
Do You Save More Than the Average American? & Warning for Furniture Shoppers
Loading summary
Windows 11 Student Deal Announcer
Study and play come together on a Windows 11 PC and for a limited time, college students get the best of both worlds. Get the unreal college Deal Everything you need to study and play with select Windows 11 PCs. Eligible students get a year of Microsoft 365 Premium and a year of Xbox Game Pass ultimate with a custom color Xbox wireless controller. Learn more@windows.com studentoffer while supplies last ends June 30th terms at aka mscollegepc
Indeed Sponsored Jobs Announcer
when you need to build up your team to handle the growing chaos at work, use Indeed Sponsored Jobs. It gives your job posts the boost it needs to be seen and helps reach people with the right skills, certifications and more. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit@ Indeed.com podcast. That's Indeed.com podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs Foreign.
Clark Howard
It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show. You know our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. I'm going to begin today's show with some financial stats on the average American and we're going to talk about where you fit fit on this list later. You thinking of buying any furniture right now? Oh boy, oh boy. I got special warnings for you if you're hankering to buy some furniture, right? So 4 cents. That's the number I want you thinking about. 4 cents. That's how much the average American saves right now of every dollar they make. So that includes people who save huge amounts of every dollar to people who are what's known as negative net spenders. A negative net spender is someone who spends more than a dollar for every dollar they earn. You ask how is that possible? Well, credit card debt is an all time record high and various borrowing is how we end up with negative net spenders. But you take everybody, throw them all in the mix and the average American of every dollar spends 96 cents, keeps 4. Now in Asia, a lot of Asian countries, people on the equivalent currency that they use save about, let's just call it dollars and cents just to keep it simple. For every equivalent of a dollar that people make in a variety of Asian countries, it's normal that they save about 30 cents. Completely different than how we live. And some of it is historically cultural in a number of Asian countries. Some of it is living in countries that have no safety net at all if you're broke, you're broke. Where in the United States we do have some amount of safety net, not a great one, not one that would lead to, hey, I don't need to work. Look, I can just have money from the government that doesn't work here. And to be really honest with you, saving 4 cents of every dollar isn't going to give you security and comfort in your life. And it's also going to mean that unless you work somewhere that you have an employer provided pension that provides essentially for your needs later in your life, you're going to have a really hard time later because you'll likely have to work indefinitely. So here's how I want you to think about it. Wherever you are right now, unless you're already a mega saver. And if you are, close your ears to what I'm about to talk about because I don't want you to deprive yourself if you're already saving like a maniac. That's not most people. I want you to think about baby steps. The whole idea of is kind of like when somebody knows they need to exercise. And you can see it anywhere in the country that has a cold winter, that when weather starts getting a little warmer, you'll see people suddenly have decided, I'm going to go out and I'm going to exercise, I'm going to start running or whatever. You've seen them, I mean, they look like they're going to pass out as they're trying to run. Instead, somebody who wants to build new habits of exercise, you start slow and you do the thing where you pace yourself running. You know about this, where you run for a minute and then walk for 2, 3 or 4, and then run for another minute, walk 2 or 3, 4, and you build up to where maybe if you started running a minute and walking four, you get the point where you're doing better and you're running a minute and you're walking three, and then on like that, baby steps with money. Same thing. If you're like feeling like, well, it's terrible, I'm not saving money, you start somewhere again, going back to the penny kind of thing. If you're saving 1% of your pay right now, penny on every dollar every six months, I want you to step it up another penny. If it's through a retirement plan at work or it's through a Roth IRA or even just putting money through a payroll deduction where money's diverted straight into a savings account. It's all about building habits, creating space in your Life. And the goal, if you're not into historically into saving money, you've been living a deficit kind of lifestyle is. My goal is in five years to get you to saving a dime of every dollar you make. Every six months, another penny up. If you're living a big deficit lifestyle, would you think about some of the things I've talked about, about resolving to live on less than what you make so you can start paying down that credit card debt and have a plan that for it? Yeah. If you're carrying a lot of credit card debt, it's a five year plan to pay off debt. So the, the idea is to create less anxiety in your life, to create more freedom in your life, to build up a cushion so when the inevitable rainy day comes, you're prepared and with the ultimate goal being for you to decide based on how you've saved. When you decide to bag work and you don't want to work anymore, it is the greatest power to work because I want to and not because I have to. I want that for you, Krista.
