06.18.25 Summer Power Bills / Take Your Vacation!

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast Summary
Episode: 06.18.25 Summer Power Bills / Take Your Vacation!
Release Date: June 18, 2025

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1. Cooling Your Home Amid Rising Power Bills
Timestamp: [01:14]

Clark Howard opens the episode by addressing the escalating power bills many Americans are facing this summer. He explains that the surge in electricity demand is primarily driven by the proliferation of data centers across the United States, which consume massive amounts of energy. Despite consumers adopting more energy-efficient appliances—such as air conditioners and clothes dryers—the increased demand from industrial users like data centers is pressuring utility rates.

"The data centers are Creating a mad rush to generate more electricity. And because consumers really get the short shrift when rates are set on utilities in states that have monopoly power providers, the burden of higher prices is being put on you and me," Clark explains.

Key Recommendations:

• Proper Insulation: Ensuring your home is well-insulated can significantly reduce energy consumption and lower power bills.
• Smart Thermostats: Installing automatic thermostats that adjust cooling when you're not home can lead to substantial energy savings.
• Personal Temperature Management: Clark shares his personal practice of maintaining a higher thermostat setting during the day and cooling his bedroom at bedtime to balance comfort and efficiency.

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2. HVAC Maintenance and Industry Practices
Timestamp: [05:38]

Krista brings up concerns regarding HVAC maintenance plans, sharing experiences where companies allegedly pressured consumers into expensive repairs. She recounts how initial low-cost maintenance plans often lead to high-pressure sales for unnecessary services.

Clark addresses this by distinguishing between the benefits and pitfalls of maintenance plans:

• Benefits: Regular maintenance ensures HVAC systems operate efficiently, preventing significant inefficiencies and costly repairs.
• Pitfalls: The industry is experiencing "roll-ups," where national companies purchase local HVAC providers. These larger entities often incentivize technicians to sell more services, sometimes leading to unnecessary repairs.

"The sales environment has overshadowed the service environment, resulting in consumers being pushed to replace things that are still working fine," Clark cautions.

Advice:

• Choose Local, Family-Owned Companies: While not a guaranteed solution, supporting smaller, locally-owned HVAC companies can reduce the likelihood of aggressive sales tactics.
• Vigilance with Maintenance Plans: Evaluate whether a maintenance plan genuinely benefits your household or if it might lead to unwanted upsells.

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3. Capital One and Discover Merger: Navigating Credit Card Choices
Timestamp: [09:14]

Richard from New York inquires about the implications of the Capital One and Discover merger on his credit card strategy. Clark advises diversifying credit card issuers to avoid over-reliance on a single provider, which can reduce competition and limit consumer choice.

"You don't want to have all your credit card eggs in one basket," Clark advises.

Recommendations:

• Diversify Credit Card Issuers: Consider adding credit cards from other major banks like Chase or Wells Fargo.
• Explore Credit Unions: Credit union cards often offer lower interest rates, especially beneficial if you carry a balance.
• Monitor Market Changes: Stay informed about how the merger impacts competition and consumer benefits in the credit card market.

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4. Addressing Fraudulent Credit Card Use Within Families
Timestamp: [10:55]

A distressing case is presented by Tina from California, where a young woman’s father fraudulently opened a credit card in her name, racking up significant debt and applying for unemployment benefits on her behalf. Clark outlines the complexity of such situations and offers guidance:

"This is one of the hardest situations for banks to unravel and it happens a lot more often than you realize," Clark notes.

Steps to Take:

• Immediate Actions:
  • Shut Down the Compromised Card: Prevent further unauthorized use by canceling the fraudulent account.
  • Freeze Credit: Protect against additional fraudulent activities by freezing her credit.
• Long-Term Solutions:
  • File a Police Report: Though challenging, it’s essential to formally report the fraud.
  • Communicate with the Bank: Write a detailed letter explaining the situation to negotiate with creditors.
  • Consider Bankruptcy: As a last resort, though it severely impacts credit scores.

