11.05.25 Spend Less On Internet Service / SCAM WARNINGS

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast — Episode Summary

Episode: November 5, 2025
Main Topics: Saving on Internet Service, Scam Warnings, Consumer Q&A
Host: Clark Howard

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Clark Howard focuses on two central themes: strategies to spend less on home internet service and urgent scam warnings. Listener questions touch on pharmacy access, warehouse clubs, travel "freebies," student loan payments, and expat health insurance. Throughout, Clark offers actionable tips to help listeners avoid unnecessary expenses and protect themselves from fraud.

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How to Spend Less on Internet Service

[00:40 – 06:34]

• Clark shares a personal story: After receiving notice that his internet bill was going up by $5, he saw it as an "invitation" to look for better deals.
• The Competitive Landscape Has Expanded:
  • It’s not just the "monopoly local phone company or the cable monster" anymore.
  • “More and more players are offering wireless internet” (Clark Howard, [01:19]).
• Who Should (and Shouldn't) Use Wireless Home Internet:
  • Not for “obsessed gamers”—latency and speed may fall short for gaming.
  • For most others (streaming, web use): Wireless is “plenty fast enough.”
• Clark’s proof: “Think about how much stuff we do on these cell phones of ours...the connection is plenty fast enough to do anything we’re doing.”
• Price Points:
  • Mint Mobile (owned by T-Mobile): $30/month for internet if you're a mobile customer; $40/month stand-alone.
  • Traditional providers often charge $80–$100+.
• Negotiation Leverage:
  • Use offers from new players as leverage to negotiate with current providers.
  • “Your traditional monopoly phone company or cable monster will...offer you internet for somewhere $30 to $45 a month, usually a third to half of what you’re paying right now.” ([Clark Howard, 05:09])
• Living Alone? Use Your Unlimited Hotspot:
  • Mobile users with robust hotspots may not need home internet at all; check clark.com for provider comparisons.

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Q&A Highlights

Are Price Hikes Covering Corporate Settlements?

[06:34 – 08:31] — JD in California

• Question: Is AT&T raising rates to pay a $177 million data breach settlement?
• Clark’s answer: The sum is insignificant to AT&T; price increases are part of their “inertia strategy.”
• Memorable quote: “A company that big, $177 million would be like, oh, there’s a penny down there...It’s all part of the inertia strategy.” ([Clark Howard, 07:04])
• Behavioral Insight: Most people accept small price hikes due to habit, enabling companies to continue incremental increases.

Pharmacy Shrinkage and Future Access

[09:03 – 11:52] — David in California

• Issue: Rite Aid closures are causing long lines; what’s next for prescriptions?
• Clark’s take:
  • Independent pharmacies are reemerging, much like independent bookstores.
  • Warehouse clubs (Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart) are taking a bigger share of same-day prescriptions—often at much lower prices.
  • “You walk down the street, you don’t even notice these independents.” ([Clark Howard, 10:19])
  • Don’t overlook grocery stores as prescription options.

Warehouse Club Switch: BJ’s to Costco

[11:52 – 16:19] — Angie in Pennsylvania

• Situation: BJ’s relocated; Costco opening nearby. Angie wants to switch memberships and credit cards.
• Clark’s process advice:
  • Look for special offers during Costco’s pre-opening membership drives.
  • Cancel BJ’s card once your switch is set (termed “hopscotching”), with no credit score penalty if you have other cards.
  • BJ’s advantage: more product selection. Costco & Sam’s: lower prices but fewer choices.
• Playful moment: “Our dog is named Kirkland Signature. I think the answer is obvious.” ([Clark Howard, 15:13])
• Ultimate pick: Costco is Clark’s preferred warehouse club.

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Scam Warnings and How to Spot Them

[19:23 – 26:19]

Jury Duty Scams & The Anatomy of Modern Fraud

• Story: Clark’s brother’s friend received a call claiming she’d be arrested for missing jury duty.
• Clark’s instant reaction: “I said, you text him right now, tell him this is a scam...Don’t fall for it.” ([Clark Howard, 19:27])
• Key Insights:
  • Scammers operate by creating fear and urgency.
  • They possess lots of personal information—addresses, history—to sound credible.
  • Government agencies never threaten arrest or demand immediate payment by phone.
• Scam methods:
  • Calls, emails, and now, physical letters (e.g., fake U.S. Supreme Court letters on Social Security repayments).
  • Payment channels: crypto ATMs, payment apps (Venmo, Zelle, Cash App), wires—all big red flags.
• Notable quotes:
  • “The method of operation is fairly consistent. But what is different is what’s the ruse?” ([Clark Howard, 24:34])
  • “Anytime anybody says you need to pay them by...payment app, go to a reverse ATM...send a wire...that’s what I need in your head.” ([Clark Howard, 24:57])
• Victims: All ages/sophistication levels are at risk; young adults (20s & 30s) increasingly targeted due to comfort with online interactions.

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Additional Listener Q&A

Expat Health Insurance & Medicare Disadvantage Plans

[26:30 – 30:20] — Patrick in North Carolina

• Concern: Using Medicare Advantage (Disadvantage) plans in Panama; can you switch back to traditional Medicare upon return?
• Clark’s warning:
  • "Except in a tiny number of states...once you go into a Medicare disadvantage plan, you cannot go back fully into traditional Medicare...” ([Clark Howard, 26:55])
  • Medicare Advantage plans may stop overseas coverage at any time; traditional Medicare provides superior coverage if you get seriously ill.
  • In Panama, buy local insurance or prepaid hospital plans; consult expat forums (Reddit, Facebook) for options and experiences.

Travel "Freebies" — Are They Legit?

[30:20 – 32:00] — Bill in Connecticut

• Query: “Free” cruises and hotel stays for attending a travel showcase—scam?
• Clark’s analysis:
  • Most are “vacation club” pitches, which are costly, rarely useful, and sometimes outright criminal.
  • “This is so close to scam, it’s like you’re flying right next to scam as a word.” ([Clark Howard, 30:55])
  • Don't expect legitimate free trips from these offers.

Student Loan Overpayment After Forgiveness

[32:00 – 33:16] — Susan in New York

• Issue: Student loan servicer keeps auto-deducting payments after partial forgiveness, refusing prompt refund.
• Clark’s advice:
  • Always turn off auto-payments two months before the last payment/forgiveness event.
  • Retrieving funds from financial institutions post-payment is “extremely hard”—they keep your money due to “dishonesty or incompetence.”
  • If deduction is within 10 banking days, dispute through your bank to retrieve funds.
  • For servicer issues, contact the Student Loan Advocate Office at the US Department of Education.
  • “...getting it back out of their bureaucracy...is extremely hard.” ([Clark Howard, 33:16])

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Inertia Pricing: "Companies know that most people just keep doing what they’re doing because they’ve been doing it." ([Clark Howard, 07:14])
• On scams: “Scams operate on fear, immediacy and the get out of jail free card...followed by you...throwing money to a crook that is unrecoverable.” ([Clark Howard, 24:47])
• Clark’s “favorite place on Earth”: “My favorite place on earth is wherever I am with my wife. Okay. The second thing is, yes, we do receive our mail at Costco. No, we don’t.” ([Clark Howard, 12:44])
• On auto-pay hassles: “Once the financial institution has your money...Getting it back out...is extremely hard.” ([Clark Howard, 33:16])
• Pet names show his warehouse club loyalty: “Our dog is named Kirkland Signature. I think the answer is obvious.” ([Clark Howard, 15:13])

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Important Timestamps

• Spending Less on Internet: 00:40 – 06:34
• Price Hikes vs. Settlements Q&A: 06:34 – 08:31
• Pharmacy Trends: 09:03 – 11:52
• Warehouse Clubs & Switching: 11:52 – 16:19
• Scam Warnings and Tactics: 19:23 – 26:19
• Medicare Abroad/Advantage Plans: 26:30 – 30:20
• Travel “Freebies” Q&A: 30:20 – 32:00
• Student Loan Auto-Pay Pitfalls: 32:00 – 33:16

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Takeaways

• Don’t accept auto-renewals or price hikes passively—shop around and negotiate using new competitive offers.
• Modern scams are sophisticated and can happen to anyone—trust no urgent demand for payment, especially via unconventional methods.
• Warehouse club shopping strategies and membership changes can yield big savings, but expect less variety at Costco/Sam’s than BJ’s.
• When approaching the end of any loan, lease, or recurring payment (including student loans), disable auto-pay to prevent difficulties in recouping overpayments.
• If considering overseas retirement, carefully assess health insurance and Medicare options—don't count on regaining full coverage by switching plans.
• Always be skeptical of free offers requiring personal information or attendance—if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

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For further information, visit clark.com and clarkdeals.com. Submit questions at clark.com/askclark.

Transcript

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[Clark Howard]

It'S great to have you here on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life today. How you know I love competition and there's yet more coming to your home Internet. This is the kind of thing that's money that's so easy for you to grab. And coming later, talking about grabbing money from you in a blink, the scamsters are getting worse and worse and worse and you think, oh I'm too sophisticated. I'd never get taken by a scammer. People of all income levels, all walks of life are getting taken and I want to just give you some examples of what you should be looking for. Not those specific things but how the patterns work to protect yourself. That's coming later. So got a notice yesterday from my home Internet service telling me that they were going up five bucks. What's that? My invitation to do? Well that's my invitation to bolt to go to their competition and see what I can get and then change Internet service. It's not that hard. But there's something I want you to think a little wider outside the box. It's no longer just going to the Monopoly local phone company or the cable monster and playing one against the other. That's the old game, that's small ball. The big game now is more and more players are offering wireless Internet and this is something that is not for everybody. Tell you who it's not for. Principally it's not for people that are gamers. Now if you are an obsessed gamer, you have to have lightning fast Internet no matter what you have. It's probably not going to seem fast enough as you're gaming against other people over their Internet connections. Other than that, I don't know who else needs it at their home because the Internet service available from these wireless providers plenty fast enough to stream all you want to do whatever it is you're doing. You know with video content streaming in anything you're web surfing, you're gonna be just fine. And here's proof. Think about now, how much stuff we do on these cell phones of ours where the Internet connection we have is plenty fast enough to do anything we're doing on our phones. And it's not exactly equivalent, but close for these fixed wireless. The first big player in it was T Mobile, followed by Verizon is doing big play in it and now some of the discounters are doing it. T Mobile has a discount brand they own called Mint Mobile used to be an independent company, but T Mobile bought it and they to their subscribers for cell phone service. And by the way, if you've never looked, Mint is so cheap for your cell phone service, your mobile phone service. Well, if you have your mobile phone service with them or you switch to them, your home Internet becomes $30 a month. But let's say that's too much a leap for you. You don't want to also move your mobile phone service, but you'd like to get cheaper home Internet. Well, it's 40amonth. That's a lot better than paying the cable monster or the phone monopoly what is usually about 80, 90 bucks a month. And you're saying, well, actually I'm paying 100 and something anyway, whatever it is. And you can use something like the Mint Mobile thing as a lever to get a much lower price from your Internet service that you have from one of the traditional players. Or you could just switch. But if you use as a lever, did you know more often than not your traditional monopoly phone company or cable monster will, in order to not lose you, offer you Internet service at your home for somewhere 30 to $45 a month, usually a third to half of what you're paying right now. And so this is your money that month after month multiplies, money gone. If you save 40, 50, 60 bucks a month, that adds up over time. Think about how many things in our lives we're paying for as monthlies, like our Internet connection that we could really reduce. And if you live by yourself in an apartment, if your mobile phone plan includes unlimited hotspot, you very well probably don't need a home Internet connection at all. You can just run off that unlimited hotspot and on clark.com, you can see which providers, even the bargain ones, offer really robust, good unlimited hotspots as part of your monthly mobile phone service. It's your money, Krista.

[Caller/Listener]

Okay, the first question Today is from JD in California. Clark, you may have heard that AT&T has agreed to pay consumers $177 million to settle a class action lawsu over several data breaches. Coincidentally or maybe not. I recently received an email notifying me that my home Internet would soon go up in price. Could it be that big bad AT and T is forcing consumers to pay for the settlement out of their own pockets. And if so, how do they get away with it?

[Clark Howard]

So first of all, a company that big 177 million would be like, oh, there's a penny down there. Should I, should I pick it up? Wonder the copper might be worth 1.7 cents. Should I pick it up? I mean, it's not even a penny to them. Their revenues are so large that that's irrelevant. It's all part of the inertia strategy. Companies know that most people just keep doing what they're doing because they've been doing it. So much noise in life, so many things going on that they pinch us five bucks here, ten bucks there. It was funny. I was reading this outrage online. All these posts and all this on social media. T Mobile raised some more junk fees starting this month and people were just in an uproar. But the reality is customers, because they're creatures of habit, are just going to keep using T Mobile for their mobile phone service in overwhelming numbers. People. The churn rate on people switching their mobile phone service is about one and a half to 2% of people a month dump it. So companies know that they can push through these increases. And most people just say, oh, well, I'll just pay it. That's not my strategy.

[Caller/Listener]

That's why we have [e-mail] including our cell phone plan finder. I recently got a friend to switch from one of the big bad cell phone companies to another one.

[Clark Howard]

And now you never hear from them anymore because their phone doesn't work right? No.

[Caller/Listener]

In fact, he was like, I can't believe it. I got my bill this month. It really is just $29 a month for like the full unlimited plan. And I was like, yeah, was paying $90 a month.

[Clark Howard]

90 to 29. That's a little bit of difference.

[Caller/Listener]

Just a little.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah.

[Caller/Listener]

David in California says, have you seen the lines at store pharmacies? I was shock. Closing of Rite Aid stores has affected pharmacy access at the stores that are still available. What do you think will pop up in our economy to fill this void? Perhaps smaller kiosk operations like the drive Thru coffee stands or maybe more Walgreens and CVS pharmacies popping up in other places when you Need a prescription the same day you go to one of these rather than online mail for meds.

[Clark Howard]

Right. So what a great question. And you, you at the very end stated where the problem is. So CVS and Walgreens also closing locations. Rite Aid had been in steep decline for a long time before they finally gave up. And so the number of traditional chain pharmacies has been going steadily down. But there's something that we have not noticed that's been kind of under the radar happening around the country, and that is independent pharmacies have reemerged. It's kind of like you think about with the bookstores, how the big chain bookstores destroyed the corner bookstore and there was like a movie like a generation ago about it.

[Caller/Listener]

You got mail. Thank you and love that movie.

[Clark Howard]

Now the small independently owned bookstores are coming back to life. Not obviously like they were before because people reading electronic books, but the same thing is happening in pharmacy or same day meds. So you don't, I'm telling you, you walk down the street, you don't even notice these independents. So you're driving down the street, you don't really notice them because you think cvs, Walgreens, cvs, Walgreens look wider and the outlets providing prescriptions that are alternative same day keep rising. The warehouse clubs are taking larger and larger market share on the same day prescriptions because they're often 110 the cost of filling a prescription same day. What it is at Walgreens and CVS and Walmart is a big player in the same day market with a huge number of prescriptions at flat rate 4 bucks. So yeah, CVS and Walgreens are not irrelevant, but they are less relevant than they used to be because we now have ultra tiny alternatives and then we have the huge big boxes as alternatives.

[Caller/Listener]

I also, a lot of times my Costco won't have something same day. I've noticed. And so there are some grocery stores near me that I'll price out that will often have.

[Clark Howard]

I'm sorry, I forgot to mention the grocery stores.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah. So maybe check that out too. Okay. Angie in Pennsylvania, speaking of warehouse clubs, has a question for the expert on all warehouse clubs. She says, I have a BJ's membership, I've had it for years. And they just moved their store to a horrible location across town and built it with less parking and gas pumps in the smallest space possible. I hate it in all caps. Costco just built a new store finally which has a great, great space and pumps. It's not open yet. It's the first Costco to open near me. I have the BJ's One plus credit card now and it renews next month. I'd like to move to Costco plus credit card and membership. So how can I go about making the switch? I assume I'll have to cancel the BJ's credit card and apply for the Costco credit card. Help me make the switch to your favorite place on earth. I do not need to keep the BJ's credit card in any form. I already have three other credit cards.

[Clark Howard]

All right, so first of all, a factual correction. My favorite place on earth is wherever I am with my wife. Okay. The second thing is, yes, we do receive our mail at Costco. No, we don't. Anyway, when a Costco comes into a new market, there's usually some incentive on market open or pre open of that store. They'll set up even before the store opens. They'll have like a tent out in front of front with a new member special. And at that time you may get a better deal on the initial sign up for the membership and potentially a better deal on the credit card. And they know that people who carry the Costco card, the Visa card, tend to shop a lot more in the store than people who don't. So you might get the whole shebang before it opens. So look online at Costco. See when that store is going to have pre open and that's when you want to be there to join. As for dumping the BJ's membership and the credit card, this is what I call hopscotching, where you replace one item of credit with another and you end up in the same position for your credit score and credit standing. You'll be just fine doing that switch. There is something that, as much as I Love Costco, that BJ's Wholesale has a big advantage over Costco and over Sam's. They have far more SKUs. You know, they have a lot more variety of items. So you're used to walking into BJ's Wholesale and you can have any of 24 different varieties of toothpaste. You're going to walk into Costco or into a Sam's Club, you're going to probably have four. I mean, it's far, far more limited choice at Costco and Sam's but at a lower price because of the buying power or the leverage they have with the manufacturers. You want to be on a Costco or Sam's Club shelf more than you want to be on a BJ's wholesale shelf.

[Caller/Listener]

Okay, I have a question for you. Yes, a hard one. Someone said to you you have no other choice for the rest of your life. You can only belong to one of the warehouse clubs. What would you choose?

[Clark Howard]

You're really going to do that to me?

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah.

[Clark Howard]

Well, I mean our dog is named Kirkland Signature. I think the answer is obvious. But you know, as I talked about, Sam's has improved so much, much. I mean Sam's was a 98lb weakling competitor and Sam's has leadership now. That's done a great job to make it a more user friendly experience. And I wish that Costco would follow both BJ's wholesale and Sam's with having scanning on your phone, checking out on your phone and not having to get into those long, long lines at a Costco on a weekend that you would just check yourself out and go right out the door. This is not self checkout at a register. This is where you ring yourself up on your phone as you go through the store, pay right there on your phone. You don't even have to show the barcode usually because the AI that knows that you're not shoplifting anything.

[Caller/Listener]

So room for improvement. But your choice is clear.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah, it's Costco.

[Caller/Listener]

Okay.

[Clark Howard]

I mean we had one dog who's passed away named Costco Wholesale. Now we have a dog named Kirkland Signature. I think it's pretty clear. Love that company. By the way, warehouse club sales are up 50% in the last five years. So a portion of that is because of inflation and items in the stores. But most of it is the warehouse clubs are so much cheaper day in and day out than other stores. The three chains that market share at a time of inflation just choking people has moved market share to them and that's why they're worth the big parking lots, they're worth the lines that you now only have to do at Costco. They're worth all that because your money goes so much further. Coming up ahead, that money I just saved you crooks are coming along to steal it in a second. I got a story for you from last night.

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[Caller/Listener]

In Tulum.

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[Clark Howard]

So last night I get a frantic message from my middle brother. He says, middleman older I'm the baby. So Neil sends me this message. He needs me to call him right away because friend of he and his wife's got a message that she was being arrested for failure to show up for jury duty. And I cut my brother off immediately. Then we talked about other things. I said, you text him right now, tell him this is a scam, been around for a while, don't fall for it. In fact, a lot of court systems now have on their web pages notice usually highlighted in red type saying this is a scam. We're not coming after you this way. Don't believe anybody who says you have to pay a fine right now or else. And what the criminals do is they keep morphing how they steal. A lot of these are foreign criminal rings who have been able to trade in personal information. They know so much about us. This individual my brother was talking about who's being contacted supposedly about not showing up for jury duty. They knew the criminals knew current address, prior address, all kinds of information. And we're really telling such a good tale that it suddenly has credibility. And these scams operate on fear, immediacy and the get out of jail Free card going to ruin your life unless you do something right now. And that right now is going to be giving us access to your checking account or personal information or whatever. I mean, this is the common method of operation of these scams, again, overwhelmingly originating outside the United States, beyond the reach of our law enforcement, and stealing billions of dollars, billions from people of all ages, all levels of sophistication. And by the way, one of the hottest targets right now with high success rates are people in their 20s and 30s who are so used to doing everything online that you're more likely to get taken by letting your guard down from a scamster who's contacting you online. But the big money comes from people that are older because they've got more money. And remember, I said the method of operation is fairly consistent. But what is different is what's the ruse? And right now, the hot one is where you're getting a letter, a physical letter in the mail, official government business, from the U.S. supreme Court. It's a dupe of the Supreme Court letterhead telling you you're in trouble and you're going to have to pay all this money because you owe money back to. One of the common scam letters with the Supreme Court letterhead is you owe money or improper receipt of money from Social Security and people because of the way the scams have thought through. And how much, because of all the identity theft stuff, how much the scammers know in personal information about us. It has enhanced cred. Wall Street Journal says more than a billion dollars has been stolen by Chinese criminals that they know of. And listen to this one. $15 billion has been stolen by criminals, Cambodia and crypto scams. $15 billion. I know we're a huge economy, but if it's your money that makes up part of that 1 billion the Chinese have stolen, the 15 billion the Cambodians have stolen. I mean, when it's your money, it is real and it hurts. And with the crypto ones, so many people have stolen people's life savings. All right, so there's something available now all over America that is the gateway for these gangs to steal money. And it's not the fault of the operators or owners of the ATMs or the retailers that house them in their stores. But you need to know the crypto ATMs are how the criminals, particularly in foreign countries, steal money from us without a trace. And these crypto ATMs, you go to them and they're. Many of them are reverse ATMs. You put in US dollars, you put in many times, you'll put in a particular code and then you have transmitted money that's untraceable to a criminal here in the US or anywhere in the world. Anytime anybody says you need to pay them by any payment app like Venmo Cash App or Big bad Zell. Did I mention PayPal? Anytime they say you need to go to one of these reverse ATMs that you're putting in your real US money. Anytime you're being told you need to send a wire right now, any of these right nows, the sense of urgency, that's what I need in your head. I don't care what they say. I don't care how they tell you you're being thrown in jail and they're throwing away the key. Remember, that's all part of creating the fear. Followed by the urgency, followed by you running and throwing money, your hard earned money to a crook that is unrecoverable. You think I'm a little frustrated by this?

[Caller/Listener]

Oh, it's crazy. I actually got the jury one after I had missed jury duty because I had a missed flight and I flight canceled.

[Clark Howard]

We don't have handcuffs here to put on.

[Caller/Listener]

And I almost fell for it. But when I the number, you know, they said they were sheriff from my local department, local county, the whole thing. This was a few years ago. I looked it up because I was like, this just doesn't feel right. And I figured out it was a scam. But it was, you know, it was close. I mean, it sounded legit, especially because I knew I had Miss Jury duty and I've been trying to call them. So. Okay.

[Clark Howard]

And I worked for you did serve.

[Caller/Listener]

I did serve. And I've got.

[Clark Howard]

They made sure you were in a really tough case.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah. And I've just been called again. Yeah. Superior Court again.

[Clark Howard]

I don't know.

[Caller/Listener]

Patrick in North Carolina says this is a strange off the wall question. I was looking at moving to Panama in retirement.

[Clark Howard]

Panama.

[Caller/Listener]

This is several years off. I understand you can't use regular Medicare there, but you can use some advantage plans there. I know you don't like these disadvantage plans, as you call them. What's your opinion on that? Also, what happens if I move back? Can I go back to regular Medicare?

[Clark Howard]

So, all right, let's deal with the questions in reverse. Except in a tiny number of states, Patrick. I think maybe four or six states. Once you go into a Medicare disadvantage plan, you cannot go back fully into traditional Medicare because you won't be able to buy. Except the small number of states that have consumer protections. You won't be able to buy what's known as a medigap, which is absolutely 100% necessary with traditional Medicare. You can only get that when you first become Medicare eligible to get a medigap policy for most of us in most of America. So the problem with a disadvantaged plan is that let's say you go into one because they'll cover you in foreign countries and then the following year they say, yeah, we were just kidding, we don't cover that anymore. By the way, that's what people are experiencing right now with disadvantage plans for 26 is a lot of the insurers saying, yeah, we used to offer this, we used to offer that, we're not doing that anymore. And then there you are, you are stuck, although you're stuck generally only within the world of going from one disadvantage plan to another. But you again, can't go back to real Medicare. And real Medicare is overwhelmingly superior to any disadvantage plan. If you get sick, as long as you're healthy, disadvantage plans are fine. But when you get sick, that's when you would really wish in. Your life could easily depend on having access to the best facilities, best providers, most up to date treatments that you're not going to have, and most disadvantaged plans. So what do you do if you go like. Panama is right now one of the most popular places in the world for Americans to move either pre retirement or in retirement. This is country specific, but in Panama there are local policies that Americans and Canadians buy in Panama that provide care. And Panama is one of the places in Panama City where people buy plans directly from one of the first tier hospitals that are kind of like prepaid hospitalization plans. The care is obviously much cheaper there, but if you have no coverage, it's real money coming out of your pocket. Which is why people buy a Panamanian insurance policy or will buy one of the more narrow ones, that is for one of the hospitals there. But every country that Americans migrate to around the world, there are expat groups that help each other that you can find online. They could be in social media kind of environments like Facebook, but more often Reddit is a really popular place now where you find Reddit groups devoted to guiding each other for Americans that are relocating to somewhere else in the world.

[Caller/Listener]

Bill in Connecticut says, I received a card inviting me to the travel and adventure show in my suburban town. It said, join us for a fun filled travel cruise and adventure showcase. This feels more like a timeshare pitch than a travel show.

[Clark Howard]

I bet they said, but we're not a timeshare.

[Caller/Listener]

First there's no date listed, you have to call. Secondly, it says in exchange for your time and opinion you get a four night cruise from a major cruise line or two round trip airline tickets and two nights at a Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt hotel. It also says this is not a timeshare or real estate solicitation. I haven't heard of this. What's the catch here?

[Clark Howard]

Odds are overwhelming that this is a new category that is called a vacation club where you pay thousands of dollars for supposedly the ability to travel around the world nearly for free. And this is so close to scam. It's like you're flying right next to scam is a word. A lot of these do turn out to be criminal enterprise. They turn out completely to be consistent. Others just a bad deal. And the reality you will likely never get anything of real value given to you at any of these presentations, any of these shows. So I would say you said what's the catch? That's the catch. Nobody's giving you a free trip just for showing up. Not a real free trip.

[Caller/Listener]

Susan in New York says I'm a New York State employee which qualified me for PSLF Public Service Loan forgiveness on student loans. It existed way before President Biden's attempts at forgiving loans. I have satisfied the 10 years in repayment qualification and I have had two of the four loans forgiven so far. The last two qualify in the spring of 26. My problem is that I have auto pay from my checking account monthly and and the company kept taking payment money after one loan was effectively forgiven, leaving a credit balance on the loan account of $372 and change. It has been six months since this happened and every time I email them about applying this credit to the two outstanding loans I get a response usually a week or 10 days later that says basically they'll do it when they get around to it. It is infuriating. I email every month. I know it's not a huge sum, but I would like them to either cut me a check or apply it to the other loans. I plan to discontinue the auto pay before the forgiveness on the final two and try to avoid this issue next spring. I didn't have this problem when the first loan was forgiven. I just don't know where to bring this problem. Who should I email next? Is there a rule that says they can hold my money for a period of time?

[Clark Howard]

No.

[Caller/Listener]

Thanks for all you do. I've been listening to you forever and I locked mine and my kids Sims last week. Smiley face.

[Clark Howard]

Good for you doing that. All right. So this goes way beyond federal student loans. Anytime you have automatic payment set up with a provider, number one example I'll tell you we've heard over the years is any fitness center or gym membership, you discontinue that membership and more often than not, they keep taking the money out of your account month after month after month. After you have properly canceled your membership, you lease a car or you have an auto loan on a vehicle. In both of those cases, you pay off the loan. Let's say you trade in a vehicle and you still owe on it and the dealer as part of the deal pays the vehicle off. There can be problems with that, by the way. Anyway, the lender, the bank often continues to auto debit the account long after the auto loan has been paid off, the vehicle traded in, the lease done. You want to always remember this two months out from the end of a loan, a lease, whatever. In this case student loans, you discontinue auto pay like you said, you're going to do with the remaining two loans once they have met the 10 year requirement for the remainder being loan forgiven. Because once the financial institution has your money, the bank has your money, the loan servicer has your money. Getting it back out of their bureaucracy, either because of dishonesty or incompetence, is extremely hard. Now, if you notice a debit within the first 10 days, 10 banking days, which is two weeks, you should be able to get a reversal through your own credit union or bank. And that's what you want to do. You want to dispute that debit and try to get that money reclaimed. Once it goes past that you're in hassle land getting the money back. They don't ever intend likely to give you that money back from the student loan servicer. The place you go is the student Loan advocate office in the US Department of Education. That is where you're going to be able to hopefully apply pressure. There's an ombudsman thing there to apply pressure to the loan servicer to get you your money back. But as far as their intention of giving you the money back, the middle Tuesday of never maybe, and gosh, what a negative way to end. But I think with a positive message. And that is it is you and me that have to discontinue those auto pays with anything we're doing when we're not going to do business with whoever it is or we've met our obligation with whoever it is. But you do it before and then remember, you've got to manually make that last payment or two to fulfill your obligation. So you're done with them and they're done with being able to access money from you. So thank you so much for being with us today. I hope that you have a great rest of your day today. Know that we're here to serve you all week long, 24 hours a [e-mail] clarkdew so you're empowered with knowledge so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. Remember Friday, my favorite podcast of the week and YouTube show when we have Fart Stinks. Hey, Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now I don't know if you've heard, but Mint's Premium Wireless is $15 a month. But I'd like to offer one other perk. We have no stores. That means no small talk. Crazy weather we're having. No, it's not.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer (Alternate)]

It's just weather.

[Clark Howard]

It is an introvert's dream. Give it a [e-mail] switch upfront.

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