Pod Insights The Clark Howard Podcast 12.13.24 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / SAVE On Healthcare About this episode Friday - Clark Stinks day! Christa shares Clark Stinks posts with Clark. Submit yours at Clark.com/ClarkStinks. Also today, we spend so much on healthcare in the U. S. with less to show for it. Clark has money saving medical advice, and a recent experience to share. Clark Stinks: Segments 1 & 2 SPEND LESS On Healthcare: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: Clark's Christmas Kids 2024 Fidelity vs. Vanguard vs. Schwab: Which Brokerage Is Best? The Platinum Card® from American Express Review 2024: Is It Worth It? Should I Freeze My Credit With the Other Credit Bureaus? Which Credit Reports Do AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon Pull? 5 of Clark Howard's Most Extreme Frugal Hacks New lessons from the fight for charity care / Dollar For Google Fi Review: My Experience as a Five-Year Customer (Pros and Cons) What Should I Read To Learn More About Investing? Clark.com resources Episode transcripts Community. Clark.com Clark.com daily money newsletter Consumer Action Center Free Helpline: 636-492-5275 Learn more about your ad choices: megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 Progressive's Accident Response can contact emergency services if you're in a major accident. The only thing worse than someone you love being in an accident is not being able to help them. So Progressive is here to help when you can't. So get peace of mind knowing your loved ones are protected with Progressive's Accident Response. Learn more at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Limited availability in California. Driver is responsible for emergency and towing charges not covered by the policy. Coverage subject to policy terms and conditions.
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 It's great to have you here on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. Are you superstitious? Friday the 13th. I've never been superstitious. No? No. But it's always funny because I travel a lot and you go to other countries and they'll have a 13th floor and I'm like, wow, that's unusual. But this Friday, the 13th, is a lucky, lucky day for me because I get to learn from you
1:29 Speaker 03 in today's Clark stinks. How I could have done a better job and I actually so look forward to this. And I recently had an experience later, I'm going to talk about an experience I had in the healthcare world where I was able to save substantial money and I want to share it with you because this is so relevant as more and more of us pay more and more deductibles with our health coverage. But without further ado, it is time to hear how I messed up.
2:02 Speaker 04 I should have never encouraged you to speak.
2:04 Speaker 05 You must think I'm pretty stupid.
2:05 Speaker 04 You should be ashamed of yourself. Well, maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're right, pal.
2:17 Speaker 06 All right. You don't stink, but you may not have mentioned something that could be helpful. My family was happy to donate to Clark's Christmas Kids again this year. I was able to have my company match our donation, even though the agency that runs the program is not a 501(c)(3) organization. State agency, that's why. They are certainly charitable, and that is what counted for my company. Perhaps if you mentioned the potential for companies to match donations, Clark's Christmas Kids could reach a few more kids. Thanks for your continued sound advice, and happy holidays, John in New York City.
2:49 Speaker 03 John, thank you so much for not only feeling that spirit of what we do with Clark's Christmas Kids for children in foster care, but to get your employer, your company, to also donate. And we do have a procedure where the donations are tax deductible, and it is not a traditional 501(c)(3) because it's state government. But thank you for reaching down I-95 and giving this money to the kids in foster care. I appreciate it so very much. You want to know what inspired John? Go to clarkscrimismkids.com.
3:30 Speaker 06 I never thought I'd write one of these, because you really don't stink, Clark, but occasionally, we do need to point out a missed detail or alternate point of view. You talked about being handed a piece of paper on a clipboard when you go to the doctor's office, and how behind in the times that seems. Maybe so, but remember that not everyone uses computers yet. I take my 90-something-year-old mother to all her medical appointments, and if she was told that anything had to be done electronically, she would be completely lost. Of course, I would do it for her, but not everyone has that assistance. There's still at least one generation ahead of me that is not used to doing things electronically, and I cannot imagine how much it would slow things down if they were asked to verify their meds list or update their current symptoms electronically.
4:13 Speaker 03 I appreciate that post very, very much, and I want to say this. Think of it this way, it is the exception, not the rule, of people who prefer paper. It's, at this point, a small percent of the population. So what you could have at a medical facility is if somebody doesn't, you could either assist them, under HIPAA, you could have someone in the office assist them filling out on a tablet, because it would usually be a tablet, not a computer, or in those cases, you could have them fill out by default the old paperwork. But it seems really not efficient in an era where things should be electronic, where
4:53 Speaker 03 any medical provider would see the information about you, to do it electronically instead of with the clipboard, the dreaded clipboard. Do you go to any doctor's offices that have accepted that it's not 1958 anymore?
5:10 Speaker 06 Most of them now, I do it electronically. I usually do it before, I get a text before I go to fill out the paperwork, and I do it online before I show up. But then I get annoyed sometimes, because then they'll have me do it again when I get there, I'm like, I did this.
5:21 Speaker 03 Oh, I see. Oh, I already filled this out. And they'll say, oh, let me look. Oh, yes, you did. You can sit down now.
5:28 Speaker 06 Clark often talks about using Schwab for foreign ATM withdrawals, but he never mentions Fidelity, which also reimburses customers for ATM fees. Is there a good reason to use Schwab instead of Fidelity, or are they both equally good? Russell.
5:41 Speaker 03 Russell, thank you. I didn't know that Fidelity was doing the fee-free ATM charges, and that's an oversight on my part, and I thank you for pointing that out. And this is exactly why we do Clark's thing. So, advantage, disadvantage of Fidelity, Schwab, or my third favorite child, Vanguard, they all have their pluses and minuses. There is no, not one of these companies is perfect. If you really like what you get from Fidelity, then use Fidelity. If you really like what you get from Schwab, use Schwab. And same in turn for Vanguard. I actually use all three.
6:19 Speaker 06 I'm an internal medicine physician who works in the outpatient setting and would like to address some misconceptions about billing for care that were expressed regarding billing for an extra diagnosis during an annual physical. And by the way, so many people reacted to this, saying it happened to them, and just so much buzz around this.
6:36 Speaker 03 And people are on both sides of this one.
6:37 Speaker 06 Yes. Imagine you have a 20 to 30 minute appointment for an annual physical. The physician must cover all age-appropriate screening and preventative care depending on age. In addition, the patient brings up several complaints that now require evaluation and diagnosis. If the doctor bills it as an annual visit, they will not get reimbursed for the time and expertise it took to evaluate and diagnose the added complaints. If you went to the dentist for a cleaning and complained about a painful tooth that needed immediate extraction, would you be surprised that you got charged for the extraction? If you went to a lawyer for annual tax advice but then asked him to handle a speeding ticket, would you expect not to be charged? If you took your car in for annual maintenance and told them about a clicking sound, you get the point.
7:18 Speaker 03 Yeah, I get the point.
7:19 Speaker 06 When people go for an annual physical, it should be made very clear what will and will not be covered by that visit, and if it isn't, people shouldn't assume but ask Jane. And then another listener, Jeremy, sent this image from his annual physical.
7:31 Speaker 03 I'm looking at it right now.
7:32 Speaker 06 Yeah. It was in the doctor's office, this sign, which is pretty...
7:36 Speaker 03 So, the sign makes it very clear, and I like this, because this is what I talk about with medicine, that you eat the meal and then you're told what's going to charge. I like that this doctor's office says, "This is what's covered by your physical. These are things that are not, that will be billed separately." I really like that the doctor did it. And by the way, doctors are not the bad people in medicine. I want to address this again, because I have new data. The hospitals are where the problem begins, ends, and the middle. Hospitals are where our medical costs are out of control, not doctors. And also, not prescription drugs.
8:21 Speaker 03 I'll lay it all out, if we can schedule that sometime on another podcast or YouTube show.
8:27 Speaker 06 I can understand why Clark doesn't want to tell his listeners that he has the free Amex Platinum card from Schwab. Most of his target audience doesn't have the account balance to qualify for it and doesn't fit his low-budget brand. But I think it's okay to show everyone the nice perks that come along with living below your means and growing a big pile of financial security. And some listeners have used his tips over the decades to graduate from coupon clipping to living high on the hog. It's no secret that successful podcasts make a lot of money, and Clark has been more open in recent years about his wealth. He's told us he has an account at Schwab, and surely that account meets the balance requirements for a $1,000 credit when you have the Platinum Amex. I'm pretty sure if there's $1,000 lying on the ground, Clark is going to stop and pick it up. Krista probably has the Platinum
9:10 Speaker 06 Amex too, but it is not her podcast, so we can give her a pass for now. But full disclosure from Clark about the cards in his wallet are needed if we need to trust everything he says. After all, there's no law that says you can't be a cheapskate and filthy, stinking rich, Andrew.
9:24 Speaker 03 Andrew, thank you. And I don't have the Schwab Amex.
9:28 Speaker 06 I don't either, yeah.
9:29 Speaker 03 I had the Schwab card forever ago when it was a 2% cash back card. The card is not as generous now.
9:38 Speaker 06 The Platinum Amex from Schwab, the difference is, yes, you get a credit depending on, it's 100, 200, or 1,000, depending on how much money you have with Schwab. But also, right now, through early January, they're offering, I think it's 150,000 Amex points as opposed to 80,000 bonus sign up with regular Platinum Amex.
9:57 Speaker 03 So did you get this card?
9:58 Speaker 06 I haven't, no. I don't think I have a need for it. I have too many credit cards.
10:02 Speaker 03 So I don't actually carry the Schwab card right now, so I can't speak first person about the Schwab card.
10:10 Speaker 06 But you have a Platinum Amex.
10:12 Speaker 03 I do. I have the travel one, the one with the massive annual fee, and it is massive. It works out for me with traveling about 30 weeks a year. I don't recommend it to people who don't travel a substantial amount.
10:27 Speaker 06 I found your response to the person who wanted more information about freezing their credit with the smaller agencies lacking. You referenced one that many of the cellphone companies use. That criminals have been targeting. Please tell us what company that is. I tried Googling that info and came up with nothing. Let the listener decide whether or not to go through the hassle of freezing this account. Your show notes do link to the info, which we have on Clark.com for smaller agencies, but there's no mention of the cellphone company. If criminals have been targeting something, please don't keep it to yourself. I was in law enforcement for 26 years and saw the grief and destruction associated with identity theft. On another note, I seem to remember you talking about getting stood up by ride sharing drivers.
11:08 Speaker 06 As I understand it, we rate the drivers and they rate us. I'm guessing a rider's tip history factors into their ratings of us. I'm not sure what kind of tipper you are, but it may help to explain why you're left standing out in the cold. Thank you and all the Clark Howard team members for all the hard work you do. Jim from Seattle.
11:26 Speaker 03 Jim, thank you. I've got a good rider rating. I tip what I think is quite generously. I get a lot of thank you messages from drivers. I'm looking right now because I don't remember the name of that company. I'm looking, I already looked at T-Mobile. They just say they're going to run one. They don't say who it's with. I'm looking at Verizon and I'm looking to see if they disclose who they use.
11:56 Speaker 06 Well, why don't we do this? We will find it and we'll put it in the show notes from today's episode.
12:01 Speaker 03 Okay, because it was a specialty credit bureau that the cellphone carriers traditionally used.
12:08 Speaker 06 We do have that article on Clark.com with all the smaller agencies and shows how you can go and freeze your credit with all of them if you're concerned about any of this, but we will put that in the episode notes. If you are listening to this or watching it, it should be in the notes for this episode.
12:22 Speaker 03 And thank you for your career in law enforcement.
12:25 Speaker 06 Yes, thank you. Two things. One, on your electric razor, you say you've never replaced the blade and you don't notice it getting worse, but you didn't say what, if anything, you do to maintain it. Do you rinse it out after each shave? And two, you say there should be more competition with the electric and gas utilities. The power utilities are completely different from, say, the trucking industry. It is much easier to buy a truck. And go into business and compete. How are companies supposed to compete in the power industry? Build their own electric grids and gas pipes? It is most efficient to just have one electric grid and one gas pipe system. If you think companies should be able to lease the power infrastructure and get their own customers, I think that would lead to more unaccountability and scams. If you think regulations should be loosened with respect to it being easier for solar
13:09 Speaker 06 companies to sell power to the electric company, or have neighborhoods create a co-op and produce their own solar, maybe there's something there, but you should be more specific on exactly how competition could be increased. Thank you. Love, Chris.
13:21 Speaker 03 Chris, thank you very much. Okay. I love what Texas has done. They've had growing pains with it. Obviously, when the state didn't deal well with the extreme cold weather they had several years ago, it was a tragic event. But what Texas does, in most of the state, is there are power generators, there are, for lack of a better term, the network providers that provide the infrastructure, the long lines to get the power to where it's going, and then the retailers. And so what it allows is that any form of energy has access to the grid and provides
14:04 Speaker 03 power, and that's why power in Texas is generally so much cheaper than it is anywhere else in the country, because it is a free market for the generation and ultimate retailing of energy. I am so in a belief that the free market finds the most efficient way to do so. With the state-regulated monopolies, and by the way, to your point, you only need one provider of the transmission. You need one provider of the pipeline, necessarily. But how that energy is produced, and who sells it directly to the public, can be fully free-market activities. That's my thing.
14:49 Speaker 03 And what I despise are the state-regulated monopolies where there's what's called regulatory capture. Political process is corrupted in every single state with monopoly power companies. Because the power company is powerful enough and spreads enough money to politicians that whatever stacks the deck in their favor and against industry, consumers, and small businesses is what happens. Instead of government being there to just be a referee, government stacks the deck for the power company that is the monopoly.
15:29 Speaker 03 That's my thing, and I'm intense about it, and I'm gonna stop right now, because otherwise we'd be here till the cows come home with me talking about this.
15:41 Speaker 06 Not that you stink, but a factual statement you made, I believe, is incorrect. When talking about UGMAs for children, you stated to turn it over to the child when the custodian feels they are ready. I have UGMAs for my grandchildren, and when one turned the age of majority for their state, I had to turn the account over to them. No choice. Keep up the great work, Gregory.
15:59 Speaker 03 Gregory, thank you. Okay, so what I said, and I must not have said it clearly, is it's exactly, there's a legal age where the money goes to the kid. But what happens is a practical matter in a lot of families, the statements keep coming, and they never tell the kid that the money's there. And let me tell you, that happens a lot. So if the child's not mature enough as a young adult, they just don't know about that account. I mean, that's how it really plays in a lot of family dynamics. And I want to thank you so much for taking the time to submit your Clark stinks.
16:39 Speaker 03 And from time to time through the year, we do like an entire podcast of just Clark stinks because they back up. Because I'll go through a cycle where, in your opinion, I'm really, really stinking it up. And you just can't imagine. How much this helps your fellow listener or viewer, how much it helps me because I'll give an opinion or state something and I'm missing part of the picture, or I don't explain it well, like with the UGMA's just then. And so knowing where I've got a blind's eye to the ability to, to explain something or say something makes this a better podcast
17:20 Speaker 03 and a better YouTube show. So, thank you for taking the time. And if you're frustrated because yours hasn't been read yet by Krista, well, we got so many, it takes, takes, it's a process to get to all of them.
17:35 Speaker 06 And I don't ever get to all of them.
17:36 Speaker 03 Yeah, it's impossible to get to all of them. Should we ever have a place where you just post all the Clark stinks online for people to be able to read?
17:45 Speaker 06 Maybe so, we'll look into that.
17:46 Speaker 03 Yeah, because I want people to be heard. I want them to be seen.
17:50 Speaker 06 They can go to our community.
17:53 Speaker 03 I'm just one guy.
17:54 Speaker 06 On Clark.com, we have our community, they can join our community.
17:57 Speaker 03 And, you know, share your beef with me, whatever it is. So, coming up ahead, my thing about healthcare is the industry doesn't want you to shop around. It's now 18% of our economy is healthcare, and we are now 45th in lifespans in the world, 45th, spending more money than anybody else. And I want to help you spend less on that healthcare and maybe get better care. We'll talk about that straight ahead.
18:30 Speaker 00 Progressive's Accident Response can contact emergency services if you're in a major accident. The only thing worse than someone you love being in an accident is not being able to help them. So Progressive is here to help when you can't. So get peace of mind knowing your loved ones are protected with Progressive's Accident Response. Learn more at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Limited availability in California. Driver is responsible for emergency and towing charges not covered by the policy. Coverage subject to policy terms and conditions.
19:02 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.
19:14 Speaker 02 Pricing participation may vary. Promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing.
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20:16 Speaker 03 All right, so we spend so much money on healthcare in the United States. It's insane. I mentioned just before the break here, we're now 45th in the world on lifespans. You'd be amazed at the countries in the world where people live longer than we do. And yet, we're spending so much of our nation's wealth instead of on productive capacity to increase people's standards of living. We're spending it on healthcare with a lot of sand in the gears. One of the scams going on in the country is this thing with nonprofit hospitals. Where the big ones administrators may be earning more than 10 million a year and the
21:00 Speaker 03 hospital's not paying any tax on all the profits it has, hiding behind the curtain as a nonprofit. So if you are a nonprofit hospital and you avoid paying taxes like the rest of us... You have a responsibility to provide charity care to people who maybe have insurance, but have really large deductibles and can't afford the bill the hospital generated, or someone who doesn't have insurance. The hospitals are supposed to have a procedure to apply for charity care. And a lot of these nonprofits only pretend they're nonprofit and don't follow the legal responsibilities they have to provide charity care.
21:41 Speaker 03 So something I haven't mentioned, I think in two years, dollarfor.org, which is D-O-L-L-A-R-F-O-R.org, which walks you through, if you've got one of these headaches of these huge hospital bills, how to apply for that hospital's charity care assistance program that they keep a big fat secret. Yeah, you hear it. The anger I have about hospitals. I'm going to talk about that, as I mentioned the other day, I'm going to talk about that as a topic on another show. How much of that incredible waste of spending nearly one in five of our nation's dollars generated each year on healthcare, where the next closest country in the world spends
22:25 Speaker 03 one in 11 dollars, or the equivalent in their currency. But one of the things with the hospitals, something there, you'd think that the size of them would lead to economies of scale, that they'd be able to do something more efficiently than, let's say, a little pop-up in a shopping center. Well, let me tell you a little story recently. I'm having some trouble in my left knee, so I needed to get an MRI. So it took some work, but I found out at the hospital system that I can walk to on my gimpy knee, that it would be $2,400 for the MRI, and then I'd have my share of it. I know about this, because I've shared with you before, how much cheaper the independent freestanders are.
23:09 Speaker 03 So I end up getting the MRI at a freestander owned by, I guess, some doctors or whatever, own it, not part of a hospital system. I said, "So what does it cost for this MRI?" And they said, "Is it with or without contrast to your knee?" So I said, "Without contrast." They said, "Well, it's $300." I said, "Wait a minute." I walk in off the street. And I paid $300 for it? I said, yeah. Like surprised that I was surprised. And then I'm thinking, so it's eight times that cost at the hospital having the MRI. So I make the appointment at this free stander. And I do have insurance and my share was $85.
23:51 Speaker 03 My share, if I'd filed through insurance, was more than they would have charged me at this place, not having insurance, just going as cash pay. If I'd gone to the hospital, my share of the copay would have been, gosh, was it been 600? Whatever. It's crazy that the hospitals, instead of doing what should happen as an organization develops more production, is the cost per should go down, but in the hospital world, they go up. So this is really funny. So you go in there and they have soft music playing in the waiting room. They have really comfortable chairs to sit in. They have a sofa.
24:35 Speaker 03 I mean, and then they've got medical chairs for people who are all, they need to sit in just like a medical kind of chair. And then they have snacks. And somebody comes out and says, what can I get you to drink? Would you like a coffee or a cappuccino? Or water? Or a soft drink? And I'm like, man, they got this variety of snacks. And a kid came in who had a sports injury, like probably 10, 12 years old. It was like the greatest day ever with all the snacks were available to him. Think about that. When you have something that has to compete in the free market, how different the environment is.
25:16 Speaker 03 And then that the cost is cheaper, but with medicine, understand that the hospital systems in midsize and large markets are buying up all these other practices in shopping centers and all that. And then they're charging you hospital rates. They may not have the hospital name on there. It may say affiliated with blah, blah, blah hospital system, but it'll have a different name. And then the bill will be what they'd bill you at the hospital. This is why when you're having something non-emergency, shopping around could make such a difference in what you pay. I would have been happy just it was so much cheaper. It was really funny that the atmosphere was like I was going to a boutique kind of place.
26:02 Speaker 03 That I'd pay more, but instead it was, was that one eighth the cost at the free stander as it is at the hospital? By the way, you know, we just had Clark Stinks, so you work for a hospital? You want to tell me why I'm just missing the big picture? Please go ahead and submit at Clark.com/ClarkStinks.
26:23 Speaker 06 All right, we'll go to questions. Patrick in Georgia says, my condominium association unfortunately uses, I'm gonna call-
26:30 Speaker 03 Oh, you can name them.
26:31 Speaker 06 Is it ConService?
26:32 Speaker 03 ConService, I think is how you say it, yeah.
26:34 Speaker 06 To bill members for our water slash sewer usage. Recently, a ConService employee forged a check that I wrote to them, including my signature. By the grace of the great spirit, did I happen to notice their attempt? The board and my bank's fraud department were immediately contacted and my bank's investigation confirmed the forgery attempt. I do not feel comfortable issuing any additional payments to them and have notified the board and property manager of my justified feelings and asked for another payment option. The board and property manager are seemingly ignoring the situation and paid ConService. They are fully aware of the situation and are now billing me late fees. I don't know what to do.
27:12 Speaker 03 All right, so Patrick, it's crazy that you're being billed late fees. ConService should issue you an apology, should cover any fees, anything like that, because it was their employee allegedly who committed fraud, manipulated the check. Let me explain what ConService is, because people keep asking me about them. You, you live in a single-family home, so you're not familiar.
27:35 Speaker 06 Right.
27:35 Speaker 03 So they bill a lot for common utilities at condo associations, apartments, and in rare cases, things that are common utilities that people may have at a homeowners association community, but normally condo and apartment. So if I'm a condo management company, condo association, and I'm an apartment manager, and I'm billing out separately instead of in the regular rent for an apartment or condo fees for condo association, and I want to break out water and sewer, there are these companies of which ConService, as best I know, is the biggest in the country.
28:16 Speaker 03 I contract with them to do the individual billing of tenants or unit owners, and we are not the customer. When we're being billed by them. So the association or the apartment owner is trying to provide these services at what's the cheapest cost for them. And many times you'll be billed service fees to pay the bill when you use one of these third-party servicers like Con Service. But they are not, service is an odd name because whenever you're not the customer, think of the credit bureaus, getting customer service is not easy. And it's funny with these organizations, and I'm not specifically picking on Con Service
29:01 Speaker 03 just because they're the biggest I'm talking about and the one people would be most familiar with. They often, in order to get the business from an association or apartment owner, are charging you fees to pay your bill. So it's really an unfortunate situation. And this came about because when people are billed for these things, it's just part of their rent or they're billed as part of their condominium fee. People don't seem to care that much about how much water or various utilities like electricity or gas or whatever they use. So the idea is to make market pricing more evident to you.
29:43 Speaker 03 Unfortunately, the process of doing it has continually been a messy endeavor.
29:48 Speaker 06 Steven in Colorado says, "Any feedback on using Google Fi on iPhones? My wife wants to switch from Android OnePlus to iOS for her phone. Many of our kids use iPhones and she's also addicted to her iPad." But the Google Fi store says that iOS compatibility is only in beta.
30:06 Speaker 03 Which it's been for like five years? Long time. Full disclosure, four of us in our family are on Google Fi and everybody is on an iPhone but me. And the iPhones, you have to go through a manual process because Apple and Google don't like to play well together. And you have to go in and change some settings before an iPhone will work properly on Google Fi for various things like travel overseas, for checking your voicemail and all that. It's not a difficult process. It's tedious, takes about five minutes.
30:46 Speaker 03 You can have the instructions like on a computer screen and go in and manually change those settings. Why it's not automated, I don't understand enough about the Hatfield McCoy's thing between Apple and Google, but it will work fine on Google Fi as long as you do make sure that those manual setting changes are made.
31:11 Speaker 06 And Michelle in New Hampshire says, I want to know where Clark gets all of his knowledge. What are you reading or watching to learn about all the things you know?
31:19 Speaker 03 So I don't watch. I read, I read, I read, I read. I am really dull. If you don't know that, Michelle, I'm a really dull guy. What I get excited about, people laugh about all the time, the things I get excited about. But my first read every day is the Financial Times because they spend so much of their writers' efforts on financial, because I'm always looking deep dive financial stories about companies, about industries. My second read is Barron's Magazine. Barron's used to be just a weekly magazine, but now has daily
32:02 Speaker 03 updates. And I read the Wall Street Journal, same company owns Barron's, owns the Wall Street Journal. I read the major newspapers, New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, although the LA Times is not that great anymore. Used to write really, really great financial stuff and personal finance. USA Today does a good job with personal finance. I read that. I read the New York Post, which ironically enough, same owners as Barron's and the Wall Street Journal. Then I read a number of industry publications. I read every single day of
32:42 Speaker 03 my life. It's recreation for me to read and learn more about things and learn more about finance and what's going on with various economies around the world. It's
32:57 Speaker 03 What I love, and I still remember my first economics course in college. A lot of people in the class found it kind of dry and were like zoning out. And I was like engaged like you could never imagine. And the college I went to had a communist Marxist economics program. I would just argue with whoever the professor was because I'm totally capitalist free marketeer. So this is my love, other than my family and my friends. And it's what I study all the time. I hope that explains somewhat why you hear me talk about the most obscure things. And I gotta tell you a funny thing.
33:39 Speaker 03 Krista, think about in our meetings, when we're all meeting all the different functions, our website and the podcast and the YouTube show and the radio and TV and all the things I do. And we're all meeting and then I'll talk about something completely obscure. And you always say, I've been waiting to hear why you were interested in that. What's the weirdest you can think of likely?
34:04 Speaker 06 Don't put me on the spot. I don't know. You've always got an angle on something too that surprises me. That's why I don't think AI is ever going to be able to nail you down. I was thinking about that. If you said, what would Clark Howard say about this? I would challenge AI to really be able to answer that because you always have some unique spin on something. You know, we always joke about the convenience stores and how you make the interesting mundane and the mundane interesting, as you like to say.
34:30 Speaker 03 It's no exciting. I make the mundane exciting and the exciting mundane.
34:35 Speaker 06 Okay, okay, sorry.
34:38 Speaker 03 Yeah, I remember my wife, Lane, and I were outside Buckingham Palace recently. She's looking and she's looking at the grounds. It was summer, so the flowers were just gorgeous and all this. And I'm like, what is that car? I've never seen that car before. What is it? Cars driving by. I really sometimes miss the moment because of my obsession with different things.
35:01 Speaker 06 I mean, recently we were talking about, there was an article about a small house that you could build that is $36,000 or something. And it was, you didn't have to permit it and you could, I was like, we need to move on. Remember?
35:15 Speaker 03 And I wouldn't stop talking about this, this permit free prefab home. Yeah. So Michelle, understand with that knowledge comes some, to put it politely, a lot of quirkiness.
35:29 Speaker 06 But it's great. That's why people love you. That's why you, you do bring so many things like to light and make them so interesting. Like I find myself now in convenience stores going, oh, look at the flooring, whatever, I've never ever have thought about that before. Or the lighting to make me feel safe.
35:47 Speaker 03 The lighting to make women feel safe is something the, the business people who discovered that in the late eighties, it's like, why did nobody think of that before? Cause it's not like just women want to feel safe.
36:00 Speaker 06 No, no, no.
36:01 Speaker 03 People want to feel safe.
36:02 Speaker 06 Yeah.
36:02 Speaker 03 But it was all about creating environments where women could feel safe. Enough about that. Uh, thank you so much for joining us today. I hope you have a great, great weekend in front of you. Christmas is, you're staring down the barrel of it. If you're one of those procrastinators, like a third of people procrastinate on buying gifts, you will find now that the prices on things people want are much, much higher than they were even 10 days ago. But the things people don't want are marked down very heavily now through Christmas. So if you find that needle in a haystack that you know the person who would really like having it,
36:47 Speaker 03 I mean, if it's something that people generally don't want, but you know your gift recipient would like, well, your wallet's going to smile on you. You procrastinated. On the other hand, if they want that hot item, your wallet hates you right now. Have a great, great weekend. And if you get in traffic at some shopping area this weekend, remember, keep your patience on because well, it gets tough at the stores. It used to say the malls. Now it's at Costco or Sam's Club or Walmart or Target or, you know, strip centers or whatever. The traffic and finding the spaces can be, try anybody's patience.
37:30 Speaker 03 So remember this is about the season of joy and giving and holiday and all that. Just take a deep breath if you're around people that are short tempered. And we'll see you Monday.
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