikes (19:49–21:00).

  “The area that their Habitat home was in gentrified, and the property taxes...reached a point where [owners] could no longer afford to stay in that home.” — Clark (20:24)

The Fundamentals of Property Taxation

• U.S. model is rooted in English common law, taxing property owners to fund local services.
• The flaw: Property tax hikes can force out elderly or fixed-income owners (21:00–21:30).

Modern Reform Attempts and Widespread Revolt

• Some states, like Florida, are considering abolishing property taxes on primary residences due to public pressure (21:10).
• Experiments to reform property taxes are happening nationwide.

Key Takeaways for Challenging Your Assessed Value

• Assessors often “get it wrong,” especially in older, diverse neighborhoods.
• If your new tax bill seems inflated, APPEAL—deadlines are short.
  • Gather comparables—recent sales, neighbor appraisals.
  • Avoid emotional or political rants during appeals; focus on facts (24:00).
  • If local property values have fallen since your assessment was set, use that in your argument.
  • Discrepancies in appraisals among similar houses in the same neighborhood are valid appeal grounds (25:20).

    “You sit on your rights, you lose them if you miss the appeal deadline. Never, never ever.” — Clark (24:01)

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3. Additional Listener Questions & Success Stories

Smart Real Estate Investing with Strong Financial Backing (26:13–29:41)

• Jeff from Florida: Plans to buy land/tiny home for Airbnb, flexible pro-forma with minimal debt.
  • Clark suggests paying cash given Jeff’s strong savings, cautioning against borrowing for such a manageable purchase (27:30).
  • Clark stresses being prepared for local law changes impacting short-term rentals.

Sneaky App Subscription Practices by Big Tech (29:41–32:05)

• Greg in California highlights deceptive subscription prompts in Amazon Music and Uber, causing accidental charges (29:41).

  “Why do these mega companies have to be so underhanded?” — Greg (30:17)

  • Clark confirms this sneaky practice is becoming widespread and emphasizes vigilance.

Advanced Credit Card Churning (32:05–35:09)

• Gino in Missouri: Shares a 15-month saga of opening/closing cards for bonuses, raising his credit score, and banking cash via promotions. His FICO rises from 825 to 832 despite many new accounts (32:05).
  • Clark’s guidance: This approach works if (and only if) you pay off cards in full each month.
  • Clark and his family play this “points” game, lamenting how confusing this gets for his wife.

  “It’s kind of cleansing when you cycle through, get your bonuses, switch to another card...If this is the game the banks want to play, you gotta know how to win.” — Clark (35:10)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “You can’t sit on your rights...the problems come when a check is swiped from the mail and you are blissfully unaware...” — Clark (04:26), on paper checks and bank dispute timelines.
• “Save more, spend less, avoid getting ripped off — that’s what I want you to do.” — Clark (16:30), reiterating his core mission.
• “Just because you get a notice saying your assessment is up 40% (or 50%!)... do not forget about it. If the numbers are truly inaccurate, you appeal.” — Clark (24:01)
• Listener Tim to Clark: “Sometimes you need to think a little bit outside the lounge.” (08:20), on travel flexibility.

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Important Timestamps

• Clark Stinks Segment Start: 01:05
• GoodRx Prescription Advice: 02:24
• Bill Pay & Paper Checks Discussion: 03:07
• 529 Withdrawal Clarification: 05:52
• Checked Luggage Debate: 07:21
• Tax Records & IRS Fraud: 09:03
• Peer-to-Peer Payment Debate (Zelle/Venmo): 11:00–16:30
• Clark’s Mantra in a Fortune Cookie: 16:11
• Property Tax Revolt & Advice: 19:49–26:13
• Listener Real Estate Purchase Strategy: 26:13–29:41
• App Subscription Traps: 29:41
• Credit Card Bonus Game: 32:05–35:10

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Tone & Takeaways

Clark remains straightforward, a touch self-deprecating, listener-focused and deeply practical. He’s receptive to corrections, encourages vigilance and appeals when overcharged or overtaxed, and stands firm on the importance of understanding risks—whether with new payment platforms, property assessments, or points-earning credit cards.

