06.08.26 Cut Insurance Costs / Phone Free Connection

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast – Episode Summary: 06.08.26 “Cut Insurance Costs / Phone Free Connection” (June 8, 2026)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Clark Howard, renowned money expert and consumer advocate, delivers actionable advice on the increasingly costly world of insurance, specifically homeowners and auto policies. Clark also spotlights innovative efforts—especially on college campuses—to help people, particularly young adults, foster real-world social connections by reducing smartphone use. The second half of the show features insightful listener Q&A on topics ranging from insurance choices and credit scores to energy costs and credit card recommendations for travelers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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[00:50] Homeowners Insurance: Costs, Risks, & Ways to Save

• Cost Increases and the Shift Toward “Risk Management”:

  • Insurers now evaluate individuals’ risk profiles using tech such as satellite imaging, AI, and drones, moving away from setting rates based on entire communities.
  • “Homeowners insurance has become risk management, not community wide insurance anymore.” (Clark Howard, 02:13)
  • Result: Increased claim denials and scrutiny.
  • Only about a 50/50 chance of a claim actually getting paid—a “coin toss”.

• Steps Homeowners Can Take to Lower Premiums:

  • Install Water Leak Detection Devices:
    • Active devices automatically shut off water; passive devices alert you via app.
    • Notifying the insurer of these devices can result in discounts.
    • “[Active] systems are a more complicated thing. It’s great if they’re put in when a place is being built … but the passive ones where it just tells you [of a leak] — very cheap, they’re a consumer item now.” (Clark, 05:08)
  • Electrical Fire Prevention Devices:
    • Some insurers provide them for free or at a discount, with policy reductions.
  • Burglar Alarms Including Fire/Smoke Detectors:
    • Larger discounts are tied to fire/smoke capabilities.
  • Strategic High Deductibles:
    • Raising deductibles lowers premiums significantly. Clark personally opts for the highest allowable deductible since he’s only seeking catastrophe coverage.

[07:56] Auto Insurance: Tips for Cutting Costs

• Rate Hikes Have Eased, but Savings Remain Critical
  • Many still pay for more mileage than they drive.
• Options for Savings:
  • Pay-Per-Mile Insurance for low-mileage drivers.
  • Updating Insurer with Current Mileage can mean instant savings.
  • Defensive Driving Courses:
    • Mandatory discounts (by law) in many states—usually 10-15%.
    • “In most states … if you take a defensive driving course…your insurer cannot not give it to you, they have to give it to you.” (Clark, 08:32)

[09:54] Listener Q&A Highlights

1. Switching to a Cheaper Insurer with a Bad Reputation? (Rudy, California)

• Clark’s Take: Sometimes the savings are worth the risk if you almost never file claims (“$24,000 potentially saved over 10 years”).
• Essential Tool: Use a dash cam to document accidents and protect yourself in contested claims. “It’s like your own separate insurance policy and truth serum.” (Clark, 10:59)

2. Liability-Only Homeowner’s Insurance? (George, Florida)

• While possible, Clark recommends ultra-high deductible (catastrophic loss) coverage over liability-only, unless you’re extremely wealthy.
• Liability-only policies aren’t widely offered; brokers may be disinterested due to low commissions. (Clark, 12:12)

3. Insuring Contents of a Safe Deposit Box? (Deepak, Florida)

• Schedule contents under your homeowner’s policy (with proof, like video documentation), or seek specialized policies (rare).
• Caution: Safe deposit boxes are not as secure as many think—bank failures can result in loss.

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[19:07] Modern Life & Phone-Free Connection

• Smartphone Dependency Epidemic:
  • Observation: Even among friends, phones inhibit in-person interaction.
  • Data: 50% of teens spend 4+ hours/day on their phones (not for work/study).
• College Innovations:
  • Universities foster phone-free zones/events to encourage real social skills.
  • Employers find young hires struggle with small talk and eye contact due to phone-centric upbringings.
• Personal & Social Habits:
  • Clark’s co-host Krista observes that phone bans in gym classes improve social interaction.
  • Looking in the eyes rewards the brain—a neurologist confirms eye contact gives a “dopamine hit.”
  • Paper books and community lending libraries are suggested as ways to unplug from digital life.

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[24:00] Extended Listener Q&A

1. Future Price of Electricity & Going Solar (Chris, Texas)

• Clark believes recent spikes (due to data centers etc.) are temporary; long-term energy increases have actually been moderate.
• Loss of tax credits led to lower installation costs for solar/battery as market competition intensified.
• Solar panels today are vastly more efficient and cheap; great long-term payback, especially in sunny states like Texas. (Clark, 25:47)
• Clark criticizes energy industry credits, wishing “we would just let the marketplace do it.” (24:42)

2. Keeping a High Credit Score Without Any Loans (Perk, California)

• You don’t need to take out loans just for a credit mix; active credit card use and full payment suffice to maintain excellent credit.
• “I have no loans at all other than credit cards and my current FICO score is about 820.” (Clark, 28:21)
• Clark warns: “Reward cards are useless if you run balances. … If you are running balances, run don’t walk to join a credit union.” (Clark, 28:56)

3. Best Credit Cards for New Travelers (William, New York, age 23)

• Clark praises William’s debt-free status and urges him to prioritize retirement savings (Roth 401k or Roth IRA) right at career start.
• Recommends the Capital One Venture X Card: $395 annual fee, but $300 is rebated with first travel booking, effectively making it $95/yr for robust benefits (2x points, lounge access, transfer partners).
• Strong warning to avoid carrying a balance to utilize benefits fully.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Homeowners insurance has become risk management, not community wide insurance anymore.” (Clark Howard, 02:13)
• “I set deductibles as high as the sky…The premium savings are quite nice.” (Clark Howard, 06:45)
• “It’s like your own separate insurance policy and truth serum.” (on dash cams, Clark Howard, 10:59)
• “So you have to look at [your insurance company] as they are not your partner, they’re your adversary.” (Clark Howard, 06:15)
• “Colleges…have created cell phone free zones specifically for the purpose of getting people to socially engage with each other.” (Clark Howard, 20:04)
• “Looking into someone’s eyes…gives the person a dopamine hit.” (Clark Show Co-host, 22:23)
• “Solar panels today vs. panels 10 years ago…were 90% less efficient than the panels today.” (Clark Howard, 25:47)
• “Reward cards are useless if you run balances.” (Clark Howard, 28:56)

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Useful Timestamps by Topic

• 00:50 – Clark’s intro to insurance cost issues
• 02:13 – How insurers now do business: “risk management,” data use
• 05:08 – Water leak detection systems: active vs. passive
• 06:15 – Smoke/fire/burglar alarms and why insurers offer discounts
• 06:45 – High deductibles for premium savings
• 08:32 – Defensive driving discount details
• 09:54 – Switching to lower-rep insurers & dash cams
• 12:12 – Liability-only insurance for homeowners
• 13:57 – Safe deposit box insurance and risks
• 19:07 – Cell phone addiction, campus interventions
• 20:04 – Phone-free zones in colleges
• 22:23 – Eye contact, dopamine, and social skills
• 24:00 – Listener Q&A: electricity costs, credit scores and cards
• 25:47 – Modern solar panel efficiency and battery news
• 28:21 – Clark’s zero-loan, high-credit-score story
• 28:56 – Rewards cards warning; credit union advice
• 31:43 – Deep-dive on travel cards (Venture X) for young adults

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Tone & Style

Clark’s advice is direct, practical, and occasionally blunt—especially regarding the realities of insurance companies and big institutions (“They are not your partner, they’re your adversary”). His style is peppered with anecdotes, light sarcasm, and a persistent theme of empowering listeners to “save more, spend less, and avoid rip-offs.” The Q&A sections are warm, encouraging, and focused on actionable steps, all while maintaining a no-nonsense approach to personal finance.

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Final Thoughts

This episode of The Clark Howard Podcast is packed with frank, up-to-the-minute advice on safeguarding your finances—by minimizing insurance costs, making smart choices for savings, and creating real, in-person connections in a phone-obsessed culture. Clark’s practical, sometimes hard-boiled perspective, combined with real-world listener questions, make this episode highly valuable for anyone seeking to take greater control of their personal finances in today’s rapidly changing landscape.

Transcript

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[Clark Howard]

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[Clark Howard]

You can watch the record breaking phenomenon at home. You're clearly working at Zootopia 2. Now available on Disney. Rated PG foreign. 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. I'm going to begin today's show with some simple ways for you that you may have overlooked to save money on insurance. Something that's been going up, up, up and away in cost. And later. I love how some colleges are showing us the way when it comes to dealing with our addiction to cell phones. I'm not addicted. Yeah, right. Okay. Homeowners insurance so many people have experienced this with rapidly increasing premiums. Auto insurance We've taken so many complaints and questions about the big run up in auto insurance premiums. Good news on the auto insurance front is that the big run ups and cost for insurance are over the bad news we had the big run ups and costs. So let's deal with them one by one. Homeowners insurance has become risk management, not community wide insurance anymore. What's the difference? Risk management is where insurers decide on you as an individual insured individual house. No longer do they set rates based on a general community. They are slicing and dicing down to the individual. That's why we had this bizarre stuff with insurers that are either using satellite and AI or using some form of drone technology to continually check up on you at your house. The whole thing is to minimize payouts in the future when a claim comes or simply to deny claims. There was a new report in the Wall Street Journal I'm going to cover in full at another time that found that you have about a 50, 50 shot that after you paid all this money for homeowners insurance that then when you go to make a claim, they're going to pay it, that it's almost a coin. Nobody carries coins anymore. But if you know about coin toss, start a football game, it's almost a 50, 50. If you're going to see one penny paid by the insurer with a claim, I'm going to tell you how to handle that. That's a more involved conversation later. So think about that. You pay all that money and then they don't pay you anyway. So what are the things you should be doing? Number one, there are things you can do as a homeowner that might lower your premium that you may already be doing. You know, leak warning devices, really important with a lot of insurers because water claims are such a huge hit to the profitability of homeowners insurers. So if you put in an active or passive water leak detection system, I'll tell you the difference between the two and then you notify your insurer, it may eliminate a lot of hassle for you with an undetected leak in your home. And second, it may lead to significantly lower homeowners insurer premiums if not from your existing homeowners insurer by shopping around. Okay, active versus passive. We have a place where we have an active system, meaning that if it senses a water leak from any water source in our dwelling, it automatically shuts off water to the dwelling. Now that's not that common to have an active system. Most people who have a system have a passive one. And what it does is you have an app on your phone and if a water leak is detected somewhere in your home, it notifies you right away. And then you have the opportunity to shut the water off and fix whatever it is. We had a slow leak in a toilet that kept triggering the alarm and shutting the water off and we couldn't figure out exactly where it was. And I went on the app and it told me where the problem was and we fixed it because do you know a water leak from a toilet can be devastating. And so we fixed it and there was no damage because that was the active system that did it. Again, active systems are a more complicated thing. It's great if they're put in when a place is being built harder to retrofit. But the passive systems, I mean the, the passive ones where it just tells you very cheap, they're a consumer item. Now speaking of another one, a lot of insurers now will give you devices that will be able to ferret out if there's the possibility of an electrical fire in your dwelling. Depending on the insurer, they either give you the system free or usually it's better if you buy a system and then they give you a discount on your insurance. Going forward through the years, a burglar alarm system with smoke and fire as part of it, because smoke and fire is a greater danger than the burglar, will get you a discount. For most insurers, these are just examples of things where you're being an active participant with the insurer at reducing the risk to them, which is all they care about. They don't care about your property, they don't care about your life, they don't care about your pets. I mean, the insurance business is a cold, hard, mean spirited business now. And so you have to look at it as they are not your partner, they're your adversary. But there are times they're your frenemy and when you reduce the risk to them, they in turn should reduce the cost to you. Now, one other thing you've heard me talk about for the last zillion years, if you've been a longtime listener or viewer or reader, is my obsession with having higher deductibles on your homeowner's insurance. By the way, your auto as well. And if you do this, this can cause a huge reduction in your premiums, eliminate temptation to make a claim. And the thing you got to make sure both a homeowner and auto you have a loan on your car, you have a mortgage on your home. Your lender will limit how higher deductible can go. But I set deductibles as high as the sky. I'm only looking for catastrophic coverage. I'm fortunate I don't have a mortgage, so I can do that. But the premium savings are quite nice. Auto insurance a lot of people are able still to do split at home certain days of the week, commuting to office other days of the week. Other people have been fully brought back in, but there's still a lot more hybrid work going on than I thought there would be. You're probably driving less miles than your insurance is charging you for. If you're an ultra low mileage driver, the pay per mile insurance products I've talked about or something you should get a quote on. If you are someone who still drives a moderate amount but not as much as you used to, you can sign in or use the app on your phone for your insurer and reduce the mileage that you're driving a vehicle. And that will have a direct impact on what your premiums are. And I haven't mentioned this in a good while. So many states have a program where if you take a defensive driving course, usually a six hour online course, in most states you'll get a state mandated reduction in auto insurance premiums. Your insurer cannot not give it to you, they have to give it to you. It may even make you a safer driver. And you're typically going to get a 10% or 15% reduction on your auto insurance premiums just by taking the course. In most states though, guess who doesn't get the benefit of this?

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

Who?

[Clark Howard]

Someone who's had an at fault accident or a ticket in the last three to five years, depending on the state. But there are so many things you can do way beyond just shopping your insurance with other providers to lower the cost of your insurance.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

All right, we'll go to questions. Rudy in California sent you this one. Clark. He says would Clark switch from a good insurance company with a good reputation to one with an okay to bad reputation? I would save $200 a month and get more coverage. Would Clark make the move and I gave you the insurance company?

[Clark Howard]

Yeah. So Rudy, this one is such a hard puzzle. So I go to the cheaper insurance. You're playing odds if their claims reputation is poor, but their premiums are much cheaper. 2400 bucks a year. Right. That's a lot of money back in your pocket. So how often, if you think back, have you had an accident? If you're a typical person, you've had an accident about once every 10 years. So we're talking about $24,000 potentially saved over 10 years. That would pay for a lot of bad customer, no service from an insurer. And getting insurers to behave following an accident is so much harder than it used to be. I want to add an annex. Whether you switch insurers or not, I want you to have a dash cam because one of the tricks of the trade now in the auto insurance business is to find you even in an accident you had no fault in, to find you 10% at fault or 20% at fault. So that it is an at fault accident that you're held responsible for. The dash cam gives a better picture of what actually happened in most cases. Dash cams range from very basic ones for like $15 to really exotic ones that are a couple of hundred dollars. It's like your own separate insurance policy and truth serum. Now it could also show, oh yeah, backfire it was your fault. Right? And a lot of electric vehicles come with built in dash cam systems so you don't have to buy anything. The video is already there.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

George in Florida says, my house has been paid off for years, but we recently received a non renewal notice for our home insurance. We're inland so there's no worry of storm damage. Can you get liability only insurance? I've asked a broker but they don't seem interested.

[Clark Howard]

That's because the commissions are so low. But there are lots of sellers, especially in Florida and California where the risk of in your case, hurricanes, California, the wildfires. There are a number of companies that will sell you liability only policies. Now, not every state is this a common product. However, I would recommend something else rather than you going liability only. If something happened and this house that you own free and clear gets destroyed, how are you going to feel about all that coming out of your pocket? If you've got a lot, a lot, a lot of money and it's just like, oh, I'll talk to accounting. If you're, you're like that, then going liability only, that's your choice. What I like instead is what I alluded to just a minute ago is that you get an ultra high deductible policy that's basically only for a catastrophic loss of your home. I don't know the value of your home, but it's not at all unusual that people will take on an ultra high deductible policy where in the six figures you're your own insurance company and beyond that it is a traditional claim. So a catastrophic destruction of your house would still be covered.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

Deepak in Florida says, what would be your recommendation on insurance for the contents of a safe deposit box, including home or renters insurance or independent insurance? And what insurance company would you recommend? Thank you for this great honest service you provide for free. Your podcast and newsletters are great sources of information that help make educated decisions.

[Clark Howard]

Thank you so much for that. Deepak. Okay, safe deposit boxes, well I think about during the banking scandals and all the branches and banks that failed and all that and people's stuff went just poof in safe deposit boxes and nobody can even figure out where they went. And so many people lost stuff that just vanished. That happened to my late mom where her stuff just, it went to dust. We could never figure out what happened to her stuff after her bank failed. So you can with it's a rare occurrence something like this would happen and you can schedule it with your homeowners insurer and if you do so yes, and you make a claim, it's going to be a claim. But the odds you're going to have a claim are so very tiny. I wouldn't worry about it that much. And that would be one that I would consider scheduling. Hard part is proving what you had in the safe deposit box. So when you go to your safe deposit box, you want to, whether you're with an independent that says, oh, you don't have to provide documentation. Yeah, right. Or your own homeowners insurer, you want to have a video you've shot on your phone where you describe what's in there, pieces of jewelry, what they are and all that, whatever's in there. Because you may forget things too that you put in a safe deposit box. You can also buy independent policies. They're not very common. There's even some that will have safe deposit box or safety deposit box in their name, letting you know that's the line of insurance you're buying. It is your choice which way you buy from a specialty or you just added onto your own homeowners insurance, which in this case is what I would do. And safe deposit boxes have become less relevant, less significant because they turned out not to be that safe. Is when the banks got into financial trouble. They just didn't care what happened to people's stuff. Yuck. Gosh, I sound so terrible. I was talking about the insurance companies not caring, the banks not caring. We're in an era where we deal with a lot of very large organizations that kind of lose that heart and soul and I hate that I sound so negative about them. But you know, that's what happens in everyday life and it's a shame. Coming up ahead, speaking of something in everyday life, cell phones, they are changing the ability for so many people to have face to face interaction with people that's not awkward. Among other things. I want to talk about that straight ahead.

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[Clark Howard]

A couple of weeks ago I talked about the three teens walking down a sidewalk that almost were going to knock me over because all three of them instead of interacting with each other, talking to each other, were all three walking up a sidewalk looking at their phones, not looking ahead, not interacting with each other, not engaging. And you know the the stat that's most often stated that came out of a report two years ago is that 50% of teenagers are spending more than four hours every day just looking at their phones for things not involving work or anything like that. You know, social media, being on Snap, whatever. So I saw a Washington Post story that I loved. Voluntary different than the states where they're banning cell phones during the school day. Colleges and universities where student organized things or university recommended things where they have created cell phone free spaces on campus because interacting with each other. Employers talk about it that new hires out of high school and out of college have trouble looking customers in the eye, looking colleagues in the eye, engaging in small talk because they have been able to avoid it through growing up and college campuses creating These cell phone free zones specifically for the purpose of getting people to socially engage with each other and get over the social anxiety that's created from basically lack of practice engaging with each other. And so I love things you can do intentionally in your own life that get you away from the phone. When you're with those you love or family you're with, hopefully you love them. And that you take consciously you take the phone out of the equation in a social situation. You know, somebody's debating something with somebody across from and they say, and they're looking for the, for the information on their phone, they pull it out to do that and then it goes back in their, their purse of their pocket. Okay. But the whole idea is to engage with each other. And Krista, you take like 47 exercise classes a week. Are people before and after the classes, are they with their faces and their phones, or are they engaging with each other, talking to each other?

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

In my gym, you're not allowed to have phones in the room at all for the classes. And so they have to lock them in the locker room. And I like that a lot. So generally when they get out of class, they might, you might see them pull it out of the locker. But. And also, like, I hate it when you see people at dinner both on their phones, you know what I mean? And not talking to each other.

[Clark Howard]

Really intimate. Being there at a nice dinner, and instead of looking at each other, you're looking at that device.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

You know, I just saw something. Of course it was on Instagram, but it was a neurologist talking about how when you look into someone's eyes, when you're talking to them, it gives the person a dopamine hit that, like there's something about that engaging with the person. And so often you see people just looking down and talking too. And it's. I think it is, like you said, it's not like it's that person's fault, but it's practice and having that social engagement, which we were lucky enough to not grow up with cell phones. And we had all these experiences and so I think it's so much easier for us than with people who grew up with smartphones. Now, you know, imagine

[Clark Howard]

for me, having grown up, you know, where we were dealing with dinosaurs.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

Oh, stop. Yeah, enough with that. But I have to say, I also have to, like, put my phone down and do like, I've started. I left my Kindle on a plane and so now I'm reading paper books again to punish myself. I'm not buying another one for A while. But I think physically holding a book is really good too. Like it's one less screen I'm looking at and it makes me put my phone down. But I'm just as bad as other people. I mean, I play my little all the New York Times games in the morning, like the Wordle and all those things I play and the mini and that's fun for me and it's engaging my brain. But I can scroll on Instagram with the best of them and just get lost in it.

[Clark Howard]

So how many neighbors have. In your neighborhood? Because you're like the classic neighborhood for it. Have the free lending libraries.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

Oh, I've seen there are a couple in my neighborhood. I love those. I've put books in them before. So, anyway. All right, should we go to questions?

[Clark Howard]

Yeah, we should.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

Sorry. Okay, let me pick up my tablet and read these questions to you. Chris, Dexa says, what are your thoughts on what the price of electricity will do over the next 15 years? I know this is hard to project or predict, but I'm currently looking at my options for solar and battery storage because it's hard to think that prices will not continue to go up. With all the infrastructure build out and the data centers coming online, the economics of solar and battery seem different now that the tax credit no longer exists. I wanted to get your thoughts on this space. I knew you would love this question because you're obsessed with this stuff.

[Clark Howard]

All right. So Chris, I don't mean to outrage you and many other people. The place you're going to go to post this is going to be clark.com clarkstinks when you react to what I say, I have never been a fan of all the credits that go to various energy industries. Right now we got all kinds of credits that go to oil and gas. We had them with solar and wind and all that. I wish we would just let the marketplace do it. And one of the things that's happened since the credits went away for solar is that the cost of installing solar without a credit has gone down because the marketplace has had to respond because the prices that people were charging were all like. And you're going to get a 30 federal tax credit. Well, when that went away, companies had to become more efficient. Panels today versus panels 10 years ago. Get this. They generate. How do I say? The panels of 10 years ago were 90% less efficient.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

Wow.

[Clark Howard]

Than the panels today.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

And now they have the little. The little roof pan. You know, the roofs that are solar and.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah, that.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

And they'll get cheaper over time. Right.

[Clark Howard]

But the panels are just crazy cheap. A lot of the cost isn't is involved with the installation and then the battery backups have fallen in price. I mean like a rock. And so what you can do with battery storage coupled with solar is amazing. And the paybacks, depending on where you live, how much it costs you to do it, are really pretty favorable in so many places in the country. Right now you're in Texas where the paybacks have been great. Texas also has a free and open energy market that I love and I wish would be adopted in the rest of the country. The instead of these corrupt monopoly power companies that take over the state legislatures and get what they want, including these huge increases and power rates we're seeing right now. I think the bump up from the data centers is a temporary phenomenon. The long term trend with energy has been that the cost of energy has not risen at big numbers till recently. So I do think this is a temporary thing. But there's a long term benefit, especially in a sun friendly state like Texas for you to look at doing solar and battery. Texas generates more utility based power from solar than I think anywhere else in the country now. It is huge for both solar and when because the payback is there. It's the cheapest energy coupled with batteries that you can generate now in the state of Texas.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

Perk in California says I have an 830 to 836 credit karma score and I want to keep it up. I have no current loans and pay my credit cards off every month. What happens when my last loan history falls off my report? Will I have a lower credit score and should I get a short term loan to keep a good payment history?

[Clark Howard]

You don't need to do the short short term loan and perk. Congratulations to you. Yes on carrying no loans of any kind other than credit cards which show active use. You're using them every month. You're paying off in full. Your risk to the credit issuers, extremely low. Your credit score based on the credit karma scoring is going to vary from what your FICO score would be from any of the credit bureaus. I have no loans at all other than credit cards and my current FICO score is about 820 which you wouldn't think would be possible because I don't have that variety of credit in my history. I don't have vehicle loans, mortgages, anything like that.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

I just want to point out when you said credit cards, you pay them off in full every month obviously.

[Clark Howard]

Absolutely. I do not. I'm not paying anybody 25% interest. I was just reading something about someone who has a Chase Sapphire reserve and is paying that huge annual fee and is running balances and paying 25% interest. Whatever. Reward cards are useless if you run balances. And if you are running balances, run don't walk to join a credit union because the average interest rate for someone of the same credit standing on a credit union card is half of what the average interest rate is on a bank issued credit card.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

Okay, did you finish Perk's question? I'm sorry I interrupted you.

[Clark Howard]

I did answer the question.

[Sponsor Voice (Schwab/AT&T)]

Okay.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

I just wanted to.

[Clark Howard]

And then I added something else completely unrelated.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

It was my fault. It was my fault. William in New York says, hi Clark, I love the podcast that you're doing. I've been listening since my uncle told me about you. And I also want to start traveling more. I'm 23, just starting my first job and I'm graduating with zero debt.

[Clark Howard]

Wow.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

I travel in New York using the public transit and Amtrak back to Maryland to see my family. Right now I have the Discover IT card and the bank of America travel rewards card and my credit score is 760 plus. I want to travel more internationally. I'm thinking about either the Chase Preferred trifecta or getting the Amex green and I am eventually planning on getting the gold because of the credits and points right now for either the green. I don't fly that much for the Clear plus credit and I don't really stay in hotels for the offset for the Sapphire preferred. I'm also wondering if there are other cards you would recommend that transfer points and any other advice you have for a budding traveler.

[Clark Howard]

Right. So first of all, fantastic. 23, first job, no debt. I have to make sure that I do that nag thing. What are you doing to save for retirement? This is the point. In that first job, I want you participating. If there's a Roth 401K where you work, I want you in it. If there's not, I want you setting up your own Roth ira. I want you to have that money saving habit for the future from that first job. Now to your question. I don't even think it's close the answer to this that you're now going to do some travel internationally. Could be doing some trips around the country. I want you to get the Capital One Venture X card. Gosh, it's going to sound like I'm being paid to do. What's that woman's name who does all those commercials for them?

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

Jennifer Garner.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah, she's.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

I Think it's her.

[Clark Howard]

She's an actress.

[Clark Howard Show Co-host or Guest]

Oh, yeah, yeah, she's great.

[Clark Howard]

Anyway, so that card, $395 annual fee. Keep expecting them to raise it. They haven't. You get 300 of that 395 back with the first ticket you book through their travel portal. So then you got a $95 annual fee, but you get all the benefits all the time. 2x points minimum on everything you do on the card. Gets you lounge access, a bunch of other things. And it is the absolute runaway hit for a first travel card for somebody who travels regularly, because you only need one airline ticket a year to make the card down to a $95 annual fee. But with a full suite of travel benefits that come with the card, plus all the transfer partners with your 2x minimum points, you aren't on the card. But just as I said a second ago about the woman who was paying 25% interest or whatever on the sapphire reserve, it only works if you pay the balance every month on those cards. The bonus signups with these cards typically will wipe out what the annual fee would be anyway for the first couple of years. And then you buy that ticket and you get the 300 bucks back. Bam. Against that 395 pronto. So thank you so much for joining us today. I hope that you have an absolutely great week in front of you. We'll be serving you all week long with our podcasts and so many other ways, our newsletters. If you have never checked out our free newsletters, you'll find not only are they free, but they're priceless at putting money back in your pocket so many different ways. So you just go to clark.comnewsletters and it's just one of the ways we empower you with knowledge so you can save more, spend less, and don't let anyone ever rip you off. And I'll be at your service Wednesday.