08.20.25 Where The Jobs Are / The More Versatile 529 Plan

The Clark Howard Podcast

Clark Howard

Business, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.6 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A rapidly changing job market calls for reassessment and thinking outside the box. And maybe outside your town. Clark seeks to help open your mind on 3 fronts in the quest for satisfying employment. Also, 529 Plans just got even better, with new ways to utilize them for non-traditional education. Job Assessment: Segment 1 Ask Clark: Segment 2 New Possibilities With 529 Plans: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: Axios: Where the jobs are How To Find a Job in a Frozen Market 5 midsize U.S. cities driving small-business growth Is Now a Good Time To Buy an Electric Vehicle? Should You Ever Lease a Car? Report: These 10 Vehicles Are the Best for the Money in 2025 Best 529 College Savings Plans By State 529 to Roth IRA: Rollover Rules, Conversion Guide, and FAQs How to Get Financial Affairs In Order Before Death or Disability Subscription Services: Why Canceling Is So Hard (and a Solution) ESPN and FOX Join Forces on New Streaming TV BundleIs Is Sling’s New Subscription Option the Sneaky Way To Watch Football in 2025? Streaming TV Tool: Find Cheapest Way to Stream Your Favorite TV Channels Clark.com resources Episode transcripts Community.Clark.com / Ask Clark Clark.com daily money newsletter Consumer Action Center Free Helpline: 636-492-5275 Learn more about your ad choices: megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show.
0:08.0	You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life.
0:16.8	I want to remind you that our Team Clark Consumer Action Center is here to serve you by answering your questions one-on-one.
0:26.4	It's free.
0:27.5	You can find out how to reach them at clark.com slash CAC.
0:34.1	Today, I'm going to begin by talking about the job market.
0:38.4	There's something that is a trend that may be your friend in a time that the job market is not being your friend at all.
0:49.2	Also, there are new ways that the 529 plan has become a universal option for parents to put money in,
1:01.1	where before it was just college, college, college.
1:04.4	Not anymore.
1:06.0	I'm going to fill you in on what you need to know why 529s are so valuable for your children. So the job market is
1:14.6	frozen. There are any of a number of factors, but the job market is not horrible when you look at
1:23.3	the headline unemployment number, but the job market is not healthy.
1:28.8	There's something that economists look at closely, and that's something known as
1:33.7	labor force participation. And gosh, it's crazy. More than one third of Americans and prime
1:42.5	working age are not working right now.
1:46.9	Many have given up trying to find work.
1:51.5	So the headline unemployment number right now is 4.something percent changes a little bit
1:57.6	month by month.
1:58.8	But the reality is employers are not, as a general rule,
2:04.5	doing hiring. There's too much economic uncertainty, trying to figure out planning at a company
2:11.5	with how weird it's been with all the tariff stuff. Things are kind of in a freeze. And so people may lose
	...

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