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Today's topics are "Best Of Clark" repeats from recent shows

Clark is not a big fan of gift cards, as you may or may not know. And Simon gift cards are on his list, in particular. The Simon company has existed for years on taking people’s money over time. People buy a Simon gift card for someone, but if the recipient takes a while to use it, the money starts to vanish. Non-use fees, expiration fees, whatever you want to call them. This card is designed to take the money so you can’t use it. And apparently, the company is going to stick around for a while longer. Simon just won in a suit that had reached the Georgia Supreme Court, trying to prevent the company from existing. The good news in Clark’s opinion is that gift card sales have actually leveled off this past year. Gift card sales had been going up for years. But hopefully people are catching on and reaching a limit.

People often buy a car this time of year. So, do you know about how much it takes to go one mile in a car? Typically, it’s more than 50 cents a mile. You probably think gas has a lot to do with that, but the big money is actually in depreciation. That’s a fancy way of saying your car loses value over time. The first year of ownership, it loses the most value. Then, after several years it levels out. In addition to depreciation, you have maintenance, insurance and repairs. So, Clark wants you to be smart when buying a car. First of all, buy Consumer Reports’ annual car buying guide. It comes out every April and is on news stands now. In it, cars are rated on the quality of car and the type of repair record the car has. Secondly, once you’ve figured out what cars you might want, test drive them. The best thing to do is rent a car for a few days – maybe from Enterprise or Hertz, which have neighborhood offices. A lot of rental cars sit in lots on the weekend and will cost you very little to rent. Once you’ve got it narrowed down, go to carsdirect.com and figure out what you should be paying. Once you’re at the dealership, pay only what the car is worth and no more. If you don’t want to deal with that often unpleasant experience, buy through one of the car-buying programs at a warehouse club or at carsdirect.com. Just make sure you have your financing all ready before you buy. In addition, if you buy from a dealership, the dealer is going to try and sell you an extended warranty. Clark is neutral on car warranties, but you should not need one if the car is reliable. And don't deal with the trade-in until you've negotiated a price on the car.

Clark has been telling you about the corruption going on in student loan programs at colleges these days. Well, there is a new even more unbelievable chapter in this scandal. Not only are these lenders convincing financial aid employees to push their products by giving them kickbacks and buyoffs. Now, when people call the college financial aid offices, callers are actually rerouted to the lender’s office. The banking salespeople answering the phone introduce themselves as college employees. It has happened at Texas Tech University, where the skuzzy lenders are answering the phones “Texas Tech Financial Center.” In fact, the lenders aren’t allowed to say who they are, even if a caller asks. The head of financial aid at Texas Tech said it would confuse people if the lender employees answered the phone with their true identities. How did financial aid get so corrupt? Just remember that you can’t trust these offices and you need to do the work yourself if you have a son or daughter in college.

Clark is a big fan of the “minute clinics” that are popping up in grocery stores and department stores. They provide quick, efficient service and they cost less than a visit to an actual doctor’s office. There is a shortage of primary care doctors these days, in part because they’ve been crushed financially by insurance companies. In fact, in the beach area where Clark has a vacation home, pediatricians have refused to take on any new patients. More often, doctors are going into specialties because it’s the only way they can make real money. So, we’re headed for a time when the point of contact is going to be a nurse or nurse practitioner. Speaking of, Harris did a survey of the “nurse-in-a-box” clinics, and 90 percent of people are happy with the care. Some people worry about the quality of care from a nurse. But people who’ve actually seen a nurse at one of the clinics are overwhelmingly happy with the care.