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Today's show featured "Best Of Clark" repeats from recent shows

For many years, the Big 3 discount investing houses -- Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard -- operated on a simple full service vs. self service model. You could either pay them to handle your investments or you could do it yourself.

But now most of those companies offer an in-between option that's like limited service.

You could have knocked Clark over with a feather when he learned that Vanguard is offering some level of advice and charging you for it. That's never been their modus operandi, but now this option is available for a charge of less than 1% for those with at least $500K.

It's like the whole investing world has turned on its axis! This new investing model among the Big 3 is really a result of the "dot.bomb" era, when people lost confidence in making their own financial decisions and never regained it.

There's often a gatekeeper at your doctor's office that won't let you talk to the doctor. They'll make an appointment for you, but they won't let you speak directly to him or her over the phone. After all, doctors don't get paid to just talk, right?

Well, now Aetna and Cigna are reimbursing doctors for online virtual visits. You can chat directly with your doctor over the Internet. This creates a market incentive and saves the insurers a ton of money. The fees they disburse for online appointments are less than they'd pay out for an actual visit.

Meanwhile, the CDC reports that visits to the doctor are up 20% over the last 5 years. With fewer general practitioners than ever, that's a train-wreck waiting to happen. Clark has long advocated for nurse-in-a-box practices to alleviate the crunch.

The Los Angeles Times recently published a list of the 10 top issues that doctors are most asked about during Internet visits. Not as much fun as a Letterman list, but here goes: No. 1 medications; No.2 sinus problems; No. 3 back problems; No. 4 colds and flu; No. 5 test results; No. 6 coughs; No. 7 follow-up on surgery or another procedure; No. 8 headaches; No. 9 fevers; and No. 10 asthma.

RIP-OFF ALERT: Clark gets very steamed whenever he hears about children or seniors getting ripped off.

Here's a scenario that affects the latter group: Clark has been getting a lot of reverse mortgage questions. Reverse mortgages offer a way for retired folks who are running out of cash to be able to remain in their home and get a check each month by borrowing against the value of the property. This can be a good option if you don't want a family member to inherit the house, but historically the fees on reverse mortgages have been too high.

Now Kiplinger's reports that insurance salesmen and women are convincing seniors to do reverse mortgages, cash out the value of their homes and…you guessed it…buy variable annuities. AARP finds that 1 in 10 people doing reverse mortgages were conned into doing so with the promise of such pseudo-investments.

This is unconscionable. Clark doesn't know what goes on in the minds of the banks, brokerage houses and insurance companies who push these modified reverse mortgages. The variable annuity shtick is bad enough, but it's really infuriating that they're pouring salt into a wound by stripping the equity from a home.

Clark believes it's not enough to fine people who push this stuff; the only way to stop this is to send them to prison. The fines that can be levied are never enough and just reinforce the idea that crime pays. So you must be the cop on the beat for your elderly relatives. Be nosy and find out what's going in their lives. Hopefully they were there for you as a young person, so try returning the favor by being there for them in a time of need.

Clark has a longstanding beef with his nephew David, who is addicted to frequent flyer mileage programs and jumps through all kinds of hoops to accumulate miles.

Here's what David doesn't understand: There's an industry-wide trend of airlines devaluing frequent flyer miles. U.S. Airways is just the latest example; they're making the miles tougher to redeem and earn. Having a stockpile of miles is like having a reverse savings account -- the value leeches out of them everyday.

What if you use a credit card that earns frequent flyer miles? Clark would prefer that you ditch it and get a card that pays you cash instead. With cash, there are no restrictions on when you can use it.

Our senior producer Kim is one of those people conned by the mileage programs. She once redeemed miles and had to fly to the wrong city, while changing planes 2 times to get there and 2 more times to go home. That's a lot of work to take a "free" trip.

So what should you do with your mileage balances? The full-fare airlines are adding international routes all the time. Look for new service announcements on their websites and jump when you get the opportunity.