Krista
Okay.
Clark Howard
I want that for you too.
Krista
Thank you. Well, I do want to work. I want to work and I have to work. I've got both.
Clark Howard
You want to and they have to.
Krista
Yeah, okay.
Clark Howard
But you're a great saver.
Krista
I try to. Thanks to you. I've listened to you and been with you long enough. Thanks to you. Richard in Connecticut says my 16 year old grandson wants to save money in a Roth ira. He makes money by buying and selling football cards at card shows and online.
Clark Howard
How about that?
Krista
I know. Very entrepreneurial. He also makes some money by doing odd jobs for me. Is Schwab good place for him to start his Roth ira or are there other places that might be better or safer? He's also interested in investing in stocks. I set up a custodial stock account for him and my two other grandsons with Schwab about 10 years ago. All the dividend money is reinvested to purchase more stock. By the way, I tell my grandsons that when you invest in stock, you're gambling at the Wall street casino. And the more knowledgeable you are, the better your odds are at winning.
Clark Howard
Wonderful advice, Richard. I love it. And so you already have accounts at Schwab, so that would be an absolutely great choice for your grandson to have a Roth ira. And at Schwab he won't have as much freedom. He'll need your help or another adult's help, whoever's this custodian to help him with it. Fidelity alone gives teenagers of your grandson's age, more freedom in terms of how they handle the account. So since you're at Schwab and your grandson's going to do his Roth at Schwab, I want him to understand Chuck Schwab, the founder of Schwab's Concepts and how to build a portfolio, which in the simplest terms, and it's the term that Chuck Schwab used, core and explore. So it's fine for your grandson to want to explore with individual stocks, but it starts with Core. And in a Roth, the easiest easy button is for most of the money that he puts into that Roth IRA goes into the Schwab version of the Target retirement fund for year 16, 50 years. I don't think there is one. There probably is 2075 fund yet, but that would be about the year that would be the target.
Krista
Linda in Washington says, I have a credit union account that I only use for Venmo. The credit Union has offered $1,000 complimentary accidental death and dismemberment insurance coverage. It also offers to increase coverage for a monthly fee that I'm not interested in. If I sign for the complimentary coverage only, am I leaving myself open to being bombarded by other insur offers?
Clark Howard
Potentially, yes. And pushes to try to get you to go past the free coverage to paid coverage, I don't see a problem with you taking the free thousand dollars coverage. But in terms of buying an accidental death and dismemberment policy, I'm not into those at all. And I ask at this point for you to think about do you have, Linda, adequate life insurance? Do you have a really, if there are people who are going to depend on you at the time of your untimely demise, do you have a good level term insurance policy to provide for those who might depend on you financially, which is the reason to have coverage for the time when you pass away?
Krista
Donna, Missouri says, I just looked at my credit reports from Equifax, Experian and Transunion. All of my credit account information appears to be correct. But there are mistakes with Lucky you that doesn't happen.
Clark Howard
There's got to be errors.
Krista
There are mistakes with previous addresses like misspelled streets, wrong house number, etc. There's also a phone number I never had. Additionally, none of them have my current employer correct and there were misspellings for previous employers. Is there any reason to go through the hassle of trying to get these corrected?
Clark Howard
No. I mean, I don't know that there's a credit report in existence that doesn't have errors on it. The key is if there are errors that would cost you credit you already have, lead to a denial of credit moving forward, or cost you the opportunity for a job that you want to have or insurance you'd like to get. So if the errors are in a category I'd call clerical like yours are, then don't worry about it. And your energy needs to go to the time at some point in the future. It's more likely a matter of when, not if. There will be significant errors on your credit report that could lead to any of the problems I just described. And good for you doing something that very rarely will anybody do. And that's look through a credit report fully, which is available to you for free@annualcreditreport.com that is the federally approved site for you to get a free annual copy of your credit report. Again, annual credit report.com all the others you see advertised are not the real thing, and the Feds allow Equifax, TransUnion and Experian to try to trick you into buying junk from them. When you go there, you don't have to. You can see your report for free, no questions asked once a year. Great checkup to do. Come up with the time you do it when we change our clocks or your birthday or some date that you'll remember. Oh, that's when I do that kind of housekeeping stuff and see that things are as they should be on your report coming up up ahead. Things are not as they should be in the furniture business and it could cost you big time. I'm going to tell you what you need to know.
