07.15.26 Clark Discredits a Long-Held Credit Card Myth / SCAM WARNINGS

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Clark Discredits a Long-Held Credit Card Myth / SCAM WARNINGS
Date: July 15, 2026
Host: Clark Howard
Co-Host: Krista

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Overview: Episode Purpose & Main Theme

This episode of The Clark Howard Podcast focuses on debunking a widespread credit card myth that benefits banks at the expense of consumers, and continues with a crucial segment on scam warnings targeting travelers and everyday consumers. The mission remains clear: empower listeners to make sound financial decisions, save more, and avoid monetary pitfalls.

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Key Topics and Insights

1. The Enduring Credit Card Payment Myth

(01:05 – 06:39)

• Myth Busted:
  Clark tackles the persistent belief that leaving a balance on your credit card somehow boosts your credit score, insisting that this is a falsehood perpetuated by banks for profit.
  • Clark: "Banks love this misinformation because then they're charging you. When you leave an outstanding balance, you get no grace period on charges that you put on a card. You're paying interest from the day of charge on everything." (02:15)
• The Truth:
  • Paying your card in full gives you a grace period (often about 25 days) – effectively letting you use the bank's money for free.
  • Leaving a balance means paying immediate interest on all new charges, wasting your money.
  • Clark: "Untrue, untrue, untrue. Don't do it. If you're in a position to pay your balance in full, pay your balance in full. That simple." (03:58)
  • The myth persists primarily due to banking interests, not consumer benefit.
• Lifestyle Creep:
  Many who carry a balance don’t face necessity but unregulated spending ("I see it, I want it, I buy it"). Clark emphasizes the power of discipline and encourages listeners to only buy what they can pay off immediately.
  • Clark: "The item that you bought because it was a deal, let's say it was 100 bucks, isn't really 100 bucks—it's 125 bucks because of all the interest you're going to pay on it." (04:34)
• Acknowledgement of Hardship:
  Recognizes many Americans face real financial strain due to inflation and rising costs, but stresses the difference between necessity and choice when it comes to running card balances.

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2. Listener Questions & Clark’s Advice

a. Buying a Car in Singapore

(06:39 – 08:53)

• Question: Should an expat in Singapore buy, lease, or avoid a car?
• Clark: Strongly advises against buying due to exorbitant car costs and exceptional public transport. Suggests trying public transit first, then exploring monthly vehicle subscriptions if truly necessary.
  • Quote: "They're [cars] crazy expensive. And the public transportation... is spotless, unbelievably safe and is quicker than driving your own vehicle." (07:20)

b. Medical Bill Discount Services

(09:32 – 11:41)

• Question: Are hospital "discount" payment services legit?
• Clark: Not recommended; these services are usually third-party credit providers with small, illusory discounts and high fees. True negotiation directly with the provider can yield bigger savings.
  • Quote: "The discount is an illusion. All you're doing is signing up for a credit plan that you don't want to be in... there's no discount about it." (11:16)
  • Personal Example: Insurance-negotiated lab charge reduced from $96 to $5.80.

c. Flight Price Drop Apps (With Autopilot)

(11:41 – 14:52)

• Question: Is "Autopilot" (flight fare monitoring for a fee) legit?
• Clark: Uncertain due to lack of user feedback; the model (25% fee of savings) is legitimate, but free alternatives (like Google Flights) exist even if they require more manual tracking.
  • Quote: "If they save you 100 bucks ... and you net out 75, obviously that would be a good benefit ... But ... you're definitely in the pioneer stage..." (12:45)

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3. SCAM WARNINGS: What to Watch Out For

(18:03 – 24:50)

a. Travel Reservation Scams

• Hotel Database Hacks:
  Scammers email travelers referencing real reservation details, claiming an issue with their credit card and demanding verification.
  • Clark: "They know who you are, they have your email address, they know your booking date, they know what you're paying ... and then you end up giving them all the information they need to take your credit card number and buy a bunch of stuff before it gets shut down." (18:23)
• Cruise Data Breach:
  Fake payment demands related to cruise reservations.
• Tip: Never submit payment or personal information via unsolicited emails regarding reservations.

