Krista (6:01)

I've noticed also my credit cards, one of them, especially when I look at my charges, you know, I check them regularly now, I'm going to have them all send me notices like the Clarkey's recommended. But anyway, there's options on the individual things I'm buying. Pay over time, Pay over time. It's like everywhere.

Clark Howard (6:21)

It's pretty annoying, isn't it?

Krista (6:23)

Okay.

Clark Howard (6:24)

Have you done it?

Krista (6:25)

No, I've never done it with the credit card. No. I did say on the podcast your

Clark Howard (6:30)

eyes got really big when I said, have you done it?

Krista (6:32)

Oh, no. But I admitted on the podcast that I did a pay in for thing when I got my peloton bike a while ago. And actually when I. I paid it off early, whatever, but zero percent interest. And I was like, why not? But then somebody wrote in that I stink because I don't take your advice.

Clark Howard (6:50)

Why would you have to take my advice? You're a human being.

Krista (6:53)

I am. I'm not.

Clark Howard (6:54)

And you, more than anybody, know how often I'm wrong.

Krista (6:57)

No way. No way. You're definitely right about this. All right. Big in North Carolina wrote into you and said, hey, Clark, I know you're really into electric vehicles and I understand they're a big part of the future, but I've been wondering about something. With computers, manufacturers often stop supporting operating systems after four to seven years. What happens with electric vehicles, computers on wheels, as you call them, if someone plans to Keep one for 10 to 20 years, how will software updates, operating systems, and long term support be handled once the manufacturer decides to move on from that platform?

Clark Howard (7:29)

This is such a great question. I don't have an answer to, and it's one I've wondered about. I've wondered aloud about it before. Here you were right on the money. I. I have no idea. When you think about a laptop, and there are all the issues with how long the computer was supported, the operating system, and then Apple came along and said, you know what, we're going to support your computer for depending on the model, really long periods of time. And they made the Windows people and the Chromebook people look like they were not really watching out for the consumer. I don't know what's going to happen, but again, that's. That's a laptop. You start talking about your wheels no longer working because the software is not supported. I don't have an answer for that yet.

Krista (8:24)

Okay. Dan in Georgia says, after driving different Tesla models for 11 years, I decided to give a competitor with equal or higher technology a try. So I thought at least a. Should I just say what it is? Sure. A lucid grav. Their newest and most technologically advanced SUV a month ago. What a disaster. Not only do they lack a ton of features I was accustomed to, but they also lack safety and reliability. Their system underperforms and occasionally stops working. It's brought me so much anxiety Because I never know what won't work that day. Is there a way for me to get out of this lease? I'm truly on the verge of walking to their service center in my area, literally handing them back the keys, walking away and making it their problem to solve. Do you have any advice?

Clark Howard (9:06)

So you've had a terrible time with Lucid. There are other people I know who love their lucids. But what you have the right to do, even in a lease, in pretty much every state, you can employ the state Lemon law. The more you delay, the more you sit on your rights and you lose them. If you're so new in this lease and you're like going crazy, you want to lemon law them right now. And there's a clear procedure where Lucid will be given an opportunity to fix the problems you're having with it. If they're unable to do so, they are both the manufacturer and the service center. So Lemon Laws did not anticipate that, but it means that your path to a potential buyback is much more expedited than it is when it involves a traditional automaker with traditional dealerships. So you're miserable. You want to find out your state lemon Law procedure and send the first demand letter and get the process going and follow the Lemon Law process to the letter.

Krista (10:20)

Craig in Texas says, I applied for a personal umbrella policy several months ago and LexisNexis was used by the company to review my background in cred. My wife and I have excellent credit that we monitor closely and have frozen with the three majors, but I wasn't familiar with this organization. I requested a copy of the report and a huge stack of paper was sent to me in the mail. There were addresses, phone numbers, and even people with the same last name in the report. I didn't recognize. In many cases, entire records were just wrong. I called them and the process to correct the report was excruciating. While entire records were incorrect, instead of dealing with them in whole, they had to process the entire report by individual line items. I was on the phone for nearly an hour trying to correct my report when I received the updated version in the mail. There were still incorrect records and I'm ready to give up. I've since requested a freeze on that report, but how important is it for me to work to get all the records fixed given the three majors all seem to have the right info? I'm hoping your answer will be it's good enough. Thanks for all you do. You are my gym workout buddies and I also had it was weird Like a couple other people wrote in just the same week about LexisNexis reports and wondering what they need to do with them.

Clark Howard (11:32)

Yeah, this is tough because. So it's hard for me to get people to pay attention to their three main credit reports from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. But when you look at various collection bodies, I don't know that call them credit bureaus. There are dozens and dozens and dozens of these. And you could drive yourself bonkers if you're reviewing each of those. You're freezing each of them. I mean, it's just one of those things that none of us are perfect in life. And I just want you to do the best you can with the most important things, which are the three major credit bureaus in terms of monitoring your credit and making sure you've set up credit freeze with all three bureaus. LexisNexis and so many databases work on a horseshoes basis. So you were finding a lot of wrong stuff likely on your LexisNexis because it also shows information for people of same or similar name to you. By the way, that same problem can happen with the three major credit bureaus. And this happens a lot with mortgage applications, where they're doing what's known as a 3 and 1, where they're taking data from all three in the major credit bureaus and blending them into one file. A lot of stray stuff for people of same or similar name will show up on that three in one also. And you'll have to answer questions when you're applying for a mortgage. So the LexisNexis inaccurate information that you found is part of a horseshoes process. It's close enough for them. It's not designed to be, I don't care what they say in the industry, it's not designed to be 100% accurate. So there are times that you could get rejected for something based on a credit report or a database file like LexisNexis, and it's not your information. And so I find when you move outside of the big three, it's a reactive instead of a proactive process like you did. And they're not used to dealing with the public. That's not their thing. And so you found the frustration involved in dealing with the information that was stray information. And it could have been very important. You could have been having a problem trying to get, you were trying to get what was an umbrella policy. It could have been a problem getting the umbrella because of the blended information from other people. Likely it was on yours. So I wish I could tell you there was a way to just make these reports completely accurate. But the very nature of how all these organizations do business with the profiles they build on us is such that they will never be fully accurate. They'll be hopefully close, but they're not going to be fully accurate. Coming up ahead, something's ailing you. You can't get to a doctor because it's so hard to get an appointment. What do you do?

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Krista (17:33)

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Clark Howard (17:58)

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Clark Howard (18:02)

Rated PG13 so I talked about at the top of this podcast and YouTube show about how doctors, when they go. I didn't mention this at the top, but I was talking about the shortage of primary care doctors. How doctors go through all these years of schooling and every incentive is in their path that pushes them towards a specialization because primary care doctors and pediatricians are really penalized in the medical field and what they earn. So you have pretty much the same costs in years and money to get through medical school. Whether you go into a high paying specialization or you go into relatively speaking, because we're talking about medicine here, you go into low paying primary care or being a peat. And so what does the marketplace do? It allocates resources to where people are making more money, leading to this extreme shortage of primary care we have in the United States. And so, so many Americans don't even have a primary care doctor anymore because of this. And even if you have one, they are so overworked that when something's ailing you, you may not be able to get an appointment. You may not even be able to get advice on the advice line. They'll have some practices, call it the nurse line, advice line, whatever. You can't even reach anybody there and you're sick. And a pharmacist said to me, why do I never mention how often pharmacists are the ones who end up having to give advice to people. That is legal in some states and frowned upon in others. But pharmacists are the point of contact that so many people have more of a relationship with now than with a doctor. Now, obviously we have to fix this market imbalance. I've talked about that. And at the top, I talked about physician assistants, nurse practitioners, doctors of osteopathic medicine who are filling in some of this gap going on with how medical schools are set up. And the whole system is set up to steer students away from direct point of contact, primary care. The economics are all messed up. And so who knows? You often is that pharmacist. And you know, the pharmacists are the best line of defense. When you do go to specialists and you could potentially have a drug interaction problem with something that one specialist is prescribed and then another specialist prescribes something and the two together, they're not friendly with each other. And doctors are now so in their silos and they don't talk to each other. And the only one who's the good point of contact in this, the pharmacist who sees what you're on and says, oh, well, I'm not sure this is a good idea here. So I'm not saying that pharmacists should practice medicine without a license, but there's a lot of experience, knowledge and skill in that pharmacist that when the doctor is not available to you, they may be a viable help to you. I didn't say viable alternative.

Krista (21:57)

Okay.

Clark Howard (21:57)

You ever ask pharmacists for advice?

Krista (21:59)

No.

Clark Howard (22:00)

You've never done that?

Krista (22:01)

Only if it's.

Clark Howard (22:02)

I sure have.

Krista (22:02)

I have about over the counter stuff like which thing do you think I should get for this? That kind of thing. Okay. Bruce in Florida says, wanted to share that I had throat cancer five years ago and I'm in full remission.

Clark Howard (22:15)

Well, I'm sorry you had it. And congratulations for being in full remission.

Krista (22:20)

And I have to use a prescription toothpaste daily. I have insurance, but none of them cover this. The typical cost is about $42 per bottle.

Clark Howard (22:29)

What for toothpaste?

Krista (22:32)

Special prescription toothpaste.

Clark Howard (22:34)

Wow.

Krista (22:35)

But Amazon Pharmacy filled it for $20, including free overnight shipping. I heard you talk about the Amazon telehealth and this reminded me of this great service from Amazon Pharmacy. As a side note, I had my cancer treatment through the VA Health System. I'm retired military.

Clark Howard (22:50)

Thank you.

Krista (22:52)

And they were amazing and very professional. I wanted to share a positive word about them as they seem to get so much negative press for their healthcare delivery.

Clark Howard (22:59)

Well, thank you. Everything you said was such a wonderful thing. Other than the fact that you were diagnosed with cancer five years ago, but everything after that, so positive. And thank you for reiterating how the Amazon Pharmacy operation is something that Amazon prime members should absolutely be paying attention to. It works very differently than others. They had bought an independent online pharmacy outfit, had a very clever way of packaging people's prescriptions and the Amazon people thought that's unique in the marketplace. We want a piece of that. And so they got a piece of it. They bought the whole thing. And the pricing is not Costco level pharmacy pricing, but the prices are generally very good.

Krista (23:52)

Melanie in North Carolina says Clark, I'm interested in a Smart ring for deeper sleep, fitness and potentially cycle tracking. I know you wear an OURA ring, but the monthly subscription gives me pause and I've seen so many other competitors now. Do you think OURA is still worth it or are any of these alternatives viable? Also, with OURA and Smart rings in general, I've noticed the different colors and finishes vary a lot in price. Does it make more sense to buy less expensive base color and add a cover later or just pay for the pricier finish up front? For context, I already wear a Fitbit Inspired too. Thank you.

Clark Howard (24:26)

Okay, thank you for your post and Melanie Aura obviously is not alone with the rings. Aura, though, seems to be ahead of others in terms of all the health and sleeping data that they provide. Garmin has been trying a lot with certain Garmin devices that are trying directly to, in my opinion, to compete with Aura that are traditional Garmin watches but that are designed to track your sleep and you have to see if you're comfortable wearing that if it's cheaper. I'm not aware of Garmin having any subscriptions. You have to pay for access to the health and sleep data. Also, if you look at some of the technology sites that test these things, there are lots of reviews and arguments about other fitness rings or health rings that do not charge a monthly subscription and comparing their sleep and health data to Aura. And I think if you don't want to pay the Aura monthly fee, looking at some of those reviews online would be helpful to you seeing if there is an alternative ring. The advantage of a ring over a watch apparently is that people have a harder time keeping the watches on consistently and the ring has so many touch points in your finger that the data may potentially be better. You hear how I'm hedging? Because I am so far from a scientist or a tech expert, I don't know what to say.

