The Clark Howard Podcast

We have the lowest unemployment rate in years, while wages remain relatively static. Most aren't seeing meaningful pay raises. Certain sectors of the economy are seeing layoffs, job losses, and closures. Many corporate sectors predict a recession or believe they're already in one. For others, times are great. Manufacturing is suffering because of the trade wars, here and abroad. The greatest job growth is in education, healthcare, state, and local government and the hotel industry. College graduates are in demand. As for static wages - for the low to mid-income earners, in particular, better pay may be found by changing jobs. Get a better offer to negotiate with your current employer if you want to stay.  Until you have the confidence to shop what you're worth in the marketplace, employers won't pay more. Be your own advocate. Find better opportunities. You don't ask, you don't get. The NFL season is underway and scams follow. The season is about 1/3 over now. A variety of scams pop up every season, most around PCH - a legit, high-interest organization and popular target for scammers. The Fraud Watch Bulletin reports 2 versions big right now. One comes as a phone call pretending to be from PCH saying you've won and need to wire fee money. The other is a small fake check, requesting you wire money to receive the big check. Both bogus. PCH reminds all they never ask winners to send fees, taxes or other money to collect a prize. Pre-teens and teens pretty much spend whatever money they get. For school-age kids, money burns a hole in their pocket and vanishes. The American Institute of CPAs does an annual survey of allowance and finds the average kid in the U.S. now receives a weekly allowance of $30. That's doubled in just 3 years. Parents have lost their minds. Clark has recommended stepping up allowance yearly. The amount can match their age or grade and should be used to teach. The 3 jar system is a known method. Allowance is divided 3 ways: for spending, savings, and charity. Allowance should be in cash to teach the finiteness of money. And with an allowance comes responsibility. Parents give the money and should set ground rules about allocation - 3 jars or something similar. The savings can be for any specific goal chosen by the kid. Create a sense of purpose for money. If you just hand it out with no guidelines, they learn nothing and it disappears. Parents must teach the concept of spend and save.  Giving can be time or $  for charity.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow-up: the financial industry continues its radical transformation. Technology has made it possible to invest at a lower cost. Last week Schwab announced no commission stock buying and selling. There are free and low-cost robo advisors and robo/human hybrids. Investing with high-cost companies could cause you to end up with 40% less money than investing the same amount with their low-cost rivals. Even Ally bank is offering a no-fee robo-advisory service. Vanguard will soon launch its low-cost Digital Advisor service too. AT&T – get your act together.  A long-time DirecTV customer passed away at age 102 and AT&T went after the relatives for the early termination fee in strong terms. Only after the story went public did AT&T waive the termination fee, but didn’t apologize until they received more bad press. Where’s the heart and humanity? How stupid.Roughly 1 in 4 American adults is extremely politically engaged. This past weekend, Ellen DeGeneres and George W. Bush enjoyed a football game together. As their pictures circulated, ugly reaction ensued, with some referring to Bush as the ‘enemy’.  After all the mean-spirited postings came an enlightened one which expressed that seeing Ellen and George Bush together restored their faith in America. When we lose sight of the fact that we’re all Americans in this together, we make our country weak. People we disagree with are still our fellow Americans.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Current privacy concerns have Google in the spotlight. Google lives in fear the U.S. will finally pass privacy laws outlining restrictions and consumer rights, as exists in Europe. The Right to be Forgotten and to control online info in Europe puts them way ahead of the U.S. in the privacy realm. Google’s preemptive strike is a newly launched activity suite tool allowing users to better control their info and have their tracking data wiped automatically.  Sign into Google. Type in myactivitiy.google.com. There you’ll see everything Google has on you – massive. Then you have the right to have them wipe out everything 90 days old and older. You can choose 90 days to 1.5 years to let Google retain your activity info until they delete it. The Inspector General is like the cop inside a federal agency there to expose wrongdoing and enforce the law. The  VA Office of Inspector General found that 1 in 3 veterans who’ve sought emergency healthcare, are denied their medical claims by the VA, even when perfectly legitimate. Inexcusable and Unacceptable. The men and women who have served and put their lives on the line for American freedom deserve to have the promises made to them carried out.The average ATM charge in the U.S. is now $4.72. The cost to a bank is around .02cents. Beyond outrageous. Why do they do it? In the aftermath of the last decade’s banking scandals, the federal government bailed out the big banks and let small banks sit and spin. This led to a massive closure of smaller banks, and thus less competition. 