01.17.25 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Maximize Your Savings

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast Episode: Clark Answers His Critics on "Clark Stinks" / Maximize Your Savings Release Date: January 17, 2025

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Introduction

In this candid episode of The Clark Howard Podcast, renowned money expert Clark Howard engages directly with his listeners' critiques in the segment aptly titled "Clark Stinks." Aimed at fostering transparency and improving his advice, Clark opens the floor to honest feedback while delving into critical financial topics, including retirement planning, consumer protection, and financial product evaluations. Additionally, Clark addresses a significant lawsuit against Ameriprise, shedding light on broader issues within the banking and brokerage industries.

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Clark Stinks Segment

Time Stamps and Notable Quotes Included

1. Retirement Contribution Limits

   • Listener Ryan [03:28]: Criticizes Clark's stance on varied retirement account contribution limits, arguing that higher limits for business owners incentivize employer-sponsored plans benefiting lower-income employees.
   • Clark Howard [03:28]: "Our current Alphabet soup system for retirement is not working for the typical American working person because it's too complicated... We need a simplified system where even if an employer provides a match, it's into an account that's the employees already have and doesn't have to be ported from employer to employer."

   Clark acknowledges Ryan's perspective but emphasizes the complexities and administrative costs that justify differing contribution limits across retirement plans.

2. Toilet Paper vs. Bidets

   • Listener Charlie [05:22]: Points out Clark's missed mark when recommending toilet paper over bidets, sharing personal success with a home-installed bidet.
   • Clark Howard [05:37]: Comments on the appeal and cost of high-tech bidets, "The Japanese Toto, you know, they have heated seats and they do all kinds of crazy things and they also have a crazy kind of price."

   Clark admits the oversight and reflects on the cost-effectiveness and hygiene benefits of bidets compared to traditional toilet paper.

3. Extended Warranties and Supplemental Insurance

   • Listener [06:18]: Highlights the financial drain of extended warranties, advocating for self-saved funds over costly insurance.
   • Clark Howard [06:28]: "Don't buy them. Don't buy them ever. And the next time a TV person says to you, you need to protect this investment in the TV you're buying, all you got to say is a TV is not an investment. It's not."

   Clark reinforces his stance against extended warranties, emphasizing their poor return on investment for consumers.

4. Travel Insurance Coverage

   • Listener Susan [07:43]: Critiques Clark's advice on travel insurance, noting limited coverage caps in popular credit card offerings.
   • Clark Howard [08:00]: Acknowledges the gap in coverage for expensive trips, "We've got this gap in the marketplace and I don't have an easy answer for people buying really, really expensive trips."

   Clark discusses the limitations of current travel insurance options and the challenges in addressing high-value trip coverage.

5. Cutting the Cord and Rural TV Access

   • Listener Stephen [08:50]: Shares frustrations with limited over-the-air TV options in rural areas, making cable or alternative internet services necessary.
   • Clark Howard [09:28]: Recognizes the issue, "This has been a problem in rural America forever... I mean, you get so far out and even a big rooftop antenna is not going to pull in a broadcast signal."

   Clark empathizes with the challenges faced by rural listeners and acknowledges the limitations of over-the-air TV in remote areas.

6. Purchasing Expensive Vehicles

   • Listener Robert [10:20]: Criticizes Clark for advising the purchase of high-priced vehicles, suggesting more economical alternatives.
   • Clark Howard [11:23]: Responds candidly, "If I was encouraging somebody to spend an enormous amount of their take-home pay on a brand new Camry, then obviously I had a screw loose and I wasn't thinking clearly."

   Clark concedes the misstep and reiterates his preference for used vehicles, highlighting market fluctuations that affect new vs. used vehicle pricing.

7. Employer 401(k) Matches and Roth Contributions

   • Listener Hmong Hermang [12:20]: Points out inaccuracies in Clark's portrayal of employer 401(k) matches as "free money."
   • Clark Howard [12:59]: Clarifies, "Employees that don't participate in the 401(k) traditional or Roth miss that match money that to them would be like a built-in raise." He also explains recent changes allowing post-tax matches.

   Clark appreciates the correction and elaborates on the nuanced benefits of employer-sponsored retirement contributions.

8. Building Credit for Children

   • Listener Brian [14:06]: Discusses experiences with credit card approvals for minors and the challenges under age 21.
   • Clark Howard [14:56]: Explains bank-specific criteria and reiterates the importance of understanding individual bank policies.

   Clark offers insights into credit-building for young adults, acknowledging the stricter requirements set by certain banks like Bank of America.

9. Negative Mortgage Reporting

   • Listener Anthony [26:22]: Reports inaccuracies in mortgage balance reporting affecting his FICO score.
   • Clark Howard [28:10]: Advises filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, sharing his own past experiences resolving similar issues.

   Clark provides actionable steps for resolving credit report discrepancies, emphasizing persistence in dealing with financial institutions.

10. Using 403(b) for Educational Expenses

    • Listener Chelia [30:47]: Seeks advice on using her 403(b) retirement account to fund her daughter’s veterinary school without penalties.
    • Clark Howard [31:34]: Explains the nuances of transferring 403(b) funds and the conditions under which penalties can be avoided.

    Clark offers detailed guidance on the complexities of utilizing retirement funds for educational purposes, directing listeners to specialized resources for further assistance.

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Ameriprise Lawsuit and Banking Practices

Timestamp: [21:38] – [26:06]

Clark Howard delves into a lawsuit against Ameriprise, highlighting systemic issues within major banks and brokerage firms regarding the underpayment of interest on savings accounts. He criticizes the deceptive practices where institutions pay negligible interest rates despite rising market rates, exemplifying this with cases involving Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley. Clark underscores the frustration consumers face when banks fail to transparently communicate account statuses, often leading to legal battles and loss of trust. He emphasizes the importance of consumers being vigilant about where they place their savings and encourages moving funds to FDIC-insured institutions that offer competitive interest rates.

Notable Quotes:

• "This is your money. I want it working for you." [21:38]
• "It’s a rot to the core that goes on with the big banks and the brokerage houses." [21:38]

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Listener Questions and Financial Advice

Throughout the episode, Clark addresses multiple listener questions, offering practical financial advice:

• Credit Monitoring Tools: Clark discusses the benefits and intentions behind free credit monitoring services like American Express's "My Credit Guide," explaining how these tools help companies identify potential customers.

• Educational Expenses: Detailed guidance is provided on using retirement accounts for education, including the specific conditions and potential penalties involved.

Clark's responses are characterized by his trademark honesty and actionable recommendations, reinforcing his commitment to empowering listeners with financial knowledge.

Notable Quotes:

• "Don't buy them ever. A TV is not an investment." [06:28]
• "If you look at it as employer saying hey I'm spending this money not for that employee, they voluntarily took a pay cut. They shouldn't take." [14:06]

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Conclusion

In this episode, Clark Howard embraces constructive criticism from his audience, demonstrating his dedication to refining his advice and addressing the real-world financial challenges listeners face. By tackling a range of topics from retirement planning intricacies to consumer protection against misleading financial products, Clark provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary financial issues. His discussion on the Ameriprise lawsuit further underscores systemic problems within financial institutions, advocating for greater transparency and better consumer practices. As always, Clark's approachable demeanor and expertise make complex financial matters accessible, empowering listeners to make informed decisions towards financial freedom.

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Final Thoughts

The Clark Howard Podcast continues to serve as a vital resource for individuals seeking to enhance their financial well-being. This episode's focus on addressing criticism exemplifies Clark's commitment to growth and his relentless pursuit of providing honest, practical financial advice.

For more insights and personalized advice, listeners are encouraged to visit www.clark.com/askclark and engage with Team Clark through various free resources dedicated to helping consumers save more, spend less, and avoid financial pitfalls.

Transcript

[Apple Card Representative]

If you love iPhone, you'll love Apple Card. It comes with the privacy and security you expect from Apple. Plus, you earn up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase, which can automatically earn interest when you open a high Yield Savings account through Apple Card. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app, subject to credit approval. Savings is available to Apple Card owners subject to eligibility. Apple Card and Savings by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch Member FDIC terms and [e-mail] if you love iPhone, you'll love Apple Card. It comes with the privacy and security you expect from Apple. Plus, you earn up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase, which can automatically earn interest when you open a High Yield Savings account through Apple Card. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app, subject to credit approval. Savings is available to Apple Card owners subject to eligibility. Apple Card and Savings by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch Member FDIC terms and [e-mail].

[Clark Howard]

It'S great to have you here on 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. And it's Friday. You know what that means is when I get to hear your advice from me, get to hear where you feel I've gotten it wrong, Incomplete, whatever. A plain out F or even an I. You know, an incomplete like a school in our Clark Sink segment. And later, I want to talk about a lawsuit against Ameriprise. And there's important lessons in it for anybody who's putting their money to work for their future investing. But without further ado, it is time to hear me stink it up. I should have never encouraged you to speak. You almost think I'm pretty stupid.

[Apple Card Representative]

You should be ashamed of yourself.

[Grammarly Representative]

Well, maybe I'm wrong.

[Listener/Caller]

Maybe I'm wrong.

[Clark Howard]

Maybe you're right, pal.

[Listener/Caller]

I do want to mention an upcoming change. The Clark stinks. And it's not going away. But we'll do one again next Friday, and then after that we're going to go to every other week. Just because of your new and improved schedule. I feel like we should do it a little less often.

[Clark Howard]

Okay. All right. We'll see what kind of response we get. We may see if people say Krista stinks by not having as many Clark stinks.

[Listener/Caller]

All right, we'll see. Maybe once in a while we can do like a full show. But, you know, that's fun.

[Clark Howard]

We've had a good time doing that before. We have.

[Listener/Caller]

We have. Okay, here we go. When Discussing the difference between contribution limits for simple IRAs, 401k plans and traditional Roth IRAs and Rotharis, Clark said there is no rational reason why people with access to some retirement plans should be able to contribute different amounts than people in other plans or IRAs. Actually there's a very rational reason. Business owners, normally high income earners, will be more willing to take on the cost of administration and matching employee savings if there's a big benefit for the business owner, namely in the form of larger tax deductions. By offering larger contribution limits in 401k and other retirement plans, owners are enticed to take on additional costs and help lower income employees saving for retirement. If retirement plans and IRAs had the same limit, many employers would not feel the need to offer a retirement plan because they could get the same tax benefit without the additional cost. In that case, the lower income worker would not get the retirement benefits from their employer. Ryan.

[Clark Howard]

Ryan, thank you, that's very thoughtful what you said. There is a provision in the law that highly compensated employees can have the amount they're allowed to contribute reduced if lower compensated employees don't contribute. And that's to try to make sure that employers are enticing employees with a generous enough match in the retirement plan that the employers will be able to have that enlightened self interest you talk about and be able to contribute more. When I'm learning over time is that our current Alphabet soup system for retirement is not working for the typical American working person because it's too complicated, they don't understand how it all works and they end up with things like the problem I've addressed a few times from questions people have given me that they don't know whatever happened to the 401k they had over here or the simple IRA they had over there and all that. And it's way way way too messy the way we do retirement savings in the United States. We need a simplified system where even if an employer provides a match it's into an account that's the employees that they already have and doesn't have to be ported from employer to employer. The system we have right now is dysfunctional.

[Listener/Caller]

Well, I don't think Clark is that stinky. He did miss a shot whilst discussing which toilet paper to buy. We have converted to a bidet in our home. We did an easy install ourselves in our current old fashioned toilet and we ended up with a cleaner bottom end and we used much less toilet paper. Great warm water, wash and blow dry. So maybe Clark does have a stinkier tush than he could have. Charlie.

[Clark Howard]

This is our second.

[Listener/Caller]

People love their bidets. And you know, I always say Costco is has those on sale. Like they have, oh, the attachments and then they have the fancy like toto toilets or whatever. Those have bidets, right?

[Clark Howard]

Oh, yeah. Well, the Japanese toto, you know, they have heated seats and they do all kinds of crazy things and they also have a crazy kind of price.

[Listener/Caller]

Yeah. All right, let's see. You're wasting money and that stinks. Ask for supplemental insurance for electronics, cars, home, home repairs, travel. Many of Those insurances cost 8 or 10% and then you have to go through all the steps trying to put in a claim if you can. For some consumers, wouldn't it be far ahead better to simply bank the amount of the cost of the insurance they offer and draw on that should the product need to be repaired or replaced, you miss a trip. I have a very financially astute friend and he's done this for 20 years and now has a six digit balance in an investment account.

[Clark Howard]

Howland how and okay, so that was not a Clark stinks. That's the, the extended warranties that everybody sells absolutely stink.

[Listener/Caller]

Right?

[Clark Howard]

Don't buy them. Don't buy them ever. And the next time a TV person says to you, you need to protect this investment in the TV you're buying, all you got to say is a TV is not an investment. It's not.

[Listener/Caller]

I mean they offer it on everything. So I think how and maybe might have heard someone else talking about it. Not you, but like I bought a little fan and they offered me an extended warranty.

[Clark Howard]

They did not.

[Listener/Caller]

Yes, they did. They offered everything.

[Clark Howard]

The funniest was when I was offered one on a pair of running shoes. I'm like, seriously? A warranty on my running shoes? No, this is, this is because the profit margins on them are like virtually nothing else. And there is never a time I've heard that it would make sense to buy one of these extended warranties extended service contracts on any consumer purchase I love. Now I'm ready for the post from people who are going to say, but work, what about how, you know, I had this and you know, blah, blah, blah. There's always the exception. But the math overall is what wins the day, which makes any kind of extended service contract, extended warranty a loser.

[Listener/Caller]

I love your show but you stink. On the travel insurance stuff. I looked up Capital One Venture X and while they do include provider default on their insurance, it's only up to $2,000 per person. So it's only for airfare or cheap trips. The Sapphire does not include carrier default, but it provides up to $10,000 per person. Susan.

[Clark Howard]

Susan, thank you. And so most people don't go on ultra expensive trips. So the Capital One venture X with $2,000 cap on coverage for supplier default for most people, most situations will work. Chase Sapphire has narrowed what theirs covers, but Chase Sapphire traditionally has been the best card for coverages for travel insurance that's included for free, car rental coverage that's included for free, but they do not cover supplier default. So we've got this gap in the marketplace and I don't have an easy answer for people buying really, really expensive trips.

[Listener/Caller]

I can smell you all the way from my small rural town in Mississippi. I would love to cut the cord, stop streaming subscriptions and lower costs for TV by installing an antenna. Refer old style free over the air TV. But I and 30 million Americans live in rural areas where over the air TV signals are weak or unavailable, making it difficult or impossible to receive broadcast television with an antenna. These areas are often referred to as TV deserts due to their lack of coverage by major network signals. So at this point I'm stuck with paying for cable or using the T Mobile cellular Internet which seems to work in the area and is less expensive than cables. Stephen.

[Clark Howard]

Stephen, thank you. And T Mobile has done a great job with the T Mobile home Internet covering a lot of areas in rural America that don't even have an option of having Internet from monopoly local phone company or from a cable monster and giving people the ability to have a reasonable speed home Internet at a very, very reasonable price. As for the antennas not working, I mean, this has been a problem in rural America forever. I mean, you get so far out and even a big rooftop antenna is not going to pull in a broadcast signal. And thank you for pointing out my oversight.

[Listener/Caller]

You stink like low tide in sea lion caves. Wow, never experienced that one.

[Clark Howard]

I don't know what that's like.

[Listener/Caller]

Yeah, must be nasty. Okay, you don't really stink, but your advice to Brian in Wisconsin does. You told Brian it was a good idea to buy a $30,000 plus new vehicle when he only makes $65,000 a year. Let's use a Toyota Camry as an example. I looked online and immediately found a 2022 Camry SE with 38,000 miles for $22,000. A 2024 Camry SE goes for at least 10,000 more than this. If Brian follows your advice, he'll essentially be paying $3.80amile for the first 38,000 miles before fuel and maintenance. In what world does spending half your annual income on a new car when you can have just as good a car for 30% less make sense? By the way, I picked a Camry out of fairness to you because they hold their resale value extremely well. I also found a 2022 Kia Rio with 33,000 miles for $23,000 while the starting MSRP of the 2025 model is 36,000. You recommend this to someone else, but in your own life you're dropping YouTube TV and NFL Sunday ticket? Come on Clark. Robert.

[Clark Howard]

Robert, thank you. Truthfully, Robert, I don't remember the specific circumstance from that question. And if the numbers are as you said and I was encouraging somebody to spend an enormous amount of their take home pay on a brand new Camry, then obviously I had a screw loose and I wasn't thinking clearly. You know I love used vehicles and the gap with new and used vehicles has actually narrowed some lately and that's coloring some of what I say because the used vehicle market has come way down from the high prices it was and now the new vehicle market is coming down in price and so these decisions are harder, particularly because the high mileage on a lot of used vehicles. But you gave a perfect example where that was not a relevant argument on my part.

[Listener/Caller]

When you Talk about Employer 401k matches, you need to quit saying free money. Employee matches are not really free money. Rather it's already factored in as a part of overall compensation, just like vacation and sick days. As a side note, I've been taking advantage of a Roth 401k option for my employer. While it's a great option, it is important to note that only employee contributions are treated as a part of the Roth. Employer match is always tax deferred, so it acts like a traditional 401k and not as a Roth. Well Clark, you don't stink, but for sure on this topic you do not smell like fresh linen either. Thank you to you and your team for serving others. Wishing you a bright 2025 Hmong Hermang.

[Clark Howard]

I should tell you that you were completely right. But now an employer has the option of doing the match as a post tax match so that both the employer money and the employee money can now be Roth money instead of traditional. The difference ends up being a taxable event for the recipient of the match. But long term there's actual benefit to it. Now the other thing about it being free money. Okay, so why do I call it free money? Of course the employer is paying for it and it's part of how they look at compensation. But employees that don't participate in the 401k traditional or Roth miss that match money that to them would be like a built in raise. Or in the example let's look at the reverse of what you said. It's like them taking a voluntary pay cut. If you look at it as employer saying hey I'm spending this money not for that employee, they voluntarily took a pay cut. They shouldn't take.

[Listener/Caller]

Some additional information regarding college credit cards. As Clark mentioned, our family had great experience with the Discover card for building our kids credit specifically using the secured card to start when they turn 18. This has all three of our young adult children with a credit score above 780. We added them as users on our cards too but didn't give them the cards. We wanted them to have another credit card on their own. We applied for the bank of America card recommended on clark.com and my 21 year old son was approved but my 18 year old daughter was denied. The explanation is if you're under 21, the college student must have active current income, not just from a summer job, et cetera. The guidelines are looser once they reach age 21. Just a little wrinkle that I had not heard you mention. Thank you for everything. I listen every day on my way home from work. My wife asks me when I get home. So how's Clark doing today? Haha. Brian.

[Clark Howard]

Brian. And you know I'm Brian as well. My middle name. Okay, so you said bank of America, right?

[Listener/Caller]

Right. That's.

[Clark Howard]

Bank of America is using that as their own criteria for people under 21. There are specific requirements about banks being reckless, soliciting college students before their 21st birthday. But any of a number use different criteria for granting a card. So it's bank of America's internal guidelines.

[Listener/Caller]

I found it with the other ones too. I went through my daughter like they want you to have real income. It was a little crazy. And my friend went through it too with her college age daughter.

[Clark Howard]

So I stand corrected. I didn't experience that with my kids.

[Listener/Caller]

Yeah, I don't know if it's a new thing, but it was definitely happening.

[Clark Howard]

Thank you, Krista.

[Listener/Caller]

Sure.

[Clark Howard]

See, Clark did stink twice here.

[Listener/Caller]

I think it's a new thing. Okay. It stinks.

[Clark Howard]

What?

[Listener/Caller]

Clark neglected to tell us that while cutting back his show to three days a week, he's also decided to only give us half the answers while he's on. While answering a question about residual interest when closing an account, he only offered the arduous task of trying to figure out how the interest is compounded and then when it's paid. What about the far simpler answer of just emptying the funds from the account before closing it? Within 30 days your interest should show up if there is any. And depending on how lackadaisical you are about emptying the interest within that time, you could even wait 60 days and see if that small amount of interest generated even a few pennies that you could also empty before closing. No need to waste time deep diving into your account's interest policies. If you're only going to give us three fifths as much time, you might as well give us quality answers. Clark Jotham Jotham I love that.

[Clark Howard]

I love that suggestion because there are players out there that are doing this really janky kind of thing where instead of calculating interest as simple daily interest, which is tradition with savings accounts, they're only giving the interest at the end of a certain period. So if you close an account, that money sits there. You're the one who has to go figure out how to chase it. Your idea is actually a great idea that you empty the account but not close it till whatever final credit of interest might occur. And that is really, really smart.

[Listener/Caller]

My only worry would be I'd make sure the account doesn't have a minimum balance or you have to pay a fee or anything for keeping it open.

[Clark Howard]

That is a very good point, and I guess it would depend again on all those crazy mice type rules that the banks and the brokerages come up with. Speaking of taking advantage of people with their money that they have in their hard earned savings, I want to tell you about a lawsuit against Ameriprise, which is very similar to lawsuits against other companies for cheating people on money they have in savings.

[Grammarly Representative]

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[Grammarly Representative]

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[Apple Card Representative]

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[Don McDonald]

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[Apple Card Representative]

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[Clark Howard]

Okay, this has worked my last nerve with how banks cheat their customers. Brokerage houses cheat their customers by taking the cash that you have in savings in a bank or in a brokerage equivalent and paying people 1/100th of 1% on their savings. This has been an ongoing sore spot for me because it's so dishonest. Nobody really noticed when interest rates were really low. But when interest rates started rising, banks kept the interest rate at 1100 the 1%. Some of the brokerages kept the earnings at 1100 of 1%. There have been a number of lawsuits involving brokerages underpaying people on their savings way below market rates. Some of the companies I talked before about, Charles Schwab, that was paying customers 0.4 of a percent when interest rates people could be earning were close to 5%. And there are lawsuits against Morgan Stanley, another big commission based company, lpl. And in the case of Ameriprise, Ameriprise has been sued. And Ameriprise is not fighting whether or not they really were paying people 1/100th of 1% when interest rates were 4 to 5%. What they're saying is, hey, you signed up with us, you don't have any right to sue us. Your only right is to go to arbitration. And by the way, when you have an account with us, we wear two different hats. One, we're a fiduciary, which means they have to do what's in your best interest, where legally they are bound to do what's best for you. And then the other they're not and they're earning commissions from products that may work really well for Ameriprise, but maybe not so much for you. You know, this is a rot to the core that goes on with the big banks and the brokerage houses. Not all the brokerage houses, but does with the big banks this idea that hey, what, somebody doesn't notice? Well, too bad, too sad for them. So sad for them. And I need you to understand the mentality of this quote that Ameriprise gave to Barons. And it just bothers me so much that their whole thing is that you are this kind of person or that kind of person in the same account. And so we play two different roles with you. How is a consumer supposed to know? And by the way, I don't care which of the full commission brokerage houses you're with. You need to know what you're paying for what you're in, what are you paying, what kind of commissions are you paying, what kind of ongoing management fee are they charging you, what kind of fee is attached to the investments. And what you'll find is that you are paying many cases, 30 to 50 to 100 times in expenses. What you would be paying if you were in a self managed account with a discount broker or you were somebody like Vanguard. I mean, do you really feel like you're getting a lot from a company that says, oh well, well, you know, you could have done other things, but you didn't. And so we're okay paying you 1/100th of 1%. And Charles Schwab doing this thing where when interest rates are paying so much more, defaulting people into 0.40 over percent and Schwab is generally a very good company. I don't like it. And I got to tell you, if you were with one of the giant monster mega banks, go look and see what they're paying you on your savings and then go look at our list of FDIC insured online savings accounts and look at the difference at what the giant monster mega bank is paying you on savings versus what you could earn with your savings sent away to an FDIC insured financial institution. It's your money. I want it working for you.

[Listener/Caller]

Okay, we'll go to questions. Keith in Illinois wrote in with this one. Have you reviewed Amex's my credit guide for monitoring your credit score? It's free and you don't need to get a credit card from them. I presume your info will be sold for the privilege, but I wanted to get your thoughts.

[Clark Howard]

Okay, so this is an idea that Discover came up with years ago, Keith, where Discover made it available to non customers to see their credit score. And now you're telling me American Express allows non customers to use my credit guide. And my credit guide is a good tool, just like the Discover tool. And what are they getting out of it? Okay, so there you are, you've inquired, you set up this account to go on my credit guide and then they realize, ooh, it's a good prospect here. So don't be surprised if you then in turn receive really nice offers from American Express to have credit cards with them or other products that American Express offers. To me, this is a perfect good use of capitalism. They're giving you something for free in return for the opportunity to find qualified leads to people who might be great future customers. You win, they win.

[Listener/Caller]

Anthony in Georgia says, I Pay my mortgage religiously to this big bank. However, since June 5 of 24, they're reporting information to Equifax and Experian that is resulting in being interpreted interpreted by those bureaus as me having a zero dollar balance and indicating that it's due to the mortgage being sold or transferred. This is not true. My mortgage is open and active with a balance near $212,000. I've unsuccessfully been pursuing this with the bank since June of 24. This is negatively impacting my FICO score. What can I do to get the bank to resolve this matter after this long? They apologize, but the issue persists.

[Clark Howard]

Okay, so Anthony, your servicing could remain with this bank, but they could have sold off your loan to another lender and you would have received a letter from them saying that was the case. For whatever reason, their computer system thinks your loan was sold off. If you never received any notice like that, then they haven't done their job. So if your loan had been sold off, what would normally happen is your loan would be reported on your credit report by the new lender who owns it, even though the servicing was still handled by the bank that had it. Now, I had an opposite situation of yours years ago. I had a loan that was being reported twice on my credit report. Once by the lender that used to own it and then second by the one that bought it. So it threw my ratios all out of whack and I was being hurt and I could not get it resolved easily. I'll tell you how you get this taken care of. You have a pretty good shot. File a complaint against the bank@consumer finance.gov as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bank will have 30 days to investigate and answer and hopefully will soon start reporting your balance. Or on the other hand, they will provide you the information of who now owns the loan and should be the responsible party that is reporting it. But my guess is that the loan is still there. It's just miscoded and that's why it's not being reported to the bureau. And I want to hear back from you. If you're successful with your complaint that you file@consumer finance.gov how did yours finally get resolved? So this was before Consumer Finance existed. I filed a complaint with the state banking regulator and it took about six weeks, but it finally was cleared up after I'd beaten my head against the wall. I mean, I don't know how big the hole in my head is from beating against the wall trying to get it resolved. With the two bank bureaucracy.

[Listener/Caller]

You Always say you like it when stuff like that happens to you. So you understand how other people.

[Clark Howard]

Exactly. I love customer no service that happens to me because I so much more understand what happens to you.

[Listener/Caller]

Okay, Chila, I'm not sure how to say your name. I'm so sorry. In California. C H E L A California wrote in with this, I want to find out if I can use my 403s to pay for my daughter's vet school. I have a few retirement accounts worth about a million dollars in a teacher pension available to me when I retire in five years. I really don't believe I will need the 403 accounts. And that's why I want to know if I can use it for vet school without being penalized. I know if I withdraw the money, it becomes income for me. And I know that if I withdraw before I turn 59 and a half, I will be penalized. I've read that some people convert 4.3B's into IRAs, but I've already contributed to a Roth IRA for 25 years now.

[Clark Howard]

Wow.

[Listener/Caller]

So I don't even know if I can do a conversion since I already contributed the max $8,000 per year.

[Clark Howard]

Okay. This is a complicated situation that actually has some clarity to it. The limit to contributing to an IRA does not apply on a transfer of money from a plan, employer provided retirement plan to an ira. So that that normal limit of your contributions doesn't apply here. So with the 403B, I gather from what you said, you're still working where you have the 403B with a 401K, you would not be allowed to transfer the money out. But with the 403B money that you have already absorbed all the commissions for that 403B, you're able to transfer that amount of money into your own IRA or into another plan that you prefer. Could be another 403B. And once the money's in an IRA, money spent on education at a school that is part of the federal student loan program, which any vet school would be, you're allowed to withdraw the money free of 10% penalty for education, for yourself, your child, I think a grandchild as well. There are certain eligible parties. And I want you to go research using an IRA to pay for education before age 59 and a half, and you'll see an explanation of the rules involved. And the 403B has its own complications. If you have trouble navigating that, go to the website 403B.WISE.WISE.COM is a.com not a.org and they provide such great assistance to people who have 403B questions or problems. And if anything I said needs to be tweaked a little, they know how to do it because they live, eat and sleep 403 BS the best experts in the country on 403B is against 403B wise.com may work.

[Listener/Caller]

I was waiting for you to yeah.com may work. But they they do.

[Clark Howard]

403B wise.org so I kept stalling. Krista. I kept waiting for the answer. Thank you. So wanted to tell you that this is a holiday weekend upcoming, so there is no episode in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King's holiday birthday celebration. His actual birthday is January 15th, but like so many federal holidays, it's celebrated on the Monday they choose around it. And this year it's January 20th and we will be back at your service Wednesday of next week. And I hope you have an absolutely fantastic weekend and don't miss the great advice we have for your wallet all weekend [e-mail] and clarkdeals.com so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off.