Krista (26:13)

I can't sleep with a watch on. That's my problem. So I need to.

Clark Howard (26:15)

I never sleep with a watch on. But the aura. I mean, I've had an aura now over five and a half years. And to say I have an addiction problem to Aura, I do.

Krista (26:28)

That's a healthy one, so.

Clark Howard (26:29)

And I got a really bad night's sleep last night according to aura and bad readiness score and my wife Lane laughs that I don't trust my own gut feeling on what kind of night's sleep I got. I decide that whatever Aura says is how I actually slept.

Krista (26:49)

That's true. It can get me down sometimes if I have a bad sleep score. So two quick things. One is you can use HSA or flexible spending account money for an OURA ring. I assume the other ones might qualify as well. But you could. So that way you could get it tax free. And then in terms of the finishes, I don't know of.

Clark Howard (27:10)

Oh, I didn't answer that. I just buy the cheapest one.

Krista (27:13)

And in terms of the subscription, you were grandfathered in. But then didn't you have to get a new one and you have to pay the fee now.

Clark Howard (27:20)

So I thought I was supposed to be. But that hadn't happened yet.

Krista (27:23)

Okay. But you are willing to in your case, it's worth it to you.

Clark Howard (27:28)

Yeah, I. I pry this thing from my cold, dead finger. Right.

Krista (27:33)

$6 a month, is that what it is?

Clark Howard (27:35)

You know, I haven't had to pay it, so I don't know.

Krista (27:37)

I think it is. So that's how much?

Clark Howard (27:40)

72 a year? Yeah. If it's six. Yeah.

Krista (27:43)

So you have to, I guess, decide if you think it's worth that.

Clark Howard (27:47)

For me, it's invaluable because to see what's going on with my heart every day since I've had heart trouble is really, really important and valuable to me.

Krista (27:59)

Dan in California says, first of all, thank you for all the great advice throughout the years. My question's about accessing sensitive accounts when you're not at home. If I'm staying at a hotel, is there a way for me to safely access my brokerage account?

Clark Howard (28:12)

Absolutely. Never on the hotel WI fi. Don't do it. Now, a lot of people have said in the past, well, I use a vpn, okay. My favorite is that you use your phone and you access the account over the app provided by the brokerage and you're on the cellular of your phone rather than the WI fi wherever you are. When you look at levels of risk doing different things, the safest I know is using the apps from the various brokerages and banks. And you also, in terms of burden for hacking or whatever, you're reducing the burden of proof on you when you're using their own app at your brokerage.

Krista (29:06)

Also, I need to access certain things for the company you know, paying invoices and things like that on my computer. And so I always make sure my phone plan has a hotspot and I use my wifi hotspot.

Clark Howard (29:20)

Yeah, I apologize. I should have mentioned that as well. Thank you, Krista.

Krista (29:24)

Sure.

Clark Howard (29:25)

Well, I appreciate. I mean, think about the variety of questions you threw at me today, including the one that I was like, I don't know about. If you buy an electric vehicle, which is basically a computer on wheels, at some point, if they stop supporting it, do you have a junkyard vehicle at that point? Because you can't even drive it anymore. Yuck, who knows? But I appreciate you bringing perspectives to me that I've not thought about and in other cases that I'm able to provide you with information that is useful and helpful to you. We all are in this together and I am so thankful that we're able to work together to help each other just in everyday life. I brought this up about a month ago. I'm so thrilled that for the first time in years, Americans are volunteering more again, doing things to make their neighborhood, their community and their country better. And how about you? If you have gotten out of the habit of volunteering, is there something you've been invited to, to help on a Saturday or something that you just didn't make time for? Be part of making a difference and making things better around us. And it makes you feel great too when you go out and volunteer. So do things to help one another whenever you can. With that having been said, the help that we're all about is giving you ideas and information, knowledge so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. And I'll see you on Wednesday.