b. Urgency Tactics & “Jury Duty” Scam

• Scammers often create urgency ("act now or else!") to get info or money.
• Example: Fake "police" call about missing jury duty and impending arrest.
  • Clark: "This is a long time scam... do not fall for it. That's an oldie but baddie." (22:04)

c. Captcha Scam

• New: Bad actors use fake captchas (tests to verify you’re human) that ask you to perform keyboard commands, giving scammers remote access.
  • Clark: "When you get a capture request and they're asking you to hit a function key and a number, a control ... know that you're getting scammed. Do not do it." (24:20)

d. Fake Taxis at Events & Airports

• Listeners report experiences with fake taxi drivers overcharging concertgoers and airport arrivals.
• Safety Warning: Fake taxis can pose dangers beyond fare gouging, including robbery.
  • Clark: "Whatever do not get in a cab that is not at an authorized or known cab stand...in the U.S. or overseas." (26:00)
  • Tip: In foreign cities, get cabs via major hotels for safety.

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4. Additional Consumer Questions

a. Cell Phone Plans & T-Mobile Tactics

(27:31 – 31:14)

• T-Mobile has moved from consumer advocate to “worst used car salesperson” tactics, breaking “locked for life” pricing promises.
• Clark: "T Mobile is worse than your worst idea of a used car salesman. The way they treat their customers now … it's atrocious the way they behave and their employees are miserable and the customers are confused all the time." (29:20)
• Hold onto the Magenta Max 55 Plus plan if you like it, ignore upselling, but also recommend shopping around as competitors now offer better deals.
• Krista mentions: Clark.com has a “phone plan finder” tool to identify better deals.

b. Staying with TIAA After Retirement

(31:54 – End)

• For teachers/healthcare workers with TIAA-managed 403(b) plans:
  • TIAA is the "good guy" among 403(b) providers.
  • Check expense ratios: If under 0.50%, can stay post-retirement. If not, consider rolling over to a low-cost provider (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, etc.).
  • Clark: "With TIAA account, what are the underlying expenses? ... If [the expense ratio is] above 0.50%, then you definitely want to exit and move your money somewhere else." (32:18)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the credit card myth:
  "Untrue, untrue, untrue. Don't do it. If you're in a position to pay your balance in full, pay your balance in full. That simple." — Clark (03:58)

• On public transportation in Singapore:
  "The public transportation... is spotless, unbelievably safe and is quicker than driving your own vehicle." — Clark (07:20)

• On the realities hidden behind “deals”:
  "The item that you bought because it was a deal ... isn't really 100 bucks — it's 125 bucks because of all the interest you're going to pay on it." — Clark (04:34)

• About modern T-Mobile tactics:
  "T Mobile is worse than your worst idea of a used car salesman. The way they treat their customers now … it's atrocious the way they behave and their employees are miserable and the customers are confused all the time." — Clark (29:20)

• On sabotage by urgency in scams:
  "Remember, with any scam that involves money, it's about creating a sense of urgency and that you must act right away or else you're going to suffer a specific consequence." — Clark (21:47)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:05: Start of Clark’s main myth-busting segment on credit cards
• 03:58: “Untrue, untrue, untrue”—definitive credit card balance advice
• 07:20: Why not to buy a car in Singapore
• 09:49: Medical bill discount payment “services” explained
• 12:10: Flight price drop apps—Clark’s take
• 18:03: Major scam warning, especially for travelers (hotel and cruise data breaches)
• 21:47: How urgency escalates scam success rates
• 23:50: New captcha scam detailed
• 26:00: Safety warning about fake taxis at events and airports
• 29:20: Clark’s brutal honesty about T-Mobile’s customer service
• 32:18: Expense ratios and staying with or leaving TIAA

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Tone & Closing Takeaways

Throughout, Clark is frank, practical, and always on the consumer’s side: skeptical of corporate interests, exuberant about saver-friendly strategies, and endlessly wary of scams.
He leaves listeners with his signature actionable focus:

“I want you empowered so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off.” (End)

Transcript

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[Clark Howard]

It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard show, where our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. Coming straight ahead, I want to tell you about something that will not die. This urban legend about how to handle your credit that just makes everybody smile in the banking business because they're getting one over on you. I'm going to fill you in on that in a second, and it's just a ripoff. But coming later, I want to fill you in on some of the ugly scams circulating right now that can separate you from your money. I'm just going to hit you with some. In particular, the whole idea I want to give you is patterns that you really think through before you act on something you think is a okay, but it's not. So let's talk about something that drives me crazy. I hear it all the time from people who think they're going to raise their credit score by not paying their credit cards in full. And let me tell you, the banks love that the overwhelming percent of people think that paying credit cards in full when the bill comes in is bad for your credit reputation. It's not said. The banks love this misinformation because then they're charging you. When you leave an outstanding balance, you get no grace period on charges that you put on a card. You're paying interest from the day of charge on everything. When you pay your balance in full, you have a grace period that's usually 25 days that you use the bank's money for free. And then when the bill comes in you pay it in full. You actually got free use of the bank's money. But it's like Vegas where the house always wins. They make their money on the people who don't pay in full. So it's an unforced error when you give the bank that huge amount of interest unnecessarily. This is when you do have the money to pay the bill, by the way, not talking about people who can't pay the bill, but there are a lot of people out there who are trying to get that credit score inched up. And this false thing that's hung out for decades is that you will lower your score by paying your credit card balance in full when it comes in and you'll raise your score by leaving some amount unpaid. Untrue, untrue, untrue. Don't do it. If you're in a position to pay your balance in full, pay your balance in full. That simple. If you are listening to me saying, I wish, I wish I had that dilemma of paying my balance in full, There are people I put in a couple of categories. One is people who have lifestyle creep issues that you make enough money, you should probably be able to get by without running up credit card balances. But you can't avoid the temptation. You see something, you want it, that settles it, and you buy it. And then the bill comes in and you can't handle the bill. So then you're paying the 25 or so percent interest for whatever you bought. So you got to think of it this way. The item that you bought because it was a deal, let's say it was 100 bucks, isn't really 100 bucks is 125 bucks because of all the interest you're going to pay on it. So the deal becomes a non deal. So lifestyle creep, when it's because of things, you just decide, oh, I just want it. And the impulse buy of us do that. Then there's other people in a different situation. There are a meaningful percent of Americans who cannot afford life's basics right now. The ravages of inflation over the last six years and then this recent huge increase in inflation we've suffered has meant that people have fallen behind. And all the income gains that people made in 25 have been wiped out by the inflation we're having now. And so people that were already living close to the edge may well be over the edge. That's a tough circumstance and I don't have magic answers for that. But so many people running balances are in that first group. I talked about the lifestyle. Creepy. And you've got a situation you can get under control. It's just having the determination to do it. And if you follow a different rule, I like it, I want it, but I don't have the cash to pay for it. So I'm not buying it. And that settles it. That change in mentality will make a big difference in your wallet. Krista.

[Krista]

All right, let's go to Linda in Massachusetts. Question she says, hi Clark. My daughter's employer has given her a two year assignment beginning in September in Singapore.

[Clark Howard]

Oh, I love Singapore. I love that place.

[Krista]

They are helping her with housing but recommended she buy a car. What would be the best way for her to do this after she arrives? Also, she would want to sell it when her assignment is up. Do you have any advice? I've been listening to your show for a while and there's always something new. I learn when she asked me this question, she said what does Clark say? I told her I hadn't heard of this before and I would right in to ask.

[Clark Howard]

So Linda, I respectfully, strongly disagree with her employer. She's going to work for for the two years. If you look on expat message boards for Singapore, people will emphatically tell you not to buy a car there. They're crazy expensive. And the public transportation in Singapore, it's a city state. The public transportation is spotless, unbelievably safe and is quicker than driving your own vehicle. I wrote all around Singapore on public transportation and I highly advise it. Now there is a compromise. A lot of expats will use and that is when they're in Singapore. There are car leasing by the month things kind of like I've talked about sixth rental car does in a lot of places in the United States where you can have a monthly vehicle subscription if you end up feeling like you need one versus the acquisition costs. Buying a vehicle that you're then going to dump after two years doing one of the vehicle by the month subscription programs is I think almost certainly a better idea in Singapore than owning a vehicle. But I think once she's on the ground and she sees how easy it is to get around with public transit, even if that's not something that is part of her prior life experience, I think she won't want to own a vehicle.

[Krista]

Just my thought, what a cool experience.

[Clark Howard]

That's going to be very hot in the summer though. Well, it's very humid regular. But Singapore is great. And you know what else? Unless they're working her to death for these two Years from Changi, you can go from Singapore, you can go to so many spots. People fly up to Phuket for the weekend or to Krabi the weekend, or they'll go over to Bali or whatever. Go to Bali where you went. I mean, it's so perfect as a launching pad to explore all around Asia.

[Krista]

Matthew in Tennessee says, I received a medical bill and saw a section on it recommending I use a service and I gave you the name to save up to 13% on my bill. I've never heard of this before, but it sounds too good to be true. What is it and what's the catch? Is it safe to use or is there something even better?

[Clark Howard]

I don't recommend one of these things at all. They're pushed heavily by hospitals and sometimes by other medical providers. What they're trying to do is offload your bill balance to a third party. So the lure, the fake lure is, hey, we're going to give you a discount. We're going to give you 5% off, 10% off, 15% off if you pay through this service. And what the hospital is trying to do is get your bill off their books. So you're with an outfit. They make their money with a lot of fees. And the discount is an illusion. If you had a bill that was too large for you to pay and you needed to negotiate with a hospital or a medical provider or something like that, you will be able to negotiate almost always a much bigger discount than one of these fake savings plans are going to be. All you're doing is signing up for a credit plan that you don't want to be in to tell you how inflated bills are. Listen to this. My wife had a lab test recently that billed at $96 for the lab test. So we have insurance. And then it showed the negotiated price for that lab test through the insurance. You're not going to believe the amount. It was $5.80. Oh, my gosh, $96 retail was $5.80. I mean, medical billing is. If you like reading fiction, just read medical bills and don't get sucked in by any of these supposed discount billing plans. There's no discount about it.

[Krista]

Glenn in Michigan says, a friend just told me about an app called Autopilot that will monitor the price of a flight you. And if the price drops, they pay you the difference minus a 25% fee. I can't find any info on the website of my most trusted and thrifty travel advice guy about this app, so I'm suspicious. Do you have any experience or advice about this app. It just sounds too good to be true. Plus a pretty hefty fee for something I could do myself with some extra effort.

[Clark Howard]

Okay, Glenn, I'm familiar with the Autopilot and the there's several organizations that have the name Autopilot in their name. Their name's longer. Do you remember what the actual name of it is, Krista? Let me see if I can find it. It is with Autopilot. So with Autopilot what you're agreeing is a share of the savings. I have not gotten one bit of feedback from anybody on it, so I have nothing pro or con to say about it. I don't know. They have enough mind share yet for there to be a track record about how people feel. And you think about it, if they save you 100 bucks on a ticket and you net out 75, obviously that would be a good benefit for you and it automates the process. Now, there are free tools out there that require more work on your part, like how Google Flights will shop a flight and let you know when the fare drops. So I just don't know if there's enough people using this yet to have a sense of it being a good experience or a bad one. So if you wanted to do it, you're definitely in the pioneer stage and you're being a guinea pig doing the the effort. Because I have, there's nothing to be suspicious of. They've got a model that they believe works for them. They automate it, they get a quarter of what's saved. And that is a legitimate business model. If it really works well and if people have a good experience with it, I have not a clue. So I didn't help you, did I? I'm sorry, but I can't fake it and pretend that I know that it's good or not good when all I can tell you is I know of it and I haven't used it myself. Coming up ahead, as I promised, I wanted to talk about some of the scams out there right now that I think you need to be aware of. And I don't want you to give into cynicism or assume bad of everybody out there. Just scammers are so prevalent now because their crimes almost without punishment and they make good money stealing our hard earned money. But I want to hit you with some of the things specifically I want you looking out for right now that are really popular with the scam set

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[Krista]

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[Clark Howard]

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[Krista]

Amazing.

[Clark Howard]

All right, bring a date, your team, or even your mom. Book [e-mail] See you on the roof. Since we were just talking about travel a minute ago, I want to start the scam segment with a couple of travel ones that unfortunately are a problem right now. The first one I'm going to talk about, I got approached by this as well. So there were a bunch of hotels around the world whose databases got hacked into. And so scammers are contacting people who have reservations at one of the affected hotels or chains and they are saying, we're having a problem validating your credit card for your upcoming stay. So they know who you are, they have your email address, they know your booking date, they know what you're paying. And so they'll send you something pretending to be from the chain or the hotel itself and say, we're having trouble validating your credit card. We're going to cancel your reservation by such and such date if you don't fill out our validation form. And then you end up giving them all the information they need to take your credit card number and buy a bunch of stuff before it gets shut down. Because they'll ask you things like everything they would need, zip code on your card, your three or four digit code on it, your number, your expiration date, all the information they need to impersonate you and buy stuff as if they're you. So if you get a notification from a hotel over the next, I would think this one will run its course over the next six, eight weeks. You get a notice saying, hey, we're going to cancel your hotel booking because of something involving your credit card. Know that this is a hot current active scam and don't fall for it. Now there's a cousin of it. There was a data breach in the cruise industry that affects 6 million people. And so all kinds of data about you is available and there are a number of scams operating on it, including ones where you get emails appearing to be from your cruise line saying that you owe additional money for who knows what for your upcoming cruise. And sometimes they'll have the threat that, you know, if we don't receive money by blah, blah, blah, we're going to cancel your reservation for your cabin with no refund for prior deposits and all that. And this is another scam. And the number of people, I don't know how many people overall are affected by the hotel data breach, but to know that according to industry sources in the travel industry reported most recently I read a Travel Weekly item, which is a travel publication for travel professionals, cruise agents, travel agents, that sort of thing is that 6 million people's information is out there, specifically from various Carnival branded cruise lines. Be aware of this. Be wary that you don't give out any personal information because even though it looks like it'll be from the cruise line, it's not. And there are so many ones. I'm looking at this list. I mean, it just goes on and on and on. The FBI reported that they had over a million complaints that found their way to the FBI over the last year about people getting taken by various financial scams and the millions, a significant milestone. But the number of people who find their way, who lost money or were under threat of losing money, who would make it to the point of filing a complaint with the FBI is a minuscule fraction of the number of people being taken. And so remember, with any scam that involves money, it's about creating a sense of urgency and that you must act right away or else you're going to suffer a specific consequence. I was with somebody yesterday when they got a frantic call from their wife. She was telling him she had received a call from the police that she was being arrested for not showing up to jury duty. And she was so upset. And I said, please give me the phone. This is a long time scam where you're being threatened that you supposedly didn't show up to jury duty and you're going to be arrested and all this stuff, do not fall for it. And that's an oldie but baddie. And people are still doing it. I want to tell you one that's new. Last one I'm going to share, Christa, is about captchas. Mm. So captures are the thingies when you're going to a website on your phone or on a laptop or whatever and it wants to verify you're not a bot.

[Krista]

Right.

[Clark Howard]

And so say identify the fire hydrants.

[Krista]

I hate those. I always get them wrong.

[Clark Howard]

Well, that's because you're multitasking, doing 17 things.

[Krista]

No, like sometimes they're hard to see. I'm like, I can't even see the, like, how. Which. What's a bus? And that, you know.

[Clark Howard]

Oh, well, anyway, so you have to match the things and. And there's a new scam where they say, oh, we want you to verify you're human. And it's targeting people on computers, not on phones. And they want you to do various commands on your computer to verify you're a real person. Well, guess what they're doing. They're actually gaining control of your computer, either to be able to remotely see everything on it, or they're able to load some kind of malware or virus on it that allows them to infect your computer and capture moving forward all the stuff with your email and bank accounts and brokerage accounts and retirement accounts and all that. So when you get a capture request and they're asking you to hit a function key and a number, a control and a number or command and a number, anything like that, know that you're getting scammed. Do not do it. I'll stop with that one right now.

[Krista]

Okay. Anonymous in Florida wanted to tell you about a scam. People are circling big events. I saw this at a concert last night. With fake plastic taxi on their dash attempting to scoop up the masses who are waiting on Uber and Lyft rides. They'll load up a van full of people and then charge unbelievable fees. Last night my wife and I spent $65 to go about three miles. I wasn't the one who gave him the cash, otherwise I would have told him to jump in the lake. I didn't know until he was rid off. If approached by these people, don't get in the car. Also, try to find a cop and turn them in because I'm sure they have no license, no insurance, etc. The guy last night picked six people up. My wife and I were two of them. He told us during the ride that he lives in Orlando and will be at the same singer show in another city tomorrow night. I think he circles the state of Florida looking for big events.

[Clark Howard]

All right, so, Anonymous, thank you very much, by the way. This is not just at concerts or sporting events. This is at almost every airport in the United States, pretty much every airport overseas. There are these phony taxi people, unlicensed people. The greater danger is not what you faced with the van because then there's a bunch of people there. The greater danger is when you get in one of these fake taxis and it's a setup to rob you. Not just of overcharging you a fare, but robbing you could be a violent crime. Whatever do not get in a cab that is not at an authorized or known cab stand. If you are in in a foreign city and you want to get in a cab, you go to a nice hotel and you tip the bellman there to get a legitimate cab for you. That's how you stay safe in a foreign country. In the U.S. do not. When you're at baggage claim at an airport and a well dressed person comes up says need a taxi? They're all bogus. And they come up very quietly and they're always well dressed because in the big airports the cops are onto this. They depending on how many resources they can devote to it, they're going to try to prevent you from getting taken by one of these people. But I want you to be very, very mindful and careful and I'm glad Anonymous Bit the worst that happened was you got ripped off the 65 bucks.

[Krista]

Okay. Robert in Michigan says hello Clark, I'm a longtime T Mobile customer on the magenta max 55 plus plan with two lines.

[Clark Howard]

We promise you we will never raise the price on you.

[Krista]

When I signed up for this plan I was told the price would never go up. However, the price was increased about a year ago. Now every time I deal with them, they want me to switch to a different plan under the premise that my life will be better and less expensive if I switch. The latest plan they pitched is something called Experience more and experience beyond. Should I switch or stay with the Magenta Max 55 Plus? By the way, every time I call them it cost me half hour more of my life. Please clear up the confusion. Thanks Clark. You are the man. When people ask who my financial advisors are, I tell them Clark Howard and Wes Moss.

[Clark Howard]

Well, thank you very much for that. And if you are a Regular podcast listener, YouTube watcher of us, Wes does

[Krista]

a podcast Ask an Advisor on Tuesdays, every Tuesday.

[Clark Howard]

He is really wonderful for people that are trying to figure out deeply involved life planning goals. With investing, not so much should I buy this fund or that. That's not what it's about. It's about dealing with you, really making sure you've got a good plan going forward for your finances. And so I'm really glad that we have Wes doing that. All right, so let's go to the T Mobile thing. T Mobile, remember they were the UN carrier and they were all about being different than what their CEO used to call dumb and dumber, which was at and T and Verizon they had.

[Krista]

Their CEO was so funny.

[Clark Howard]

John Legger.

[Krista]

The character John Leger, he was the

[Clark Howard]

one who did a cooking show.

[Krista]

Yes, he did. He did.

[Clark Howard]

He had the worst trash mouth of any successful CEO other than the head of Ryanair. Anyway, so T Mobile is now on their second CEO since then and they have become. I don't say this to be offensive to used car salespeople. It's just there's a per. There's an image people have of used car salespeople. T Mobile is worse than your worst idea of a used car salesman. The way they treat their customers now. It's atrocious the way they behave and their employees are miserable and the customers are confused all the time. And T Mobile broke promises, you know, that. That you were in a plan for life, but they didn't mean it. So what would I do if I was on magenta max 55 plus, which was a great plan, by the way. You've only suffered one price increase so far. Ignore everything they try to sell you up to stay on it. But better yet, look at the competition there are now. T Mobile used to be the bargain company. That ain't true anymore. We put a lot of [e-mail] into helping you find alternatives to any of the companies or plans you're on that could save you a lot of money. So T Mobile, by being jerks, could actually be doing a benefit to you by getting you to shop around. But otherwise, if you're really thrilled on 55 Magenta Max, stay on it and just put cotton in your ears and ignore all the junk they try to lie through their teeth selling you at T Mobile.

[Krista]

But you mentioned clark.com, but the best. We have an amazing tool there that you can go put in how many lines you need, what you need, and it will tell you the best plans for you. So go to clark.com phoneplanfinder phone plan finder and try that out. I've had lots of friends that have saved big money using it. Pete in New Jersey says, I'm wondering what you think about tiaa. Clark often sings the praises of Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard. But many of us in careers such as teaching and healthcare have our 403bs with TIAA by default. Do you recommend keeping our funds with them upon retirement or should we consider transferring them elsewhere?

[Clark Howard]

This is a great question that doesn't have an automatic answer. Tiaa, they're like the good people in the annuity business with the 4.3B stuff. 4 3B stuff is junk. And it is a national scandal that we force people who work as teachers into the inferior 403B product instead of having access to 401ks. But TIAA has always been. They've been the good guys in what is a nasty business. So the question you have to look at with your TIAA account, what are the underlying expenses you're paying in the TIAA funds you're in? If they are quite reasonable, which would be you don't want to be paying anything more in total fund expenses of half a point or more that you want the expense ratio to be below 0.50 of a percent. If they're above that, then you definitely want to exit and move your money somewhere else. Now, the reality is with Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard, you can get your expenses down to, you know, usually 0.10 of a percent, 0.05 of a percent. And that will make a difference over time. But if your TIAA funds are reasonable in cost, and TIAA has many different funds with various fund expense levels, as long as yours are really decent, you can stay where you are and be comfortable and be happy. So in terms of 403, TIAA is the equivalent of Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard. But when they're competing head to head with retirees who can move their money, then it's a little harder for TIAA to compete with Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard. So that's kind of the way I'd spell it out. And it is possible, I should mention with Fidelity, Fidelity also has a situation more like TIAA does, that they will have Fidelity branded funds that are very low cost and then Fidelity funds that are not really low cost. So you have to be aware, if you're a Fidelity account holder, how important it is for you to look at the funds you're in, the Fidelity branded funds, and make sure you're in the low cost versions of Fidelity funds and not higher cost ones. With that having been said, we are done for today. But you know what's coming up on our next episode, Clark stinks. I can't wait. And I hope that you heard something today useful to you in your own life, that you're like, hey, I didn't really think about that. I could do that. Could stop wasting money on a terrible cell phone plan and put a thousand dollars a year back in my pocket. That's the goal. That you take information you learn from here and put it to work in your own life. We're not useful. I'm not useful to you if all I'm doing is spewing stuff out and not making it actionable in your life. That's the goal. I want you empowered so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. In just a couple of days, the entertainment zone is open. Clark stinks. See you there.