11.12.25 Shopper Guidance In The K-Economy / Screen Addiction Solutions

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast

Episode: 11.12.25 – Shopper Guidance In The K-Economy / Screen Addiction Solutions
Date: November 12, 2025
Host: Clark Howard
Co-Host/Producer: Krista

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Episode Overview

This episode addresses two core personal finance topics:

• The K-Economy and Smart Shopping Guidance
• Solutions and Observations on Screen Addiction

Clark Howard discusses the growing split between economic "haves" and "have-nots," gives actionable shopping strategies amid income inequality, and tackles listener questions on saving, investing, and practical consumer decisions. In the second segment, he examines modern screen addiction, suggests practical ways to cut down phone usage, and highlights why conscious tech habits are essential for quality of life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Understanding the K-Economy

[00:40–07:10]

• Clark defines the K-Economy: A sharp divide in the American economy, with about 25–30% of Americans prospering while 70–75% are struggling.
• Retail Industry Impact: Disparity is evident in shopping behaviors and retail strategies; luxury and "have-to" purchases are treated differently.
• Sector Examples:
  • Airlines struggle to fill economy seats but see record demand for premium seating.
  • Restaurants: High-end establishments are thriving, while fast food chains are losing customers.
  • Clothing: Basics are far more affordable than "want-to" or premium items.
• Notable Quote:

  “Items that are everyday items... the have-tos are a better deal. And Walmart specifically is selectively pricing in their stores, pricing the have-tos to people at even a loss if they need to, or very tight profit margins.” — Clark Howard [05:50]

• Actionable Advice:
  • Focus on “have-to” purchases for better deals; avoid “new and improved” or premium-branded products.
  • Even wealthier consumers are shopping at discount outlets, driven by better deals on essentials.

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2. Q&A: Saving, Investing, and Consumer Decisions

Young Home Buyer Saving Strategy

[07:10–08:50]

• Listener (Sarah, Florida): 23 years old, nearly $50k saved for a home, seeks advice on optimizing returns as interest rates drop.
• Clark’s Advice:
  • Use brokerage-placed CDs for higher yields.
  • Lock in rates now, as high-yield savings rates will slip further.
  • Take advantage of discount brokerages (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab) for better CD rates.

Health Careers & Navigating the Great Recession

[09:11–10:51]

• Listener (Russell, Georgia): Shifted to a radiology career post-recession, validates Clark’s past advice on alternatives to four-year degrees.
• Clark’s Insight:

  "Medicine has so much opportunity with an aging population." — Clark Howard [10:24]

• Broader encouragement: Embrace career pivots, especially in fields in demand.

Managing Investment Fees in Employer Plans

[10:51–13:58]

• Listener (Russell, continued): Concerned about high fees in a Roth 403(b) plan through an insurance company.
• Clark’s Guidance:
  • Ask for administration and expense ratio totals directly.
  • Anything under 0.5% total is ideal; 0.5–1% is tolerable if options are limited.
  • Over 1%: shift excess savings to a backdoor Roth IRA for cost efficiency.
  • Notable Quote:

    "Insurance Companies that run 403 are very very sketch about disclosing all the expenses but if you ask for it, they have to provide it to you." — Clark Howard [11:49]

Cell Phone Plan Shopping

[13:58–16:46]

• Listener (Zach, Texas): Used Clark’s cell phone plan finder to save by resisting upselling at a T-Mobile store.
• Clark’s Tips:
  • Do not rely on retail staff; have your information ready.
  • Stores are incentivized to steer you away from best-value plans.
  • Use online guides, compare yearly costs, and assert your plan choice.
  • Memorable Quote:

    "I'm telling you, they're a new Bermuda Triangle for your wallet." — Clark Howard [15:13]

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3. Tackling Screen Addiction

[16:46–22:50]

• Clark’s Observation:
  • Increasing numbers of Americans are addicted to their smartphones, even in social settings.
• Personal and Social Solutions:
  • No-phone zones at meals (cell phone caddy at dinner parties, etc.).
  • Use of simple “time limiting” reminder apps.
  • Switch to feature (non-smart) phones or restrict smartphone functions.
  • Families returning to landlines.
  • Campus initiatives for “phone-free hours.”
• Notable Quote:

  "The phone’s awesome for so many things till it’s too much. ... Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing." — Clark Howard [20:22]

• Advice: Recognize problematic use, consciously set boundaries, and find solutions that fit your lifestyle.

