0:05

It's

0:05

my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark

0:07

Howard show where our mission is to serve you

0:09

and empower you to make better

0:11

financial decisions in your life.

0:14

One of the biggest purchases we make, typically

0:16

for most of us, the second biggest purchase

0:19

we'll ever make is for a vehicle.

0:22

The industry's been on a ugly

0:24

roller coaster ride, beautiful

0:26

for them,

0:27

ugly for you and me, but

0:30

I got good news. I'm going to fill you in

0:32

on what you need to know. And later,

0:35

another huge data breach that includes

0:39

ridiculous amounts of your

0:41

personal information, including

0:44

social security numbers, 6 million

0:47

people exposed.

0:49

And I mean the crooks got

0:51

a lot of information to

0:54

destroy your identity

0:57

and steal your money potentially.

1:00

I'm going to tell you what you need to know, the

1:02

backstory, tell you why

1:05

it's so important to protect yourself. Remember,

1:07

the answer to every question in your life frees

1:10

your credit.

1:11

So first we're going to talk

1:13

about the car market.

1:16

Car market for people who've had to buy

1:18

is bad, ugly, and it's

1:20

been bad, ugly since

1:23

COVID really got into full

1:25

gear back in 20. And

1:28

first we had the factory

1:30

disruptions

1:32

for both final assembly and

1:34

the

1:34

various contract parts manufacturers

1:37

for automotive companies. And

1:39

then following that, we had the chip shortage

1:42

and it's been one ugly event

1:44

after another.

1:45

And automakers discovered

1:49

that the shortage could make them more

1:52

money. That's right, that in

1:54

shortage, they could make more.

1:56

So the automakers

1:59

took. the cost of new vehicles

2:02

high as a kite and for particular

2:05

factors that were so bizarre

2:08

for a while used vehicles

2:10

back in 21 went

2:13

up crazy amounts

2:15

depending on how you measure it a price

2:17

increase of 40 to 70 percent

2:20

on used vehicles in short

2:22

what happened

2:23

was early in COVID when

2:26

travel stopped the

2:29

car rental companies to try to survive

2:31

sold off all their fleets well

2:34

then when travel started recovering

2:36

they didn't have any cars and

2:38

they didn't have cars at the same time

2:41

as auto manufacturers manufacturing

2:44

was all disrupted and they couldn't really make

2:46

cars even if they wanted to because

2:49

of the factory shutdowns because of COVID

2:51

spread

2:52

or the shortage of parts

2:54

and then the chips and blah blah blah blah blah

2:57

so the car rental companies went

3:00

out and bought whatever used vehicles

3:02

they could get

3:03

and as someone who rents vehicles all

3:05

the time I was repeatedly seeing

3:07

vehicles that I was

3:10

being rented that had mileage beyond 50,000

3:13

miles where historically

3:15

rental cars

3:16

tended to have less than 20,000 miles

3:19

on the odometer because by

3:22

historical measures car rental companies would

3:24

buy a vehicle new and

3:26

then they ditch it around 20,000 miles well

3:29

here they were buying vehicles with

3:31

miles way beyond that just to have fleet

3:34

that sucked up

3:36

the combination of the shortage of

3:38

new vehicles being manufactured and

3:41

the rental fleets needing to rebuild

3:44

created massive price

3:46

pressure and the used vehicle market

3:49

and now what's happened with the used vehicle

3:51

market

3:52

from early in 22 with prices

3:54

being up 40% now prices have

3:56

come down a significant

4:00

amount from that. And it really

4:02

is like the roller coaster went

4:04

straight up,

4:05

stayed up there for a good

4:07

while at the crest of the roller

4:09

coaster. And then prices

4:12

late last year started

4:14

their descent. And now they've come

4:16

way down, but they're still inflated

4:19

from what they were before COVID. The

4:22

new vehicle prices that had gone up so

4:24

much, they are trending steadily

4:27

down. Automakers are

4:29

fighting this trend by shipping

4:32

dealers vehicles that are optioned

4:34

out.

4:35

So you got the higher interest rates to buy

4:38

a vehicle

4:39

and you have the manufacturers shipping

4:41

vehicles

4:42

that are all optioned out and more

4:44

expensive.

4:45

And that's causing a train wreck now

4:48

for car dealers who benefited so

4:50

much before and now not.

4:53

Coxo Automotive, which is a

4:55

big researcher and they're

4:57

involved in auctioning vehicles and all that, put

5:00

out a list of what brands

5:03

are in major overstock

5:05

right now.

5:06

A dealer likes to have or

5:09

a manufacturer likes to have, what's

5:11

known as a theoretical 55 or 60

5:15

day supply of vehicles. Some

5:17

use 55, some use 60. And what that

5:19

means is from the point that the

5:21

vehicle finishes assembly, it's

5:24

put on a train and then put on a truck

5:26

and then delivered. The whole design is

5:29

that within 60 days that

5:31

vehicle sold. So you have this pipeline

5:33

of vehicles. We went through a long period

5:36

where many vehicles were under 10 day

5:39

supply, which means there were none

5:41

on dealer lots.

5:43

I read a quote from a dealer who said,

5:46

who owns multiple dealers,

5:48

that helicopters could land

5:50

on his lots for months

5:53

on end because there were no vehicles on

5:55

the lot. And so who's

5:57

over supplied? Buick.

5:59

has double

6:01

the ideal supply

6:03

of vehicles. Jaguar has double.

6:06

Jeep has double. Chrysler,

6:09

Ram, Infinity almost double

6:12

what would be considered to be an ideal

6:14

supply. Lincoln

6:16

up there with him, Dodge almost

6:19

that heavy.

6:20

And Ford also significantly

6:23

oversupplied, oversupplied about 35%

6:27

beyond that idealized 55 or 60

6:30

days.

6:31

Very few automakers still

6:34

are in extreme shortage of vehicles.

6:37

So guess what's happened? We were

6:39

in a period for a long time

6:41

where dealers were marking

6:43

way up above manufacturer suggested

6:46

retail price.

6:47

And now the average vehicle is being

6:49

discounted. The typical

6:52

profits of a car dealer that

6:54

had skyrocketed to record levels

6:57

because of all these factors I talked about,

7:00

now we're moving back to more normalized

7:03

profit levels. Meaning that

7:05

the beat up car buying consumer,

7:09

now you got to know what

7:11

happens in a 15 round boxing match.

7:14

Krista, what happens when you get knocked to the canvas?

7:17

Get back up. You get back up, you

7:19

put that mouthpiece back in and you go

7:22

back in the ring. And

7:24

that's where we are now with the vehicle

7:26

market. The conditions

7:28

are going to continue to improve

7:31

because the automakers

7:32

are, they're like, is it Wiley Coyote

7:36

and the cartoons used to go way out

7:38

and be out past the cliff

7:41

and then he'd look down and he'd

7:43

see that the ground is way down there. A lot

7:45

of the automakers have not capitulated

7:48

yet to true market forces.

7:51

But let me tell you one of the things about capitalism is

7:53

so great. They're going to say, Hey,

7:56

wonder why we have all these unsold vehicles,

7:58

huh? Maybe we need

8:00

to offer more value priced ones.

8:03

So we're getting there, we're not quite

8:05

there yet. All I can tell you is the conditions

8:09

are dramatically improved. And

8:11

I read a quote from one Jeep dealer.

8:14

He's been so loaded up with these

8:16

overpriced Jeeps that

8:19

no one will even consider buying them

8:21

that he'll accept virtually any

8:24

offer he can come up with. That's

8:26

what the manufacturers have done is

8:28

they've put the dealers between a

8:30

rock and a hard place by shipping

8:33

them these vehicles they really don't want

8:35

that are fully option loaded. When

8:38

the marketplace is looking for more affordable

8:40

things, that's the recipe for

8:42

this steadily continuing

8:45

to turn around. And as I promised

8:48

back in my beginning of the year

8:50

predictions, I said the

8:52

back half of 23, we were

8:55

going to see significantly better

8:57

prices on vehicles. And

9:00

that is absolutely going to play out.

9:02

You're going to lose some of that benefit though

9:05

because interest rates on vehicle

9:07

loans are so much higher

9:09

now. But the trend is

9:11

your friend. Well, Anna in

9:13

Florida says my 85 civic

9:15

finally bit the dust. I was hoping

9:18

to drive it until the market got better. We

9:20

own one sedan, but my wife is pregnant

9:22

with baby number two. Congratulations.

9:25

Congratulations. And I don't love leaving her

9:27

without a car when I go to work. It's a

9:29

bit of a commute. So being dropped off really

9:31

isn't an option. We definitely want to Toyota

9:33

Sienna or Honda Odyssey, but are

9:35

unsure if we should buy a new or two to

9:38

four year old model. We plan to keep

9:40

the car a very long time as witnessed by my

9:42

dear departed

9:43

civic baby is due in October.

9:45

So we have a little bit of time. Which option do you

9:48

add? A 28 year old civic. I

9:51

would say with the

9:54

Odyssey and the

9:57

Sienna, the advantage in your

9:59

case would go to Siena

10:02

because they're all hybrids.

10:04

And over a 20-year

10:07

period, that fuel burn that

10:09

you would not have, the greatly reduced

10:12

fuel burn, will benefit

10:14

you so much. Even though the Siena

10:17

will cost you more upfront potentially,

10:20

the fact that you'll be getting roughly

10:22

double the fuel economy that

10:24

you'd get with the Odyssey, to

10:27

me, would make the Siena the

10:29

better choice.

10:30

But people who buy

10:32

in this duopoly, because

10:34

really

10:36

people that buy vans think of

10:38

these two

10:39

as their bucket, I'd

10:42

go drive both of them because you're going to own

10:44

it for so long, I mean for 20-plus

10:48

years potentially.

10:49

And fuel economy isn't everything, it's

10:51

just really helpful.

10:53

And see which one you like. So,

10:55

do you think new car? Definitely a

10:57

new car right now. The price

10:59

of the used cars, in fact I have that chart

11:02

if you want me to bore you with it, but

11:04

the value

11:05

of the newer cars is

11:09

not at a point that if you're looking at buying

11:11

one a couple years old, which is normally something

11:14

I would tell people to do, versus

11:16

buying new,

11:17

right now you're not getting the discount

11:20

to the negotiated price of

11:23

a new vehicle versus what you could buy

11:25

a couple year old one, I think

11:27

right now, particularly for an ultra long

11:29

term owner like yourself, buy

11:32

new. Jeff, in South Carolina

11:34

says, I heard you recommend liability

11:36

only insurance for older cars. My

11:39

son is about to be a first time driver and insurance

11:41

is crazy expensive for him. Clark and

11:43

I both are aware of that. We've considered

11:45

liability insurance and it makes sense for

11:47

an older car, which is likely what we'll be getting

11:49

for him. But the issue I have is with

11:52

the medical side of it. If he gets into

11:54

an accident that is his fault and ends

11:56

up in the hospital with liability only, all

11:58

the medical bills would be on.

11:59

us, correct? Isn't that a huge

12:02

risk to be taking? I feel like I must be

12:04

missing something. You're not missing anything.

12:06

So there's more factors than just that,

12:08

Jeff, with the medical side.

12:10

So if someone's in the vehicle

12:13

with your son

12:15

and is injured, then

12:17

the

12:18

family of that kid is probably

12:20

coming after you.

12:22

And so there's coverage you can buy

12:25

with auto insurance that is

12:27

a relatively inexpensive part

12:29

of the auto insurance equation

12:31

that has different names in

12:33

different states because insurance is regulated

12:35

by the states.

12:36

In South Carolina, I don't know exactly what

12:39

it's called

12:40

in your state, but it may be

12:42

called med pay, may be called

12:45

uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage,

12:48

whatever. And I can't tell

12:50

from what you posted if

12:52

you don't have health insurance. Generally,

12:55

if you're in an accident,

12:57

it's treated the same under

12:59

your health insurance

13:01

as a regular illness.

13:03

But this is a way to protect

13:05

yourself, particularly

13:07

from the other person who may

13:09

be injured in a vehicle. Let's

13:12

say it's not your son's fault, but

13:15

the other driver is driving around with no insurance

13:17

and has no coverage at all, then

13:20

having the what in most states

13:22

is referred to as uninsured

13:24

or underinsured coverage

13:26

provides for the medical care for

13:29

your son and anybody in the

13:31

vehicle with him. Michelle in California,

13:33

this is a hired an attorney to complete our estate

13:36

planning documents, including a special needs

13:38

trust for our son with autism. Upon

13:40

review of the trust, I realized it was drafted

13:42

incorrectly. I tried for months

13:44

to have the attorney correct the trust. Finally,

13:47

I called your consumer action center and I was

13:49

referred to our local county bar association

13:52

to begin an arbitration process since this

13:54

is what the attorney's retainer agreement indicated

13:56

would be the avenue for any dispute

13:58

resolution. I started the process with

14:00

the LA County Bar Association, paid

14:03

their fee, and soon began receiving letters

14:05

from the County Bar Association regarding the pending

14:07

arbitration process. Then, the attorney

14:10

who ignored me for one year plus was

14:12

offering me a full $2,000 refund

14:15

plus the arbitration fee. He wasn't

14:17

willing to ignore the LA County Bar Association

14:20

as persistently as he ignored me. Thank

14:22

you for empowering us consumers to hold others

14:24

accountable. I would not have known how to begin

14:27

the arbitration process if not for the Consumer

14:29

Action Center

14:29

rep who listened and advised

14:32

me. This attorney has since issued

14:34

us a full refund plus the fee. Thank

14:36

you forever, a Clarkie.

14:38

Thank you for that. Our team, Clark Consumer

14:41

Action Center, is there to serve you

14:43

30 hours a week with one-on-one advice,

14:45

guidance, and information.

14:47

That's why we've had it for nearly 31 years.

14:50

This is a case where you

14:52

are able

14:54

to get the tools to fight

14:56

your own battle. That's really our goal,

14:59

and you did it. And arbitration,

15:01

you're turning arbitration on its head. Arbitration

15:04

is designed to hurt the consumer,

15:07

and you used it to right

15:09

a wrong. Nobody ever does

15:11

that. Consumers never typically

15:13

on their own

15:14

go and engage in arbitration against

15:17

somebody who's done them wrong.

15:19

You did it, and you got results.

15:22

And the Consumer Action Center

15:24

is available to serve you with free

15:26

one-on-one advice 30 hours each

15:28

week. If you go to clark.com slash

15:31

CAC, you'll see how Team Clark

15:34

may be able to help you out

15:36

of a jam. One other thing, you

15:38

mentioned that this was for a special

15:41

needs trust.

15:43

I want to make sure you're aware of the 529

15:46

ABLEs.

15:47

The 529 ABLE accounts are

15:50

like a sibling of 529

15:53

college savings plans.

15:55

They allow where normally with a

15:57

special needs child, you're

15:59

not allowed to put money aside

16:01

for them

16:02

or you may lose access to benefits

16:05

available

16:05

at the state or federal

16:07

level for a special needs

16:09

child. Money that

16:12

is in a 529-ABLE account

16:14

is exempt from those

16:17

restrictions

16:18

and the money grows tax free, it's

16:21

spent tax free

16:23

for the needs of a child and we have,

16:25

it's an older guide but we have an explanation

16:28

for you of how ABLE accounts work

16:31

if you have a special needs

16:34

or disabled child at

16:36

Clark.com. We actually just updated

16:38

it. Oh we have? Yeah, we updated it yesterday

16:40

in fact. So yes we

16:42

did. Wait we just updated

16:44

the guide? We did. Okay we

16:46

have up-to-the-minute information for

16:49

you about how to use these

16:51

529-ABLES as

16:54

a way to get money aside for future

16:56

needs for

16:58

a special needs or disabled child

17:01

and it is a complicated area.

17:04

One thing that's pretty simple,

17:06

these 529-ABLE accounts.

17:09

Coming up ahead, what I talked about

17:11

at the very top of this podcast,

17:14

another ugly data breach.

17:17

This one gets

17:18

into like quite a category

17:20

of ugliness.

17:21

I'm gonna tell you what you need

17:23

to know. This episode

17:26

is brought to you by Bank of America.

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18:49

I know we get to a point where we get numb

18:52

and don't even absorb information

18:55

about data breaches because they are

18:57

so common

18:58

and it's funny how corporate America

19:00

plays this. When they get hacked, they

19:03

hire a firm to try to deal

19:05

with the hack, you know, try to stop

19:08

the damage from continuing, the

19:10

bleeding to stop.

19:12

And then they hire a mitigation firm

19:15

to give them all the garbage

19:17

that they pretend they're

19:19

doing something for you

19:21

by sending you a standard letter

19:23

saying that your information is being stolen

19:27

and we'd like to offer you worthless credit

19:29

monitoring for the next 24 months. Just

19:33

want you to remember this. Any time you read one of these

19:35

letters and you see the standard operating

19:37

procedure of the worthless credit

19:39

monitoring, no matter how they word

19:42

it, just remember in your mind it's worthless

19:44

because it is

19:46

only alerting you that somebody's already

19:49

stolen your identity and is trying to run

19:51

off with your money.

19:53

The only effective tool, and

19:55

you'll hear me say this over and over

19:58

again

19:58

for decades now.

19:59

is credit-free.

20:02

And even with how simple it is

20:05

and how it's just something available

20:07

anywhere for free in the United States,

20:10

the overwhelming number of Americans have

20:12

not done it. That

20:15

ignores a key rule. Prevention

20:17

is so much simpler than the cure.

20:20

Because once somebody has started

20:22

pretending to be your you and applying for credit

20:25

as if they're you or buy cars as if they're

20:27

you

20:28

or whatever it is, cleaning

20:30

it up is a mess. Why

20:33

am I so fierce about this? Well, isn't

20:36

this first reported by TechCrunch?

20:39

One of the big pharmacy companies,

20:42

pharmacy distributors for corporate America,

20:45

got hacked.

20:47

The personal data of six million

20:49

Americans

20:51

is out there. But wait, wait, wait.

20:53

There's more. Not

20:55

only

20:56

do the criminals have

20:59

your information,

21:01

wait till you hear what depth of

21:03

information they have about you.

21:05

They have your social

21:07

security number. If you're

21:10

on Medicare, they have your Medicare

21:12

number. Okay, there's never

21:14

been one. I've seen the Medicare thing.

21:17

They have your name, your date of birth, and

21:21

they have all the medicines

21:23

you take and

21:24

health conditions you have, which

21:27

in some cases

21:28

could lead to potential blackmail

21:31

attempts,

21:32

knowing personal information about you.

21:35

The criminals, I don't know what this

21:37

means.

21:38

But people that are in the technology

21:41

field will know what this means. The data

21:43

file they stole is 4.7

21:45

terabytes

21:47

of data,

21:48

which apparently means they've

21:50

got deep, deep data on these

21:53

six million of us. The

21:55

company is called Farm America. Bright

21:58

Spring Health is another

21:59

name they use.

22:01

So this data breach, if

22:04

you are familiar with either of these

22:06

companies that serve six million

22:08

Americans whose data was stolen,

22:11

you need to right away,

22:13

if you've not done so already, freeze

22:16

your credit.

22:18

What does that mean? The biggest confusion

22:20

about freezing your credit is people think it

22:22

means that the credit you have is

22:24

no longer accessible to you, but it has

22:27

nothing to do with your existing credit.

22:30

It's only somebody attempting to apply

22:32

for new credit as if they're you. A

22:35

cell phone as if they're you.

22:37

So many things where someone would

22:39

be accessing your identity

22:42

to verify that

22:44

you're standing is good, your credit

22:46

is good, or that you are who you say you are, which

22:48

is the irony

22:50

because once a criminal has stolen your identity,

22:53

they are the ones

22:54

who are establishing that they are you.

22:57

And remember what they got.

22:59

Think of all those deep layers

23:01

of info they have on

23:03

you with your social,

23:06

date of birth, addresses,

23:08

all that stuff. It's danger.

23:11

So it's really easy. You guys set aside about 15

23:14

minutes,

23:15

typically at most,

23:17

to instantly freeze your credit files

23:19

with

23:19

Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.

23:22

Again, it's free. If you go

23:24

to clark.com slash credit

23:26

freeze, you'll see how to do

23:29

it with each of the bureaus

23:31

and know that this is

23:33

a nasty situation. But

23:36

so many millions of us have

23:38

already had

23:40

information like this that

23:42

has fallen in the hands of criminals

23:45

for years. Think about the

23:47

Equifax data breach.

23:49

It was the worst data breach in the history of

23:51

the modern era.

23:53

And criminals have all

23:56

this kind of level of personal information

23:58

on more than half of

23:59

of American adults.

24:02

So

24:02

if you haven't done credit freeze, regardless

24:05

if you're affected by this situation,

24:07

or just because you woke up in the morning and you

24:09

don't have credit freeze,

24:11

get it done. Krista? Brent

24:13

in Ohio says, you recently stated not

24:15

to use any bank to hold your Roth

24:17

or mutual fund or investment accounts. In

24:20

the last few months, I started a robo

24:22

investment account with Ally Invest because

24:25

of the zero-dollar transactions and no fee

24:27

structure. My wife and I have too

24:29

great of income to invest in an IRA, so

24:31

I thought this was a great option. Please

24:33

let me know if I've made an error.

24:35

You've not made an error. Ally

24:38

is an exception because

24:40

they're not a bricks and mortar bank. All

24:43

the ripoffs in bank-based

24:46

investing or bank-affiliated

24:48

investing are with traditional

24:51

bricks and mortar banks

24:53

that they are very high

24:54

cost operations.

24:56

They offer terrible,

24:59

terrible brokerage operations

25:02

with very high fees,

25:03

very high commissions,

25:05

and they don't live to a fiduciary

25:07

standard, meaning they're not doing

25:10

what legally requires them to do

25:12

what's in your best interest.

25:14

So Ally, as

25:17

an online-only bank, runs a

25:19

very lean operation, and

25:21

their Ally Invest, as

25:23

best I have been able to tell, is

25:26

clean and fine.

25:28

John in Florida says, T-Mobile wants me

25:30

to pay $336 for

25:32

equipment they sent a long time ago. I

25:34

kept it for several years and trashed it

25:36

because it didn't work. I switched mobile

25:39

phone providers and they are billing me. I

25:41

told them I would pay it if they could show me a document

25:43

authorizing the equipment and my

25:45

obligation to pay. No such document

25:48

has been provided. Today I received notice

25:50

that my account went to collections. I

25:52

have an 800-plus credit rating which stands

25:54

to be trashed. Can you help? I

25:56

will pay if they can produce the

25:58

document with my authorization. All right,

26:00

you got to do two things right away. You're dealing

26:02

with a giant bureaucracy at T-Mobile.

26:05

They're never going to find the paperwork.

26:08

You want to file a complaint with

26:10

the Better Business Bureau.

26:12

And when you go to BBB.org, it

26:14

will figure out which

26:16

local affiliate of the BBB your

26:18

complaint will go to. All

26:20

the big cell phone carriers, all the

26:22

biggest companies that are consumer-facing

26:25

have reps that deal just with

26:28

the Better Business Bureau complaints that are filed.

26:31

You do that, and at the same time,

26:34

you send a letter

26:36

within five days. So it's a

26:38

five-day letter to the collection

26:41

agency disputing the validity

26:43

of the debt.

26:45

If you don't do that, that

26:47

will then go on your credit immediately

26:50

and will destroy your

26:52

credit for up to seven years.

26:56

You need to be very, very aggressive

26:59

about this.

27:00

Be short with your explanation with

27:02

the Better Business Bureau. Be very

27:04

brief with your explanation with the collector.

27:07

Be kind in both things

27:10

you post,

27:11

both what you send to the collection agency

27:14

and what you send to the Better Business Bureau. You

27:16

don't want to look like a jerk, and

27:19

you don't want to write a long

27:21

story. You want to write a short story.

27:24

Now, it doesn't read

27:26

from what you've said that you're a

27:28

completely innocent party here,

27:31

because you did have equipment that was

27:33

supplied to you

27:34

that you trashed.

27:36

Apparently, T-Mobile

27:38

gave you this equipment for free.

27:40

That equipment, long since, is obsolete.

27:44

If at some point, you have to reach some

27:46

kind of accommodation with them where you pay them

27:48

something

27:49

for the equipment,

27:51

that may be a wise course

27:54

to just stonewall by

27:56

itself. May not be a good choice

27:59

either.

27:59

Nate in Washington says, hey Clark

28:02

financial guru to the gods. Wow.

28:04

Yeah, you have helped me out so much through the

28:07

years.

28:07

Up until the last couple of years, I haven't

28:10

been doing everything with the money I've wanted. My

28:12

credit score was 720. I got my

28:14

first credit card through my credit union with an $11,000 limit.

28:17

My score is now 769. My

28:20

plan was to upgrade it to their cashback guard,

28:22

which gives one and a half percent, and also

28:24

open a Costco credit card. Bills and

28:26

regular spending on the bank card, a Costco for

28:29

its benefits. I have two questions.

28:31

First, is it enough benefit to change over

28:33

to the cashback cards since it'll mostly be

28:35

for bills, or would something like a city

28:37

double cash be better and have three cards?

28:40

Second, I'm doing a pre-approved to maybe

28:42

hopefully buy my first house. I don't

28:45

know if I should open new cards or other lines of

28:47

credit before doing that, but how long

28:49

should I wait until after to open

28:51

new cards? Thank you. I am a Clarkaholic,

28:54

and that is my name suggestion

28:55

for you. Okay, thank you, and we keep

28:58

getting suggestions from people of

29:00

things you'd like to be identified

29:02

as, as part

29:04

of our team, Clark. So

29:07

it's not so much

29:08

when after you close

29:10

on your home,

29:12

it's okay to apply for

29:14

new credit cards.

29:16

It's when you don't do it before,

29:18

which is at least six months prior

29:22

to applying for a mortgage. You

29:24

don't apply for any new credit. You

29:27

don't buy a car with a car loan. You don't do any

29:29

of those things because that

29:32

will look horrible

29:34

to the mortgage underwriter.

29:36

Your credit score may be fantastic,

29:39

but new applications of credit

29:41

are looked at as storm clouds

29:44

gathering

29:45

to a mortgage underwriter at

29:47

most mortgage companies.

29:49

So no new credit

29:51

at all till after you're already

29:54

in your home is to the thing between

29:56

upgrading to the credit union one and a half

29:59

percent cashback. or doing something

30:01

like Citi Double Cash or one of the other 2% cards.

30:04

I mean, 2% is better, but I like the idea

30:07

of you having three different

30:09

lines of credit. So if you have

30:12

the

30:13

credit union credit card,

30:15

you get the Citi Bank Costco card,

30:18

I don't want you to get Citi Double Cash

30:20

because then you're still

30:22

with just two different

30:24

financial institutions. I'd like it

30:27

if you get a 2% cash back card from

30:30

somebody else. If you're gonna do the

30:32

Citi Costco card,

30:34

you get your 2% cash back card from

30:37

another issuer. And I've got a list at Clark.com

30:40

of 2% cash back cards. The

30:42

one and a half percent though from the credit union is

30:45

great. 2% is just

30:47

better than that. So I

30:49

wanna thank you so much for

30:51

joining us today. Appreciate your

30:53

suggestion of Clarkaholic. Want

30:56

you to know that what are we dedicated to?

31:00

You, learning ways to save more, spend

31:02

less, and don't let anyone

31:05

ever rip you off. Hope

31:07

you have a great day.

31:12

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