07.22.26 Electronics: Repair Or Replace? / Buying Insurance

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast | Episode Summary Episode Date: July 22, 2026
Episode Title: Electronics: Repair Or Replace? / Buying Insurance

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Overview

Clark Howard focuses on two central themes in this episode:

1. Deciding when it makes financial sense to repair or replace electronics in a market where prices are rising due to supply chain challenges and AI-driven component demand.
2. Changing trends in buying auto and homeowners insurance—how digital disruption and the decline of personalized agents are impacting consumers.

Clark also fields listener questions about vacation rentals, international internet devices, paying tuition with stock, and insurance claims. True to the show’s mission, Clark’s advice is practical, empowering, and deeply consumer-centric.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Electronics: Repair or Replace? (01:04–06:35)

• The Old Rule vs. Today’s Reality:
  Clark acknowledges his past advice: "I've not been a fan at all of spending any money to repair electronics because they depreciate so quickly" (01:32). However, with component and device prices rising, he now recommends considering repairs for phones and computers, especially when the repair cost is reasonable.

• Why Prices Are Rising:
  The cost of components for devices like phones and laptops is "going up, up, and away," driven in part by AI gobbling up needed components and supply chain pressures (02:12).

• Clark's Personal Example:
  Clark and his team faced this dilemma when a key podcast computer died. They ultimately replaced it due to its age, but noted, "it was probably $150 more than the equivalent computer would have been a year ago" (03:25).

• Phone Repairs vs. Upgrades:
  With upcoming new iPhone models expected to be costly, minor repairs like battery or screen replacements on older devices now make more sense, especially since “Apple does a great job with supporting software year after year even in older devices” (04:30).

• Beware of Carrier ‘Upgrade Traps’:
  Mobile carriers push "free" upgrades that lock you into long-term contracts. "That's a trap. That's a trap. I want you to be a free agent on your phone" (05:14).

• TVs Are Still Disposable:
  TVs continue to drop in price and offer little long-term value. Clark says, "when one of those croaks out of warranty, you wash your hands of it and you got a new model... Yeah, I'm creating e-waste" (06:24).

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2. Listener Q&A Highlights

2.1. Vacation Rental Risks with Furnished Finder (06:35–10:06)

• Question: Are sites like Furnished Finder safe?
• Clark’s Take: Ratings are poor (BBB: ‘F’, Trustpilot: 1.5). Unlike Airbnb/VRBO, there’s no intermediary or protection—listings are closer to old newspaper classifieds.
• Warning: "You have no idea who you're dealing with just by looking at the listings" (07:18).
• Notable Quote: “It’s a lot of deep dig to be okay… [there are] potential problems, scamsters, whatever” (09:28).
• Scam Risks: Be extra cautious! Rental fraud is rampant; only proceed if you can thoroughly verify listing legitimacy.

2.2. International Internet Devices ‘Globe Linker’ (10:06–12:23)

• Question: Is a 'portable international Wi-Fi device' (Globe Linker) legitimate and worthwhile?
• Clark’s Assessment:
  • Seems legit, but very slow—good for email and web searches, not heavy use.
  • "People who’ve used it report that it’s extremely slow service. But it does work" (10:54).
  • Clark is skeptical about the business model: No ongoing subscription, may not be sustainable.
• Bottom Line: Not a scam, but manage expectations.

2.3. Paying Tuition with Stock (12:23–14:33)

• Question: Can you pay tuition using stock?
• Clark’s Response:
  • Donations of appreciated stock to universities are common and tax-advantaged, but using stock directly to pay tuition isn’t currently accepted.
  • "There is no equivalent I've seen anywhere for giving shares of stock in lieu of paying dollars and cents for tuition" (12:36).

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3. Shifts in Insurance Buying (17:44–22:55)

• State Farm’s Decline:
  Once dominant, State Farm is now shrinking, switching models, and “brutally” disrupting agents’ incomes. “Agents are going to generally see apparently a big decline in income and it was imposed on them kind of like from on high” (18:51).

• Rise of Direct Insurance:
  Progressive is now the market leader, winning by offering both direct (online) and agent-based sales, and by using sophisticated “micro-rating” to personalize auto insurance rates.

  • “They have been the most sophisticated insurer in the US on auto… micro-rate an individual driver” (20:56).

• Impact on Customer Service:
  The classic personal agent is fading. Claims processing is increasingly handled by AI/automated systems.

  • “Now when you call in to some insurers, AI is processing your claim… The human thing is being gradually reduced” (22:37).

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4. Listener Q&A: Changing Insurance Landscape

4.1. Homeowner's Insurance: Ask or Don’t Ask? (22:55–27:43)

• Scenario: If you call your insurer about a potential issue—even without filing a claim—it may be logged, raising premiums.

• Clark’s Warning: “There’s nothing anonymous about that phone call and nothing that keeps you out of potential risk of them putting that in the system” (24:33).

• Practical Tip: Work things out with your neighbor privately if feasible; insurers only want to cover “catastrophic” losses, not moderate repair costs.

• Notable Quote:
  “Insurance is not for that anymore… The insurance industry equivalent is you pay us a premium, we pretend to cover you” (26:53).

4.2. Auto Insurance: Accident Forgiveness (27:43–30:57)

• Listener Tip: Accident forgiveness may be available as a $0 cost add-on, depending on your claim/ticket history.

• Clark’s Guidance:

  • Check with your insurer—it’s supposed to be automatic in many states after five claim-free years.
  • Accident forgiveness stops premium hikes with your current insurer, but at-fault accidents still follow drivers to new companies.

• Notable Quote:
  “Accident forgiveness is forgiveness for a premium increase with your insurer. It’s still considered to be an at fault accident” (29:52).

4.3. Renting out Property in Retirement (30:57–31:35)

• Scenario: Retiree considering selling vs. renting out a townhome while living on the road.
• Clark’s Advice:
  • At 67, reliable rental income may be better than risking sale proceeds in the stock market, given market volatility and fixed income needs.
  • “If you can generate a decent income above expenses from the rental of the townhome… that at 67 is a more reliable stream of income” (31:35).
  • But: Be sure to have a plan for managing repairs remotely!

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Memorable Quotes

• “That was then, this is now… This is a time that the smarter decision would be to do that repair.” —Clark (04:26)
• “That’s a trap. I want you to be a free agent on your phone. I don’t want you to be in their supposedly free house that ain’t free at all.” —Clark (05:14)
• “Furnish Finder is just a listing service… the renter… How do you know it’s really a [legit rental]?” —Clark (09:28)
• “There’s nothing anonymous about that phone call…You can’t throw anything through the microphone… I would encourage you… to see if the neighbor will split the cost with you of shoring up that wall.” —Clark (24:33; 26:49)
• “Insurance is not for that anymore… you pay us a premium, we pretend to cover you.” —Clark (26:53)
• “Accident forgiveness is forgiveness for a premium increase with your insurer. It’s still considered to be an at fault accident.” —Clark (29:52)
• “If you can generate a decent income above expenses from the rental of the townhome… that at 67 is a more reliable stream of income.” —Clark (31:35)

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Notable Segments & Timestamps

• Repair or Replace Electronics? – 01:04
• TVs: Still Disposable – 06:24
• Furnished Finder Vacation Rental Risks – 06:35
• Portable International Wi-Fi Review – 10:06
• Paying Tuition with Stock – 12:23
• Changing Nature of Insurance/State Farm Troubles – 17:44
• Calling Insurance: Can it Hurt You? – 22:55
• Accident Forgiveness Clarified – 27:43
• Renting out Property in Retirement – 30:57

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Key Takeaways

• Rising electronic prices shift the calculation: Carefully consider repairs, especially for phones and laptops; avoid TV repairs.
• Don’t fall for “free upgrade” phone deals that lock you into expensive, long-term carrier contracts.
• Vacation rental platforms without protections (like Furnished Finder) require extra due diligence.
• The insurance marketplace is shifting from personalized service to automation; be aware, especially at claim time.
• “No cost claims” or even inquiries can impact your insurance record and raise premiums.
• Accident forgiveness is useful, but limited in scope—always check your policy details.
• Rental income may offer greater security for retirees than tapping investments, but requires remote management plans.

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Clark’s parting message:
“You being empowered with knowledge so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off.” (Up to 32:00)

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End of Summary

Transcript

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[Clark Howard]

It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show. You know our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life today. New advice on when to fix and when to ditch an item you have, and also the way you buy auto and homeowners insurance is changing a lot and I want to talk to you about the trends that may be the friend for your wallet, but not at all your friend when it comes to customer service. So in the past I've not been a fan at all of spending any money to repair electronics because they depreciate so quickly. The new models tend to be far more capable on and on and on. So I've been part of what's known as forced obsolescence, where things that still look fine and may be fine for years to come but need to go into sick bay. I've never thought it was worth it to fix them. Well, that was then, this is now. There's a big problem right now in electronics and that is the cost of the components in the electronics. Cell phones, computers, laptops are going up, up and away right now. And yes, apparently a lot of that we can blame on AI and gobbling up various components that we need in consumer items. Apple announced weeks ago that they are going to push up the cost of their various devices quite a bit because they can't maintain profit margins right now with the much higher component costs. One of our computers croaked. It's one we use for the podcast and YouTube show. We had to decide were we going to try to fix that one or Are we going to replace it? And so Kristen and I ultimately made the decision to replace that one because the one that we had had was so very old it was really past that point there even be a consideration to bring it back to life. So we had to buy a new one and it was probably $150 more than the equivalent computer would have been a year ago. So the, the price impacts are there but now it's more like because of the stuff with the new devices of various types of electronics, cell phones, you're going to see it hit you hard when the new series of iPhones come out, it's going to be really bad. And so if your phone needs minor repairs, maybe you cracked your screen and you weren't going to fix it and you were just going to wait and buy the new phone or your battery was. These are the two complaints I hear about iPhones from my family. The battery starts to degrade like my wife's is at the point she said oh, Apple must have decided I need a new phone now because my battery isn't working worth a beep anyway. So those components versus the cost of buying a new phone and the fact that Apple does a great job with supporting software year after year even in older devices, this is a time that the smarter decision would be to do that repair. Those repairs are not crazy expensive. Get your phone done and then extend the life of it instead of feeling like you need to buy a new phone. And when the new versions of phones come out, it's not as big a splash. When the new Samsung's come out, it's bigger with the iPhones but when the three full fare. Full fare. The three full price cell phone companies AT and T T Mobile and Verizon are pushing the upgrade your phone, we'll give you a new blah blah blah for free but you're going to have to pay for it over three years and then you're handcuffed us for three more years. That's a trap. That's a trap. I want you to be a free agent on your phone. I don't want you to be in their supposedly free house that ain't free at all. So repair that phone. Keep it going. Laptops, just like we had to make a decision, the age of the laptop matters. And so depending on how much a repair will be and how old the device is and how long the software is supported. In the past where you might have just said okay, I'm getting a new model now, it's a thought process. I want you to Think that through what is still disposable. Okay. Don't get mad at me. Don't get mad at me. TVs. Because TVs have continued to get cheaper and cheaper and cheaper. They are such a fast depreciating item. Didn't call it an asset that when one of those croaks out of warranty, you wash your hands of it and you got a new model. Yeah, I'm creating e waste.

[Caller/Listener]

Okay, let's go to some questions. Christy in Colorado wrote in with this one. My husband and I are recently retired and are looking to rent a small home or condo for a month somewhere warm in the winter of 2627. I ran a furnished finder online which offers monthly stays at much better price than Airbnb or vrbo. My research tells me this is a legit company and that the rates are less since this is an advertising site rather than a booking site with no commissions paid by landlords. However, that means that booking directly with landlords and none of the protections are in place that we get with the big two companies. If I do my research by verifying listings, et cetera, et cetera. Do you recommend this site?

[Clark Howard]

Okay, so the ratings that are out there on it are very poor. And that's because you have no idea who you're dealing with just by looking at the listings. It is just almost like a message board listing.

[Caller/Listener]

Stuff like a classified.

[Clark Howard]

Classified. Thank you.

[Caller/Listener]

No problem.

[Clark Howard]

And so it's a blast from the past. Right. So they're rating the BBB ratings in F. Yes. And on Trustpilot, they got a 1.5. Now, interestingly about that, you also looked up Airbnb's Trustpilot rating?

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah, I did, just for a while.

[Clark Howard]

And it's lower.

[Caller/Listener]

It's lower, it's lower.

[Clark Howard]

Airbnb is going through a troubled adolescence. But anyway, the thing is, it is as if you saw somebody had a place listed, and let's say you wanted to go to Lake Tahoe for a month and you saw a place listed online. It was just listed there. You were searching Lake Tahoe Rentals. That's what it is. There's no vetting of the things that go on. Furnish Finder is just a listing service. Everything pretty much is done between you and who that landlord is. And that's where you could end up with potential problems, scamsters, whatever. And so it is one that you would have to, as best you could, thoroughly research a property and ownership and all that to make sure that you're renting from the actual owner of the property and they really have that legit place. It's really like the pictures. I mean it's a lot of deep dig to be. Okay, now let me go to that thing I just alluded to just a second ago. A big problem with rentals is that someone has stolen pictures description listing and often they'll do it off of something like Zillow, a property that's for sale or something. They pretend to be the owner, they put it on a rental site and everything looks great. They're really friendly and all that. They respond to your messages right away and you send them the money and you show up there and it's not their place and you've already paid the money. So this is an area that all your radar need to go up on and know that there's nothing particularly special about Furnish Finder except it's great for legit landlords because they're not paying all the fees. The problem is is the renter. How do you know it's really a. Okay.

[Caller/Listener]

Sam in Utah says hello Clark, I'm seeing advertisements online for a product called. You want me to say the name?

[Clark Howard]

Sure.

[Caller/Listener]

I think it's supposed to be Globe Linker but there's no E at the end of Globe Glo Blinker. It says that it's mobile Internet that you can take with you internationally. The idea is that you pay for the dev $150. It comes preloaded with 10 gigs of Internet and it will give you 2 gigs of Internet for free per month for life. That accrues and rolls over even with non use. You can also pay for certain data packages. If the free Internet isn't enough data for you, it gets the service from cell towers nearby. Is this a legitimate product and is it worth it to buy? It seems like a cheap option compared to Starlink, but more limited since you can only use it around areas with cell towers.

[Clark Howard]

It seems a bit like a multi level. People who've used it report that it's extremely slow service. But it does work. It allows you to check your email, do simple web searches and all that. It's like a little portable modem device like we used to talk about for portable wi fi in the United States when you'd buy a little device and travel around the us. This is an international version now. The pricing model moves around. I've been seeing a lot that's higher than 150, like 165 and so far so good. Since there's no though ongoing payment required, I don't know how the business model is sustainable over time. I mean, maybe it's on people who want to buy more data than the two. The two gigs. I don't know. But people who've used it say, yeah, yeah, it works, it's just not very fast. So. Which is a lot how people used to talk about the roaming devices. We talked about when people would travel around the US with the little portable modems. So it doesn't seem to be a scam. It does seem to do what they promise. But how it goes on over time, I don't know.

[Caller/Listener]

Joe in Virginia says, can I pay for undergraduate college tuition by giving stock to the school in exchange for tuition? Also, can I pay for tuition with stock from the company where I work?

[Clark Howard]

Boy, that would be fantastic, right? So Joe, any university will be thrilled to take charitable donations from you of what's known as appreciated stock. Huge benefit to you doing that because you don't pay capital gains tax on the gain in the stock, but you get a full charitable write off. There is no equivalent I've seen anywhere for giving shares of stock in lieu of paying dollars and cents for tuition. And universities are coming desperate enough to find students and get revenue. Maybe somebody's going to start doing that, but I've never seen that anywhere. But I do want to circle back and say for anyone giving to any charitable organization, if you are a really charitable person, you want to give a, a nice donation to something, giving instead of giving dollars and cents or pulling out your credit card making a donation, which so many charitable donations are now made by credit card that you do give appreciated stock for the double tax benefit, you get with it. And if anybody's heard of any university that's allowing people to pay tuition with shares of stock, please let us know. Because that's one that's not occurred to me. And maybe there are people in the business offices of universities like, huh, there's a new way to get in more students and get revenue. Maybe somebody will say, yeah, that is a good idea. Coming up ahead, the way buying insurance works is going through a steady shift in the US I want you to understand the trends that are both your friend and your foe.

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[Clark Howard]

coverage about what's happening to the State Farm agents across America. State Farm, that used to be the dominant auto and homeowners insurer in the United States, has been in significant decline. And State Farm agents, what was the slogan? Something your neighbor is here or whatever. The idea was you had your friendly State Farm agent who sold you your insurance, who managed your policies, and when you had the oops, you had the accent or the claim or whatever you called him or her, and they got things going for you and they were, they were there for you as kind of your ambassador when something went wrong. Well, the model has not been working for State Farm and a lot of State Farm agents mid career are finding the rug pulled out from under them. And the company's received a lot of negative media coverage for how poorly they've handled it and how brutal they're being to the agents with changing the whole business model in the middle of the game. And agents are going to generally see apparently a big decline in income and it was imposed on them kind of like from on high. This is it. And the hammer was dropped on the agents. So there's a reason that State Farm, I mean there's no reason to have handled it so poorly. But the reason State Farm is doing a change in how they do business is the way people buy insurance has changed so much. And it's why State Farms significance in the marketplace has declined and the market leader is now Progressive Insurance. Progressive Insurance has always followed a dual model, looking to sell insurance direct to a customer, online or if you want, by phone, but generally online and at the same time supporting sale through independent agents. So they, they were playing every side of the street. People want automation, people who want to make a phone call and people who want the human. And so they've been able to grow and grow and grow. But there's another part to the progressive story. They have been the most sophisticated insurer in the US on auto and how they micro rate an individual driver. A lot of insurers have had these broad categories. Oh, you had an accident, your rates are going up, blah blah, blah percent, you got a ticket. Oh, we're going to get you on that. For three years, Progressive has sliced and diced the market much more finely and it's allowed them to grow. And so the industry, like so many others, people that Are younger, want to do it online on their phone. They don't even want to deal with a laptop. They want to buy it on their phone, blah, blah, blah. I mean, look at Carvana. They become a powerhouse selling the second most expensive thing people ever buy on their phone while they're having a sip of their latte at an overpriced coffee place. Anyway, the thing about this is that the insurance industry is meeting the customer where they are. And if you don't adapt to the marketplace that is going electronic, that is what's happening. But this is the other side of the equation. One of the secret sauces that led to that enormous success of State Farm for generations until recently was that when the chips are down, you weren't calling an 800 number and getting somebody there. So you had an accident. What is it you want to say? You were calling your State Farm agent when you were feeling vulnerable because a tree fell through your roof or you had a wreck and that agent's like, oh no, are you okay? How's you know they many times they know your kids names were blah blah, blah, blah, blah blah in the car with you. That personalized thing. There are a lot of people who don't expect that anymore, aren't looking for it anymore. And the way you buy has modified a lot. But you will notice if you were old school that when you do have that claim, it's going to be really different. Dealing with the automation. Do you know, Krista, that now when you call in to some insurers, AI is processing your claim?

[Caller/Listener]

Yep.

[Clark Howard]

Instead of talking to a human or they encourage you to go on your phone, on their app and report your claim on the app. And the human thing is being gradually reduced in the process. So that is the trade off.

[Caller/Listener]

Okay, I've got a couple of insurance things to read to you here. This one's from Steve in Georgia. Could calling my homeowner's insurance company to ask about a potential future problem caused my premium to increase? My neighbor owns a retaining wall that holds up my yard. It's rotten. I know it's rotten, neglected, and bound to collapse soon. When it does collapse, it will cause a lot of damage to my property. The neighbor is unwilling to replace the wall. I want to call my insurance to ask if they'll pay for the inevitable repair. Hopefully get those costs recovered from my neighbor's insurance. But I'm concerned that bringing the issue to my insurance company's attention will be enough for them to raise my premiums. The cost to replace the wall is 15 to $20,000 more if it's done after a collapse.

[Clark Howard]

So, Steve, we got to talk here. So you say the neighbor owns the retaining wall, but you're the beneficiary of that retaining wall. That's an unusual situation. Would your insurance company just calling to inquire, put it in the system as what's known as a no cost claim? Yeah, a lot of insurers would. We have had a lot of back and forth about no cost claims just recently. And a no cost claim in most states will be treated as a bad mark on you for homeowners insurance with your own insurer and if you were to reshop it with others as well. You know, when you call an insurer now they're using, you try to call anonymously. You don't put in your policy number when it asks for and all that. And you think, oh, I'm fine here, I can ask whatever I want. Caller id. If you're calling from a number registered in their system or databases they use, identify as you. Then that person answers. They say, hello, Mr. Steve. Well, see you've been with us for 11 years. Thank you so much for your loyalty. How can we help you today, Steve? Bam. There's nothing anonymous about that phone call and nothing that keeps you out of potential risk of them putting that in the system and it going in as a $0 claim even though nothing's happened. You're just asking a theoretical. So I'm going to say some things that are going to blow your mind. You are the one that suffers from what you've described more than your neighbor with this deteriorating wall. Collapsing neighbor is like, yeah, so what? It's not going to bother me if the wall falls. The better part of valor. Don't hate me. You can't throw anything through the microphone at me or the camera. I would encourage you, Steve, to see if the neighbor will split the cost with you of shoring up that wall, repairing it where it's creating, where it's showing real fatigue and could cause a catastrophic collapse. Because what you said is it's going to cost a lot more after the collapse. The neighbor, if it's a wall that really only benefits you, has no incentive to spend their money to repair it. And even if it collapses, your insurer may not feel like it's the neighbor's responsibility or as they go through what's known as subrogation with the other insurer, they may decide more likely, okay, we're going to call this 50 50. You each have a claim, then you're going to have the cost anyway. So I think you see if you can negotiate a deal with the neighbor. I don't know how you have.

[Caller/Listener]

I think I was thinking the same thing. And then if they refuse, I don't know, you maybe pay for it. It's if it would cause that much damage.

[Clark Howard]

I mean. And you're thinking this is what insurance is for.

[Caller/Listener]

Right?

[Clark Howard]

And I hate to say it, insurance is not for that anymore. For homeowners. The homeowners insurance industry is the old Russian phrase. We pretend to pay you, you pretend to work. The insurance industry equivalent is you pay us a premium, we pretend to cover you. You only use homeowners insurance now for catastrophic losses, you are thinking 15 to $20,000. That's a catastrophe in my life. That's not what you're really insuring. You're insuring for a home, a giant loss. And that's why I want people to have the highest deductible your mortgage company will allow you to have. Because you don't want to make what in the insurance industry mindset is a smaller claim.

[Caller/Listener]

Martin Minnesota says my tip is for those with auto insurance. So basically everyone. Our son just got into a parking lot fender bender. The short story is we decided to go through insurance on repairs for their vehicle because the cost of repair was pretty high. We while looking at our coverages, we noticed an accident forgiveness option. It was declined when I hit the purchase accident forgiveness option to see how much it costs. It was $0. Perhaps because it's been so long since we made a claim. I do not recall ever seeing the option to buy. Or maybe I just declined because it said purchase even though there was no cost. Why on earth wouldn't it just be automatically added if free? So everyone should check to see if their auto insurance offers accident forgiveness and if so, if it's free. Keep up the great work.

[Clark Howard]

So much. Well, this is unfortunate. You're insurer. I thought accident forgiveness was automatic in many states after five years of no accidents and no tickets. So there may have been a mistake in their system. You're not supposed to have to elect it in the states where that is a permissible activity of an insurer. So I would give them a call and see if maybe you were eligible for accident forgiveness and it was their error because to my knowledge it should have been an automatic thing if in fact it's allowed in your state. And if you clicked on it and said $0, that would indicate to me that you were in a state that Minnesota would be a State that you're eligible for an insurer to sell accident forgiveness. I'd love to hear back from you after you talk to them to see if you can get that answer.

[Caller/Listener]

And if there's a question, maybe call the Minnesota insurance Commissioner's office.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah, you could do that. But I think in this case going to the horse's mouth, you know, asking the insurer. Let me tell you something about the accident forgiveness thing. If it's for you said it's for your son and your son's a dependent in your household. So the accident forgiveness, one of the crazy things about it is that accident forgiveness is forgiveness for a premium increase with your insurer. It's still considered to be an at fault accident. So when your son goes out on his own insurance at the point he does that will likely show up and will affect his rates being on his own policy. But as long as he's on your policy, it should not affect rates. Now I want to add an annex about this one and the prior one, both about insurance. Insurance is regulated by the states, not the federal government. So when I talk about anything with auto or homeowners, I'm talking in generalities. And then you'll hear me go mealy mouthed on it and say, and it depends on in your state because there are even beyond nuances things involved with auto and homeowners insurance that are in fact state specific.

[Caller/Listener]

Ray in North Carolina says, hi Clark. I'm a 67 year old retiree with approximately 325,000 in retirement savings. I only received Social Security income 2,100 after Medicare. I currently own a townhome with about $260,000 in equity. I will soon take off living the van life full time, traveling across America and Canada.

[Clark Howard]

Wow.

[Caller/Listener]

I know. Love it. I'm currently planning to rent my town home, but I'm also considering selling it and investing the proceeds to generate income. What would be your formula for deciding whether to sell or rent?

[Clark Howard]

So 67. At 67, you sell the townhouse, you invest the proceeds. You're likely because of your time horizon and that the income you have is Social Security only. You cannot invest at too high risk because let's say there's a bear market in the stock market that's a decline of 20% or more. You may not have enough years for that to recover. For the income you might need to take from the proceeds that you invest from the sale of the townhome, if you rent it out, you're going to have the management hassles. You're going to have the continued overhead paying property taxes and things like that. But if you can generate nice positive cash flow, I'm going to surprise you because I'm always so much tilted towards investing versus investor owned real estate that you earn a steady income from. If you can generate a decent income above expenses from the rental of the townhome, I would say that at 67 is a more reliable stream of income than what you'll likely be able to generate from the proceeds of it with a very careful balance of investing. Because you have to be worried about market declines affecting your long term financial stability. If you do so, you're going to be out on the road. You could be somewhere in a beautiful field in Saskatchewan or in the mountains of Alberta or British Columbia. I mean you could be having just a grand old time and you get that message, hey, the plumbing broke or the AC broke or the whatever broke. And you have to have a plan how you're going to buy remote control from across North America, get the repairs done. But I think you start with what kind of reasonable income after expenses can you generate from renting out the townhouse in this case because of your age and the fact that you have just a fixed income that you can depend on the reliable income you may be able to generate from renting superior in this case to me from selling and having the money to invest. Just a thought and I hope that is a great trip. And you heard I immediately went to the western provinces of Canada. There's terrible me, I didn't talk at all about the Canadian Maritimes and all the beauty there is there too. And then across the 50 states you can tell how much I love travel, right? Instantly. And I love having the opportunity to be with you each and every day. And I especially love what's coming up on Friday. Clark Stinks. And then also after Friday, the weekend, here we are on hump day. But thank you so much for being with us in the empowerment zone with the goal being the same with everything we do. You being empowered with knowledge so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off again. I'll see you on Clark Stinks.