Pod Insights The Clark Howard Podcast 02.07.25 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Energy Prices & Home Building About this episode Friday - Clark Stinks day! Christa shares Clark Stinks posts with Clark. Submit yours at Clark.com/ClarkStinks. Also today - Clark discusses what’s behind rising energy costs now and in the future, and the need for a rethink in home building. Clark Stinks: Segments 1 & 2 Energy Prices & Home Building: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: How To Switch Phone Carriers: 9 Easy Steps How To Fight Fraudulent Bank Account Charges Can I Access My Streaming Service Anywhere in the U. S. and Internationally? IRS Direct File Expands to Millions More Taxpayers 8 Free Federal and State Tax Filing Services for 2025 5 Reasons Why This Is the Best Time of the Year To File Your Taxes Why this Boston homeowner doesn’t pay anything to heat his house 10 Ways To Lower Your Heating Bill / How To Save Money on Utilities How To Get a Free Credit Report / 4 Ways To Get Your Free Credit Score How To Freeze and Unfreeze Your Credit With Experian, Equifax and TransUnion What Is a Fiduciary Financial Advisor and Do I Need One? Clark.com resources Episode transcripts Community. Clark.com / Ask Clark Clark.com daily money newsletter Consumer Action Center Free Helpline: 636-492-5275 Learn more about your ad choices: megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 They're running a cover two defense. But you're running to get game day deals on Uber Eats. Keep everyone at tonight's watch party fed with deals from your go to restaurants. Or stock up with deals on your favorite snacks and groceries. Whatever the occasion, get game day deals on Uber Eats all season long. It's not football without food. Uber Eats. Order now. Terms apply. Product availability varies by region. See app for details.
0:30 Speaker 01 This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.
1:04 Speaker 02 It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to empower you with advice and information that helps you make better financial decisions in your life. And we all make mistakes, don't we? We're human. Today I get the opportunity to hear just how human I am in today's Clark Stinks segment. And later, something that stinks for all of us is how energy prices are going up for our homes, our apartments, all the rest. The reason behind it may leave you really annoyed, but now it's time to hear how I annoyed
1:48 Speaker 02 you in today's Clark Stinks.
1:52 Speaker 03 I should have never encouraged you to speak.
1:54 Speaker 04 You must think I'm pretty stupid.
1:55 Speaker 05 You should be ashamed of yourself. Well, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're right, pal.
2:04 Speaker 06 All right. Clark doesn't totally stink, but he's smelling like my laundry after I forget to throw it in the dryer right away.
2:10 Speaker 02 That's a bad smell, isn't it?
2:12 Speaker 06 It's the worst. I hate it when I do that. In a recent episode, he talked about how people can get an MRI done at a standalone facility and then have any hospital read the scan. I am a licensed MRI technologist and want to say that this is not totally true. While the standalone facility can make a CD with the scans on it, not all scans are created equal. A hospital may not be willing to read scans from an outside facility for a number of reasons. One of the most common reasons is the scans performed may or may not be done to the same standards, and different scan types and angles may be used altogether. This can make for a conundrum for the reading radiologist because of the sue-happy environment we live in. The radiologist could read the scans, but they are the ones assuming liability.
2:54 Speaker 06 I have nothing against standalone clinics, but sadly, that is the way things are. Thank you to Clark, Kristin, and the rest of the team for all you do. I listen every morning, Brandon.
3:03 Speaker 02 Brandon, thank you. So my belief, and it's a strong one, is that the hospital systems are so hostile to people going to outside facilities that are far cheaper, that they're throwing up every roadblock possible. When I'm having a problem with my left knee, and I had an MRI done of it, and I have, if you're curious what's wrong, if you've had knee trouble before, I have two meniscus tears, not big ones, and osteoarthritis, whatever that means. So the radiologist for the freestander writes the report.
3:45 Speaker 02 I've got the report, I've got the disc, I've got the whole thing. So I know what the status is, I know what I'm supposed to do. In my case, I have to do PT. But as I shared before, the cost of having it at a freestander was one-eighth what it was at a hospital system. Hospital systems want the ability to overcharge. And to create competition, we need a requirement.