4 big banks now have half of all banking market share. ATMs are disappearing around the country as people use less cash these days. Also, we now have an ever-expanding roster of online banks, offering lower costs and far better savings rates. The big banks pay essentially 0 on savings vs around 2% offered by online banks. And – credit unions have filled the void left by small local banks going away. Credit Unions provide much better deals than banks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roughly half of us have no access to a retirement plan through work. Most small employers don’t know how to make this happen. If they go to an insurance company or bank, they face extremely high costs and employees pay the price, making the plan essentially a rip-off. So many just give up. A new federal rule just went into effect allowing small employers to team up to create group buying power for lower costs. These can happen through Chambers of Commerce and industry trade groups. We’re about a year away from this taking hold. But don’t wait. There are companies offering 401k plans for small businesses. Betterment has one at a reasonable cost. Employees – if your small-midsize employer does offer a 401k – understand the fees. If it’s a high fee plan, contribute only up to the match,  open your own Roth IRA with a low-cost company and make your contributions automatic. Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NEVER NEVER NOT EVER publish your birthdate and place of birth online or on social media. Why? That's 98% of what a crook needs to steal your identity. Also, when you get the 'magic formula' investing pitch - know to RUN. No-one legit can promise great results using their strategy - red light / green light investing systems - NO. Don't ever believe it. DO NOT answer your phone if you don't know who is calling. If caller ID says your bank or a government agency is calling, don't answer. Nothing good comes from it.New hires are being no-shows on day one and don't think it's important to let the employer know. Clark's eldest daughter did new employee orientation at a bank. Every week, new hires would be no-shows without notification. Some of these jobs were executive level. There are multiple reports of this happening in the retail and restaurant industries. Job markets are not always strong. It doesn't serve you to blow off a job offer. Have the decency to send a thank you note, to communicate, to be respectful, to notify.  Roughly 1 in 3 folks are renters as the market is shifting throughout the country. Apartment overbuilding has resulted in more deals for tenants. Marketwatch reports that - desperate to sell condos or rent apartments, landlords are marketing properties that can be turned into Airbnb rentals. This is different than resort-type condotels - owned hotel rooms that are rented out most of the year.  A condo buyer could find themselves surrounded by short-term renters via the developer. This is the opposite of the HOA vs Airbnb conflicts. There's a lot of shakeout with short term rentals - an area of constant change around the country. Condo buyers and apartment renters be aware of the policies. Know in writing condo/apartment policies or you could find yourself surrounded by transients.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We borrow principally for a home, vehicle, credit cards, student loans. A long-held frustration is how scoring models punish you for eliminating debt. Paying off a loan (other than credit cards) could drop your score 50 points. Don't worry about it. If your score is healthy enough, the payoff score pinch does not matter. You DO NOT raise your credit score by leaving a balance open on a credit card. That's a myth you pay interest on. With cards, using very little of your credit and paying on time boosts your score. The Securities and Exchange Commission ( the Federal agency overseeing the investment industry)  reports that in recent years, 4.3 million Americans have been ripped off in investment schemes. The average loss: $150K. Historically the cons target small business owners, entrepreneurs, and senior citizens. The promise of non-traditional investments have of late touted 8-12% returns - which may appear initially, till the scheme collapses leaving its victims broke. Many times people dump their old car because it's no longer reliable. That's a good reason. But when it comes to the dollars and cents of this, Clark and Consumer Reports differ. Consumer Reports advises that when the cost of repair exceeds the remaining value, that's when it's time to let go. Clark recommends when the cost of a repair exceeds 50% of the remaining value - that's when to dump it. Ironically, you may need to pay for the repair anyway in order to trade/sell it. Otherwise, you get clobbered on value. Most people tire of and dump a vehicle prematurely and that is expensive. The longer you keep a car, the better for your wallet. The depreciation curve is a dive through the first 4 years, into gentle decline, as your money works for you. As the vehicle fleet steadily moves to electrics, they're more reliable. Today batteries are much more efficient. The cost of ownership on electrics is much less than gas engine cars. The best deal: Buy a used electric car and drive it for a long time.