11.04.26 Mindful Shopping / RECALL: Vehicular Spontaneous Combustion

Avoid Holiday Shopping Traps & The Dangerous Car Recall You Can’t Ignore In this episode, Clark shares his simple, battle-tested trick to stop impulse spending during peak holiday shopping season – including his hands-only shopping cart rule that will save you money both online and in stores. Also, have you heard about how some cars are bursting into flames? And do you know how to check if your vehicle has any sort of recall? With over 3.5 million vehicles currently under critical "park outside" fire risk recalls, Clark breaks down why driver response rates are dangerously low, why gas vehicles (not just EVs) are catching fire, and how ignoring this warning could cost you your home. Plus, Christa shares your #AskClark questions and Clark gives his take. All this and more on the November 4, 2026, episode of The Clark Howard Show. Submit your questions: Ask Clark. Mindful Shopping: Segment 1 Ask Clark: Segment 2 Wheels On Fire: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: The Secret Perk of Abandoning Your Online Shopping Cart 4 marketing tricks to not fall for this holiday season Gadgets Are Going Premium—and Manufacturers Are Raking It In - WSJ Sub-$100 smartphones becoming a rarity as AI memory prices soar Why This Is the Worst Time of the Year To Buy an iPhone We Just Got Married. How Do We Blend Our Finances? BBB-File a Complaint Check for Recalls: Vehicle, Car Seat, Tire, Equipment The Center for Auto Safety - Recall-Check Consumer Reports: Best New SUVs and Cars for Under $30,000 How to Buy a New Car: 5 Smart Steps To Get the Best Deal The Best Car-Buying Services - Clark Howard 9 Things You Should Always Buy Used - Clark Howard When You Should (and Shouldn’t) Give Out Your Social Security Number Clark.com resources: Episode transcripts Community. Clark.com / Ask Clark Clark.com daily money newsletter Consumer Action Center Free Helpline: 636-492-5275 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 1:05Speaker 03

  My pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. And on Monday's show, I talked about where you're going to find your best deals on holiday shopping. Specifically, you're going to do the legwork to do it. But today, I want to add some caution to the whole idea of buying things, no matter how good a deal the item or items may be. And also, have you heard about this problem with vehicles spontaneously bursting into flames?

• 1:50Speaker 03

  Well, apparently, people overwhelmingly are ignoring the recall notices from automakers. Don't do that when you get one of these about the fire problem. And I want to make sure that you check to see, even if you haven't gotten a notice, is your vehicle A-OK to park in the garage? Yeah, could not be. Did I say that right? It could be not a good idea to park in the garage would be a better way to say it. Okay, so recently, I've been talking a number of ways, a number of scenarios,

• 2:29Speaker 03

  about trying to help you through November, which is the prime shopping month, to really put your own controls in place to not impulse buy. Because, you know, I talked recently about the shopping list and having a budget and then breaking it down into how much you want to spend on each person. But you know what I didn't talk about? When we get out there online or in person physically shopping, what happens is we spend more money on ourselves too,

• 3:10Speaker 03

  in addition to what we're buying for others for our nice list. So, think about this. I mentioned not too long ago about when I would do couples counseling, one of the things I would talk about is not being physically in stores, except to go get groceries for long periods of time. And I would get a couple to agree. I wanted people to only go into physical stores every sixth week because my experience is when you're in stores, you're going to buy more than you would if you weren't. And that's kind of logical, right? And it really works out that way.

• 3:55Speaker 03

  Now, we've got the additional challenge. Your phone, your phone is always with you and you're getting all those alerts from things you subscribe to of there's this deal, there's this sale, next 12 hours, today only, whatever. Urge, urge, urge to click to buy. So, the phone that does so many things for us also is dangerous for spending. So, I want you to really think before you buy and maybe not buy. You know, you want to simplify your life?

