Let's say good morning now to the host of How to Money on KFI, Joel Larsgard.
Morning, Joel, Morning Amy.
Okay, so I think I finally got a four K TV, and now I'm supposed to double it.
I know, I was shocked. I didn't realize that this was this technology had hit already. But apparently eight K TVs are a thing. So, yes, four K is this brilliant resolution, the likes of which my childhood self cannot even imagine, you know, watching playing his eight bit Nintendo on a crummy television, and then you had the tube TVs that were better. But like you remember how heavy
those things were. I still remember trying to move out of an apartment with one of those things and it was like four hundred pounds.
Oh, I threw out my back moving when I had a trolley on it. I was moving it and it was it was like a thirty two inch TV. Yeah it was. It weighed like four hundred pounds and I my back was damaged for like six months. Yeah.
They weren't even like that large from a screen size, but the heft of those things was inside. And so then now we have these like light TVs that are easy to mount on the wall and they're in. You know, the picture on them is incredibly good, and now we're
being asked to upgrade again. This is like a new Samsung product that's supposedly gives you eight K programming, although let's say how much of the programming is actually being shot in that higher resolution is another question You should be asking whether you're gonna get the biggest bang for your buck out of this TV. But even seeing that basically said, hey, we don't think it makes sense. We don't think these things are worth the money. People should
not upgrade to these fancier new TVs. And I tend to agree, not because I know a whole lot about resolution on big screen sizes, but they basically say, hey, the picture quality is pretty similar to like the Oled TVs that that are four K. And I think it's one of those things too, where the price tag is going to come down significantly in the coming years. When you look at TV technology, that is one of those mainstays, or has been for many many years, is that prices
just keep going down, so don't buy. It's kind of that pioneers get slaughtered sort of thing, where if you buy the expensive eight KTV, Well, you might not have the programming that's going to match the resolution. And then on top of that, you spent way too much because if you just waited a couple of years, you're going to get it for a whole lot less.
Yeah, speaking of coming down, I was in Costco the other day and they had a fifty five inch TV for three hundred and twenty nine dollars.
I mean, I believe it, and think about like on Black Friday. I don't remember exactly what they came down to, but pretty sure you could get fifty five ers for like one hundred and eighty bucks or something like that. I mean, when the deals hit in November and January, that's typically the best time to buy a TV. The prices are insane. And sixty five inches remember how those used to cost so much and those are kind of
the new fifty five inch. You can get a sixty five inch four KTV for very little money these days if you're shopping sales. So yeah, I'm also partial to just owning fewer TVs and watching less TV in general.
Okay, So, and what is the price tag on these eight ks TV? Splitting?
So it depends on the size, but we're talking like three thousand dollars I think for the sixty five inches probably what you're gonna pay. Whereas when you think about the four K equivalent, you're you're talking about a fraction of that.
And like you said, how many are shooting in eight K? So even if you get the eight K, do you really get the benefit of it unless it's specifically shot in that resolution? Right?
Yep, at some point we'll start to see the movie studios, the television shows being sought in even higher definition, and these TVs might make sense like years down the road, but just not yet.
All right, So let's talk price locks. I know, are you talking about on mortgages or what are you talking about? No?
So this it's interesting more companies are saying, especially with all the tariff uncertainty, hey, why don't we do you a solid and give you a guaranteed price lock on our service for a few years. And so this is kind of one of those things that's seen as like an olive branch to consumers to make them feel a little bit better and realize, okay, cool, well I can just the price is the price for the next three years. I don't have to worry about them raising it on me.
And I think maybe in some cases, in particular, if you're working with like a local service company, that might give you some peace of mind. But it's interestingly enough, I actually think this is a bad thing in many ways. So this is like Verizon and T Mobile are the ones who kind of launched this thing, saying, hey, for the next three years, we're going to guarantee pricing, join us and just we'll ensure that you don't have any
sort of increase in your monthly bill. And that sounds super nice, and you're like, oh man, these benevolent, big companies are trying to do right by me at a time of price uncertainty. But I think, actually, interesting enough, similar to TVs, the price of cell phone service has gone down over the past few years, and so a
price lock actually, while it sounds benevolent, isn't. And probably what it'll do is prevent people from shopping around like they should with some of those MB and O carriers, the mobile virtual network operator carriers like Mint and US Mobile, who are two of the best. If you shop around, you're gonna save a bunch versus going with the biggest companies.
And so I think a lot of people are gonna see this price lock and they're gonna say, oh yeah, inflation tariffs, I should be worried about costs going up. Let me sign up for this, and ultimately it's actually going to cost them more by opting for the price lock.
Okay, so be careful of price locks. And then real quick, we had talked about overdraft fees that were you know, they're like thirty five forty bucks, and the Biden administration said, nope, we're going to cut them to five dollars. So what's happening with that now?
Yes, So, I mean, as as the writing's been on the wall, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is has been gutted, and a lot of the lawsuits that were taking place against some big companies in the United States against some financial companies are kind of going by the wayside. And this is one of those things where, hey, overdraft fees, that that proposal will bring them down to five bucks.
Across the board, it's gone too And interestingly enough, I don't necessarily think this is a big deal because if you're with the banks that I talk about regularly, there are no overdraft fees with those banks. So if you are with Well Fargo, for instance, thirty five bucks a pop. Chase, they're a little nicer, thirty four bucks a pop. Bank of America Nice, are still ten dollars a pop for those overdraft fees. But if you're with Capital One discover
ally ciit. The banks I mentioned regularly on how to Money, you're paying zero dollars like, they don't charge overdraft fees. So this is kind of a question of the open market and the competition in the banking sector. There are a lot of great banks out there who don't charge
any overdraft fees at all already. So yeah, I get that some people might be bummed that these overdraft protection rules aren't coming into being, but I also think there are a whole lot of great choices already out there for folks, Okay.
So shop around. So for more great tips on how to money, you can listen to Joel. He's around every Sunday from noon to two on how to Money at right here at CAFI Easy Easy And if you want to follow Joel and get more great tips and tricks throughout the week at how to Money. Joel.
Thanks Joelarge Card, Thanks Amy.
All right, take care