Pod Insights The Clark Howard Podcast 12.12.25 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Retirement Planning 2026 About this episode Friday - Clark Stinks day! Christa shares Clark Stinks posts with Clark. Submit yours at Clark.com/ClarkStinks. Also in today’s episode: Take it to the limit - the new retirement account limits. Clark has updates and advice to enhance your retirement saving strategy. Clark Stinks: Segments 1 & 2 Retirement Planning 2026: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: Citi Double Cash® Card Review: 5 Things To Know in 2025 5 Things To Know About the Citi Strata Premier Card Cell Phones - Clark.com Can I Use HSA for DPC? Yes, Starting January 2026! Rechargeable Batteries: Are They Worth It? The Best Place To Buy Cheap Batteries 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500 Why Clark Howard Is Obsessed With Roth for Retirement Savings My Social Security: The Free Account Everyone Needs To Set Up Before Retirement Clark.com resources: Episode transcripts Community. Clark.com / Ask Clark Clark.com daily money newsletter Consumer Action Center Free Helpline: 636-492-5275 Learn more about your ad choices: megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript 0:01 Speaker 00 Life is all about making decisions. Sometimes you make questionable ones, like buying a new TV that's too big for the wall because the electronics store employee was a little too good at their job. Then, sometimes you make great ones, like protecting your home and auto with Progressive. You get customized coverage options, so you can be sure you have the right coverage. Get your quote today at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and other insurers. Not available in all states.
0:29 Speaker 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.
0:42 Speaker 02 Price and participation may vary. Promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing.
0:45 Speaker 03 I'm so glad you took time out of your day to join us here on 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. How come you don't point at me anymore, Krista, when I...
1:06 Speaker 04 I think it's obvious that I'm the one who doesn't make better financial decisions.
1:10 Speaker 03 No, that's not true.
1:12 Speaker 04 I can't even accuse you, but you can definitely accuse me.
1:15 Speaker 03 That is such a terrible thing to say. It's just silly when I...
1:18 Speaker 04 It's okay.
1:19 Speaker 03 Because you do a good job with money.
1:21 Speaker 04 Ah.
1:22 Speaker 03 You don't think so?
1:23 Speaker 04 There's definitely room for improvement, just like there is for all of us.
1:27 Speaker 03 And that's especially what this episode is about, because it's Friday. It's the day I look forward to for two reasons. The weekend is almost here, which means more NFL football, although they play so many nights a week now. And it means it's time for me to improve through your help with Clark Stinks. And later, I have some updates for you and something I really want you to think about when it comes to your retirement accounts and planning for next year now. But now is time for you to hear how much I stink and how I stink.
2:12 Speaker 05 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.
2:19 Speaker 03 Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're right, pal.
2:23 Speaker 03 So Krista, I've loved some of these descriptions people give for what I smell like.
2:28 Speaker 04 Mm hmm. Yep. All right. Well, we'll see if you like the ones that are on today's.
2:33 Speaker 03 Okay.
2:33 Speaker 04 This first Clark stinks is from Max in Virginia. Clark is emitting strong, pungent odors. Clark accused Citi of also eliminating the ability to redeem double cash reward card points using a check a couple of years ago. However, I went into my Citi account and the option to have a check mailed is still there, although you first have to click on other redemption methods in order to get to it, as they prefer you use direct deposit instead, which is the cash equivalent method they display on the main redeem page. To me, that's a better choice anyway, given a check could get lost or stolen in the mail. Rather than launching into a false tirade against Citi, I would have hoped that Clark might have investigated whether they eliminated the ability to withdraw points as cash equivalent
3:17 Speaker 04 altogether, as in also not allowing to withdraw using direct deposit, or just eliminate the ability to withdraw point values using a paper check.
3:27 Speaker 03 And you're right, I was wrong, I was sloppy, and it is true that you can, with a little extra work, get the double cash back as cash. And that was my fail. Can I give a tip about the double cash?
3:46 Speaker 04 Mm hmm.
3:47 Speaker 03 All right.
3:47 Speaker 04 You can do whatever you want. It's called the Clark Hour Show.
3:50 Speaker 03 Well, if you are tied into American Advantage, and that's your frequent flyer program that you tend to use, you live in Dallas, or Charlotte, or somewhere where American is really powerful, there's a new American tie-in with Citibank called the Strata Elite Card. And it's one of those travel cards that general purpose, instead of tied into a specific airline, but the best tie-in with it is with American. High annual fee, $595, I think. But for those of you that are elites on American, whatever they call their Advantage elites.
4:35 Speaker 03 And that's where you like to earn and you have double cash. If you transfer double cash points to American, they devalue your points. But if you have both the Strata card and the double cash, then your double cash points can go into your Strata and transfer to American basically at 50% extra value. So you can charge on the double cash, getting 2X on everything. And then that 2X gets turbocharged going into your Advantage account.
5:13 Speaker 03 That was a lot of information only applicable to people that are tied in tight with American Airlines.
5:21 Speaker 04 Steven in Texas says, Clark, you said on a recent episode that people with unlimited hotspot data on their wireless phone could use it as a permanent home internet connection to save money. You stink for recommending this because the carriers disallow it. Heavy extended tethering violates their terms and conditions in many cases. And some of them explicitly say they will throttle your speed down if they detect it. It might work for a little while, but it's not a wise, long-term strategy.
5:47 Speaker 03 Thank you for that. I have not heard of people being put in the penalty box that way with some of our low-cost carriers that we list on our mobile phone guide, mobile service or cellphone plan guide, whatever we call it, at Clark.com. And the ones that have unlimited hotspot, some, depending on which plan, do throttle you after a certain amount of data use in a month. And others don't on their more expensive plans throttle you. So you do get a two-for-one. It's great for people who live alone or travel a lot,
6:28 Speaker 03 instead of having to pay for a home internet connection that you're not using a lot.
6:34 Speaker 04 Kitty in California says, Clark, Clark, Clark, your comment about independent bookstores disappearing because of ebooks stinks worse than that banana peel somebody used as a bookmark when they returned a book to the library. We are in a renaissance for independent bookstores, particularly ones that specialize in a particular genre, whether it's children's books, romance, sci-fi, etc. As an author of children's books, I visit lots of independent bookstores around the country and inevitably, they are packed with passionate readers. Yes, we read electronically and listen to audiobooks, but there's nothing like a physical book in your hand.
7:10 Speaker 03 Thank you very much for that. And it is true that we are in a renaissance for small boutique, you described it exactly right in your post, that specialize in a particular genre. But it is true, everything you just said.
7:26 Speaker 04 I love, love, love small bookstores. They're so awesome. There's a new one near where I live that I've been visiting. Dean in Virginia says, Clark, you may or may not stink on this one, but this certainly leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Rather than playing the shell game for which credit card has the best reward, I have turned my focus to being debt-free and recently paid off my 3.75% $100,000 mortgage early with a brokerage account that was making roughly 8% to 12% interest in after-tax money. Yes, I know it cost me some growth in that account, but I have a couple of things now that I didn't have before: peace and options. It's honestly like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I'm now investing 16% of my income monthly into my Roth 403B.
8:08 Speaker 03 Fantastic.
8:09 Speaker 04 Maxing out my Roth IRA and putting cash away into an emergency fund and a sinking fund to pay my taxes and insurance, which are now paid by me and not the escrow. I usually agree with most of what you advise, but I wish you'd push getting rid of debt more instead of leveraging it and keeping it around like a pet. My credit score will be zero soon, and being a paid-for homeowner with a couple of paid-for cars, the emergency fund, extra money on the side, term life insurance, investments, and at least 10 more years to work that, I can't imagine why I'd ever need a credit score to go back into debt. I realize all of your listeners aren't in my shoes, and I wasn't there either 10 years ago. I love you and your crew. Just wish getting out of debt was more of a focus on your show.