Clark emphasizes the emotional and financial turmoil such fraud can cause and underscores the importance of proactive measures to mitigate damage.

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5. Emphasizing the Importance of Taking Vacation
Timestamp: [18:37]

Transitioning to a more positive note, Clark passionately advocates for utilizing allotted vacation days. He highlights the paradox where most Americans leave vacation unused despite its benefits for mental and physical well-being.

"You've worked hard. Take your time off," Clark encourages.

Key Points:

• Mental Health Benefits: Taking time off helps in decompressing and reducing stress.
• Work-Life Balance: Balancing work with leisure prevents burnout and enhances productivity.
• Handling Work Interruptions: Implementing vacation responders on emails and setting boundaries to avoid work intrusions during time off.

Clark also advises scheduling future vacations during less busy periods, such as from Thanksgiving to New Year's, to ensure all vacation days are utilized effectively.

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6. Navigating Unlimited PTO Policies
Timestamp: [22:11]

Ken from Washington shares his company's shift to an unlimited PTO policy, where accrued vacation days are frozen and will be paid out upon departure from the company. With a substantial PTO balance, Ken seeks advice on managing this as a potential "rainy day" fund and concerns about company instability.

Clark provides insights:

• Stability Assessment: If the company shows signs of financial instability, consider securing the funds or exploring job opportunities.
• Forced Savings Mechanism: If the company is stable, the frozen PTO acts as a forced savings plan, benefiting from growing with salary increases.
• Risk Management: Recognize the risks involved, such as company bankruptcy, which could jeopardize the frozen PTO.

"This is kind of like a method of forced savings, unless you suspect your company is not stable," Clark explains.

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7. Tips for Currency Exchange When Traveling Abroad
Timestamp: [28:22]

Ruby from North Carolina seeks advice on the best practices for currency exchange ahead of her trip to Greece. Clark strongly advises against exchanging money in the United States due to unfavorable rates.

Recommendations:

• Use ATMs Abroad: Withdraw euros upon arrival using an ATM card with no foreign transaction fees for better exchange rates.
• Choose the Right Credit Card: Opt for credit cards that offer no foreign currency fees to minimize additional costs.
• Avoid Dynamic Currency Conversion: Always select to pay in the local currency (euros) rather than dollars to prevent extra fees.

"Never do currency exchange for a trip to a foreign country in the United States. Our exchange rates are ripped off like nowhere else on earth," Clark warns.

He emphasizes the importance of being prepared with the right financial tools to make international travel more cost-effective and secure.

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8. Upcoming Milestone and Closing Remarks
Timestamp: [30:49]

As the episode concludes, Clark shares a personal milestone—his upcoming 70th birthday—and encourages listeners to celebrate their own achievements and stories.

"Next time you see me, I'm gonna be elderly," Clark humorously remarks, highlighting the inevitability of aging and the importance of cherishing life’s moments.

Clark’s heartfelt encouragement underscores the podcast’s commitment to empowering listeners to make informed and beneficial life decisions.

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Notable Quotes:

• "[01:14] Clark Howard: ... the burden of higher prices is being put on you and me..."
• "[06:56] Clark Howard: ... this is why people are being pushed to replace things that are still working fine."
• "[09:34] Clark Howard: ... you don't want to have all your credit card eggs in one basket."
• "[18:37] Clark Howard: Do you know there's never a year... that I did not take every day of vacation that was allotted to me."
• "[22:11] Clark Howard: ... this is kind of like a method of forced savings."
• "[28:37] Clark Howard: ... our exchange rates are ripped off like nowhere else on earth."

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Conclusion

In this episode, Clark Howard provides invaluable advice on managing rising summer power bills, navigating the complexities of HVAC maintenance, understanding the implications of major credit card mergers, handling fraudulent financial activities within families, and emphasizing the essential need to take vacation for overall well-being. Additionally, he offers practical tips for international travelers on currency exchange and highlights the importance of proactive financial and personal life management. Clark’s insights empower listeners to make informed decisions, fostering financial security and personal happiness.

Transcript

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[Clark Howard]

It's great to have you here on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. And it's getting hot all around the country. And today I'm going to talk about cooling your home this summer. And speaking of summer, have you planned out your vacation days yet? I'm going to tell you why it's so important that you go ahead and get vacation on your calendar. Okay, so much talk about all these data centers that are popping up around the United States. And these data centers use mega amounts of electricity and they're creating a new level of demand. You may not know this, but the demand for electricity in the United States has not gone anywhere in years. The electricity demand really leveled off. And it's because when people replace things, they replace them with things that were more energy efficient. You replaced your air conditioner more energy efficient, your clothes dryer more energy efficient. Pretty much every appliance or electronics item has become more efficient. You look at the label on a TV you're buying or thinking of buying, and it'll tell you how much electricity it'll use in a year. Crazy low, crazy low. So you and I have been doing our part with things that we buy that we use in our home. No more. Dracula is really. Those are things that create huge power consumption on our part. But now the data centers are Creating a mad rush to generate more electricity. And because consumers really get the short shrift when rates are set on utilities in states that have monopoly power providers, the burden of higher prices, as there's more demand being created by these data centers is being put on you and me and not on these industrial users, these data centers. And so they're getting a great deal on kilowatts per kilowatt while you and I get taken advantage of. And we wear that burden in our wallet every month with the power bill we get. So this looks like it's going to be a record high summer for power bills. I'm sorry, I just got to say it because as the state regulatory bodies that don't listen to you and me, they only listen to their political contributors are shifting this cost burden to you and me. We're the ones that are going to have these higher bills even using the same amount of power we've used in prior years. So you don't just sit there like a sitting duck. You do the things you need to do to use less energy in your home. And I start with a couple of simple things. One, doing proper insulation in your home. Quick, quick, quick payback on that, because most of us don't have proper insulation. And two, put in an automatic thermostat that reduces the amount of cooling you have on when you're not home. Learns your patterns. These smart thermostats are cheap and you reduce what you can use. Now, one thing I will not do, I do not sleep well at night if it's hot in the bedroom. So I run the air conditioning when it's time to sleep. But the rest of the time, I keep the thermostat at 78 until bedtime. That's just my thing.

[Krista]

Krista, I've also heard that you should, you know, and we. I think someone commented on this one time on the show that you have to worry about humidity in certain places, too.

[Clark Howard]

That's completely true.

[Krista]

You know, up in your attic and stuff. So you don't want to keep it too hot, right?

[Clark Howard]

That's true. But dehumidifiers do a great job to soak up that excess moisture okay. In a home. So there are ways to do that.

[Krista]

Okay? Well, speaking of all of this, I have a question for you from Mike in Ohio. He says H VAC companies promote monthly maintenance plans, $10 a month and up. These generally include two annual checkups, one for summer season and one for winter season, plus maybe a few other discounts, et cetera. In my experience, the H Vac companies are using these opportunities to scale scary you into other high price maintenance tasks. Over the past two years, I've been told that I needed anywhere from 4,500 to $5,000 worth of repairs for my 13 year old air conditioning or to replace my air conditioning altogether 11 to $17,000 for that. So I had an independent H Vac technician come out for an evaluation. He told me that everything was working fine and I should forego any repairs or replacement at this time. Is this a common practice by H Vac companies? And do you recommend monthly maintenance plans?

[Clark Howard]

Okay, so those are two things that I want to deal with separately. The good part of doing the maintenance is that if you don't have a plan like that, you know, somebody calling you and say, hey, it's time for your spring checkup or you know, winter checkup, whatever, you don't get around to it and you can end up with real inefficiency with your heating and air conditioning systems. So I think that's actually a good idea so that you are pushed to remember if you're good at remembering otherwise on your own and you'll do it twice a year, fine, you don't need one of these maintenance plans. The second part of this though is significant. You got to be aware the heating and air conditioning industry is going through what are called roll ups. And roll ups are happening all over America. So let's say, Krista, you've had your favorite heating and air conditioning company you've used for years and years and years and the technician comes out and suddenly is aggressive beyond anything you've ever seen before. You need this, you need that, you need to replace this. Whatever. What's going on behind the scenes is big. National players are buying up local brand names and the way they're paying for it is their technicians are being put on commission to sell stuff. And if they don't sell enough stuff, they get fired. So everything has become in these roll ups about selling up what you want with a heating and air conditioning company because of the problem with the roll ups is you want a local owned and operated H Vac company, preferably family owned. Doesn't mean they're automatically going to be good. Doesn't mean they're automatically going to be honest. You improve the odds though because of the national players behind the curtain. They have created a sales environment rather than a service environment. And that's why people are being pushed to replace things that are still working fine.

[Krista]

Okay. And lots of questions about the Capital One Discover merger. And here's an example of one we've gotten from several people. Richard in New York, my primary credit cards are Discover and Capital One. With the acquisition of Discover by Capital One, should I get a card from another provider like Chase, Wells Fargo, et cetera? So I'm not tied to Capital One for all my credit cards?

[Clark Howard]

Yes, you should. But add to the list a local credit union that you are a member of or want to be a member of. Because credit union cards, if you ever run a balance, tend to offer an interest rate half what the interest rate is from the big brand banks. But yes, with Discover and Capital One getting married, from a direct consumer standpoint, it is a reduction in competition in the market. And also you don't want to have all your credit card eggs in one basket. So that's why you want to get a card from another issuer. Just like your instinct behind the scenes, the purchase of Discover by Capital One could create competition with the Visa MasterCard Cartel because capital One now has a merchant processing backbone that they didn't have before they were dependent on Visa or MasterCard. So it may ultimately lead to more consumer choice, potentially lower prices for merchants with processing cards. But we'll have to see if the theoretical happens. But the reality right now, the practical is yes, Richard, you get another card from somebody else.

[Krista]

And we have an article at clark.com called 7 Things Discover Cardholders Can Expect after the Capital One Merger. So that might be worth a read. This is from Tina in California. My daughter's best friend is 25 years old and has been living in France for the last several years, finishing her bachelor's and master's degree. She discovered late last year that her dad had opened a credit card in her name and charged over $30,000, paying for trips with his girlfriend and other crazy expenses. She filed a fraud report for the $30,000, but that process doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Not only that, he also applied for unemployment in her name while she was living abroad.

[Clark Howard]

Her dad.

[Krista]

Her dad, unbeknownst to her, the credit card for living expenses etc her dad gave to her and told her that he was paying for her expenses while at school was in fact a joint credit card with her name and he never made payments on that.

[Clark Howard]

So.

[Krista]

So altogether she owes about $50,000. She's just starting her career in hospitality management and is currently making very little. So she is an intern working mostly for room and board. Is her best option to file for bankruptcy or is there another solution to work with the creditors to pay less than is Owed.

[Clark Howard]

This is one of the hardest situations for banks to unravel and it happens a lot more often than you realize where a family member, in this case.

[Krista]

A dad, it's just unthinkable.

[Clark Howard]

And what he did was he impersonated her. It's not a joint account. It is her account that he got an authorized user card in addition to a card that she is responsible for. So he was very clever in a disgusting kind of way. If the story played out exactly like your friend thinks is that she's been using the card, he's been using the card. How in the world can you convince the bank that you were innocent in this? Because it's your account. You're using it. Your dad's using the authorized user card. A mess, mess, mess. Since she owns the card, the first thing to do is shut that card down so that her dad can't do anything else to harm her. As to whether bankruptcy is the right thing, we're way far from that. Whether a bankruptcy filing would be appropriate. But she filed a fraud report. With whom? With the police. With the bank. Bank's not going to believe her. And do you want to file a police report against your own dad? I mean, this is tough, tough stuff without easy answers. But you start with writing a letter to the bank and if you got the guts, you file a police report. Then you have to be prepared for the bank to write it off. They're already going to ruin your credit just as it is. Bankruptcy filing ruins your credit. And you see how it plays from here.

[Krista]

Freeze her credit for sure.

[Clark Howard]

Freeze her.

[Krista]

And make sure she uses an email address her dad has no access to. And. And the security questions he wouldn't know.

[Clark Howard]

About because who knows what else he'll do, right? Well, her credit's already ruined, so he can't get anything else.

[Krista]

Still, I mean, all you need is him to like, you know, buy a car, do something crazy, which he won't get arrested.

[Clark Howard]

Shouldn't be able to now is her. This is just messy. Messy, but obviously you don't pay money except to the bank, except for the charges you actually did. And I don't have a nice little tidy bow that I can tie right now because this is going to be messy. But the most important thing is don't pay money that you don't owe. And down the road, maybe a bankruptcy filing would be necessary, but likely not. It will end up being a bad debt write off by the bank and her credit will be harmed for seven years.

[Krista]

Man, I hope she files a police report. I hate to say it, I know that would be so hard. But if this is all, it just sounds insane. What a terrible thing to do to your child.

[Clark Howard]

Think how many different circumstances we've heard over the years where somebody co signs for a family member. Co signs for a boyfriend or girlfriend.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Clark Howard]

Gives credit to a boyfriend or girlfriend or a family member and then wonders why it blew up on them. And there are times everything's going to be fine, but obviously in a case like this, never going to be fine because he did all this with fraud and behind her back. Okay, coming up ahead, we're gonna switch gears. We can go positive. Positive.

[Krista]

All right.

[Clark Howard]

We're gonna talk summer vacation.

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[Krista]

Or forgetting sunscreen so now you look like a tomato. Ouch. Could have done better.

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Same goes for where you invest.

[Krista]

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[Apple Pay Advertiser]

Get market insights, education and human help when you need it. Learn [e-mail] this message is brought to you by Apple Pay. Forget your wallet. It's all good because with Apple Pay, you can pay with a simple tap of your iPhone. The wallet you never forget at millions of places worldwide, including websites, apps and anywhere you see the contactless symbol. Security is built in with face ID so you don't have to worry about your cards getting lost or stolen. And the best part? You still earn the card rewards, points and cash back you love. So say goodbye to the bifold, add your card to Apple Wallet and start paying the Apple Way Terms apply. This message is brought to you by Apple Pay. Forget your wallet. It's all good because with Apple Pay, you can pay with a simple tap of your iPhone. The wallet you never forget. At millions of places worldwide, including websites, apps and anywhere you see the contactless symbol. Security is built in with face ID so you don't have to worry about your cards getting lost or stolen. And the best part? You still earn the card rewards, points and cash back you love. So say goodbye to the bifold, add your card to Apple Wallet and start paying the Apple Way terms apply.

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[Clark Howard]

Do you know there's never a year, never a year I can recall over the last many decades that I did not take every day of vacation that was allotted to me. I love to work and when I work, I work hard to the point many days of exhaustion. But then I take my time off and do I love my time off. Do you know that most Americans now, it's more than a majority leave vacation unused? It's part of what you get working for an employer. If you have a job with benefits, you get paid vacation. Take the vacation. Take it. Be kind to yourself. I know there are times you feel like, well, I got to look good for the boss. And then where's the boss? The boss is here, there, somewhere else, having a great time. If you follow your boss on social media, you'll see all the pictures your boss is posting from wherever while you're still there at the office doing whatever. Don't do that to yourself. Don't do it. If you're a longtime listener or viewer of our YouTube show, you know that you hear me harangue you every summer to take vacation. The days are long, the weather's better. Enjoy it. Take time for yourself. And today that's harder because of this thing in my hand, these phones. Because what happens, the vibration or chirp from your phone, it'll be a text from work while you're on vacation or an email from work while you're on vacation. You have the right when you're on vacation to do one of those vacation responders on your work email and say that you're on vacation. And you'll see the email on such and such a date when you're done. And I know it's easier said than done if you have a boss who doesn't respect your time off. How you handle somebody sending an urgent text to you? The sky is falling. Let me tell you something. The work's still going to be there when you Come back from your time off. But it takes like, for most people, three to four days to breathe deep, to relax, to get to where you decompress, separate from the normal pace of your life. You deserve it. You've worked hard. Take your time off. And while you're doing that for summer, I'm going to tell you right now, go ahead and get vacation on the calendar for the period from Thanksgiving to New Year's Eve so that you don't have vacation that goes unused and unloved in your life.

[Krista]

All right, I got to go catch a flight, so you're going to have to read your own questions.

[Clark Howard]

I'm good. All right, let me read the first question.

[Krista]

All right. Actually, it's about vacation. This is a follow up from Ken in Washington. I wrote in a couple of years ago about my company switching to, quote, unquote, unlimited pto. And you gave some great thoughts on what to expect. When we made. When we made the switch, our company froze our PTO balance. It's holding it until we leave service, retire, quit, get laid off, etc. It will get paid out at whatever your wages when you leave. So it grows with my salary.

[Clark Howard]

So froze the pto.

[Krista]

The PTO that he had before they went to unlimited. So he had accumulated days, and those days are in a bank, kind of waiting there until he leaves the company. Well, you know what I mean.

[Clark Howard]

I know what you mean.

[Krista]

They're banked. So he says it will get paid out at whatever your wages when you leave. So it grows with my salary. I'm lucky to have a high salary. And my balance as well was over 300, which means I have 20k plus sitting there.

[Clark Howard]

Wow. Wow.

[Krista]

Any thoughts on what I should do? Leave it as a rainy day fund. If I ever get laid off, tell my employer I want to quit and be rehired to cash it out. Is there a risk of losing this if my company files for bankruptcy?

[Clark Howard]

Yes.

[Krista]

Not expecting this. But you never know. We don't need the money. But I also don't want to put it at risk by leaving it for years and years.

[Clark Howard]

So, Ken, I mean, we can't predict everything. And if there's any reason you suspect that the company is financially unstable, then you'd have to do something radical like even consider looking for a new job somewhere else if you get the sense that the company is unstable. But if it's stable, then this is kind of like a method of forced savings. And what you've not said that I understood from what you wrote. The 300 plus hours. Is it at the time you leave whatever your current salary is?

[Krista]

Yeah, that's what he's saying. It grows with your salary.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah. Then I would leave that there. Unless and until you get the sense that your employer is not stable or you reach a point you don't want to work for them anymore, then you'll get the money at that point that you leave. It's actually really generous of them that they're paying you for that pto. I've never been a fan of the replacement of sick leave and vacation with pto. I've talked about that before, so I won't belabor the point now. But that's never been something that I've been ecstatic about.

[Krista]

Trudy. North Carolina says I've been saving my United points to enable my husband and I to get a discount on our trip to Europe in July. Viking. So going on a Viking cruise, Viking said they cannot bump us up since the flights were on a promotional fare. So they must have booked their flights through Viking. United says they can't do it since the flight is operated by Lufthansa. Lufthansa says they can't do it since our flight is booked by United. Also, I asked about changing our flights to go through Denver, Chicago to bypass Newark. Sure, United said, but it would cost us about $300 each. We were hoping to bypass Newark due to the problems there.

[Clark Howard]

Let me first tell you a couple of things about Newark. I just flew into Newark just days ago, and the Newark situation is improving significantly. One, there's been so much national focus on it. Two, the Runway construction that was going on was completed ahead of time, and so Newark is back at full Runway capacity. Three people are. If you're booking a ticket, this is not for you, Trudy. But for people booking a trip, know that airfares to Newark are now much cheaper than they are to LaGuardia and Kennedy because people are booking away from Newark. So what have I been doing? I've been booking flights into Newark to save the money. Hazard versus opportunity. Also, the FAA is forced flight reductions into and out of Newark to deal with the air traffic control issues. So I, barring storms, I'm much more comfortable, obviously, booking flights into Newark, and I would not feel the necessity to rebook through Denver or Chicago. Now, let's go to the heart of your original question. Upgrades. Once you book your airfare through a cruise line, you are their prisoner. And all the normal privileges you'd have, you lost your autonomy. In addition, the cruise lines booking whoever they got the best Deal on. So it was a United code share on Lufthansa and now you can't do your upgrade. It means you're going to have to take another trip and use your United mileage plus points for an upgrade on it where you book your own ticket. I don't like booking airfare through a cruise line because the idea of it is that, well, they'll hold the ship for us if the flights mess up, cruise lines don't. They may get you to the next port, but you've still missed that first part of the cruise. So when you're going to Europe, you want to arrive a minimum two days before your cruise. When you're going domestic, one day before your cruise to build in time to deal for mechanical issues, weather delays, whatever it is. And I always want you to buy your own air travel so that you are in charge. There are times though, a lot of the higher end cruise lines like Viking give you the airfare. And if you take their free airfare, no, you may not be happy with the schedule they come up for you. You may not be happy with changes that they make, but that will be your choice in a case where I don't know if the promotional fare meant it was free or just greatly reduced.

[Krista]

All right, and then Ruby and George is going on a fun trip too. And this is a question we get a lot from anyone leaving the country. I'm taking a trip to Greece for the first time and I want to know about currency exchange. Where's the best place to go to convert US Dollars to euros? Should I do it here in the States or wait until I get to Greece?

[Clark Howard]

Okay, there's a never, never, never, not ever rule. Never do currency exchange for a trip to a foreign country in the United States, we do not have a competitive foreign exchange market in the United States. Our exchange rates, if you go to a bank here and you exchange currency, you get ripped off like nowhere else on earth that I've ever found. When you land in Greece, that's when you get your euro. And before you go, Ruby, make sure you have an ATM card from a financial institution where you pay no junk fees for using an atm. You will get a great exchange rate. You'll be able to land, pop in your ATM card in the airport, get your euro and you'll be good to go. Now here's something else. In Greece, it used to be that people paid a lot in cash. Like so much of the rest of Europe, you'll find that overwhelmingly you're doing tap to pay with a credit card or with your iPhone or Android, you want to make sure you have a card before you go that is one that has no foreign currency junk fees. We have a [e-mail] of several of the cards you can get before your trip where you'll be able to use your credit card with no foreign currency junk. Another thing. More and more around the world, they will try to trick you when you go to use your card. And as a courtesy, they will clear the purchase in dollars. Always say no. You want to use your card, it'll be on the terminal. You want it to clear in local currency, in your case, euro, because otherwise you may face a 10% junk fee for having the item. As a courtesy cleared in dollars instead of euro. Let the currency exchange happen with your fee free credit card. That was a lot to say.

[Krista]

A lot. And this is the end of the show, which normally you would bring up, but I just want to bring up that our next show in two days is on a very special day is a milestone birthday for you.

[Clark Howard]

I'm going to be 70, and so.

[Krista]

I hope everyone will tune in for that show. I want you to do something you haven't done in a long time. On Friday, I want you to tell people your amazing story of how you ended up where you are today. Because it's real if you've never heard it. Even if you have heard it. I could hear it a million times and I always love hearing it. It's so fascinating.

[Clark Howard]

I find my life story boring.

[Krista]

No way. Absolutely no way. So happy almost birthday to you, Clark. And we will see everybody on Friday.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah, how about that? 70. You know, it's funny because people in any kind of performance industry or anything like that used to keep their ages a deep, dark secret. The Internet's taking care of that.

[Krista]

Oh, yeah.

[Clark Howard]

You want to know how old anybody is, you can find out in a nanosecond. But anyway, next time you see me, I'm gonna be elderly.

[Krista]

I'm gonna be sad.

[Clark Howard]

Have a great rest of your day.