
Choose Lifelong Learning / Supporting Adult Children
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Clark Howard
Be good for one second. You're the devil.
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Clark Howard
Perfect.
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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. And I'm going to begin today's show with something that I am so into life long learning and later, something I don't think is awesome, paying expenses for your adult children. The numbers are mind blowing. But right now I want to talk about something. You cannot pick up a newspaper virtually any day. Yeah, they still exist, but I'm really referring to reading them online and not see some story about Armageddon for the job market because of AI. And this company's laying off 30,000 people and this one's laying off 48,000. And this company's implementing a hiring freeze. And on like that. And always in the story. It's all AI all the time. And so it's a lot of insecurity for us as workers. You know what's going to happen? What am I going to do? Is my job on the line? Am I a sitting duck? This is a story that has played out over the years in so many jobs, so many industries, so many skills. What's different this time is everybody's talking about it. In the past, things that have made your job right sized. Who ever came up with that Orwellian title for saying you were getting booted out the door that your job's being right sized man? Anyway, this is a time we have fair warning where usually we don't, that the nature of work Changes all the time. I remember 20 years ago there was a stat that came out that 70% of the jobs that existed in 1985 did not exist in 2005. I've not seen a stat over these last 20 years, but the point is valid and key. It's like my son who's training to be a commercial airline pilot and at the same time is getting a bachelor's in finance. And so what he wants to do for his career is he wants to go fly for an airline. But he also recognizes the changes with technology and that eventually that job that he's going to have in his early 20s is not going to exist by the end of his working lifetime. He's got to know how to do something else. This was his own choice. It was not me or my wife pushing him to get a second skill. But I want you to think about this concept that for some people is just a natural thing because they love it, but for most of it it's not. And that's the lifelong learning kind of thing. You don't want to be sitting there waiting to get run over by changes in the workplace. You've got to be prepared. And if you work for a mid size or larger company, they will have and have all kinds of free training you can take. Many of them will have free programs where you can go get another degree. And I know we're busy with our lives and a lot of us are like, last thing I want to do is go get in a classroom. What kind of crazy idea is that? And if you've listened to me or watched me for a long time, you know this stat I'm about to share with you. If you've never heard it, I want it to sink in with you. So when I was in college, I worked for IBM as a bill collector and IBM had a free program to get additional education. So I enrolled in an MBA program and all I had to do was get a B. A B as in Bravo or better an A or a B in a class and they paid for it. I got a C. It was on me. Did I get better grades than I had traditionally gotten? But the facility I was in for IBM was a smaller IBM facility. Had under a thousand people, not a lot under a thousand. But in that entire facility, two of us took advantage of free education. Two people. Nobody else could be bothered. I can't even begin to tell you what that degree I got on IBM's dime, what that did for me over the years. I mean, it's amazing. I still remember My IBM employee number. By the way, that was funny back then. We were never identified on any form by our name. We were only identified by our employee number. That's really personal.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
I'm glad it wasn't your Social Security number, which back then might have been practice.
Clark Howard
It was a six digit employee number. So I'll go, I'll. When I meet somebody used to work at IBM, I say I just state my number and then they come right back without any pause with their employee number.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
I've witnessed it.
Clark Howard
You've seen that happen before. But the point is change is constant and we're talking about AI now. It's going to be something else five years from now, 10 years from now, and there's going to be things we don't even talk about that will change the nature and scope of work and what we do. That's why you don't just want to see yourself as what you are. You need to think about what else you might enjoy in life. And particularly if you have an option or access to free training where you work, free education from where you work, grab it. And if you don't have access to free education, a lot of programs are out there where you can audit classes for free. Take advantage of that, whatever you can do, so that as change happens, you are prepared to change with it.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
All right, we've got some questions here for you. The first one is from Corey in North Carolina. Hi Clark. My job is currently moving away from PTO paid time off to RTO responsible time off. Yeah, I'm leery about this as I feel this could be a way to make employees use less time than what they already have. I've been here for 10 plus years and I'm at four weeks. When this gets implemented, I'd plan to still use my four weeks as to not abuse this and out of fear that any more would be abuse. Just like to get your thoughts about this and if you've heard of other companies doing it.