Schwab Financial Services Announcer
Investing with Schwab is like spending a Saturday at a great farmer's market. You can fill your reusable tote with a bit of everything. Maybe you go for some free range self directed investing or perhaps you pick a few farm fresh trades while you peruse. You can even get help from a dedicated advisor. That's full service wealth management. Mix, match and change your mind whenever you want. Because at Schwab you can invest your way no matter your goals or appetite for investing, Schwab has everything you need all in one place. Visit schwab.com to learn more. This episode is brought to you by AT and T Business. For business owners, connectivity is key. If you are starting your business today, that would be your first concern and your first decision. Reliable connectivity is essential to launching whether you're local or national. For a business owner, it's a decision that pays benefits every day and in every aspect of your operation. AT and T Business is a reliable provider for small business owners For Small Business Month, we celebrate small businesses by helping them run better. This means reliable uptime, Easy switching Smart communications Powered by AT and T Business Built to Work Get AT and t business@business.att.com Self directed investing Trading Full Service Wealth Management Automated Investing Financial Planning Thematic Investing Retirement Planning Few and to think that's just a small taste of what Schwab offers. Because Schwab knows that when it comes to your finances, choice matters. No matter your goals, investing style, life, stage or experience, Schwab has everything you need all in one place so you can invest your way. Visit schwab.com to learn more. This episode is brought to you by AT and T Business. For business Owners, connectivity is key. If you are starting your business today, that would be your first concern and your first decision. Reliable connectivity is essential to launching whether you're local or national. For a business owner, it's a decision that pays benefits every day and in every aspect of your operation. AT and T Business is a reliable provider for small business owners. For Small Business Month we celebrate small businesses by helping them run better. This means reliable uptime, Easy switching Smart Communications Powered by AT and T Business Built to Work Get ATT business@business.att.com tomorrow morning is knocking.
Starbucks Frappuccino Announcer
Stock your fridge now. How about a Creamy Mocha Frappuccino drink? Or a sweet vanilla smooth caramel maybe? Or white chocolate mocha? Whichever you choose, delicious coffee awaits. Find Starbucks Frappuccino drinks wherever you buy your groceries.
Clark Howard
Big sales coming up really soon. Memorial Day is a holiday that we should be remembering those who did the ultimate sacrifice for your and my freedom serving in the US Military. Something that is dear to my heart. But a lot of people just think of it as the unofficial kickoff to summer and a big wave of sales. And one of the industries that has a lot of Memorial Day sales the furniture business. But right now it probably feels like sales are a perma feature at any furniture store you walk in every weekend of the year. And the reason is the furniture business is flat on its back. Furniture business depends. Both the manufacturing of furniture and the retailing of it depend on the home market being vibrant in the US which it is not right now. So furniture stores are hurting for certain and a lot of them are folding. Big ones, small ones in between are in distress because there just aren't enough customers out there and most furniture made overseas. Tariffs have disrupted the business for manufacturers, importers and retailers. So what you need to know is if you go into a furniture store on a sale weekend and they say, oh, yeah, we're out of that, but we're happy to. It's on backorder. We're happy to get it for you. And you give them money at that point so you can get the sale price that they have on the sale flyer or any other time. All right, you got to know how to play this game. You do not. You do not pay a furniture deposit. Buy debit card. Remember, remember, have this play in your head. The piece of trash, fake Visa or MasterCard debit card. The debit card provides zero protection.
Krista
Zero.