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Southwest is having a sweet sale right now!An all-out price war to zero is underway with small company Interactive Brokers and giant Charles Schwab. Both are ending commissions on stock trades. Buying and selling stocks and ETFs will be commission-free. This will penetrate the investing world, with discounters also going to zero. This started earlier this year with Fidelity Zero, offering free mutual funds – no account minimums required. The ability to invest at zero cost is taking hold in the marketplace. Fidelity and Schwab are both trying to deal with the Vanguard juggernaut. Co-op Vanguard, operating as a credit union for investing, has taken investing market share gains for the last 7 years. As these behemoths compete, investors win, regardless of which one you choose. Meanwhile, those still investing with banks, full commission stockbrokers or insurance companies pay massive fees. Invest for free, to keep your money working for you.There’s a common rip off for credit card users traveling overseas. Often upon card payment, the processing machine will automatically convert your charge from the local currency to U.S. dollars. This is done to rip you off on the conversion rate. When overseas, NEVER EVER EVER say yes when asked if you want to pay in U.S. dollars. Be aware many Visa / MC banks are automatically putting the purchase in dollars, and you need to override that into local currency. The difference could be as much as 10%. Watch closely while purchasing. Before you sign any charge slip, make sure it’s NOT processed in dollars. You always want the charge in local currency. Today many cards don’t charge foreign currency junk fees. AMX doesn’t do this. See Clark’s guide to save while traveling.Survey says, of people age 38 and under, over 90% would consider eloping over a traditional wedding. The reasons: to save money, avoid wedding planning and make the event more personal. Destination weddings are expensive and limit the number who can be there. Helzberg Diamonds offers a wedding service with ring purchase. No hoopla. People used to go to Vegas for a simple, quick and cheap wedding. Now, just go to the mall to Helzberg. 1700 Helzberg employees are ordained / licensed to conduct marriage ceremonies. If you’re planning a post wedding party, don’t mention the word ‘wedding’ to any vendors involved or the cost can triple.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last week, there have been several stories published about why you should stop using a debit card. When you present your card in person, the merchant is protected. But when you shop online the liability moves from the banks to the merchant. The MRC reports that now over 8 in 10 cards have been compromised. If you carry 5 cards, crooks have the goods on 4 and may get around to using them. That exposure includes debit cards, enabling the criminal to strip the funds out of your checking account, leaving you to fight with your bank to get that money back, which is becoming increasingly more difficult.A special warning for small to midsize businesses. Recent press recounts a bust-out by a payroll company. Once this company had a healthy roster of clients, they vanished in the night stealing $35M. A crooked company could destroy your business and/or employees. Ask: How are payrolls protected? What insurance do you have? How do I know I can trust you? Ask these questions before you choose a company that may leave you, your company and workers high and dry. Renting apartments and hotels has not been a bargain in recent years. Apartment rates have been going up since 2011. Hotel rates have risen since 2012.  Both sectors have been building like crazy. There's an enormous stream of apartments coming online leading to oversupply and better deals. The hotel sector has been overbuilt at a frenzied pace, even as business travel is slowing.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By most estimates, 40% of the food in the U.S. is tossed – from expiration, restaurants, grocers. Some supermarkets route expiring food to food banks, but only a fraction. Some bagel shops sell them at 75% the next day. Some convenience stores sell off pastries at discounts to clear them out. U.S. restaurants have always served larger portions than elsewhere in the world. Our supersize mentality results in leftovers, which often get wasted. Some restaurants give you 2 price points to include a smaller portion. There are simple things we can do to reduce waste. Supermarkets should have an automatic strategy to mark down items at expiration.Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A gaming war is underway between Apple and Google. Both are offering subscriptions. For a monthly fee you get a number of games with no in-game purchases or ads. Apple Arcade is $5 a month, Google PlayPass is $1.99 a month for the first year, and then to $5 reportedly. Check out both.  There's a new tax form that makes it easier for senior citizens to file their taxes.Clark’s been talking about interest rates dropping The best rates now are around 2.4% - .5 lower than a couple of months ago. In parts of Europe, savers PAY to save – with negative interest rates. Trump recently suggested the Fed should cut rates to negative levels. But this can lead to extreme economic problems. When the economy slows the demand for borrowing slows. Savings institutions don’t want deposits and cut rates as a deterrent. If they have fewer borrowers, they don’t need the deposits and cut rates on savings. Things would have to get much worse for this to kick in here. It likely won’t come to negative interest rates. But since rates are headed lower, if you have savings you don’t need, lock in the rate in a one year CD. Traditional banks already pay nearly nothing. Don’t save there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices