Pod Insights The Clark Howard Podcast 10.01.25 Warning: Sports Gambling / Assignment: Your Credit Report About this episode In this episode, football is in full swing, and so is something very troubling. People are losing enormous amounts of money on electronic gambling. Clark discusses how the nature of modern gambling can increase the risk of gambling addiction, and steps to take if this is a concern. Also - How accurate are credit reports by the 3 credit bureaus? What you don’t know about your credit report can hurt you. A Clark assignment. Sports Gambling: Segment 1 Ask Clark: Segment 2 Credit Report Accuracy: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: Resource: Pause Before You Play Best Online Banks: Free Checking and High-Interest Savings Accounts How To Buy a Used Car How To Get a Free Credit Report Credit Karma Review: Free Credit Score and More at Your Fingertips How To Freeze and Unfreeze Your Credit With Experian, Equifax and TransUnion Why Clark Howard Wants You to Set Up a 'Financial Chromebook' How To Bring an Old Laptop Back to Life for Free 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
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0:30 Speaker 01 LinkedIn is pretty amazing at helping you grow your small business. We cannot stop your new clients from emailing you at 3 a.m.
0:39 Speaker 01 We can help you sell, market, and hire in one place. We cannot help you be in three places at once.
0:47 Speaker 01 And while we can't help you organize your calendar, LinkedIn can help you land more clients so you have a calendar to organize. Grow your small business on LinkedIn. Learn more at LinkedIn.com/smallbusiness.
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. And I hope you're getting something out of every podcast or YouTube show we do. If so, why don't you spread the word? Share an invite with a friend to listen or to watch. In this episode, talk about watching football is my life. But there's something that is happening now to teens and heavily 20-somethings where gambling is really messing them up.
1:49 Speaker 02 And it's not gambling like you and I are used to. I'll talk about that ahead. And also, I've got a really important assignment for you. If you haven't looked at your credit report recently, what you don't know can hurt you.
2:08 Speaker 02 Speaking of hurting you for certain, the addictions to gambling, especially football, are really causing so much angst for overwhelmingly boys and young men. And people are losing enormous amounts of money on electronic gambling. You know, computers have done so many things, obviously, computers and computing have done that so wonderful for ourselves, for society, the world, blah, blah, blah.
2:45 Speaker 02 But in gambling, it has made it possible to lure people into these obscure bets with long odds, one after another after another. And people are getting in trouble like nobody's business. And there's always been people with gambling addictions. That's why every commercial you see on TV for gambling talks about help available for people with a gambling problem. But what's different is the micro bets and the ease with a cellphone to place bet after bet after bet after bet.
3:27 Speaker 02 And then the gambler addiction where, well, I'm going to make it back. My luck's going to turn and I'm going to be okay. If you are hearing me right now and you know I'm talking to you, that you're getting deeper and deeper into sports gambling, the first thing is for you to acknowledge it. And then the second is for you to get help because it doesn't get better with time. I mean, come on, the bets that you can place now on the most obscure things that happen in a sporting event? It's all about, I mean, we're so far past point spreads.
4:11 Speaker 02 It's just nuts. And if you're a parent of a teenager, and I said, boys and men, it's possible that girls and women can be addicted too, but overwhelmingly, sports gambling has been a male oriented thing. If you've got teenagers or 20-somethings in your household, you as a parent need to be paying attention because this is a real deal. And person after person talks about how it ruined their lives. Now, I want to talk about that for a second. You can feel like a mess up like this. I'm talking to you if you have an addiction problem.
4:56 Speaker 02 But mess up and you've blown all this money, it can feel like the end of the world. It's not. You rebuild step by step. You get the help you need, but it's not the end of the world if you messed up. And it's no different than people who get into weird trading strategies in stocks, another form of gambling addiction. You acknowledge it, you get the help you need, you learn from it and you rebuild. And you do the best you can to tell others that have this problem about your experience and try to help them.
5:36 Speaker 02 When they're ready to be helped, because you're only going to have deaf ears from someone who's not willing to acknowledge that they have a problem. But this is real and it's an escape, but then you can be trapped.
5:54 Speaker 03 All right.
5:55 Speaker 02 You ever known a gambling addict?
5:57 Speaker 03 I'm sure we all have, but I don't, not that they've told me.
6:00 Speaker 02 You don't know anybody specifically?
6:01 Speaker 03 Yeah.
6:01 Speaker 02 I do.
6:03 Speaker 03 Okay, questions. Mike in Florida says, "My credit union offers a high-rate checking account which offers 5% for up to $10,000. The rate can adjust up or down depending on the prime rate. They require monthly direct deposits and a $1,500 minimum balance, which is fine, but they also require you to make 10 debit card transactions per month to avoid a $20 fee. Do you think it's worth the risk having to use a debit card 10 times a month? I currently only use my debit card at the ATM for cash. I like the 5%, but I just don't know if it's worth the risk."
6:39 Speaker 02 Okay, so I love this question because you have the certainty of earning 5% or whatever it would adjust to based on movements in the prime rate, but still a decent return on a checking account, obviously, in return for bringing a risk into your life of using a piece of trash fake Visa or fake MasterCard 10 times or more a month. So I would weigh the risk worth it for the reward. Yes, there is a chance that bad things are going to happen to you because of the lack of consumer protections with a debit card. But you weigh
7:19 Speaker 02 that against the positive reward you're earning, and I would be comfortable with you doing it. For many people, though, the problem is jumping through all the hoops. Having the minimum balance, having the direct deposit, remembering to do the 10 transactions on the debit card, as long as you can jump through all three hoops and you're willing to deal with the possibility, not probability, but possibility, somebody makes your life miserable through a debit card breach.
7:53 Speaker 02 Then go for the 5%.
7:55 Speaker 03 And then you recently said, just if you're using it, do contactless. Like do the, because that way it's
8:01 Speaker 02 Tap to Pay.
8:02 Speaker 03 Yeah, Tap to Pay.
8:02 Speaker 02 Tap to Pay is a much safer technology, at least for now, till criminals come up with a way to defeat that. Hopefully, they can't. Tap to Pay versus the one thing you don't want to do, you don't want to swipe a debit card. You swipe it through and that is like a 1960s technology. It's like setting a buffet platter for crooks.
8:29 Speaker 03 So I have to confess something. I did the dumbest thing and cost myself $600 a month ago. I signed up for a new checking and savings account combo and it had a huge incentive. And I was jumping through the hoops. I jumped through them on the checking. I got that. The savings account, I had to maintain a balance through, I thought it was September 1st. So September 4th, I moved the money back into my high interest savings account that I have with Schwab. And so this bank then, and this is the account I use for my, this new account, I'm using it now for my Venmo and stuff. So I wanted to keep minimal money. It was September 7th.
9:10 Speaker 02 Oh, no.
9:10 Speaker 03 I missed it by three days. I held the money there for 90 days, almost, for 87 days.
9:17 Speaker 02 And you lost 600 bucks as a result?
9:19 Speaker 03 Yes. Okay. Elliot in Georgia says, what is your opinion on fractional ownership of a beach condo where you own and are deeded 1/13 of ownership? And get four weeks a year to spend there?
9:34 Speaker 02 So Elliot, this is an appealing thing for people who would love to have a place at the beach or a place at the mountains or whatever it is, but don't want to have the responsibility for all year. The problem is this is timeshare lite. They are having to sell each property 13 times. Lot more sales expenses, commissions, the maintenance expenses. And so this Is not the bargain it appears to be. It's obviously cheaper than you owning a place for all 52 weeks.
10:16 Speaker 02 But one of the things you have to consider, what happens at the beach? Hurricane risk. Are you perpetually liable for the fees and expenses going forward? If the condo is rendered unusable by a hurricane? This is not a walk in the park. When you buy a fractional ownership, even of a shorter period of time. There are now some of them that are divided by four. And the expenses are not as large proportionally. Because it's four instead of 52 or 50 weeks, whichever the traditional timeshare would be.
10:59 Speaker 02 Or you're 13th. The documents, I can guarantee you, will be very one-sided. Not in your favor on a lot of different criteria. Including who has control of how the fees are set? That you're required to pay. So before you would ever do this, this is, you're moving from what is just complete baloney, a traditional timeshare, to something that's kind of like a waystation between. You would want to have the contract thoroughly reviewed by a real estate lawyer.
11:39 Speaker 02 Who would be able to point out to you, what are the things that are your obligations? That could harm you later in the property? And know that the ability to sell your 13th share is very difficult.
11:54 Speaker 03 Oh, man. I mean, this sounds, I would never touch that. Even ownership with like relatives or something of a place? I've heard so many nightmare stories.
12:03 Speaker 02 There are nightmare stories.
12:05 Speaker 03 Okay, Dolores in New Mexico says, "What is your take on this new way to purchase used cars? I took Clark's advice and purchased a used car that was in my budget and I financed it for two years. The issue was that no one ever told me the cars were not sitting on the dealer's lot. I would see one I was interested in and before I could look at it, it was gone. When I finally found a car I wanted that was available and wanted to take it for a drive, I was told the car would have to be transported from a neighboring state. Big surprise." This was a chain auto dealership. Is this what we have to look forward to?
12:38 Speaker 02 Yeah, so inventory is going, although I guess in a technical sense nationwide, it's more region-wide usually. And if you're looking at CarMax inventory, Carvana inventory, or competitors of either of them, the vehicles are moving around a region all the time. So the idea is that their inventory is so deep for a buyer in one place. Let's say you're looking for a vehicle, you're in New Mexico, so let's say you live near Albuquerque and you're looking and you think the car's in Albuquerque, but it could just
13:21 Speaker 02 as easily be in El Paso, or Denver, or Colorado Springs, or something like that. And you see these truck transports, moving vehicles, all over America that are being relocated. Depending on the distance from where you are, a relocation fee will be free within a certain zone of miles, or they'll say, "Well, if you want us to bring this vehicle, we're going to charge you X or Y." And the problem is, you don't want to buy a used vehicle sight unseen because of the problems it might have. So what's happened now with the consumer-oriented sellers is you will have a period of time,
14:06 Speaker 02 usually seven days, or even all the way up to 30 days, to return it for any reason, or no reason at all, for a full refund. So you use that period essentially for a test drive. And if the vehicle doesn't check out with your mechanic, it goes right back and you get your money back. Now, know this, most dealers do not have customer-friendly policies. The only acceptable policy when you're buying a used vehicle is that you have the right to return it for a refund, not a store credit against some other vehicle.
14:49 Speaker 02 It must be for a refund. Because you're being asked to do the second most expensive purchase in your life, buying something that could be junk. And that's why you have to have the right to return for a full refund. Period. I know dealers don't like that. That's the fact. Speaking of facts, something that's not our friend, the snooping Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian do on us and don't even pay us for building these dossiers on us. There's something you need to know to protect yourself.
16:03 Speaker 01 LinkedIn is pretty amazing at helping you grow your small business. We cannot make your email response time faster. We can help you sell, market, and hire in one place. We cannot help you find space for your three desk drinks. Why do you have three? And while we can't help you find the perfect volume for your presentation video, LinkedIn can help you find the perfect audience for your business. Grow your small business on LinkedIn. Learn more at LinkedIn.com/smallbusiness.
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17:11 Speaker 05 I'm older. I'm wiser.
17:14 Speaker 00 And sharper than ever.
17:16 Speaker 05 Things are gonna get messy. But if I can't believe in myself, I can't believe in anything.
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17:29 Speaker 02 When's the last time you looked at your credit report? If you can't remember what decade it was, what year it was, we gotta have a talk. Because what's on your credit file can hurt you. Understand Equifax, TransUnion and Experian are playing horseshoes. They're playing just close enough in their opinion. They don't at all profess that credit reports are accurate. They're not. They are haphazard. They are maybe close. But it's not at all unusual for a large percent of Americans, depending on which
18:14 Speaker 02 study you believe, somewhere between a third and more than half of us, if we look at our credit reports from the three bureaus, we will find errors on there. And a meaningful number of us will have errors on our credit report that could lead to denial for a job, lead to denial for insurance, lead to higher premiums for insurance, or lead to you ending up paying much higher interest rates for various things you might borrow money for. So the credit bureaus are contemptuous of you and me. We are not the customer. We're just data points.
18:59 Speaker 02 Who's the customer of the credit bureaus? Follow the money. Credit bureaus are a perfect example of when capitalism is broken. Because you and me, the data points, don't matter. Because we are, if we have a problem, we're a cost center. We're not a revenue producer. All the people that pay the credit bureaus to build these dossiers on us, which are companies, lenders, companies of all different kinds, especially insurance loves looking at our dossiers. These companies pay. They're the customer. You and I have an inaccuracy on our credit report.
19:44 Speaker 02 The number of complaints against credit bureaus has been skyrocketing. Absolutely going up like a rocket. Because the credit bureaus don't respect the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. They don't respect that they have a duty to not harm us. And we don't even have the right to keep the credit bureaus from building these dossiers. So when should you be looking at your credit report? Not after you mysteriously don't get the job offer you were expecting. Not when you were declined for a loan. Not when the auto or homeowner's insurer doesn't want to write you
20:28 Speaker 02 and it's because of something that may be inaccurate on your credit file. Very often, there'll be what are known as married files, which is where somebody of a same or similar name to you, their issues with credit, that are negative, end up on your file. And you're guilty till proven innocent. So you want to check your reports, which is free, at annualcreditreport.com. Don't buy any garbage Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian try to trick you into subscribing to when you go to annualcreditreport.com.
21:10 Speaker 02 All you want to see is you want your free credit report from there. Remember, the only real site
21:19 Speaker 02 Is annualcreditreport.com. That's the government sanctioned site to see your report. And so if you haven't done it since who knows when, get the files, go through them. And when you see things that aren't right, challenge them. That's number one. Number two, Credit Karma, I think is a very useful tool. And what are they getting out of giving you access to all kinds of stuff about your credit files for free? They're getting data on you that they use to then solicit and get commissions from people
21:58 Speaker 02 trying to sell you different lending products. It is a worthwhile trade off because, let's face it, your information's already out there. So Credit Karma will give you the ability to see a facsimile of your credit scores from two of the three bureaus, whenever you want to see them, has a monitoring service for free and is very, very useful as a tool. And so I recommend that. If your credit is frozen, which I absolutely recommend, you have to temporarily thaw it just to set up a Credit Karma dashboard that goes back
22:38 Speaker 02 frozen and you're good. And I get, I track this stuff so closely. And my credit scores go all over the place. I mean, in a decent range, but I mean, up, down, up, down, up, down. And lately, for reasons that are kind of a mystery to me, my credit score on the FICO scale is higher than it's normally been. But when I look at the Credit Karma, it goes, I mean, not quite an EKG up and down, but it does move up and down as much as 50 or
23:17 Speaker 02 so points, depending on when I look. So being on top of this is really useful in your life.
23:25 Speaker 03 Okay, Ron in Tennessee says, my dad bought a house in 1965 and the interest rate was 6%. So aren't the rates today pretty good? The 1% to 4% rates aren't realistic anymore because of the circumstances at the time. Is that right?
23:40 Speaker 02 Okay, Ron, I remember when mortgage rates were over 20%. And I assumed
23:48 Speaker 02 A loan that was such a deal, people would say, how did you get that loan? When rates were over 20%, I assumed an eight and a half percent loan. I thought, man, I'm the luckiest person alive that I have an eight and a half percent mortgage.
24:07 Speaker 03 And you were?
24:07 Speaker 02 I was at that time. So, yeah, I mean, rates can only be looked at as a snapshot in time. And the rates we had as a result of the banking scandals, leading to the Great Recession, and the foreclosure waves and all that, the government did what's known as rate suppression, which is an extreme tactic that forced down mortgage rates and had all kinds of weird effects on the housing market, including now tens of millions of people being in housing lock, where they feel like they can't move, even if the house they're in isn't really
24:49 Speaker 02 where they want to be, or maybe the city they don't want to be, they can't give up their 1%, 2%, 3% mortgage. And so this will correct over time. And the best would be if mortgage rates are not subject to rate suppression, and they go in the marketplace as they should. We would not be in such an odd situation, the housing market, if we hadn't had the rate suppression during the aftermath of the banking scandals. But the thing is, at the time, we were worried about a worldwide depression.
25:28 Speaker 02 So, the cure may have been necessary to deal with the disease, but it created the disease we're in right now, which is not as serious as what we were facing 15 years ago, but is still quite disruptive in the marketplace.
25:46 Speaker 03 Greg in California says, "Hi Clark, this may be a question on a lot of your listeners' minds. What do we do when our Windows 10 computer is not Windows 11 compatible? I was wondering if converting my Windows computer to a Chromebook is a good option? It seems I only have two other options. One, continue to use Windows 10 and not get critical security updates. Or two, use my computer as a paperweight."
26:11 Speaker 02 What was that show called? Do You Want What's Behind Door Number One, Door Number Two? We only have Door Number One, Door Number Two, but on that show, what was that called?
26:19 Speaker 03 The Price is Right? Oh, I don't know.
26:22 Speaker 02 There was the third door. So I want you to look in the third door, which is, Microsoft is making available a security update subscription that will carry you for another year through October of 26, and it's 30 bucks. And rather than your computer, if your computer's still working fine, pay the 30 bucks and get one more year out of it, knowing that the security updates will be done. And then at that point, yeah, your computer could be, if you're really into cool stuff, it could become a Linux computer, it could become potentially a Chromebook.
27:06 Speaker 02 We have information about that on Clark.com. You can, at that point, choose to buy another computer. My middle daughter just got a Chromebook Plus as a replacement for her old Windows computer. And she said, "I'm obsessed with this thing." And it's so funny because my whole family's always made fun of me for being a Chromebook guy. And now she's like, "This thing is really awesome."
27:36 Speaker 03 All right, Ed in Massachusetts wrote in with this one. "You recently mentioned the services your local library can offer, and I wanted to add a service my local library provides that wasn't mentioned. My library offers 3D printing at no charge, as long as you provide them with the files, which can be found on various sites on the web. I've used this service in the past and received my print within a week or so. So inform your listeners to check all of the services their library can provide. You may be surprised."
28:05 Speaker 02 Okay, I'm dumbfounded. I never, that would never, ever occur to me.
28:11 Speaker 03 Me either.
28:12 Speaker 02 That a library would be offering free 3D printing. Just imagine you have an old classic vehicle and you need a part and you can't find it. And you go to the library to get it 3D printed.
28:27 Speaker 02 That's funny.
28:29 Speaker 03 I don't know if the material is what you would need for that, right? Like, they may just have plastic or whatever.
28:34 Speaker 02 So I read something on one of the air industry blogs that airlines are now able to 3D print parts that they need in one part of the country that are in a warehouse somewhere else in the country. Get a plane back in the air quicker.
28:52 Speaker 03 Wow.
28:53 Speaker 02 Next time I talk to an aircraft mechanic, I need to ask him or her, is that really something, is that news of the weird or is that really going on? But 3D printing is something, how long have we been talking about 3D printing? And it's still kind of at the edges. And it's not.
29:11 Speaker 03 My dentist 3D prints crowns.
29:14 Speaker 02 Yeah, which, which we talked about on the podcast years ago when that was first coming around. So do you have a 3D printed crown?
29:23 Speaker 03 I do have one.
29:24 Speaker 02 Really?
29:25 Speaker 03 Yes.
29:25 Speaker 02 And has it behaved like?
29:27 Speaker 03 It's fine.
29:27 Speaker 02 Any other crown?
29:28 Speaker 03 Got it years ago.
29:29 Speaker 02 So you get to do it one visit instead of two?
29:31 Speaker 03 Exactly, yeah.
29:33 Speaker 02 Oh, I like that.
29:34 Speaker 03 No temporary, it's nice.
29:36 Speaker 02 How long have you been royalty? When did you get?
29:38 Speaker 03 It's gotta be at least six or seven years ago. I think she printed it.
29:42 Speaker 02 Well, thank you so much for joining us today. And I want you to know, appreciate that tip on 3D. The library, that we have all kinds of info for you that comes to you if you want it, every single day for your empowerment with knowledge to either make you money or save you money. Because we have daily newsletters totally free that are available for Clark.com and Clarkdeals.com. And our open rate, what's known as open rate is when do people actually look at the email? Our open rate is unbelievably high, very, very, very rare.
30:31 Speaker 02 And it's because we make it just as easy to can us as to get us as a newsletter. And if you keep getting it, you're doing it because you're finding it useful in your life. And of course, it's priceless, free, which is, if it's free, it's for me. So if you want to see or try one of our newsletters, go to Clark.com/newsletter or newsletters. Check it out because the idea is to give you up to the minute information that again will save you money or help you preserve your money or make money. That's what it's about, for you to be in control.
31:12 Speaker 02 And everything we do is about you learning ways to save more and spend less. And of course, on the Clark newsletter, you'll get information to avoid the latest, ugliest, hottest scams out there because they morph all the time. So this is for you to be in more control in your life and not waste your time. So with that having been said, have a great day and I look forward to being with you on our next podcast and YouTube show.
31:50 Speaker 01 LinkedIn is pretty amazing at helping you grow your small business. We cannot stop your new clients from emailing you at 3 a.m. We can help you sell, market, and hire in one place. We cannot help you be in three places at once. And while we can't help you organize your calendar, LinkedIn can help you land more clients so you have a calendar to organize. Grow your small business on LinkedIn. Learn more at LinkedIn.com/smallbusiness.
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