12.19.24 SAVE On Internet Service / American Train Travel

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast: SAVE On Internet Service / American Train Travel
Episode Date: December 19, 2024

---

Introduction

In this episode of The Clark Howard Podcast, host Clark Howard delves into two primary topics: reducing expenses on home internet services and the burgeoning potential of train travel in the United States. Throughout the episode, Clark addresses listener questions, offering practical financial advice and insights into evolving consumer landscapes.

---

1. Saving on Home Internet Services

[01:00] The High Cost of Home Internet

Clark Howard opens the discussion by highlighting the increasing costs associated with home internet services. He criticizes major providers like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast (Xfinity) for their monopolistic practices and escalating prices. Clark points out that these companies often lure customers with "teaser" rates for high-speed internet, only to hike prices substantially after the promotional period ends.

Key Points:

• Monopolistic Practices: Major ISPs dominate local markets, limiting consumer choices.
• Teaser Rates: Initial low prices for high-speed internet that spike after the introductory period.
• Unnecessary Speed: Most households do not require gigabit speeds, making expensive plans unnecessary.

[05:00] Affordable Alternatives

Clark introduces more budget-friendly alternatives to traditional cable and phone company internet services. He emphasizes the emergence of Google's G Fiber, which undercuts traditional providers by 20-30%. Additionally, he highlights Verizon's wireless home internet and T-Mobile's expanding home internet offerings as cost-effective options that, while offering lower speeds, are sufficient for typical household usage.

Notable Quote:
"Unless you're a gamer who really needs that enormous capacity, you're fine at 300 megabits or even 100 megabits. You can stream all you want without wasting your money on exorbitant speeds." — Clark Howard [05:45]

[06:30] Conclusion on Internet Savings

Clark advises listeners to evaluate their actual internet needs and consider switching to slower, more affordable plans if they meet their usage requirements. By doing so, consumers can potentially save over $100 annually on their home internet bills.

---

2. The Revival of American Train Travel

[17:22] The Potential of Rail Travel in Congested Corridors

Transitioning from internet savings, Clark discusses the growing congestion in major metropolitan corridors and the corresponding rise in interest for train travel as a viable alternative. He cites the example of Brightline, a privately funded rail service operating in Florida and expanding to California and Texas. Clark underscores the inefficiencies of air and car travel in these regions, advocating for the development of high-speed, reliable rail systems to alleviate traffic congestion and provide a dependable transportation option.

Key Points:

• Brightline’s Expansion: Successful privately financed rail projects in Florida and Los Angeles-Las Vegas corridors.
• Congested Corridors: High traffic volumes in areas like Texas (Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston) and the Northeast.
• Benefits of Rail: Reduces reliance on unpredictable car travel and inconvenient short-haul flights.

Notable Quote:
"High-speed, reliable rail as an alternative to getting on an airplane or getting in your car with the big question mark of traffic – that's the kind of innovation we need." — Clark Howard [17:45]

[21:36] Listener Interaction on Train Travel

Listener Krista shares her enthusiasm for trains, recounting her experience riding the Maglev in Shanghai and the Shinkansen in Japan. Clark acknowledges the efficiency and speed of international train systems, contrasting them with the current state of American rail infrastructure.

Notable Quote:
"In America, we need to rethink our approach because many Americans feel like we just don't do things as well as we used to. We can achieve the same efficiency; we just need to focus on it." — Clark Howard [22:05]

---

3. Listener Questions and Answers

Throughout the episode, Clark addresses several listener inquiries, providing tailored advice on financial matters.

a. Investing Tax Withholdings

[07:31] Kip from Utah's Query:
Kip considers stopping tax withholdings to invest the withheld amount in a high-yield savings account, intending to pay taxes from this separate fund.

Clark's Response: Clark warns against this approach, explaining that the IRS imposes underpayment penalties with an effective interest rate exceeding 8%, making the strategy financially detrimental despite potential high-yield savings returns.

Notable Quote:
"The IRS charges you over 8% interest on your tax bill due to underpayment of withholding. Have your employer withhold taxes; there's no free lunch here." — Clark Howard [07:51]

b. Tracking Household Net Worth

[08:40] Steve from Missouri's Inquiry:
Steve asks whether tracking household net worth is important or a waste of time.

Clark's Response: Clark advocates for annually tracking net worth, emphasizing its role in setting and achieving financial independence goals. He suggests creating a simple statement of assets and liabilities to monitor financial progress over time.

Notable Quote:
"Having a household statement of assets and liabilities gives you a roadmap and helps with goal setting. It's like taking your financial temperature each year." — Clark Howard [09:01]

c. Amazon Prime Trial Fraud Issue

[11:11] Rex from Indiana's Concern:
Rex describes a problematic experience with Amazon's Prime trial, where unauthorized purchases led to requests for a government-issued ID to process refunds.

Clark's Advice: Clark acknowledges the frustration but explains that Amazon's customer service requires ID verification to prevent fraud. He advises weighing the $55 against the risk and suggests complying if comfortable with the minimal risk.

Notable Quote:
"Decide the value of the $55 versus the remote possibility that something bad happens from supplying the ID." — Clark Howard [12:15]

d. Saving for a Home

[22:19] Richard from Delaware's Question:
Richard seeks advice on where to stash savings for a home purchase planned in three years, debating between investing, CDs, or high-yield savings accounts.

Clark's Recommendation: Clark recommends placing the funds in a high-yield online savings account or a brokerage money market account with firms like Vanguard, Schwab, or Fidelity. He advises against investing in the stock market or opting for CDs given the uncertain interest rate environment.

Notable Quote:
"Put the money in an online savings account where you can earn roughly 5%, instead of locking it into CDs or the low returns of traditional banks." — Clark Howard [22:39]

e. Gifting Money to Children

[24:47] Jamie from Georgia's Query:
Jamie seeks the best method to gift $500 to each of her children, aged 8 to 12, with the intent that the money not be accessible until their mid-20s.

Clark's Suggestion: Clark suggests establishing custodial investment accounts at discount brokers like Fidelity. He advocates for investing in low-cost index funds, which offer growth potential over time, while also serving as an educational tool for children to learn about investing.

Notable Quote:
"Use a custodial investment account at a discount broker and invest in a Fidelity Zero fund, providing long-term growth and a teaching opportunity for your kids." — Clark Howard [25:20]

f. Target's Secure Gift Card System

[26:46] Elise from Massachusetts Shares:
Elise commends Target's new system where gift cards require cashier activation with unique codes, reducing theft opportunities.

Clark's Reaction: Clark praises Target's initiative to combat gift card fraud, highlighting its effectiveness in preventing unauthorized access and enhancing customer trust.

Notable Quote:
"It's a great idea to cut down on gift card theft. This step from Target is a move in the right direction to prevent gift card draining." — Clark Howard [27:19]

---

Conclusion

In this episode, Clark Howard offers valuable strategies for reducing monthly expenses, particularly focusing on home internet services, and explores the promising future of train travel in managing urban congestion. Through addressing listener questions, Clark provides actionable financial advice, reinforcing his mission to empower consumers to make informed financial decisions.

Upcoming Topics:

• Addressing metro congestion and the role of rail travel.
• Continued exploration of cost-saving measures and consumer advice.

Engage with Clark: Listeners are encouraged to submit questions and join the conversation at www.clark.com/askclark.

---

This summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from The Clark Howard Podcast episode aired on December 19, 2024, providing a comprehensive overview for both regular listeners and newcomers.

Transcript

[Gemini]

This episode is brought to you by Google Gemini. With the Gemini app, you can talk live and have a real time conversation with an AI assistant. It's great for all kinds of things like if you want to practice for an upcoming interview, ask for advice on things to do in a new city, or brainstorm creative ideas. And by the way, this script was actually read by Gemini. Download the Gemini app for iOS and Android today. Must be 18 to use Gemini Live.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. You know, one of the perks about having four kids that you know about is actually getting a direct line to big man up north. And this year he wants you to know the best gift that you can give someone is the gift of Mint Mobile's unlimited wireless for $15 a month. Now you don't even need to wrap it. Give it a [e-mail] switch $45 upfront.

[Gemini]

Payment required equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first 3 month plan only taxes and fees, extra speed slower above 40 gigabytes on unlimited. See mintmobile.com for details.

[Clark Howard]

It's great to have you here on the Clark Howard show, where is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. I want to talk about one of the monthly expenses that there's a shift going on right before our eyes and there are things you can do today that will save you money. I'm going to tell you how your home Internet is like a hole in your wallet and how to close that hole. And coming up later. So I get a lot of questions from people that are more like complaints. Why don't I talk about train travel? Because I almost never talk about train travel. But there's actually improvements going on in the Northeast corridor, believe it or not, with train service and a few other places in the United States. I want to talk about that because air travel is actually slowing down while travel by rail is starting to speed up. So Internet connections, you got all the Internet providers? Well, when I say, oh, we got the cable monster that provides Internet, maybe on your street, your home, and then we may have a local monopoly phone company offering Internet and they're a little bit tweetly d tweedledum, they have been pushing higher and higher speeds, creating this perception in our minds that we need these faster and faster Internet services in order to do all the things we want to do in our home. What do they do along with that? They keep moving the price per month higher and higher. Now, particularly the largest phone company in the United States for local phone service, AT&T for home Internet through a phone company. Verizon's kind of behind them on that. And then Comcast, the largest player using the Xfinity brand, they both love to do these teaser deals offering you Internet, often at what they call one gig service. And then after a period of time, the price goes crazy and they hope for inertia that when it goes from whatever that teaser rate is, that you'll suddenly pay them a fortune per month for that home Internet connection. So what's become really clear though is that you don't normally have that need for speed that you're paying that huge amount per month for, in many cases more than $100 a month for that home Internet connection. Well, let me give you some reasons why you don't need it in many cases. First of all, in terms of buying it from the cable monster or the local monopoly phone company. In more and more communities around the country, Google is building out what they call G fiber. And they tend to undercut the cable monster and the local monopoly phone company by about 20 to 30%. But that's not the big savings. The big savings are coming from Verizon's wireless service and to a bigger extent T Mobile with the T mobile home product that used to be available in very limited places in the United States and now is so many others. And then the Verizon wireless version that is available in more and more places in the United States. And neither of these run at the kind of speeds that are the ones pushed by Google's G Fiber, your cable monster, or the local monopoly phone company, but at a much cheaper price per month. And the reality is the cable companies are scared and they are starting to offer slower speed Internet as a defense against the T mobile offering and the Verizon wireless offering for home Internet. And they're now offering speeds. A lot of times they'll have a promotional thing where you can get 300, it's called megabits service and one gigabit and at 30 bucks a month. And this is to try to fight back against these interlopers coming in to their business. And let me tell you, here's what you do, unless you're a gamer where you really have that need for the enormous capacity, you're fine at that 300, you are fine at 100 megabits. You can stream all you want. I can tell you something. We used to have a vacation cottage in a rural area and the fastest Internet we could get and there was no T mobile home there was no Verizon Wireless back then. The only thing we could get was from a local phone company that the fastest speed was 3 megabits a second. I mean, much slower than you get on a cell phone now for data. And you'd try to stream something and it would do what they call buffering. And the show, whatever it was, would just freeze. And you couldn't watch TV. You just couldn't do it. That's it. 3. Now we're talking about people buying bargain service at 100 or using one of these wireless services, typically at 50 or 60. You'll be fine. I'm not talking about price per month. I'm talking about the speed of it. So you don't need to waste your money. And all you do is you try one of these slower speeds at a much lower price. And if everything's working fine, paying $30 a month, stop paying 100 or so a month. Think about over the course of a year, how much money you're saving. And every dollar counts. Krista.

[Krista]

All right. This came in from Kip in Utah. I want to invest my tax withholdings and earn interest on that money. My plan is to not have my employer withhold funds next year and put that money into a separate high yield savings account at the end of the year. I would pay my taxes from that account. Is that a good idea, or am I missing something?

[Clark Howard]

You're missing something. The IRS is all over this because they will charge you underpayment penalties and you will pay. Let's say you're earning 5% in a high yield savings account. That's about what the best ones are doing. Somewhere right around 5, you'll be paying the IRS over 8% interest on all your tax bill due for underpayment of withholding through the year. In your case, non payment of the holding, underpayment of income tax. So they have this all figured out. And it's not the IRS that did that. Congress did. And there's a formula, so it's not going to work. Have your employer withhold taxes and no, there's no free lunch here.

[Krista]

All right. Steve in Missouri says for the past few years, I've been tracking my household net worth, and I was wondering if you think that's important to keep track of. I don't recall you talking about net worth in any of your previous episodes, so I figured I would just ask what your thoughts are. Is it important to track or a waste of time? Thanks and go, Chiefs.

[Clark Howard]

Steve. Let's see. Can they win again? We'll see. Coming up. I'm talking about the ring that we don't have, the Atlanta Falcons ever. Anyway, I think it's fantastic to have a household statement of assets and liabilities, having a net worth statement that you do every year in order to build towards having financial independence down the road. And the more you do it, it's like a positive affirmation that you're moving on the right path. I think that's true. And I think it also helps with goal setting because if you have a statement showing your assets, which would be value of real estate, you own money in the credit union, money in a bank, you discount 80%. No, just kidding. Money in a bank or credit union, money you have in various investment and retirement accounts and all that. And then the, the other side of it, what obligations do you have, what debts do you have? And so having that gives you a roadmap and it gives you, it's like taking your financial temperature each year. It doesn't have to be fancy, just a simple statement of net worth assets and liabilities. And what's great is if you see a trend over the years with your liabilities going down at the same time your assets are building. And that is the absolute sweet spot with, if you've got a long trend line, you don't say how old you are, Steve, but if you have a long enough trend line, the goal, the perfect goal, is to hit the point at which you wish to bag work or fully achieve financial independence. That you have essentially zero debts and you've got a really nice level of assets. And I think doing the net worth statement once a year helps you get to that ultimate goal.

[Krista]

All right, this is from Rex in Indiana. I got a free Amazon prime trial and purchased three items totaling around $55. A couple of days later, I got an email from them saying my package was delivered along with a picture of the package on a doorstep with a totally different rug. From Min Boy, I contacted customer no Service. They told me I needed to send them a picture of my state id. I kept asking how my ID would help and the customer no service reps continued to give me canned responses telling me that it was their policy. I asked why? Why do they have to have me send a picture of my ID instead of just a package on a random doorstep? I eventually asked for a refund on the items and they denied it, telling me they would still need a picture of my ID to do that as well. I pointed out my billing address for my credit card is also the same as my shipping address and asked why that wasn't enough, but I continued to get the same unhelpful response. Please help me decide what to do. I don't feel comfortable sending them my id, but I would like some kind of resolution. They won't receive any more of my money after this.

[Clark Howard]

Okay.

[Krista]

Understandably, it's a bad trial, right?

[Clark Howard]

This is messy. If you want your money back, you're going to need to give Amazon a copy of your id. And the reason is this was a trial. They don't know the trial offer didn't fall into the wrong hands. Somebody's playing games. The odds that you would play games for $55 is so extremely low. But the Amazon customer. No. Service workers are very limited in what latitude they have. And so if a check mark they have to have is they got to have your photo id, your driver's license, whatever it is in order to decide you're really not a thief, then I would supply it to them. The odds that something bad would happen from you supplying that ID are not exceptionally high. It's for a very specific purpose. I think you just decide the value of the $55 versus the remote possibility that something bad happens from supplying the id. And I can't make that decision for you. But that's the two things you have to weigh and balance. Amazon is a company that is not as customer friendly as it used to be. They're not as cheap as they used to be. It's because Amazon was totally focused for so long on growth, and when they were focused just on growth and not profits, everything was about having very aggressive pricing and unbelievable customer service. That era is over as they try to make money now. And so that's why, even for longtime Amazon shoppers, the experience is not what it used to be. They're not a bad company, they're just not what they were before. Coming up ahead, congestion between metro areas is becoming untenable. And believe it or not, I'm a skeptic who more and more sees the possibility that rail is going to actually be part of the equation in the United States.

[Public.com]

This episode is brought to you by public.com Interest rates have fallen, but you can still lock in a 6% or higher yield with a bond account. @public.com that's a pretty big deal because when rates drop, so can the interest you earn on your investment. A bond account allows you to lock in a 6% or higher yield with a diversified portfolio of high yield and investment grade corporate bonds. So while other people are watching their returns shrinking, you could be earning regular interest payments, but a yield is not locked in until you invest. So check it out. The good news is it only takes a couple of minutes to sign [e-mail] lock in a 6% or higher yield with a bond account only at public.com saving brought to you by Public Investing member FINRA and SIPC. As of September 26, 2024, the average annualized yield to worst across the bond account is is greater than 6%. Yield to worst is not guaranteed. Not an investment recommendation. All investing involves risk. Visit public.com disclosures Bond account for more info. This podcast is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game, shifting a little money here, a little there, and hoping it all works out well? With the Name youe Price Tool from Progressive, you can be a better budgeter and potentially lower your insurance bill too. You tell Progressive what you want to pay for car insurance and they'll help find you options within your budget. Try it [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates pricing coverage match limited by state law not available in all states.

[Progressive Insurance]

This podcast is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart Choice Progressive loves to help people make smart choices, and that's why they offer a tool called Auto Quote Explorer that allows you to compare your Progressive car insurance quote with rates from other companies so you can save time on the research and can enjoy savings when you choose the best rate for you. Give it a try after this [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates not available in all states and situations. Prices vary based on how you buy.

[Public.com]

When it comes to smart money management, one of the best pieces of advice is to make your money work for you. Well, Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide, and you automatically earn cash back on all your purchases purchases. That means there's plenty of opportunities to make that money work. So shop smarter, not harder. Basically, anywhere you go nationwide, it pays to discover. Based on the February 2024 Nielsen report. Learn more at discover.com credit card a.

[Clark Howard]

While back I talked about Brightline, which is doing something that nobody in America thought would matter at all. They're taking very congested corridors in the US and Florida and California, and they're building mostly privately financed, privately owned rail. And they've got a system underway that's going to have all kinds of additional tentacles. It goes Orlando down to West Palm, Miami, Fort Lauderdale. Said that in the wrong geographic order. And now they're building one from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. And you think about these routes, they end up along interstate system freeways or interstate type roads. And still it's a wonderful thing for people because the congestion in corridors between major metros in much of the country is so extreme. And you think about areas in the United States where this is true. How about what's going on in Texas with the amount of traffic going on among the big four. Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston. I mean, think about a corridor that somebody who's got the guts, who goes in and builds something would really have something of value there to move people between and among those four metro areas. Because flying is a real hassle for flights of that distance. Driving, it's so unpredictable how long it will take. And I can tell you spending a lot of time on the I95 corridor and then on the 5 on the west coast driving between Los Angeles and San Diego and reverse. Oh, oh. I mean, I remember the last time I drove San Diego to la, a drive that if you didn't have all the congestion be an hour and so many minutes, took over five hours. So if it had a privately funded high speed rail, it would make such a difference. And the Northeast is where there's by far the most congestion. But the government made a decision many, many decades ago that continues to be a curse on the Northeast corridor. They don't have dedicated rail, Bright Rail, Bright Line built dedicated rail. So it doesn't have to worry about the freight train operators who couldn't care less if passengers sit forever waiting for a freight train to go by. So then the, the passenger rail could go, but we cannot build enough highways to deal with the congestion that's happening with how metro areas expand in size, expand in population, and how one metro area bleeds into another. The I85 corridor from Charlotte, North Carolina through Atlanta, that corridor is now seeing incredible traffic jams at any time of the day or night from Nashville, Tennessee to Chattanooga to Atlanta. Same thing. There are these sectors, these corridors that are ripe for doing what is so common everywhere else in the developed world, and that is to have high speed, reliable rail as an alternative to getting on an airplane or getting in your car with the big question mark, what kind of traffic you're going to be going through. So just a thought, and you'll hear me from time to time talk about things that in America we need to rethink. This is one of those things because a lot of Americans feel like we just don't do things as well as we used to in so many areas. And we can. We got it. We just got to put a focus on it and get them done.

[Krista]

I love trains, absolutely love them, but.

[Clark Howard]

When would you ever.

[Krista]

I know, but I've traveled and using trains like, it's just such a game changer.

[Clark Howard]

When we went to China on staff trip, did you ride on the world's fastest train? It was the Maglev.

[Krista]

Yeah, I did in Shanghai.

[Clark Howard]

Wow. It was so weird to step on a train going 300 miles an hour. Well, we didn't step on it while it was going three.

[Krista]

And the one in Japan is called the Shinkansen.

[Clark Howard]

Shinkansen, that's an older technology. Not anywhere as fast. The one that's the fastest of traditional trains I think is the Ave. I think is how you say it. Across Spain, people rave about the Ave.

[Krista]

All right, we'll go to some questions. Richard in Delaware says hello. Clark, I love your show. I wanted to ask where I could stash new home savings. I've been saving for a while now and I was wondering should I invest it, put it in a CD and. Or save in a high yield savings account? I hope to buy a home in three years. We get a lot of people asking these questions.

[Clark Howard]

We get this question far more than we ever have because, well, we went through the years you didn't earn any money on savings. Now the disparity where you've got the giant monster megabank still paying as little as 1/100th of 1%, then you have online banks paying as much as over 5%. It's a much more relevant thing. And friends don't let friends put money in a savings account at bank of America, Chase, Citibank or Wells Fargo. And if you're doing it, it only means you need to stop hating on yourself and move your money. Okay. In your case, you can't be an investor three year window, you are a saver. You don't know exactly when in that three year window you might buy a home. So I would say even though the interest rate can change daily, I would put the money in an online savings account. And putting in an online savings account is going to earn you. If you look at We've got a list, there are several lists out there, you're going to earn roughly 5% on the money. The other thing is if you have an account with one of my favorite children, Vanguard, Schwab or Fidelity, you can go into money market accounts with them, money funds that will pay you a similar kind of rate just right from your existing brokerage account. CDs what's going to happen with CD rates is really up in the air because financial markets are really worried about us having expanded deficits coming up at the federal level which will lead to potentially higher interest rates. So the shift in the psychology of the market means that right now it's a better idea to just be a flat out saver and online savings accounts or in these brokerage money market accounts with one of the discount brokers Instead of doing CDs and absolutely with a three year window, no way do I want you putting that money in the stock market.

[Krista]

Jamie in Georgia says my husband and I and young kiddos listen to your show all the time. The other day my father asked the best way to gift $500 to each of my kids. He was thinking of a savings Bond. They are 8 to 12 years old. He prefers them to not get the money until their mid-20s. What do you suggest? I listened to a recent podcast where you said bonds were not the best option. What is Preferably it would be really nice for this money to grow. We already have a 529 plan which we contribute to monthly for each kid. Thanks a bunch Jamie.

[Clark Howard]

I have such a strong bias to answer your question. Just know I have like blinders on and I'm so focused for your 8 to 12 year olds that I would want your dad to use the $500 for each of your kids to have a custodial investment account at a discount broker like Fidelity has the easiest program to be able to do this and the money could go directly into a Fidelity Zero fund which has no commissions, no ongoing expenses. And your kids would have the double benefit that over the long haul they're going to earn more into young adulthood with money invested instead of in savings bonds or savings account or anything like that. And you use as an opportunity to teach the concepts of investing and then depending on the maturity of your kids as they become 13 and older, fidelity allows the kids to have limited control over the account to learn more and more about investing. But you wouldn't want to do that till you felt each of your three children had the maturity to support being able to have that control.

[Krista]

And this is from Elise in Massachusetts. I wanted to share what Target is doing. I bought Target gift cards when they were having their 10% off sale and I used my Discover card which has target at 5% cash back this quarter. The gift cards were just the card with no numbers or codes on them. The cashier has stickers in her drawer that have all the information she scanned one to activate it and stuck it to the card. So no way for the bad guys to scan the codes in the store. The first time I've seen this such a great idea to cut down on gift card theft.

[Clark Howard]

Elise, I love this. And the only way you'd have a problem would be if it was internal. You had a dishonest employee. And that's so much better than what we have right now with these unactivated gift cards on racks that any customer, good or bad, could go and pick them up, take the cards out of the store, get the information off of them, take them back, put them back on the shelf in the store, wait for somebody to activate them and steal all the money. So it's great. I love that kind of innovation, and I hope that the target system stands the test of time to eliminate or at least greatly reduce the amount of fraud that just keeps happening. Called gift card draining. Where? And we're going to get the calls next month because so many people next week are going to give gift cards to their gift recipients and then they're going to go use them, try to use them, and there's going to be no money left on the gift cards given because of how easy the producers of the gift cards and the retailers and the restaurants have made it for criminals to swipe all the money. This is a step in the right direction. A retailer using a method, in this case target, to try to prevent the gift card draining. Best gift to give somebody. Let's see if I have any. This for those of you watch our YouTube show.

[Krista]

Thank you, Clark.

[Clark Howard]

Yeah.

[Krista]

$5.

[Clark Howard]

I have a 5, I have a 10 and I have a 20. So there you go, Krista.

[Krista]

Thanks. I get the $5.

[Clark Howard]

So for those of you not familiar with this watching on the YouTube show, this is called money. It's actual cash printed by the U. S. Government.

[Krista]

Mr. Abraham Lincoln is on there.

[Clark Howard]

Abe Lincoln's on the 5, I got Hamilton on the 10, and then we got Jackson on my 20 here. These are real pieces of money.

[Krista]

I think I like jackson better.

[Clark Howard]

You like the jackson? Okay, so the thing with this jackson, I give it to you. Other than the effect of inflation till you spend it, what do you still have?

[Krista]

$20?

[Clark Howard]

20 bucks?

[Krista]

Unless I lose it, which I give you.

[Clark Howard]

Well, how are you going to lose cash?

[Krista]

I could lose just about anything. My father used to tell me I could lose my head if it wasn't attached to my neck.

[Clark Howard]

Why did two of the flakiest people ever to live work together on this podcast?

[Krista]

Combined, it works out Fine.

[Clark Howard]

But on the other hand, you go buy somebody a gift card, let's say for 20 bucks, and they go to use it. It's roulette. You don't know because of all the theft of the value off gift cards, if you got 20 bucks in your hand or 0 bucks in your hand, that's the advantage of giving somebody this stuff. And, you know, a lot of places still accept these things, these pieces of cash. And so that's what I'd rather you give somebody instead of giving them a gift card that you're playing roulette with your money. You want to play roulette with your money, go to a casino. But do you want to play roulette with money that you worked hard for, that you're giving to someone you care about or love as a gift and have it be a joke on you and them you don't? Thanks so much for joining us today. Speaking of Christmas, I'll tell you something that's not a scam. Clark's Christmas kids, our 34th year taking care of the Christmas wishes of children in foster care. It's something that means so much to me and I'm so grateful to all the generous listeners and viewers who have donated in prior years of this year to Clark's Christmas Kids. If you're not familiar with it, go to clarkschristmaskids.com you'll see how you can help us take care of these children this year and beyond next year, our 35th year of Clark's Christmas Kids and know what we're about for you here. The gift we give you is knowledge so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. We'll see you tomorrow.