Clark Howard

Are you a creature of habit when it comes to home internet?

Money expert Clark Howard says you may need to shake things up!

On a recent episode of The Clark Howard Podcast, Clark sounded the alarm on people in “set it and forget it” mode with one of the major home internet providers.

“Creatures of habit are getting crushed right now,” Clark said. “… There is a segment of the market that lets inertia rule. And if you are that person, I’m speaking to you right now.“If you’re just letting [your internet bill from] Comcast, Charter, AT&T, Verizon or whoever it is [go unchecked], understand that the cable monster know the game they’re playing. And it is steadily pushing you to higher and higher and higher and higher price points.”

Did you know today’s pricing models prey on complacent customers? And did you even know you were part of this pricing game?

In this article, we’ll dig deeper and discuss strategies for gaining solid footing in an ever-changing home internet market.

What Legacy Internet Service Providers Are Doing

The price-control party is almost over for legacy home internet service providers, and they know it.

For most Americans, there are more options for sufficient internet service than ever before. We’re no longer beholden to the phone company or cable service as the lone service providers in our area.

So, rather than treating you like a customer they want to keep long-term, many legacy providers use a familiar strategy to milk customers for as much money as possible for as long as they can.

“They’ll lure you in with something like an introductory deal,” Clark says. “It’s good for six months, maybe even a year, for your home internet. And then, when the six months or year is up, they raise the rates a lot. And then they keep raising them. Could be even twice a year. They push the rate up higher and higher and higher and higher, because they know that now there is more competition for home internet.”

Additionally, they may be selling you on higher internet speeds than your household actually needs.

Clark likens this practice to that of the phone companies back in the 1990s and 2000s, as the landline was on its way out and the legacy phone companies were barraging their remaining existing customers with bill increases to try to stay afloat in a diminishing marketplace.

Shifting Market Conditions Give You Leverage to Shop Your Service

If you’re a loyal customer being gauged by your internet provider, we have good news: You can now fight back for your wallet.

A few emerging service options offer a chance to get a cheaper monthly bill for your home internet needs without a long-term contract commitment.

Your mileage may vary based on your location, but those options could include:

Wireless carriers (such as T-Mobile and Verizon) offering home internet plans

Emerging fiber internet providers (Google Fiber, for example)

Starlink satellite internet (pricey, but great speed and connectivity for rural consumers)

Team Clark has a four-step process you can follow to determine the best internet deal in your market.

Clark really likes the wireless carrier option for most consumers. He says wireless customers of both Verizon and T-Mobile could be eligible for in-home internet for as little as $25 per month if they’re willing to bundle the service with their cell phone bill.

And he says that, with the exception of online gamers, most consumers will receive more than enough speed to stream their favorite shows and browse the internet on multiple devices.

Bottom Line

If you’ve been paying your legacy cable or phone company for high-speed internet via autopay for any length of time, there’s a good chance that you’re paying more money than you should for home internet.

Use the power of emerging consumer choice in this marketplace to your advantage.

Shop around for a better price via a competitor to see how much you could save on your monthly bill.

If you find a good alternative, we usually suggest giving it a “test drive” before canceling your current internet to make sure it meets your household’s needs.

You’ll likely be happy with the product if your primary home internet use is browsing and streaming.

But even if it doesn’t quite meet your needs, you can still use it as leverage to convince your existing provider to give you a better price.

What is your strategy for getting the best pricing on home internet? We’d love to hear your tips in the Clark.com community.
The post Why Clark Says You Need To Check Your Internet Bill Now appeared first on Clark Howard.

When I was six years old, my dad started my financial education. Like money expert Clark Howard with his own children, he rarely missed an opportunity to teach me about unit pricing, comparison shopping and living on less than you make.

Fortunately, those lessons continued into adulthood. My dad graciously coached me through negotiating for my first car and house. He also taught me about the importance of investing for retirement.

But it wasn’t until my dad received a devastating terminal diagnosis that I realized something: Despite a lifetime of financial conversations, I knew almost nothing about his personal finances.

I didn’t know where all of his accounts were. I didn’t know what arrangements he’d made or what information I would need when I needed manage his affairs.

Fortunately, we had some time. More importantly, my dad was willing and able to sit down with me, walk me through what I needed to know and tell me what he wanted.

Not everyone gets that opportunity.

If you have aging parents or other loved ones you may someday help care for, don’t wait for a medical emergency or death to start these conversations.

That doesn’t mean asking how much money they have or demanding access to their accounts. In fact, they can keep account balances private. The goal is to create a map: what exists, where important information is kept, whom to contact and what they want you to do if they can no longer handle things themselves.

Here are the conversations every family should consider having before a crisis.

Table of Contents:

What Estate Planning Documents Should Aging Parents Have?

What Should You Know About Your Aging Parents’ Finances?

What Digital Information Should You Have for Aging Parents?

What Should You Know About Your Parents’ Insurance and Long-Term Care Plans?

How Can You Protect Aging Parents From Financial Scams?

Should You Talk to Your Parents About Funeral and Final Wishes?

How Do You Start a Money Conversation With Aging Parents?

What Estate Planning Documents Should Aging Parents Have?

It’s a given that aging parents, and actually all of us regardless of age, should have estate planning documents. This includes: 

Will – A legal document that states how you want your property and assets distributed after your death.

Trust (when appropriate) – Some individuals may have trust(s) as part of their estate plan to handle complex family situations and/or to avoid probate. It’s worth asking if your parents have trusts as a part of their estate plan. 

Durable Financial power of attorney – allows someone you trust to handle financial and legal matters on your behalf if you become unable to do so.

Advance directive/living will – lets you state your medical wishes and, depending on your state’s laws and the document you use, name someone to make health care decisions for you if you cannot.

However, simply knowing that these documents exist isn’t enough. Someone needs to know where they are.

Another important note: Beneficiary designations must also match what is listed in estate documents. No matter what a will says, the beneficiary designation will override it so it is imperative that these are correct. 

What Should You Know About Your Aging Parents’ Finances?

For many families, talking about estate planning is easier than talking about money. Adult children may worry they’re prying, while parents may understandably want to maintain their financial independence and privacy.

Fortunately, you don’t need to ask how much money your parents have, and you don’t necessarily need their passwords or access to their accounts right now.

Instead, think of this exercise as creating a financial map. You want to know what accounts and assets exist, where they’re held and where to find the information needed to access them if the time comes.

Ask your parents where you could find information about their:

Checking and savings accounts

Brokerage accounts

401(k)s, IRAs and pensions

Social Security benefits

Life insurance policies

Mortgage and other debts

Credit cards

529 plans or other accounts they’ve established for grandchildren

Property and other major assets

Safe deposit boxes and/or home safes

Don’t Forget About the Monthly Bills

Knowing where the money is only part of the picture. If a parent becomes sick or otherwise needs help managing their finances, someone may also need to keep the household running.

This can be a good opportunity to ask:

Do you feel comfortable handling your bills on your own right now?

If you ever wanted help with your bills, who would you want to handle them?

Is there a master list of your recurring bills, or can we create one together?

Which bills are paid automatically, and from which accounts?

Are there bills that still arrive by mail or require manual payment?

That master list might include the mortgage or rent, utilities, insurance premiums, credit cards, property taxes, HOA fees, car payments, medical bills, subscriptions, charitable contributions and other recurring or automatic payments.

Finally, make sure someone knows how to contact the professionals who help manage your parents’ financial and legal affairs, such as their financial advisor, CPA or tax preparer and estate attorney.

Remember: You’re creating a map, not asking for the keys. Your parents can maintain their privacy and independence while making sure the right person knows where to turn if they ever need help.

What Digital Information Should You Have for Aging Parents?

So much of our financial and personal lives now exists online that knowing where your parents keep their paper documents is no longer enough.

If you may someday need to help manage a parent’s affairs, you should know about their:

Primary email account

Phone, tablet and computer

Password manager, if they use one

Two-factor authentication and account recovery methods

Cloud storage

Social media accounts

Important online financial accounts

Digital subscriptions

Digital photos and other important files

But this doesn’t mean asking your parents to email you a spreadsheet containing every username and password. Sending passwords through email or text, or keeping an unprotected list of passwords, can create a security risk. Plus, your parents may not want you to have access to all of this information immediately. 

Instead, talk about how you would securely get the information you need if your parent became incapacitated or died.

Create a Secure Emergency Access Plan

One option is a reputable password manager. In addition to securely storing passwords, some password managers offer family or emergency-access features.

For example, Bitwarden allows eligible users to designate a trusted emergency contact who can request access to their password vault. 

Another option is to keep emergency-access information offline in a secure physical location, such as a locked fire-resistant home safe or safe deposit box. Your parent could keep instructions there explaining where passwords are stored and how the appropriate person can access them.

Whichever method your family chooses, make sure the trusted person knows that the plan exists and where to find it. A perfectly organized emergency file won’t help much if nobody knows about it.

Also think about two-factor authentication (2FA). Even if you eventually have the appropriate authority and login information for an account, access could still be difficult if verification codes are being sent to your parent’s phone or authenticator app. Your emergency plan should identify what authentication and recovery methods your parent uses and where any recovery information is securely stored.

Important Tip: After a loved one’s death, keep their cell phone active because you will likely need it for 2FA codes. 

What Should You Know About Your Parents’ Insurance and Long-Term Care Plans?

Like with your parents’ finances, you don’t need the details of every policy now, but you or another trusted contact needs to know where to find this information so that you aren’t searching through stacks of documents when a crisis arrives. 

You can ask where you could find: 

Medicare information

Medicare supplement/Medicare Advantage

Prescription coverage

Long-term care insurance

Life insurance

Homeowners/renters

Auto

Umbrella coverage

Then, the bigger part of the conversation is understanding what happens if they eventually need help living independently.

 Do they envision: 

Aging in place?

Moving closer to family?

Moving in with family?

Independent/assisted living?

Using a Long-term care policy?

You don’t have to solve every aspect of their long-term care plan now. But this can give you insights into their wishes and how you can support them. 

If you’re concerned that your parents are talking about moving to an expensive retirement community you don’t think they can afford, or that they are planning to move in with you (surprise!), this initial conversation can help you prepare for follow-ups. 

And you don’t have to do it alone. You can hire a fee-only fiduciary financial advisor and/or a geriatric social worker to help support your parents in developing an attainable long-term care plan. 

How Can You Protect Aging Parents From Financial Scams?

Most of us know a story about a senior citizen targeted by a scam. For me, it was my elderly neighbor who kept believing that he had “won” a sweepstakes and sending large sums of money to “claim” his prize. His family was playing a heartbreaking game of whack-a-mole with the scammers who kept changing their phone numbers because they knew they had a live target. 

A critical part of your aging parents’ checklist is talking to them about scams before they are targeted. 

It may help to share the scams that most frequently target seniors so they know the common trends. But even if your parents are experiencing cognitive decline, there are some simple rules that they can use to help protect themselves. 

The most basic rule is to have a trusted contact to check with before sending money:

Before you send the money, call your person.

A more detailed scam-prevention list includes: 

Help your parents freeze their credit if they haven’t already. 

Don’t move money because an unsolicited caller says an account is compromised.

Be suspicious of requests for gift cards, crypto or unusual payment methods.

Set up transaction/account alerts where appropriate.

Discuss AI voice/deepfake impersonation scams and establish a family safe word.

Identify one trusted person to call before acting on a suspicious financial request.

Should You Talk to Your Parents About Funeral and Final Wishes?

Talking about what happens after a parent dies isn’t easy. But having the conversation now can prevent family members from having to make difficult decisions — or guess what Mom or Dad would have wanted — while they’re grieving.

You don’t need to plan every funeral detail together. Start with the bigger questions:

Would you prefer burial or cremation?

Do you want a funeral, memorial service or something else?

Are there religious or cultural traditions you’d like followed?

Do you own a cemetery plot or have other arrangements already been made?

Have you prepaid for any funeral or burial expenses? If so, where are those records?

Are there particular people you would want notified?

Do you have preferences for your obituary or memorial?

Have you documented your wishes regarding organ donation?

Who should care for your pets?

Are there sentimental possessions you’d particularly like certain people to have?

My mom has come up with a simple solution that I love: She keeps a physical “Funeral File” for me.

It includes information about what she wants when the time comes, right down to the music she’d like included. She can add to it or change her mind over the years, so her wishes aren’t set in stone. I don’t need to keep track of every detail now. I just know where to find the file when I need it.

That’s really the goal of this entire checklist. Your parents don’t have to hand over control of their lives or make every decision today. But if they have preferences that would matter to them — and to you — encourage them to write those wishes down and make sure the right person knows where to find them.

It’s also important to understand that expressing a preference isn’t necessarily the same as creating a legally enforceable instruction. State laws vary, and wills, beneficiary designations and other estate planning documents may govern how certain property and decisions are handled. An estate planning attorney can help your parents properly document wishes that need legal effect.

But not every decision needs to be part of an estate plan. Your family may simply need to know what Mom or Dad would want.

The goal isn’t to plan their funeral for them. It’s to make sure the people who love them don’t have to guess.

How Do You Start a Money Conversation With Aging Parents?

Even if you know these conversations are important, starting one can be difficult.

Money is personal. Your parents may be uncomfortable discussing their finances, and you may worry that asking about their accounts will sound like you’re prying into how much money they have.

So don’t start there.

Instead, try asking:

“If something happened and you needed me to help, would I know where to find everything?”

You can also make the conversation less about your parents by talking about what you’re doing yourself. If you’ve created your own financial emergency file, for example, tell them you’ve been organizing your accounts and important documents so your family could find them in an emergency — and ask whether they have something similar.

Most importantly, don’t turn the first conversation into an interrogation.

And, don’t attempt to cover this entire checklist in one sitting. Your first goal may simply be finding out whether your parents have an estate plan, who they would want to help them and where they keep their important information.

Then revisit the conversation over time. Financial accounts change. People move. Passwords change. Insurance policies are added or dropped. And your parents’ wishes and needs may change as they get older.

Think of this as an ongoing family conversation, not a one-time financial audit.

Final Thoughts

My dad spent my entire life teaching me how to manage money. But neither of us realized there was one more financial lesson I would eventually need: what to do with his financial life when he could no longer manage it himself.

We were fortunate. We had time to sit together, go through his accounts and documents and talk about what he wanted.

Not every family gets that time.

That’s why these conversations are so important to have while your loved ones are able to make their own decisions and tell you what they want.

You don’t need to know every dollar your parents have, and you don’t need access to every account. You need a map: what exists, where to find the information, who can legally step in and what your parents want.

Then make sure someone knows where that map is.

Having these conversations now may feel uncomfortable. But they’re much easier to have around the kitchen table than in a hospital room or in the days after losing someone you love.
The post The Aging Parents Checklist: Money, Scams, Estate Plans and Final Wishes appeared first on Clark Howard.

If you got an unexpected diagnosis or had a medical emergency, would someone know how to pay your mortgage and keep your lights on? Could they find your health insurance information? 

And if you died unexpectedly, would your family know where to begin? Do you have life insurance? Would they know where to find it? 

While a will and other estate planning documents are, of course, a critical part of preparing for the unexpected, there’s another, more practical part of the process: making sure someone you trust knows how to find and access your estate and financial information.

You don’t need to hand over your passwords or give someone access to your money today. Instead, think of it as creating a financial emergency file — a map of what you have, where important information is kept and the key people your loved ones should contact if you can’t manage things yourself.

Here’s what to include in your financial emergency file: 

Table of Contents:

What Estate Planning Documents Should Everyone Have?

Create an Inventory of Your Financial Accounts

Make a List of Your Bills and How They’re Paid

Document Your Insurance Policies

Create a Secure Plan for Passwords and Digital Accounts

Make a List of the People Your Family Should Contact

Decide Where To Keep Your Financial Emergency File

Tell Someone You Trust Where To Find Your Financial Emergency File

How Often Should You Update Your Financial Emergency File?

Have This Financial Emergency Conversation With Your Partner and Aging Parents

1. What Estate Planning Documents Should Everyone Have?

Let’s start with the key legal documents:

Will: A legal document that states how you want your property and assets distributed after your death.

Trust (when appropriate): Some people have trust(s) as part of their estate plan to handle complex family situations and/or to avoid probate. Unlike a will, not everyone needs a trust. 

Durable Financial power of attorney: allows someone you trust to handle financial and legal matters on your behalf if you become unable to do so.

Advance directive/living will: lets you state your medical wishes and, depending on your state’s laws and the document you use, name someone to make health care decisions for you if you cannot.

Review these critical documents periodically and after major life changes. However, simply creating these documents isn’t enough. Someone you trust needs to know they exist and where to find them.

Don’t Forget Beneficiaries 

Don’t forget to update beneficiary designations on your accounts, because they can override what is listed in a will.

2. Create an Inventory of Your Financial Accounts

Now it’s time to create a map of your financial life.

Make a list showing where you have:

Checking and savings accounts

CDs

Brokerage accounts

401(k)s, 403(b)s and other workplace retirement plans

IRAs

Pensions

Social Security information

529 plans

Health savings accounts (HSAs)

Life insurance

Mortgage or home equity loans

Credit cards

Auto, student and personal loans

Other significant assets or debts

Safe deposit boxes and/or home safes

You don’t have to put complete account numbers, passwords, PINs or even balances in your financial emergency file.

3. Make a List of Your Bills and How They’re Paid

What happens if you’re alive but you are sick or injured and temporarily can’t manage your household?

Someone else may need to pay the bills. 

Create a master list that includes expenses such as:

Mortgage or rent

Utilities

Homeowners or renters insurance

Auto insurance

Health insurance premiums

Credit cards

Property taxes

HOA fees

Car payments

Medical bills

Tuition or child care

Subscriptions

Charitable contributions

Other recurring expenses

For each expense, document how it’s normally paid, which account pays it and when it’s due.

One easy way to get started is to review your bank and credit card statements from the last month or two. You may even discover recurring expenses you’ve forgotten about.

And don’t forget about autopay bills. Autopay doesn’t mean you can forget about a bill entirely. If the account funding those payments becomes inaccessible or doesn’t have enough money, those payments could eventually stop.

4. Document Your Insurance Policies

Your family shouldn’t have to search through filing cabinets, email accounts and old mail to figure out whether you had life insurance.

Make a list of your major insurance coverage, including:

Life (including employer and privately purchased plans) 

Health

Homeowners or renters

Auto

Umbrella

Disability

Long-term care

For each policy, identify the insurance company, type of coverage, where the policy information is stored and the appropriate agent or contact information.

Again, you don’t necessarily need to put the entire policy into your financial emergency file. You’re simply answering: If my family needed this policy tomorrow, would they know where to find it?

5. Create a Secure Plan for Passwords and Digital Accounts

A growing share of our financial lives exists entirely online. That makes digital access an important part of your emergency planning.

Start by identifying the digital information someone may eventually need, including your:

Primary email account

Phone, tablet and computer

Password manager

Two-factor authentication and account recovery methods

Cloud storage

Online financial accounts

Social media accounts

Digital subscriptions

Important digital photos and files

Don’t create a Google Doc containing every password you have and call it an emergency plan. Instead, create a secure way for someone to access your digital accounts if and when it’s appropriate.

A low-tech option is to keep emergency instructions offline in a locked, fire-resistant home safe or another secure location. You don’t need to give anyone the physical key now, but someone should know that it exists and how to find it if needed. The drawback is that this can be challenging to keep up to date, but it is certainly better than nothing. 

A password manager can be a helpful alternative. In addition to securely storing passwords, some password managers offer features specifically designed to give trusted people access in an emergency.

For example, Bitwarden’s Emergency Access feature allows eligible users to designate a trusted emergency contact who can request access to the user’s vault. You can set a waiting period before access is granted, giving you time to reject the request if you’re still able to do so.

Don’t Forget About Two-Factor Authentication

Knowing a password may not be enough to access an account. Two-factor authentication (2FA) can create another hurdle if a verification code is sent to your phone, email or authenticator app. 

Important Tip: After a loved one’s death, keep their cell phone active because you will likely need it for 2FA codes. 

Team Clark has a full guide to making your online accounts accessible when you die, including more information about password managers and other ways to prepare your digital accounts for the future.

6. Make a List of the People Your Family Should Contact

During an emergency, knowing who to call can be just as important as knowing where your accounts are.

Your financial emergency file should include contact information, when applicable, for your:

Estate attorney

Financial advisor

CPA or tax preparer

Insurance agent

Employer or human resources department

Business partner

Executor

Financial power of attorney

Health care agent or proxy

Don’t make a loved one search through your phone and email trying to figure out the name of your estate attorney.

7. Decide Where To Keep Your Financial Emergency File

Once you’ve gathered all of this information, you need somewhere secure to keep it. 

No storage method is right for everyone. Depending on what you’re storing, options might include:

A locked, fire-resistant home safe

A safe deposit box for appropriate documents

Secure digital storage

A password manager for login credentials

Your estate attorney’s office for certain original legal documents

You may end up using a combination of physical and digital storage.

Whatever system you choose, it needs to be secure enough that the wrong person can’t access your sensitive financial information, but accessible enough that the right person can find it during an emergency.

That’s why you should be especially careful about what you put in the file itself.

Don’t create a single document containing your Social Security number, complete financial account numbers, PINs and every password you use and then leave it in an unlocked desk drawer or unsecured cloud folder.

8. Tell Someone You Trust Where To Find Your Financial Emergency File

A perfectly organized emergency file is worthless if nobody knows where to find it. 

Choose an appropriate person and tell them:

“If something happens to me, here’s where you’ll find my Financial Emergency File.”

The goal is simply to make sure the right person knows that you’ve created a plan, where you’ve stored it and what they’ll need to do if the time comes.

Important legal note: Knowing your passwords or where your financial records are stored doesn’t necessarily give someone legal authority to manage your finances. That’s one reason it’s also important to have the right estate planning and power-of-attorney documents in place.

9. How Often Should You Update Your Financial Emergency File?

Your financial life isn’t static, so your emergency file shouldn’t be either.

Choose a date each year to review it. You might use your birthday, the beginning of the year or another date you’ll remember.

During your annual review, check whether you’ve:

Opened or closed financial accounts

Changed jobs or retirement plans

Changed insurance policies

Bought or sold a home

Changed financial advisors, attorneys or tax preparers

Changed passwords or your password-management system

Named new beneficiaries

Changed an executor or power of attorney

You should also revisit the file after major life events such as a marriage, divorce, birth or adoption, death in the family or significant change in your health or financial situation.

You don’t need to rebuild the entire file every year. The point is simply to make sure the map still leads to the right places.

10. Have This Financial Emergency Conversation With Your Partner and Aging Parents

Once you’ve organized your own financial life, make sure the people closest to you have a plan, too.

If you share finances with a spouse or partner, you should both understand how your household operates. That’s particularly important when one person typically handles most of the money.

And don’t stop with your own household.

If you have aging parents or other loved ones you may someday help care for, ask whether they’ve created their own financial map.

One way to make that potentially awkward conversation easier is to start with yourself:

“I’ve been organizing all of my financial information so the family could find it if something happened to me. Do you have something like that?”

You’re no longer asking your parents to reveal their finances. You’re asking whether they’ve created their own map.

Final Thoughts: Give Your Family a Map Before They Need It

In his special edition podcast “An Honest Conversation About Death and Finance,” money expert Clark Howard explains his direct approach:

“I have always been pretty matter-of-fact about this… I prepare for [death]. My wife is 15 years younger than I am and in her family women live to 100 years old or older, so I’ve always thought about making financial decisions … so that she is okay when I’m gone.” 

Many people don’t like thinking about what would happen if they became seriously ill, incapacitated or died unexpectedly. But organizing this information now can be a tremendous gift for the people you love.

And remember that you don’t have to hand anyone the keys to your financial life today. 

Instead, you just need to create the map, store it securely, and tell someone you trust where to find it.

Check out our free Clark.com Financial Emergency File printable to help you get started.
The post Don’t Wait for a Crisis: The Financial Checklist Your Family Needs Now appeared first on Clark Howard.

It feels like we’ve turned the clock back 20 years.

Two decades ago, the banks were pushing Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs) everywhere you turned. You couldn’t open a statement without a mailer falling out, and you couldn’t watch TV or drive past a billboard without seeing an ad telling you to tap your home equity.

“Take a vacation! Buy a boat! Get a new car! Pay off your credit cards!”

The playbook was simple: Banks wanted you to eat up the equity in your home so you’d be on the hook to them for every last dollar.

Fast forward to today, and everywhere you look online, the banks are trying again. They are trying to take a good thing and turn it into a bad thing.

Playing on Your Emotions

If you were fortunate enough to buy a home before the massive price run-up that started during COVID, you’re sitting pretty. You likely have a low mortgage interest rate, you don’t owe a huge amount of money, and your home has escalated significantly in value.

That equity is a huge blessing. But the banks are trying to play on your mind and your emotions, convincing you that your home is just a giant piggy bank. They tell you, “It’s your money! Grab it! Take it! Use it for whatever!”

Do not fall for it.

When you take out a HELOC, you take hard-earned equity and reverse it right back into debt — and you’re doing it at today’s interest rates, which are much higher than what you’re paying on your primary mortgage.

That leads to two major problems down the road:

Higher monthly payments: You suddenly saddle yourself with a much higher monthly bill.

Lost wealth when you sell: When it comes time to sell your home, you won’t get the proceeds you worked so hard to build because you’ve added all this extra debt back onto the property.

Why Banks Love HELOCs (and Why You Shouldn’t)

There’s a reason banks are pushing these so aggressively right now. They love HELOCs for three key reasons:

Floating interest rates: They aren’t fixed. Every time interest rates go up, the bank will raise your rate — and your payment — within a month.

Interest-only traps: Banks often structure the minimum payments so that you’re barely touching the principal. You end up trapped in a cycle of paying them continuous, revolving interest.

Ultimate collateral: They get to make money off you in interest, but if life happens and you can’t make those payments? They can take your home. What a deal for them.

The Only Time You Should EVER Take Out a HELOC

I have a hard-and-fast rule about home equity lines: Use them to improve your home. That is the ONLY reason to get one.

If you are borrowing against your house to put money right back into the house — rebuilding a roof, adding necessary square footage, or making major structural renovations that increase the value of your property — that is reinvesting in your asset.

But using a HELOC for vacations, cars, or even paying off unsecured credit card debt (which risks a secured asset like your home) is a recipe for financial disaster.

Final Thoughts

You worked hard to build the equity in your home, or you got lucky with timing during a historic housing market. Don’t let a bank convince you to blow that long-term security on short-term spending.

Unless you are facing an absolute emergency, leave your home equity right where it belongs: safe inside your house.
The post The Bank Trap Threatening Your Home appeared first on Clark Howard.

For the first time since 2023, the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates. On September 16, the Fed bumped its benchmark rate up a quarter point to a range of 3.75% to 4%, and most Fed officials expect at least one more increase before the end of the year.

The day before the Fed’s announcement, the yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed above 5%, its highest level since 2007.

If you’ve been wondering what all of this means for your 401(k), your home value or the stocks you own, it helps to understand how interest rates and asset prices are connected.

When people invest their money, they expect to be compensated for the risk they’re taking. The more risk investors accept, the higher the return they generally demand. That’s why investors expect higher long-term returns from stocks than from Treasury securities. It’s also why someone buying rental real estate expects to earn more than they could by simply putting the money into a safe savings account.

That means every investment has to compete with the return you can earn without taking much risk. And U.S. Treasuries are commonly used as the benchmark for that comparison.

If you can earn about 5% backed by the U.S. government, earning 6% or 7% while accepting the volatility of stocks or the risks and headaches of owning real estate doesn’t look nearly as attractive.

To take on that additional risk, investors demand a meaningfully higher potential return. And that’s where higher interest rates start pulling down on the value of everything else.

Why Buffett Calls Interest Rates “Gravity”

Warren Buffett once described interest rates as acting on asset values the way gravity acts on matter: “The higher the rate, the greater the downward pull.”

That’s a good way to think about it.

Higher interest rates don’t mean stocks, real estate and other investments have to fall. But all else being equal, a higher safe return makes future income from other investments worth less today.

And if the income an investment is expected to produce hasn’t changed, one way to create that higher potential return is for its price to be lower.

You can see this most clearly with bonds.

If newly issued bonds pay 5%, an older comparable bond paying 3% becomes less attractive. To find a buyer, its price generally has to fall enough to make its return competitive with what’s now available.

Stocks and real estate are more complicated, but the principle is the same.

When investors can earn 5% with very little risk, they will generally demand a higher potential return before taking the additional risk of owning stocks, businesses or rental property.

That’s the gravity Buffett was talking about.

Why This Doesn’t Tell You Where Stocks Are Headed

Gravity is always pulling an airplane toward the ground, but an airplane can still climb if its engines produce enough lift.

The stock market works much the same way.

Higher interest rates create a headwind for asset prices, but they’re only one of many forces acting on them.

Earnings can overpower the headwind: If companies earn and grow substantially more money, investors may still be willing to pay higher prices even as interest rates rise.

Markets anticipate what’s coming: Investors don’t wait for the Federal Reserve’s announcement to start adjusting prices. If a rate increase has been widely expected for months, much of its effect may already be reflected in stock and bond prices.

Other forces matter: Economic growth, inflation expectations, new technology, investor optimism and countless other factors can push prices higher or lower.

That’s why Buffett’s gravity analogy is useful for understanding valuation but not for predicting what the market will do next month or next year.

Higher rates raise the hurdle an investment has to clear. They don’t prevent good businesses from becoming more valuable.

What Higher Rates Mean for Your Money

For savers, the benefit is straightforward: Higher rates can mean better yields on savings accounts, money market funds, CDs and Treasury securities. Money you need in the next few years can earn a meaningful return without taking stock-market risk.

For long-term investors, the lesson is different: Higher rates can put downward pressure on stock, bond and real estate valuations. The higher the return investors can earn with relatively little risk, the higher the hurdle other investments have to clear.

This doesn’t mean you should change your long-term investment strategy, but understanding the relationship between interest rates and asset prices can help you understand one reason why the value of stocks, bonds and real estate can change even when nothing fundamental about the investment itself has changed.

Final Thoughts

Higher interest rates change the math for investors, but they don’t necessarily change what you should do.

If you’re investing for a goal that’s decades away, trying to predict where interest rates — or stock prices — go next can do more harm than good. A diversified portfolio built around your goals and time horizon still makes sense.

Meanwhile, higher rates give you something investors haven’t always had: attractive options for the money you don’t want to put at risk. Emergency savings and money you’ll need in the next few years can earn a meaningful return in high-yield savings accounts, money market funds, CDs and Treasurys.

Think of interest rates as gravity, not a market forecast. They affect the price of nearly every investment, but they’re only one force determining where those prices ultimately go.
The post Higher Interest Rates Are Good For Savers, But What About Investors? appeared first on Clark Howard.

Waiting in a long line at the car rental counter after a flight is the worst way to start a trip. Luckily, you can bypass the counter at most major rental agencies — usually for free.

Beyond skipping the queue, joining these free programs protects you from being stranded without a vehicle. As money expert Clark Howard explains:

“Even if you very infrequently rent a car, join every car rental program or at least join the one that your next car rental is with. You don’t want to just show up without the membership because car rental companies can run out of cars. People with the membership get a car ahead of people who don’t have one. It also expedites the process. I have the ability to just check myself in, grab the car, and I just drive up to the booth. They check that I’m not stealing the car and then off I go. These are free to sign up for and they just make your life easier.”

To skip the line, download the rental company’s app, join their free loyalty program, and complete your check-in details online before you arrive. Here is how counter-skipping works across the major rental car companies.

Rental Car Loyalty Perks by Agency

Final Thoughts

Enrolling in free car rental loyalty programs is something almost every traveler should consider — it costs nothing and eliminates the frustration of long counter lines at the airport. To get the absolute best deal, pair these counter-skipping perks with Clark Howard’s top travel rule: book a refundable reservation early, and always re-shop your rate (or let AutoSlash track it for you) a week before your trip to capture last-minute price drops.
The post Tired of Waiting in Car Rental Lines? How To Skip the Counter for Free appeared first on Clark Howard.

Many new smartphones no longer support physical SIM cards. Instead, eSIMs (embedded SIMs) are now built into the phone’s hardware and activated remotely. 

You can’t remove an eSIM or switch it between phones, but it still offers several money-saving benefits. 

Here are five ways an eSIM can help you save money on cell phone service:

Avoid Upfront SIM Card/Activation Charges

Support Multiple Lines on One Phone

Get Local Plan Prices for International Travel

Easily Switch Providers and Claim New-Customer Deals

Take Advantage of Free Phone Plan Trials

In this article, I’ll take a closer look at each of these ways that you can lower your cell phone bill by switching to an eSIM. You can also use the links above to jump ahead. 

1. Avoid Upfront SIM Card/Activation Charges

When you switch phone plans or upgrade your device, you’ll activate service with either a physical SIM card or an eSIM. If your phone supports eSIM, switching to an eSIM is easy and free — and it could save you money.

Unlike a physical SIM card, which often includes a purchase and shipping fee, an eSIM can usually be activated online for free and without waiting for anything to arrive in the mail. You also won’t need to buy a replacement physical SIM when you upgrade phones or switch plans in the future.

Activating service online can help you avoid in-store fees, too. At the time of writing, a physical SIM card for Connect by T-Mobile costs $10, and in-store activation costs another $10. By comparison, you can activate an eSIM online for free — saving $20 upfront.

Screenshot from T-Mobile

That may not sound like a huge savings, but it can add up if you regularly switch wireless providers to take advantage of better deals or use different plans when traveling internationally.

2. Support Multiple Lines on One Phone

If you have more than one cell phone number or plan for work, different coverage zones, etc., an eSIM will let you access both lines/plans from the same phone. Before you buy a second phone for your other line, check to see if your current phone supports dual SIM/eSIM support. 

Most of the recent smartphones on the market now utilize eSIMs and can support more than one active line. With this feature, you can receive calls/texts from both numbers on the same phone or bounce between plans for coverage and data usage. 

Supporting multiple lines also makes it easy to test out a more affordable service provider before canceling your current plan, purchase a cheaper international plan while traveling and more. We’ll take a closer look at these tips in the following sections.

3. Get Local Plan Prices for International Travel

International travelers will likely see the most savings from using an eSIM. Staying connected internationally can get very expensive, very quickly. However, travel eSIM plans are completely changing the game. 

As long as your phone is unlocked with dual eSIM support, you can activate a second line with a local phone plan from the country you’re visiting. These prepaid plans often range from 7-30+ days, and they’re very affordable. 

Team Clark member Laura recently tested travel eSIM plans on two international trips:

 “I haven’t paid more than $10 for either eSIM, and both worked well for me,” says Laura. “Compare that to $10/day for international service from some carriers and it’s a no-brainer!”

You can read more about Laura’s experience and learn how to buy a travel eSIM plan here.

To compare, AT&T and Verizon offer international add-ons starting at $12/day, which adds up to $84 for one week of coverage. 

Alternatively, at the time of writing, Airalo offered an eSIM plan with 7 days of unlimited data for $27 with coverage in 41 European countries. You’ll likely find even cheaper plan prices from local service providers after landing. 

U.S. based plans that include international roaming range from $65-$100/month. Depending on how frequently you travel, these plans may be worth the price. However, if you can get by with a cheaper plan throughout most of the year, buying an occasional travel eSIM plan will quickly pay for itself.

4. Easily Switch Providers and Claim New-Customer Deals

If you’re willing to switch cell phone service providers to save money, an eSIM can help ease the process. With an eSIM, you can activate a new plan almost instantly. Online activation may also waive additional in-store activation fees, which can range up to $35 per line depending on the carrier. 

Plus, if your phone supports multiple eSIMs, you can test out any potential new carriers before canceling your current plan. To do this, I usually recommend buying the cheapest plan available for the first month to see if it’ll work for you. For example, Tello Mobile (Review) offers a $10/month plan with 2GB of data, which is perfect for a test run.

Alternatively, many providers offer discounted plans and exclusive deals to new customers switching to their network, which is a great way to save on cell phone service. 

Here are a few long-running new customer offers from affordable providers: 

US Mobile (Review): Get three months of Unlimited Starter for $15/month for your first three months with an upfront payment (70GB high-speed data).

Boost Mobile (Review): Get an unlimited plan for $10/month for your first three months (30GB of premium data).

Total Wireless (Review): Get Total Max 5G BYO for $20/month (unlimited 5G Ultra Wideband)

For more options, check out our full list of the best cell phone plan deals available now. 

If you decide to change to a more affordable cell phone plan, follow this guide to switching phone carriers.

5. Take Advantage of Free Phone Plan Trials

In addition to discounted plans and deals, you may be able to get free cell phone service with an eSIM through new customer trials. 

Here are a few providers that offer free trial plans with an unlocked, eSIM-compatible phone:

Final Thoughts

Using an eSIM makes it easier to switch carriers or add a second line, which is excellent for grabbing the latest cell phone plan deals and/or traveling. 

If you’re using one of the latest smartphones, you’re likely already using an eSIM. Even if you’re still using a physical SIM card, understanding your phone’s eSIM capabilities can help you save money on your cell phone bill. This is especially true if you opt for a travel eSIM plan instead of paying for international roaming data.

To learn more, including how eSIM works, which phones and networks support eSIM, how to convert to an eSIM and more, check out these five things to know. 
The post eSIM Savings: 5 Ways To Lower Your Phone Bill With an eSIM appeared first on Clark Howard.

When a new credit card is released, Team Clark takes a close look to analyze who it may benefit.

Sometimes we determine that it will benefit a broad base of our readers, so we alert them immediately. Other times we determine it’s not a card worth talking about at all.

The newest travel credit card from Navy Federal Credit Union is a unique case that doesn’t fall into either bucket. It deserves a recommendation for a portion of our readership.

Let me explain.

The Navy Federal Flagship Premier Visa Signature® is a relaunch of its “Flagship” brand with a new set of benefits and a higher annual fee.

On the surface, it could be a fit for anyone looking for a “beginner” travel credit card. It includes a $100 annual airline purchase credit that should easily offset the $95 annual fee, plus 4x points on all travel and 3x points on dining. Both are very solid multipliers.

But the catch is that you must qualify for a Navy Federal Credit Union membership to apply.

That roadblock led me to identify the perfect candidates for this card: existing NFCU members who already share money expert Clark Howard’s love for its unlimited 2% cash back card.

If you’re like Clark, who carries the Navy Federal cashRewards Plus Credit Card in his wallet, you’re already a member of Navy Federal enjoying unlimited 2% back on all purchases with no annual fee. That’s awesome!

This new-look Flagship card could offer you a way to build off that 2% base by effectively earning 3% back on dining and 4% on travel via points multipliers.

Let’s take a closer look.

Navy Federal Flagship Premier Visa Signature®: 4 Things to Know

Navy Federal refreshed its “Flagship” credit card offering in September 2026.

The new-look Navy Federal Flagship Premier Visa Signature® has a $95 annual fee and offers the following:

1. Two Key Rewards Points Multipliers

This card offers the following unlimited points multipliers:

4x points on all travel

3x points on dining

1x points on all other purchases

The valuation of Navy Federal points is 1 cent per point, so these are effectively 4%, 3% and 1% cash back returns (see rates and fees). There’s no cap on rewards earnings and your points don’t expire as long as the account is open.

The 4x travel multiplier is nice because it doesn’t have brand requirements for airlines or hotels. And there’s no booking portal required. Your purchase just needs to be made with a business that has a proper travel merchant code to qualify.

The 3x points on dining is very competitive with some of our favorite cards for dining and restaurants.

The 1% on all other purchases is a non-starter. If you’re making a non-travel and non-dining purchase, you should use a 2% cash back card or a card that has multipliers in that spending category instead.

2. An Easy Airline Credit Can Cover Annual Fee

We’re always looking for ways to justify any credit card annual fee. If you don’t see an easy way to get positive value on a card with an annual fee, you are likely better off with a no-annual-fee card instead.

This one offers an easy path to eliminating the $95 annual fee with a $100 annual airline credit.

If you spend more than $100 on airfare per year with this card, you’ll claw back your annual fee (plus 5 extra bucks!) through this benefit.

3. It Launches with a Lucrative Welcome Bonus

This card launches with a very competitive welcome bonus offer:

“For a limited time, open a new card account and earn 50,000 bonus points (a $500 value) when you spend $4,000 in your first 90 days.”

This is for eligible new Flagship Premier accounts applied for through January 3, 2027.

4. It Comes with These Key Travel Benefits

In the premium travel credit card era, we’ve come to expect a laundry list of travel benefits with any “great” travel credit card.

And this one stacks up reasonably well for a $95 annual fee card.

No foreign transaction fees. This one is a must-have for international travelers. Just remember to pay in local currency!

TSA PreCheck or Global Entry membership. Receive up to $120 for application fees for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or both when you pay for the membership with this card. You can claim this benefit once every four years.

Complimentary GigSky global mobile data plan. Cardholders are eligible to receive 1 complimentary 3?GB Global Mobile Data Plan, valid for up to 15 days after activation, for use in eligible countries when the card is set as the default payment method in the GigSky App. This could save you some cash compared to the international fees from some of the major U.S. wireless carriers.

You won’t find airport lounge access, airline or hotel status upgrades, or an excess amount of redeemable brand-related statement credits on this card, but that’s OK. You’re not paying an annual fee that requires that kind of treatment for justification.

Do these Navy Federal credit cards make sense for your wallet? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the Clark.com community.
The post This New Credit Card Could Be a Good Tandem with One of Clark’s Favorites appeared first on Clark Howard.

A paid-off house is real wealth. As retirement gets closer, though, what matters more is how much of your net worth can actually help pay your bills.

Take these two households, each with a $1.5 million net worth.

On paper, both households have identical net worth, but their retirement situations look very different.

Using the common 4% retirement withdrawal guideline, Household A’s $300,000 in investments would support about $12,000 in first-year withdrawals, while Household B’s $1 million portfolio would support about $40,000. That’s a $28,000 gap in potential first-year withdrawals between two households with the same net worth. A home is wealth, but it doesn’t generate retirement income unless you tap the equity.

Wes Moss, a fiduciary financial advisor and host of Ask an Advisor on the Clark Howard Podcast, puts it this way.

“Your home is an asset, but it’s not a paycheck. It doesn’t pay your electric bill in retirement unless you’re willing to sell it, downsize or borrow against it.”

How Much of Your Net Worth Should Be in Your House?

Wes uses a broad rule of thumb for how much of your net worth should be tied up in your house.

“I want to see at least 50% of your total net worth sitting in liquid, investable assets, and not tied up in the walls around you.”

If your total net worth is $2 million, that means he’d want to see at least $1 million in retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, cash and other investments you can draw on in retirement.

Wes describes the risk this way:

“If your house is eating up more than half your net worth, you may look wealthy on paper, but you can end up ‘house rich, cash poor’ (plenty of equity, not enough accessible capital to actually fund the retirement lifestyle you want).”

Crossing that 50% line doesn’t mean you’re in financial trouble, but it does mean your headline net worth isn’t enough to judge whether you’re ready to retire.

Home Equity Is Real Wealth, Just a Different Kind

Your home belongs in your net worth. A $700,000 house with no mortgage is a valuable asset you could eventually sell, downsize from, borrow against or leave to your heirs. Until you take one of those steps, though, that equity isn’t producing retirement income.

Money expert Clark Howard has long made a related point. He doesn’t want you to think of the home you live in as a financial investment, since buying it is only the start of what you’ll spend on it. “A home is a place to live,” Clark says.

That’s why it helps to track two numbers:

Total net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe.

Investable net worth is your savings, retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, rental properties and other assets that produce income or that you could sell without changing where you live.

For retirement income planning, your investable net worth deserves particular attention. It shows how much of your wealth can support your spending without requiring a major lifestyle change. Wes builds that distinction into what he calls his Money Green Zones, where the liquid asset Green Zone is based on investable savings and leaves home equity out. He’s careful to point out that this isn’t a knock on homeownership.

“That doesn’t mean home equity isn’t real net worth. It absolutely is. It just doesn’t do the job a retirement paycheck needs to do.”

The Clark.com Net Worth Calculator is built around the same idea. Instead of stopping at one total, it sorts what you own into three tiers.

Productive Wealth: Tier 1 covers savings, retirement accounts, brokerage accounts and rental properties, which is the money Wes wants to see sitting outside the walls around you.

Sellable Wealth: Tier 2 is value you can access without disrupting your daily life.

Estate Wealth: Your primary home lands in Tier 3, estate wealth, alongside assets you’d need a major life change to tap or would never sell.

A Paid-Off House Still Matters

None of this means a paid-off house isn’t valuable in retirement. A home with little or no mortgage can significantly lower the amount your portfolio needs to produce each month, and it gives you more room to maneuver when markets fall or unexpected expenses come along.

That’s why Wes treats housing as its own goal. His housing Green Zone calls for having nine years or less left on your mortgage by the time you retire. Housing security and liquid retirement savings do two different jobs, and a solid retirement plan needs both.

Being House Rich Can Create a Cash-Flow Problem

Even a paid-off house keeps costing money, and many of these bills rise over time. Common ongoing costs include:

Property taxes

Homeowners insurance

Maintenance

Utilities

HOA fees

Major repairs

A retiree in a $1 million home might have no mortgage payment and still spend a substantial amount each year keeping up the property. When most of the household’s wealth is locked inside that home and little sits in savings and investments, covering those costs gets harder, which is the classic house-rich, cash-poor squeeze.

Home Equity Can Still Be Part of the Plan

Planning to use your home to help fund retirement is perfectly reasonable. At some point you might:

Downsize to a less expensive home.

Move to a lower-cost area.

Sell the house and rent.

Take out a reverse mortgage as a last resort.

Tap the equity later for health or long-term care expenses.

Clark isn’t a fan of reverse mortgages because of their costs and the salespeople who target seniors. He says a reverse mortgage “may be an option for you” if you’re short of cash in retirement, “but it’s a last option.”

There’s a big difference, though, between having home equity and having a plan for home equity. If you’re counting on a $1 million house to make your retirement secure but would never consider selling it, that million dollars shouldn’t be treated like a million dollars in your investment accounts.

Even if downsizing is part of your plan, you won’t necessarily turn all of your home equity into spendable money. Say you sell a paid-off $1 million home and buy another for $600,000. The difference is $400,000, but selling costs, closing costs and moving expenses will reduce the amount you actually walk away with. The Net Worth Calculator accounts for this distinction. If you say you plan to downsize, it counts only the equity you’d expect to free up as Tier 2, sellable wealth.

Final Thoughts

A valuable home can be an important part of your financial security, especially if you’ve paid off the mortgage. But home equity and investable savings do different jobs in retirement.

That’s why your total net worth tells only part of the story. Look at how much of your wealth is tied up in your home, how much is available to produce retirement income and whether you have a realistic plan for tapping your home equity if you ever need it.

Run your numbers through the Net Worth Calculator to see how your wealth is divided among productive, sellable and estate assets. If less than half of your net worth is in investable assets, you’re below Wes’s general 50% guideline — and that’s a good reason to take a closer look at whether your savings can support the retirement you want.

For a deeper look at the three tiers, read A Better Way To Think About Your Net Worth.
The post Is Too Much of Your Net Worth Tied Up in Your House? appeared first on Clark Howard.

Bundling is supposed to save money in today’s streaming TV landscape.

But even bundles are susceptible to price hikes.

Peacock and Apple TV joined forces in October 2025 to offer both video streaming services as a bundle for as little as $14.99 per month. That deal was one of the best on the market when compared to the full retail price for the services if purchased separately.

Unfortunately, that pricing is going away not even a full year later. Let’s look at the details.

Peacock and Apple TV Announce Bundle Price Hike

The price of the Peacock-Apple TV bundle is going up $3 per month.

If you’re paying for the bundle with the ad-supported version of Peacock, that means you can expect a 20% increase in your bill. Customers who opt for the pricier ad-free Peacock experience will see a 15% increase in monthly subscription costs.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the pricing situation:

Peacock and Apple TV have notified existing customers of this change, which will take effect on their next billing cycle. The new pricing is already live for new customers.

This decision comes after both services raised the pricing on their individual subscriptions in August.

Peacock raised its standalone prices on August 18. The ad-supported Premium plan increased from $10.99 to $12.99 per month, while the ad-free Premium Plus plan went from $16.99 to $19.99 per month.

Apple TV raised its standalone price on August 28. The monthly rate increased by $2, moving from $12.99 to $14.99 per month.

Bottom Line

The price increase is annoying, but predictable. The $14.99 price point was one of the best “discounts” for bundles on the market.

As the new standalone pricing shows, the bundle still stands out as a preferred price point for streamers who enjoy content from both platforms.

Someone who wants Apple TV would just have to pay $3 more to get access to Peacock Premium. And someone who just wants Peacock Premium would need to pay an extra $5 per month to get Apple TV.

So does that mean it’s worth keeping the bundle in spite of the price increase?

That’s up to the individual streamer, but if you’re going to pay full price for one, I think it’s worth paying a few extra bucks per month to get access to both.

I currently have this bundle as part of my personal streaming mix. And, though I’m upset about the price increase, I’m not sure that I will cancel it as a result. How about you?

Will this price increase make you change your mind about paying for these services in a bundle? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the Clark.com community.
The post 20% Price Increase Coming for This Popular Streaming TV Bundle appeared first on Clark Howard.