8:51 Speaker 03 I appreciate this so much. Couple of things I want to say about this. One, using credit cards as a payment system, it's a bit of a hamster wheel, but... It does come with the rewards that can be rewarding as long as you're using credit cards as a payment system, meaning that it's just what you use instead of cash or a debit card or whatever, and you pay the balance in full every month. Second, you can't let your credit score vanish because insurers set their rates based on you having active credit. If you don't have active credit of some kind, then your auto insurance can go
9:36 Speaker 03 through the roof and a lot of insurers are no longer interested in you. Homeowner's insurance as well, you're at risk because they rely in most states so heavily on credit reports. And just a small number of states have done away with credit reports being used as the method of setting insurance rates. So it would be a good idea for you to have a card, a card that you use regularly, pay off each month, just to maintain that credit identity.
10:10 Speaker 04 John in Texas says, "Thank you for the update on HSA accounts for 2026. We're huge fans of these savings accounts and greatly miss the ability to contribute since migrating to non-traditional insurance and concierge primary physician. Coincidentally, I had an appointment with my physician and we discussed the updates. He indicates that the number one request he's been unable to fill for patients is the use of an HSA to pay the monthly service fee. He feels this will be a big uplift for his patients and likely enhances capacity to support patients wanting his services but needing to use the HSA for various reasons. While you indicated the use of these concierge providers will allow HSA contributions, you failed to mention that HSA funds can now be used to pay the providers for subscription fees."
10:54 Speaker 03 Thank you, and I need to give a distinction with the business. Direct primary care physicians, which is a junior version of a concierge.
11:05 Speaker 03 The premiums are allowed to be paid through an HSA, but a true concierge level where you have a really high annual premium, those are still not allowed, as I've read the regulations, to be used for paying the premiums you pay for having a concierge doctor. And if it turns out I'm wrong about that, I apologize. But as I understand the regs, you can't do that for a true concierge. A direct primary care is a whole different thing. You can't involve insurance. You pay a lower monthly fee to be able to see that streamlined practice.
11:50 Speaker 03 And you pay when you go, and that can all be paid for through an HSA.
11:56 Speaker 04 Milosch in Illinois says, I'm honestly shocked, my friend. Knowing how much you love football and saving money, I thought for sure you'd already be on NFL Plus. For just $7 a month, phone and tablet only, you'll get in all-in-reaching games, even the primetime ones on Prime, YouTube, Netflix, et cetera. Plus, you can listen to every radio call from every game. And if you ever want to go all in, the $15 NFL Plus Premium adds Red Zone, streamable on TV and laptops, along with everything from the basic package. You changed my life financially, and now my wife is out here saying, how could Clark stop watching the NFL and you can't? So help me out here, buddy. Don't make me lose this battle. Thanks for everything, good man.
12:37 Speaker 03 Thank you very much for the NFL Plus recommendation. And it is an affordable way for you to get some of the NFL games. I'm having great success using an antenna to pick up what's being locally broadcasted. And the picture is so much better than it is with streaming services. If you can get a signal from that local channel, and you're paying nothing except the initial, you know, 30 bucks for the antenna, and you're getting this just great picture where you're seeing the individual. Blades of grass where there's actually still grass in a stadium.
13:20 Speaker 03 And you see the beads of sweat on the players faces. I mean, it's amazing just using a plain, ordinary antenna. But Lane gets really upset with me because I have to move it across the room. I've got a long cable in the antenna. It's got to be over by the window and there's this ugly coax going across the room. So I can get a picture of broadcast and the dog's like jumping over the cable.
13:50 Speaker 04 Oh, well, that's fun.
13:51 Speaker 03 Yeah.