For listeners, this episode delivers:

• A template for challenging property tax bills
• Nuanced warnings and strategies for safer payments and subscription management
• Reassurance that the “save more, spend less” mentality isn’t just a motto, but a lifelong practice—one that continues to grow his loyal fanbase

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Transcript

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[Clark Howard]

It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. Happy Friday. It's time for me to get taken to school in our Clark Stink segment. And later, a lot of people are receiving property tax reassessments or appraisals. And yeah, you got one 40%. I got one 51%.

[Krista]

And not a decrease.

[Clark Howard]

No, actually, on a rental property, I did get a decrease.

[Krista]

Wow.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah, that was pleasant. But many of us aren't having a pleasant experience. There's a lot of sticker shock. I want to give you general advice about this because this is something that's leading to anger and in some places, revolt around the country. What do you do? How do you handle it? But right now, without further ado, it's time to hear where I am stinking it up. I should have never encouraged you to speak. You almost think I'm pretty stupid.

[Krista]

You should be ashamed of yourself. Well, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong.

[Clark Howard]

Maybe you're right, pal.

[Krista]

All right, we're going to start with Ed. Ed's from Massachusetts, and he sent this Clark Stinkson. Clark, thanks for the information you provided about how to save money on prescription drugs. However, you did not mention one other source, Goodrx. I have saved hundreds of dollars using Goodrx not only for my prescriptions, but also for my pet prescriptions. Please let everyone know.

[Clark Howard]

So, thank you. We've talked about Goodrx off and on for years, and I guess recently I've not Mentioned it, but yes, the difference, particularly if you're at a traditional high price pharmacy chain, Goodrx can be an enormous price saver.

[Krista]

And then a few came in about using your bank's bill pay system. More than a few. But I'm just gonna read a couple here. Ann in California says when Clark said that if bill pay sends out a paper check and it gets alter could be responsible for the inflated amount he smelled like, to quote an old song, a dead skunk in the middle of the road. Per my new boyfriend AI, you're generally not responsible for the stolen funds if the bank bill paycheck is altered under the Uniform Commercial Code. The UCC banks can only charge your account for properly payable items. Altered or forged checks are not properly payable, meaning the bank must usually reimburse your account. I also I check with Schwab and their bill pay sends out checks with their routing numbers, not mine. On the other hand, thanks to Clark and your team for making me a little richer every day. I'm just going to read that one. So. But there were other people who just said like that with their credit union, they don't get the money taken out right away when the check is sent, that when the check is cashed, it's taken out.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah. So let me go back to a prior podcast, a YouTube show. We had someone who was really upset that their bank takes the money out the second they issue the paper check. And even if the check is never cashed or never received by the recipient, they think the bill's been paid. And then they get a notice later saying they didn't pay their bill. What's up? And bill pay works differently at different institutions. And you mentioned one of the things I'm glad Schwab changed. It no longer refers to your account number, just as Ann said. And so you don't have to worry that the criminal has your account number, transit numbers, all that from the bottom of that check, which is a big benefit. Here's the problem that keeps happening though. Check gets stolen on the way. You don't know it's been stolen. There may be a significant period of time that lapses. And by the time you're aware under banking regulations, your right to dispute is gone. So the UCC you're right. But also you can't sit on your rights. And so the problems come when a check is swiped from the mail and you are blissfully unaware that that check's been stolen. And the problems reverberate later. Paper checks are a problem, which is why in country after country, paper checks are almost never used or not used at all. We are an unusual outlier on this.

[Krista]

Lisa in Indiana says this isn't completely stinky, but a bit misleading on the topic of 529 penalties. The 10% penalty is only applicable to the earnings, not the contributions which can be taken out if not need. So if the account grew an average of 8% over the years, you're only paying 10% on the 8% that it grew, not the entire withdrawal.

[Clark Howard]

True.

[Krista]

And if your child gets a scholarship, you can take that amount out of the 529 without penalty as well. Please try not to discourage parents because of this small penalty. Love the show. I've learned so much over the years.

[Clark Howard]

Lisa, thank you. And really the great news and the reason Congress changed the statute and allowed money not needed for college to be transferred tax free and penalty free into that child's Roth IRA as an adult eliminated the biggest objection that parents had to putting money in a 529 account is what if my kid doesn't go to college? What if my kid scholarships out? What if I don't have another kid who's interested that I can transfer the beneficiary designation to the ability to turn that into Roth Money up to $35,000 is a huge safety valve and a great way to encourage people to contribute to a 529. Even if you're not sure your kid, your young child's going to go to

[Krista]

college, Tim in Michigan says you smell like a weary traveler wearing three changes of clothes pulling his carry on to the nearest airport lounge. My wife and I traveled 20 plus a year and enjoy being active. We always check our main luggage and bring on board only small backpacks with some essentials. This gives us great freedom on layover flights to get steps in. At Denver, a lap around Terminal C gets you 2,000 steps. At Chicago's Midway, we often leave the airport and walk the pleasant surrounding neighborhood. Recently, on a five hour layover we took the L train to downtown Chicago, got in a four mile walk along the lakefront and returned in plenty of time to get through TSA and make our connecting flight. None of this is possible if we follow your advice and avoid checked luggage at pretty much all costs. Instead, travel days would be hours of sitting and snacking. We've never had a problem with lost or delayed luggage in more than six years of heavy traveling.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Wow.

[Krista]

Someday we might and we'll have insurance coverage for that. Anyway, I enjoy your podcast, but sometimes you need to think a little bit outside the lounge.

[Clark Howard]

Tim that's a funny thing because I've got like a visceral hatred of standing in line to check a bag, then being at the carousel and you watch it go around and around and around and then if there's a flight problem, you can't change to another flight if you've already checked a bag. There's no doubt that I am very, very rigid about this and I should be more flexible in life. That's what my wife says.

[Krista]

Joe in Wyoming says Clark stinks more than my three pugs when they're overdue for a bath. One tinkles on himself Too stinky. So when the reason Recently a person wrote in about keeping tax records for X amount of time. Clark forgot to mention that the IRS can go back indefinitely for fraud related reasons, so any person committing fraud needs to keep supporting documentation forever. Sounds funny, but who knows what could be investigated as fraud? So it's best to keep everything for every year until the end of time, including after death for any inquiries made to the estate.

[Clark Howard]

All right, you're 100% right. There is no statute of limitations with the IRS on fraud. And occasionally you'll be asked for records that go way past six prior tax years because of suspicion of fraud. But the cases where that has happened are so crazy rare that if you can have a digital copy of the older data that you've scanned in anyway, that would be a substitute for keeping stacks and stacks and stacks of paper returns. That and all the supporting document. Now I have my tax returns going back to I think the 1970s, but the substantiation with it for various things on the return, I've only kept those for the last seven tax years and then I purged and on like that. So I'm taking a risk. You're right, but to me the risk level is low enough and I'm not engaged in fraud. Anyway, I know that you're guilty till proven innocent, but I'm not that worried about that because I do have all those returns.

[Krista]

All right, I'm going to finish up with a few emails about what you call big bad Zell and objections to your opinion on that. What I'd like to do is each one I read is about a different opinion on different things. So maybe just respond to that specific thing between each state. Does that make sense? Okay, here's Ben in Texas. Oh my gosh, I was screaming at the phone when I heard that troop leader subjecting her whole troop to such inane and inconvenient payment methods. She's resorting to using checks because of Clark's fear mongering regarding Zelle and the other peer to peer payment methods. In fact, checks are an order of magnitude less secure than Zelle. Please stop. And stop with the nonsense about Zelle being embedded into your checking account. It has little to do with the older security concerns raised by those in the know. The issue stems from Zelle not having its own account or user id. Like, say, Venmo, a Zelle user is identified by a phone number or email address. With SIM hijacking or a compromised email, a criminal can redirect a payment to another account they've opened at a bank tied to the stolen phone number or email. The banks have addressed this issue by notifying the old account holder about a new account being linked with the contact info through communication methods that could possibly compromise phone number or email, like messaging through the website or an app. So the problem is not with Zelle, it's with SIM hijacking and email hacking that puts other financial accounts at risk of a hack as well. If you have SIM locked and your email secured with a unique long password, you have nothing to worry about. Please stop spreading outdated information and subjecting people to unnecessary inconvenience. Your goal is to improve people's lives, not mess them up.

[Clark Howard]

Thank you very much for that. Okay, so given a choice between me handing a troop leader or, you know, somebody collecting money for a teacher or whatever using big bad sell or writing a check, I'd rather use Zelle. I said it because paper checks are the greatest danger of all. There's a number of things that the banks that own Zelle could have done to make Zelle a safer place to do business. And now everything they're doing is trying to mitigate the risk that they've created by rushing Zelle out without proper consumer protections. So anyway, I'll stop right there. Let's hear the next one.

[Krista]

This is from Michelle in Arizona. You do not like Zelle, but you're a big Venmo fan and you said in your recent podcast that you and your wife needed to put more money in Venmo, so it's a little extra work. You also mentioned that one can set up a separate account with their bank for Venmo. Well, one could do the same with Zelle and have it linked to a certain account with their bank and not an account that has a lot of money in it. Thank you for your podcast. My husband and I have been longtime listeners.

[Clark Howard]

Michelle, thank you. I'm so glad you posted that so first of all, with the Venmo, we have a separate checking account at a separate institution that we deposit the money in. If you're going to use l, if you're going to use Venmo, if you're going to use Cash app, do not set up the separate bank account at the same institution you have your primary funds at. Because all the banks and I think most of the credit unions, if not all, have what are known as cross default clauses. If somebody were to successfully raid and get to the payment app and start pulling money out over and over again and then it overdraws an account you have at a bank under the terms of service with your bank, they can then go attack your main account and start pulling money out of it. And it's what's known as a cross default clause. So the segregated account has to be at a separate financial institution than where you do your primary banking or credit unioning. It's got to be a better phrase than credit unioning.

[Krista]

Eric in North Carolina says the information you give about Zelle just isn't totally true. You consistently yammer on about how it is embedded in your checking account. It is available to activate and use in your checking account. It is not automatically activated for use. It cannot be used until you go in and activ. You have to enroll using an email address or cell phone number. At that time they send you a code. You have to verify. At that point you can send or receive money. The second you're done, you can deactivate it to use it again. The entire process would have to be completed again. I've done it myself multiple times. It's not hard. I appreciate all you do. The entire story is just not being told here.

[Clark Howard]

So, Eric, I may have been giving old information, but we or people didn't realize what they'd done. But we've heard from consumers over and over and over again who didn't even know what Zelle was, lost money through the Zelle app that they had not been using and they had not, to their knowledge, personally activated Zelle on their account. So there may be additional barriers that financial institutions or the one you use have in place to prevent unknown activation of Zelle on their account.

[Krista]

John in Oklahoma. I'm going to finish up with this fun one. Clark doesn't stink, of course, but I wanted to share the contents of my fortune cookie tonight. It literally says save more, spend less. No joke. And as I'm reading it, I added, and avoid getting ripped off. Thank you for sending that in, John.

[Clark Howard]

That's funny. Yeah. So it is funny that I see our phrase that we've used for decades, I see it pop up different places now and I will see all three pop up in an article or whatever. So I don't care where it comes from, I don't care who duplicates it. The whole thing is creating a mentality of that save more, spend less, avoid getting ripped off. Because that's what I want you to do. And by the way, all of you who have contacted us continuously for years passionate about Zelle, both the negatives and positives of Zelle. I really appreciate that. I appreciate the engagement and what I'm trying to do is create awareness. And with any of the payment apps I want you to understand that you don't have the normal consumer protections you do. As an example with a credit card if you accidentally enter the wrong payee information and that money goes, there's no way to recapture is a risky process that does not have normal consumer safeguards. So that's what my thing is about it. So I appreciate the conversations about it. The more we can make each other aware, the better we're going to be able to avoid problems that are hard to fix later. And coming up next, something that's doing a job on our wallets, reassessments of real estate coming from most places in the country, from a local government, county government, that sort of thing. I want to talk about that straight ahead.

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[Clark Howard]

1979 is the most important year in a property tax revolt in the United States when voters in California passed Proposition 13, which came up with new rules on how property tax was charged in the state of California on existing homeowners. The idea is that no one should be priced out of their house. And I'm firsthand familiar as a longtime volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, with Habitat homeowners, who in some jurisdictions have been forced to sell their Habitat homes because even though they were fine with the mortgage payment they had to make every month and all that, the area that their Habitat home was in gentrified, and the property taxes, as the value was reassessed, reached a point where it was far, far higher than their mortgage and they could no longer afford to stay in that home that they were privileged to have as the first home they had ever owned, and they had to sell. Well, now we're seeing this problem happen around the United States because real estate values, as much inflation as we've had over the last many years, real estate values and a lot of the country escalated at a much higher rate than even the rate of inflation, general rate of inflation. And so people are up in arms. And as someone who spends a lot of time in the state of Florida, I paid close attention to the fight going on there about actually eliminating property tax on a majority of residences in the state of Florida so that people won't be priced out of their home. That's how much a revolt is going on in jurisdiction after jurisdiction all over the country. Because this goes back, as I understand it, to English common law, that for centuries that the concept was that you tax property owners as a way to fund the services that government provides. The problem is if you don't have a method of keeping those property taxes from making it impossible for, let's say, an elderly resident to age in place in the home or condo or townhouse or whatever they live in, and they have to move at a vulnerable time of their lives because they can't afford the property taxes. And so all over the country, we have these, let's call them, economic experiments going on, trying to figure out how to reform property tax. But in the meanwhile, in so many jurisdictions, your wallet gets blown apart by the property tax reappraisal. You get try to imagine being a property tax appraiser in a jurisdiction and trying to get it right. In a neighborhood, you know, a big suburban development where there are four or six building plans, it's pretty easy to get it right. But particularly in older neighborhoods where every house is different, they're going to get it wrong most of the time. Even if they're really good as an appraiser, they're going to get it wrong. And so just because you get a notice saying like Krista, would you say yours was 40% increase? Mine was over 50% that I got recently. And so what are both of us doing? We're appealing. And you can appeal either on your own. You can hire one of these high volume companies that handle appeals, or if it's a big value property or people own commercial properties, you hire usually a lawyer who specializes in doing appraisal appeals on expensive properties. And so you just don't take whatever your jurisdiction says. There are very tight deadlines in most places in the country. And when you get that notice, do not forget about it. Do not say, well, that's terrible and forget about it. Because you sit on your rights, you lose them if you miss the appeal deadline. Never, never ever. If you're handling your own appeal, do you get before whatever panel you're talking to, either professionals or fellow citizens and complain about the government, complain about the services you get, and just generally complain about government. What you do is you come up with the best information you can on what properties similar to yours have sold for recently. Often you'll find that the data, because home prices have stalled in a lot of the country and gone down in some markets they're using data that is no longer relevant, but it's what they're basing that new value on that then sets your tax rate when the reality is values may now be lower in your neighborhood than they were before. So gosh, I need to. Another time, I need to talk about the fact that for the first time ever in years and years and years, there's a big increase in the number of foreclosures going on in the country and short sales. But I'm going to address that on another day so I can really dig into that. But in the meantime, remember, pay close attention to that. If the numbers are truly inaccurate, you appeal. Or if you find one of the things in a lot of jurisdictions, if you're being appraised at a much higher value than a neighbor whose house you know is better or nicer or even similar to yours, you're Being over appraised compared to them in many places. That alone is a grounds for you appealing. Although your neighbor may not like you later.

[Krista]

All right. Jeff in Florida says, I'm looking at the best way to purchase an investment property. I'm 39. My house has less than two years left to pay on it. So we'll have $400,000 equity. We fully fund two retirements, colleges pay for through 529 plans. Our total household income is 300k with no debt. Besides one car, we only have one car at a time and drive it for 20 years or 400,000 miles.

[Clark Howard]

Jeff, Jeff, Jeff. Okay, so there are people that were like, well, Jeff's. I mean he sure is lucky. No, you created your lock. I mean the thing with the vehicle proves that you are extra careful with your money. Congratulations.

[Krista]

What would be the best way to go about purchasing a small lot either for 12 or $50,000 and a tiny home for $75,000? We would Airbnb it out since it's located in a desirable location with no hotels. Pro Forma has 7% interest with 3% down on land, making it 6.4 nights a month to break even. This includes a higher than average management cost to accommodate more freedom for me. I have been listening to Clark since my TW20s making $40,000 and now I make $200,000. He has made me very wealthy and happy.

[Clark Howard]

Okay, first of all, thank you for saying that. But you know who made you wealthy and happy? You made yourself wealthy and happy. You did it. And I want to talk about this business, so I'm really curious. You've got all this equity on the home. You've saved so much money. I hope you have a decent rainy day account. The dollars you're talking about on buying the lot, buying the home with the amount of money you make, the amount of resources you have managed to develop in your life, I would rather you just pay cash for this. You should be in a position to do that with your rainy day money. And you having done something that is so important. Your income when you first started listening was 40 grand. Now it's 200 grand. But you controlled lifestyle through that process. Driving vehicles 20 years, 400,000 miles. It clearly indicates that you avoided lifestyle creep. So you pay cash for the land, hopefully you pay cash for the tiny home and you start generating revenue from it. I see no benefit. And you borrowing to do it. Next thing, the money has to work. If the rules change where you're going to do this tiny home, as is happening all over the country, people who have had short term rentals, the law changes and you no longer can do short term rentals. Can you make the economics work if you have to put a long term tenant in instead? I'd say with the numbers you talked about, yes, the math would work even as a long term rental. But anybody who's thinking of buying a property to turn into an Airbnb or whatever, be mindful about how many jurisdictions in the country, homeowners associations, condo associations, have now banned short term rentals.

[Krista]

Greg in California says this is a hopefully helpful story rather than a question. I have an Android and I listen to your podcast on Amazon Music. They do an underhanded and sneaky trick as follows. When I open the app, the first screen is whatever I was listening to last with a little play button. After a couple of seconds, many times an ad pops up to enroll in some Amazon subscription for $19.95 a month and the accept button lands right on top of the play button. Once you hit that accept button, it immediately charges your card. I've been caught twice. We're on the way to hitting play. The accept button popped up and I could not stop my finger fast enough.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Oh no.

[Krista]

We also recently found out that Uber did something similar with their monthly membership. Why did these. Yep, why do these mega companies have to be so underhanded?

[Clark Howard]

So, gosh, it's so interesting you asked this because we talked about this just like 6 weeks ago about how the takeover screen will pop up and you're busy, you're multitasking. You don't even realize what's on the screen that you hit. You mentioned Amazon here. This happens with YouTube, Pandora. If people listen to the older music service that used to be dominant. So many different organizations have the pop up. The Uber one is a regular Uber rider. The Uber one pops up over and over and over again. And then last night, what did I see? There was one that was a whole screen cover on Uber for me to sign up for some kind of Uber Eats subscription. Oh, and you know how I feel about ordering food for delivery. Yuck. I know it's really popular, but it's not my thing. And by the way, on this complete annex, because I'm completely scatterbrained, I feel so badly for people who deliver food for the food delivery apps when I'll be somewhere and there's somebody coming in to pick up food, they're going to deliver and the food is not ready and they're standing there and they're not getting paid. Minute by minute by minute, waiting for the food to be ready. I feel so bad for a gig worker delivering food who that happens to

[Krista]

all right, Gino in Missouri says thanks for all the great advice over the years. I do not miss a podcast or newsletter. I know Clark prefers leaving credit card accounts open to avoid lowering your credit score, but we had several cards we weren't using anymore that had upcoming annual fees. I finally ripped the band aid off and closed a handful of them on the same day. Since then, I've been on a points, miles and bonus cash binge for the last 15 months with almost no impact on my credit score. Since March of 25 I've opened eight new credit card accounts and closed seven. I've even closed my oldest card, which I'd had for more than 20 years. Every one of the eight new cards was open strictly for a signup bonus. As soon as we meet the required spend, we move on to the next one. We've enjoyed two free trips in the last seven months and still have plenty of miles and points left to use. I try to close each card before the annual fee hits. Our total available credit has gone from $90,000 to $145,000. In total, I've earned 675,000 miles in points and $450 in cash from these bonus offers. And here's the real kicker. My FICO score was 825 when this all started and today it's 832, an increase of 7 points. It's never dropped below 821 at any point during the past 15 months. I still have a few more airline and hotel cards on my ra, but I need to slow down since I've blown past the chase 5. I think it's 5 and 24 months 5 cards.

[Clark Howard]

So 524 and other big credit card issuers have followed Chase's example and if you apply for too many cards in a period of time, whatever they decide that is, they'll approve you for the card, but they invalidate you receiving the sign up bonus.

[Krista]

All of these accounts have been open in my name, so we may start cycling through some of the cards under my wife's name next. And yes, we pay everything off monthly, often before the bill billing cycle even closes. And P.S. don't forget about checking account sign up bonuses. We've made an extra $2,100 during the same period. Like Krista has mentioned from my huge mistake, make sure you pay close attention to the requirements.

[Clark Howard]

So both my brothers have fully over the years capitalized on what you talk about. So you get the sign up bonus and his name, then in her name and just keep cycling through these accounts. And this stuff all works if you do one key thing. You know what that one key thing is?

[Krista]

Pay everything off, pay your balance in full every month.

[Clark Howard]

Because reward cards, when you don't pay the balance in full, they have some of the highest interest rates out there and they will blow through every point benefit you're getting. And it gets hard. My poor wife, can you imagine how hard it would be to be Lane being married with me? Married to me?

[Krista]

I'm not answering that trick question.

[Clark Howard]

You know it's hard.

[Krista]

No way.

[Clark Howard]

You know it is. And so she laughs. How? Well, I'm supposed to use this credit card here and I'm supposed to do that one now and, and do this and oh, I'm at a restaurant, which card was I was supposed to use? And it just drives her nuts that I am such a freak about this. So I want you to know that Gino is my pen name. No, not really. But Gino and I are on the same wavelength because the credit card companies are so addicted to the merchant fees that the incentives for them to offer all these point bonuses and all that are so great. And most people, being creatures of habit, just keep renewing the cards year after year when they're really not necessarily beneficial to you. I really enjoy when I call up and cancel a reward card and then you have to talk to the retention department and they go through the whole psychological battery of things trying to get you to keep it. And it's kind of cleansing when you cycle through, get your bonuses, switch to another card and on like that. If this is the game the banks want to play, you got to know how to win just like you do Gino and many others we've heard from. So thank you so much for joining us this Friday afternoon. If you listen to us in the afternoon, evening, you don't get around listening to us till the weekend. Whatever. Love having you as a member of our team and I learned so much from your questions, from your suggestions. We all learn together, we all help each other. That's what we should be about. We should be about service to each other. And I love it that that is the spirit of our community here. So we'll be back at your service on Monday. Here's your job this weekend. Enjoy yourself, have a great time. And remember, even in that enjoyment, always be thinking, save more, spend less and never, never, not ever get ripped off. See you next week.