08.21.26 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / WARNING: Online Medical Services

The Clark Howard Podcast - Clark Howard

In this episode of The Clark Howard Show, Clark addresses listener feedback on his 'Clark Stinks' segment, defends his financial advice, and discusses

Key takeaways

• Many nonprofit employees, especially teachers, suffer from poor-quality 403b plans due to hidden fees and misleading sales practices.

Main topics

• Criticism of Clark Howard's financial advice
• 403b retirement plans and how to evaluate them

Notable quotes

"A lot of 403b plans are made available to particularly school teachers that are hideously, horrifically awful... ends up with less money at the end of a year than what they contributed."

Conclusion

Clark Howard reaffirms his mission to empower listeners with practical financial

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) When the world keeps shifting, we're there to help you act with confidence. At HSBC, we bring together the people, ideas, and capital that drive growth, backing your ambitions at every stage. So when you're preparing for the next generation, strengthening your portfolio, or you're entering new markets, we're there, bringing 160 years of experience to help you move forward. HSBC. Opening up a world of opportunity. Speaker 4 (0:34) The Speaker 6 (0:35) city moves fast, but your vibe, that's different. Sharper, smoother, more alive. Speaker 5 (0:45) The new Speaker 6 (0:50) Honda City isn't just made to drive, it's made to feel. The new Honda City, all new vibe. Speaker 1 (1:03) It's my pleasure to welcome you here to 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. This week has flown by. It's already time for me to go back to school, like so many kids have already done in so much of the country, and learn from my mistakes in our weekly Clark Stinks. episode. Also later, a lot of people are going to online sources to diagnose medical conditions, to subscribe to things, to get scripts filled. And one of the most popular of those sites is in trouble for doing a couple of things that they're alleged to do that aren't good. Sharing your information. with other parties they shouldn't be sharing and also signing you up for subscriptions that are very hard to get out of. We're going to talk about that later. But right now, it's time to hear how I stink and I do use deodorant. I should have never encouraged you to speak. You must think I'm pretty stupid. You should Speaker 2 (2:19) be Speaker 5 (2:20) ashamed of yourself. Well, maybe I'm Speaker 2 (2:21) wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. Speaker 3 (2:23) Maybe you're right, pal. Speaker 2 (2:26) Do you use dollar store deodorant? Speaker 1 (2:29) I was waiting for whatever the chief. I was wondering. I'm Speaker 2 (2:32) seriously asking. So what Speaker 1 (2:34) I do is I buy deodorant in a warehouse club multi-pack. And I wait till it's on sale. And that's when I buy it. Because you buy one of those multi-packs. They last years and years and years. I don't know if at some point. It's going to lose its potency or effectiveness. I doubt it. You'll be able to tell me if I stink. Speaker 2 (2:56) You don't ever stink. Now we have a lot of other Speaker 1 (2:58) people, starting with Andrew. Speaker 2 (2:59) Andrew in Oklahoma says, when you compare 401ks to 403bs and declare that 401ks are better, it's misleading. The main difference depends on the employer, not the laws. Nonprofits that want to provide better retirement plans for their employees can set up 403bs that could be better than many 401ks. Rather than comparing the two, why not educate nonprofit administrators and boards on how to set up great 403Bs? They can select great low-fee mutual fund options, prohibit annuities, and establish contribution matching that rivals any 401k. Speaker 1 (3:35) Andrew, you're right all the way across the board. The reason in practical life it hasn't worked out that way is because of a lack of knowledge or, unfortunately, public corruption. A lot of 403b plans are made available to particularly school teachers that are hideously, horrifically awful, where a teacher, because of all the hidden fees and commissions, ends up with less money at the end of a year than what they contributed over the course of a year. It is a scandal. It is the very structure of the law that has green-lighted having a green-lit, having 403B plans be substantially in practice inferior compared to the typical 401k. Now, there's a website that I always forget if it's .com or .org, 403bwise.org. I Speaker 2 (4:41) believe it is .org. Speaker 1 (4:43) Yep, 403bwives.org that teaches people how 403b plans should work, how to tell if yours is a good one or bad one, and then the thing you said, advocate. for wherever you work to have a good 403b plan. So a lot of times they don't know. They end up with some shady insurance salesperson selling them a garbage plan that steals from the employees of the nonprofit, the school system, hospital, whatever. So what I despise so much is people who choose to do charitable work, that kind of stuff. making less than the typical person. And then they get cheated on top of it on a retirement plan. And teachers especially, we have a hard time filling teaching positions around the country. And then we turn around and cheat them on their retirement plan. So I'd say I appreciate your post, but in practical everyday life, Andrew, teachers and other people working for nonprofits get a raw deal. Speaker 2 (5:55) And that's 403bwise.com. And at the top of it, .org. And at the top of the page, it has a thing where you can check out if you're a teacher, your school district's plan. You just choose the state from a dropdown. It makes it really easy to check that out. Speaker 1 (6:12) If they've done a review of your district plan. Speaker 2 (6:15) Tim in Texas says, smelly answer to breakage with cash gift cards. My best option to cash in at your desk, determine all the balances, then apply them to your utility bill. We've heard this before, Speaker 1 (6:27) but you know, we Speaker 2 (6:28) got to mention it. This is for the Speaker 1 (6:29) Visa or MasterCard or American Express. You don't Speaker 2 (6:33) have to pay the bill. Just apply every one of them to your account. You eventually use the funds. I enjoy the show while I float in my pool. I love that. I Speaker 1 (6:42) love that, listening while you swim. Speaker 2 (6:44) Someone also wrote in again about buying Amazon gift cards with that extra leftover amount. If you're an Amazon shopper, you can do that too. Speaker 1 (6:52) Yeah, so you have what are called monoline gift cards, which are good at a specific retailer or restaurant. Then you have ones that have a Visa, MasterCard, or American Express logo. This suggestion. from Tim, like we've had from other people, is for the ones that have the card logo on them. Speaker 2 (7:11) Jim in Florida says, Clark, you stink more than the Atlanta Falcons after having a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl. Speaker 1 (7:18) Ouch. I will not get over that. Speaker 2 (7:21) Okay. Clark, get to come back to the mic. Nobody can hear you. Speaker 1 (7:27) You know, on March 28th that year, they had a holiday in Boston because the Falcons blew the Super Bowl worse than any had ever been blown by any team ever and ever will be blown by a team. I can't get over it. Speaker 2 (7:46) You recently had a military parent write in stating their daughter had a large sum of money saved up but had no credit. Your advice of going to a credit like Navy Federal was good, but you said to add her to the