13:52 Speaker 04 Okay, Dwayne in North Carolina says, not really that stinky, but in your recent rant on battery prices, you really missed the best way to go, at least for double A and triple A. The right answer is rechargeable N I M H batteries. I have been using mostly Panasonic batteries and the majority of mine are now over five years old and still working great. Use them up and when they die, I pop them in a charger. I keep a bag precharged, so I'm ready when one goes dead in one of our gadgets. They go in one bag after they get charged back up. It saves a ton of money and keeps dead batteries out of the trash. And also I'm going to read another one because this battery discussion we had had so many comments and responses. This one's from Eric in Florida.
14:36 Speaker 04 Clark, you don't exactly stink, but let's just say the dollar 50 deodorant isn't cutting it. You mentioned on a recent podcast about what a bargain the Kirkland Signature batteries are over the Duracell ones. While the Kirkland Signature batteries may indeed be made by Duracell, they're definitely not the same quality. I used to buy the Kirkland signatures, but after a number of electronic items were ruined by the batteries leaking, I realized the discount I received does not make up for the loss of electronics destroyed by the battery acid leaking out. Check the web and you'll see a lot of people having this exact same issue. And yes, I can return the batteries for a refund, but that does not fix the electronic items that were damaged or destroyed. I've been a fan of Costco since I lived in California and shopped at Price Club, but this one item they missed the mark on, stay away from their batteries.
15:20 Speaker 04 And a lot of people mentioned, because I had said my Kirkland signatures had gone bad and leaked out, and a lot of people said that happened to them too.
15:26 Speaker 03 So, I mean, the information I have on the Costco batteries at this point could be dated, but it was the CEO of Costco on camera who told me. That they were Duracells and that they came down the same line and they just had a different wrap on them. Maybe that's not true anymore. We use KS batteries, but going back to the prior post, I really need to get with it and do rechargeable batteries. I mean, you think about you and me driving electric vehicles that we routinely charge, and if we don't charge them, we don't drive.
16:03 Speaker 04 Mm-hmm.
16:04 Speaker 03 Why we wouldn't be doing rechargeable batteries is really kind of lame on our part, right?
16:11 Speaker 04 A lot of people said that they were doing that. And then I'm just gonna warn an organ also sent a battery one saying that the reason manufacturers are no longer including batteries is because there can be an issue shipping things with batteries in them. So...
16:24 Speaker 03 Yeah, so the simple batteries like AA, AAA, they don't have the safety risk of the lithium ion batteries. So I think that on the issue of safety, that batteries included with, you know, toys and, and small electric, electrical items, electronic items, is not a safety issue, including them or not including them, as best I've seen, is just about the money, as best I know. But isn't it interesting that the only AA and AAA battery got so much response?
17:05 Speaker 04 So much.
17:05 Speaker 03 From our listeners and viewers?
17:07 Speaker 04 So much. It's a passionate subject.
17:09 Speaker 03 I'm gonna see if I can find out any inside scoop on the batteries to find out if Duracell is packaging an inferior grade of battery for KS versus...
17:21 Speaker 04 No, I just bought more KS because of what you said. So yeah, I'd love to know that.
17:26 Speaker 03 Okay. All right. I don't know how I'm gonna dig into the mystery of that. Anyway, coming up ahead, there's some good news on the retirement front, but it's up to you to take advantage of it.
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19:26 Speaker 03 If you ever wondered why I say I'm the dullest man alive, and it's a fact. It's when I saw in the financial press that the IRA limits had been increased for 26, and I was so excited, I couldn't wait to talk about it. I am that dull. I don't know anybody is a popular culture, but I sure am interested in your money growing and more of it growing. So the IRA limits after stubbornly sticking at seven grand year after year after year are now going up to 7,500. So if you're somebody who's been contributing
20:08 Speaker 03 the max to your IRA year by year and you're doing it dollar cost averaging, putting in money every month, the amount you can put in, you gotta adjust it upward because over the years, that 500 extra dollars may sound insignificant, but the younger you are, the more powerful that additional 500 dollars comes for you because you're then able to have that money compound on itself again and again over the years. So I want you to do that adjustment
20:47 Speaker 03 and take it up to 7,500. And if you're 50 and over, you're now allowed to contribute 8,600 a year if you're Roth eligible. 8,600 is 600 more dollars than 50 plus people have been allowed to do. If you are a mega investor in your future, the 401k limits have increased as well to 24,500 a year. What percent of people do that? I think it's a fraction of 1% or something like that. It's very small percent of people are able to put in the max into a 401k or the other equivalents like 403B, 457, that kind of
21:33 Speaker 03 thing. But there's opportunities galore now for you to save more money. And this is also true for people in the TSPs, the Thrift Savings Accounts. And again, if you're over 50, you got extra money you can contribute to your employer plan and boost that even more. But the most important thing is be In the habit, be in the habit of living on less than what you make, saving for your future. And as I covered extensively on a prior podcast, almost all income earners, except for those at the very highest level, will benefit from doing a Roth version of a 401k or equivalent,
22:18 Speaker 03 rather than traditional. And we had a Clark Stinks a week ago about why that was wrong for higher income earners in high tax states, for higher income earners like California and New York, I'm trying to remember where else, has very high state income taxes. That could tilt it to a little bit lower income level where someone would go from Roth to traditional. But the point is, you want to take advantage of programs like a Roth, where your money is never taxed, both when it earns and when you spend, it's all yours
23:00 Speaker 03 to do tax-free. And tax-free is for me. By the way, we had a conversation recently and Wes on his podcast, talking about how people can end up kicked out into an IRA and the money just sits there and they're earning nothing. And there's an annex to this, people who move money from an employer 401k on their own and move it to their own IRA, such a large percent forget, once the money's in the IRA, to invest it. And it just sits in the equivalent of a savings account in an IRA, and you miss the long-term growth that comes from the money being invested. And I'm ecstatic about something Vanguard is doing,
23:43 Speaker 03 where they are using tools to nudge people who are sitting with IRAs that are just sitting in cash, and getting people to understand why they got to take the next step to invest. And I don't understand why the rest of the financial community isn't nudging people along with reminders like Vanguard. Just shows again, Vanguard's a co-op, it's run by and for its account owners, and it's run as a nonprofit essentially. And that's why they're different than everybody else in the financial world.
24:20 Speaker 04 All right.
24:21 Speaker 03 They're like a credit union for investing.
24:23 Speaker 04 Okay, Christopher in Arizona wrote to you, Clark, and said, "I constantly hear Clark telling us to keep our credit card usage under 30% for the best scores. I want to make a big purchase coming up and would pay it off as soon as it hits. Should I pass on the $100 that I would get back in cash rewards? Or is it okay if I pay it off ASAP? What would be better?"
24:45 Speaker 03 Okay, absolutely. Get your rewards and you pay it before the closing date of the statement. And then the fact that your utilization rate went crazy doesn't affect you. So remember this, it's not when the bill is due, it's when the monthly statement closes. So you charge the expensive item, you're going to get your reward, and then you immediately send a payment for that amount to the credit card company and you get the double benefit. It won't hurt your credit utilization and thus your credit score, and you get the cash back.
25:24 Speaker 04 All right, Peter in Pennsylvania wrote in and he said, "I especially want to thank Clark for a recent topic that went right onto my to-do list. A while back, Clark talked about logging into my social security to check your account and earnings record, even if you're not that close to retirement. When I heard that segment, it really struck me. I realized I hadn't received a paper statement in over 10 years and had no idea where my social security record stood or if it existed. So I finally made time to create an account. I can't say the process was easy. The ID photo upload caused a little frustration, but I finally got in and it was absolutely worth it. It was great to see that my records were there and looked accurate. I plan to review a few specific years more closely, but at first glance, everything looks A-OK.
