03.27.26 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Avoid Two Costly 401(k) Mistakes

Friday - Clark Stinks day! Christa shares Clark Stinks posts with Clark. Submit yours at Clark.com/ClarkStinks. Also today - the American 401(k) is a tale of two economies. While the average balance grew by a staggering amount in 2025, more workers than ever are "raiding" their accounts to cover short-term needs. Our “Man From Roth” explains the best approach for maximizing your retirement investments, while minimizing future taxation. Clark Stinks: Segments 1 & 2 401(k) Guidance: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: Clark Deals - Today's Best Deals of the Day 5 Best Grocery Delivery Services - Clark Howard My 7 Rules for Using Credit Cards - Clark Howard Best Place To Sell Your Gold What You Need To Know About the Fidelity Cash Management Account 5 Money Tips To Know Before You Travel Abroad - Clark Howard 10 Common Job Search Scams - Clark Howard How to Get a Mortgage in 8 Steps - Clark Howard Why Clark Howard Is Obsessed With Roth for Retirement Savings What the Credit Card Companies Don't Want You To Know Automatic Bill Pay: How It Works and How To Do It Safely 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. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 1:04Speaker 02

  I'm so glad you're with us here on the Clark Howard Show. And our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. One decision that I'm so glad we made 10 years ago tomorrow was to start the Clark Deals website. Can't believe it's already been 10 years. And the Clark Deals website is something that from the very get-go was all about not wasting your time. It was about deals that were real deals because so often deals are non-deal deals. Save, save, save. But are you really saving?

• 1:48Speaker 02

  That's what we put our heart and soul into at ClarkDeals.com. And then of course, we have Clark Deals newsletters. You can sign up for it at Clark.com/newsletters along with our regular Clark newsletter.

• 2:03Speaker 03

  And congrats to the whole Deals team. Kara, Sarah, Theo.

• 2:06Speaker 02

  Worked their tails off.

• 2:08Speaker 03

  They worked so hard. And Danny and Jen, we really appreciate everything everybody does at the Deals team. Karis lives for the deal site. She is so passionate.

• 2:18Speaker 02

  She and I were going over strategy because of Amazon apparently is going to move Prime Days to June from July is the rumor in the financial industry because they're trying to beef up their second quarter numbers. So they're going to move it earlier. And at the same time, they catch other retailers unprepared who are expecting it to be when it usually is, when they all jump on the bandwagon and all have sales. However, it is, whenever it's done, we're going to be there to serve you. And coming up later in this podcast, after you hear Clark stinks, we're going to talk about the good and bad

• 3:01Speaker 02

  of 401ks. I got some stuff to talk about with that coming up later today. But right now, it's time to find out how much I stink.

• 3:25Speaker 03

  Okay, Robert in Alabama says, Clark,

• 3:28Speaker 02

  War Eagle.

• 3:29Speaker 03

  You stink like my pile of shrimp peels after a July boil. I can't take it anymore. I know you used to be a travel agent. For those in your audience like me that hate to test a poor, vilify, or otherwise just dislike traveling, do a weekly or bimonthly show of nothing but 100% travel questions. So folks like me can skip it. And I hope Robert's not a Alabama Roll Tide person after you did that because he's going to be even more mad now.

• 3:56Speaker 02

  Well, of course, I had to do it. I mean, both of our sons go to Auburn.

• 4:00Speaker 03

  Yep. Anyway, you want to respond to the travel. He doesn't like the travel.

• 4:04Speaker 02

  So we know that overall in the audience, there's intense interest in travel. We just know that based on the number of travel questions we get. And I'm really sorry when you hear travel questions, they're a turn off. And everybody's got to do with their lives what they enjoy. And we

• 4:24Speaker 02

  Try to respond to the general tone of the marketplace, which is people do seem in our audience to want the travel information.

• 4:32Speaker 03

  I think it's kind of also because you're so enthusiastic about travel and you love it so much and finding deals on travel that you get the audience even more interested. So I think there's, you know, it's sort of just the way it is. Okay.

• 4:46Speaker 02

  All right. But I gotta say something to you, Robert. My wife feels like there is something wrong with me because I'm the only person she's ever known who loves being in an airport.

• 4:59Speaker 03

  I second that. Absolutely. You're like a little kid in the airport.

• 5:04Speaker 02

  When a new terminal opens or a new gate complex, I can't wait to go and see what they did with the design. I know there's something wrong with me and Robert is fully identified and if he is Alabama fan, now he knows something else that's really wrong with me.

• 5:24Speaker 03

  Kate in Florida says, does Clark stink or does Walmart stink? In part due to Clark's suggestion, I subscribe to Walmart Plus. Mostly use it for grocery pickup from the store, which seems to work well and is free regardless of being a Walmart Plus member. But regularly, items are not available for pickup and have to be quote unquote shipped to me. I say shipped because they don't come via FedEx or UPS. Instead, the items are usually delivered by a gig driver from a local store, sometimes shipped from a Walmart distribution center to a local store for delivery by Walmart's shipping. It's become one of the most frustrating experiences that has me ready to cancel my membership early. Often I would order multiple items in a single order, but they are split into two or three different deliveries to

• 6:05Speaker 03

  my house by different drivers. In addition to being extremely inefficient, I really don't like so many drivers coming to my home at all hours, often late at night. I went back and looked at my order history and I've placed 10 shipping orders in quotes since January. Of course, two were lost and had to be refunded and another two were delivered days late. That's a 40% failure rate. Often I just end up ordering a similar item from good old Amazon. Clark, what is going on? I can't imagine it's cost effective for Walmart to send three people to my house to deliver a $20 order. Is this just growing pains or possibly a local issue for me?

• 6:41Speaker 02

  No, I mean, the logistics of Walmart, Walmart sales, about 20% now are delivery and roughly 80%. Or traditional in-store, either at-store pickup or in-store. And their logistics system is so unbelievably complicated. I'll order, I'm Walmart plus, I'm also Sam's plus. And I'll order from either of them. And it is just the weirdest thing. There'll be stuff that shows up in an hour. There'll be stuff that doesn't show up for two and a half weeks and everything in between. And it comes so many different ways.

• 7:24Speaker 02

  And it's just the way Walmart and Sam's that they own have set up how their deliveries work very heavily, particularly for Sam's, deliveries come FedEx. And those are, they, okay, I hate to say it, they've not been reliable in terms of the delivery cycle. So this is an area that Amazon has a clear market advantage over Walmart and Sam's is they've been much better at being reliable with delivery. And now, Amazon, you may be aware, in a lot of their big urban markets, has delivery

• 8:07Speaker 02

  in as little as an hour for an extra fee, but is very heavily trying to push people to accept slower delivery. Have you noticed that on Amazon? And so you're going to see more and more where you'll have a delivery from Amazon now that they're reducing what they do with the postal service, they're reducing what they do with UPS, that Amazon is going to be, I hate to say it to you, their delivery is going to work more like Walmart and Sam's to try to lower the cost of delivery using every possible method for delivery. And you know, with Walmart, your delivery could come from one of the store employees at the end of a shift.

• 8:51Speaker 02

  It's like, hey, you want to pick up some extra money and drop this off on your way home? And they do that.

• 8:56Speaker 03

  Okay. Jason in Idaho says, Clark, you don't stink, but I have to point out an oversight. When you shared that a majority of Americans don't know the interest rate on their credit cards, I agree with you because I don't. However, I pay my cards off monthly, just like some financial guy on my favorite podcast suggests. Cheers and thanks for starting my day and morning commute with positivity.

• 9:17Speaker 02

  Jason, thank you. All right. So true confessions. I don't know what any of my interest rates are either because I'm a net payer like you. When I talk about this with interest rates, here's the problem with credit cards. It's a behavioral economics thing. When people get a credit card, they think they're going to use it and pay the bill when it comes. But a meaningful percentage of people, let's say, depending on the month, 40%, half of people, whatever, don't pay it in full. And then what you don't know really hurts you. And what do I mean, what you don't know hurts you? Okay. If upfront, you knew there was a possibility that you wouldn't be able to pay a card in full, you would shop for credit

• 10:01Speaker 02

  cards like you do for anything else, based on the interest rate that the card charges. But because psychologically, we don't expect to run balances, we don't know and don't pay attention to what those interest rates are. And just as a shortcut, the average credit union credit card charges half the interest of the average bank card.

• 10:25Speaker 03

  Larry in Idaho says, Clark doesn't really stink, but he has obviously never lived in the snow belt. His answer to the caller asking about which car wash to purchase, he no surprise answered the cheapest. If you don't upgrade to the underbody wash in many parts of the country, the chemicals used to melt snow will destroy the car that Clark wants you to drive forever.

• 10:46Speaker 02

  So, so when I lived in the snow belt for five years, I washed my own car back then and never did a good job washing underneath. And then was so surprised when I started having problems. And so I 100% say, Larry, you're right on this.

• 11:08Speaker 03

  Patrick in Oregon says, Dear Mr. Howard,

• 11:11Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 11:12Speaker 03

  I was eager to hear your suggestion on where to sell physical gold, as the title of the podcast indicated. Instead, you recommended buying metal fund ETFs instead of owning physical gold. You then indicated Costco was a good place to buy physical gold due to the lack of markup. You never actually Made any suggestion as to where or how to sell physical gold. Your suggestion to buy a fund or having to secure actual gold bars is valid, but you never gave the advice that I needed. Thanks for your and your team's efforts.

• 11:40Speaker 02

  Okay, so dial back to what I said about being flaky recently. So yes, I forgot to talk about what I was going to talk about, which is how difficult it is to sell physical gold. And the shoe leather, nobody wears leather shoes anymore. The tennis shoes you wear out going place to place that buys gold getting prices. So it is a problem. We have a guide at Clark.com on how to sell physical gold because it is a constant question we have. And there is no easy button for selling physical gold like Costco has become for buying gold.

• 12:22Speaker 03

  And in the episode description that you're listening or watching right now, if you scroll to the description, we'll put the link to that article in there.

• 12:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, because that was my fail that I'll just go off on a tangent and I'll forget I was going to talk about a particular thing. And it's just, okay, everybody's had to live with that in my life.

• 12:44Speaker 03

  You've got a lot, a lot of information you're throwing out. Greg in Georgia says, after hearing from Clark about Fidelity and Schwab debit cards covering ATM fees for so long, I finally got one from Fidelity before going to Rome for a transatlantic cruise. I decided I should try it out before leaving, only to find the hidden truth and that it was too late to correct it. I didn't understand that Fidelity offers two very different debit cards, one for cash management accounts, which I didn't have, and one for a regular brokerage account. Sadly, they only cover ATM fees on cash management debit cards, and it was too late to get one. So before Clark completely retires, I want my $9.63 back for the ATM fees I had to pay for some walking around money in Europe. I finally opened a cash account and I tested it and I'm ready for next time.

• 13:29Speaker 03

  Thanks for all the correct knowledge over the years and all the help you've been. Keep up the great work.

• 13:34Speaker 02

  All right. So Greg, this is why we do Clark stinks. Because I did not know till right this second, the distinction with an important difference. That Fidelity has two debit card products and only one of them comes with a waiver of ATM fees. And I have not heard that before. So now let me give you a bonus that may make up the $9.63. In country after country after country and now common across Europe, when you go to an ATM to withdraw money, they're going to try to trick you into withdrawing

• 14:13Speaker 02

  the money in the local currency, but processing it as if you made a dollar withdrawal. And then they charge you extra fees, roughly 10% of the money you pull out in junk fees. When you say, oh, yeah, that sounds so nice. Just take it out in dollars, but give me the euro or give me the pounds or whatever, the Swiss francs. And when I was in Europe just recently, about 80% of the time, the terminal, when I was buying something with my phone, would default to processing the charge in dollars instead of euro. And you

• 14:56Speaker 02

  had to press 2 on most of the machines to override that. If you did not hit override, they processed the transaction with a 10% add-on junk fee, processing it in dollars instead of local currency. You always want processed in local currency. So, speaking of which, hopefully, if I prevent that from happening to you every time that happens, I'm saving you more than the $9.63 I already cost you. Sorry about that.

• 15:27Speaker 03

  Kelly, North Carolina says, I could never say Clark stinks, but as a regular listener, I've noticed sometimes he focuses only on the problem and not on possible solutions. A caller mentioned he'd nearly been scammed during his job search. Clark acknowledged this is a big problem in the job market and warned his listeners against sharing personal information. What then in this cutthroat job market is a person to do? My son recently entered the job market following his graduation from college, and I advised him to use the job boards for searching, but to only apply On the company websites. If a job isn't listed on the company website, it's most likely either an expired position posting or a scam. There were only a handful of opportunities in which he could not apply directly on the company website. I'm sure some of the smaller companies don't always update their sites with job postings,

• 16:12Speaker 03

  but they typically at least have an email address listed where one could send a cover letter and resume. Good news for my son, he starts an amazing new position with one of your three favorite children later this month. Keep up the good work and please try to remember to advise your listeners of possible alternative solutions for the problems they're facing, rather than just acknowledging there's an issue.

• 16:32Speaker 02

  Thank you, and you just did it. And congratulations to your son. And I hope that one of my three favorite children treat him very well.

• 16:41Speaker 03

  Vicki in Missouri says, Clark, you stink like my cat's litter box when I forget to clean him out every day.

• 16:46Speaker 02

  That's the number one people post is about litter boxes.

• 16:49Speaker 03

  Second one we've had recently, for sure. A first time home buyer asked about sources for mortgages, including online lenders. Although you answered several parts of his question, you ignored the online lenders. They are notorious for failing to close a mortgage on a specific date, which is important in an initial home purchase. In addition, first time buyers often need extra handholding, which you're not going to get from an online lender with their army of telephone reps. Better to stick to a local lender in this case. Online mortgages are better suited for refinancing when it's not as important to close on a specific date and you've gone around the block with getting a mortgage before.

• 17:26Speaker 02

  One, everything you said is 100% correct. And that would have been an oversight on my part that I did not mention that when you're originating a mortgage on the purchase of a home, you want a human you're dealing with, an experienced person. And as you pointed out so perfectly, first time home buyers, you always want someone who is a knowledgeable person, who you are able to reach on the phone, by text or email. And you are on the money that often the greatest hardships that come into people's home purchasing process

• 18:09Speaker 02

  is when they're dealing with a high volume online lender. Great advice. I appreciate you providing that information because.

• 18:19Speaker 02

  I forget the context, but my failure to say it in that context was a failure and failed to serve people as I should have. And this, again, this is why we do Clark Stinks. Because in the moment answering something, I'm going to forget details. You know, I'm just a guy and I'm going to forget things, or I'll leave something out, or I'll miss something that you, working in an industry, know to be so very important. So, thank you to each and every one of you who take the time to post a Clark Stinks. Coming up ahead,

• 19:01Speaker 02

  I want to talk about the goods and bads of 401Ks. There's some warning signs that are flashing I want to talk about with you.

• 19:11Speaker 00

  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.

• 19:40Speaker 04

  You know what's funny about free financial advice? It's usually the most expensive kind. I'm Don McDonald from the Talking Real Money Podcast. For over three decades, my co-host Tom and I have been the antidote to the financial nonsense that fills the airwaves. We don't sell products. We don't have sponsors paying us to recommend their funds. We just tell you what has actually worked. Backed by decades of academic research, not some guru's gut feeling. Our listeners tell us we're like Car Talk for your money, minus the car problems with maybe even more bad jokes. You're already listening to a podcast right now, so finding us couldn't be easier. Just search for Talking Real Money or visit TalkingRealMoney.com.

• 20:21Speaker 04

  Give us a few minutes. The worst that happens, you're mildly entertained. The best? You stop making your broker richer and start building actual wealth. Just search for Talking Real Money. Talking Real Money is an educational podcast. Hosts are affiliated with a registered investment advisor. For disclosures, visit TalkingRealMoney.com.

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• 21:56Speaker 02

  Okay, couple of things. I am so excited that the average 401k balance over time keeps going up, up, up, up. And more and more people, as I shared with you recently, who work for smaller companies now for the first time have access to 401ks at more and more smaller companies. Because truth be told, you know, I'm the man from Roth. I love the Roth IRA. But people don't effectively save as much, a normal person, if they have access to an IRA as when they have a 401k. Because 401ks automatic pilot. The money just comes out of your check and builds up money for your future at a much

• 22:39Speaker 02

  faster rate with both the limits that you're allowed to contribute and the fact that it's automatic, where it's harder for people to get around to doing the IRA. But in terms of automatic, there's something that people are doing automatically. That for the overwhelming percent of people is the wrong strategy for long term. And to this moment, remember, I am the man from Roth. People overwhelmingly are putting their 401k money into a traditional 401k, even though almost all employers now offer the Roth version. I want you doing the Roth version unless you're making money like you're,

• 23:22Speaker 02

  what's the old expression from forever ago, daddy warbucks? Unless you've just got money coming out your ears making so much. What kind of money am I talking about? For a single individual, you should be making, barring some specialized circumstance, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year before you would switch from doing a Roth version to traditional. Married couple, we're talking past 500,000 a year. How many people make that kind of money? Professional athletes, right? Anyway, so Roth, Roth, Roth. Get it in your mind and get it into action. That if you are a typical income earner, your tax rates are,

• 24:06Speaker 02

  it probably doesn't feel like it, but they're crazy low compared to historical. And by the way, do you know what kind of accumulated federal deficit we have now? Is it 39 trillion or something? I mean, it's monstrous and we keep spending money we don't have. So at some point, and nobody knows what that day is, there will come a financial crisis and we will be forced as a country to start dealing with the deficit. And you can't cut, I mean, you can't even cut 100% of spending and deal with the deficit right now. It's so large. So it means that that dirty word, it's a three-letter dirty word.

• 24:48Speaker 02

  T A X that taxes will have to go up to deal with the deficit. It's gonna happen and it's gonna happen at the worst possible time for us as a country because we're ignoring the problem of the deficit. So that's why taking advantage of these low tax rates and putting money into the Roth version of a 401k is so key because that money will not be taxed and it will not cause you additional tax when you start receiving Medicare at age 65, where you get hit with a huge penalty. If you got too much money, you gotta pull out of your IRA or 401k to live on that's

• 25:32Speaker 02

  traditional, that's not subject to this tax called IRMA that you have to pay if you got a lot of money in a traditional 401k or IRA. Now, the other thing Vanguard just reported that a record high percent of people are pulling money out of their 401ks prematurely. One out of every 16 did so last year. And there are certainly people who end up in a situation where your back's against the wall. You're out of other options to pay a bill, pay for a medical thing, whatever. There are circumstances like that.

• 26:14Speaker 02

  It's also true that there's a psychology that's taken hold that there's a certain percent of people who look at the money they see in their 401k statement as, oh, that's their rainy day fund. But money, once pulled out, people tend to reduce their future contributions to a 401k and that money loses time in the market that you're having to pay back the loan on. So, yes, it's good there's the safety valve for absolute emergencies.

• 26:46Speaker 02

  But that's what they need to be. Krista?

• 26:48Speaker 03

  Hey, Carlos in Washington says, am I investing too much into my 401k? My company gives me a crazy retirement contribution, 17% direct, no match.

• 26:59Speaker 02

  That's the opposite.

• 27:00Speaker 03

  I think he meant like he's getting a 17% match without putting money in, right? Yeah, I'm reading what he wrote, but I think that's right. I'm an airline pilot. I save 8%, but I was-

• 27:10Speaker 02

  Alaska Airlines we're talking about. I don't know any other airline that has a 401k that works like that.

• 27:17Speaker 03

  So they actually match 17% of your salary without you even contributing anything? Oh, right. And Carlos puts in 8%.

• 27:24Speaker 02

  So saving a quarter of his pay effectively.

• 27:27Speaker 03

  I was thinking about taking it down to 4%. My partner's currently between jobs and I could use some extra cash to pay down student loans or to throw at our mortgage, which isn't at the best interest rate. I also invest 10% of my income into the employee stock purchase program and I hope to have Team Clark on board one day. Wouldn't that be fun?

• 27:46Speaker 02

  Well, now that Alaska, I'm assuming Carlos, you're Alaska, you're from Washington State too.

• 27:51Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 27:51Speaker 02

  So that even more makes me think Alaska. With all these new international routes, you've got some kind of great introductory deal? I'll be there on those brand spanking new 787s that... Have you seen the new livery they're painting on the 787s? I'm just joking.

• 28:09Speaker 03

  You know, I haven't.

• 28:10Speaker 02

  You don't even know that's going on?

• 28:12Speaker 03

  No.

• 28:13Speaker 02

  Okay, so right now you're saving effectively 25% of your pay. You'd be saving 21. Okay, so money's tight in the household right now. If you take that money and put it to work, paying down the student loans, which if they're not at a great rate, the mortgage, you'd only do that if the interest rate was somewhere mid-sixes or above. And doing one of those things where you're putting money towards existing debt, that sounds fine to me because you start where nobody else does with an employer popping 17%.

• 28:52Speaker 02

  Into a 401k, that's absolutely great. And look forward to seeing you on an Alaska Air jet someday. What if I'm wrong and it wasn't Alaska?

• 29:01Speaker 03

  Well, that would be... Okay, Dan says, "I'm a single male teacher, age 43, no dependents. I'm in good health, no doctor visits last year, and not even on any prescriptions. I only started retirement savings about two years ago, and I have $50,000 invested, Roth and 403B combined."

• 29:20Speaker 02

  Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait a minute. Didn't start till 41 saving, and now has 50 grand in two years as a school teacher?

• 29:31Speaker 03

  Mm-hmm.

• 29:32Speaker 02

  Okay, so don't ever say something, Dan, like, "Well, I didn't even store it till I was..." I mean, you're doing fantastic. So focusing on saving that money.

• 29:43Speaker 03

  Okay. Roth and 403B combined there, by the way, to make sure you heard that, along with a pension that started when I started teaching 16 years ago. I have a mortgage on my home. I owe $70,000, but it's worth $160,000. Yay Midwest prices and buying before COVID. I'm not really planning on getting married currently, as I'm pretty happy in the single life. Should I get life insurance, and do I need a will? I have beneficiaries set up on all my investment accounts and a shared document with all account numbers and where they're to. Beneficiaries and insurance information shared with my brothers and parents.

• 30:17Speaker 02

  So you don't demonstrate a need for life insurance right now because you're not the financial support at this point in your life to anybody else. However, it looks like if you were to unfortunately prematurely leave the earth, you're developing these habits of really developing wealth, saving money. You got the value of the home, you got the retirement accounts.

• 30:42Speaker 02

  A will, as long as you're really good at checking your beneficiary designations regularly, like, let's say, on your birthday once a year, is when you check all the beneficiary designations. Make sure every pile of funds you have, everything you've got, you have done a proper beneficiary designation, then the will is not as important in your case at this point in your life. And that you've shared this information with others is great. So I think you're doing the right things, and I think you're okay.

• 31:16Speaker 03

  Craig in Utah says, "I had a surprisingly positive experience with AI customer service with my credit card. To pay my cards in full each month, I use manual bill pay from my credit union, paying each about a week before their due. But I recently missed a payment by one day and I was hit with a $25 late fee. I called the number on the card, prepared to do battle with whoever answered. After verifying everything under the sun about me, the AI voice asked, 'What can I do for you today?' I said, 'Cancel my late fee.' And the voice said, 'I understand you'd like to cancel your late fee. Is that correct?'

• 31:51Speaker 02

  "Yes."

• 31:52Speaker 03

  "Your late fee has been canceled. Is there anything else I can help you with?" I muttered a surprise, "Nothing else. Thank you." And I was speechless. My request had gone so much easier than I ever expected. And the late fee really was removed. It wasn't just some AI glitch. AI can be frustrating, but I guess it can also go out of the way to help.

• 32:14Speaker 02

  Okay, that is the funniest story, Craig. And you don't ask, you don't get it. It's like we talk about, if you don't like your interest rate with your credit card, call them and ask for a lower rate. And more than half the time, they'll agree to lower your interest rate for a while. In this case, you were one day late, and I guess their system was like, "Okay, well, we'll do this one time." And if AI was trained to do that, that's really great. And I want to thank you for taking the time to share it. And I do have an alternative for you with your bill pay, is that you set up with the card issuers directly, where they automatically debit at least the minimum due every month. And I

• 32:58Speaker 02

  don't use my financial institution's bill pay anymore. I pay all the bills at the websites of organizations, where I cut out a third-party bill pay out of the system.

• 33:13Speaker 02

  And I control it with paying them. I just find that that's more reliable now than third-party bill pay. Just a thought for you. But I love that AI was your friend this time. That's really great. And I hope that you have an absolutely great weekend in front of you. Days are getting longer. Some parts of the country has finally gotten warmer. I hope that gives you an opportunity to go outside and enjoy yourself in some way this weekend and know what we're devoted to. Every hour of the day, every day of the week, every day of the year is you with empowerment

• 33:55Speaker 02

  available through knowledge so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. I hope this is a great weekend. You.

• 34:09Speaker 02

  Your sausage McMuffin with egg didn't change. Your receipt did. The sausage McMuffin with egg extra value meal includes a hash brown and a small coffee for just $5. Only at McDonald's for a limited time.

• 34:21Speaker 06

  Price and participation may vary. Promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing. This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just $15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song like All I Want. Right. Okay, we can't afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com/switch.

• 34:43Speaker 05

  A front payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50GB may slow when network is busy. See terms.