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The Clark Howard Podcast
07.01.26 Clark Smart Franchising / Pharmacy Options For Rx Savings
00:31:47
Do This Before You Buy a Franchise & New Ways To Save Big on Prescription Drugs
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Transcript30 lines
- [00:01]
A
Do you find it hard to sleep at night? Then the Sleep Cove 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 SleepGove helps millions of people sleep deeply all night long.
- [00:45]
B
It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show. Our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. This July, this week, we celebrate one of my favorite days, the fourth of July. I'm going to talk more about that at the end of this episode. I'm also going to talk about something kicking off today that I love so much. You being an entrepreneur. Specifically, I want you to think about owning your own business and give you benefits. And risks of going the franchise route and later prescriptions continue to be a huge expense for so many of us. I want to talk about new ways for you to save. So franchising is how a lot of people see as a path to become entrepreneurs. And franchise shows are especially popular at a time like this where people feel a little dead ended in the job they're in. They, they don't feel like they're progressing, they may lose a job and they can't find something else. Okay, I'm going to buy an Insta business. I want to tell you, franchising can work, but a lot of times all you want to believe and all you're ever hearing is the pitch from the salespeople trying to sell one and you get into something that you're like, well, this isn't at all like they promised me. Want to tell you my most important rule for you. If you're considering buying a franchise, and that is if there's something you're hearing the siren song of, you're thinking, hey, that may be for me. I want you anonymously to go to work in 1. Go to work in a location of that franchise. Not as somebody who you're talking like you're going to maybe go in the business. No, I want you to get a job. I don't care what you're doing. I don't care if you're cleaning the bathrooms. I want you in the place. I want you to see what it's really like before you make a huge decision in your life. That financially could be a real setback for you if you got bamboozled. I want you to know how it really works. And if you realize right away, I don't know what I was thinking, then you're far wiser without being poor. But if you think, hey, I could get into this, I'm asking you to spend six months working there, six months, because I want you to learn on somebody else's time and somebody else's dime. And then later, if you decide you're going to buy one, you're going to know what questions to ask. You're going to know what's baloney. They've told you what actually works, what things you see going on there. You're like, well, that's not how I'm going to do it. I'm going to do this other thing. Learn up front, not in the school of hard knocks. Really important. You know, I was reading a story in the Economist about the first franchise owner that anybody knows of who became a billionaire by being a franchise owner. It's a guy who went to a real brainiac school, Stanford Business School. You know, the people who go to Stanford Business School, they're like the people who go to Wharton School at Penn, Harvard Business, they're looking for jobs in finance on Wall street with, with a startup with stock options. And this guy Greg Flynn, you may have seen one of the stories about him. He came out of Stanford Business School and bought a restaurant franchise, and then another, and then another, and then another. And now he owns 3,000 outlets around the country across seven different brands. Actually, he's in three countries and he's a billionaire from owning just regular old restaurants, fast food, casual dining, that kind of thing. And so he's like something that people are holding Greg up and saying, look what can happen to you. And great for him. And you know, he's one of those people who probably would have been successful wherever he ended up, but he was able to to as a very young guy to end up being crazy successful. And now is he's in middle age, he's a billionaire. Franchising usually doesn't work like that. And that's why it's so important that you do your homework up front. And when you're looking at something, try to draw on your history, your education, your experience in what you did before. Look for something in a business that works with those strengths. A lot of people mid career burned out of what they did. They discount what they know and they look at this as like a fresh start. Completely different kind of thing. The best chance for success is when the training, experience and education you have mold together with the business you want to be in. More often than not though, if you follow my idea, the first franchise you go in and surreptitiously work in will not be the business you end up being in. Take advantage of that opportunity to see the real story. Not what they're showing on the Internet, not what the testimonials show you, and not what the brochures say.
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C
Okay, you ready for questions?
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B
I'm ready.
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C
Paul in Texas sent this one in. Hey Clark, I'm about to start a vending machine business. I already have personal accounts at SoFi. I would like to use another online bank for my business account. Have you heard of the online bank Relay Bank? And if so, what are your thoughts? When I read everything online, everything seems good, especially the way their systems smoothly integrate with Intuit for accounting and bookkeeping. Any advice or other online bank recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all you and your team do to educate us.
- [07:28]
B
Okay, so the story with Relay. We have never had a question about Relay before. I know about Relay because I've been very curious about Banks usually rip off small business owners on banking services and Relay is by using online, which is so much cheaper to offer. They give you better deals than you're usually going to find at a regular bank. I have no experience because we've never, never had a question about Relay. I have no idea if the customer service has been good, if people are finding them to be a well run and operated organization with the business. What's so important is if something goes wrong, are they prepared to help you make it right even if it was something you messed up on? So I can't say yeah you should go use it. I just know that architecturally from the ground up, what they offer is from the dollars and cents standpoint is superior to what entrepreneurs usually find at a bank. And it's geared towards people from, you know, one person companies on up. I wouldn't say they do mid size or large companies, but smaller organizations is who their profile is on.
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C
Maria in Tennessee says Many of my friends and I have worked for nonprofits for a long time and are wondering what the best way is to handle our 403bs. Should we move this money to Roth IRAs? What are the risks or benefits of this? We are mostly in our mid or late 30s and will likely stay in nonprofit for at least another couple of years.
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B
Okay so if you go into a Roth you're probably in a pre tax 403B. You would be creating a taxable event, Maria, and you'd have to be able to handle the tax bill. What I usually recommend to people with, let's face it, most 403Bs are garbage. By garbage they have obscenely high commissions and fees and usually very inferior investment choices. And I don't understand to this moment I still don't understand why the Congress has not done anything to level the playing field for teachers and people who work at non profits. A lot of hospitals stuff in 4.3bs. But not all 403bs are junk. So usually what I recommend is that you move your money that you can move to a low cost provider. 403B plans. Most plans with TIA are lower cost. Sometimes you can move them to Fidelity and there's a website that can help you so much and will answer your questions. 403B wise. 403B as in bravo. Wise.org and I just long for the day that we don't disrespect our teachers and people who work for charitable organizations and punish them with these trashy, inferior retirement plan choices that they're afforded in 403s. There is no reason that they, and they alone, people who are teachers and work for nonprofits should be sentenced to these inferior plans. I don't get it.
- [11:06]
C
Jonathan in Florida says hello Clark, I wrote you a while back. I'm the guy who at one point had 33 bad debts and three car repos. I'm just writing in to give an update. I'm still doing well with my credit. I was just able to secure a $25,000 loan at 10.69% to purchase 4 acres of land. I'm still doing all this on a $60,000 budget. I still have the same old truck contribute $250 a month to a Florida deferred comp and I'm still putting money in my FRS 401k. It has been a long road and I'm still going. I appreciate all your advice and knowledge. It took me a while but I will be a landowner at 40. Congratulations to those struggling. Make a plan and keep it. I know it's hard. It takes a while. From the time I had bad credit until now it's been 12 to 15 years. If I could do it, so can you. If you are not sure what to do, look for a credit counselor. Most counties offer or have one. Good luck and Godspeed.
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B
Jonathan, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to write because right now defaults on credit cards are rising through the roof. A lot of people in severe financial distress and they don't know that there's a way out. They don't know that there's a path to healing their credit and being able to see something with their finances other than the darkness of the moment. And I want to tell you there is hope. There are legitimate places you can turn for help. And Jonathan, how you're progressing, I mean, think about what you've been through financially that 33 bad debts, three car repossessions and now you have turned things around so positively in your life. If you're looking for a legitimate credit counselor, you have a family member or friend who is struggling with the anxiety and burden of debts. I want you to go to nfcc.org National foundation for Credit Counseling nfcc.org find a legitimate credit counselor near you and see if they can help you work out a plan that will work for you. Coming up ahead, I want to talk about how much easier it is now to find information on lower cost prescription drugs and actually be able to buy them. For about 80% of meds that people take, the costs are actually headed down if you know where to look.
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D
Self directed investing, Trading Full service Wealth management Automated investing, Financial planning, Thematic investing, Retirement planning Few. And to think that's just a small taste of what Schwab offers. Because Schwab knows that when it comes to your finances, choice matters. No matter your goals, investing style, life stage or experience, Schwab has everything you need all in one place so you can invest your way. Visit schwab.com to learn more. This episode is brought to you by AT&T business. For business owners, connectivity is key. If you are starting your business today, that would be your first concern and your first decision. Reliable connectivity is essential to launching whether you're local or national. For a business owner, it's a decision that pays benefits every day and and in every aspect of your operation. Make the right decision. Choose AT and T Business AT and T Business is a reliable provider for business owners powered by AT and T Business Built to work Get AT and T business@business att.com Buying more affordable prescriptions
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B
is something that a lot of people need to be able to do because so many people don't fill prescriptions. They don't take the recommended dosage because they're trying to stretch the number of pills they have over a longer period of time. And ultimately the problems with pricing on prescription drugs can end up significantly harming someone's health or maybe even costing them their lives. So I'm so excited about all the ways that people can find their way to cheaper medicines. I've talked over and over again about buying prescription drugs at Costco Wholesale or Sam's Club. The way they price is different than the traditional pharmacy industry and it makes a big difference in your wallet. And you don't have to be a member in order to get the prices that you get at the warehouse clubs, although you may get a little bit lower price if you are a member. And at Sam's, there are a lot of prescriptions that you get for free as a premium member of Sam's. So just being a plus member can easily pay for itself in being able to get prescriptions for free. But there are a lot of people, whatever circumstance, that those things aren't going to work for them. What about free? I want to mention that in certain places around the United States, the Catholic Relief organization Society of St. Vincent de Paul provides free prescriptions, free to people who wouldn't be able to afford them otherwise. In some cases they even offer free delivery of the medicines to people who qualify in areas of the country where St. Vincent de Paul does that. And then Mark Cuban's Discount Drugs Cost plus Discount drugs where they sell you the drugs at their cost plus a small markup and the number of prescriptions they offer are greater and greater and greater. Amazon is a potential viable alternative for potentially lower costs on prescription drugs. Not always, but a good place to look if you're an Amazon prime member and Walmart is a huge seller of prescription drugs. But wait, there's more. There is a government clearinghouse that the President put his name on. TrumpRx.gov you go to TrumpRx.gov browse and they list hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of different drugs and then you can click on that drug if it's one you take and it will show you the prices available at different places. And so there are so many different ways now for you to find a better deal on prescription meds. However, if the drug you have to take is a brand name that is just crazy dollars and you cannot afford that medication. And that medication could be something that saves your life. And it's like a ladder that starts on the second floor. You can't reach it. What do you do then? Drug manufacturers, overwhelmingly, not everybody, but as a general rule, drug manufacturers offer patient assistance plans for people who qualify under the income rules of that particular pharmaceutical manufacturer. Many run their own programs where you can get a crazy expensive name brand drug at a greatly reduced price. Now they're not doing this out of altruism. They're trying to relieve some of the strong public backlash and political pressure with our brand name drug prices being 5 to 20 times the cost of what they are in other countries in the world. And so it's kind of like a pressure release that the drug manufacturers offer these programs. And so you got to search for them. And so there's a particular drug with one of those crazy names no one can pronounce or spell. You type it in on a search engine and you say blah, blah, blah, brand, you know, brand drug, patient assistance plan and or program. And you'll see whatever the manufacturer is offering, how it works, how you apply for it. And in addition, if you're at a doctor and the, you know, doctors, you know, they're, they make more money than most people on average and they may not be sensitive to how difficult a burden the cost is of a medicine. A lot of times a doctor's office, if you say, gosh, I don't think I can afford that drug, the doctor or the head nurse in a practice may have a referral card they can give you that gives you the ability to get that patient assistance plan price on that med. So going without meds, bad idea. Not paying a good price for meds, really a bad idea too.
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C
All right. Pedro in Georgia says, I purchased both an accident policy and a short term disability policy from one of the insurers in 2011. I've been paying the premiums continuously since then, about $56 per month for one policy and $24 per month for the other. My question is whether it still makes sense to keep these policies after all these years. I've invested a significant amount of money in premiums. The main reason I purchased them was because I'm a self employed hairstylist and I wanted some financial protection in case an accident or illness prevented me from working. Fortunately, I've remained healthy and haven't needed to use either policy. Given my situation, what would your advice be? Do you think it's worth continuing the coverage or should I consider other options?
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B
Okay, so I'm not big on the accident policy, but I'm a big believer in disability insurance. In your case, you're looking at short term disability, which often is defined as 180 days, although it will depend on the contract language in yours what it covers. So you're spending. I don't know which one is. You said 56 and 24. I don't know which one is which. But the accent policy, I don't Recommend keeping it. Having disability insurance as a self employed hairdresser sounds like a great idea. Before you continue to pay it though, I want you to look at the policy itself and see what are the requirements for you to qualify for disability and do you have to take any kind of job or is it not being able to do the job for which you earn your living being a hairdresser? So if the terms and conditions seem okay, I like you continuing the disability policy. On the other hand, let's talk about family. Don't know who's dependent on you? You have family members who are dependent on your income. I'd much rather you take the money you've been paying on an accident policy and look at buying a level term insurance policy to provide for the needs of your loved ones in the event of your untimely passing.
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C
Mark in Connecticut says, where can I find a reliable guide or information for the purchase of an affordable drone? I want to inspect the roof of my house and the chimney and gutters. We've had this one before.
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B
Yeah, I don't know of who. There's nothing like consumer Reports for which drone you should buy. So a lot of the technology sites review drones and you're going to have to pay for one that would probably be able to hover. Well, give you the video you're looking for. I think you're talking about for a good one, about 500 bucks. Wow, that seems too much.
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C
It seems like it to me. Like, I think I would just rather pay an inspection for an inspection of my roof and gutters. Maybe not by a roofing company, but by an inspector. I think a linear inspection might cost a lot less than a traditional one, don't you think?
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B
Yeah, I mean, that may well be true, but I'm thinking of other things. I mean, there are teenagers that are doing these drone businesses where they're charging a lot less money than it costs you to buy a drone. Martin. So if you don't have kids, you probably have a neighbor, friends, kids, whatever, who are very adept with drones and can go up and shoot video for you. My son, when he was in high school, used to do drone videos for people. And you know, his high schooler, he was happy with the money he was getting. But more important, the customers were really happy that that's all they were having to pay him because he wasn't charging a lot. I mean, buying your own, if that's the purpose of it, I think you're much better off renting a teenager's capabilities than buying your own.
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C
I Wouldn't even know what to do with the video with my roof. I definitely need someone to tell me what was wrong.
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What you're looking at. Well, you know the drone roofing companies now routinely use it.
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C
I know.
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B
Use the drone video and you know, the whole thing. What is a hammer? Find a nail. You know that.
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C
Yeah.
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They're going to say, oh, well, you know, depending on the company, they might
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say, well, that's why I was thinking like a home inspector instead or something.
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B
You could, but I still love the. I mean, you can be standing right there with the teen while they're hovering over your roof and check out the roof section by section. You'll know if there's shingles missing or things like that you don't trust.
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C
I wouldn't. No. I mean, maybe you would. I just know I wouldn't. Like there's flashing, there's all sorts of stuff. I know that they.
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B
I'm sure we're going to hear feedback. I mean, anyway.
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C
Tony in Georgia says, what is the best portable WI fi on the market? I travel 75% of the year around the world. I'd like Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, usa, Europe, South Africa and the Caribbean to be covered.
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B
Tony, I think by far the best for you is a portable Starlink unit. I have a niece who uses a portable Starlink unit all over the world. Speaking of my son I was just talking about a minute ago, one of his friends who lives in multiple countries. During the course of a year, he and his family always travel with a portable Starlink device. The Internet reliability is fantastic, the speeds are great, the price is really good. You know, most people historically would buy a local data only sim when they got somewhere, but if you're traveling 270 plus days a year, I think absolutely, the portable Starlink unit is far and away the best answer you could use for reliable WI fi. And the prices for what you get seem to me really reasonable compared to other possible options. I'd love to hear if you do get a Starlink, if your experience is like I've heard from others. Now, we are not going to have a new episode Friday because we're taking Friday as a Fourth of July holiday. This is a significant Fourth of July. It's our 250th anniversary and I'm going to step into something I normally would be shy talking about. But having been around for our 200th anniversary and the unified joy around the United states over our 200th anniversary, there's a different mood right now. In the United states at our 250th, overwhelmingly, polling shows Americans are unhappy with the direction of the country. They're pessimistic about the country's future. They worry that their kids are going to have a really unhappy future in the United States. And I want to tell you, we have had times in the past that people felt sour about the country, people felt pessimistic about the future. And people right now in the United States are more divided than we've been in a long time. But we have survived worse, and we have thrived again and again in this country when people feel like our best days are in the rearview mirror. I remember there was a time in the early 80s that Americans felt in many ways like they do now about the future being so downcast and downbeat. This July 4th, I hope you'll take a moment to reflect on the great things this country represents, the great things that it's done, the amazing progress that we have brought to the world over time. And, yeah, we may be in a bit of a rough patch right now, but I believe in the American experiment. I believe in what we have here. And it's great to just reflect on the positives of what this country has. And, no, not in your own life. Things are not always perfect. Right. There are good times and there are bad, and we may be in a down cycle right now, but I do believe that we will emerge again as a positive beacon and an optimistic land, as an example to the rest of the world. You enjoy the 4th of July, enjoy your barbecue. If you go to the lake, you enjoy the lake, whatever it is that will bring you time with family and friends this holiday weekend. I hope that it is absolutely wonderful and take a moment to reflect on how this country has set such a great example in so many ways for the rest of the world for 250 years. And, yeah, there are things we've done in this country through history that weren't the greatest. Right? And you don't hide from that. You don't ignore it, but you look overall and what a wonderful place. It's been my privilege to be born in and live from a family of four immigrant grandparents. I feel most privileged, grateful and thankful to live in these United States. And I'll be with you next week.