Pod Insights The Clark Howard Podcast 05.01.26 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Security Cameras - Privacy Backlash About this episode Friday - Clark Stinks day! Christa shares Clark Stinks posts with Clark. Submit yours at Clark.com/ClarkStinks. Also today - While the widespread adoption of security cameras has revolutionized public safety, their application is spurring privacy debate throughout the country. The rules of engagement for our data are dangerously lacking. It's time to demand clear state and local laws that delineate how this data is stored and shared, especially when private businesses are involved. Clark Stinks: Segments 1 & 2 Security Camera Privacy Backlash: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: Simple Trick To Pay Down Credit Card Debt Quicker - Clark Howard How To Freeze and Unfreeze Your Credit With Experian, Equifax and TransUnion Should I Freeze My Credit With the Other Credit Bureaus? Privacy vs. Protection: Where Should We Draw the Line on Security Cameras? What Is a Roth 401(k) and How Does It Work? - Clark Howard Target Date Funds: Clark Howard's Favorite Retirement Investment How To Choose Funds in Your 401(k) (and How Not To) Fidelity Investments Review: Pros & Cons - Clark Howard Best 529 College Savings Plans By State Life Insurance Archives - Clark Howard 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
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1:05 Speaker 02 I'm so glad you're with us here on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. In this episode, we begin with the opportunity for me to learn from you my mistakes in our Clark Stinks segment. And later, cameras are everywhere these days. When are they making you safer? And when should they be freaking you out? We're going to talk about that. But right now, it's time to talk about where I failed to deliver in Clark Stinks.
1:46 Speaker 03 I should have never encouraged you to speak.
1:48 Speaker 04 You must think I'm pretty stupid. You should be ashamed of yourself. Well, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're right, pal.
2:00 Speaker 05 Ally in Florida says, "You missed the mark on your advice to the person who was asking if they should rent their current house and buy a new house, or sell the house with high equity and use the large proceeds toward the new home. You failed to tell them that if they rented the house they currently own, they would no longer be owner occupied and could not retain that low interest rate unless they are in Congress, and that's a different story."
2:24 Speaker 02 Ally, thank you. Most of the time, someone does not lose the interest rate they are contracted for when they turn a home from owner occupied to a rental property. If you initially buy a property as a rental property, you will face a higher interest rate and typically significantly higher down payment to buy that home and secure the loan. But in the case of an owner occupied home transitioning to a rental property, normally you will still be in good standing with the lender with the loan you already have at the rate you're already paying.
3:09 Speaker 05 Todd in Massachusetts says, "You stink like the slopes on the mountains I snowboard on in the spring. Almost as bad as cow manure. In your newsletter article, are car wash memberships worth it? You never consider those of us who live in states with highly salted roads during winter months, nor those of us who ski and snowboard in states with highly salted roads, and that we can discontinue our membership at any time. I'm a snowboarder and signed up for the $26.99 a month with Golden Nozzle, with locations very convenient to me and work, and get at least five or more car washes per month to keep the salt off my car. Try getting to those New England mountains for physical activity in the winter without a regular mess on your car."
3:51 Speaker 02 You know, this is the second Clark Stinks we've had about the car wash. And the other was another angle on winter conditions and how, since I used to live in a snowbound area for five years, that I should have known better than that. And it's true that that was about the rock gut cheap car wash, instead of getting one that's thorough that does the undercarriage cleaning of a car. And I appreciate what both of you have said. I don't know if other people also.
4:24 Speaker 05 That was it on this time the article went out. Lynda in New Hampshire says, I love you mean it, but you totally blew an answer about a credit card mishap. Someone wrote in saying they'd missed a $5 payment on a credit card, which impacted their credit score. You talked about why this happens and suggested they automate at least the minimum monthly payments, but you neglected to say how to fix it. All they have to do is call the credit card company and explain the situation. And my guess is they'll remove the info that led to the decreased score. As long as the customer has a longstanding good payment history, which they said they did, this most certainly will take care of the problem. Thanks for all you guys do, but you missed a chance to educate and correct.
5:05 Speaker 02 Lynda, you're 100% right. I don't remember that I didn't say that.
5:09 Speaker 05 I just assumed, I think, that the writer had tried that, but maybe not.
5:14 Speaker 02 Yeah, I mean, that was a definite terrible omission on my part, because yes, if you have a little oops with a credit card, you have a long history with them, you call up and you plead your case. And more often than not, you will have success. It's kind of like the thing I've talked about. If you know somebody in your family or friend, or you yourself are running balances on credit cards, and you're facing really high interest rates. Two thirds of the time, based on a test we did on television, that you call your credit card company and ask for a lower rate, you will get it. At least in the test we did, two thirds of the time, people randomly were able to do that.
6:00 Speaker 05 Hines in Florida says, "On the podcast, you mentioned the three well-known credit bureaus, but you failed to mention the fourth one. It is Inovis."
6:08 Speaker 02 Yeah. So, why do I not talk about Inovis? There are way more than four organizations that come under the rules for being able to set up a freeze and that kind of thing. And so, I don't want the enemy, I don't want perfect to be the enemy of the good.
6:28 Speaker 05 Enemy of good.
6:29 Speaker 02 Did I get one right this time?
6:31 Speaker 05 You did.
6:31 Speaker 02 No way.
6:32 Speaker 05 Yeah.
6:33 Speaker 02 Okay. So, getting people to take the time to set up credit freeze is hard enough. Very, very small percent of Americans have credit freeze in place. And so, if I can get people to do it with the three major credit bureaus, we've taken care of a lot of the risks, certainly not all the risk. And there are actually, I think, 400 roughly organizations that are out there that have data on you, that are subject to various forms of being able to freeze data. I think it's the number. And so, I just limit it to the top three. But yes, if somebody wants to make sure you protect yourself every way
7:18 Speaker 02 you can, adding Inovis in and others as well would be a great idea. We used to have a list, I don't know if we still do.
7:27 Speaker 05 Of the smaller, yes.
7:28 Speaker 02 We still do on Clark.com. You want to see a lot of the smaller credit bureau kind of thingies. We've got a list at Clark.com. And if you are somebody who really wants to take every step you can to protect yourself, like Hines, You want to go look at that and take some time and freeze your identity with all these others, or as many of the others as you want to, as you can.
7:58 Speaker 05 Tim in Arizona says, Clark, you don't stink, but you recently gave an answer that smelled like the diesel fumes at a Greyhound bus station. Someone asked, if electric cars did not succeed in the 1920s, why do you think they will succeed now? You gave a pretty good answer, noting that EVs are leaders in software updates and other innovations. While you overlooked this, EVs in 2026 have infinitely more range and can charge far faster than EVs a century ago. Thank you, huge friend, Tim in Arid Zona.
8:29 Speaker 02 Yeah, the West is really dry right now. So, yeah, I kind of throttle my enthusiasm when I talk about electric vehicles because I'm so all in. I've been driving electric now for 15 years, and I just love driving an electric car. So I don't want to every time sound like a cheerleader, but I will say this. The Chinese now, and this is why they're feared so much and not allowed in the United States, selling their electric vehicles, now have developed a technology that charges an electric vehicle to 80% in five minutes. Five minutes. I mean, the quickest any of the systems do here, I think it's 12
9:12 Speaker 02 minutes now. I think it's 12. And I think about over the years, how a charge just took forever, early in this era of electric vehicles. And now, I mean, I can't even, literally, I can't even park the car, plug it in when I'm on a road trip, go in and use the bathroom, buy a snack, and be back before I'm getting the warning that I'm going to be charged idle fees for blocking the charger when another vehicle should already be there. So there's a big change. And how electric vehicles work. But something that's taken off around the world that has not caught on here in the
9:56 Speaker 02 United States are much smaller, much cheaper battery electric vehicles that so many Americans have multiple vehicles in a household. And so they have a city mouse. They have a city mouse and a country mouse. They have a vehicle they take on a road trip. Then they have a very limited range city car electric vehicle. Some of these are selling in Europe for about the equivalent of 4,800 US dollars.
10:26 Speaker 05 I'm going to cue the and predict the Clark stinks rolling in about how you said you you temper your enthusiasm for electric vehicles on the show.
10:35 Speaker 02 I mean, I think they are 100% the future and we in the United States are putting on blinders and it's just what it is.
10:46 Speaker 05 Darcy in Arizona says, I think Clark gave an incomplete answer to the man who wrote in about his tax return not being accepted due to someone else already filing a return of this information, his information. I had the same thing happen to me. I reached out to the office of my US Senator for help. They contacted the IRS on my behalf and my case was expedited. This occurred back in 2008, so I'm not sure if you get the same consideration today, but it doesn't hurt to try.
11:12 Speaker 02 Darcy, thank you. You know, anytime you're having a problem with a federal agency, you know, the first job of your congressman or your either of your United States senators is to get reelected. So they spend a lot of tax dollars running constituent service offices to create more loyalty in a potential voter. So it's always a good thing if you're having a problem with any federal agency and it seems like you're not getting anywhere to do what's called a congressional, at least that's what it's called in the agencies and file that complaint through generally I find there you did Senator, I find generally they're more effective through congress member members of Congress.
11:57 Speaker 02 Than they are through the Senate. But either way, it's a way maybe to get the lumbering bureaucracy moving a little quicker.
12:07 Speaker 05 Lynda in Georgia says Clark and Wes stink like fish that has been lying on the beach for three days. They failed miserably in trying to use the expression, jump the shark. Clark may have an excuse based on his famous inattention to pop popular culture and maybe Wes is too young. I'm confident that their fumble is not a sign that this podcast is jumping the shark. I always enjoy listening to both Clark and Wes separately and together. And they put an explanation. So this was when you and Wes did an episode of Ask the Ask an Advisor on Tuesday, on a Tuesday podcast, which you've been doing once in a while. And I was there and I would have jumped in. I almost did because I knew, jump the shark. Do you know what it really is from?
12:45 Speaker 02 No idea.
12:45 Speaker 05 It's from an episode of Happy Days when they were like, people saw this as them getting desperate to like, keep ratings because they had been, they'd just done so much with the show and that the writing went overboard. When they had the Fonz jump like ski, water ski jump over a shark. And so it was like, sort of, a lot of people thought it was the signaling of the end of Happy Days that they jumped the shark because it was just so over the top. So it can signal that like a show is winding down. And so that's where it came from.
13:13 Speaker 02 And do you want to say how you know the Fonz?
13:17 Speaker 05 Oh, no, no.
13:20 Speaker 02 Come on, you don't want to tell that story?
13:22 Speaker 05 Okay. You're really mean.
13:25 Speaker 02 Is that mean, really? You sure?
13:29 Speaker 02 Okay. All right, I'll tell an abbreviated version. Krista was in an airport and saw a mutual friend of hers and mine, thought that's who she saw. She goes up and starts talking to him.
13:44 Speaker 05 Gave him a hug. His name is Ross. I said, hey, Ross, it's, it's, hey, Krista, you know, Krista just like pointed myself. I knew he knew me, so I gave him a hug.
13:53 Speaker 02 And so then he says, oh, I'm sorry, you're mistaken. I'm Henry.
13:59 Speaker 05 No, he said, nice to meet you. I'm Henry. He didn't even say you're mistaken because he was so polite. It was Henry Winkler. It was Henry Winkler and I went up and hugged him and called him the wrong name, Ross, which, you know, is kind of weird because Marion Ross played his mother on Happy Days, the actress. And I just, yeah, I was like, and so I stood back and I was like, you're Henry Winkler.
14:24 Speaker 05 It was just such a train wreck. Anyway, love you, Henry Winkler.
14:28 Speaker 02 See, that was a good story to tell.
14:30 Speaker 05 Yeah.
14:31 Speaker 02 And he was a complete gentleman.
14:32 Speaker 05 He was so nice. It was just one of my fumbling, embarrassing memories. Embarrassing moments.
14:39 Speaker 02 I don't know. I think that's a fun story.
14:41 Speaker 05 Oh, okay.
14:42 Speaker 02 We can tell something like that.
14:44 Speaker 05 An embarrassing story?
14:45 Speaker 02 Yeah, there's gotta be.
14:47 Speaker 05 Paid full price for something once?
14:49 Speaker 02 Oh, come on. That's such a cheap shot. Coming up ahead, we're gonna talk about cameras. They're everywhere, right? When are they good? When are they bad?
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17:15 Speaker 02 I love security cameras at home. I think they are such a great deterrent. And I think it's led to a big reduction. And it's one of the reasons there's been such a reduction in the number of burglaries in the United States. You think about burglaries at businesses. That is not the problem it used to be either because of all the advanced security cameras that these places have. And I think about the cameras I have. I can go on my phone right now and I can look at the cameras by getting alert and see the quality of the video is ridiculous. I mean, it's just something else.
18:00 Speaker 02 And so when does something that's a good thing become too much and become a bad thing? There's a backlash going on all over America. County commissions are seeing it, city councils, schools, about how cameras are being used in ways that go from providing public safety to invasions of privacy. And people's perception of this varies, but the reality is...
18:35 Speaker 02 We need to have clear laws that spell out locally. Right now, you couldn't get the federal government to do anything functional. So it has to be state and local right now. But to have laws that clearly delineate the rules of engagement for these cameras. Because what you've got is you've got a lot of governments contracting with private businesses that run the systems that governments are using and have access to the data that then is being used for a variety of purposes.
19:17 Speaker 02 And many times, things beyond what a county commission or a city council would have intended for the data from their camera system that is designed for public safety, for quicker response to crime, to solving crimes. I think about the good of these cameras and how many crimes are being solved now that would not have been solved before. Because what's different is you now have the image that often is clear as could be of who the perpetrator is.
19:57 Speaker 02 And there's a newsletter I get from a community that when there's a crime and they haven't caught the perp, that will have images of the perp and say, hey, if you know who this is, call this number. And what just blows my mind is how unbelievably clear and identifiable the perpetrator actually is in those pictures. So the crime benefit is wonderful, especially when it involves any form of random violence that is a stranger against stranger. I mean, most.
20:40 Speaker 02 Violence against a person is by someone they know. The crimes that really, really rattle people are when somebody is attacked by an absolute stranger. And getting that person off the street is so very useful. And I support all that, but I worry about what is happening with those images. I mean, I recently read a story about how a lot of big apartment complexes now monitor their tenants' behavior with cameras at the apartment complexes. And depending on most states, there's no law on this at all.
21:22 Speaker 02 So the apartment complexes are owned by that apartment owner. It's their private property. But then how they use that camera is something that can be disturbing. So what I'm saying is that if you are sensing that cameras are being used in your community in ways that deal with your privacy in ways you don't like, that feel like serious invasion of civil liberties, that's when you get active and you get involved. And you're the one who's talking to your city council member, a county commissioner, or state legislator, and talking about having some rules in place in order to make sure
22:07 Speaker 02 that what's a good thing doesn't cross that line into being a really bad thing. And the line is not super easy to draw, but we certainly need to draw it. This is a case where technology has moved faster than the law has been able to catch up, just like we're having right now also with AI. Krista?
22:29 Speaker 05 All right. The first question I've got here is from Solomon in Oregon. Your advice has not led me astray, so I have a question about my investing and my 401k. I started working for Amazon and I was offered to contribute to the 401k through Fidelity.
22:43 Speaker 02 Fantastic.
22:44 Speaker 05 Is that a wise choice to do it through an employer or should I find a different solution? I should mention that I'm in my 30s and have I've never started investing, so I don't know where to go from here.
22:53 Speaker 02 Well, Solomon, the wisdom of Solomon here is yes, you do it and you participate in that 401k and participate in the Roth version of that 401k with Fidelity. And then Fidelity will have available to you through the Amazon plan was known as a Target Retirement Fund. The Fidelity ones are called Freedom, Fidelity Freedom, and then a year of expected retirement. So if you're in your 30s, it'd be like a 2055 fund, 2060 fund, somewhere in there. And I want you to know that Fidelity offers two versions of the Target Retirement Fund inside their 401k.
23:37 Speaker 02 One will say Freedom Index, whatever year, and the other will just say Freedom. Go with the Index version. The fees on it are a tiny, tiny fraction of what they are in the original Freedom version. So remember, you want to say Freedom Index. And again, you pick the year and then you've got the two flavors, the traditional 401k and the Roth 401k. And participate with as much a percent of your pay as you can. The earlier you start, the better. The amount of money that it will grow into over the years, starting this in your 30s will be wonderful.
24:19 Speaker 05 Timothy in Texas says, hi Clark, longtime Clarky here, and I'm super thankful for you and your team. I'm in my 50s and have been in the legal field for 25 years, but without a business background. I'm considering getting an MBA in the next few years, possibly online. My question, are there any tax advantaged ways for someone like me to save for their education, similar to 529 plans or other strategies that could help me pay for this more efficiently? I suppose I can try for financial aid or scholarships, but I'm not sure how successful I'd be.
24:49 Speaker 02 Well, Timothy, I love it that you want to beef up your knowledge base and get an MBA. I have one, Krista, you considered at one time.
24:58 Speaker 05 Right.
24:59 Speaker 02 Getting an MBA. And you can use, you don't need to use something similar to a 529. You can use a 529. So setting up a 529, Timothy, that you own and you're the beneficiary of, in your case as an adult, you start contributing to it. And that money, whatever growth it gets, leading into when you decide to enter grad school, will grow tax-free and you'll be able to use it tax-free for education. And that's the huge advantage of a 529. If you were going to go to get your MBA starting this fall, that would really be a waste of time.
25:41 Speaker 02 But if it's something you're going to do a few years down the road, then having tax-free growth of that money is very much to your advantage. All right, so let's deal with another scenario that came up on the podcast last week. So if you have a 529 account and later you decide, you know what, I really thought I wanted to do this MBA, but now I don't want to. You then have options. If you have a relative or a friend who's got a kid coming up into college and you want to change the beneficiary to them and help them pay for their college, you can tax-free and they get the tax-free advantage of the money you put aside to pay towards college.
26:25 Speaker 02 Or you can keep the money in the 529 for 15 years, let it keep growing, and then in 15 years' time, you can start moving it into your own Roth IRA, tax-free, continues to grow tax-free on the Roth, and then ultimately you have money towards your retirement from that 529.
26:47 Speaker 05 Currently up to, is it 30,000?
26:49 Speaker 02 35,000 under the current law.
26:51 Speaker 05 Benoy in Georgia says, is it better for me to get my own term life insurance, even if my employer already has one included for me when I'm employed with them?
26:59 Speaker 02 Yes, yes, yes, yes. Employer-provided life insurance is junk life insurance. The stuff they're giving you for free is a teaser amount that then gives the insurance company selling it, the ability usually to sell you additional amounts. The premiums, because they have to cover all employees, they're insuring both people with health risks, people without health risks. So that insurance is not good insurance and usually...
27:32 Speaker 02 You don't have it continue when you leave a job. So you want to have your own insurance. And the best way to do that is to buy what's known as a level term insurance policy that you own Benoit and you buy it for, you know, say how old you are, but you buy it for whatever purpose you're insuring. To provide for survivors, to provide for if you have kids, to provide for them, to provide replacement income for, for your partner or spouse, whatever, in the event of your untimely demise. You could, if you have nobody who depends on you for money,
28:16 Speaker 02 you may not be at a point in your life that you actually need your own term life insurance policy. But if you meet any of the circumstances that would make it valuable for you to have a level term insurance policy, which basically you buy it for a period of years, 10 to 40 years, most commonly, usually 10 to 30, you buy it for that period of time. And the premium stays the same all through those years with a very nice benefit for your survivors. That's all it does is it pays a death benefit to provide for others, others' financial needs. On Clark.com, we have a easy breezy guide to how term insurance works,
29:01 Speaker 02 how to shop for it, how to buy it, so that you can get moving with it if it is appropriate for you. And I want to thank you for joining us today on our YouTube show and our podcast. And know that we're here to serve you so many different ways with our free newsletters that you can sign up for at Clark.com/newsletter or newsletters, our websites, Clark.com and Clarkdeals.com, our social media, our YouTube shorts, what I do if you're in a market where you see me on local television on the news every day. If you're in a radio market I'm on, in the news,
29:43 Speaker 02 however we can serve you, however we can provide information that gives you power in your pocket, in your wallet, that's what we're about. So you can learn ideas from us, so you save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. And go have that wonderful weekend.
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