4:15 Speaker 02 Have to be a federal requirement that facilities have the ability to accept an MRI or other scan done outside of the Monopoly hospital system. There are problems right now where roadblocks are thrown up. But remember, mine was read by the radiologist and the report was written by the radiologist for the freestander. The radiologists at the hospital system didn't have to review or read anything. I already have a report signed by a radiologist, which is generally how it should work at a freestander.
4:55 Speaker 06 T-Mobile is our cell phone provider for five lines and two watches. Also, three of the lines are not co-located. I sought out a cheaper plan as Clark suggested. However, Clark didn't mention that transferring from one carrier to another is not seamless. It is ridiculously labor-intensive and complicated. While I appreciate Clark's advice to save money on cell phone plans, this advice should have come with a warning label. Otherwise, I love your show and advice, Paul.
5:21 Speaker 02 Paul, thank you. And I do gloss over that, and that's my fault. So when you're going to do what's called a port out, where you're going to take your cell phone from an overpriced Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile plan and take it to someone else, you have to have your account number from your account, which you should be able to get signing into your account at any of the three, and there will be a PIN code. Now, I also, on my cell phone plan, I have a PIN lock because of problems with people stealing your cell phone service in order to do the two-factor authentication to steal money from your bank account, brokerage, whatever.
6:04 Speaker 02 You have to remove your PIN block. So you have three basic steps that trip most people up, and that is the account number, the unlock code from your cell phone carrier, and the third thing is if you do have that PIN lock, it must be removed. I had to do all three of those things before we ported out to two different companies when we left T-Mobile and went to Visible and went to Google Fi. In my case, fortunately, it was super breezy, easy, and went very quickly because...
6:45 Speaker 02 I knew you got to do those junk steps up front.
6:48 Speaker 06 You had a couple of issues with Apple phones, right?
6:51 Speaker 02 The Apple phone thing was interesting because with Google Fi, you think Apple and Google, it's so funny, they are such frenemies. Google pays Apple $20 billion a year, I think is the amount, to be the preferred search engine on iPhones. And then at the same time, they behave like fighting siblings. And so, Apple doesn't cooperate with Google Fi. When somebody ports in an iPhone, you got to do these manual changes to settings on an iPhone. And if you don't know that and don't do those, an iPhone doesn't work flawlessly on Google Fi. They do now.
7:32 Speaker 06 Okay, another one about this, you stink worse than a penguin enclosure that has not been deep cleaned.
7:36 Speaker 02 I don't know what that's like.
7:38 Speaker 06 Sounds bad. And on your episode where you spoke of phone plans, you forgot to mention the speed and reliability of certain self-service providers. I choose Verizon, even if it's pricey, just because it won't cut in and out like other services in my area. It's a good choice to look at coverage for your area before deciding to make a switch to a cheaper carrier, Chris.
7:57 Speaker 02 Chris, thank you very much for that. Verizon has a number of captive cellphone plans. And they tell you with the captive plans, if you're essentially going to be a junior partner with Verizon, or a full-on Verizon partner. And so, one of the brand names Verizon owns is Straight Talk. And so with Straight Talk, they have different tiers. And the top tier gives you the same exact service and access to Verizon's network as you have when you're on Verizon. They disclose that. Which means the others... Do make you a junior partner.
8:37 Speaker 02 If you're with Visible, they have a plan where you're treated like a senior partner with Verizon, another where you're a junior partner. You can guess which is more expensive. So, your point is perfectly valid that with cellphone companies, you want to know what kind of speeds you're going to have, what kind of prioritization you're going to have, which are the two big things you're referring to that you feel more comfortable with and have had better results by staying with Papa Verizon instead of one of their junior children.
9:11 Speaker 06 You talk about the big, bad hospital monopolies and lack of price transparency and how they gouge us consumers. However, you did not tell the whole story. Government insurance such as Medicare and in California, Medi-Cal, don't pay much and often underpay the actual cost of the service. So, what are hospitals supposed to do? This dynamic makes us private insurance holders with PPO-like plans a prime target for large bills. We end up subsidizing everything that the government insurance is not properly paying for. So, the blame is not just the hospitals, but also a problem regarding government insurance. I live in an area of California where over half the people are insured through the state's Medi-Cal program. You add Medicare insured people to that and you have the hospital serving perhaps over
9:54 Speaker 06 75% of its patients with insurance that isn't paying them adequately for their work. Also, you said hospitals are supposed to offer charitable care based on the grants they receive. It seems to me that treating such a large number with government insurance meets the charitable obligation. Thank you for all you do. Glad you're enjoying more time in retirement, but I already miss the extra shows. David.
10:16 Speaker 02 David, thank you very much for the last thing you said. So, I'm doing three episodes a week instead of five, and we picked up one each week we're doing with Ask an Advisor. So, we're giving you four instead of five, but I think the fourth is so great that it's almost like we're at four and a half instead of five. And I'm really enjoying having more free time in my life. So, thank you for that. And I appreciate everything you said, and you are completely right. On Medi-Cal, which is the equivalent of Medicaid in other states.
10:54 Speaker 02 The hospital reimbursements and doctor reimbursements for Medicaid and also for Medi-Cal, which are for people that are low income, qualify potentially for government-provided health care that is different than what you have through Medicare. And Medicare reimbursements are much, much higher than Medi-Cal or Medicaid. So there's a cross subsidy that happens. Those of us who have insurance, traditional insurance, are subsidizing the running of
11:33 Speaker 02 doctors' offices and medical facilities and hospitals because the reimbursements, especially for Medicaid, are so low that facilities and doctors lose money on every single patient they see. So what you said is true.
11:52 Speaker 06 I'm not sure if this is a Clark stinks or a Mike stinks, but I've heard Clark say multiple times in recent weeks that you only have 60 days to dispute credit card charges, even if they're fraudulent. I thought the 60 days didn't apply in cases of fraud. Did that change, or have I always been mistaken, Mike?
12:08 Speaker 02 So Mike, 60-day rule is one of the oddest things that exists. So if you get a statement and you don't look at it, and there's a fraudulent charge on there, and you notice on the 61st day, you have lost the legal right to dispute those charges. And so some credit card companies are really accommodating on it, others are not. Let's take an example. This could also be potentially a charge on somebody that appears on your checking account.
12:49 Speaker 02 If you don't notice month after month after month, and then you dispute only the last 60 days... You generally will be given the right to dispute. So the 60 day rule is a real thing, but there are situations that are not involving fraud, such as if a supplier goes bust, that a credit card company may give you flexibility well beyond 60 days to dispute a charge. May is the key word.
13:20 Speaker 06 Clark got a bit stinky in talking about public wifi. There's nothing wrong with connecting to public wifi if you're protected. If you travel a lot, you should have your own VPN. Google provides one free on Pixel phones that can be installed on laptops. Also Proton, same folks as Proton Mail Clark talks about, who has a free offering. And also Norse and Mullivad has some safe alternatives. Yep, Mullivad. A subscription is generally low cost and worth the investment to protect yourself outside of your home wifi. Clark was right about connecting to public wifi directly, but VPN is a better alternative than a hotspot. Todd?
13:57 Speaker 02 Todd, thank you for that. The VPN thing is potentially a great, great solution. When I, in my TV work, I do a lot of interviews with data specialists and they all go on and on and on about using what they call a trusted VPN. You have to be very cautious who you use as a VPN that you're not paying for. And reading, taking time to read reviews of VPNs in one of the tech sources is a really good idea before you select one.
14:36 Speaker 02 But yes, a VPN gives you a wonderful, good VPN gives you a wonderful layer of protection.
14:43 Speaker 06 Clark doesn't stink, but he gets an incomplete on his answer involving WinCo. I love WinCo, but they only accept debit cards, checks, or cash. No credit cards. Just want to be sure people don't get surprised or embarrassed at the checkout. You also have to bag your own groceries, which is no big deal for me, but it might be for some people. Christine?
15:01 Speaker 02 Okay, Christine, this is so funny. From when I talked about WinCo Foods on the podcast.
15:10 Speaker 02 I've had at least half a dozen people come up to me and want to tell their Wencow Foods stories. And Wencow is in a limited number of states in the West, in the mountain states and on the West Coast. And they're a really different, unique kind of supermarket, 100% employee-owned. I love Wencow Foods, but I love Aldi, I love Lidl. There are people who don't like supermarkets that have all kinds of unusual things about them. And Wencow, I should have mentioned, doesn't take credit cards, but it is a great experience.
15:50 Speaker 06 Clark, you're as pungent as ever with that IRS Direct File recommendation. I excitedly rushed off to take advantage of it, only to read the fine print and find out that if you contribute to an IRA, you're out of luck. For shame. I thought you were the man from Roth. All kidding aside, it turns out you also can't use it if you need to itemize deductions. Oh, well, I guess it's better to fully fund our IRA accounts than save a few bucks on tax prep software. Hope springs eternal that one day I'll be able to use Direct File. Eric.
16:19 Speaker 02 Eric, yeah. Direct File is a growing product, now serves, I think, 2/3 or 3/4 of the nation's population. Only half the states, but they account for a huge percent of the nation's population. And it's the system they've used everywhere else in the developed world for, I don't even know how many decades. And it's where the IRS already has all your 1099s, W2s, all that. It's only for simple tax returns. It is crazy quick and it's free. Now, the other IRS program, Free File, you may or may not qualify for, where you're using third-party tax preparation software for free.
17:02 Speaker 02 So Direct File only covers, I think it's 35% of taxpayers have a return simple enough to use Direct File. For the rest of us, you can go to [email protected] and see if there is third-party software you can use, but that has income limits that exclude roughly the top 10% of income earners in the United States.
17:28 Speaker 06 I'll squeeze in one more. I'm agitated. Clark suggested to a listener that a background check fee be charged to home rental applicants. Excuse me, Clark Howard, the consumer advocate? Whenever I see an application fee, I don't apply, and I live in Hawaii where housing is extremely tight. The owner should pay for the background check fees. It's the cost of doing business, just like restaurants should not charge service fees to go-order fees. What does the restaurant want me to also pay for their electricity bill, the water bill, the trash bill, unemployment insurance fees? No. Set the prices of the menu items accordingly. Same with home rentals. Take it out of the monthly rent they will be getting. Someone may say, but there may be a lot of applicants. Maybe the applicants
18:10 Speaker 06 are applying at other homes as well, and I find it unfair to expect them to pay a background check fee for each place. Kathy?
18:17 Speaker 02 Wow, Kathy, I've never... So I've been a landlord, just so you know. I've been a landlord since 1983. Still am a landlord today. I wear a landlord hat and I wear a regular consumer hat, too. So as a landlord, when I take an application from somebody, I have a lot of expenses for doing the background check, and if there was no fee for doing a tenant application, time to review it, doing the background check and all that, then just as you said, somebody could apply all over whatever Hawaiian island you live
18:57 Speaker 02 on or in whatever city anybody lives in, and just willy-nilly apply here, there, everywhere. And every one of those places... Will have costs that they incur when you may not have been a serious applicant. So I do think Kathy, what would be better is if there were a central source you could apply, pay one fee, and then whatever apartment complex you were looking at living would have access, you would give them an authorization code and they would be able to check the background check that you've already paid for the one time. To me, that would be a
19:38 Speaker 02 fair compromise because it is kind of goofy that you have to pay the fee for the same kind of background check over and over and over again. I would see that as a reasonable solution. And I want to thank all of you for taking the time today to post your Clark stinks. It helps me. I learn from you. We all learn from each other and it expands my knowledge base and I'm able to give better advice based on your feedback, which I appreciate so very much. If you want to post to Clark stinks, go to Clark.com/ClarkStinks. Coming
20:19 Speaker 02 up ahead, we're going to talk about something else that stinks, and that is the shocker people are having with their home energy bills. We got to talk this through.