Krista’s Perspective

• Focuses on engaging in alternate activities (knitting, socializing, walking sans phone), especially during routines.

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4. Additional Listener Questions & Practical Finance Advice

App vs. PC for Banking Security

[22:50–25:11]

• Mobile banking apps are generally more secure than PCs, due to fewer vulnerabilities.
• Never share verification codes, even with supposed institution representatives.

Long-Term Care Insurance Woes

[25:11–27:45]

• The long-term care insurance market is “broken” due to non-guaranteed escalating premiums.
• If unaffordable in the long run and not urgently needed, treat the sunk costs as lost; if you expect to need care soon, try to keep paying.

Debit Cards for Kids – Fee Debate

[27:45–30:25]

• Acorns Early & Greenlight cards: Clark dislikes the fees ($60/year), Krista values the educational payoff.
• Clark suggests looking for free youth accounts at credit unions (e.g., USAA).
• Point-Counterpoint Dynamic:
  • Clark: "I'm just too cheap."
  • Krista: The teaching value justifies cost for some families.
• "Clark Stinks" segment on break due to technical issues impacting question volume.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

| Quote | Speaker | Timestamp | |------------------|---------------|---------------| |"Items that are everyday items... the have-tos are a better deal. And Walmart specifically is selectively pricing in their stores..." | Clark Howard | 05:50 | |"Medicine has so much opportunity with an aging population." | Clark Howard | 10:24 | |"Insurance Companies that run 403 are very very sketch about disclosing all the expenses but if you ask for it, they have to provide it to you." | Clark Howard | 11:49 | |"I'm telling you, they're a new Bermuda Triangle for your wallet." | Clark Howard | 15:13 | |"The phone’s awesome for so many things till it’s too much. ... Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing." | Clark Howard | 20:22 | |"I'm just too cheap." | Clark Howard | 30:02 |

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• K-Economy & Shopper Guidance: 00:40–07:10
• Young Home Buyer Saving Advice: 07:10–08:50
• Career Shifts Post-Recession: 09:11–10:51
• Retirement Plan Fee Management: 10:51–13:58
• Cell Phone Shopping Strategies: 13:58–16:46
• Screen Addiction Solutions: 16:46–22:50
• Banking App Security Advice: 22:50–25:11
• Long-Term Care Insurance Challenges: 25:11–27:45
• Debit Cards for Kids—Fee Debate: 27:45–30:25

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Tone & Style

Clark Howard’s tone is practical, empowering, and gently humorous (“I’m just too cheap”). He features real listener stories, balances empathy with direct advice, and always maintains a mission-driven focus: “Save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off.” Krista’s conversational input adds warmth and perspective, especially in areas where parental or consumer values differ.

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Summary Takeaways

• The K-Economy has sharpened the contrast between “need” and “want” economies—shop accordingly.
• Be vigilant about fees and plan structures in all financial products; always ask.
• Cell phone and subscription shopping require homework and assertiveness against retail tactics.
• Conscious tech use leads to better relationships and real-life value—know yourself and set limits as needed.
• Even expert co-hosts disagree on educational expenses vs. frugality—do what aligns with your household’s values!

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Clark and Team Clark remain committed to providing actionable, trustworthy advice in a world of economic uncertainty and digital distractions. For more, visit clark.com or clarkdeals.com, and keep sending in your questions.

Transcript

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[Clark Howard]

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 so you make better financial decisions in your life. Today we're in the K economy again. You know what that is I'm going to explain and what it means to you with your wallet also. Are you an, are you an addict? Can I spit those words out? Addicted to your cell phone? Am I addicted? Maybe? What do you do to cut back if you know it's interfering in your life? I'm going to tell you how I've handled it. And then things other people are doing as well. So the K economy, it's something that has happened at different times in US history and unusually has happened actually over the last generation, I guess three different times. And we are in a K economy right now. So what is it? It's where there's a huge split between how one sector of the American people are doing and how other sectors are doing. So we're at a time right now where a slice of the American people, somewhere around 25, 30% of Americans, are doing the best they've ever done. They've got more money saved, they've got a higher net worth. They're maybe making more than they ever have. And the other 70, 75% of people are really struggling in one or more of those criteria. What they owe, maybe, what they're making, what they have, not being able to just afford regular things. When retailers report on what's going on with them, they're all talking about this, that there's a clear split where there are people coming in, spending money like it's no big deal. And then other people that are struggling. And Walmart can see it by days of the month based on when people tend to get anything like Social Security or any kind of government assistance, when that money first posts in their account or likely payday Cycles that there are a large number of people that are really, really struggling and then a smaller band of people that are doing really well. Do you know with the nation's airlines that they are having trouble getting what they would like to get for passengers and coach, but are getting the most money they ever have in the front of the airplane. Premium kind of seats, that kind of thing. The hotel industry seeing the same K economy effect. Restaurants seeing the same K economy. Ultra high end restaurants busy as they've ever been. Fast food restaurants not able to hold on to their customers. So now this is a problem. You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're having unusually wide income inequality right now in the United States. So when you shop there's a trend that's just absolutely clear and that is items that are everyday items. We're in a reversal of something we were having before. A couple of years ago, the have tos were going up quite a lot. A couple of years ago the want to items were sluggish. Now that process has reversed and you'll find like in a grocery store, you'll see that items that are not new and improved, items that are store brands, the prices are relatively, I don't want to say affordable, but significantly cheaper than the premium versions of whatever you're looking at because they're geared right now to different customers. When you're shopping for clothing, complete split right now where basics are more affordable than the premium versions of any kind of brand. And so when you are shopping, you're going to see this split if you're somebody who's really trying to make your money stretch. And there are wealthy people that routinely shop in discount kind of outlets, dollar stores, that kind of thing. And they're doing it because they're seeing better deals buying at stores that are geared towards people that, let's face it, are struggling to buy things they need, put food on the table, that kind of thing. So right now as a shopper, if you're paying close attention to the pricing of things, you're going to be able to get your dollars stretching much further when you buy the run of the mill items. Again, this is a total reversal of where we were just a couple of years ago with the have tos now being a better deal. And Walmart specifically is selectively pricing in their stores, pricing the have tos to people at even a loss if they need to, or very tight profit margins. And the want to's they're marking up more. So the want to items are subsidizing essentially the have to items. So when you're shopping, the more you avoid buying the thing, well, it says it's new and improved. The more money you're going to save. And it's just a side effect or a byproduct of this K. We're in with the economy.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

All right, we'll go to questions. Sarah in Florida sent you this one. Hi. I'm 23 years old and my goal is to buy a home within the next two to five years. I currently have $16,000 in the CD that matures next June and $30,000 in a high yield savings account.

[Clark Howard]

Wait a minute.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Wait, I know.

[Clark Howard]

2323. You've already saved in parking spaces almost $50,000. Okay.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

I've been considering moving the majority of the 30k into one or two more CDs to lock it in at a higher rate as the high yield savings interest rate has dropped several times this year. However, I'm wondering, is there anything else I can do to help this money grow more over the next few years? I want to make the most of this time so I can put a big down payment on my future home. And and P.S. i already have $14,000 set aside in a Roth IRA.

[Clark Howard]

Right? That's fantastic. So I hope you have your Roth IRA with one of my favorite children with a discount brokerage kind of thing. My three favorite children just Vanguard, Fidelity and Schwab. But there are others that have very low costs cause they all will place what are known as brokerage place CDs that will earn higher interest rates on those CDs than you can buy on your own. So if you're already a customer of one of the discount financial houses, don't place your CDs directly, place them through the brokerage. In answer to your question, yes, the trend for savers is not your friend. Interest rates are headed down. And so when you have money in a high yield savings account, high yield may become kind of like a joke kind of phrase. It's not funny because what you're going to earn is going to keep falling. So if you got money you can tie up like you are with a goal a couple or so years away buying a home, then lock it into a brokerage place CD to get the best you can for the next few years.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Russell in Georgia first starts out with a story. I love this Clark. 18 years ago I was working for a painting contractor and was often in my truck traveling from job to job listening to you. In 2007, right as the Great Recession was kicking off, the company I was working for dried up and they cut several of us to try and salvage the losses they were suffering from builders that were no longer paying their bills. I had heard on your show several times that a great paying job that didn't require a four year degree was nursing. I had just gotten engaged and was in need of a well paying career, but after shadowing a nurse for a few days, I recognized that wasn't going to work for me. However, while I was there I saw.

[Clark Howard]

Did you be a nurse?

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

I don't think so. No way. It's too hard. While I was there, I saw a lady zip into a patient's room, say her hellos, and then politely kick the family out of the way, position the patient, snap an X ray and then leave as fast as she got there. One look and I knew that was the job for me. Now, radiology doesn't pay the same as nursing, but it's still an above average living. Especially if you get a second certification like I have in mri. Like nursing. It's also a two year program and there are so many jobs in most hospitals that they're offering sign on bonuses. I'm sure it's the same in most of the country.

[Clark Howard]

I love that you got train wrecked by the Great Recession and the crash and building in the United States that we're still dealing with at this point with the housing shortage and you just got a whole new start in life that you're at all these years later and how fantastic is that? Medicine has so much opportunity with an aging population.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Now for my question, I caught your podcast on 403s and tried the site you provided, but it only shows advice for public school teachers. I work for a not for profit hospital and I'm stuck with a Roth 403 plan through an insurance company. They do offer Vanguard Target Date funds for investments and that's where I have been investing up to the company match until this year. But I'm looking ahead and this year my wife and I won't be able to contribute to our Roth IRAs outside of work because we'll make too much. In fact, we're going to have to remove what we've already contributed. Yes, I know. So sad for us, right? But it's a problem nonetheless. My wife works for the state and has a pension, so with that account we are extremely fortunate. How do I know what fees I'm paying to the insurance company? My investment will now be at about $1,000 a month into the Roth 403. What fee amount should I be under from the insurance company to decide if this is a good idea or if we should do the work to do the backdoor Roth IRA.

[Clark Howard]

So you're saving 12,000 a year. The Roth you can do seven. Unless you're past age 50, you can do the catch up. So your savings would drop if you did it. So insurance Companies that run 403 are very very sketch about disclosing all the expenses but if you ask for it, they have to provide it to you. So you contact the insurance company administrator and you want to know two things. You want to know the underlying fees for their administration of 403 and then what the expense ratio is on the Vanguard funds. You're in there will be a different flavor of Vanguard fund than what you would buy as a retail investor. And you want to add those two together. And you want it to be less than half of percent total for the administrative costs and whatever. If it's above 1%, if it's between half and one, you don't like it. But just do it because you're getting so much money in there. If it's more than 1% total, then I want you to go through the effort to do the backdoor Roth. Continue to put five grand into the 403 so that you're putting as much in you can and then do the rest through the backdoor Roth. Even though it's going to require more work because the fee drag. If you do your own Roth IRA, you're going to pay probably 7 basis points. Like 7100 of 1% or 10.10. You're going to pay like almost nothing in fees versus the rip off charges from an insurance company. But if it is better than I'm anticipating and it's below that half a percent, then just keep doing exactly what you're doing. Even up to. Even up to one. Just absorb those fees. But beyond that, yeah, you want to do the backdoor Roth.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Zach in Texas says on my latest what would Clark do adventure I was switching cell phone plans. I've always been hesitant to move to one of the non cartel providers, even the best one, even the ones backed by the big guys. Because of a bad experience in the past and my need for reliable service. Thankfully your cell phone plan finder took all of that into consideration. Long story short, I contacted T Mobile and asked for the saver plan listed on your website. It's been a hassle and they've tried repeatedly to steer me toward one of the other plans and different trade in values. But every time I Run the numbers the way you taught me. Multiplying extra expenses by 12 to 16. See the yearly cost. I realize I'm not saving money on their offers, so I have stuck with the saver plan. In the past, I probably would have just gone into a store and accepted whatever plan they told me was best or skipped the extra steps needed to save money. Your advice has changed the way I think about my finances and I truly appreciate the financial freedom I have gained as a result. I may not keep my razors for over a year or buy a lifetime supply of deodorant on clearance just to have it dry up, but I will keep enjoying life debt free and frugally as you have exemplified so well. Thank you so much, Clark. And I promise never, never, ever to call you Mr. Howard. Ha ha. Thought that was a fun one.

[Clark Howard]

So, cell phone stores. The employees are under so much pressure to sell you junk you don't want. That's why information is your friend. Walking in a cell phone store is your enemy. I mean, they're worse than what people's perception is of the proverbial used car salesman now at the mobile phone stores. And it's just they're not necessarily bad people. But the companies are putting such enormous pressure on them to lie to you. Just know that. Use our guide. Use somebody else's guide. Know your information and avoid in all circumstances unless you have to go into one of those stores. I'm telling you, they're a new Bermuda Triangle for your wallet. So do what you did because knowledge is power and you're saving money. You stayed with one of the big three cartel carriers, but you're still saving a ton of by going on the plan they offer. Isn't it funny? They offer a plan, but they don't want you to use it. And Verizon and AT&T do this as well where they offer these bargain plans, but they don't want you to actually use those bargain plans. It's up to you to know they're there, stay strong, and get the deal. Love it. That's said by Mr. Howard.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Speaking of cell phones.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah, speaking of cell phones. Thank you, Krista.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

You're welcome.

[Clark Howard]

We use them. Many of us, including me, use them way too much. And there are lots of strategies to get humanity back into your life instead of that phone. And I want to talk about why that's important and what are some of the things people are doing.

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[Clark Howard]

Wow. Okay, go to any restaurant from fast food to fancy and look at people together with other people breaking bread and what do you see? Instead of looking at each other, instead of talking to each other, they're all looking at their phones. I told a story years ago about these people who love throwing dinner parties, but before you go in to sit for dinner, they have a cell phone caddy and everybody has to put their phone in it. No phones allowed at the table. And more and more families are doing that where there's no phones allowed at the table. And now there's all these apps that are there to try to get people off their phones. And I use a simple one that tells me that harangues me if I'm using my cell phone too much and it pops up. An alert tells me to put it down. There are a bunch of these, so I don't know that I'm going to talk about specific ones. Then there's the things where people are going now to feature phones which are what they call nine smartphones or people are using programs to limit what functions their phone will do to keep them from getting that addiction. How about families going back to landlines in the house to get people away from their cell phones? I mean, there's all this stuff. There's. And I saw an item about how there's a thing running around college campuses campaign to get you to ditch your phone an hour at a time and just engage with other people. And we've talked a lot about all the public schools and some private ones that are banning phones during class time. And I happen to know some children, they're my kids who weren't paying attention in classes. And I knew they weren't paying attention in classes because they were texting me during their classes. Won't mention any kids who did that. I mean, this. This whole idea of the phone. The phone's awesome for so many things till it's too much. So more and more as a couple, Lane and I are, when we're together, putting the phones aside, putting them away, and just engaging with each other. Because it's kind of sad when you get together with somebody and instead of talking to each other, you're looking at your phone. Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing. So I'm not going to say, do this one or do that one. Go to a dumb phone instead of a smartphone feature phone, use one of these apps. I'm just saying, know thyself. If you're like, yeah, I'm on my phone every waking second. I sleep with my phone and I love it. Good, keep doing it. But if you recognize in you what I recognize in me, that I look at it too much, that I spend too much time with it consciously, you have to change when you're using it. And I've been able to. To meaningfully reduce it. Interfering with being with other people. And if that matters to you, you should think about. I threw out a bunch of different things people are doing. Find what works for you. What do you do?

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

I've been doing other things. Like at night, if I'm watching TV or whatever, I used to sometimes, like, play a game on my phone. Or in the morning, I might look through social media. I have, like, other little routines and things that I do instead. Or I'll knit with my hands while I'm watching tv. And then, yeah, when I'm with my people, when I'm out, you know, if I'm having dinner, I'm doing something, I'm taking a walk. I mean, I'm with them. So same thing. All right. We heard from Pavel in Nevada and Pavel says, hi, Clark, I know you recommend having a separate PC just for banking and nothing else. I keep getting emails from Vanguard urging me to download their mobile app, claiming it can boost my account security. What do you think?

[Clark Howard]

They're right. I'd say all the financial apps are superior to being on your own laptop. I think it is a superior platform with your bank, credit union, brokerage house, mutual fund company, whatever, to use their app more than using a computer. There's. Computers by their very nature are such open systems. There's such vulnerability with them that is not as present on either a Chromebook or especially with an app supplied by your financial house, like in the case of Vanguard with their thing. And have you noticed with all the financial institutions now, they're sending continuous warnings about don't do this, don't do that, don't do the other. Because so many customers are getting conned by hackers who are convincing you that they are your financial institution. And as they all say with the text, like, I think I got one last night from Vanguard about never sharing the code with anybody. They're doing that because so many people are sharing the codes. But, oh, and here's one from Schwab. Watch out for scams all in caps. They're shouting at me, don't share this security code with anyone. Then in all caps again, even if they claim to be from Schwab, your code for online login is don't share it.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Don't do it. It's probably, probably expired by now, though. All right. Melody in Georgia says, I began long term life insurance about five years ago. The premiums are almost $4,000 a year and continue to increase. I don't think I will be able to afford this in 10 years. If I cancel my policy today, do I get any money back?

[Clark Howard]

Okay, so you said long term life insurance.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Long term care. I think it's long term care insurance. She started, she bought a policy four years ago and those premiums are going up, climbing.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah. So this why, Melody, long term care insurance has become a completely broken market. And that's not just today. It's been broken for a generation now because the premiums are not guaranteed. And so the insurers actuarially messed up on what losses would be. It's terrible. That one you would have bought five years ago still didn't have sound actuarial practice. So you're right. If you keep paying in, the premiums may spiral to the point where you can't afford it anymore and you get nothing for it. If you know that that is the reality of your life, that 10 years from now you just aren't possibly going to be able to afford the premiums, you're in a real bind that so many millions of Americans have found themselves. I don't know how old you are, what your health is. This is a tough one because if you're close to a point where you might need long term care, not paying, letting the policy die is a real problem because you bought it for a reason to provide for that coverage. But if you are many years from it, just treat the 20 grand as lost money. It's just spent money and next play because you can't do anything about it with the premiums going up, up and away. The insurer is in a position to do that. All they want to do as people have experience. So make the decision specifically on your personal circumstance. If your health is iffy at this point, you're closer to where you want it. Suck it up and keep paying the premiums as long as you can. If that's a distant issue for you, fail.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Dan in Ohio says, hi guys, love the show and all your financial advice. What do you think about the Acorns early debit card for a 10 year old? Would you recommend a different card?

[Clark Howard]

So it's funny you asked this because when you and I talked about it before, I thought it was a terrible idea and you thought, oh no, this is okay. I hate the fee. It's a minimum 60 bucks a year for this debit card for kids. I.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Green light was another one too. Green light's another one that does this. I did that with my kids. Yeah.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah. And I didn't like it when you were doing that.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

No, you didn't.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah. So I, I hate the level of fees with the ACORNS one or with. I didn't remember the green light example. So what I want you to think about instead is through a credit union that you're a member of because credit unions often offer youth accounts that are free. And if you're usaa, USAA Federal Savings bank offers a youth account that's free and comes with a debit card. I know that the ACORNS thing is about you being able to post money into it.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

It's not really. I mean, I think there's a lot of, there's a lot of kid friendly stuff in these cards. Let me just say this. Why shouldn't you pay someone for a service that's teaching your kids? To me, it was like A class because you can have them check off when they do chores and then they get their allowance based on when they do their work. It's software, you know, you're paying for someone who develops software. They can only spend money at certain stores they have. I mean it is a teaching, you know, to me that's, you know, $60 is an expensive book, but if it's kid friendly app and that's the way they learn and we talked about the smartphones, I don't know, I think that some people might find it worth it.

[Clark Howard]

I just don't like it. Okay, so you could easily, if you had a credit union account with a debit card, you could deposit money into it. When a kid does chores, you could do those things. The idea of this is, this is you're paying the money for the teaching.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Modules, essentially your kid participating and seeing it and using it.

[Clark Howard]

I'm just too cheap. So this was Point Counterpoint years and years ago. They used to do that two generations ago, I guess on 60 Minutes.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Oh really?

[Clark Howard]

They had a thing called Point Counterpoint. So that was a live version. Yeah. Of that. So I don't get it. Krista does. She made her points, I made mine. Hers are obviously right.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Anyway, please, lots of people will disagree with me. The Clarkey's.

[Clark Howard]

No, it's just fine. So I got something that people are going to think really stinks. We're going to give Clark Stinks a vacation this Friday because right now we have a real imbalance with far more general questions people are asking than beefs people are posting. So every once in a while we'll have that imbalance. And so we're going to skip Clark Stinks this Friday and then you can just store them up or the following Friday when Clark Stinks will be back. So I just told you what's going to happen Friday. It's going to be a regular podcast, regular YouTube show. No, Clark Stinks. And I know that stinks.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Well, I'll say also the reason, one of the reasons is last month our podcast feed was essentially down for a week. And so the only Clark Stinks that came in for that entire week were about the feed. So yeah, we have a lot of questions to get to and it'll come back next week.

[Clark Howard]

You do not know how much time we spent dealing with the technology vendor we deal with who just didn't seem to care that we were having technical problems from them bringing the podcast to you. The YouTube show was working fine, but the podcast was not.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

And sorry about that, everyone.

[Clark Howard]

We're really sorry and we feel really badly about it. And it was one of those things. We were basically powerless to do anything about it. So really sorry about that. If there was a way, I don't even know how we would prevent it.

[Caller/Guest/Krista]

Yeah.

[Clark Howard]

From happening because it was, it was one of those things that was with capabilities we can't do in house. So anyway, that's why we're catching up on all the questions on Friday. And know that we are here to serve you so many different ways. If you live in one of the markets where I'm on radio and television every day, we're glad to bring you empowerment that way. On our websites, clark.com and clarkdeals.com our newsletters, free newsletters. And everything is about in a world where you don't know what to trust, where to trust, where to go to give you advice that not only is information, that it is my belief in my heart, my head that we're giving you information that you can believe in, but also that you can act upon so that you can save more and spend less and avoid getting ripped off. And we'll see you on Friday.