tv C-SPAN Weekend CSPAN September 27, 2009 6:00am-7:00am EDT
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ever since i can remember, i've been fascinated by money -- making it, saving it, studying it. by the time i was 31, i'd earned enough to retire. so i embarked on a new mission, helping you take care of your money so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. the recent flooding in the southeast was devastating. loss of lives, homes where the homes are just ruined. and you know what? most of the people who suffered flooding losses were uninsured for flood. they thought, why would i need this? i don't live in a flood plain.
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but do you know according to federal statistics, one in four houses that end up getting flooded are not in flood plains. well here's some things you need to know. first, you are not covered for floods by your regular homeowners' insurance policy. you have to buy a separate flood insurance plan. second, they're really, really cheap if you're not in a flood plain. and, third, do you know if you're a renter or you own a condo, you can buy a flood policy that will cover the contents of what you have and those policies are dirt, dirt cheap. don't leave yourself exposed to complete financial ruin. at this house, every possession of this family is gone. now, let's see what's on your @@ mind.@@ how can i help you with your wallet?@@ tokien, what has happened to you? >> caller: okay, basically i received a -- i came home from work and received a real estate
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person's card on my front door. i thought it was a little strange. i called it. they told me to contact the local bank. in regards to when i would be moving out of the residency. i didn't know anything about what was going on. as it turns out, for the last year, i've been paying my rent on time or ahead of schedule and apparently it turns out that the people that owned my house hadn't paid the mortgage in the last ten months. so, in the process of not paying the mortgage in the last ten months, the house went in to foreclosure and now the bank has the -- the house that i live in and they're telling me they want me out by sunday. >> what? >> caller: and this is thursday afternoon. and i said -- >> no, no, no, there's a law to protect you that gives you 90 days if your lease was up. was your lease still under way? >> caller: no. i had gone month-to-month. >> so if you were month-to-month, you are allowed
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to remain for a 90-day window. >> caller: by just paying -- continue to pay my rent? >> you say what address do i pay my rent to. you cite to the bank that the law is called "helping families save their homes act." but you have a right to remain and stay in that property as long as you do pay your rent each month. >> caller: because i -- i actually -- was obviously upset and i contacted the bank and the bank told me, i have no rights or basically no -- >> you don't take that! you don't take that! >> caller: right, so i contacted -- i called the court, the local courthouse and stuff to find out any information i could in regards to it. so as it turned out, i came home from work the following day and the local sheriff's department had put a notification on my door. >> easy. >> caller: saying i have seven days. >> that's easy. that's the tenant suffering. you have a right to a hearing before the judge. you file a hearing, you go
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before the magistrate, you present to the judge the statute and the judge will then find in your favor almost without question and you will have three months. what's going on in your life, james? >> caller: well, clark, first of all, i enjoy your show very much and unfortunately, i wasn't listening to it enough or i wouldn't have gotten myself in to what i got into. but if you -- >> wow, that was a mouthful. what did you get yourself into that now you wish you could get out of? >> caller: my wife lost her job about three months ago. and her 401(k) we decided to roll it over and we went down to my bank. he tried to lock me in to a variable note. i'm not a financially savvy person i'm a hard worker and so is my wife. i'm not a compulsive person. but i just jumped into it. he wanted to walk me in for eight years. it was a reputable company.
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i took a four-year plan. my question to you is, am i in a lot of trouble with this money? because they guaranteed me 7%. >> there's dozens of pages of contracts that come with that variable annuity. >> caller: yes, we got them. >> who knows what it all says about that supposed guarantee and you can't lose and all that. your wife had 401(k) money that i guess is inside an i.r.a. now at the bank. and inside the i.r.a., they did a variable annuity. does that sound right? >> caller: what we did, we had the money transferred from the varitable -- i mean from the 401(k) to the bank and the bank evidently distributed it to the -- to the company. >> but the thing is, i need for you to go back and look at that statement. >> caller: looking at it right now and it says i.r.a. >> great. when the surrender period is up on the variable annuity, your wife is free to take that money
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and put it in to whatever would be the most appropriate form of i.r.a. at that time. what we should do is you and i make an appointment. and four years from now, if that truly is when the surrender period ends on it, we'll talk it through about where would be the best place to go. and i can't stand variable annuities, especially with i.r.a. money. but it's done. and let's just do a reset once the period of time that you can move the money comes up. next on "clark howard" -- >> we should be saving a lot more than we are. because primarily, my whims, i guess you could say, and that's how i'll put it to you. i like to go on trips and on ebay and i like to do things like that. >> caller: and he said, well, you are in a contract. i said, no, i've had my alarm since 2002. how could i be in a contract. >> a-ha! a-ha! how are you in a contract? it hard to breathe.
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advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. we had a great day, grandpa! we sure did. ask your doctor how advair helps improve lung function for better breathing. (announcer) find out how to get your first full prescription free at advaircopd.com. [ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz. well, the price went down, so you're all getting a check thanks. for the difference. except for you -- you didn't book with orbitz, so you're not getting a check. well, i think we've all learned a valuable lesson today. good day, gentlemen. thanks a lot. thank you. introducing hotel price assurance, where if another orbitz customer books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically.
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you put in your user name and password. you get there and it's like ha, the joke's on you, but they've got what they want, your credit card number and checking account, and bam! they're eating up all your money. >> catch that and a lot more this sunday at 4:00 p.m. on "clark howard.@@" >> monica, how are you? >> caller: good, how are you? >> great, thank you. >> caller: i'm trying to find different ways to save money. i thought, well, let's cut the alarm off. i called to inquire about that and they said we need to let somebody call you from that department. and this guy did. he said well, you're in a contract. i said, no, i had my alarm since 2002, how can i be in a contract?
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>> a-ha! a-ha! how are you in a contract? >> caller: he says, well, if you look at your contract, it will automatically renew in the same terms. >> what are the terms of your sleazy contract? >> caller: well, it's a three-year term that started in october of 2002 at $29.99 per month. >> $30 a month! $30 a month? $30 a month? >> something strange on the radar screen. >> caller: we live in a -- >> monica, the money police are on their way to your house to take your wallet away from you. read to me what the contract says about how it automatically renews. does it say you have a five-day period every three years to notify them by certified mail that you're not renewing your contract? i've seen that before. >> caller: you have a 30-day. i thought that was wrong. i told them you're taking advantage of people. >> of course they are.
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you can try to play hardball but you'll likely lose. >> caller: really. >> because you're in the contract where awe greed to the sleazoid rollover clause. if you choose not to pay them anymore, they will, a, either sue you against the contract, or, b, they will try to ruin your credit with a collection agency. and neither are very appetizing things to do. so the way i would look at it is if you could somehow come up with the $25 a month, make sure you mark all over your calendar when the contract is up. give them a notice in the 30-day window by certified mail and be done with them. the greatest thing you've done is you've warned so many people listening right now what to look out for. do you have a question for me? it's so easy to ask. all you do is go to
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cnn.com/clarkhoward and click on our video submission button. if you do so, i might be answering your question the next time you tune in. just as i'm doing with mike and tina. >> i'm mike. >> and i'm tina. >> and we need a money coach. we've been fortunate and very blessed. we made some good financial decisions. and therefore we paid off our home. i guess i learned a lot of my financial responsibility from my mother. she raised three children by herself and she had to be frugal with her money. and as an adult, i've always been frugal with mine. we should be saving a lot more than we are because primarily my whims, i guess you would say, and i think that's how i'll put it to you, because i like to go on trips and i like to go on ebay and i like to do things like that. there's a lot of money just kind of disappears. we don't track it. my question is, we bought an older home. we're going to do some home improvements.
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roof, heat and air system, et cetera. how should we budget for these upcoming needs? >> well, mike, first thing's first, how neat is it that the two of you own your house free and clear. you've got tens of thousands of dollars in savings and cds, but there is a weak link here. you got almost no money saved for retirement. and you still have time to play catchup. all right. how do you do the retirement thing? how do you pay for the repairs your house is going to need? you are actually going to have to fund both at once. what you're going to have to do is put 15 cents of every dollar that both of you make in to savings. a dime of every dollar towards retirement, a nickel of every dollar in to a house maintenance fund or in to your rainy day stuff that you're doing with bank cds and savings. that way, you'll start to build up a stash of cash. i wish all 15% could go towards retirement, because you're
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starting a little later. but at least get that dime on a dollar done. as for you -- a dime on a dollar is a magic number. if you, through your entire working lifetime, will save a dime of every dollar you make, it means that by the time you retire, you should be able to retire with some level of comfort. if your investments do really well, it might be a little more comfortable even than some level. next on "clark howard" -- >> caller: but we're still talking somewhere around $30,000 and pretty high interest rates on all of it. >> wow, $30,000 in credit card debt? >> caller: yes, sir.yb line masca makes my lashes look amazing! i'll have to use my powers wisely. with unbeatable prices on maybelline pulse perfection mascara, beauty costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart.
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j.r., you have a question for me about dealing with some debt that's bugging you. tell me about that. >> caller: yes, sir, hey, clark, i've got some debt from when i was back in college, or actually out of college after september 11 trying to find a job. so, anyways, we got married and we've been able to pay off a little bit of the debt, but we're still talking somewhere around $30,000 and pretty high interest rate on all of it. >> wow. $30,000 in credit card debt? >> caller: yes, sir. >> what kind of family income do you have now?
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>> caller: well, if it's before -- obviously no bonus this year, so we're probably looking at about $59,000. >> again, you're at that key trigger you may have heard me talk about in that your credit card debt is half of your income. >> caller: right. >> are you thinking of going to nfcc to negotiate for you? or what are you thinking of doing about this? >> caller: right, that's what i'm thinking of. you talked about the nonprofit service that could potentially help. so we're -- what we're thinking about doing is going to them, trying to get them to set out a plan for us so we can cut all of the interest rates that have an end to it. >> what interest rate does this debt carry generally? >> caller: anywhere from about -- somewhere between 15% up to 28%. >> there's no way. unless suddenly your income were to double, that you're going to be able with interest rate carrying like that, to do this. i think it does make perfect
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sense for you to go to a national foundation for credit counseling affiliate. >> caller: here's the question i have, though. hopefully -- our goal is to try to get into a -- we own a condo and the idea is that maybe in a couple of years we'd be able to sell it. will that hinder us from looking at getting a new house? >> yes, during the time you still owe money, that will hurt your ability to buy a house. you can go to nfcc and see if they can come up with some budget that would work for you. that would not hurt you at all. and could be of help to you. but if you find that you need to go in to the debt management plan, yes, that would freeze you from buying a house while you're still in the payment plan. todd is with us. hello, todd. >> caller: hi, clark. >> how are you doing? >> caller: i'm doing great, yourself? >> wonderful, thank you. what are you thinking of doing with your wallet?
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>> caller: well, years ago, i opened a traditional i.r.a. before i started listening to your program. so over the years, i accumulated some money and then i started listening to your program and you talk a lot about the roth i.r.a.s. >> yeah. >> caller: so i'm kind of wanting to move all that money in to the roth i.r.a. but the company i have my traditional i.r.a. says it will cost me a lot of money in penalties, fees, i would have to pay some taxes. >> there's no penalty at all for going from a regular i.r.a. to a roth. you have to meet an income threshold, which is you have to earn less than $100,000 a year. but in 2010, there is no income limit. >> caller: okay. >> but what you do have to pay, not penalty, but you pay tax as
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if you earned that money. in this year, you would pay the tax come april. if you wait until january, the tax is spread over 2011 and 2012 doing a conversion from a regular i.r.a. to a roth. are you sitting there with a lot of cash just going unloved in your life that you could use to pay the tax bill that would be due on converting a regular i.r.a. into a roth? >> caller: no. not really. >> then don't even think about it. >> caller: right now, i'm just working part time. i lost my full-time job. so i'm not making a whole lot. >> whatever you can start putting in to a roth now moving forward each year rather than contributing to a regular i.r.a. would be to your advantage, at least all future i.r.a. contributions should be roth i.r.a. instead of regular. >> caller: wow, clark, thank you so much. that's exactly what i needed to know. >> and i want to wish you the best in the job market. i'm sorry it's been tough out
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there going full-time to part-time. the economy is recovering, jobs recover later. but eventually, they do come back. do you know that car rental companies being on the financial ropes have been in the best position of anybody in the travel business to do something about the country being in a recession? they've simply reduced the number of car rentals they have in their fleets. you think about hotels, they don't shut all of the hotels. airlines? what do they do? they park a lot of planes in the desert, but they're expensive. car rental companies can simply say we're not going to buy as many new cars for this next cycle. that's what they've done, reducing the number of cars they have on hand by large numbers -- meaning car rental prices are going up, not down in the down economy. how should you beat it? shop multiple companies and try hotwire and priceline for big savings on car rentals.
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ever since i can remember, i've been fascinated by money. making it, saving it, studying it. by the time i was 31, i had earned enough to retire. so i embarked on a new mission -- helping you take care of your money, so you can save more. spend less. and avoid getting ripped off. >> now from his radio studio, your money expert, clark howard. >> all right, i am really excited. why? because i'm a travel nut. and if you are a travel nut, too, and you can afford to go somewhere and you have the time, this fall is your friend. because the travel business flat out doesn't have any customers.
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i saw a report recently from the website, hotels.com, that the average hotel rate in the united states is down by 17% this year from a year ago. that is a huge drop in price. i've even gotten some rooms recently using priceline and hotwire that are in the 30s per night. these aren't flea bags. every sector of travel you look at is a real deal in the time period leading up to just before thanksgiving. you want to fly somewhere -- the bargains are everywhere. and especially not just in the united states, but to the caribbean and to europe. how about cruises? the fall is always value time on cruises, but especially this year. one thing that's not a bargain right now -- car rentals. car rental rates are actually going up. but maybe you could walk once now it's time for your what's on your wallet's mind?
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henry is with us. henry? supposedly we're out of recession. and it doesn't feel like it to you today, does it? >> caller: no, sir. our company filed chapter 11 bankruptcy. what does that mean for our 401(k)? >> all right, 401(k) assets should be in the hands of a 401(k) administrator. and the money that you have in the account is your money and cannot be seized as part of you employer's chapter 11. i will tell you, though, that your last couple of payroll deductions for your 401(k) may not have ever made it to the 401(k) plan administrator. and that money may be lost in space. but your actual 401(k) account -- you get a statement from -- from an outside company, right? for your 401(k). >> caller: yes -- yes, sir.
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>> that money stays with them and is at no risk from the employer filing bankruptcy. >> caller: the thing that concerns me with the 401(k) is we all quit contributing to our 401(k) in july and we do -- we cannot get any answers about how we can move our money to a -- to a vanguard or whatever. >> your money -- if you have stopped contributing back in the summer, then you don't have to worry about what i said about how some of your money may have been lost. >> caller: yes, sir. >> if the administrator for the plan continues to administer the plan just as they did before. so you cannot move your money from them as long as you stay employed with the employer. if the employer were to later not make it in bankruptcy and they shut down -- >> caller: yes, sir. >> then your 401(k) money becomes available to each of you and that's when you can move your money to wherever you want in an i.r.a. >> caller: yes, sir, okay.
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>> so that part is nothing to worry. that money is safe. and that money will be there for you with the bank and then ultimately for your retirement. ashley is with us on the "clark howard show." ashley, how are you? >> caller: i'm fine, clark. good to talk with you. >> good to have you along. i understand you have a mortgage dilemma you want to run by me. are you buying a property or refi'ing one? >> caller: we are thinking of buying a new property. >> so you are the one person in america who is thinking of buying a home. >> caller: we're going to sell our home first. that may be a challenge, but assuming we can sell our home, we are on the market. the problem we're having is i've talked with several mortgage brokers and they have told me in the price range we're looking for, we're going to need to make a downpayment of 20% because it's in the jumbo loan range.
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and so it's -- it's frustrating because we feel like we can definitely afford the monthly payments, and we've got enough for a downpayment that would be in excess of 10%. but getting to -- across the 20% mark would definitely be probably beyond what we could do immediately. i have had one broker suggest that we could do soft of a piggyback loan where you have the first mortgage up to just under the jumbo loan limit, and you put a second mortgage on top of that. that would be an extremely high rate. he suggested that would probably be 9%. >> all right, i don't see that as an outsized risk on your part. >> caller: okay. >> i don't see that as a horrible thing. what other options are you looking at? >> caller: i got one other suggestion. i think i know what your response to this suggestion would be.
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one of the brock brokers i spoke to said i ought to borrow money from my 401(k) to try to get across the 20% mark. >> as long as the borrowing rate is reasonable on the 401(k), i hope that lightning doesn't strike me down right now -- i think that that would be an acceptable way for you to get to 20%. but i don't dismiss out of hand what you're thinking of doing. because if you can called me up and said we have no downpayment money at all but we can come up with it borrowing from our 401(k), that would show me no discipline and no habit of saving money on your part. i would say no way you should do that. because it helps you close a gap, i think that would be a reasonable way for you to get it done. next on "clark howard" -- >> i want to be financially secure. that would mean no mortgage, cash in the bank. where i would be able to live off of my investments. they said that in seven
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years, they have never failed to return somebody less than -- how much money? >> caller: $53,000. it's like -- [ mooing ] >> you hear the manure coming out of that cow, right?ot he new. 's not the new bmw. it'sbot the new audi. what it is... is impossible to resist. the new twenty-ten lacrosse from buick. it's the new class of world class.
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[ birds squawking ] [ moos ] [ man announcing ] if you think about it, this is what makes theladders different from other job search sites. we only want the big jobs. welcome to theladders. a premium job site for only $100k+ jobs and only $100k+ talent. welcome to progressive. how may i help you? i'm looking for a deal on car insurance. i think i might have a coupon in here. there's an easier way. we've got the "name your price" option. you do? follow me. you tell us how much you want to pay, and we'll build you a policy that fits your budge@e and i still get great coverage? uh-huh.
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go ahead. you're the boss. i'm the boss of savings. more like the c.e.o. oh, oh. no glass ceiling. the freedom to name your price. now, that's progressive. call or click today. lisa is with us. hi, lisa. >> caller: hey, how are you? >> good. leesars you're doing things in the right order. you want to run something by me to make sure it's not a scam. >> caller: yes, i do, very much so. >> what is it that you had the offer of? >> caller: i got contacted by an agency that told me basically
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that if i give them $2,000 that they'll fill out the paperwork and do all of the work of finding grants for me and they are -- out of the seven years they've been working or what not, they never returned less than $53,000 worth of grants to somebody. and i already kind of gotten ripped off by a grant-writing company, so i'm not very quick to jump at this. >> they said in seven years, they have never failed to return somebody less than -- how much money? >> caller: $53,000. [ mooing ] >> you hear the manure coming out of that cow, right? >> caller: yeah. >> yep, bull manure. in fact, this is -- if they've been scamming people for seven years, that's seven years too long. this is an old-timey scam with
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organizations saying they have the secret inside scoop on grants and you pay them the money and they're going to get that money for you many times over. and that has been around as an oldie but baddy. they don't have your credit card number or checking account number? >> caller: no, negative. definitely not. >> al right, i just breathed a whole lot easier at that point. this is completely bogus. if the clown calls you back again, tell whoever it is who calls you -- tell that person that i said they were a crook, that they should be ashamed of themselves, spell my name and give that hoodlum my phone number, and i'm happy to say right to that individual what a creep they are. i'm so glad you're staying out of harm's way. do you want me to be your money coach? well, here's what you've got to do.
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go to cnn..com/clarkhoward. then you'll see our video submission button. you submit your question to me and, voila, you might be with me on the tv just like chris. hi, my name is chris and i need a money coach. i hope to retire in nine years. i just need to know where to put my money. i've been saving money for the past several years. i have some money in an i.r.a. with vanguard and several other i.r.a.s. then i've managed to save some cash on the side. i don't have any debt. i want to be financially secure. that would mean no mortgage, cash in the bank where i would be able to live off of my investments. my question is, how do i protect what i have while being somewhat aggressive in planning for the future? >> chris, you are handling money so well. think about this. by the time you plan to retire, you will have no mortgage. you carry no credit card debt or any other personal debt. and, you've been saving money
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like clockwork, saving for the future. but did you ever make me nervous by saying, do i need to be more aggressive with my investments? all right, this is what i want you to think about. if you look at how many years you are away from retirement, you can't be too aggressive because you wouldn't have time to recover if the markets tanked. at your age, you should have somewhere around 40% to 50% of all your savings in stock-type choices. the other half needs to be more conservatively invested in bond-type choices, cds, savings accounts, so that you don't put yourself too much at risk. now, let's say you're in your 20s or 30s. you're in a completely different position and situation. it's fine for you to overwhelmingly -- and you should, actually -- go into the stock-type choices available to you in a retirement plan at work, like a 401(k), or if you do a roth account, a form of
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retirement account that use after-tax dollars. and the most important thing if you're younger, save like a maniac. you'll be amazed how much money you'll end up with by the time you do decide you don't want to work anymore. next on "clark howard" -- >> well, all that stuff is going to take seven years from not when you turned 18, but when you stopped paying on all of these things. it will be seven years before those things completely stop harming you. >> caller: wow, that's not good. whoooa, heyyy ! see, the terms require that you keep the bike within this pre-determined space. if you want to take the bike out, i'm going to have to charge you a penalty. i can't really ride in this little space. you can't ride very far. even kids know an offer shouldn't come ha, ha, ha... with ridiculous conditions. why don't banks ? at ally bank our 9-month no penalty cd gives you a great rate
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with no fees for early withdrawal. it's just the right thing to do. so i'm packing my own lunch now-- for less than $3. thanks to walmart. just two times a week saves my family over $500 a year. save money. live better. walmart. hearing the ice cream truck? just two times a week saves my family over $500 a year. in poland, cargill borrowed the idea for something quite different. small polish farms had difficulty getting affordable feed for their smaller herds of animals. so cargill created a way to bring the feed directly to them. on musical delivery trucks... selling a few bags per visit. keeping the small farmers competitive... and their animals happier.
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this is how cargill works with customers. jason joins us. hi, jason. >> hey, clark, how are you? >> i'm doing great, thank you. you want to go back to your teenage years? >> caller: that is correct. when i was 18, 19, i took out some student loans. i also took out a personal loan from a credit union. and also had purchased a vehicle with my grandfather as a co-signer.
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however, i let all of those things get away from me. i decided to get in to music and do the musician thing and i didn't end up paying for a lot of them. my credit is not in the best of shape. i need to figure out because i have no idea how to get it back on track with a good credit score. i haven't had any credit cards or anything like that. >> first, on the student loans, you know you have to bring the student loans current. >> caller: okay. >> of the things you mentioned, the student loans are the one thing that will follow you the rest of your life if you don't make amends on those. >> caller: okay. >> so, the first step to getting your credit on the right path. >> caller: mm-hmm. >> you need to go meet with a default counselor. i would get started with that. now you said your granddad co-signed the car loan. >> caller: yes, sir, the car got repossessed. >> it did. you're paying off the balance? >> caller: the balance. >> well, that's good. you're cleaning that up.
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all that stuff is going to take seven years from not when you turned 18, but when you stopped paying on all of these things. it will be seven years before those things completely stop harming you. that means you're not far away from the negative of these things disappearing from your report. although the items stay on your report for seven years, the good news for you is that once you pay them off, that instantly raises your score a lot. but i have no worry about you, jason. because you made no excuses. you took full responsibility. and now you're making good on the money. i think you're going to be fine with how you handle money the rest of your life. john, how are you doing? >> caller: i'm doing well, how are you? >> good, thank you, john. you are a landlord like me. is that right? >> caller: i am a landlord just within the past two years.
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i have two three units, two triplexes which i have a lease option on. and i'm two years in to that. and the remaining units i have through seller financing. >> wait, wait -- you are such a good sales person that you have convinced all of these people to sell you places and finance the purchases for you? >> caller: yes. only two different individuals and the term is great. but the terms i've got 3% at -- on a 15-year. and i've got a five-year balloon. so my question is -- you know, well, one, i would like the seller to be able to report to a credit agency on my behalf. >> because you're trying to establish a track record so that you, then, can qualify for a loan when the balloon hits? >> caller: correct, right. >> right.
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i have a suggestion for you. because it's going to be hard for you to make that happen. you're trying to get a square peg to fit in a round hole. you need to get with a local community bank where you go and you meet with the president of that bank. >> caller: okay. >> you might want to go to two or three of them. and you go in and you sit down with the president of the bank and you lay out for him or her what it is you're doing. you have your financials for them, and you tell them what your needs are. >> caller: okay. >> and that is how you, as an entrepreneur, build up a long successful relationship with a bank. because you're never going to make that happen with one of the giant banks. and i think that it's really exciting that you've been able to be so persuasive to get people to owner finance. i think you'll be equally as successful persuading banks to be your partner.
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i hate to ever talk about a problem to which i can't offer you an easy remedy or solution. but there's something going on out there that i feel i just got to tell you. and there are precautions you should take to protect yourself. did you know, according to "the washington post," you can hire companies -- a strange term for it -- you can hire hackers on the web for $30 or more to crack somebody else's e-mail password? so that you can go in to their account and snoop around? who's doing this the most often? well it's a spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend who's worried that somebody's cheating, but it could also be used for any of a number of dishonest purposes, including corporate espionage or finding out information about your finances. so here's what you need to know -- the hackers are going to be able to break in if somebody's determined. but you need to be careful what you store in your e-mail they could gain access to.
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next on "clark howard" -- >> now in the 403(b) in my new profession. i need to build it up quicker with 25 years left to work. how do i go about doing it? >> well, you have a double opportunity here. could someone toss me an eleven sixteenths wrench over here? here you go. eleven sixteenths... (announcer) from designing some of the world's cleanest and most fuel-efficient jet engines... to building more wind turbines than anyone in the country... the people of ge are working together... creating innovation today for america's tomorrow. thanks! no problem!
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