26:07 Speaker 04 As a side note, it was pretty cool to look back on my first high school job in 1993, when I made a mega $1,000 that year. If anyone has not checked their account, it really is worth it."
26:18 Speaker 03 And it's so easy. We have a briefing at Clark.com how to do it. You can just go to socialsecurity.gov and you'll see the link to create your My Social Security account, they go through a variety of steps to validate that you are who you say you are so that no one can engage in identity theft, which unfortunately a way too popular activity to try to redirect people's social security money. But you set up that account, you're able to see that they're reflecting your prior work history and income properly,
26:56 Speaker 03 because it's multiple decades, I think it's 35 years maybe, of earning that determines what your social security money will be someday.
27:09 Speaker 04 All right. And Dennis in Connecticut says, thanks, guys, for all you do. Your podcast is a must listen every day. Thank you, Dennis. That's good to hear. After many months of contemplation, angst, and just generally being afraid to make the change, I switched from my major wireless phone carrier of 30 plus years to a less than Goliath carrier, and now I've had eight highly rewarding months. Even after Clark's many nudges, it wasn't until my carrier raised my simple two gigabyte plan from $56 to $64 and then to 70 within a six month period.
27:41 Speaker 03 Whoa.
27:41 Speaker 04 Put me on this path to go with another wireless company. Here are the Bennys. I pay once a year, no repetitive phone calls, notifications, or sales pitches. My phone bill is $17 a month after taxes, 75% less, and I now get five gigabytes. It gets better. A 10 day pass to Europe now costs me $20 instead of $100. I made the change via computer with electronic SIM on the phone. So easy and loving every bit of it. Thanks for the constant nudging. It should be noted that I was not on a family plan, so I wasn't anchored as badly as many. Clark, you're so right. Nowadays, you get punished for loyalty.
28:19 Speaker 03 And let me tell you, there's almost not a person listening or watching right now who isn't overpaying for their mobile phone service. And the family plans are a trap to just eat your money up right before your eyes. Take the time to shop.
28:40 Speaker 03 And don't just look at the three bigs that are advertising constantly now that I'm in football season, I see all their ads and each of them says why they're the greatest. None of them are the greatest for your wallet. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, their flagship brands are way too expensive. There are so many discounters, probably half of which are owned by the big three, but offer much lower price points and you can buy the equivalent service, same speeds, same coverage, same amount of data, all of it, just by going to
29:24 Speaker 03 one of their junior brands. Don't do this to yourself where you're paying the big three so much extra money you don't need to. And I'm so glad to hear Dennis that you're saving, gosh, what is that $53 a month? You're saving over $600 a year just on your one phone line by making the switch. Don't abuse your wallet by overpaying for your monthly bills. On that note, that's it for this week on our podcast. But is that it for information available
30:05 Speaker 03 for you from us? Are you kidding? No. This is the Christmas season. You need to give yourself a free gift. Our newsletters, which cost nothing but are priceless, especially right now, our Clark Deals newsletter for your final Christmas shopping over these next, well, gosh, got 13 days left now. So you want to save money? You want to make money for yourself? Go to Clark.com/newsletters and sign up for what you want. You later decide they're not for you. We make it just as easy for you to dump the subscription
30:45 Speaker 03 as it is to sign up for it. And the cost again, they're free because it's all about your empowerment with knowledge so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. Have a great weekend.
31:05 Speaker 00 Are you ever shopping online and suddenly a discount that helps you save pops up? It makes your day, sometimes even your week. Want that feeling month after month? Well, new customers who save by switching their home and auto insurance to Progressive, save hundreds. Cue your happy dance. Get your quote today at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and other insurers. Not available in all states.
Previous 11.14.25 Batteries Not Included / Multigenerational Living Next 12.15.25 Protect Your Retirement Accounts / Electronic Medical Records Page updated November 6, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated
