Pod Insights The Clark Howard Podcast 07.30.25 Save More On Auto Insurance / The Energy Markets About this episode With car insurance rates escalating, many people are serious about shopping around for a better deal. Clark offers guidance for lowering that bill. Also, a topic of great interest to Clark and vital to us all: Energy and the factors affecting how much we pay. Save On Auto Insurance: Segment 1 Ask Clark: Segment 2 Energy Diversity: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: Best Auto Insurance Companies and Some of the Worst How to Shop for Lower Car Insurance 10 Ways To Save Money on Car Insurance Insurance costs are soaring around Tornado Alley. Hail is the big problem. Clark Howard's #1 Rule Before You File an Auto Insurance Claim How To Open a Roth IRA In Small Nuclear Reactors, There’s One Clear Leader Today The Best Cheap Phone Plans Under $40/Month The Best Phone Plan For You – Compare Phone Plans The Secret Technology Rental Car Companies Are Using Against You Cheapest Way to Rent a Car: Expert Tips 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 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.
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1:04 Speaker 02 It's great to have you 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. Here's one decision I hope you've made. Subscribe to our free daily newsletter at Clark.com/newsletter. We work so hard to bring you news you can use every day, not to waste your time, but to keep you shipshape with keeping every dollar working for you. One place that money seems to be just flying out of our lives is what we're having to pay
1:49 Speaker 02 for auto insurance. But there's a change in the marketplace, and I got to make sure you know about it, and I'm going to bring you that straight ahead. And also, I want to talk to you about what's going on with the energy mix in the US, what's going on around the world, and what's that going to mean to your wallet moving forward? So JD Power does surveys on customer satisfaction in a variety of different industries, but they have noticed a huge shift in trend, a huge shift in direction.
2:29 Speaker 02 And it's how people feel about their auto insurers. In short, people hate them. I mean, hate them. And it wasn't always like this. Why do they hate them? Well, what do you think? What the insurance premiums are for auto insurance has gone up and up and up and up over the last many years. Huge double-digit increases year after year. One of the things Shady Power found is that for the first time really ever, people are shopping their auto insurance. I saw an item in Kiplinger
3:12 Speaker 02 about a survey done by another organization, LendingTree, that found that not quite 100%, but almost 100% of people who shopped around saved money by shopping around and switching their auto insurance. And 2/3 of them saved a substantial amount of money, what to them was a substantial amount of money, by shopping around. And why is that? Because insurers are facing much higher costs to insure you and me. Number one, we don't drive. I mean, clearly, there was a change in psychology and behavior
3:57 Speaker 02 in how people started driving during COVID. COVID was such an upsetting event for so many of us psychologically. And then the roads were much less crowded. And people became very aggressive drivers, taking out their frustration and anger.
4:19 Speaker 02 Over the restrictions in life and all that during COVID, they picked up some really bad driving habits. And now the roads are full again, more full than they ever were. And we brought those lousy new habits onto the roads. Accident rates are up. And even though road design and vehicles are much safer than they used to be, fatality rates after declining year after year after year, stopped declining. The injury rates have been stubbornly high. I e, insurance gets more expensive. And then the cost of repairing vehicles became more expensive. And now it's going to see another big boost because of tariffs
5:03 Speaker 02 that are affecting auto parts and vehicles. Bad story multiple ways. But in the midst of that bad story, what individual insurers are charging is even more glaringly different than it was pre-COVID. So that's why you need to shop around. That's why people are motivated to shop around. Remember, two thirds of people who switch saved a substantial amount of money switching. They got that other issue, the quality of insurers. And that's a hard dilemma for me to answer. Because there are insurers who year after year
5:46 Speaker 02 have shown to offer much far superior customer service during a claim cycle or non-claim cycle than others. And so you're the one who has to weigh that, being with an insurer that rates very, very, very highly for service to their customers versus others that are more mediocre. And when the chips are down, might not really do a great job for you. That's going to be your call. And then there are things we can do to reduce costs. Do you know insurers are seeing a significant increase in the number of claims for hail? And I was reading something that just made so much sense to me.
6:30 Speaker 02 A lot of people live in a situation where you don't have a garage, but you can buy these prefab carports really inexpensively to put your car under that might, if you live in an area that's subject to having a lot of hail damage, you could potentially use one of these, these kit prefabby kind of, because you see me Krista trying to install, self-install a prefab carport. That's why I can't even describe it.
7:02 Speaker 03 I don't think any of us should do that alone.
7:03 Speaker 02 That is not something you would want me ever involved in.
7:10 Speaker 02 Sometime soon I gotta talk about my latest project of trying to build something in six easy steps.
7:17 Speaker 03 Oh, wow.
7:17 Speaker 02 Yeah. Oh, man.
7:19 Speaker 03 Are you ready for questions?
7:20 Speaker 02 Yes, ma'am.
7:21 Speaker 03 Dan from Florida wrote this one. So Dan in Florida says, "You've said that auto insurance companies initially offer only about 70% of the value for a car that is totaled. Similar to your suggestion about once a year to video record your house contents for insurance reasons in case something happens, do you think it would be a good idea to take pictures of your car once a year and maybe go to CarMax and get an offer from them to buy your car once a year? That way you would have a recent offer from an independent entity for your car as of a particular date and mileage to use as evidence that the insurance offer is too low. We would have to understand that the CarMax offer would not be the replacement value so that the insurance company should offer some percentage above that."
8:02 Speaker 02 Okay, so Dan, I love the way you're thinking, trying to document. The reality is, we on average only end up in a fender bender like once every 10 years. So I wouldn't spend your time doing this preventatively once a year, but coming up with a third-party value on your vehicle. Let's take an example. So you're in an accident. You think the insurer is going to rip you off at that point. So right then and there, you can go on CarMax and Carvana. And for almost all vehicles, they'll give you an instant offer.
8:44 Speaker 02 You'll have what you're looking for without having to worry about, what if I have an accident next month? When you have the accident, go ahead and do it. Just so that you'll have that market value. And obviously, you're not going to be selling your car there, but you're going to be able, because it's been in the wreck. But you'll be able to have a value that you can print out, or you can have in, you know, you can have the email. And you can provide that to the insurers, evidence that they are low balling you on the value of your vehicle.
9:21 Speaker 03 Susan in Connecticut says, my husband and I are traveling to Italy this September to attend a wedding at a castle in the Tuscan countryside.
9:28 Speaker 02 I feel so bad for you.
9:29 Speaker 03 She said, I know, poor us. We will be spending three nights in Florence as part of our trip. And I was planning to book an apartment through VRBO, but I'm concerned with the possibility of a last minute cancellation due to the new laws and restrictions being enacted on short term rentals. I always follow your guidelines when booking, looking for a well established rental with lots of pictures and reviews. But am I safer to book a hotel at this time?
9:52 Speaker 02 So, yeah, what we're talking about, you know, there's all these demonstrations and there's a backlash with new local regulations and laws on people renting properties, particularly in the most over touristed areas. Florence is obviously one of those. And so my bias has historically been against Airbnb and VRBO because of problems that have been so much harder to resolve outside the United States, particularly than when a rental is in the US. But in this case, in Florence, in Venice, in Rome,
10:33 Speaker 02 in Barcelona, in Paris, I would be careful renting from Airbnb and VRBO because of this wave of backlash that made between when you book a place and when you're going to stay there, suddenly you can't stay in that place. And you historically In Europe have done exactly the opposite of me. You have stayed.
10:59 Speaker 03 I have, but years ago. I don't know that I would today with what's going on for sure.
11:04 Speaker 02 The good news is that Paris, Florence, Rome, not as much Barcelona, have a very, very large number of small hotels. And they kind of, in my mind, take the place somewhat of a VRBO or Airbnb.
11:27 Speaker 03 Samuel in New Hampshire says, I have a job as a summer custodian at an elementary school. I plan on splitting the money I earn in half. One half is going into savings, the other for spending. What I'm wondering is where could I get a Roth 401K started? I'm only 15 and I'm homeschooled. Can you help?
11:45 Speaker 02 All right, Samuel, you win the award of the month.
11:49 Speaker 03 Mm hmm. Of the summer.
11:51 Speaker 02 Of the whole summer.
11:53 Speaker 03 Kid of the summer, teen of the summer. Of Clark.
11:57 Speaker 02 15, 15, working as a school custodian, saving half of your money. And yes, you can't do a Roth 401K, but you can do a Roth IRA at 15. What's known as a custodial Roth, which means that until you're 18, don't know in New Hampshire, 18 or 21 is the age that you would have full ownership of it. But in the meantime, an adult, a parent, has to be the custodian of your Roth IRA that you fund with money from your summer job as a custodian.
12:40 Speaker 02 This is great, great stuff. I have a guide for you that'll walk you through, Samuel, how to set up the Roth IRA. And everything in that is the same as it would be for anybody else with the one addendum for you, that you would have a custodian who would be named over the Roth, but the investing in it is exactly the same. Great job. I love this. Coming up ahead, we're going to talk about something I'm obsessed with, and that is energy. And it's become so politicized in the US over the last several years. I want to talk about
13:23 Speaker 02 what's actually going on in the energy markets, what you need to know, and what I've always felt was the answer for us.
13:35 Speaker 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.
14:05 Speaker 04 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.
14:34 Speaker 05 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.
15:05 Speaker 02 I love that we, the United States, are the leader in energy in the world. It is so important because modern economies cannot run without a great deal of energy. And when you think about what happened recently in the Middle East and that the price of oil didn't go crazy when missiles and drones were flying, why was that? Because we used to be completely dependent on energy supplies for oil from overseas.
15:48 Speaker 02 We didn't really produce much. Today, we are a giant of energy production of oil and of natural gas. We also, surprisingly for some people, are now a huge supplier of alternative forms of energy, specifically solar and wind, which are the fastest growing sources of energy in the world. Do you know that of new energy being added to the grid around the world every year, 80% is solar and wind? Because why? They're the cheapest forms of energy to have.
16:31 Speaker 02 Now, going, I don't do a political show, but politically, energy's been a football in the United States, a political football. And we were really into solar and wind, and now we're not going to be for solar and wind. Now we're going to be against solar and wind and all that. Reality is, we need quote unquote "old" energy and we need new energy in order to deal with the supplies we need. And also, we need to look at nukes again, because there's a technology that has been talked about for at least 15 years that's now real, and that is micro nuclear reactors.
17:16 Speaker 02 And what's different about them versus, we had a nuclear plant that was a disaster that was built in Georgia, the only new nuclear plant built in the United States in the modern era, and it had cost overruns that had made the power from it, the most expensive power generated in the United States. And it was way behind schedule, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, the new form of nuclear are microreactors that can be built in a factory, in components, and brought to site. It's not reinventing the wheel every time.
17:56 Speaker 02 It's already happening other places in the world, only starting to happen here in the United States. But there is not something you can say, well, we're just not going to have energy from natural gas, or we're not going to have energy from wind, or we're not going to have energy from hydro, or solar, or whatever. We need a multifaceted supply of energy of all different types, because we can't do it by saying, oh, we're only going to do this. And I know there are people in the whole political thing that are like, oh, well, we only want to do these things, or we only want to do those things.
18:37 Speaker 02 The truth is, we need to do what is the most efficient way to provide energy, period. And ultimately, money wins. Why is it that coal virtually doesn't exist as a power supply in the United States? It's not because of how highly polluting coal is, it's because coal is an expensive, extremely expensive source of energy. Ultimately, the market flows to what is the cheapest form, which right now is natural gas, solar, and wind. And ultimately, if I'm right...
19:17 Speaker 02 About these micro nuclear reactors, they're probably going to be cheaper than anything else. So, you know, look at the wider picture to really have a feel, how do we get affordable energy? How do we get reliable energy? And try not to look at this through politics. There's enough else we can waste energy on politics about.
19:42 Speaker 03 All right, we'll go to questions. Kathy in California sent this one in. I have a question about mobile phone plans. You never seem to mention plans that are good for those of us who do not need unlimited data. My husband and I are on the shared one gigabyte plan with Xfinity. We pay only $20, including tax, per month total for both of us.
20:01 Speaker 02 And think about that, 10 bucks a month.
20:04 Speaker 03 Yep.
20:05 Speaker 02 A line.
20:06 Speaker 03 We mostly use our phone data when we have access to Wi-Fi. Lots of free Xfinity hotspots are around. We rarely go over the one gigabyte, but if we get close to going over, they send us a notice and we can up it to five or just pay for the extra we use. If we're traveling in our RV and we'll need much more data for navigation, Wi-Fi hotspot, et cetera, it's easy to switch to one of the phones to unlimited, then switch it back to the shared plan when we get back home. So, don't forget about us.
20:31 Speaker 02 You know what, Kathy? You're a genius because people's use of data, buying from the mobile phone company, is going down, down, down because almost all our time is spent where we have trusted, reliable Wi-Fi available to us. So, an overwhelming percent of us no longer need unlimited data. Krista and I both have gone, we're on the same plan together. We've both gone from unlimited data plans to buying a monthly allotment of data and neither of us have ever gone over.
21:13 Speaker 02 The only person who ever went over once was my son. Anyway, that's a conversation for another day. But the need for unlimited data on mobile plans is a was, not an is. And there are so many plans that are now metered. And the price per month is so often exactly what you're talking about per line. 10 a month, 15 a month, or 20 a month are the three most common price points now for people who no longer need unlimited data. And we keep updating our guide at Clark.com to cheap
21:53 Speaker 02 cell phone plans for these metered plans, which is where most of us should be. And you think how much you and I use our cell phones and neither of us need unlimited data anymore.
22:08 Speaker 03 So true. Joanne in Texas says, do you always take the cheapest car rental you can find? Or do you look at satisfaction ratings of each agency to determine which one you will go with? We've taken the cheapest in the past and waited in long lines for them. Sometimes time is money. I would love to hear your thoughts. And I want to throw in this question from Joanne. I'm currently looking at booking a rental car. The cheapest one I've shopped around, as you recommend, is from Hertz. And I can't decide if I want to spend extra money.
22:36 Speaker 02 With what's been going on with Hertz.
22:38 Speaker 03 Yeah. So it's not about long lines for me. It's about.
22:41 Speaker 02 Hertz has been hurting a lot. And the customers are the ones really hurting because Hertz has been messed up. So there are car rental companies that I will not book with. I rent so many cars every year. I rent at least 30 times a year. And there are some that the experiences are really, really bad. Now, I will rent from Hertz, but they're definitely not a first choice. And some of the off brands, based on what we've heard
23:19 Speaker 02 from so many listeners and viewers, I've learned for myself, some experiences, I don't rent from some of those. Now, let me tell you what's happened with the car rental business. What you have is you have Hertz. Is a brand name. You've got Avis as a brand name and you have Enterprise as a brand name and those three own so many of the other brands as well. So some of the off brands are actually a brand of one of those three. And so when I'm
23:56 Speaker 02 looking at a car rental, I stick so heavily to Enterprise, Alamo and Avis. As somebody who rents repeatedly, I've found that those three have been the most reliable for me. That's my own experience. You may say, he said Enterprise? He said Alamo? Those people are horrible. Or Avis? Let me tell you the bad experience I had with them. There are no perfect rental car agencies, but there are a number that I'm not naming here that I will not rent from even if
24:41 Speaker 02 they paid me to rent from them.
24:44 Speaker 03 Okay. Mary in Virginia says, during my recent stay at a major hotel, I noticed a QR code posted on the bathroom mirror that said I could use the code to tip our housekeeping person. Before using this QR code, I decided to ask Clark, is this safe?
24:59 Speaker 02 Right. And I have seen this Mary in hotels as well. The reason why is tipping to hotel housekeepers has declined significantly because so many travelers don't carry any cash. Think about what's happened if you live in a city where you have to valet a lot of places if you go to restaurants or whatever. And the valets now all have their own Venmo accounts or whatever for tipping because the customers
25:32 Speaker 02 Don't have cash. Cash is becoming something that is more and more rare. I will not use one of those QR codes posted in a hotel. And because of how much I travel, I always have ones, fives, and tens in cash. So that I can tip out in cash. And I don't know with QR codes, you just don't know if that particular QR code is one that somebody put there with ill intent, or is actually a real one. I guess you could call down to the hotel front desk and find out.
26:14 Speaker 02 But that does make me nervous because it's so easy for criminals to concoct their own QR code and steal information or steal money. Little bit of cash when you travel is a really good idea. And thank you so much for joining us today. I hope that you heard something that think, hey, I'm going to put that away. That's going to be useful to know at a later date. Or somebody starts telling me a story, I'm going to say, hey, wait a minute. I got to tell you something about that. Be careful because we all help each other. We're all here for each other. At least we should be.
26:57 Speaker 02 And I want you in a time that people don't know who to trust, to develop a reservoir of information that gives you the ability to be more trusting. I want you to be careful. I want you at times to be skeptical, but I want you to know that trust is a valuable commodity. And we've lost some of that today. And I want you to be able to regain it some by having the confidence to know what you can trust. And I hope that you have a great, great day the rest of today. And that you remember what we're devoted to, to you.
27:39 Speaker 02 That you learn ways from me, from everything we do, so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off.
27:53 Speaker 05 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.
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