09.18.26 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / AI Baby Monitors?
The Clark Howard Podcast
Clark Howard responds to listener feedback in his 'Clark Stinks' segment, addressing travel advice for Japan during New Year's, 529 plan str
Key takeaways
- Traveling to Japan between Christmas and early January is highly inadvisable due to extreme crowds, closures, and weather.
- 529 plan withdrawals must align with the same tax year as scholarship awards for tax-free treatment.
Main topics
- Clark Stinks feedback
- Japan travel during New Year's
Notable quotes
I've been to Japan half a dozen times, never during the Christmas, New Year's period, and was clueless that that was really bad advice I was giving.
Conclusion
Clark emphasizes the importance of learning from listeners and staying
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:04) I'm so glad you're with us here on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. And it's time for my favorite part of my work week. It really is. I do. You love it. I get joyous about it. You do. Our Clark Stink segment. And later, you know, there are a bunch of new tools that... did not exist when my three kids were young, to track the kids all different ways from newborn on. And this is way beyond a baby monitor, which seemed like a big deal at the time when those came along. But I'm actually concerned about this, and I want you to know this as a parent. That's coming up later. But right now, It's time to hear how I am stinking it up in today's Clark Stinks. I should have never encouraged you to speak. You must think I'm pretty stupid. You should Speaker 1 (1:08) be ashamed of yourself. Well, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. Speaker 3 (1:11) Maybe you're right, pal. Speaker 3 (1:17) All right, here's your first stinks. This one's from Justin in Texas. Clark gave some travel advice that smells a little too much like expired supermarket sushi. Wow. Speaker 2 (1:28) I love that Speaker 3 (1:28) one. Speaker 2 (1:29) Do you ever eat Speaker 3 (1:30) supermarket sushi? I love, actually, yes. Once a week, usually. I don't eat the raw fish, though. I do a veggie sushi Speaker 1 (1:37) that I really love from my supermarket. Speaker 3 (1:39) Okay. To the listener who asked about travel tips in Asia from Christmas to the first week in January en route to launching their daughter from Bangkok for a semester at sea, Clark suggested that Japan was the most user-friendly destination. The rest of the year, absolutely true. But precisely these days, from just post-Christmas to January 3rd or 4th, are some of the busiest domestic travel days in Japan. Millions of Japanese citizens travel within the country to their hometowns or vacation spots around December 27th to 31st and return January 2nd to 4th. I'm going to try Shinkansen, right? Bullet trains, expressways and domestic flights sell out completely as people travel to their hometowns from the cities to celebrate the New Year holiday. Many independent shops, local restaurants and museums close completely from January 1st to 4th as locals celebrate the New Year. Also, the shrines and temples are completely jam packed with crowds of people seeking blessings for the New Year. And the weather can be downright freezing and blizzard conditions. Sounds like not appealing, Clark. Sounds terrible. Something to consider. I like Clark's idea of bouncing around Thailand much better. Cheaper, too. Thanks for all you do. Speaker 2 (2:53) Okay, I appreciate that. And Justin, thank you for educating me. I've been to Japan half a dozen times, never during the Christmas, New Year's period, and was clueless that that was really bad advice I was giving. And Japan, by the way. is such a deal because of the decline in the yen and such a safe, user-friendly destination. I love, obviously, if I've been half a dozen times, I love going there. The idea of bouncing around Thailand, I love that one too, the weather. A whole lot better than as well. Speaker 3 (3:31) Okay. Stephen Ohio says just a light odor. You don't stink, but regarding the question about pulling from 529 to offset scholarships, it would help to make clear that the scholarship offsets need to be pulled in the same tax year that the scholarships are awarded. I think you knew that and you were recommending that the writer pull the money, but hold onto it in case the child went on to pursue a professional degree. The way I heard your response was still a little unclear. Speaker 2 (3:57) Yeah, thank you for that. So both things are true at the same time. that so many of the rules with 529s require that in order to be tax-free, it has to happen in the same calendar year, not even the same school year. So that is absolutely true. But then the second thing is true as well. If you have a kid who's likely, based on knowing how they're wired, their graduate school kid, then... Having leaving the money in the 529, taking a chance on that, the worst that would happen is that you then move it into their own Roth IRA, if you guess wrong on grad school. Speaker 3 (4:40) Laura in Virginia says, Clark, you stink like when my 10-year-old son leaves his wet bathing suit in the back of the hot car. Honestly, he loves listening to Clark Stinks and echoes the intro as it plays. When you had a recent comment discussing credit card rewards, you mentioned it can be challenging for your wife to remember what card to use when. To help my husband with this, I assign nicknames to the cards in his Google Wallet. For example, I renamed the Sam's MasterCard Gas, the Blue C***, cash preferred groceries, et cetera. When you pull up the wallet, the nickname is listed right under the picture of the card, making it easy to choose the right one for the store he is in. This can also be helpful when you have a card with rotating categories so you can update it as the cash back bonuses change. Thank you so much for all the ways you have helped our family save more and spend less over our many years of listening. Okay. I Speaker 2 (5:33) love it. So this is so great. This is something that's going to happen. In the next 24 hours. I love this because. You mean in your family? In my family. Like Lane's phone. Because Lane is like, I can't remember all these things. I'm always using the wrong card. So doing it is the nickname. She's on an iPhone. So in her Apple wallet, having the nicknames. So she knows, oh yeah, that's the supermarket. That's restaurant. That's blah, blah, blah. That's really smart. Speaker 3 (6:05) Genius, Laura. I love it. Okay. Joe in Georgia says, Clark, you stink like a dead cow after being in the hot summer sun for a week on the farmland that I sold through 1031 exchanges. You're partially correct about the 1031 just pushing the eventual tax down the road, but there's a way to avoid paying any tax on a 1031 property. The replacement property does have to be held for investment purposes, but after two years, you can move into that property without nullifying your- 1031 exchange. So sell the first investment property, buy something you want to live in after two years. and after two years, sell your primary property, which