03.06.26 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Renovation Reprise

Summary

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The Clark Howard Podcast

Episode: 03.06.26 — Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Renovation Reprise
Date: March 6, 2026
Host: Clark Howard

Episode Overview

This episode features Clark Howard's popular "Clark Stinks" segment, where listeners share their critiques and corrections to Clark's advice, prompting candid discussion and Clark’s signature humble clarifications. In the second half, Clark explores key trends in home renovations, the shifting contractor market, and practical advice on preparing for—and paying for—major home improvement projects. The episode wraps with topical Q&A on saving for renovations, insuring your home amid rising costs, and insuring homes with unique features like cedar shake roofs.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Clark Stinks: Listener Critiques and Clark’s Responses

(01:22–17:05)

Tipping and Restaurant Rounding

• Listener James (CA): Criticized Clark’s incomplete answer on tipping and the issue of being short-changed by servers; explained that servers are often charged 3% of sales for tipouts (02:46).
  • Quote: “If they cannot afford to tip, do not eat out. You’re forcing someone to pay to serve you.” — James, CA (02:46)
• Listener Susan (CA): Called cash bill “rounding up” by restaurants “theft”, and recommended reporting to the DA or Attorney General.
  • Clark’s Response (03:49): Notices how tipping always provokes strong listener responses.

Solo 401(k) Setup Issues

• Listener Mike (FL): Warned that some brokers lack proper plan documents for solo 401(k)s (04:00).
  • Clark: “What you’re talking about was a problem in the past, but … should be very, very rare now.” (04:18)
  • Clark lists his preferred providers: Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity, Betterment, Wealthfront (05:10).

Early Retirement Health Care and the ACA

• Listener Glue (NC): Called Clark out for missing how the ACA subsidizes health insurance for early retirees with controlled AGI; highlighted Roth IRAs’ advantage in this scenario (05:16).
  • Quote: “If you can keep your adjusted gross income under $84,000, health care is quite reasonable.” — Glue, NC (05:16)
  • Clark agrees and explains nuances of subsidies and Roth IRA withdrawal strategy (06:06).

0% Financing Traps

• Listener Ed (OK): Asked if setting up auto-pay (and slightly overpaying) on 0% financing avoids surprise interest (07:13).
  • Clark (07:37): Advises finishing payments two months before expiry to avoid “ugly retroactive interest”; warns of lender “tricks” with end dates.

Dogs, HSAs, & Miscellaneous

• Listener Jim (OK): Shares a wild story about his dog eating dangerous things, and thanks Clark for 529 plan advice (09:05).
• Listener Phil (CT): Points out Clark omitted you can claim old HSA receipts many years later (10:26).
  • Clark: “Keep the physical records … but you also want to digitize them … you can make that claim decades later.” (10:58)

Credit Score Nuance

• Listener John (NC): Argues 800+ FICO can make a rate difference over 760; saved 0.05% on a mortgage (12:01).
  • Clark: Concedes there are rare exceptions but maintains that 760+ is nearly always sufficient (12:34).
  • Mentions refi opportunities due to recent mortgage rate drops (13:52).

Living in Australia

• Listeners Andrew (ID) & Bob (OR): challenge Clark’s prior comments; urge more detail on cost-of-living and why he loves Australia.
  • Clark: Shares emotional connection with Australia, especially Sydney, calls it “the most livable, friendly, wonderful, beautiful, big metro … anywhere.” (15:01)
  • Quote: “Every time I leave Australia, my heart aches. I love it there so much.” — Clark Howard (15:01)
• Clark reflects: Thanks listeners for critiques, stresses importance of feedback for growth (16:40).

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2. Renovation Reprise: Home Improvements & Contractor Climate

(19:32–23:44)

• Market Update: Home improvement demand has softened due to the frozen real estate market; less home turnover means fewer major renovations (19:32).
  • Contractors are more available, prices more competitive, and it’s “the first time in a long, long time” that the balance favors homeowners.
• ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units):
  • Better opportunity now: more prefabricated options, faster installation, and lower costs if zoning permits (21:41).
  • Possible to generate extra income by adding an ADU onto your existing land, with a better return vs. buying new rental property.

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3. Renovation & Homeowner Q&A

(23:44–30:00)

Saving for Home Improvements
(23:44)

• Listener Patrick (NY): Asks where to save for big projects needed in <5 years.
  • Clark: Stick to high-yield savings or brokered CDs. Do not invest in the market for timelines under 5 years. Brokered CDs (via places like Fidelity, Schwab) can sometimes top best online savings rates (24:11).

Home Insurance Adequacy Amid Rising Values
(25:46)

• Listener Stephen (OH): Worries if his insurance covers rising rebuild costs.
  • Clark: Many homeowners are underinsured despite rising premiums. Insist on “actual replacement cost” coverage, not just current market value. Review with your agent to ensure your policy covers rebuilding at today’s costs, including code-required upgrades (26:14).
  • Co-host Krista: Suggests getting a builder’s estimate for a real-world rebuild cost (28:25).

Challenges with Cedar Shake Roofs & Insurance (29:00)

• Listener Alex (MN): Difficulty getting insurance for his cedar shake roof.
  • Clark: “Cedar shake roofs are a disaster for insurers … much more subject to fire damage … much more susceptible to hail.” Most insurers don't cover them any more, or exclude hail damage. Suggests considering synthetic cedar shake replacements on next roof cycle. Recommends independent insurance agents to shop specialty coverage in the interim (29:43).

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On listener feedback:

  “This is really helpful to me to see where advice or information I’ve given is incomplete, wrong, dumb, or I miss something that would change my answer to someone who asked a question. So please take the time to post. It helps so very much.” — Clark Howard (16:40)

• On dealing with 0% financing “tricks”:

  “They will say your payment’s due on a date in March that’s after even one day after the anniversary of your 0%. Just so they can trick you into having to pay interest all the way back to day one.” — Clark Howard (07:37)

• On the shifting contractor market:

  “This is the first opportunity I’ve seen in several years where you might actually call a contractor and the contractor returns your phone call … The market has shifted.” — Clark Howard (19:32)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:22: Show introduction & mission
• 02:46–16:40: Clark Stinks criticism—tipping, retirement, 401ks, ACA, credit scores, etc.
• 19:32: State of the home renovation and contractor market
• 21:41: ADUs and new opportunities for homeowners
• 23:44: How to save securely for mid-term home improvements
• 25:46: Assessing if your homeowners insurance is adequate
• 29:00: Insuring homes with challenging features (cedar shake roofs)

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Tone and Style

Clark remains direct, humble, consumer-first, and even playful—willing to admit errors and always seeking to make his advice more useful and actionable. Listener critiques are often delivered with humor, and Clark responds with appreciation and practical details.

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode exemplifies why The Clark Howard Podcast is a staple for practical consumer advice. You get a rare look at common gaps in financial guidance, straight from sharp listeners, and see Clark’s willingness to correct and clarify. The “renovation reprise” segment is timely for anyone pondering home improvements in today’s cooling contractor market. If you’re weighing a big spend, calming your insurance anxieties, or navigating quirky-smart home financing, this episode is essential listening.

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Transcript

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[Clark Howard]

It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show. You know this show is about you. Our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. I hope one of the decisions you'll make is to be a subscriber to our newsletters. I am so proud of the content Christo our team puts together in our [e-mail] newsletters our newsletters are free, easy to subscribe to, and unlike the rest of the world, easy to unsubscribe to if you decide they're not for you. But I'd be surprised. Today is my weekly opportunity for personal improvement and growth in our Clark Stink segment. Later, if you've been considering doing a renovation or adding an accessory dwelling unit, ADU to your home is now the right time. We'll talk about that, but without further ado, it's time for Clark Stinks.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

I should have never encouraged you to speak.

[Clark Howard]

You almost think I'm pretty stupid.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

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

[Clark Howard]

Maybe you're right pal.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

All right, two on this one. James in California says I love Clark but feel he could have done better answering the question where the writer complained about a server not having exact change for them. I was a server for many years and no server will ever carry exact change since it's assumed there will be a tip added to the bill, there must be a tip added. The system automatically takes a percentage of a server's sales, typically 3% to give to the back of the house staff. That means if someone does not tip, I as the server paid 3% to serve them. Yes, that also means a 20% tip is actually 17% to the server. This person writing in needs to completely change their demeanor towards this. And if they cannot afford to tip, do not eat out. You're forcing someone to pay to serve you. And then another perspective from Susan in California who says hi Clark, you really don't stink at all. This is in response to the person who had their restaurant bill rounded up when paying cash, this is actually theft. They should report this to their district attorney's consumer fraud unit or to the State Attorney General. I know restaurants have gotten into trouble for this tactic in the past.

[Clark Howard]

I appreciate both of those posts. Have you ever noticed all through the years whenever anything comes up about tipping, how fired up people get?

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

Okay, this one's from Mike in Florida on solo 401ks. Be aware that accounts at big brokers often lack thorough 401k plan setup documents that can be a problem depending on the size of the small business owner's account. A third party plan administrator may be needed to ensure compliance.

[Clark Howard]

Okay, can I say on that that should not be happening now. There are what are known as prototypes that are blanket plans that have been approved by the federal regulators and are good for anyone who goes to that firm for a solo or self employed 401k. What you're talking about was a problem in the past, but the reason I got excited about the availability now of solo or self employed 401ks is the problem you're talking about. Should be very very rare now. But if you go to my favorite children, you know, for your solo herself employed 401k. This shouldn't be a problem at all. Should I say you're my favorite children?

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

Sure, go for it.

[Clark Howard]

Vanguard, Schwab Fidelity don't forget betterment and wealth Front is options too.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

Glue in North Carolina says Clark stinks with the stench of lying by omission. A 50 something year old couple asked if they could retire before age 65 if their mortgage and kids school loans were paid off. The question was how do you get health care? Clark answered, it's not good right now. Maybe in six years. The Affordable Care act is the correct answer. If you can keep your adjusted GROSS Income under $84,000, health care is quite reasonable. Clark missed the perfect opportunity to push his beloved Roth ira. I'm in a group of retired engineers in our early 60s and the affordable Care act makes it possible. In fact, I'm a type 1 diabetic and I get special diabetes plan which I've never had before. My wife and I went from $1,900 per month to $577 per month with better coverage. Please add this information to your incomplete answer.

[Clark Howard]

Thank you for that. Okay, so if you remember, there was the big fuss with the government shutdown about the subsidies on ACA plans, individual plans purchased on the health care exchange. So that was never resolved. So a large number of people, millions of people who qualified for subsidies no longer do. But there are still subsidies as long as you meet the requirements of tightly controlling your income and the rules are more favorable generally to married couples. And so this is as you pointed out in your post glue is one of the enormous advantages of a Roth IRA in early retirement before age 65 is that that doesn't generate additional income that would take you outside the band of qualifying for a subsidy on your health care premiums.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

All right. Ed in Oklahoma sent this one in a minor pu. Oh, you told someone on the podcast never to go for the 0% deals on purchases. This is because they can have a very minor balance at the end of the term. That would trigger interest from the beginning. But what if you set up automatic payments from an account and for good measure make the payments, say $1 more than the required amount? Wouldn't that be safe?

[Clark Howard]

So let's talk safe Ed, to me how you make it safe. Let's say you get one year same as cash or 18 months same as cash. Build in a two month buffer where you get it paid off. And yeah, you're giving up two months of zero percent. But then there's no question that you've gotten it paid off at the 0% and are not going to get hit with the ugly retroactive interest today. 1. And know this, the in house lenders that companies contract with all do a trick. So let's say your one year ends March of next year. They will say your payments due on a date in March. That's after even one day after the anniversary of your 0% just so they can trick you into having to pay interest all the way Back to day one. At most often around 35%. So know the exact contract language of when the 0% must be fully paid off so you don't get that ugly bill shock.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

My rule of thumb if I ever do it is you have to pay it off in half the time.

[Clark Howard]

Half?

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

Yeah. You could do 10 months out of 12, I guess, but that way you're. There's never a question.

[Clark Howard]

Build in two months. A lot would have to go wrong for you to get burned.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

True. Jim in Oklahoma says you're smelling like a diaper left on a Kmart parking lot. Look, you're looking good to me. Clark, you talked about your dog eating things. Our dog Sam, while on a walk, ate a piece of meat on a skewer. I saw him swallow it whole. I called our vet and we decided to give him some hydrogen peroxide to make him throw up. And he managed to spew the whole thing out whole. It was 6 inches long with a sharp point. Surgery averted. Yeah, but just waiting until the next episode. He has cost us the price of a new Yugo. Clark, you give great advice on starting at 529. We started one for our grandkids. It was invested right. In doing great. Just thought I'd throw that fun one in. In the middle.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah. Since this dog has not been through what our dog Winston's been through. Eating grill wipes, ending up in the hospital. Eating. Cooking cocoa. Four days in the hospital. What else did Winston do?

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

She's a daredevil. A pill. Then she get into some pills.

[Clark Howard]

Oh, no, no. She ate an entire bunch of tulips, including the stems. There was no trace that there had been tulips there. And tulips are poisonous to dogs. So three times.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

She's tiny.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah. Nine pound monster. Just such a sweet dog. And has made it to ten and a half.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

Oh, good for her. Yeah, she tried not to.

[Clark Howard]

Right.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

Phil in Connecticut says, clark, I've been listening to you at least for 30 years. Thanks for all the information you've helped me and others with over these years. On your show, a listener asked if he can take out money tax free in his 60s. You basically said, not unless it's spent on medical expenses. And I think this is from an hsa. Yes, absolutely true. However, you didn't mention that it didn't have to be medical expenses from the current year. He can track his expenses over many years and then take the money out after letting it build up in the hsa. I know you've mentioned this before, but it was a clear omission in this case.

[Clark Howard]

All right, this is, this is so ironic and timely. I was on this note, the unusual part. I was on an airplane flight and a flight attendant asked me for advice about her HSA because she's been building it up through the years. And she said, well I thought you said that I could keep receipts and claim much later in life, but my financial person said no, I had to use the money in the current year. And I said, well, your financial person probably was confusing FSAs and HSAs, but it is true. And what I said to her is what I've said before. On the podcast, you want to not only keep the physical records of your medical bills, but you also want to digitize them because as you move over the years and things like that, you could lose the physical records. But hopefully you've maintained the backup digital and you can make that claim decades later and pull against the hsa.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

John in North Carolina says, Clark, you stink like onions that gave up on life. Not really. We love you. You say not to obsess about having a credit score above 800 and that 760 is enough for everything. I just took out a mortgage with my 790 FICO and I paid 6.55%. If I had an 800 or above it would have been 6.5%. Not a lot, but it could add up. If I need to keep the 30 year loan from for an extended period past the five year prepayment. It does matter. So please stop saying that 760 or above will suffice in all situations.

[Clark Howard]

Okay, I will do the annex and say that there are rare circumstances and what you pointed out is something I've not heard before is that a mortgage company shaved 5 basis points off your rate by having a score 20 points higher than your no, 10 points higher than your extremely high score. I'd say that that is unusual and I think it still remains okay for me to say Depending on the lender, 760 or 780 qualifies you in almost all cases for the very best preferential loan rates. And I have not mentioned, and we talked about doing it on an upcoming podcast, but this question makes me want to say it. And that is the opportunity that exists right now to refi loans is mortgage rates have fallen a great deal recently and so if you took out a loan at their peak at seven point something, you have an opportunity now potentially to refi even into a new 30 year loan. a rate low enough that makes it worth it.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

Andrew in Idaho and I'm going to read another one from Bob in Oregon about this same topic. Okay, Andrew says I don't think you stink because I respect your advice a lot. However, you made a recent statement about visiting Australia versus living there. My wife and I spend four to six months each year living in Australia. Lucky if you shop in the tourist areas. Yes, things cost a lot, but that's not the same anywhere. However, you act like a local and you go to where the local shop and it's no more expensive than living here. Some items are more, some are actually less. Cars are no more expensive than here and yes, things like washing machines and some appliances are more expensive. Electricity is expensive compared to at least Idaho. And houses are expensive. But our US dollar goes a long way these days too. So you're wrong concerning that statement. Have you ever lived there? I assume not, because you wouldn't be saying what you said if you have. And then Bob in Oregon says Clark stinks like a week old kangaroo roadkill on a highway in the Australian outback. He tells his listeners that Australia is his favorite country and does not go into detail detail as to why. As any of his listeners know, Clark is extremely well traveled. So this really piqued my interest. Come on Clark, we deserve at least a 30 second explanation on why.

[Clark Howard]

Okay, every time I leave Australia, my heart aches. I love it there so much. I've been, I guess about half a dozen times and it's not enough. And the amount of time I spend when I go, not enough. There's something about the vibe there that is incredible. I've traveled. Never traveled in the western part of Australia, but in eastern Australia. I've been to all the big metro areas and I adore Sydney. I would love to live in Sydney and it's the most livable, friendly, wonderful, beautiful, big metro and safe metro area just about anywhere. And so that's it. But everywhere I've been in Australia, I've really enjoyed. So for anybody from Melbourne, I don't want Melbourne, as they say. I don't want you to hate me because you know this rivalry between the two cities. Sorry, but for me, Sydney's got me and I just want to go right now. Well, I want to thank you for all your posts on Clark Stinks today. It's how I learn and we all learn from each other and always remembering we got two ears, one mouth and a lot of times we use our mouths more than our ears. And so this is really helpful to me to see where advice or information I've given is incomplete. Wrong, dumb, or I miss something that would change my answer to someone who asked a question. So please take the time to post. It helps so very much. And coming up ahead, the rental market. There's a change in the air I want you to know about if there's something you've put off doing at your

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[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

Ouch.

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[Clark Howard]

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[Clark Howard]

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[Clark Howard]

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[Clark Howard]

Home Depot recently reported that their sales were flat. A company that's always looked at as a growth company, not right now. And the psychology has changed for the home improvement industry. So here's where this affects you. Because the number of people buying homes right now has declined so much as the housing market has been frozen. And I think this year is going to be a little better in the housing market. I think it's going to thaw a little bit. But it's already a situation where the number of homes changing hands has been historically low for several years. And what that means is when people buy a new to them home, that's when they go out and they do things. They'll say, okay, I want to change out the kitchen in the home we just bought, or I want to fix this bathroom or I want to add a new deck on the back, whatever it is. So a lot of the spending and a lot of the work that goes on with home additions, renovations, improvements happens at ownership change time. So right now the market is really soft in home improvement. So this is the first opportunity I've seen in several years where you might actually call a contractor and the contractor returns your phone call. You call a contractor, make an appointment and they show up. And contractors went through years where they had so much work that they might not respond, or if they did quote your job, they'd quote at a really high price where the markup would be so much that it was really worth their time. Well, right now a lot of them have more time than clients. So the market has shifted. It doesn't mean everywhere you're going to find a deal, but it's become more rational and reasonable if you're going to do an improvement, repair, addition to your home. This is also a time where the opportunity for you to add an adu, an accessory dwelling unit, which is like a cottage you add on your own land, becomes a better opportunity. First of all, there's more players in the ADU business a lot doing full prefab or modified prefabs that are quicker to get done, cheaper to put in. And the beauty of a cottage on your own property, or is it's now called an adu, is that if you're looking for additional income in your life and zoning permits, an ADU where you live, putting one in, you already own the land and you're able to generate income at a very low cost. You know, I've talked about why it's so hard to make rental property purchases pay off right now. But an ADU is an exception to that because again, the land is already there and particularly if you find prefab that you like, you were able to do it much more speedily and at a lower cost. So this is a shift that I'm noting in the marketplace. Let me emphasize again, this is not everywhere. Every community, every sub real estate market. But the general trend with renovations, additions, improvements to a home has turned in favor of homeowners for the first time in a long, long time.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

Krista okay, going to questions. Patrick in New York sent this one in. Where's the best place to save money for a large home improvement cost? Our windows and deck will need to be replaced sooner than rather than later within five years and we would like to start bucketing money for the cost. My default move is to just add a new account with our online High Yield Savings bank. But not sure if that's too conservative. How does one have a delicious home improvement birthday cake and eat it?

[Clark Howard]

Yeah. So five years or less your instinct Patrick, is 100% right. You cannot invest money safely in a less than five year window. That is money that is just saved. So your only job is to shop around for the best rates you can find on savings. And by the way, I don't emphasize enough that often you're going to get a better deal through a broker place CD or savings account than you're going to find with a high yield savings account. This is a case where you could consider a combination of CDs, a ladder instead of a high yield savings account or a combination of the two. So what's a broker place cd? Discount brokers have a service where they get a little commission from various banks and potentially credit unions around the country for placing funds that their customers have. And often going through the wholesale side into a bank earns you a higher savings rate than you earn from the retail side because the paperwork's handled by the discount broker. So there's not as much expense managing your account in that case is there is otherwise. And the power of the discount brokers gets you often better offers on your savings, particularly on CDs.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

I think this is an important one for all homeowners to hear. Stephen in Ohio says we purchased our dream home for $500,000 two years ago and quickly set up our homeowners insurance. Like many other places, the housing market continues to sharply rise. I'm wondering if a total loss like a firew to occur, would our insurance be enough to cover the cost to rebuild with all the extras that currently exist. How do I know what the expected rebuild cost would be and if I'm properly insured, to cover it?

[Clark Howard]

Okay, Stephen, what a great question. And when I answer this question, which I get probably three times a year, every time after, I have people really mad at me who are homeowners, because as much as insurance premiums have gone up on homeowners insurance over the years, the reality is a lot of us are frightfully underinsured on our homes because an insurer is not necessarily stepping up the coverage limits when they're hitting you with those increases. And your policy almost certainly is not going to cover the full cost of rebuild. Here's what I like you to do is. And the language will change from insurer to insurer and a little bit from state to state. But what you do is you see what homes around you cost to buy now, and you want to make sure that your home is insured up to that level. And then you want to make sure that you have an actual replacement cost clause in your homeowner's insurance. Because if you don't have that, let's say you increase the amount of coverage on your home, but the cost of repairing after a fire or something like that, it's going to cost more per square foot than what the square footage cost is of buying your home. So you want to have in it actual replacement cost, which means the insurer replaces, based on any changes in the building codes, any increase in the cost of materials, labor, the rest, so you're not left partially underinsured and you're having to come out of pocket with money to make yourself whole again instead of the insurer doing it. And Krista, you suffered so much at your home. My old home. Yeah, yeah. Back. Gosh, it's now 17 years ago when you had an insurance claim and it outstripped your insurance, and that was quite a burden. And you're all over this question.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

Oh, yeah. I think it's important. I need to think about it too. I'm thinking of having a builder look at my house and say, what would it really cost?

[Clark Howard]

So you could do that. I think if you insure the home at prevailing prices and have actual replacement coverage or rebuilding coverage. And again, the terminology will change. So you call your insurer, if you have an agent, you call your agent and you say, here's what I'm worried about. What is it I need to make sure is in my policy with this company, and they will have some lingo Again, that's either how it's done in that state or what it's called by

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

that insurer, Alex, in Minnesota, says Clark. I'm an avid listener, appreciate all the financial advice you give. My wife and I moved into a new house last year. The house was built in 1988 and has a cedar shake roof. You're familiar with that?

[Clark Howard]

Oh, yes, I am.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

It is very difficult to get any insurance company to cover it. The only insurance company I've found that will cover the roof 100% is State Farm.

[Clark Howard]

Let me say that you're lucky because in most states, State Farm, as I understand it, has stopped insuring homes with cedar shake.

[Clark Howard Show Caller/Listener]

Although I take it this wouldn't be a guarantee if something were to happen like a hail storm. Do you have any recommendations for another insurance company who would specialize in covering homes with a cedar shake roof?

[Clark Howard]

Okay, we gotta talk. So cedar shake roofs are a disaster for insurers. The homes are much more subject to fire damage from cedar shake. You got wood up there. And also they are much more susceptible to hail damage. That's why you said in your question about the hail damage. Would that even be covered? A lot of times insurers specifically exclude hail damage claims on cedar shake in your policy. So I'm going to give you an answer that's going to blow your mind. What people are doing is when their roof has reached a reasonable end of its useful life, people are now putting up replacement synthetic cedar shake. There's various substances that are used. It can be concrete, it can be some kind of artificial substance that is fire retardant or fire safe, but it still looks like cedar shake. I see them now on houses and some people complain that they can look a little shiny and that they don't look like real wood, but I think over time they do. So that's a future thing for you. When the time comes that you have to replace that cedar shake roof is that you eliminate that risk for yourself and the insurer. For now, you're going to be in a game of whack a mole. If at some point State Farm says, yeah, we don't want you because you got that cedar shake, you're going to have to hunt around. And this is a case where having an independent insurance agent can be very useful. It's a specialty kind of situation. They know the market backwards and forwards and an independent agent is going to really have a good feel for where they can place you, that you'll still have coverage that's hopefully decent for a home with a cedar shake. And so cedar shake. I've been through having a house with cedar shake. For me, the maintenance that a cedar shake roof requires drove me crazy. But it is a really cool look. But it's also one that's becoming too hot to handle. Well, I want to thank you so much for joining us on today's podcast. I hope that this weekend coming up is absolutely great for you. And if there's something you need to know this weekend, remember 24 7, we're there for [e-mail] and ClarkDeals.com with deals. And so you can get empowerment from us so many different ways, including at our website, where everything we do is about knowledge that empowers you so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. Have a great one.