Clark Howard
Yeah, it's funny Corey, I'm so naive. When companies first started implementing unlimited time off and it was up to you to use your own judgment, and that's what RCO is, is another term for unlimited time off. The assumption was that this was really neat, employers trusting you to get your work done. But the result has been that people take a lot less time off than they might be entitled to. And already people who have traditional pto, overwhelmingly people don't use all their paid time off over the course of a year. You know, life is not a sprint. Life's a marathon. You want to enjoy life as you go through it. And I'm with you. Take your four weeks. Take them. And know that your employer is not offering RTO as a replacement out of the goodness of their heart. It's not a charitable event.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
Okay. And that's a good reminder. You know, it's December. You might have some time off that you haven't used it.
Clark Howard
That's going to burn that time off. Go use that time off.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
Unless you can carry it over and then you want.
Clark Howard
Okay, let's talk about carryover.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
What?
Clark Howard
All right, so we addressed this because we had a question about it a few months ago. In most cases, if you leave a job or an employer dumps you, the unused paid time off, there's no state requirement in most states that you get paid for that. So if you're not sure you want to stay somewhere, you're not sure they're going to keep you there. Use your time off. Okay.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
Adam in Colorado says. I'm curious about Clark's thoughts about LifeLock. Back in 2021, we refinanced our mortgage, and after a data breach of our lender, both my wife and I had our identities and Social Security numbers compromised.
Clark Howard
Oh, boy.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
We've had a few scares and have since frozen our credit files, locked our sims, and we also use a password manager to ensure we have unique encrypted passwords for all sites and apps we use. For the last four years, we've been paying for LifeLock, but I haven't seen any real value. You'd be pleased to know that we at least get 50% off our subscriptions via our AARP membership. But I'd love to know your opinion on the true value and ROI is an expense worth continuing to pay for, no?
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Yeah.
Clark Howard
I mean, you've done so many active things to protect your and your wife's identity. You don't need LifeLock. I would discontinue it. Save the money. I want to mention the three things you've done, because freezing your credit, that's. That's like base. Everybody needs to freeze their credit files, period. There's no exception to that. Locking yourself, very important. I was just talking with one of our team members and our Consumer Action center who took a call from someone today where all their problems started from somebody swiping their cell phone service and getting the ability for two factor authentication going to the crook instead of them. It's very easy. Each cell phone provider has a different way of doing it. You want to lock that SIM so that somebody can't in the middle of the night steal your number. And then you're calling and scratching, trying to protect your identity and the money you have. And then the third thing, using a password manager. I love using one. I use a free one from Google, but you use a. Do you still use a paid one?
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
Yeah, I do.
Clark Howard
Who do you use? LastPass.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
LastPass. Yep.
Clark Howard
And so having unique passwords at every site you go to is so valuable. You're doing all three of those things. You don't need to spend the money on LifeLock.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
Joseph in Indiana says. Hey, Clark, love the podcast. Why do you never talk about gate checking a bag? It saves money and you don't have to fight with the overhead bin when the bag doesn't fit.
Clark Howard
Okay, Joseph, it's a great suggestion because of all the baggage charges that airlines have come up with for checking a bag. It was funny. I was on a flight and a woman comes on with a bag that is clearly way too big to go in an overhead bin, and she's trying to get in the bin. It's not gonna go. And I can't believe she made it past the gate agent. Gate, please. Coming on the plane with it. But what was really interesting is what you said. The flight attendant said, ma', am, we're happy to check that bag for you for free. Would that be okay with you? And she said, sure, because she was just trying to get this on the plane so she didn't have to pay the $35 charge to check a bag. And it does work really well for people who don't mind having their bag checked. It's a great way around having to pay. Coming up ahead. Speaking of something that parents don't seem to have a way around that's paying for their adult children. And I want to talk about how common that is and what the implications are.