• 4:38Speaker 03

  One of the ways you simplify it is you don't buy as much stuff. Yeah, I mean, really, you can live with so much less. And I follow the shopping cart rule that if you're a longtime listener or viewer, you know, when I go into a store, I don't get a shopping cart. I only shop in stores that have carts. And if you really want to save money, only shop in stores with concrete floors because you don't want to be paying as part of what you're buying for having a fancy place. Never got the mall thing when malls were big.

• 5:21Speaker 03

  You know, they'd have the fancy flooring and the soaring fountains and the beautiful atriums and all that. And just guess who's paying for that? Yeah, look in the mirror because you were the one paying for all that stuff. But even though it's cheaper in a store with concrete floors to shop, you can still spend money you can't afford. So, that's why I get no cart. So, let's say I'm buying heavy stuff at a warehouse club. I walk the steel, you know, I walk the aisles till I've seen everything.

• 6:05Speaker 03

  The things I pick up are only in my arms. If I see something else I want, somebody has to go back on the shelf. And then only at the very end do I go get a shopping cart, get the heavy items, and go to the checkout. It saves me so much money you can't imagine. And the other day, I had to go to Costco to pick up two prescriptions. And then I bought something over the counter in the pharmacy department aisles. And I went to, I'd already paid for the prescriptions. And I go to checkout and I had two little items.

• 6:46Speaker 03

  And the person running the self-checkout registers is like, that's all you're getting? I said, yeah, yeah. And I mean, it's, there was like wonderment on the employee's face. But that's how I do it to make sure that I want to get the best price I can get. And I don't want to buy something just because it's a deal.

• 7:12Speaker 04

  Weren't you also going to talk about, you were telling me there was a lot of things you were reading about, like always having to have the newest iPhone, the newest gadget, and how that is a problem for people?

• 7:23Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, the electronics. You know that I'm a sucker for doing improved electronics. And that's a tough one, especially right now. Do you know that the number of low-cost cell phones? Because, you know, there are people who always have to have the fanciest iPhone, the fanciest Samsung, whatever. But most people aren't like that. They just want something that works. Do you know how common it used to be to be able to buy a basic smartphone for under 100, 150 bucks? And because of the costs where AI is pushing up the chip prices and all that,

• 8:05Speaker 03

  there are very few phones available anymore at very, very low prices like were so common. And so, when your phone does croak, this is a time that I'm going to say something that is just not normal for me. And that is, maybe you look at a used phone right now. If, if your budget's really tight because even the new, lower-priced phones are not as low-priced as they were before.

• 8:36Speaker 04

  And one generation back usually is just as good or at least close to it. And they really do drop in price, so.

• 8:43Speaker 03

  It's funny you say that because I was just thinking in my head about how we talked the other day about, you know, this is the Super Bowl of buying TVs.

• 8:52Speaker 04

  The TVs, yeah.

• 8:53Speaker 03

  And how the really, really bargain-priced ones for Black Friday month are going to be last season's TVs. And it's absolutely great to buy last season's TV. You don't have to have the latest, greatest, state-of-the-art, unbelievably expensive television.

• 9:14Speaker 04

  Right.

• 9:15Speaker 03

  You may want it, but you don't really have to have it.

• 9:18Speaker 04

  All right. Keep all of that in mind as I'm doing my holiday shopping. Okay, Michael in New York wrote in with this. My fiance, who's 24, and I, 28, are getting married in February in her home country, the Philippines.

• 9:32Speaker 03

  Congratulations to both of you.

• 9:35Speaker 04

  Do you have any relationship or financial advice for a newlywed couple? Also, I've been listening to the podcast since 2023. Clark, you're the reason I opened a Roth IRA, so thank you.

• 9:47Speaker 03

  Well, thank you very much. And Michael, you're in New York and your fiance, I don't know which country you're going to live in, but for her, the weather in New York in the winter is going to be a rough ride compared to living in the Philippines. Well, as far as the things you need to worry about, they are things that most couples don't do till something goes wrong. And what I like for you to do is when something's not going wrong, to have ongoing low-voltage conversations about goals.

• 10:28Speaker 03

  I know you're both in your mid-20s, but I want you to think about, you know, do you want to work normal cycle? Do you want to try to bag work at some point and travel the world? I mean, like, what are your goals? You talk about what things are important to you. And then you back into conversations about how you're going to pay for them? What do you think about debt? If you use a credit card, how do you feel about running a balance? I mean, you just have philosophical kind of conversations before something happens. And it's like, oh, you know, you know.

• 11:09Speaker 03

  You don't want to be a couple that's reactive about goals and money because then it's always a negative experience. If it's instead about the freedom, that money's not the god, but money.

• 11:25Speaker 03

  Is part of what gets you to your goals. That you talk about what your dreams are, what your hopes are with what you want to do in your lives together. And then you talk about how you want to handle money day to day. And I'm a big believer in couples having a joint account, but I also believe it can be healthy for each to have their own accounts. That you have the household account and then you have your own. But it's not important which way you do it. It's important that you talk about things with goals and how money fits into that as

• 12:05Speaker 03

  a regular thing, because people will assume that the person they love has the same attitudes, but not necessarily. And I hope that you have a wonderful, wonderful life together, wherever you end up settling, whether it's in the Philippines or in the US or who knows where in the world.

• 12:26Speaker 04

  Alex in Georgia says, I recently signed a contract with a company to replace my gutters. I trusted my salesperson to provide me with the best price. I signed the contract via DocuSign and never received an email or a hard copy until the work was completed. The day after the work was completed, I discovered I was charged three times the price of a house with similar linear feet. I called my salesperson the very next day and he tried to convince me I got a great price, but I know someone with a larger home than mine, paid far less than I did with the same company. I feel very misled and furious. I talked to the sales manager and all I could say was, no one forced you to sign the contract.

• 13:06Speaker 03

  Oh, wonderful, wonderful. Now, that is a kind, friendly person.

• 13:11Speaker 04

  This company has had several lawsuits in the past for unfair business practices. Is there anything I can do on my end? I've even contacted the service number and emailed the company. No one has tried to reach me since I sent the email.

• 13:25Speaker 03

  All right. So I'm familiar with this company. It's a national company. They are fully vertically integrated. They manufacture the product they sell. They sell it themselves. They install it themselves, no franchises. And the founder of the company is a fairly public figure. Stop dealing with the bureaucracy. Contact him directly. You should be able to figure out his email address. Send him an email. Tell him the problem you had, particularly the rudeness of the sales manager. And I would also file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

• 14:08Speaker 03

  You noticed after the fact there were complaints. One of the ways you're going to potentially get help is reputation is really important in home improvement, particularly with a big national player. The more places you find a complaint online, social media, I mentioned the

• 14:28Speaker 04

  Write a Google review.

• 14:29Speaker 03

  Write a Google review. The more you do that, the more you're likely to trigger maybe some results. There's nothing that requires a company to, if you're willing to pay more, to not sell you something for more. But the fact that you figured it out and you'd never been given a copy of the DocuSign and then you find out, they triple charged me for it. That's really a terrible way to do business. And you could, gotta be careful what you say. You could do something really old and analog and that's put up a yard sign that says, ask me before you hire this company, with their name there. And that will draw their attention.

• 15:14Speaker 03

  You gotta be careful. They'll probably shop you with a microphone to see if you say something slanderous. You just stick strictly with the facts. You found out later you were triple charged and you can't get anybody to help you. That's all you say to anybody who asks you.

• 15:31Speaker 04

  Mark in Florida says, Clark, I think it's wonderful that you have the ability and the means to travel frequently. I'm 62 and realizing the clock is starting to get closer to the end, hopefully not for many, many years.

• 15:44Speaker 03

  The Clark clock, I'm getting close to the

• 15:46Speaker 04

  But here's my question for you. How much of your travel is work-related, pleasure or family time? Or because I know you've had some health issues from medical stuff. I ask because you say you travel about 10 times a month and I'm just wondering, I'm happy for you to have the freedom to do that.

• 16:02Speaker 03

  10 times a month? That would be my dream. No, no, I don't travel that much.

• 16:07Speaker 04

  Well, you maybe were saying like maybe 10 flights a month kind of thing, like individual?

• 16:11Speaker 03

  No, I mean, in some months, I've probably been on 10 airplanes. But I'd say consistently, I'm probably traveling somewhere every three weeks. So would that be like 17 trips a year? And overwhelmingly, those are for fun now. Do some work travel, do some travel for Habitat for Humanity as a volunteer. Pleasure travel is what I really enjoy. And so it's absolutely wonderful for me. Everybody's different. I love the opportunity to get out, explore, to see, to experience things, experience people.

• 16:53Speaker 03

  And I just love people and being able to interact.

• 16:57Speaker 04

  I'll say this, Mark, this has been a lifelong thing. This isn't anything new and you got your start in the travel business.

• 17:04Speaker 03

  Yeah, that is true. I mean, first I was a social worker

• 17:08Speaker 04

  Right, right.

• 17:09Speaker 03

  For a number of years. And then I was in the travel agency business when that was a great business to be in. There was no internet, anything like that. You came to a travel agent to buy travel. I mean, I just always loved travel. And my wife, Lane, just laughs because I'm the rare person who loves airports.

• 17:31Speaker 04

  Right.

• 17:32Speaker 03

  I love being in airports and love the experience of traveling. And I've shared this before, but I was on a plane and I'm just staring out the window. I'm just soaking it all in. And this passenger next to me says, is this your first flight? I said, well, it's my first today. That's how much fun I am doing it. As far as my medical, I think I'm doing pretty well. I'm not on any medical restrictions to travel. I do travel some for medical visits, but it's kind of like it's an annex to my life.

• 18:17Speaker 03

  It is not my life. And it's funny, I've got a group of buddies and when we get together, we have one rule. We never talk about what doctor visit we have. Coming up ahead, we travel mostly not by airplane, we travel by automobile. And some automobiles have decided that they want to be flammable. And I want to talk about how you need to protect yourself.

• 18:46Speaker 05

  Gifts mean more when they have the power to give more. They can inspire more discovery, give more confidence and unwrap more of who you are. This Black Friday, give a gift that goes beyond the box. The Dell XPS 13 laptop. With a beautiful design and cutting-edge performance, it helps you unlock more possibilities. It's the thinnest, lightest XPS laptop yet, with touchscreen, a backlit keyboard and long-lasting battery life to power you through your day. Built with a durable aluminum chassis weighing just 2.2 pounds and Intel Core processors, it's fast, reliable and portable enough to keep up wherever you go. Visit dell.com to explore the possibilities with XPS.

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  While shopping, you'll also find great perks like Dell Rewards, fast free shipping, premium support and financing with flexible payment options. Plus, you can find great deals on monitors and accessories. That means you can score a whole new setup now for less. This Black Friday sale is one you don't want to miss. Head to dell.com/deals. That's dell.com/deals. Self-directed investing, trading, full-service wealth management, automated investing, financial planning, thematic investing, retirement planning. Few. And to think that's just a small taste of what Schwab offers. Because Schwab knows that when it comes to your finances, choice matters. No matter your goals, investing style, life stage or experience, Schwab has everything

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• 22:21Speaker 03

  So your car has more risk of having a spontaneous fire than you might expect. I mean, according to Carfax, there are three and a half million vehicles in the U.S. right now that have fire risk recalls on them. And they're generally called in the industry, park outside. And consumers, even if they get the notice, they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I got all these recall things. This one's real.

• 22:59Speaker 03

  The recall notices for fire risk, experts in the industry can only speculate, but they believe it's because of all the electronics that are now in vehicles. That you take gasoline and you combine it with electronics that will have a problem. And you're not even in the car. The car is sleeping as best you know. At the same time, it can combust. So there are two things I want to talk about. If you've got one that's under a park outside, believe it.

• 23:40Speaker 03

  Because if you continue to park in a garage, you can lose your whole house. We have friends that happened to that their vehicle spontaneously combusted in their garage and burned the house to the ground. And they barely escaped with their lives. This is not something to mess with. Now, that's number one. Number two, the response to recalls has gotten lower and lower and lower. You know, we're busy, we need our vehicles to get around. Only certain brands will give you a loaner vehicle while they're doing the recall. So people just don't do it.

• 24:23Speaker 03

  They just don't make the time. This is one of those that you make the time for. I mean, think about, you did nothing wrong. The manufacturer didn't intentionally make a vehicle that could spontaneously combust. It's just the complexity of modern vehicles has led to this greater risk. The risk of these spontaneous fires is not just because you got a park outside, doesn't mean that your vehicle is gonna catch on fire. It means that it has an enhanced risk of doing so, and it needs to have a repair done to it.

• 25:04Speaker 03

  And so I'm not saying, you know, you keep parking indoors, your house is gonna burn up, or your condo, or whatever. What I'm saying is, why take the chance? And so just park it where, if you can, where you live. If you can park it outside, do so. Now, on recalls, I think about the Takata airbag fiasco, where the airbags spontaneously explode and have cost so many people their lives. And at first, the automakers sent the recall notices saying, yeah, your airbag's not safe. No, we have no replacement airbag right now.

• 25:48Speaker 03

  So the delay in being able to get the airbags, people never got the airbags replaced. Well, now with most automakers, the replacement airbags are now available, but people are still driving around with the unsafe Takata airbags. If you remember, oh, yeah, I did get one of those. Yeah, yeah, get it done. Get the airbags replaced. Because it's a terribly unnecessary way to harm yourself, or potentially, in the worst cases, lose your life. Just get a recall notice, and it seems significant.

• 26:31Speaker 03

  Make that appointment inconvenience yourself. Get the vehicle fixed. Did you ever get a Takata?

• 26:38Speaker 04

  No.

• 26:39Speaker 03

  Notice?

• 26:39Speaker 04

  Uh-uh. But I do think it's like, I always check like every, I try to do it once a year, the car my son drives, just to look on NHTSA, just to see if there's anything random we may have missed.

• 26:50Speaker 03

  Yeah, I completely forgot to say that. NHTSA.gov, N-H-T-S-A, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA.gov, you can see recalls on your vehicle. If you have trouble, they're a sortable database. The Center for Auto Safety also has a more comprehensive database of problems with your vehicle that could go beyond recalls.

• 27:13Speaker 04

  Okay, we'll go to questions. This one's from Denise in Maryland. What is the best new car for a 20-year-old if this is their first car? And what's the best price down payment and loan percentage rate?

• 27:25Speaker 03

  Okay, so you said, Denise, new car. So if you're looking at a new car, and what's interesting about looking at a new car with the run-up in prices of used vehicles, I've always talked about, buy a three-year-old car, buy a three-year-old car, buy a three-year-old car. Not necessarily true right now, particularly if you're willing to look at a car instead of an SUV. Cars are so unhip right now, the market is so SUV-oriented, that there are a lot of cars that are in the twenties, brand new, twenty-something thousand dollars.

• 28:07Speaker 03

  And if you look at the various review sites, Consumer Reports I trust the most, but there are others that review cars, various automotive sites. There are a bunch of vehicles in the twenties that Consumer Reports loves. And overwhelmingly, again, they're passenger cars. They'll have, they'll have great safety features on them. They're on that list because they did well in the Consumer Reports testing. And more importantly, they have long-term positive reliability. So if I was looking at a new car, that's where I'd look, is I'd target my price at,

• 28:52Speaker 03

  let's say, $25,000. And you will find the supply of new vehicles not as good as it is, has been, because a lot of those vehicles being cars, cars are, normally they're out, but they're in right now because of the cost of fuel. So your bargaining power is not as good as it would be before. If I was trying to get the best price, one place to look is Costco again. The Costco car buying program is fantastic. Because Costco works with only one dealer from a brand in each market.

• 29:35Speaker 03

  The dealer has to give a no games, no gimmicks price. They ever play games with you, you contact Costco, their vehicle program, car program, and tell them that so-and-so dealer is cheating you, not following Costco's rules. And that dealer will get booted out. And so it's a good way to buy the vehicle. Where do you get the best deal on a loan? U.S. lowest loan price? If the manufacturer is offering special factory financing, that's going to be the cheapest. Otherwise, it's going to be a credit union loan.

• 30:14Speaker 03

  Credit union loans for vehicles are much cheaper, much cheaper than you get from the dealer normally, unless there's a factory subsidized deal, and significantly lower than you're going to get from a bank on a vehicle loan.

• 30:31Speaker 04

  Sonya in Montana says, hey, Clark, I was wondering if you could give some advice on how to figure out the right quote-unquote trial tax to pay when starting a new hobby? If you buy the absolute cheapest gear to test the waters, the experience usually sucks and you quit, which wastes the little money you spent. But if you drop real cash right out of the gate, you're gambling on whether you actually stick with it, or just feel guilty looking at expensive clutter a month later. What's the financial litmus test for finding that sweet spot without lighting money on fire? I love the show, thank you for all you do.

• 31:06Speaker 03

  Well, Sonya, I hope you have a great time with your hobby. And so I have bias three ways. One is, it's not the end of the world. If you do buy inexpensive tools or whatever for the hobby, just so you can test the waters, don't assume that just because the tools are less expensive, they're gonna ruin the experience. But if you're really worried about that, you can rent high-quality. Or my favorite third option is you buy high-quality used tools for the hobby that you want to pursue.

• 31:47Speaker 03

  Because for every person who adopts a new hobby, there's another one who says, well, I thought that would be fun. Then they've got these nice tool sets that you need for that hobby that they now have to get rid of. You might find them on Facebook Marketplace.

• 32:06Speaker 04

  Oh, yeah.

• 32:07Speaker 03

  What are your other favorite places?

• 32:08Speaker 04

  I love Facebook Marketplace, but it depends on what it is. Because it could be, say it's knitting, Facebook Marketplace. Say it's, I mean, when I wanted to learn how to ski when I was 12, my parents were not sure if I'd stick with it. So they, from a used ski store, they rented for a season, a pair of skis that weren't great. And I fell in love with skiing. And once that happened, then I got, they bought me a pair of used skis to use the next season, which was great. And I thought that was so smart of them. You often rent an instrument when you're learning to play it, and then maybe you get another one. Because I really do believe, I was thinking about this recently, because I've been playing tennis, and I don't have the best racket, and I have kind of some old shoes.

• 32:51Speaker 04

  And I was talking to some of the people I play with on a team. And I think certainly you want equipment that won't hurt you. You know, like maybe if you don't have the right tennis shoes, or whatever, we've talked about, we talked at length about running shoes the other day. But usually the equipment, I mean, I think about what I played tennis in when I was in high school. Those shoes, nobody would want to play in today, and then nobody would want to play with that racket, you know? But we still loved playing. So I think a lot of times, the equipment makes less of a difference than you think, unless you're like a total expert at something, right?

• 33:22Speaker 03

  So I'm going to carbon date myself.

• 33:25Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 33:26Speaker 03

  I played tennis in high school and after college with a Tad Davis. You ever heard of that?

• 33:34Speaker 04

  No.

• 33:35Speaker 03

  Yeah, that was what people played with when they hit stone balls. Because tennis balls didn't exist yet. But, uh, but you'd spin the racket and people would call Tad or Davis.

• 33:48Speaker 04

  Oh, okay.

• 33:49Speaker 03

  Who got first, who got to pick first serve.

• 33:52Speaker 04

  Yeah, we still spin the racket, but yeah, it depends on the, yeah, whatever symbol is on there.

• 33:58Speaker 03

  Yeah. So I, I mean, your parents rented ski equipment. I did a bad thing. I bought end of season cheap equipment.

• 34:08Speaker 04

  Uh huh.

• 34:09Speaker 03

  It was cheap before it got marked down. And I skied for a good while on really substandard equipment. Not a good decision. That's when not to be as cheap as I tend to be.

• 34:22Speaker 04

  Yeah. So I don't know if that answered everything, but it depends on the hobby. Like you were saying, you can't rent knitting needles, for example.

• 34:31Speaker 03

  I love buying, in a situation like this, buying high quality used.

• 34:36Speaker 04

  Yeah, me too. Okay, Julie in Oregon says, I've been told for many years not to give out my social security number to anyone except when absolutely necessary. Recently, I've had two financial institutions ask me for my full social security number by a live person.

• 34:53Speaker 03

  Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

• 34:55Speaker 04

  Yeah. This is to ver- this is to verify my account. I've told them that I would give my last four digits or enter it into a secure form, but they say it's the new, a new regulation.

• 35:08Speaker 03

  Baloney.

• 35:08Speaker 04

  So far, I have been able to decline after a few tries and get them to confirm in other ways. I'm aware that my full social security number is probably all over the web, but this seems like something I shouldn't comply with. Am I missing something?

• 35:21Speaker 03

  You're missing nothing. I mean, Julie, the IQ of the people at the bank who made the decision that it would be standard operating procedure to require your full social security number to verify you each time? Oh, my goodness. I mean, there are banks that put out warnings now that we will never ask you as an existing customer for your full social security number. Anybody who's asking you for it is pretending, you know, it was a fraudster, blah, blah, blah. And I think about the stuff I talked about with Chase Bank, where they send out these alerts, I think every other month, of the latest pre-tax scams where people are conning

• 36:06Speaker 03

  their customers. And they talk about how you never give your PIN out to someone. Uh, don't ever give somebody your social security number. Only when you open an account is it standard operating procedure. And in fact, I guess you could say a regulatory requirement to provide your social security number, or for a corporate account, your EIN. But this is terrible. This is terrible. And I hate it when regulated industries like banking hide behind an excuse that it's a new regulation or something.

• 36:46Speaker 04

  No way.

• 36:46Speaker 03

  No way, any day. It's just some idiotic rule at the bank. And the bank's going to harm its customers. Let me tell you something. You get a pretext call from somebody pretending to be from your bank, they know stuff about you, and they ask you for your social security number, and then they use that to steal money out of your account at that bank. They'll say, oh, well, you participated in the fraud, so you're not covered by fraud protection. Your money's gone. I mean, we can't have mixed messages like this. And no, do not give the full social security number. I don't like it when they want the last four. It's lazy.

• 37:27Speaker 03

  It's intellectually lazy on the part of that bank to ask for something like that. I love the way a credit union I use does a thing where you have an expanded secret code that you sign in with and validate your identity there. And it has nothing to do with your social security number. And because it's a randomized number that you've picked, criminal's not going to know it, they're not going to be able to impersonate you. I mean, why would you hand a criminal what they need on a silver platter like this? Oh, okay, enough, enough. Let's talk about something pleasant and exciting.

• 38:13Speaker 03

  Friday, we have Clark stinks. That's pleasant and exciting, right?

• 38:18Speaker 04

  Mm hmm, very.

• 38:19Speaker 03

  I know you look forward to it more than anything else.

• 38:21Speaker 04

  You know, that's not true, but someone did write in a Clark stinks that I'm not going to read that set. I'm going to tell you right now. They said they, they know you love it. They've heard how much you love it enough.

• 38:36Speaker 03

  Okay, so enough said. Friday's Clark stinks.

• 38:42Speaker 03

  So we'll see you then. And just know, between now and then, the sun never sleeps. And seven, no, never sets.

• 38:51Speaker 04

  Never sets.

• 38:52Speaker 03

  Never sets on our desire to serve you every possible way. Social media, YouTube shorts, YouTube, TV and markets, I'm on TV, radio and markets, I'm on radio, newsletters.

• 39:08Speaker 04

  Yeah, newsletters.

• 39:09Speaker 03

  Clark.com, Clarkdeals.com. We're here to empower you, whatever way best works for you, so that you have knowledge that helps you save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. And we'll see you on Friday for some segment we do.

• 39:34Speaker 01

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

• 39:53Speaker 02

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

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