Pod Insights The Clark Howard Podcast 03.28.25 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Recession: Potential & Preparation About this episode Friday - Clark Stinks day! Christa shares Clark Stinks posts with Clark. Submit yours at Clark.com/ClarkStinks. Also today, Clark addresses concerns about a potential recession, and how to prepare for that possibility. Clark Stinks: Segments 1 & 2 Recession Preparedness: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: Cheapest Way to Rent a Car: Expert Tips Why You Should Never Prepay for a Rental Car How To Sell, Cancel or Get Rid of Your Timeshare Why Vacation Clubs Are Even Worse Than Timeshares Consumer Angst Is Striking All Income Levels - The Wall Street Journal. Avoid Porch Pirates With Delivery Options From Amazon, UPS, FedEx & USPS 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 You've spent your career building a retirement nest egg. Now, where will your monthly income come from? Meet the Simplify Target 15 Distribution ETF. Ticker XV. Designed to target a 15% annualized distribution rate, paid monthly. The target isn't guaranteed. Distributions may vary and the rate isn't investment return. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Carefully consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information. Visit simplify.us/nestegg to learn more. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest. Distributor, Forside Financial Services, LLC.
0:41 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.
1:16 Speaker 02 It's my pleasure to welcome you here to The Clark Howard Show, where our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. It's Friday, and it means you're going to empower me with your information about where you feel I missed the boat, or where I messed up. And later, you've probably been hearing more and more buzz about a recession. So, are we going to have a recession? I'll address that later. And how do you prepare yourself for the possibility? We're going to talk that through. But right now, it's time for me to go to school.
2:01 Speaker 02 The Clark Stink School.
2:03 Speaker 03 I never encouraged you to speak.
2:04 Speaker 04 You must think I'm pretty stupid.
2:06 Speaker 05 You should be ashamed of yourself. Well, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're right, pal.
2:15 Speaker 06 All right, a couple about this one. Clark's joy of daylight savings time claiming we get, quote, "so much more daylight" just stinks. "Since I can remember, since I was a child, I've hated this stupid practice of messing with my sleep schedule with a passion like no other. I will wake up too early or too late, struggling to get back to normal. As for the additional hour that is, quote unquote, 'so great,' it's not so great, and I'll tell you why. As the change approaches, every year, I wake up and the sun is out a little bit earlier. Just before the change, when I get up at 6:30 a.m., the sun is up, it's light out finally. The dark of winter is over. This lasts about a week or so, and then we change the clocks, and my 6:30 a.m. wake-up time is now moved back to 5:30 a.m., and it is dark again.
2:59 Speaker 06 My daylight is not saved, and it will take weeks before the sun catches up to this change. I'm again waking up in the dark. There's no reason to do this, there never really was. This stupidity should be abolished forever. Still love the show, though. Thanks for all you and your team do. Pete, and also Glenn in the UK, my friend who hates this as much as I do, even though his is on a different schedule for the change." And then, one other one. "The only thing that smells worse than you is our local mushroom farm. Seriously, your statements championing daylight savings time are truly putrid. Daylight savings time is extremely unhealthy and terribly disruptive to our lives. Why do we subject our cardiovascular system and our children to this farce? It does not save energy, as claimed by many people.
3:42 Speaker 06 It means nothing to farmers, as claimed by the unfamiliar. I grew up in a farm community. Farmers do what needs to be done without regard to what the clock says. It does not give anyone, quote unquote, 'an extra hour of daylight,' as you claimed on your program. The day will have the same number of hours in daylight, whether that community is on daylight savings time or not. The dirty secret is this: The government wants people to spend, not save money. This fuels our consumer and debt-driven economy, which in turn fills the tax coffers. People tend to spend more money during daylight hours. The government uses daylight savings time to trick people into parting with their hard-earned dollars." Phil. Passion about this.
4:20 Speaker 02 Oh, I mean, always. And, you know, you go back to what went on in Indiana, where Indiana had fights, community by community, about what time their clocks would be set. And it was really, really bad, ugly. So for me, I get so much joy because in the evening, having those extra hours to go walk around and do things and all that, shopping is not a priority for me, but being able to be outside and hang out outside is just such an extreme joy. But I don't know
5:02 Speaker 02 how many issues in the United States are as polarizing as how people feel about daylight time. We've debated it forever and nobody ever can come up with something that reaches national consensus. So who knows what's going to happen? The most recent thing I saw is that we just go on the equivalent of daylight saving time all year long, which would be very potentially dangerous for a lot of school kids who'd be in the dark for so much of the year waiting at the school bus stop. So I don't have a perfect answer. I can just tell you that just as for each of you, it's an abomination that we do daylight saving
5:44 Speaker 02 time. For me, I mean, I just am joyous when it happens. This is why this is such a divisive issue. Where are you on this?
5:53 Speaker 06 Um, I wish-
5:54 Speaker 02 Do you not want to say anything?
5:55 Speaker 06 No, I don't care. Whatever. People can throw hate my way. Um, I like it. Like, I like the daylight time because my dogs get an extra walk. I like being able to have light later in the day rather than earlier. That's just my selfish opinion because I don't want to get up super early and walk them. I'd rather give them an extra walk at night. I enjoy it. All right. I was just listening to your podcast and shockingly, an ad came on for one of the big banks. Are you really relying on a big bad monster mega bank to keep the lights on? Please, Clark, say it ain't so, Robert.
6:26 Speaker 02 I don't know about this.
6:28 Speaker 06 So this was on a platform where they control the ads, but this particular big bank, we haven't had a lot of issues with lately. So I don't know that we would reject if it was a directly bought ad.
6:38 Speaker 02 Yeah. So I should explain this on websites, on-
6:43 Speaker 02 Podcasts, so many different things now, even now, some television, interestingly enough, is done this way.
6:52 Speaker 06 Programmatically.
6:53 Speaker 02 Yeah, they call it programmatically. So these are bid placed ads and we can do blacklist for certain kinds of things that don't air or certain.
7:02 Speaker 06 Categories.
7:03 Speaker 02 Categories. But outside of that, if we don't direct sell an ad, then it is what's known as a programmatic. And I don't even know that those are airing. And in our case.
7:19 Speaker 06 Dynamically inserted. So it's not like we would see it in advance either.
7:22 Speaker 02 And so explain this to me. Are the ads zip code targeted with a podcast? Or is it the same programmatic ad that runs everywhere?
7:32 Speaker 06 You know what? I don't know if they can, can do that with zip codes or programmatic ads. I know direct sold ads are just on the entire podcast. It doesn't matter.
7:41 Speaker 02 Because now with streaming, streaming television services that are ad supported, a lot of the ads now are crazy, hyper local.
7:50 Speaker 06 Oh, yeah.
7:51 Speaker 02 On the streaming services and more and more, they're able to target, they, ad agencies or, and time buyers are able to micro target down to almost like specific neighborhoods where you're seeing different ads than a friend or relative across town.
8:08 Speaker 06 Yep. All right. There were some gambling ads that were showing up with the podcast and I did online gambling. I did block those. I just.
8:16 Speaker 02 Goodness. I had a relative arguing with me just last night about my objection to all the promotion of gambling right now. And he's like, how can you be so libertarian minded and not want these ads for gambling running? That's a conversation for a different time, right?
8:36 Speaker 06 Oh, yeah. I just listened to you talking about how you go about confirming your rental car reservation after booking through Costco or another third party. You said you go to the car rental agency directly and then quote unquote, claim your reservation. Can you explain what you mean by claim and exactly how it's done? There's no button or function on the website that says, "Claim your reservation." I'm a little confused, and car rentals can be a little bit of a nightmare, so it'd be helpful, Lynda.
9:01 Speaker 02 Lynda, I'm sorry that I did that so shorthand. So each car rental agency, the major car rental agencies, have a button to view, modify, or cancel a reservation. Several of the companies use that exact phraseology, or something where you would go to modify a reservation is usually the kind of thing you're looking for. So you click on it, you put in the confirmation number you know from the third-party booking source, like in my situation with Costco, where they give you the Costco confirmation, then the rental agency confirmation. I put in the rental agency confirmation, my first and last name, and then the reservation pops up. I'm able to do pre-check-in.
9:46 Speaker 02 It's always good to have pre-check-in with a car rental, and I'm usually able to not even stop at a counter and go straight to the lot, even though I book most of my car rentals through Costco Travel.
10:02 Speaker 06 Clark stunk more than the bucket of clams I forgot in the truck of my car. On February 3rd, a caller wanted advice on what to do with their timeshare that had a $2,000 monthly maintenance fee. That number may have been wrong, but at the answer, Clark suggested that someone could get a timeshare and even get paid to take the timeshare. Krista was politely pushing back on Clark's stinky suggestion, but he said, "If you get someone to pay you, at least you're going in with your eyes open." Clark, this caller was telling you about outrageous monthly fees, but you ignored that and suggested that people get into a timeshare if they get paid to take it. Mr. Howard, that is terrible advice. I think you should put a timeshare on your never, never, never, not ever list." And that's from Steve.
10:43 Speaker 02 Steve, I despise timeshares. There are people who love having them.
10:50 Speaker 02 Know about all the terrible fees, know that they're generally trapped in it, but they love having them and they've worked out for them somehow. So if they can get one where they get paid to take it over and they like the place, the location, then more power to them. But timeshares stick to people like glue. I'm sorry that I made it sound confusing because I have always despised timeshares because they have the disadvantages of ownership of something or commitments of ownership without the benefits. And that's why what you said and your fury at me about it is probably correct that I
11:35 Speaker 02 was too cavalier about it. And the problem with the fees the person's paying is that it's hard to get out. That's the core problem is getting out of that timeshare. How do you do it? The reality is a lot of times you have a timeshare, you can't even pay somebody to take from you.
11:54 Speaker 06 You said that if the bank will not accept electronic payments from your bill payer, you should pay the bill on the bank's website. You could have mentioned the alternative. Set up auto pay on the bank's website for the minimum amount due to be debited on the due date. That way you will never have a late payment. If you pay the full amount before the due date, then the automatic payment gets automatically canceled. Not always true, actually. This works for Citibank and most other credit card issuers, Rick.
12:19 Speaker 02 Okay, so let me see if I follow what you're saying, Rick. You're saying set up where you auto pay only the minimum at the credit card website? That's fine if you want to do that. But the problem is, is if you normally pay your bills in full, there's so many problems with now paying credit cards or mortgage or anything like that through your own financial institutions, bill pay service, where the money just doesn't get into the account and credited on time, that it has become a better idea to pay on the website of who you owe
12:58 Speaker 02 the money to through a direct ACH there than to use the bill pay service through your financial institution. Always pay your property taxes that way at your county or governmental authority website on your home. Where you go directly to their website and pay there. Do not pay by mailing a check. Criminals are looking for those checks. They're written usually for a larger amount of money. They wash the payee and they run off with the money and your property taxes still aren't paid.
13:34 Speaker 06 Clark doesn't stink, but his pronunciation can certainly use some continuous improvement. He says he loves the Japanese practice of kaizen, continuous improvement. But the word he's looking for is kaizen, Dan. And it is pronounced like that.
13:47 Speaker 02 Kaizen?
13:47 Speaker 06 Yes.
13:48 Speaker 02 It's so funny. I've only called it kaizen for, I don't know, 40, 50 years. Kaizen. So you get more emphasis to the zen.
14:00 Speaker 06 Think of it as you want to be zen. Yes.
14:01 Speaker 02 Kaizen. Okay, I'll try to put that in my brain.
14:04 Speaker 06 Clark stinks like a drawer full of stinky gym socks marinating in the sun. Clark, it's time to give up Costco. I did, I know, I did price checks between Costco and grocery stores. Clark's holding his neck forever, one who's not watching. Costco is no cheaper with very few exceptions. Meanwhile, I shop at dreaded Kroger. Prices are good and frequently better than Costco. I also watch their digital deals and use their fuel points. Friday is four times fuel points. Guess what day I shop? Friday. My wife has an F-150 with a 30-plus gallon tank. I've gotten the price down to seven cents a gallon, but frequently she pays below $1.50 a gallon. If my wife shops at Costco, my blood pressure goes up. She's a budget buster.
14:48 Speaker 06 She wanders around and fills up her cart. When she shops at Costco, our grocery budget goes up by at least one-third. I had to ban her from Costco. Yeah, I banned her. So why do I keep my membership? Here's the deal. Their Costco City Card has great cash back. 4% on gas, 3% on restaurants and travel. Even after membership fees, I net over $700 a year. Also, there are no international fees, so it's great for travel. Before you ask, no, I don't get gas at Costco despite the extra 1% cash back. Costco gas is a mess. It takes forever because the lines are horrible. And once you're in line, there is no way out, no escape. Thanks for everything else you do, but drop the Costco obsession, Dave.
15:30 Speaker 02 Dave, I am also a Kroger shopper. I use the Kroger digital coupons because Kroger's a high-low retailer. So you know my obsession with Coke Zero and Pepsi Zero. So Kroger puts them on sale a lot and they're much, much cheaper there than they are at Costco. There are a number of items that if you just buy the Kroger items with digital coupons, you're getting an incredible deal. Kroger's doing it because then they hope you buy the other things while you're there that are not on sale, which is why they're called a high-low
16:10 Speaker 02 retailer. So I love Costco. Their markups are so low, lowest in retail. And it is true, look how big the shopping carts are. I mean, those are oversized shopping carts. They live on people buying impulse items, filling up those huge shopping carts, or if you're from a part of the country, they're called buggies, filling up the huge buggy and buying all that stuff that later on reflection, oh, we didn't really need it, or food that goes bad, you throw out, I got it. But the pricing at Costco is just phenomenal. So
16:53 Speaker 02 I defended Costco. But you know what's funny is because recently I talked about how Sams has higher customer satisfaction scores than Costco. I've had so many people come up to me and say, how could you say that? How could you betray Costco? The reality is retail, what makes it great is it's so competitive. And people are always trying to improve in retail because if they don't, and they don't adapt, they fail to survive. And so Costco, I'm looking at you. When are you going to come up with electronic checkout like Sam's uses? Where you just automatically check out and walk out the door? Challenge is now in your court.
17:38 Speaker 02 Oh, and by the way, thank you for all your Clark stinks. They're so varied every week. I love it because like any human being, I developed my narrow blinders. And having someone share with me things that are perspectives that I have ignored or didn't see or just looked right past is so helpful to me and to the advice I give moving forward. Coming up ahead, I want to talk about the possible recession in the United States coming and what you need to know about that.
18:18 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.
18:49 Speaker 07 Low energy, unfocused, foggy? You might be dehydrated. Gatorade Zero powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body with a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colors or flavors. Great tasting hydration, no matter where you're going. Shop now online or at retailers nationwide. Gatorade hydrates better than water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist.
19:18 Speaker 06 Now at Kroger, your points add up to more ways to save every trip. Use them your way to take dollars off groceries at checkout or save at the pump. You can even save up to $35 on your next fill up. Same points, more choices. And with low prices on fresh, quality food, plus digital and personalized offers tailored to how you shop, your dollar goes further. Redeem your points online or in the app. Kroger, fresh for everyone.
19:45 Speaker 02 Restrictions apply. See site or store for details. So more and more angst in people about the economy. Interesting thing in the Wall Street Journal recently was a survey showing that the angst about the economy is striking all income levels. Now, let's face facts. People of the higher end of the income in the United States, people earning a lot more money than average, they've been having really great times, but they're kind of freaked right now, which only means they've joined a lot of people at the lower end of the income scale
20:24 Speaker 02 who've been struggling for a good while, where inflation was devastating and left them without enough money to pay monthly bills. The airlines that depend so heavily on wealthier people and on companies spending money on travel, their stocks have gone into a deep dive because what's one of the things you can cut out right away? Discretionary travel. So now economists see the chance of a recession somewhere, depending on who you believe, somewhere between 40% to 60%. Now, just because there's a chance of a recession doesn't mean we're going to have
21:05 Speaker 02 one, but I would say the odds are much higher that we're going to have something that is referred to as shorthand in economics is a growth recession. A growth recession is when the economy continues to grow, but at a very slow rate, but it's slow enough that there are more layoffs that people experience and getting a new job becomes more troublesome. There are people who believe we already have those conditions in the employment market of what is referred to as a growth recession. But we could have a recession. It is normal to have a recession.
21:47 Speaker 02 It is normal for the stock market to have periods of extreme exuberance followed by
21:55 Speaker 02 A lot of pessimism, which is what we've got right now, going into a correction. Maybe we could have a bear market, which is basically double the loss of a correction. 20% down. Stock market's been way, way, way high priced. You look at the value of shares versus the earnings that companies have, and the values are out of hand. So they were priced for true perfection. And right now, things are like, well, yeah, things don't look as great. So those stock values that were in the stratosphere come more back towards earth.
22:37 Speaker 02 So, yeah, it's gonna be a tougher time. Are we gonna have anything brutal, like the Great Recession or anything like that? Not likely. The only X factor is what tariffs could do to our economy and other economies around the world. And historically, tariffs have been really ugly for economies. Both the economy placing them and the countries they're placed on. Because you know who pays for tariffs? We do, you and I as consumers. So they're a drag on economic growth.
23:15 Speaker 02 So this could be tougher times up ahead, but I don't see a disaster up ahead. But in your own life, you could already feel like you're moving into a danger zone or are in one. So what are the things I want you to think about? I want you to think long and hard about big purchases, discretionary spending, spending money on want to's instead of have to's. Now, there are those of us at the lower end of the income scale that are rolling their eyes because you're only able to struggle through paying for the have to's.
23:56 Speaker 02 But a big chunk of the population, half twos you're able to handle. So there's a lot of want twos. This is a time that you need to repair your personal balance sheet. If you're running credit card balances, personal loans, have a home equity line of credit outstanding with money owed on it. This is when you repair those things. You pay down debt. You pay debt off. You be prepared for a rainy day. If the rainy day doesn't come, then great. You've improved your personal finances in a big way. It means that you've lowered anxiety in your life. But let's say you're living a high voltage life.
24:41 Speaker 02 You got a good paycheck and you also have pretty significant expenses. And then out of nowhere, the boss says, hey, you got a minute? And you walk into a room and the HR person's there and you know then your curtains, you're gone. And you've been living that pretty highfalutin life. If you have already put the things in place of having secure finances, having a rainy day account, being prepared because rainy days show up when you don't expect them. Think about a day when you're out there and it's just beautiful. And I think about this happens at the beach. There'll be people on the beach and then out of nowhere, a storm rolls in and people
25:24 Speaker 02 are running from the beach, getting drenched. That happens in life too. But right now, the economy is sending you clear signals. This is a time for you to be prepared. Be a scout. Be prepared for what could come. And then you'll be rewarded either way. You don't hit hard times or you do, you'll be prepared.
25:52 Speaker 06 All right, we'll go to questions. This one came from Lisa in Pennsylvania. My 20-year-old daughter has invisible chronic illnesses that keep her in bed most of the time. That is so rough.
26:02 Speaker 02 I don't know what her, does that mean that something is hard to diagnose?
26:05 Speaker 06 Like you're not, you don't see it from the outside, but she has a chronic illnesses.
26:09 Speaker 02 Okay.
26:09 Speaker 06 And so she does one online class at a time as college only lasted five days for her. She was violently ill starting the first night. She has made a decent income with 460,000 TikTok followers, but can't hold a regular job at this time. She knows it won't last forever. Most of her money has gone to comfort items and taxes, but she is a bit put away. I would like to see her start a Roth IRA, but would that be a problem if she eventually needs to be on disability? We hope she won't need that, but as we get closer to retirement, 59 right now, we worry about her future. She also has a hefty 529B that is barely touched with her low-cost community college classes.
26:52 Speaker 06 And I think they meant 529 plan, sorry. Any advice?
26:56 Speaker 02 Okay, first of all, Lisa, I feel terrible for your daughter.
27:00 Speaker 06 That's so rough.
27:01 Speaker 02 That is, that is a rough way to spend your twenties, is not being able to be out enjoying life, being with friends, all that. That is just really, really hard. I'm also impressed with in spite of the pain, being bedridden so much of the time, that she's been able to build as an entrepreneur, her own business on TikTok with nearly half a million people following what she's got to say. That's really impressive. So having money in a Roth, and then if later ending up on disability, Roth money is generally looked at as a protected asset. But we don't know that's going to be true in the future
27:46 Speaker 02 with the changes that may come to federal disability programs through social security. So I don't want to say- Flat out, yeah, this is a great idea. You put money in the Roth, it'll be protected and everything will be great. There's a shakeout going on right now on what's going to happen with social security disability. I can't say for certain the money in the Roth would continue to be a safe, protected asset. Too hard to know at this point. But normally, when you think of money in a regular account and you think of money being in a retirement account, retirement accounts are generally given a meaningful layer of protection not
28:30 Speaker 02 available to money in a bank credit union or in a regular investment account. So I think you have to make the best decision you can at the time. And it's always a good decision to have money saved for the future and the Roth is a great way to do it. Someone who has a 401k, that money is generally not accessible from a variety of things, even including a lawsuit or things like that. But because she's self-employed, the Roth would be a good idea. And that 529 money she's never going to use, if that turns out to be the case, eventually that money can go into, be moved up to 35,000, under today's
29:14 Speaker 02 law, can be moved over the years into a Roth IRA. And best of luck to her. I hope that she can get her arms around the illnesses that are incapacitating for her.
29:27 Speaker 06 For sure. Erin in Georgia says, I own a small medical practice. It seems you give a lot of advice on not paying medical bills when getting collection calls. What should be my proper procedure to collect the amount a patient owes? What are my options to get money owed to me to run a business?
29:45 Speaker 02 Erin, I love that you gave the complete opposite perspective. Here you are, running your own medical practice. And truth, people look at medical bills as optional last priority versus most any other bill they have. And in a small medical practice, as so many people are doing now, they require payment in full upfront for non-emergency care. And, you know, today, if you do accept insurance at your practice, you have a pretty good estimate electronically
30:27 Speaker 02 before you've done something, what the patient copay is going to be, and what the portion you need to collect to protect yourself. So this is a decision you have to make to protect yourself financially as a small medical practice. Are you going to require upfront that people pay their bills at the time you render service? And I compare it to a dentist, that when you go to a dentist, they're not saying, "Oh, well, you can just pay us whenever." What do dentists do? They collect that money from you upfront and know they're getting
31:12 Speaker 02 paid. I mean, there may be an exception somewhere, but not that I've heard of. So I think, think about the way you do things with your dentist. When you go see him or her, you should be doing the same thing in your practice, because you're right, people treat medical bills, once service is rendered, as somewhat optional.
31:36 Speaker 06 Shannon in Virginia says, "I frequently shop online with various companies for products like pet supplies, or beauty products, or supplements for myself. I've noticed as I'm checking out, sometimes there's an optional charge for quote-unquote 'shipping protection' that is usually within the $5 to $10 range. It usually says 'recommended' beside it. Is this shipping charge something that is a good idea, or is it just a way for the company to get more money?"
32:01 Speaker 02 So Shannon-
32:02 Speaker 06 It's usually opted in, too.
32:03 Speaker 02 Yeah, this is exactly the mirror image of what we were just talking about with the small medical practice. Is a lot of small companies, I don't know if any large ones, have you seen it with any large ones?
32:19 Speaker 06 I don't want you to consider large, but yeah, clothing companies that are decent.
32:24 Speaker 02 Or doing the five to 10 dollars, five or 10 now. So they're saying, hey, wait a minute, we're having all these hassles with stuff being stolen by porch pirates, or stuff coming damaged, or ending up lost, and this is really hurting us as a business. So now, we're no longer going to guarantee that delivery unless you pay this optional, it's like a pseudo insurance charge. This is something we talked about on the podcast a couple of months ago, about this going on. My attitude is, that's a problem for you as a consumer.
33:08 Speaker 02 What's happening elsewhere in the world is, you know how we have, Amazon has the lockers, and there are these lockers for scattered other retailers, or you with physical stores that have online ordering and physical locations where you can pick things up? This is how people are dealing with these problems elsewhere in the world, and we need to think about doing this more and more, because traditional package delivery to our door isn't working well anymore because of all the theft rings, and then the other problems that can happen.
33:47 Speaker 02 So instead of paying five to $10, I would have an item diverted to where I could pick it up, that it's clear the item was received or not, and you shift the burden of proof from you to the retailer. Not every retailer's come up with an arrangement like that, but it needs to happen. I mean, I think about all the financial problems with the postal service, why aren't they doing this? As many postal services do in other countries. I had mentioned a while back that my wife and I were recently in Australia. All over the place in urban areas, you see these package pickup points where you're
34:30 Speaker 02 given a box number and a code that opens your box. Self-service, you get your item out because they've had to do something there about all the porch pirates. We need to be innovative here as well to make it better for the retailers to not get stuck with all these problems and for you as a consumer not being left in a position that you're being told you have to ensure the package coming to you because we don't know what to do about all the theft problem. We can fix it. I want to thank you so much for joining us today on the podcast. I hope that you have an absolutely wonderful weekend.
35:13 Speaker 02 Know that everything we're about is empowering you, whether it's what we do on social media, with our newsletters, with our websites, clark.com and clarkdeals.com, all weekend long serving you around the clock so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. See you on Monday.
35:41 Speaker 06 Now at Kroger, your points add up to more ways to save every trip. Use them your way to take dollars off groceries at checkout or save at the pump. You can even save up to $35 on your next fill-up. Same points, more choices. And with low prices on fresh, quality food, plus digital and personalized offers tailored to how you shop, your dollar goes further. Redeem your points online or in the app. Kroger, fresh for everyone. Restrictions apply. See site or store for details.
Previous 03.26.25 Top SCAMS / Again With The Gift Cards Next 03.31.25 Who Administers Your Retirement Account? / What Happened To Southwest Airlines? Page updated November 7, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated