06.24.26 An Education In Change / Should You Purchase A Warranty - Ever?

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast — 06.24.26

Episode Title: An Education In Change / Should You Purchase A Warranty — Ever?
Host: Clark Howard
Date: June 24, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Clark Howard shares timeless lessons about embracing change, drawing from his early experience founding an alternative school for struggling young adults. He emphasizes adaptability in both education and personal finances, illustrating how flexibility is crucial for career and life success. The episode pivots to a deep dive into warranties, with Clark articulating why purchasing most extended warranties is rarely a smart financial move. He weaves in listener questions on travel logistics, legal document storage fees, retirement savings strategies, privacy concerns with apps, and consumer rights regarding arbitration agreements.

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Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Lessons from Founding an Alternative School: Embracing Change

• Clark’s Early Educational Venture

  • At 23, Clark started “Career Action,” a bootcamp-style school for young adults who struggled in traditional schooling or didn’t graduate.
  • The school focused on job-ready skills (typing, bookkeeping, operating ten key machines, interview skills) and ran strict, nine-hour days for three months.
  • Insights:
    • Skills that were relevant two generations ago (e.g., using ten key machines, manual bookkeeping) became obsolete.
    • Main Point: “We cannot stay with what's known as static analysis. ... You need to be a continuing lifelong learner.” (Clark, 06:00)

• Personal Anecdote: The Tesla Example

  • Clark’s late 80s in-laws adapted to change by opting for a Tesla Model Y with full self-driving, preserving independence and mobility.
    • “They shocked me when they told me they were buying a Tesla with FSD with full self-driving. But for them it means that they still have mobility.” (Clark, 07:08)
  • Lesson: Flexibility leads to sustained quality of life.

• Big Picture Message:
  Clark stresses that both life and career demand ongoing adaptation—what works now may be irrelevant in a decade. Static thinking leads to setbacks, while flexibility unlocks opportunity.

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2. Listener Questions & Clark’s Advice (Q&A Segment)

a) Travel Logistics: Breaking up Long Flights

Timestamp: 08:22

• Question: How to split a Detroit-to-Tbilisi, Georgia trip into shorter flights for a nervous flyer?
• Clark’s Answer:
  • Suggests Turkish Airlines: flight from Detroit to Istanbul (about 10 hours), then direct to Tbilisi.
  • “Turkish Air is considered to be one of the world's elite airlines ... they connect to places that normally are very hard to connect to.” (Clark, 09:57)

b) Legal Document Storage Fees

Timestamp: 10:31

• Question: Attorney offers to store estate documents for $60/year—is this a new “money grab”? Should I just store them myself?
• Clark’s Answer:
  • Rare for lawyers to charge for storage—store your originals in a safe deposit box or firebox at home and inform your heirs.
  • “I think it’s fine for you to avoid [the fee]. … I don't think it's common at all to charge the fee.” (Clark, 11:08)
  • Recommends reviewing estate documents every decade or after major life events.

c) Retirement Growth Assumptions & Real Estate Diversification

Timestamp: 13:27

• Question: Should I divert 401(k) contributions to fund rental property investments?
• Clark’s Answer:
  • Cautions against assuming 10-12% stock market returns long-term; suggests 7% above inflation is more realistic.
    • “10 to 12% moving forward—just, I don't know any scenario where that is going to happen for a lengthy period of time.” (Clark, 13:47)
  • Recommends maintaining decent 401(k) contributions for diversification; views rental property as running a side business, not a truly passive investment.

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3. The Truth About Extended Warranties

Segment Start: 20:58

• Clark’s Position:
  He strongly advises against purchasing most extended warranties, especially for electronics, appliances, and home products.

• Supporting Data & Arguments:

  • For every $1 spent on electronics warranties, the average consumer receives only 9¢ in claim value—with the “house” (warranty seller) winning 91% of the time.
    • “If I said to you, hey, you give me a dollar and in a year I'm going to give you back nine cents ... that's why everybody pushes the warranties on you.” (Clark, 21:02)
  • Most-wanted products for unnecessary warranties:
    • TVs, cell phones, computers.
    • Anecdote: Shoe stores selling sneaker warranties, “Smartphone insurance isn’t smart at all, usually...”

• When Might a Warranty Make Sense?

  • Car warranties: Only buy from the official manufacturer, not third-party products pushed by dealerships (massive markups, little real value).
  • Brands with generous warranties (e.g., Hyundai, Kia) offer peace of mind as part of purchase—look for reliability first.
  • You can negotiate on the price of manufacturer warranties.

• Notable Quote:
  “A TV is not an investment. A TV is consumption. … Don’t waste your money.” (Clark, 25:34)

• Wirecutter stats: Extended warranty is a worse bet than gambling in Las Vegas:

  • Blackjack loss per $100: $0.50
  • Extended warranty loss per $100: $70 (Clark, summarizing Wirecutter, 22:42)

• Co-host on Modern Retail:

  • “I bought my daughter this little ten dollar waffle maker ... and they offer me extended warranty. I mean ... it’s like automatically pops up for so many things and I'm like, no, drives me nuts.” (Show Producer, 25:58)
  • Clark: “At Walmart, I'll buy a relatively inexpensive item and I’ve got to get past the screen where they're trying to sell me the junk warranty. Yuck.” (Clark, 26:15)

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4. Additional Consumer Q&A

a) STEP Program Legitimacy (U.S. Government Travel Alerts)

Timestamp: 26:25

• Question: Is the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) a good idea, or just “government tracking”?
• Clark’s Take:
  • Considers STEP beneficial for safety news during travel, but encourages supplementing with independent research.
  • Quote: “I think that it is a useful tool when you're thinking of going somewhere ... it’s really good to know where you might find danger you were not aware could be dangerous. … Don’t take it as your only source of information.” (Clark, 27:04, 28:28)

b) Opting Out of Arbitration at Big Banks

Timestamp: 28:36

• Listener reads arbitration clause update from her bank, asks if she should opt out.
• Clark’s Response:
  • Applauds the listener for reading the fine print (“You win the Clarky award of this podcast”—29:04).
  • Advises opting out to preserve rights to sue in real courts, warning that company-run arbitration panels favor banks/companies.
  • Quote: “Arbitration, to me, the way it operates in corporate America spits on the U.S. constitution.” (Clark, 30:20)

c) Receipt & Step-Tracking Apps: Privacy Concerns

Timestamp: 30:33

• Question: Is there harm in using apps that give cash back for scanned receipts or track your steps?
• Clark’s Take:
  • Little privacy or security risk, as long as the company remains in business. A concern would be data sales after bankruptcy, but that’s rare.
  • “The privacy thing is not an enormous level of risk, so I'd feel okay doing that. ... When we've tested these, you don't make a lot of money.” (Clark, 30:50)

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Notable Quotes

• “Change is inevitable. ... You can fight change or you can adapt to it, anticipate it.”
  — Clark Howard [07:41]

• On the optimism of high returns:
  “10 to 12% moving forward—just, I don't know any scenario where that is going to happen for a lengthy period of time.”
  — Clark Howard [13:47]

• On extended warranties:
  “A TV is not an investment. A TV is consumption. … Don’t waste your money.”
  — Clark Howard [25:34]

• On arbitration:
  “Arbitration, to me, the way it operates in corporate America spits on the U.S. constitution.”
  — Clark Howard [30:20]

• Clarky Award Moment:
  “You win the Clarky award of this podcast. Because nobody ever reads those notices, number one.”
  — Clark Howard [29:04]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------------------------|------------| | Clark’s education story & lessons on change | 00:56–08:22| | Q&A: Splitting a long international flight | 08:22–10:29| | Q&A: Lawyer document storage fees | 10:31–13:27| | Q&A: 401(k) growth & real estate strategy | 13:27–18:27| | Extended warranties—The numbers & advice | 20:58–26:25| | Q&A: STEP program for travelers | 26:25–28:36| | Q&A: Opting out of banking arbitration clauses | 28:36–30:33| | Q&A: Apps for cash back and privacy concerns | 30:33–33:35|

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Final Takeaways

• Embrace change and remain a lifelong learner—stagnation is costly in both careers and personal finance.
• Extended warranties and service contracts rarely make sense; they benefit sellers far more than buyers.
• Diversify investments, tempering expectations for long-term market returns.
• Know your rights as a consumer: understand legal agreements and preserve your options when possible.
• Use technology and government services judiciously, informed by privacy and safety considerations.

Clark’s core message throughout: “Be empowered, adapt, save more, spend less, and avoid ripoffs.”

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Useful Resources Mentioned:

• Clark.com
• ClarkDeals.com
• Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)

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This summary equips you with the main lessons, memorable moments, and actionable advice covered in the episode—perfect whether you missed it or just want the highlights.

Transcript

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[Clark Howard]

Zootopia 2 has come home to Disney. Let's go get ready for a new case. We're gonna crack this case and prove we're victorious partners of all time. New friends. You are Gary the Snake and your last name Desnake. Dream Team The New habitats Zootopia has a secret reptile population. You can watch the record breaking phenomenon at home.

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[Clark Howard]

Now available on Disney. Rated PG foreign. I'm so glad you're with us 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 I've done a lot of different, unusual things in my life. One of the things I did was I started an alternative school for young adults when I was 23. And I'm going to share some lessons. I'm still learning from that experience. And later I often get asked about all different kinds of extended warranties, service contracts, all that. I'm going to give you my best advice on when they do and don't make sense. So when I was young, I had something I don't talk about a lot. I was not a great student. School was hard for me. And today some of what I did about that is stuff that's like, duh, of course you do something, you do it differently. But that was really not the case when I decided to found a school nearly 50 years ago. So I came up with an idea for a school that I named Career Action. And there were a lot of people who maybe had not done so well in high school. Maybe they didn't even graduate from high school. Maybe they did get a diploma, but they didn't learn a lot and they were kind of lost in their 20s trying to figure out what they were going to do. College was not part of their deal or anything like that. And so I basically founded a boot camp with extremely strict rules and the class day was nine hours a day. Students came to my school for only three months but very long Days. We started with the basics. Two of the classes people were in were English and math. And then we taught skills that were ones that somebody could get a decent paying job in corporate America with certain things they learned how to do. One of them was typing. Can you imagine that was like a core curriculum. Going to typing class almost 50 years ago, operating a machine that nobody has heard this term or seen one in probably 30 years. A ten key machine. Krista, do you even know what a ten key machine is?

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

I do know what a tanky machine.

[Clark Howard]

Oh you want to define it for people?

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

It's a calculator.

[Clark Howard]

It's kind of like. Yeah, well there were no calculators then. But yeah and then we taught check encoding is a potential career. We taught bookkeeping skills manual because they weren't being done on computers then. And we had fortunately. Well first unfortunately we ran it like a very strict boot camp. So we would lose a lot of people who couldn't live with my strict rules about timeliness, attendance, attitude, all that. We taught people how to interview, we taught them how to dress and we were very successful for decades. The school ceased to exist after about 25 years. I wasn't involved in it the last 20. I just set it up and launched it and. But anyway, the thing that I think is interesting about that is not. I didn't know Clark did that. What's interesting about it is it's two generations ago that I started this school. The skills that we taught became irrelevant in a generation. That's the thing I want you to think about. We cannot stay with what's known as static analysis. Static analysis is when you think well that's how things were, that's how they are, that's how they're going to be in your life. You need to develop good habits obviously. And one of those habits is being open to change career wise, how you handle your money, different things in your life. And so you have to know that people in school now and the things they think they want to do, a lot of them that they will start out in, out of high school, trade school, college, community college, whatever, aren't even going to exist in a generation. You have to be a continuing lifelong learner. You have to adapt to the conditions in the marketplace. Change is inevitable. And I want to say something about my mother in law and father in law. They are late 80s, they share one car, they were sharing one car and they were sharing a Lexus that has like I don't know, 15 years old or whatever. And they were trying to decide what to get next? What did they get in their late 80s, they got a Tesla Model Y with full self driving. And I was in the vehicle yesterday with my mother in law and father in law and I pulled up the screen. What percent of their driving are they doing where the car is driving versus them driving? What 94% nice is the car driving them?

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

That's great.

[Clark Howard]

That's an example about just because. And it's hard for people. You know, as we go through life, we get more and more rigid and set in our ways. I think as cool as could be. They shocked me when they told me they were buying a Tesla with FSD with full self driving. But for them it means that they still have mobility because they're at a point that normally you got to make that tough decision to give up your keys and instead they just sit there and watch the car drive them.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

That's awesome.

[Clark Howard]

And so to me, that's an example of how in your life, and that's just one example I'm sure we're going to get. Clark stinks about that somehow. But anyway, the point is that change is ever present and you can fight change or you can adapt to it, you can anticipate change and sometimes you're going to be wrong, but you're at least looking forward, looking out, looking at what life presents. And just because you've done things a particular way for a long time, whether it's in your career or where we talk about money here, you need to be adaptable.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

All right. Bradley in Michigan sent this one in. He says, clark, my son who lives in Berlin, is going to marry a girl from the Republic of Georgia in September. My wife does not like to fly, but is willing to take a flight of up to nine hours. Do you have any suggestions on splitting this trip into two segments with a lengthy layover? Is there a train service that could finish the trip to Tbilisi? I think is how you say it.

[Clark Howard]

Okay, so the way you get to a lot of the former Soviet republics and not have a flight that's longer than your wife would want is. And by the way, congratulations on your son's upcoming festivities is you go on Turkish Air. And I'm nearly 100% certain Turkish air flies out of Detroit because the flight to Istanbul, which is one of the world's largest transfer hubs and Turkish Air is considered to be one of the world's elite airlines, is probably going to be a nine hour. You said nine hours. I think it's about nine hours from most places on the Eastern Seaboard to Istanbul flight back will violate your wife's time limit because the flight back going into the headwinds will probably be ten and a quarter, ten and a half hours, something like that.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

So they do fly from Detroit to istanbul. It's a 10 hour and 11 minute

[Clark Howard]

flight in the air. It wouldn't be that long.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Okay, yeah.

[Clark Howard]

So technically, technically, okay, it'll. It'll get to your wife's nine hours and then the flight from there. The reason Turkish Air is doing so well is they connect to places that normally are very hard to connect to. And they fly to Tbilisi. I don't know if they do it seven days a week, but they fly to Tbilisi. So that would be my number one suggestion. And Turkish Air is historically a very good airline product.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Okay. And Doug in Minnesota says, that was

[Clark Howard]

really specific of me, wasn't it?

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

I know Doug in Minnesota says a few years ago my attorney started, quote unquote, offering to save my estate documents for a fee of $60 a year. I know that's not much money, but for some reason I feel I'm now getting charged eg ripped off for something that used to be included in the preparation of wills and trusts. It's especially grad since I paid thousands. Since we have a revocable living trust. Is this a new money grab by attorneys? Should I just take the originals and keep that in my safe deposit box or at home instead? I have a copy, of course, as do my children.

[Clark Howard]

I think it's fine for you to avoid. If you already have a safety deposit box, you're not saving that much money if you were to get one specifically for this. But we've only had one other question slash complaint, and it's been a while from someone whose lawyer was charging a safekeeping charge for keeping key documents that you'd already paid them to prepare. And I think it's still a rare thing. We may hear from lawyers that we're just out of touch. But I don't think it's common at all to charge the fee as long as you made sure everybody knows what the deal is. You put your key papers, it can even be in a firebox safe or something like that, and people know the combination to get to those documents at the time of your untimely demise. Doug, I think you're fine. I don't think you need to pay a lawyer. I think about over 10 years, that's 600 extra dollars.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Yeah, I think that's short sighted because they want you to refer them to other people, but.

[Clark Howard]

Well, they Also want you to come back for document revisions. And I should mention that whether this lawyer does or someone else, every once in a while you have a life status change or anything like that. But at least I would say you'd have to ask a lawyer's opinion. But I've heard always once a decade you want to have the documents reviewed because what was right then could be different now. A lot of times one of the areas that parents mess up on is they will have a will drawn when they have the birth of a child or have young children and then they set it and forget it and they'll have done things like, you know, what happens if, if you were to die while your kids are still minors and all that. And it's much better to revisit that once your kids become, at least by the point, they're young adults. Because what you're going to want and how you're going to want the will structured will change once the people with young minor children, those children grow up and your wishes will change along with the kids getting older.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Adam in Ohio says I'm currently 37 years old. I have just over $152,000 in my 401k based on historical data with the market gaining 10 to 12% annually over a 30 year period. I would have around 3 to million dollars in my 401k at retirement age if I did not contribute any additional money to the account.

[Clark Howard]

Moving forward, I don't know where you're going with the question, but I need to stop here. You said first of all, it's great you've already saved that much money. You're in your 30s. But Adam, 10 to 12%. We have gotten spoiled in recent years with the upward trajectory in stocks. Stocks are at crazy high valuations and we're going to have a long term reversion to mean that doesn't mean we're going to have like a catastrophic stock market crash, although those do happen from time to time. But what we are going to have is we're going to have long periods of suboptimal returns, meaning below a historical average that what you like to get is 7% above the rate of inflation. That's a really great target. And 10 to 12% moving forward just I don't know any scenario where that is going to happen for a lengthy period of time. So I'd like you to rethink that assumption and what kind of money that would generate said over 30 years the money you have will be 3 to 5 million. If you go back in and put in 7% as an assumption. Let's see where that puts you. Now. You can continue with the question. I just couldn't let that go by.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Sure. I want to get into rental real estate. I would really like to retire around age 50 to 55. Having paid for rental properties is how I envision this to be possible. When we would retire, we could access our 401k money. Would it make sense for me to stop contributing to my 401k and take the money I'm currently contributing monthly to to it and start putting it specifically towards this rental home plan? We currently have about $6,000 saved for a down payment on our first rental property. We are targeting around 160 to $180,000 property for our first one. I'm currently contributing $1,050 monthly to my 401.

[Clark Howard]

Okay, this is so intriguing because owning rental properties, Adam, is very different than investing through a 401k or Roth IRA or whatever. Because it's a passive investment. You're not having to do anything. Managing rental property. As somebody who's had rental property for 43 years, gosh, that's a long time. You just don't set it and forget it. So it is actually the way I like for you to think about rental property is it's a business. You may be working at your job, but you have a second job with rental property. And they do diversify your overall portfolio running that side business. And over the years, your tenants pay down the mortgages you've taken out on the rental properties, creating a slow buildup of equity. Inflation helps you with the value of the property over many years. Rents rise not every year, but they rise over time. So I'm a longtime believer in rental properties. I used to have five, now we're down to one. I took advantage of the run up and home values to liquidate most of the rental property that we had. So this is a diversification strategy. But diversification not to the point of neglecting a 401k even if it means you grow your rental home portfolio more slowly. I want you to continue to contribute to the 401k a decent amount of money. I think that's important. Diversification is always key and there are many people who have done really, really well over the years just doing investing or just doing rental properties. I think the mix of both is really good. And again, don't believe that moving forward we're going to have returns of 10 to 12%. Unless you still believe in the tooth fairy. Coming up ahead. Just say no when the salesperson says, aren't you going to protect your investment in your new tv? You're not protecting it. It's not an investment. I want to talk about when you insure what you insure and how you should insure.

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[Clark Howard]

So you're at a store buying something, it's big purchase to you, and the salesperson at the store is pushing you hard to buy the extended warranty. You know, why do you know? On a typical electronics warranty, for every dollar you pay over your lifetime, you'll get back a benefit of about 9 cents. In other words, the house wins 91% of the time. You are negative on that. If I said to you, hey, you give me a dollar and in a year I'm going to give you back nine cents, not a dollar nine, I'm going to give you back nine cents. That's why everybody pushes the warranties on you. The most ridiculous of all I ever saw was when a shoe store was pushing an extended warranty on their sneakers. Seriously, you would probably name more ridiculous things. Smartphone insurance isn't smart at all. Usually. I know, I know. You drop it once and it's expensive. I get it. If that's one that's important to you, get one of the credit cards the we have listed where it includes cell phone insurance from the company at no cost, just as part of having the card. If that worries you that much, it's just a thought. Extended car warranties and service contracts, the math on them is terrible. Home warranties, the math on them is worse. It was funny. There was something that wirecutter did. Running the math, looking at extended warranties, extended service contracts is like a bet in Las Vegas, okay? Their numbers. You play blackjack every $100 bet, the odds say you'll lose 50 cents. You play craps, buck 41, quarter slot machine, eight bucks. Extended warranty, more than 70 bucks. Okay, so let's think about that. I always talk about how upset I get whenever I would go to Las Vegas for work and I'd be walking through the casino and I'd see people gambling at these tables. None of the games that I understand. And it would just hurt me. I would. I'm sure my blood pressure was rising, my heartbeat was rising because I was so upset about watching all these people lose money. And they're not losing money as a percent at all, like you are when you get conned by the salesperson to buy the extended warranty junk. Now, as I've said over the years, the math is not better. But if you want to buy one on your car, okay, but buy it only from the manufacturer of your brand. Not something that the finance and insurance person at the dealer says, oh, this is so much better than the one you can get from gm. Or Ford or Toyota or Honda or whoever. The hours is so much better. Yeah, for them. I remember when we had someone who was filled with guilt, who used to work in the finance department, a dealership years ago. So the numbers are obsolete. Numbers. But sent the paperwork of what they were paying for. These warranties they were selling for thousands of dollars and the one they were told to push was one that the dealership paid $180 for and marked up to thousands of dollars. Yeah. If you want to buy one you're nervous about your vehicle, you buy first. You buy the most reliable brands and vehicles you can get. Consumer Reports has more data on reliability than anybody else. The best insurance policy you can buy is by a reliable brand. Second best buy a Hyundai or Kia where they give you a 10 year warranty on major components of the vehicle if that's really an important consideration for you. Otherwise buy the manufacturer's own. And by the way, you can bargain on the price of it. But everything else. Remember, a TV is not an investment. A TV is consumption. A cell phone is not an investment. A computer is not an investment. Don't waste your money.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

I mean, you get it at checkout for anything now. It's crazy.

[Clark Howard]

Like what kind of things?

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Like a ten dollar little. I remember I bought my daughter this little ten waffle maker thing just for fun, like for a Christmas gift. It was like a single waffle maker. And they offer me extended warranty. I mean you can. It's like automatically pops up for so many things and I'm like, no, Drives me nuts.

[Clark Howard]

At Walmart, I'll buy a relatively inexpensive item and I've got to get past the screen where they're trying to sell me the junk warranty. Yuck.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

All right, we'll go to questions now. This one's from Susan in Minnesota. Is the STEP program legitimate and if so, worthwhile? STEP is Smart Traveler Enrollment Program through the U.S. government. STEP state.gov Once you enroll for international travel, the government will advise you about safety conditions, demonstrations, natural disasters or other events that may affect your travel plans. Is it just another way for the government to track U.S. travelers abroad? Surely any traveler would be watching the news and receive all this information. Am I being paranoid?

[Clark Howard]

First of all, please don't call me Shirley. Old movie.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Airplane.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah, so maybe I'm so naive it never would occur to me that the feds would use this as a tracking tool of you. As far as the information, it's really good to know where you might find danger that you were not aware could be Dangerous. I'm not sure that the State Department warnings are always as accurate as they should be. There's a lot of political and international relations reasons why they'll say what they say in terms of safety or lack of safety. But I think that it is a useful tool when you're thinking of going somewhere. And there was a country my wife and I were thinking of going to in Latin America and I'd been many times before and had been very safe destination, but I went and read the State Department warning and they were having a lot of street crime at the time, according to the State Department. And so I then went and read elsewhere and sure enough, and we did not go on that trip because you go on a trip to have fun, you don't go there to have to worry about.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Yeah, defending yourself.

[Clark Howard]

I did box as a kid.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Back to Susan's. So would you enroll in this, do you think?

[Clark Howard]

Oh, yeah. I don't see a problem enrolling in it. Don't take it is the only source of information is the point I'm really making.

[Indeed Sponsor]

Okay.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Joan in New York says, hi, Clark, I have a checking account and credit card with one of the big banks and they recently sent me a five page document saying they're adding an arbitration provision to my existing agreement. All accounts will be subject to the arbitration agreement. For disputes relating to personal accounts, there's an option to opt out within 60 days. Do you recommend opting out of such agreements?

[Clark Howard]

All right, so, Joan, you win the Clarky award of this podcast.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Oh, wow.

[Clark Howard]

Because nobody ever reads those notices, number one. And number two, the reason the giant monster mega bank you're with can offer you an opt out is the number of people that will opt out in the entire country, out of their tens of millions of customers probably would fit right in this broadcast studio. I mean, nobody does that. Is it a good idea to do so? Yeah, because you preserve your rights to the courts instead of the kangaroo court arbitration system. As I've said in the past, Joan, I have no problem with arbitration if it was run as a fair system. But it's completely controlled by the companies who force you into arbitration. The arbitrators know if they rule against the company, then they're not going to get work there anymore. And that's my problem with arbitration is it's not on the up and up. So if you want to preserve your rights, do just what you talked about, opt out in the 60 days. You know, some places say if you opt out, they're going to close your account, which is mean spirited and stupid. Because since nobody's going to do what you do, just deal with the small number of people who do want to preserve their rights. Arbitration, to me, the way it operates in corporate America spits on the U.S. constitution.

[Clark Howard Show Producer/Co-host]

Okay, Melinda in Georgia says with so many apps that provide cash back in exchange for copies of receipts, is there any harm in sharing this information? Also, what about the apps that pay for your activity pay you for your activities, such as your number of daily steps?

[Clark Howard]

So it's interesting Melinda's also asking a privacy related question like the one earlier about the State Department. I have never heard of any abuse happening with signing up for any of these companies that give you access to gift cards or cash back or whatever for being really good at scanning in your receipts and all that. They're getting market data. So if one of them went bankrupt and then the data was sold off, I guess that would be the one time there could be a risk of your information potentially being shared because the bankruptcy court's only interested in getting as much money as it can for the creditors. But the bigger thing is when we've tested these, you don't make a lot of money. So if you feel like every little bit I can get back helps, I do it. But the privacy thing is not an enormous level of risk, so I'd feel okay doing that. And I want to thank you for joining us on today's podcast and we got a really exciting thing coming up in two days. Clark Stinks comes your way this Friday and most every Friday of the year. Occasionally we'll give Clark Stinks a rest, but not this Friday. So tune in to hear the feedback that people give me of where an answer I gave was lame, incomplete, or just plain dumb. I love Clark Stinks and I love how we all help each other because it's all about us as people being there for others and helping each other. I want you to grab a hold of knowledge you can use and put to work. That's what we're about. With every way that we reach you. Social media markets where I'm on TV or radio, on the news, our podcast, obviously YouTube, YouTube shorts, everything is about you being empowered with more knowledge. Our newsletters that are free, our websites, clark.com and clarkdeals.com I want you to be the boss of your own financial life. And that's what we do here, is give you the tools to take more control, to be more in charge so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. And tune in Friday for Clark Stinks Foreign.

[Christopher Fitton]

Do you find it hard to sleep at night? Then the sleepcove podcast can help you. Hi, I'm Christopher Fitton, the voice and clinical hypnotherapist behind Sleep Cove. Sleep Cove features sleep hypnosis, meditations, and bedtime stories, all designed to help those of you who struggle at night to achieve a restful and peaceful night's sleep. Search for Sleep Cove on Apple podcasts or Spotify and see why. Sleep Cove helps millions of people sleep deeply all night long.