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22:46 Speaker 02 You know, much of the country, I forget how many, it was 120 million of the 350 million people were in the belt that had that extremely, extremely cold winter weather with in some places, record low temperatures, temperatures that were as much as 40 degrees below normal for this time of year. And the next shock comes when the utility bills come in. Because the amount of energy consumption because of the cold weather was crazy off the charts. So those bills are going to be an absolute, complete and total shock.
23:26 Speaker 02 If you know somebody who doesn't have the money to pay their bills, you know, for whatever comes in for their natural gas bill or their electricity bill or whatever because of the extreme winter cold, please let them know that in most states, there are protections against shut offs of heating during the winter months. Eventually, if you can't pay the bill... You'll be shut off, but not during winter. And what I recommend, if you have a loved one or a friend who can't pay the bill, they need to contact the utility company that the bill is with and tell them. You just don't hide from the bill.
24:09 Speaker 02 You tell them you can't pay it right now. They may offer a payment plan. Who knows? It varies by state and by utility what they'll do. But the one thing, don't bury your head in the sand. So key, in some areas of the country, there's financial assistance for low income individuals or the elderly who can't pay their heat bill. So help that individual or help that family with an application for that assistance. That having been said, forgetting the unusual cold weather, or if we have an unusually hot summer in various places that boosts bills.
24:52 Speaker 02 The reality is historically in the United States, we've had extremely low power bills. And that's changing. And there's a special booster shot that's sending bills skyrocketing for consumers around the country. And that's this desire of the Silicon Valley crowd to build all these AI data centers all around the country. And they are sucking up so much power at these data centers that it's forcing utilities into a scramble to generate much more expensive power than what their plans had called for.
25:36 Speaker 02 And you and I are feeling the brunt of those increases as local communities try to get more jobs, want these data centers.
25:48 Speaker 02 And the high paying jobs that they may have with them. So there's a direct cost to you and me as consumers with all these data centers springing up around the country. It means we're going to have to be really creative about what we do to lower our bills. One example I read about is something that has existed in very rare circumstances in the United States, but is very common outside the United States. It's when you build what's known as a passive house. I read a story recently about in Massachusetts where a builder is having great success selling
26:33 Speaker 02 homes that are passive. What is a passive home? It's where it costs roughly three to 10% more to build the house, or the purchase price is three to 10% more. But the houses are so energy efficient that for the life cycle of that house, which let's say it's 80 years or whatever the life cycle we use for a house today, it has virtually zero utility bills. So over time, you save so much more money on that home. And remember this, let's say the construction cost of a house is three or 5% higher, tends
27:17 Speaker 02 a stretch, but let's say it's three or 5% higher when it's built, but it's much more energy efficient. That's the structure itself. A lot of the cost you're paying is the land that house sits on and the permits that were pulled and all that. So it's a rethink of what we do when we look for a home is, is it built in a way that's going to save us money year after year after year after year? And the design elements that are involved in building a more efficient house. Are not extraordinary in order to make it not cost as much over time or have as much maintenance over time.
28:00 Speaker 02 Now, the other big challenge we face, I'm going to throw in, is after the tragic fires in Southern California, and we have more and more wildfire risk to homes in places in the country that nobody ever thought about that. There are new methods, not really new, but new being used, where homes are built that are fire resistant. And you may have seen, if you followed a lot with the fires in Southern California, where there might be a neighborhood where one house on a street is still standing and all the others around it are just ash heaps. It's because that house was built as a fire resistant house.
28:41 Speaker 02 And so, there are things that we do by habit, by tradition, that are things we need to rethink. And how we build for energy, how we build for longevity, are things we've got to rethink that we've never really had to focus on in the United States, but it's time. Krista?
29:05 Speaker 06 Andrew in Iowa says, "Thank you for answering my questions about Robinhood Gold and beneficiaries versus a will a month or so ago. I have a somewhat related question. I'm only 22 years old and I'm not exactly a high earner. Like many Americans, I can afford to put away some money for retirement, but I can't afford to get up to the contribution limits for both a 401k and IRA."
29:24 Speaker 02 Wait, wait, wait, we gotta stop right here. Because Andrew, you're 22, and at 22, you're already focused in living on less than what you make and saving for your future. Everything you've said is outstanding.
29:40 Speaker 06 My question is, assuming I'm already taking full advantage of an employer's match, is there any reason to contribute extra to that 401k rather than an IRA that offers a match? Robinhood Gold has a 3% match on all contributions, and I know some other companies have matching programs as well. Am I missing something? Unless the indexes or funds I'm investing in have significantly different fees, it seems like a no-brainer to put more money into an IRA with a match than a 401k I've already maxed my match on.
30:09 Speaker 02 Yeah, you're thinking exactly as you should. So you asked it like a Jeopardy question. The reality is, the answer is yes. You want to put into the 401k up to the match. If you're doing the IRA with the Robinhood Gold and you're getting the match on the first
30:26 Speaker 06 3%.
30:27 Speaker 02 3%. Absolutely. You would do that before you'd add more contributions beyond the employer match in the 401k. As far as the funds you'd go into in Robinhood, it's your choice with the ETFs you buy for your Roth IRA. You're able to buy ultra, ultra, ultra low-cost, broad-market ETFs that'll cost you virtually nothing in that Robinhood Gold IRA.
31:00 Speaker 06 Dan in Georgia says, "What's the scoop on getting free annual credit reports from the three major credit bureaus? I do this every January and it seems like for 2025, Experian and Equifax are broken. Can you help shed some light on this?"
31:12 Speaker 02 So, Dan, as far as I can tell at annualcreditreport.com, all three are working now. I don't know what could have gone haywire when you attempted to access them. And thank you for bringing this up because most people are not aware that by federal law, you have the right to see a free copy of your Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian credit reports, the full reports, once a year for nothing. And you have to go to this site that is the official site, not any of them you see advertised on TV. You go to annualcreditreport.com,
31:55 Speaker 02 just like you did. Try it again. I expect things will work as they should. Now, you don't get a free score there. You get, though, a comprehensive report and you'll be amazed how much information is on those three reports. As far as getting your free scores, if you have credit freezes set up... With the bureaus, there's usually with that quote unquote, membership, the sign and all that, you may be able to access a free FICO score at each of them, maybe, but don't fall for any of their ridiculous, overpriced memberships that the three credit bureaus
32:36 Speaker 02 try to sell you either at annualcreditreport.com or at their websites. You want to track your stuff regularly, set up a Credit Karma and you'll have great information for free in return. Credit Karma knows about you to solicit you for stuff. It's a worthy trade off.
32:56 Speaker 06 And we find the credit bureaus change phone numbers, all sorts of stuff all the time. And so we keep our credit freeze guide at Clark.com up to date constantly with step by step on how to do all this. It's Clark.com/creditfreeze. This question's from Taylor in California. I recently rolled an IRA to Fidelity, one of your favorite children. I instantly got a call and email from one of their advisors. He told me that his services were free for account holders over $1 million and he's a fiduciary. I was very confused when he wanted me to put my money into a, here's the name of the, single premium immediate annuity.
33:35 Speaker 02 Oh, no, no, no.
33:37 Speaker 06 Of course, I said annuity, four letter word. He said his commissions would be $700. And then this is laid out what this annuity looks like for you, Clark.
33:47 Speaker 02 I'm looking, I'm looking. All right.
33:48 Speaker 06 I got a bad feeling about it. How can they be a fiduciary? How can I find out about Fidelity? Also, they want me to roll my other 401k to them. Do they have some program that they get incentives?
33:58 Speaker 02 Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, thank you. Thank you for this post. All right. First of all, This has been, I'm shallow breathing right now, I just realized. I've been very upset about this with Fidelity. That you came over there with an account worth a lot of money. Suddenly, they've got a bullseye target on you. So Fidelity does things to hats. I hate the two hat thing. There are things they do where they operate in a fiduciary capacity. There are things they do that they're not a fiduciary. And the agreement they would have you sign for this piece of garbage annuity would have in it,
34:41 Speaker 02 where you would be acknowledging in the contract that Fidelity was not operating as a fiduciary. Free? It's only free because they're not operating as a fiduciary in this case. The commission would be, oh my goodness, the commission would be way more than what they said. This is very, very upsetting to me. I want to contrast this to what Vanguard does. So if you would move this money to Vanguard. Vanguard has PAS, Personal Advisory Services, they may be calling it something slightly different now. And they do operate fully under a fiduciary contract with you.
35:25 Speaker 02 What a fiduciary means for anybody who's not familiar with that term, on our YouTube show or on the podcast. A fiduciary must do what is best for you, not what's best for them. Your interests are the only thing that matters. And they're legally obligated to do only what serves you.
35:48 Speaker 02 So with Vanguard, you pay a maximum of 0.30 of a percent per year. It's much lower than you typically pay for having a fiduciary financial planner. The amount of money you have, you would be assigned an individual fiduciary advisor who would work with you day after day, month after month, year after year. And would only put you in investments that are ones that have no commission and are ultra-low cost.
36:25 Speaker 02 I'm very, very concerned, Taylor, because you're not the first person we've heard from. And plus, I talked about a news story about Fidelity doing the two hats. And I think it's a slippery slope. And I think Fidelity is doing really well as a company. But if you harm your reputation, it's hard to rebuild it. And to me, this kind of practice that Fidelity creates, reputational harm, not to mention harm to you as a consumer, putting you in a piece of trash annuity. Yuck. We already had Clark stinks. Now we have Fidelity stinks, which is a company I love.
37:09 Speaker 02 I mean, it's one of my favorite children.
37:11 Speaker 06 Are they though, still? I feel like they might need to get kicked out of the house.
37:15 Speaker 02 I don't know. Fidelity offers a variety of great products. They offer the Fidelity Zero Funds, which I love. No commissions, no ongoing expenses. So that's why when you and I have talked about the two hats, I don't like the two hat thing. Where, yes, I'm a fiduciary here, but then over here, I'm the sleazy commission salesperson pretending to you that I'm a fiduciary. I don't like that. I don't like it at all. And I'd love it if Fidelity at some point wants to put somebody on, on the podcast and the YouTube show and do a rebuttal to this. I'm happy to have it because they are one of my...
37:58 Speaker 02 But even, even with your own children, there are times you're not happy with them, right?
38:04 Speaker 06 Yeah.
38:05 Speaker 02 I mean, that's life. I'm not happy, Fidelity. I'm not happy.
38:10 Speaker 06 Dad is not happy.
38:11 Speaker 02 Dad is not happy. So I hope that you have a wonderful weekend in front of you. Gosh, we're getting closer. For those of us who live in cold parts of the country, we're getting closer and closer to seeing the green shoots pop up out of the snow. We're, we're going to get out of this winter. And if your finances are kind of stuck in winter, one day at a time, you can heal them. And I hope that we can be part of helping you do that. But wherever you feel you get the most solid advice and information that you can trust
38:54 Speaker 02 that helps you take more control of your wallet, do a better job with it, I'm so glad that you're of a mind that you're trying to do that. If you love what we do, know that we're here to serve you so many different ways on social media, with our free newsletters, with our websites. Our newsletters, you can see what we've got available at Clark.com/newsletters. Obviously Clark.com is one of our two websites, the other Clarkdeals.com. And everything we're about is you learning ways to save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. And we'll see you next Monday. Have that wonderful weekend.
39:43 Speaker 00 They're running a Cover 2 defense. But you're running to get game day deals on Uber Eats. Keep everyone at tonight's watch party fed with deals from your go-to restaurants. Or stock up with deals on your favorite snacks and groceries. Whatever the occasion, get game day deals on Uber Eats all season long. It's not football without food. Uber Eats, order now. Terms apply. Product availability varies by region. See app for details.
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