Clark Howard
If that furniture store goes bust, your money's gone. You're sitting on the floor. It's number one. Number two, do not pay a deposit to a furniture store in cash. Because if they go bust, same thing as the piece of trash, fake visa or fake MasterCard debit card. The only safe way for you to pay for that backorder, that furniture that's on sale, is with a credit card. And the credit card protection, the strongest protection, is the first 60 days. So let's say you put down the deposit on the backordered furniture and you're checking a month out. Oh, it's still backordered. And you're closing in on two months out. If they say, well, it's still backordered, at that point, you need to put the charge into dispute with your credit card company, because that's how you preserve your rights. The disputes take a while, and then they call and say, hey, your furniture's come in fine. You tell your credit card issuer, I want to remove this dispute. They have now provided my furniture. But if you don't do that, your money likely is gone, just like it is with the people who paid with the piece of trash, fake Visa, fake MasterCard, the debit card, or paid with cash. Now, the banks could, if they wished, not try to con you with the debit card and provide the same protections on a debit card that's provided on a credit card. But not only did the banks not do that, they fought efforts in Congress to provide the same protections on the debit card as the credit card. But did the banks allow that to go through the Congress? No, because you got to know. Because all the dirty money that go to the congressmen and senators from the banks, that the congressmen and senators don't even get up to go to the bathroom till the bankers say they can. That's how bad it is. So remember that debit card, what Is it the piece of trash? Fake visa and fake MasterCard. Remember?
Krista
Krista, what was that again? You love debit cards.
Clark Howard
Okay, no doubt somebody who cannot handle credit should use a debit card in a variety of situations. But if they're buying furniture, if it ain't there, you ain't buying it.
Krista
All right?
Clark Howard
No ordered furniture, period.
Krista
And check out Facebook Marketplace. I found so many good furniture pieces
Clark Howard
on there because furniture goes for nothing secondhand till it's old enough and then it can be called an antique. It's real money. I remember going to look at used furniture from my brother and sister in law who live in Utah. I looked up reviews online and we go to this used furniture store. There was not really a used furniture store. It was ultra premium furniture store. And we walk in, the first piece we see was 11,000 something dollars.
Krista
Wow.
Clark Howard
Wow. And it was a so and so. Whatever.
Krista
So and so was it a table, a sofa?
Clark Howard
It was, it was an oversized chair that was some brand. Wow, like the mid century.
Krista
Oh, like Eames or something.
Clark Howard
Maybe it was not an Eames, it was something. So we were in that store seconds. Very short period of time.
Krista
Okay. Chris in Georgia says who is regulating credit card fees companies are charging. Now my dry cleaner charges a flat 3 1/2% on all credit card charges, which is illegal because they cannot charge more than what Visa charges them, which is typically two and a half percent. Then yesterday I was charged a fee at the state tag office on my debit card. And at a restaurant with a debit card it is illegal to charge a processing fee on the bank card. But no one knows the laws and or they are definitely not following them.
Clark Howard
So Chris, what we have now is we have anarchy. And I support this anarchy feeling opposite you. And this goes back to the prior thing when I was talking about the banks and how they have captured every congressman it seems, and senator in the United States who think they work for the banks because of all the dirty money and contributions and free rides on the corporate jets that the banks have and all that that's going on. So we have the. We have a cartel going on in the United States with the highest merchant fees in the world. So what we've got is we've got a revolt going on that I support by business owners who were being abused by the cartel, and this is a banking cartel with the merchant fees. And so businesses now find that their third largest expense or what they have to pay the ransom to the banks with the cartel pricing for accepting credit cards, debit cards in Theory are supposed to have a much lower fee, which is why a lot of businesses don't charge those fees on debit cards. But you're talking about even your state charges them. So what we need is we need a free and open market that will set the rates on these fees. Until we have that, then I support the revolt going on by businesses that are charging either giving a cash discount or charging more for using credit because the system is flat out broken.
Krista
What about and I think with debit cards, aren't they allowed to charge the fee like at the state tag office because it's being used as a visa or MasterCard? In that case, yes.
Clark Howard
It is a great question Krista just posed. If you say when you're asked credit or debit, you say debit, it clears at virtually an insignificant number of cents for the retailer. But if you present a debit card and have it processed as credit, which the banks will encourage you to do, it then has the huge fees that restaurants, retailers, businesses, government, everybody faces from accepting the credit card. So the fees behind the curtain to actually process credit card transactions have never been lower. What actually costs the banks to do it, but the fees that are passed on to merchants and restaurants are the highest they've ever been. It is a broken cartel.