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Clark Howard
All right, we gotta have a talk here. Savings.com does a survey they've been doing each year for years. I talked about it a couple years ago, didn't talk about it last year. Shows that roughly half of parents are providing financial support to their adult children. Average amount almost 20 grand a year that parents are giving to their adult children. That's a lot of money. But the interesting part on top of it is that a very large percent of those parents say that it is impacting their own financial well being that they're giving enough money that it's beyond where it just hurts a little. It's actually hurting their ability to live the life they want to live. So what kind of things are parents paying for for their adult kids? Okay, so this won't shock you at all. And this one you might not even think about is something that would be weird. Parents pay for their adult kids cell phones and it's because of the family plan kind of stuff. That's something that happens 2/3 of the time. Not a huge expense. But also if money's tight for you as a parent paying for your kid's cell phone when they're well into adulthood, it's a little questionable. But listen to this. Now remember, roughly half of the parents giving money to adult children say the money they're giving is actually hurting Their finances. Okay. Half of the money is going to pay for vacations that the adult kids are taking. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. If your kid can't afford to buy groceries, that's something else. And that is, by the way, the largest thing that parents do for their adult kids is help them with groceries. But I'm really worried about the idea. Let's say. Let's say you are parent who's tempted to give money to an adult child. All right? So one rule. Never ever give an adult child enough money that they don't feel like they have to work. That's a problem. I actually know a couple of people who never worked a day in their lives because they just got money from their parents through their entire adult lives. Really?
Commercial/Ad Announcer
Wow.
Clark Howard
Okay. I mean, never enough to lose incentive to have ambition, to have independence. And there are parents who like having. Let's face it, there are some parents who like having some control there on their kids when they're adults. But the big thing here is not when it's done as maybe a manipulation or something like that, or when it takes away incentive to work. It's when the money you're giving to a kid, an adult, impacts your ability to pay your bills, live the life you want to. And so I think there's got to be ground rules where you can help out an adult child when they hit a rough patch. Maybe they're going through a divorce, maybe they lost their job. Episodic help. I think that's reasonable for a family member if they can afford it, to help out an adult child when there's an episodic event. But for it just to be routine, to give an adult child 20 grand a year, I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with that.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
Yeah. Okay, let's go to questions.
Clark Howard
Okay. Why did I talk about this?
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
Well, I think a lot of parents feel guilty, like, want to do, you know, I mean, how did you know.
Clark Howard
I was going to that whole. Guilty. Yeah. I want. I want you to toughen up and have that confidence and courage to say to your adult child, you know, I really can't afford to keep doing this.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
Yeah. I mean, it teaches them. I think your audience is probably going to very much agree with you on this. Like, you want to teach them self sufficiency. All right. Joanne in Kentucky wrote into you and said, when my grandson was 16 and working, I opened a custodial Roth IRA for him at Fidelity. And when he turned 18 this year, it was transferred to him. I put in $100 a month. I told him I will add $100 a month until he graduates from college and gets his first real job. He was blessed to receive a D1 full scholarship to play football at an FCS school.
Clark Howard
Wow.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
College football is a full time job. So between school and work and football, he will not be working. There isn't any nil money for freshmen at the university, which would be considered income if he received it. Therefore, I won't be able to add the $100 a month to his Roth. I want to continue with this $100 monthly contribution. If the money can't go into a Roth, would you recommend it go into a cash management account, brokerage account, or something else? I was thinking a cash management account so he could easily transfer it to his Roth IRA when he does have earned income. I would like to hear your thoughts.
Clark Howard
Yeah, so that's fine. You're parking the money till he has a job at 18, 19 when he's a sophomore, and then he's got the, hopefully the nil money and then can do the Roth. But you could also do this. You could open a Fidelity investment account and put it into just one of the fidelity 0 funds and add that money to it every month for him. And even though it won't be tax free like the Roth, it will still have very favorable tax treatment. That money could be used maybe someday for a down payment on a house or something like that. And then once he's got earned income, you stop contributing to the zero fund, which has no expenses, no commissions, and you go back to putting money into the Roth ira.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
All right. Chris in Missouri says, my wife and I are in our early 40s and earn around 220k a year. We contribute 15 to 20% and an additional employer match of 8% to our traditional 401 case. And we have nearly $8,000 saved our employee. No, not $8,800,000 saved. I'm sorry. Our employer offers a Roth 401k and we're considering starting contributions in 26. I know you always preach the power of Roth. My question is, by beginning the Roth contributions next year, could that impact the long term gains we would have made in our current traditional 401k accounts? If we're no longer adding to the balances of the existing traditional 401k, could that reduce the power of compounding interest in these accounts in the long run?
Clark Howard
No. No, no. So what will happen here, Chris, if you switch starting in 26 and you're doing Roth 401k all the money in your traditional 401k continues to grow or shrink each year depending on how the market does. But all you're doing, don't think of the Roth 401K as if you're penalizing the traditional. The point is, you're still continuing 401k contributions in the Roth. It's just a different flavor of 401k. And then what it means is that over the years you build up tax free money in the Roth, taxable money eventually in the traditional 401k, and having money in both the traditional and the Roth is great anyway. And now you're going to start building up the roth version of 401k. As long as you're mirroring what you invest in in both, the impact is non existent.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
All right, this is from Alex in Florida. I recently applied for a Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. After following the very helpful instructions on clark.com for thawing my credit reports, I filled out the online application, which consisted of surprisingly few questions. The next morning I had a voicemail from an 800 number. The caller stated they were with Chase Bank's fraud department, calling to verify my application and leaving a reference number. Unfortunately, this voicemail sounded almost identical to the dozens of Scan loan approval voicemails I get every week. Panicked, I did a Google search of the number and to my horror, there were just as many people saying it was a scam as there were saying it was legit. I could find no reference for it on Chase's website. Fully panicked, I assumed I had filled out a form on a scam website instead of the real application form. And then I just handed over my personal info to scammers on a silver platter. I finally found a customer service number on Chase's site, which I called and was equally horrified to find out I had to enter my Social Security number. When I spoke to a live person, the person asked me to provide the same same information I had entered into the application and they stated my voice may be recorded for ID purposes. Oh, I presume they were verifying my identity, but I had no way to verify who I was talking to, resigning myself that my information was probably already for sale on the dark web. Anyway, I answered the person's questions. At the end of the call, the polite operator tried to transfer me to a different team to assist me. Oh no, isn't that what scammers do when they're already ready to close the deal? I thought she wasn't able to transfer me, so she gave me a different phone number to call I googled that number and several forms revealed it was the Chase Credit Card Reconsideration Line. I called and the person told me I was approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and that a welcome packet would be making its way to me by mail. I was relieved that the calls were apparently legit. But I got to wondering why the bank was able to ask all those questions to verify who they were talking to. But we, the caller, are pretty much left in the dark about who we're really speaking to. The idea occurred to me that maybe callers could be given a one time use code over the phone by the phone operator that the caller could enter into a box on the bank's website, which, if the code was legitimate, would provide information about the call and the call taker and confirm to the caller that he or she was indeed speaking with the real bank or financial institution. Do you know if any banks or financial institutions use this kind of two way verification that lets callers confirm to whom they are speaking? Anyway, thanks for all the helpful advice over the years. Your podcasts are the perfect length to accompany my dog and I on our evening stroll. I can't wait to start using my new Sapphire Preferred card. You're having a good walk, Alex? Catch your dog for us.
Clark Howard
Alex. That is quite a story. I mean, it's true. It's so hard to know that the number you're calling is a legitimate number, that the people you're talking to are legit. And I completely identify with the paranoia and it is a real problem. I had a message left for me. I have a Chase card, got a message left for me by Chase and I'm like, this is probably phone.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
Yeah, right.
Clark Howard
So I, I didn't call back the number that called me. I flipped over my Chase card and called the number on the back of it and it turned out it was a legitimate call.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
Right. Of course, Alex didn't have the card yet.
Clark Howard
Right? Yeah, but it's so hard because you know what's terrible is if you do get spoofed by somebody and scammed by them, the banks treat it like it's your problem, your fault, because you help the crooks do it. You're right. It would be great to come up with a system. Okay, creative, inventive people out there, let's see if we can come up with an inventive system that would help you as a consumer know that you're actually talking to the real people.
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
I love Alex's idea. Like you go to, in this case chase.com and there's a button right there saying, no, you. The person on the phone has to give you a code, right? You go to the website and you, you click the button that says speaking to a Chase representative. You know, enter your code here. You put the code in and they say, yes, this is a representative. So and so, you know, whatever. Like, I think that's good because you have to type in the website for the bank. You know, you don't let the caller tell you some random website to go to.
Commercial/Ad Announcer
Right?
Clark Howard Show Co-host or Producer
I don't know. I think that's a good one.
Clark Howard
That is a great suggestion. The hard part is getting the banks to care. I know, because they just want whatever goes wrong, they just want it to be your problem. And that's a shame. But I love that you're being cautious, careful, knowing that it's so easy for scamsters to con us into giving up information that can really hurt us. And in your case, you really get to enjoy the Chase Sapphire preferred card, which of the travel cards that have an annual fee of around a hundred bucks, it is by far the best, in my opinion. So you made a great choice. And it's just too bad that we have to deal with so many con artists, criminals out there and worry about that. All right? So I hope that you have a wonderful rest of your day and know that coming up on Friday, Clark Stinks is back after its holiday hiatus last Friday. So you'll get a chance to let me know where I could have done a better job, where you think I'm just plain dumb. You wish I'd given different advice. It's so helpful to me, so helpful to your fellow listeners and viewers. If you got a beef with me, go to clark.com clarkstinks and post away. Because we're all part of this together. We're all learning together. We're all empowering each other together to save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off again. I'll see you Friday.
Episode Title: Choose Lifelong Learning / Supporting Adult Children
Date: December 3, 2025
Host: Clark Howard
Theme: The value of lifelong learning in an era of rapid workplace change, and the financial and personal impacts of supporting adult children. Plus, listener Q&A on personal finance.
In this episode, Clark Howard emphasizes the necessity of ongoing education and adaptability amidst the constantly shifting job landscape—especially as AI changes the workplace. He shares personal experiences and advice for taking advantage of employer-sponsored or free educational opportunities. In the second major segment, Clark examines the growing trend of parents financially supporting adult children, unpacking the economic and emotional consequences of this phenomenon. The episode is rich with practical advice, relatable stories, and audience questions.
[01:11–07:50]
“In that entire facility, two of us took advantage of free education. Two people. Nobody else could be bothered. I can’t even begin to tell you what that degree I got on IBM’s dime, what that did for me over the years.” (05:38 – Clark Howard)
[07:50–09:39]
“Life is not a sprint. Life’s a marathon. You want to enjoy life as you go through it. And I’m with you. Take your four weeks. Take them.” (08:13)
[10:06–12:17]
“You’ve done so many active things to protect your and your wife’s identity. You don’t need LifeLock. I would discontinue it. Save the money.” (10:46)
[12:17–13:39]
[15:52–19:44]
“Never ever give an adult child enough money that they don’t feel like they have to work. That’s a problem.” (18:14)
[19:47–20:07]
“I want you to toughen up and have that confidence and courage to say to your adult child, you know, I really can’t afford to keep doing this.” (19:54)
[20:07–22:10]
[22:10–23:57]
[23:57–28:34]
“Creative, inventive people out there, let’s see if we can come up with an inventive system that would help you as a consumer know that you’re actually talking to the real people.” (28:02)
On Change and Self-Reliance:
“Change is constant and we’re talking about AI now. It’s going to be something else five years from now, 10 years from now… That’s why you don’t just want to see yourself as what you are. You need to think about what else you might enjoy in life.” (06:52)
On Supporting Adult Children:
“Routine, large-scale support for adult children is risky. Never ever give an adult child enough money that they don’t feel like they have to work.” (18:14)
Listener Frustration with Bank Verifications:
“We, the caller, are pretty much left in the dark about who we’re really speaking to… It would be great to come up with a system…” (26:45)
This episode is a practical guide to thriving in uncertain times, blending Clark Howard’s characteristic mix of personal anecdote, humor, and clear, actionable advice. The key takeaways: Always keep learning, use your benefits, be prudent with financial support for adult children, and stay alert to scams. Clark’s advice empowers listeners to prioritize their own financial health and independence—for themselves and their families.
Listen & Learn More:
For more tips, resources, and to ask your own questions, visit Clark.com or check out ClarkDeals.com.