11.06.26 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Retail Finance Trap- NO

Friday - Clark Stinks day! Christa shares Clark Stinks posts with Clark. Submit yours at Clark.com/ClarkStinks. Also today, what seems like a great financial deal comes with a catch. Retailers love to lure shoppers in with "No interest, no down payment, no payments for months" promotions, but these enticing deals are actually one of the most dangerous traps in modern retail finance. Clark breaks down how these psychological traps work, why falling for them is like playing with financial fire, and the exact rules you need to follow to protect your wallet and save your hard-earned money. All this and more on the November 6, 2026, episode of The Clark Howard Show. Submit your opinions or questions: Ask Clark. Clark Stinks: Segments 1 & 2 No No No Plans: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: The Home Service Clark Howard Says You Should Actually Pre-Pay Best Rewards Credit Cards: Top Picks for Cash Back and Travel Adjustable-Rate Mortgages Are Popular Again – Here’s Why You Need To Be Careful Clark Howard's Tips To Save Money on Home Internet in 2026 [The Washington Post] Don’t get caught by this zero-interest trap FCC Complaints - Federal Communications Commission Treasury, IRS begin implementing Saver's Match What Is the Saver's Credit and How Does It Work? My LED Bulbs Are Burning Out Too Fast. Am I Buying Them at the Wrong Store? 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

  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.

• 0:27Speaker 01

  Your sausage McMuffin with egg didn't change. Your receipt did. The sausage McMuffin with egg extra value meal includes a hash brown and a small coffee for just $5. Only at McDonald's for a limited time.

• 0:42Speaker 02

  Price and participation may vary. Promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing.

• 0:44Speaker 03

  It's great to have you here on the Clark Howard Show where our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. If you listen routinely, you know I got my opportunity for self-improvement right now in our weekly Clark stinks segment. And also, I want to make sure that you warn your loved ones about the no, no, no trap. A thing all year long, but no time of the year more so than right now. What is a no, no, no?

• 1:28Speaker 03

  If you don't know, I'm going to tell you later in this podcast, but now it's time for Clark stinks.

• 1:36Speaker 04

  I should have never encouraged you to speak. 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.

• 1:44Speaker 05

  All right. Bob in North Carolina says regarding the comments on HVAC subscriptions, Clark correctly pointed out that the low price semi annual quote unquote checkup is often a result of private equity entering HVAC and other home services market. What I figured out is that it is a sales opportunity and they don't actually do much in terms of servicing. What they do provide is a vastly inflated estimate for repairs or services you may not even need. My example is that last year, a technician said, I should have the contactors, the electrical part that starts and stops the compressor in the outside units replaced and quoted

• 2:28Speaker 05

  over $1,000 per unit for the work. I investigated the part, which turned out to cost $15 on Amazon and it took me about 15 minutes to replace. Thanks YouTube. The next time, another technician recommended replacing the start capacitor, again for over $1,000. My cost was about $15 and 15 minutes. My recommendation, if you get such an exorbitant estimate and you're not comfortable doing this yourself, is to call local electrician or handyman and ask for the cost for them to do it. Certainly it will be less than $1,000 for a 15 minute job.

• 3:03Speaker 03

  Thank you for this post. And you're right, talking about doing this stuff yourself, watching YouTube videos. HVAC, that's above my pay grade. But you're so right about getting additional estimates and a lot of these things, you're also right, a handy person, handyman could do. We're going to get complaints from people who do HVAC work, but I'll tell you something you just got to know. Private equity doing these rollups in home service industries like HVAC has put really

• 3:43Speaker 03

  reputable HVAC technicians in a terrible position because they are forced to have a sales book of so much revenue per sales call. And if they don't, they get fired. They're no longer getting rewarded by, and it's not every private equity house owner, but it is the trend that is definitely not your and my friend as homeowners, is they use private equity to buy up all these practices. They consolidate the back office. They come up with these sales quotas and the technicians are no longer there to do a good job.

• 4:28Speaker 03

  They are there as salespeople. I talked to HVAC techs and they are just horrified by what's happening to their industry with this poison from private equity. And so you got to know that that tech is not your ally anymore.

• 4:52Speaker 05

  If you can find a local independent company, that would be great.

• 4:56Speaker 03

  Thank you. You took the words right out of my mouth. But that's good because I was running on too long about it anyway. Go ahead.

• 5:03Speaker 05

  No, go ahead. All right. Tony in Florida says regarding naming credit cards for the best cash back or percent rebate deals, which you found can only be done in Google Wallet, but not Apple Pay. Well, actually a listener found that. Why not just do what I do? Start a note and keep notes on Android or notes on Apple with a list of your cards and what the deals are for that month or quarter. You can edit it anytime as things change and check whenever you're shopping and try to decide which card to pay with.

• 5:32Speaker 03

  We've had so many suggestions about this. One of the cutest we had was where somebody was putting tape on their spouses, like I guess some kind of masking tape kind of thing and writing restaurants, gasoline, whatever, whatever was that quarter's thing to use. Now with tap to pay, I don't understand Apple's motivation in not giving you the ability to do what Google does in Google Wallet. Apple programmers, let's get on this because it is hard with all the rotating categories and all that.

• 6:10Speaker 03

  That's why for me, often just having a flat rate, 2% cash back card for many people is going to be the best default answer because with the reward categories, the base on most cards is 1% and only the specialized categories do you get three or 5%. So if you're not going to be able to keep up with this, you just know your human nature, 2% flat is best, I think.

• 6:38Speaker 05

  How do you and Lane handle it? I mean, I know you've got it in your brain.

• 6:41Speaker 03

  I think I'm going to wait for Lane to answer that.

• 6:47Speaker 05

  Oh.

• 6:48Speaker 03

  This has been a thing for a long time.

• 6:52Speaker 05

  Oh, really?

• 6:53Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 6:54Speaker 05

  Oh, okay.

• 6:55Speaker 03

  She said, I meant to use the right card, but I thought that was it, but it was the green one, not the purple one. It's like, it's like.

• 7:01Speaker 05

  Okay. Kurt in Arizona.

• 7:04Speaker 03

  She identifies all the cards by color.

• 7:07Speaker 05

  Right. I do too. Okay. Kurt in Arizona says, I've heard you say that over the air broadcasts such as the NFL football games provide a better picture than streaming. There are many people in the USA that can't receive a 4K signal over their broadcast. We live in a rural area and the 4K picture I stream from apps such as ESPN, Peacock and Fox One are much higher quality than 720p or 1080i quality that I can receive via antenna. A universal antenna broadcast provide a better picture statement simply isn't true.

• 7:39Speaker 03

  Kurt, I show my ignorance as an urbanite and I never, ever thought about the rural angle on this. And I appreciate that because I got to tell you, I've been using the antenna and the games just, I mean, it's like you're there more than with streaming.

• 8:05Speaker 05

  Well, I think you also get, you probably get an extra layer, like, you know, how people, you put like glasses and some front of someone's face and they see the board better. For you, it's like you're spending no money on it. And so there's this filter that makes it even look brighter and better.

• 8:19Speaker 03

  Probably true.

• 8:21Speaker 05

  Fixed rate mortgages in North Carolina says in response to the question about whether to get an ARM mortgage, your answer was as stinky as spilled milk in a car parked in a long-term lot at the airport for all of August. Most home buyers are better off with fixed rate mortgages. Do a zero cost refi when the rates go down. When it comes to money, boring is better. No one can predict interest rates accurately enough. Some of my friends who bought houses with ARMs are now panicking. Their rates are about to go from the fives to the sevens. Kudos for seeking feedback, especially negative. You give us hope.

• 8:56Speaker 03

  Okay. So thank you very much for this. Fixed rate mortgages. I love that as a name. So I, I prefer fixed rate mortgages. There are situations right now that are different than people I'm hearing from, like the people you're hearing from, who had ARMs in the fives, assumed that rates were going to go back down. And now they're facing into the sevens, which is where the market is. So I would say that today with the market in the sevens, there now is a better chance that rates will eventually come down some.

• 9:37Speaker 03

  No guarantee, but also you've got ownership cycle. So somebody taking out a five one arm or a seven one arm, depending on their situation, may be a better deal if they can get an appreciably lower rate. And that's the other if. Because interest rates have risen on various lengths of US treasuries, we don't have the gap right now between a lot of ARMs and fixed rates. So if you can't get an appreciably lower rate on an ARM, fixed rate mortgages is completely right. You should just go fixed rate. If all you're going to shave is half a point, something like that, go fixed.

• 10:22Speaker 05

  Ken in Alabama says, something smelled a little funny at my first glance of the October 5th episode's YouTube thumbnail with the following title in all caps, cut your bills by DIYing. Mine, it looks like cut your bills by dying. My initial thought was, well, I guess that's one way to save, but I'm not quite that frugal.

• 10:46Speaker 05

  All right. I don't think, I think we can leave that one where it is.

• 10:49Speaker 03

  Right where it is.

• 10:50Speaker 05

  Mike in Florida says, Clark, you stink more than a red tide bloom at your favorite Florida beach vacation rental. You repeatedly provide guidance to potential home buyers but are largely silent on what options home sellers have in today's market. My wife and I are nearing retirement. We worked hard to be mortgage free before retirement and we plan to sell our home and relocate to another state. We don't want to be landlords and even with no mortgage, we do not want the expense of a second home. The proceeds of this sale will play a huge role in our future finances and we are worried on how much of a hit, possibly 10 to 20% our liquid retirement savings will take. While you don't really stink, it would be great to have some concrete tips on how we can maximize the return on

• 11:33Speaker 05

  our investment. Thanks to everyone at Team Clark for the fantastic information you provide.

• 11:38Speaker 03

  Thank you very much, Mike. And no two ways about it, except for the very high end of the Florida market, it is a tough time to be a seller right now. And Florida is just a more extreme case of this. There are specialized factors that have made the Florida market a tough market to sell in. And it is a really difficult choice for people who have mortgages in Florida, particularly where they may be upside down trying to sell. In your case, you own your home free and clear. So you probably have a lot of appreciation

• 12:21Speaker 03

  from when you originally bought your home. And the marketplace may be, if you want to sell your home right now, it may be pricing it back to where things were five years ago. It's not like the prices are back to where they were 15 years ago, but there has been a bit of a round trip on prices. So if the goal is to get out of the home, be mortgage debt free, be able to move somewhere else, at this time in the Florida marketplace, the homes that are selling are homes that are priced at what the marketplace is willing

• 13:00Speaker 03

  to pay right now. And that is a bitter pill potentially for people to swallow when you know your neighbor two years ago sold for this much more. But the reality is, right now, it is a very different market. Now, Florida is a more extreme case in the decline in values in a lot of neighborhoods over the last couple of years. But in a lot of places in America, Austin, Texas is the one held up a lot because there's been a big decline in values there. But most places, it is a relatively modest decline in value so far. And I don't believe that homes are going to have appreciation over the next

• 13:43Speaker 03

  few years like they've had in the rearview mirror. So if you need to sell, you sell at what the marketplace will allow right now, which is a power you have, because whatever you get, you're walking away with.

• 13:59Speaker 05

  All right. Scott in North Carolina says, Clark doesn't stink, but his recent answer, when someone was asking about merchants charging a surcharge on debit card transactions, missed the mark. It doesn't matter whether a transaction is run as a debit with a PIN or as a credit without the PIN. Merchants are not allowed to charge a surcharge on a debit or prepaid card. Most POS systems enforce this automatically. Example, Square POS allows the merchants to set a credit card surcharge, but automatically skips applying it to debit cards. The original questioner needs to go back to the merchant who charged her the fee and let them know that they need to reconfigure their POS, as what they are doing is either illegal, per federal law, see the Durbin Amendment, or if not strictly

• 14:42Speaker 05

  illegal, it is a violation of the Visa and MasterCard merchant rules. Running the card as PIN debit does not matter. And in fact, few stores outside large retailers even offer this option.

• 14:53Speaker 03

  Thank you for that. And I did some reading after we took that question before, and this is correct, that under the Durbin Amendment, there are very strict rules on the banks being able to rip you off on debit cards, transactions, and in turn, merchants are not allowed to add on a fee on the debit cards. They can on credit cards. And I don't know if you're seeing this, Krista, more and more places on the screen or with an electronic receipt, I mean, or a paper receipt, it will show the amount in dollars and cents of credit

• 15:38Speaker 03

  card surcharge.

• 15:39Speaker 05

  Yep. Okay. Willie in Kentucky says, Clark, Clark, Clark, you barely stink like a faint wisp of miasma, I don't know if I'm saying miasma, rising from a medieval swamp. You generally show yourself to be quite tech savvy, but I must disagree with your advice on home internet. You urge your listeners to go for the cheapest option, which throws aside several factors that will be important for many of us. You kept badgering Krista about not worrying about getting high speed internet, because only gamers need that. It's actually low latency that gamers want, which is a meaningful, which is meaningful in milliseconds. You also mentioned that streaming doesn't require high speeds. This can be true, but that is a tiny piece of the puzzle in a standard, modern household.

• 16:24Speaker 05

  I don't know about you, but even with only three people in my household, I have over 50 devices in my home internet at any given time. Between foreground and background usage of all these devices, any internet provider's lowest speed tier would be woefully insufficient and become a constant bottleneck. Finally, not all internet providers are created equal. A cable provider might offer cheaper plans with good download speeds, but their upload speeds are almost never symmetrical with their download speeds. In my area, you have to go with a monopoly phone provider with fiber lines to get the same upload as download speeds, which is crucial for my usage. Rethink your advice on home internet, Mr. No, I can't

• 17:09Speaker 05

  do it, because I've been listening to you for over two decades and you were the one who told me how to invest a small inheritance I received 20 years ago. That inheritance and your advice on saving has grown from $0 saved for retirement to close to $1 million today.

• 17:25Speaker 03

  Congratulations on that. So Krista, you have been on the MinterNet?

• 17:30Speaker 05

  Yes, I'm on MinterNet.

• 17:32Speaker 03

  Is it, is it getting the heave ho, or is it?

• 17:35Speaker 05

  No, I'm going to keep it. I love it. I did buy, you suggested, a repeater, just a single one. I don't need a mesh system or anything. I'm in a townhouse and it just plugged into my wall. I can barely even see it. So I have like an extended Wi-Fi network and it works great. So I'm happy with it.

• 17:52Speaker 03

  And what are you paying per month for MinterNet?

• 17:54Speaker 05

  I need to look. I did a three month thing. I'm about, when I renew it, I'm going to try, I think it was $30 a month, but you can get it, I think it's normally 40 and I think I got it for 30. I need to look at what the renewal offer is.

• 18:07Speaker 03

  All right.

• 18:07Speaker 05

  But not as much as, like, less than half of what I paid when I lived in my house, for sure.

• 18:13Speaker 03

  The thing you talked about with the cable monsters, that you've got download that's great, upload that is terrible, that is true. I was reading about how cable companies are trying to come up with new ways to not be such an inferior choice to fiber from the monopoly local phone companies. The reality is the cable monsters have been shedding customers in huge numbers. And I don't know how much of that is longstanding resentment over abysmal customer no service from the cable monsters. Monopolies get in their, get in their blood

• 18:57Speaker 03

  system, let's see how badly we can treat people. I don't know how much is that, or how much is the competitive disadvantage that the cable monsters find themselves at because they have the technology problem and they have a pricing problem, where they've gotten so addicted to charging ridiculously high prices. So the good news is we're now in an era with more and more choice for internet. And my son would say, there's no such thing as robust enough internet. No matter what internet we've had over the years, it's never

• 19:37Speaker 03

  good enough. For him, for me, every internet we've had has seemed just fine. So.

• 19:45Speaker 05

  Again, maybe a lens comes down.

• 19:50Speaker 03

  Ooh, that's, that's cold.

• 19:52Speaker 05

  Well, am I wrong? I'm not saying, I mean, I agree. I think sometimes, like, if I get a deal on something, I like it even better. I bet a lot of people agree. It's not a cut. I'm not trying to cut on you for that.

• 20:04Speaker 03

  I mean, I do like low prices.

• 20:07Speaker 05

  Sure. It makes you happy.

• 20:09Speaker 03

  No doubt about that.

• 20:10Speaker 05

  Nothing wrong with that.

• 20:11Speaker 03

  I do like paying less. I mean, think, how many people do you know who say that I can't buy clothing typically at Costco because it's too expensive?

• 20:23Speaker 05

  Right. Seriously, you do say that.

• 20:26Speaker 03

  But, I mean, it's just true for me. When it's on clearance, when it's on 97, then I can

• 20:33Speaker 05

  Sure.

• 20:33Speaker 03

  buy clothing at Costco. Anyway, enough about that. Thank you so much for your Clark Stinks post. And I love to hear from you when there's something you hear me say you just don't like, or you feel I'm really wrong about. I want to hear from you. Please go to clark.com/ClarkStinks and post away. Coming up ahead, I want to tell you why you should give the heave ho to the no, no, no.

• 21:05Speaker 02

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• 22:10Speaker 02

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• 22:41Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Don McDonald from the Talking Real Money Podcast. Simple, honest financial advice is hard to find because there are too many people in the financial services industry, and even the media, who will do or say anything to get your money. Well, for decades, my co-host Tom and I have been trying to help people better manage money on the radio, TV, and in our podcasts. About five times a week, we share simple, low-cost advice on building the wealth you need to enjoy a better future without making your broker richer, and ironically, you broker. Listening to Talking Real Money could not be easier because you're already listening to a podcast. Just search for Talking Real Money on your podcast service or ask your smart speaker. Give us a try.

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• 23:41Speaker 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.

• 24:11Speaker 01

  Your sausage McMuffin with egg didn't change. Your receipt did. The sausage McMuffin with egg extra value meal includes a hash brown and a small coffee for just $5, only at McDonald's for a limited time.

• 24:23Speaker 02

  Pricing participation may vary. Promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing.

• 24:26Speaker 03

  The no-no-no plan. Oh, it's strong as ever right now. No-no-no plans are used all year round by certain industries and used by a lot through the Christmas shopping season. And they come in a variety of flavors, but generally, it's no interest for three months, six months, nine months, a year. Some, when furniture retailers get desperate, they might make it for 18 months, two years, three years. You may not even be required to make a down payment. You might not even have to make a payment to, you know,

• 25:07Speaker 03

  for whatever period of time is the no-no-no. That's why they're called no-no-no's. No interest, no down payment, no payment. And some of them will have different rules, but almost always, they are the worst trap out there in retail and financing. So let's say you buy a big-ticket item on a no-no-no plan. A lot of times, what the retailer does is they turn around and sell the paper immediately. What does that even mean? So they need the revenue. So they sell it to an investor or finance company that's offering the no-no-no plan.

• 25:50Speaker 03

  They're selling the supposed retail price of what you bought. So let's say an item is 500 bucks. They'll turn around, they may sell it for 400. So that means you paid $500 for what really was a $400 item, because it was marked up to be able to sell you on the no-no-no plan. And so people are like, what could go wrong here? I don't have to pay interest. I don't even have to make a payment if I don't want to, whatever date. All right, let me tell you what goes wrong. No-no-no plans generally carry an interest rate higher than virtually any other form of credit.

• 26:34Speaker 03

  Usually, mid-to-high 30s is a percent. And the interest, almost 100% of the time, is retroactive to the day of purchase. And as we've learned repeatedly, hearing feedback from you, the retailer will play games with the due date so that you think six months later is the date they've told you the payment is due. But it will often be specifically set to be longer than six months. So you think, oh, here's all your money. And you pay it.

• 27:18Speaker 03

  And then what happens is the next month, you get a bill for all the interest, all the way back to the day of purchase, because you didn't make sure you got it paid off before you keeping the records of when you bought and when it has to be paid. In other words, no-no-no plans are playing with fire many different ways. Number one, we see it, and psychologically, for many people, it feels like we're getting the item for free, at least for now. We'll worry about it down the road. And so often, you'll buy an item

• 28:00Speaker 03

  that if it weren't for that being the tipping point in making a decision, you wouldn't have bought the item, which is the same problem as with the paying fours that are so popular, till you can't pay the payment in four. Anyway, so that's number one. Number two, you convince yourself you're going to have the money for the purchase three months, six months, a year down the road. You're going to have the money. But then, when the time comes, you don't have the money. So suddenly, you're on the hook for a huge new expense with massive interest. I'm going to say something unbelievable.

• 28:42Speaker 03

  You're not going to believe I'm going to say something this irresponsible. But no-no-no plans are so bad that when you get to the point where, oops, I got to come up with this money, and you don't have it? I'm really going to say this? It's even a better decision at that moment to take a cash advance on a credit card and pay off the no-no-no plan. So at least you got the benefit of the free interest for that period of time. And the credit card interest rate is likely going to be 10 points lower

• 29:24Speaker 03

  than the interest rate on the no-no-no plan. I mean, you can tell how much I despise them, that I would even say, take a cash advance on a credit card? That's so not me, right? So the real rule here, don't do a no-no-no plan.

• 29:45Speaker 05

  All right, let's go to-

• 29:46Speaker 03

  I've always loved them having-

• 29:47Speaker 05

  Oh, absolutely.

• 29:50Speaker 05

  Rose in Connecticut says, "Your podcast and advice is priceless. After hearing one of your recent episodes, the caller got a great response to a problem from reporting it to the FCC. I decided to do the same since it was bothering me that my cellphone company increased my plan price twice on my account that was supposedly on a price lock. I complained that I thought this was deceptive marketing. I received a call from a company executive who apologized, credited my account with $200, and is providing $850 off of two new iPhones. I'm astounded. I would not have known about this path for consumer justice if not for your podcast. Thank you."

• 30:29Speaker 03

  Well, first of all, you know, when that came up before Rose, I was like, "Yeah, I mean, maybe this would work." And hearing the feedback from you that filing a complaint against the cellphone carrier with the FCC, that it worked for you, and it's been working for other people, by all means, it's something we need to keep saying to people who have problems with the cellphone carriers. Appreciate that.

• 31:00Speaker 05

  Matthew in Texas says, "My question is about IRS Notice CP321J. I've never heard of the SAVERS match until I received this notice in the mail from the IRS yesterday. It seems incredible. If my AGI is under $35,500 and I put $2,000 into my Roth IRA, is it true that the federal government will put an additional $1,000 into my Roth? That seems like Roth IRA on steroids because it would increase my contribution by 50% right off the bat. Could you address what the upsides and downsides are of this? I can already tell you that my biggest challenge is finding thousands of dollars for my Roth IRA when

• 31:44Speaker 05

  my income is so low, but a stimulus like this would encourage me more than usual to save more."

• 31:50Speaker 03

  Okay, so the SAVERS credit has been around for a long time. It keeps morphing. There's going to be a new version called Something Else starting next year. I forget what the new name of it is. But the SAVERS credit came about because a study showed that the people at the lower half of the income ladder in the United States were never able to get around to saving for retirement because of all the expenses of life. So SAVERS credit is a dollar-for-dollar credit. So you put money in, and if you have a net tax

• 32:28Speaker 03

  bill, you owe tax money to the IRS, you get back whatever the credit is, which can be, I think, 200, trying to remember, is it 200, 500, whatever, up to $1,000. And it can be 10% of what you contribute, up to 50% of what you contribute, depending on your income as a single individual, married couple, had a household. There are different income thresholds. And so the SAVERS credit is phenomenal because if you meet the, jump through the right hoops

• 33:05Speaker 03

  and you meet the income requirements, the IRS credits you dollar-for-dollar for half of your contribution up to $1,000.

• 33:17Speaker 05

  And it's now going to be called the SAVERS match, the new program.

• 33:21Speaker 03

  Okay, so that's next year. So it's changed a little bit year by year. This is a big change going to affect in '27. But right now, people can do this for this year, where if your income meets the thresholds. And can we put a link in the, I always get this wrong.

• 33:45Speaker 05

  The podcast description, the episode description? Yep.

• 33:47Speaker 03

  So if you know somebody who has had trouble saving in a Roth IRA, this is a case where the government will be your partner in funding that Roth IRA. And it's awesome because you're right, nobody knows about this.

• 34:07Speaker 05

  Okay. Mike in Oklahoma says, "I just learned why many of my LED bulbs were failing much sooner than the stated lifespan. I have a few three-bulb fixtures that require a tall ladder to access. I bought LED bulbs because I didn't want to have to keep climbing the ladder to replace them. I was having bulb failures pretty much annually. I did some digging and found out that many manufacturers get away with selling these cheaply-made bulbs by stating they are not guaranteed if they're in enclosed fixtures. Brands like, well, they named one, sell bulbs specifically designed for this application. Components are designed to withstand the heat buildup in enclosed fixtures. I'd like to share this information

• 34:49Speaker 05

  to keep others from getting ripped off by cheap LED bulbs with unrealistic lifespan claims."

• 34:55Speaker 03

  Yeah. So Mike, you point out a problem that has bedeviled, first, when we used to have the compact fluorescent ones, the ones that looked like swirl ice cream cones. Those became obsolete, replaced by LEDs that use a fraction, tiny fraction of the electricity that traditional bulbs had used. And they'll say on the package, you know, "Good for blah, blah, blah, years." And then they measure years differently than you and I do. But you pointed out a very specific problem. The heat that comes off of a lot of LED bulbs,

• 35:36Speaker 03

  if they can't breathe in the space they're in, they're going to die way prematurely. And I'm so glad because you're telling me something I didn't know, that I'm sure somebody who works in lighting would be. How did you not know that, Clark? But anyway, that they are, that there are bulbs specifically built to go into an enclosed fixture that deal with the heat problem. And thank you for talking about that. And we used to live in a house that had a crazy tall ceiling, and I had to get up on a 16-foot ladder to replace

• 36:18Speaker 03

  the bulbs. And I hated, hated getting up on that A-frame ladder to replace those bulbs. And it seemed like they never lasted long enough. So thank you for saying, "Make sure you're buying the right bulb for the right job," that I didn't even know existed.

• 36:41Speaker 05

  Me either. I had in my old house, my bathroom fixtures were, the LED bulbs were constantly dying. I couldn't figure it out.

• 36:49Speaker 03

  So 16 feet is way up there on a ladder. I've always been more conscious of ladders since I fell off one at Habitat years and years ago.

• 37:00Speaker 05

  Yeah, not the best idea.

• 37:02Speaker 03

  But, I mean, you know, we were talking the other day about how I'm just the luckiest guy. I mean, I fall off this ladder outside on a house. There'd been a big rain that week, and so the ground was muddy as muddy could be. Just like I had at the Habitat Build last month in Tulsa, where it was just muddy as all get out. And so I'm way up this ladder, and I lose my balance. I fall off the ladder, and I looked like something from a mud wrestling contest. But because of the mud, I didn't get hurt. Only my ego did. But ladders are serious things.

• 37:44Speaker 05

  Speaking of Habitat, you mention it once in a while, but I know you don't brag, which I'm not asking you to brag, but it's pretty impressive. You've sponsored how many homes now? What do you own?

• 37:54Speaker 03

  Rain and I are at 109.

• 37:56Speaker 05

  109 homes. And you've built on every one of them.

• 38:01Speaker 03

  Hundreds and hundreds of homes. But what do I do now at Habitat Build? Oh, when I volunteered a few weeks ago, we were hanging hardy plank.

• 38:12Speaker 05

  Oh, I've done that one.

• 38:14Speaker 03

  I mean, I felt twice my age because you're hammering into concrete, essentially. And at the Habitat affiliate I was at, that was in Atlanta, we can't use the nail guns. We have to use a hammer.

• 38:32Speaker 05

  It's good for the arm muscles.

• 38:35Speaker 03

  Except I don't seem to have any arm muscles. Because you got the hammer above, you know, about head height, and you're banging away there. And I'm pathetic. Wow. I mean, what am I best at at Habitat Build?

• 38:52Speaker 05

  Serving lunch?

• 38:53Speaker 03

  Running my mouth. It's like, anyway, thank you so much for joining us today as I ran my mouth on our podcast and YouTube show. And I hope that you have an absolutely wonderful weekend this weekend. Look so forward to being with you on Monday. But never forget, all weekend long, we're serving you. And now that we're in Black Friday month, remember Clark Deals. Clark Deals newsletters that will tell you the hot deals, the real deals

• 39:32Speaker 03

  you should be looking for, for those Christmas gift items, both by newsletter and by website at clarkdeals.com. If you want to sign up for one of our newsletters, for clark.com or clarkdeals.com, they're free. You just go to clark.com/newsletter or newsletters. We have it both ways because people never remember when they're signing up for a newsletter which it is. So information that I'm proud that we put out every week in our newsletters. I just really love the content. If you don't love it, though, and you're like, "This is

• 40:17Speaker 03

  a waste of my time." We make it just as easy to unsubscribe as we do to subscribe, which is exactly how subscription should work, right? So see you on Monday.