Krista
You know what makes me mad? When I pay my son's rent for his apartment at college, there's an automatic. I'm paying it. It's debiting the checking account. Okay.
Clark Howard
And they still charge you $2?
Krista
No, it's not 2%, but it's 2.95 transaction fee every time. I mean.
Clark Howard
Okay, you know what I love about this? What? Krista's son and my son go to the same college and they're both out of staters at a state school. And it's the third most expensive state school in the country. Out of state.
Krista
Oh, didn't know that.
Clark Howard
We're paying unbelievable costs like private school kind of tuition for our kids to go to Auburn University. War Eagle. Anyway.
Krista
War Eagle.
Clark Howard
You're upset about the $2?
Krista
I am.
Clark Howard
95 cent junk fee.
Krista
Wouldn't you be?
Clark Howard
Yeah, it's like salt in the wounds, right?
Krista
I'm not using a credit card, but $2.95.
Clark Howard
Yeah. Ugly.
Krista
As if the rent is already a complete rip off at these apartments in
Clark Howard
this small town and a small college town. The housing thing is bad. Ugly. Let's just call it what it is.
Krista
War Eagle Will in Florida says love the show and all the great info you share each week. I ran into something I think listeners should know my bar Barclays card has a lock feature, but it doesn't fully block charges. I paid it off, locked it and stopped using it. Yet a small charge still went through. Luckily I caught it, otherwise it could have led to a late fee and credit hit. Just a heads up, a locked card isn't always truly locked. Any tips on how to prevent this?
Clark Howard
Okay, well, this is a great question. You're the second person who we've heard from about this in months. So here's the thing. You lock a card, it prevents new, let's call them current transactions. Somebody dupes your card and they're trying to use it. If you haven't locked, it can't be used. But if you have pre authorized a continuing bill of some kind on that card, for most issuers, even with a lock, those will still go through. The simple example is, I call it the Netflix charge. If you have a subscription with Netflix or anything like that and they're charging you went up again. I think the cheapest now is 895amonth maybe. Anyway, that charge, even with a card locked, will still post transactions. So any pre authorized ongoing charges still will typically occur even if a card is locked. So if you're planning not to use a particular card anymore, but you're not going to close the account, even if you close the account, a charge like that might reopen it temporarily. You want to look through your old statements, either paper statements or if you look online and see if there are any recurrings, that may happen quarterly or twice a year or annually, whatever, because you'll forget, oh, I put those on that card and then you change what card is assigned to be charged by whatever that recurring bill is.
Krista
Steve in Georgia says Clark, I'm becoming increasingly concerned about online security. I've diligently used two factor authentication for years in all my accounts where it's available now. I read that two factor authentication is being compromised via the relatively new phenomenon of SIM hacking. And since I have long given up on maintaining any serious privacy and assume that all of my info is out there and available, I. I feel vulnerable. I've read and tried to learn about passkeys, but all the information I've seen provides an explanation of the plumbing of how these work. But no one has written about how you actually use them. The what, but not the how. I want to know what time it is, not how to build a watch. Can you do a deep dive into passkeys, password managers and authenticator apps with an emphasis on how to actually Use them. Is a passkey unique to a website? My device Both. Can you use passkeys on all websites or does the website have to offer it? How do I use a password manager? Free or paid versions? Are password managers a form of authenticator app? I'm relatively technology proficient but this stuff confuses me and cybersecurity is too important to make a mistake.
Clark Howard
All right, we're going to do this tag team I think because you've talked so much about pass keys I want to talk first about the sim. It is not a new hack what's known as sim swapping or SIM theft. And it's such a problem because a two factor authentication so often being tied into a text to your phone that the cell phone carriers, big ones and small ones offer what's known as semlock where you can put in place that they just don't make it really easy for somebody to swipe your cell phone number. So putting SIM lock in some of the cell phone providers make it relatively simple. Others it's a bit of a hassle. But Steve, whoever you have your cell phone service with you contact them and ask them the procedure for putting a SIM lock in place on your cell phone service to shut down a criminal doing that. Now I am using pass keys more and more and I'm kind of a passive player. I'm being offered the option at more and more sites because a lot of big technology companies went together to develop the passkey system. And you wanted to talk about what you've.
Krista
Well I just. I have a basic understanding and I'm going to actually our team@clark.com just published an article it was out in the newsletter saying it's. It's in this. We're linking it in the show notes a detailed write up about passkeys. I haven't read the through our own content yet but I'm going to go do that after we record today. But what I understand is the passkey is like a specific I guess you could think of it as code for you and your password to a specific site to get into that site. That code can then be stored either on an individual device so device specific or it can be stored across a platform. A third party like Google, LastPass, Bit Warden, any of those third party applications can store it as well. But then to get into your to use the passkey you have to use a biometric, a PIN number, whatever it happens to be on your device to then allow that unique passkey to be used for you to sign in to that website. That's my.
Clark Howard
The dream of the big technology consortium that developed the passkey system is to eliminate passwords because passwords don't work and obviously two factor to a phone is vulnerable to attack. So the idea is to use your biometrics as your friend and as the way that you validate who you are is part of the underlying architecture of passkeys. It's one of those things that, when it's new, sounds really confusing, but the whole idea of it is to make it to the point where for you and me as end users, it's ultra easy to use and it protects us as best it can from people pretending to be us.
Krista
So I may have just sounded like an idiot. Please don't write in a Krista stinks, but go read what our intelligent. Our intelligent team members of clark.com have written in. I'm about to go do that right now.
Clark Howard
Krista, there was no reason for you to throw yourself under the bus.
Krista
It's okay. I just don't want to. I don't want to hear it. I am an idiot.
Clark Howard
You are not an idiot. You are not an idiot. I mean, you got a degree that's one of the degrees that's hard to make a living from, right? An English degree. And you've done great with it.
Krista
Well, I speak English on this podcast.
Clark Howard
Yeah, but Krista repeatedly cringes when she hears how bad my grammar might be. No, it's true. You can never get the. The English degree out of.
Krista
I was. It was a literature, really more of
Clark Howard
a literature degree, but okay. Of things that I would have been a disaster. Literature, but particularly poetry. I am such a literal person.
Krista
Oh, I love poetry. Do you like music? Music's poetry. I mean, not the actual music, but lyrics.
Clark Howard
I never listen to lyrics when I did.
Krista
I have a minor in secondary education, so I could have been a teacher when I taught my high schoolers at Boston Teacher. Boston Latin. Well, you're a teacher. I'm your teacher's assistant. Boston Latin. I had the seniors grumbled when I knew they were juniors, grumbled when I said we were a poetry unit. And so I started out by saying, you know, bring in the lyrics to your favorite song. And they did. And we analyzed the lyrics, and they were so into it, and I was like, you like poetry, Krista?
Clark Howard
See, you would have been a great teacher. Well, you made it engaging and fun.
Krista
But then one of my junior students stood up with his hand raised one day and said, didn't I see you at Marianne's this weekend? Which was a bar that all the BC students went to. To embarrass me. And I said, that is an inappropriate question. Sit down
Clark Howard
and let me tell you, when Krista's mad at you and those fiery eyes look at you. No, that kid sat down. Oh, man. Someday I'll talk about what my poetry teacher said to me.
Krista
What? You can't say it. I mean, if people are still, they could have moved on. They're not.
Clark Howard
We're going through a poem and teacher calls on me and says, teacher, never use anybody's first name. Howard. What does. Whatever stanza it was, what does it mean? I said, well, they were really having trouble making it across the creek, and they couldn't figure out what was the best place to cross, and they just couldn't see where they could safely get across. And he says, you don't see where. This was about the person's life and trying to make a decision what they were going to do.
Krista
Symbolism. And I was like, metaphor.
Clark Howard
And I'm looking at the paper and look up. I say, I'm sorry, I don't see that. Dr. Roberts. Oh, man, was I in trouble in that class because I don't understand symbolism at all. It doesn't exist in me.
Krista
You understand stock market symbols.
Clark Howard
I'm not sure that was just a compliment.
Krista
It was a compliment. I mean. Oh, my gosh, you're making me sound so mean. No, I mean it like, I feel like it's a beautiful thing that all of our brains work in different ways and we. All of our strengths. Like, I. The worst class for me in college. Oh, my gosh. Economics. I. Oh.
Clark Howard
One of my favorite class.
Krista
Hated it. It was a giant lecture hall. Yeah. And you. That's your favorite. That's. If we were all the same, then we wouldn't. We'd have such a.
Clark Howard
Actually, my favorite was real estate.
Krista
Oh, wow.
Clark Howard
Which, ironically enough, my son, who's training to be a pilot and is also in college, his favorite course is real estate.
Krista
Oh, that's neat.
Clark Howard
Yeah. Anyway, my wife says he was cloned. She wasn't there.
Krista
That is so true.
Clark Howard
Which part?
Krista
That he is so much like you. It's a great thing.
Clark Howard
Poor kid.
Krista
Anyway, my son recently said to me, I don't know if anyone's still listening to this podcast. We were at lunch. You'll think this is funny. He overslept and missed an exam. Like, he went to the. He overslept, ran to the place where the exam was being taken, and. And nobody was there anymore. They had all finished the exam. This is like one of Those nightmares you have. But it actually happened to him. And so then he. He tells me, I said to myself, what would mom do right now? She's crazy. And so he ran to the professor's office, caught her right as she was coming out, explain what happened. Said he's ready for the exam, and she let him take it. Right there.
Clark Howard
That is a nice professor.
Krista
Very nice professor. But his whole thing was, you're insane. And I channeled that. I was like, all right, thanks you. Thanks. Okay.
Starbucks Frappuccino Announcer
Okay.
Clark Howard
Are we done now?
Krista
I think we're done for today.
Clark Howard
To anybody who's still watching or listening, this is what we're really like.
Krista
Yeah.
Clark Howard
Yeah.
Krista
You should hear us in the breaks. We laugh a lot.
Clark Howard
We have to do. What do you call those? Outtakes.
Krista
Yes. Oh, my gosh. There'd be some funny ones and some
Clark Howard
of them we wouldn't be able to play, right?
Krista
Yeah.
Clark Howard
Yeah. Anyway, have a wonderful day. All week long, we're here to serve you in so many different ways with our company, with our newsletters, our websites, clark.comclarkdeals.com or social media, our availability of one on one advice for free. I mean, we are here for your empowerment. If you live in a market where you see me on the news, on television, or you hear me during morning and evening drive on radio, I'm glad we're able to reach you that way as well. The whole idea is whatever way you best process information. No poetry here. However you best process information, we're here for you.
Krista
And tomorrow we're here with a new Ask an Advisor episode. If you haven't listened in a while or you haven't tried, Ask an Advisor, check us out, see if you like it.
Clark Howard
If you don't, it's doing very well. We're getting a lot of listener and viewership for it.
Krista
Yes. So.
Clark Howard
And Wes dresses a lot better than I do.
Krista
I feel like I need to step up my game. He brought in a suit coat the other day. I was like, this is too much, too big of a contrast. You gotta.
Clark Howard
He has shirts with his own initials on.
Krista
Yeah. Oh, you wouldn't want to know what he spends on his.
Clark Howard
He's like, Yeah, I spend $8.99 on my shirts.
Krista
That's like the. Not even the tax on his shirts.
Clark Howard
You're kidding, aren't you?
Krista
No.
Clark Howard
You're not kidding? No. All right, well, anyway, that's our deal for you to be empowered so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. And we're finally going to say, have
Krista
a great rest of your day.
Clark Howard
Bye.
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying Big Wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments.
Clark Howard
But that's weird.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay, one judgment anyway, give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for
Starbucks Frappuccino Announcer
3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.
Krista
Com.
Date: May 18, 2026
Host: Clark Howard
Guest/Co-host: Krista
This episode of The Clark Howard Podcast focuses on two major topics:
The episode is packed with practical financial advice, answers to listener questions, and candid conversation between Clark and Krista, blending Clark’s straight-shooting financial wisdom with relatable anecdotes.
This episode is a comprehensive blend of actionable savings advice, consumer protection strategies, and entertaining banter. Clark’s “baby steps” approach and his warnings about furniture payment traps are especially valuable for listeners aiming to strengthen their personal finances and avoid common pitfalls.