If you have ears or eyes, it’s pretty much guaranteed you’ve heard or read an urban legend. It’s the kind of thing which usually starts with “a friend of a friend told me that…” and goes on to describe some cool-sounding life hack or shocking fact which raises your eyebrows and intrigues you.

Rather than being completely false, urban legends usually begin with a grain of truth and are then exaggerated to within an inch of their life. Because of the truth element, they’re often quite believeable by even the smartest people.

To add to the confusion, some urban legends have actually been proved to be true, such as the one about the real body hanging in a funhouse, or the fact that Disneyland used to prohibit long-haired males from entering the park.

Urban legends exist for pretty much every area of life, but for the purposes of this post I’m going to look at some of the more common money-related myths and commonly held beliefs. I’ll throw the odd true one in there too!

The anti-counterfit strip in paper money can be used to track the notes

FALSE

The earliest reference of this legend I could find was 2001, and it claimed that the source was told by a bank teller that the plastic strip on the US banknote was actually put there as a way for the government to see, via satellite, how much cash an individual was carrying at any given time.

Another version of the myth is that airport security uses special scanners to see how much cash travellers have; too much and you could be detained as a smuggler.

Having a prayer room in your home exempts you from council tax

FALSE

Until I began researching this article I’d never heard of this myth but apparently it originated as a racist myth in forums, and was subsequently believed by enough people to award it urban legend status.

But, unless the building is a certified place of worship (which a private family home is not), still council tax needs to be paid at the going rate.

A large proportion of dollar bills contain trace amounts of cocaine

TRUE (sort of)

People hearing this story believe that the trace amounts of cocaine are there because of the bill having been used to snort lines of it, and by using the bills they’re at risk of getting high, done for possession, or worse. But this isn’t strictly true.

In actual fact, if just one bill in a cashier’s drawer or bank’s sorting machine was used in this way, all of the other notes in there could become contaminated too.

But because the amount is so negligible, only those with jobs requiring them to handle huge amounts of money on a daily basis (bank tellers, casino workers etc) are at any risk whatsoever. However, the fact remains that yes, there are notes out there with traces of cocaine, but the method of contamination isn’t quite as people often believe.

Writing a cheque in red ink delays the verification process for longer

FALSE

The myth goes that as cheque-scanning machines can’t read red ink, the cheque floats in the system longer, giving the writer more time before the funds disappear from their account.

While it’s true that most cheque scanning machines can’t in fact read red ink, it’s not to the benefit of the writer. What’s more likely to happen, and indeed has, is that the cheque will be marked ‘blank’ and returned as a bounced payment, or even result in your account closed under suspicion of fraud.

So if you do still use cheques, make sure you keep a blue or black pen with your book at all times!

I guess the moral here is to take anything related to money with a pinch of salt, unless coming from a reliable source like a bank manager or financial advisor. Even articles on financial blogs like this shouldn’t replace professional advice; we’re here to guide, inform and help with the research of credit cards, isas, mortgages and other financial products, but never base your decisions solely on one website’s content.

This is a guest post from Louise Tillotson:

In the UK, each adult is allowed to save a maximum of £10,200 per year in an Individual Savings Account, or ISA. An ISA works in a similar fashion to a regular savings account, with a couple of exceptions.

The first is that you can only deposit a maximum of £10,200 into the account during one tax year, regardless of how much you later withdraw. For example, if you’ve already deposited £10,200 into your ISA by November, then decide to withdraw £2000 in December, you cannot then replace the £2000 until the start of the following tax year in April.

Another difference between an ISA and other types of savings account is that the interest you earn from money in an ISA is safe from the tax man. Essentially, it’s a form of tax-free income. This can make a big difference because, if you have an ISA paying a rate of 6% interest, you would need to find a regular savings account paying an unlikely rate of 7.5% in order to get the same returns.

There are two forms of ISA, the cash ISA and the stocks & shares ISA. The deposit limit of £10,200 applies to them both as a whole, meaning if you deposit £7000 in a shares ISA you can only place up to £3,200 in a cash ISA. Also, no more than £5,100 can be placed in a cash ISA, so the remaining £5,100 of your allowance must go in a shares ISA if you wish to invest further.

Although there is a limit on the amount you can deposit into an ISA in one tax year, this doesn’t include transferred funds from old ISAs. For example, the previous year’s ISA limit was £7200. If you had this in an account paying 4% interest you would end up with £7,493 at the end of 12 months. This amount could then be transferred into a higher-rate ISA and continue to accumulate interest along with the new year’s allowance. You can transfer funds from a cash ISA into a shares ISA, but not the other way around.

Transferring ISAs is easier than people think. The important thing to remember is you shouldn’t draw the money out yourself. Instead, go to your new provider and they will process a transfer for you, which includes informing your old provider of your intentions. The latter may charge you a fee for transferring, so before you do, make sure the new rate is worth it. Banks sometimes drop the interest rate on their existing accounts after the first year, so shop around and compare ISA rates from different providers to find the best AER (Annual Equivalent Rate). A savings calculator will come in useful here, as you can use it to see how much you could earn with a given interest rate.

[bio]

Louise has worked in the financial sector for many years. She currently works as a writer for Moneysupermarket, and writes financial articles for a number of other sites as well.

When dealing with money matters you should always remember that money has no feelings and no capacity to make rational choices. So, it is up to you to exercise good judgment. An instant unsecured loan might be the answer to your prayers – or a deal with the devil.

Obtaining an unsecured loan is  relatively easy.  Usually all that is required is proof of income, i.e.; a few recent pay stubs to show consistent employment and possibly an active checking account.

Options You Have When Taking Out An Unsecured Loan

If you have a sound credit rating, then you have no problems.  Your bank will probably give you an unsecured loan for a small amount without much more than the required paperwork.  Your interest rate may be reasonable, though slightly higher than a mortgage loan rate, but because you are only keeping the money for a brief period, the actually amount of interest paid on a small loan would be negligible.

If you do not have good credit, you still have options – though your bank will probably not give you a loan of any kind without collateral.  In that case, consider a “payday” loan – a small loan from a company that specializes in short-term loans of just a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.  These companies will not require collateral, but will require proof of employment.  And you interest rate, as well as any later penalties, will be much higher than those charged by a conventional lender such as your bank.  But again, if it is just until payday and you will have the funds to repay the loan sooner rather than later, the actual amount paid in interest may be worth it

Your Loan is Approved!

A “payday” or unsecured loan can be done quickly – usually within a day and sometimes within a hour.  Having proof of employment with you when arrive to apply will speed the process.  But make sure the lender is reputable.  Research the company and see how easily it is to obtain information about the business.  The first clue would be whether you can contact the office by phone.

Once you have the loan, make sure you pay it back as you promised and don’t miss the due date.  By maintaining your due date you will be able to go to the lender as often as your need to obtain a quick unsecured loan with no problems or annoying obstacles in the way of the process.  This will also continue raise your credit rating because you are building a favorable repayment history.  Before long your credit score will be high enough to get a better loan through your own bank at a much lower interest rate.

Years ago, placing buy orders for stocks meant grabbing the wire, getting a broker, and letting the broker make the purchase in the actual market place. It is still basically the same today, only with a lot of improvements and possibilities and chances coming in big waves time after time.

The arrival and constant development of the Internet technology enabled the world to buy and trade stocks online, trade currency with currency trading software, and online trading translates to two major things. First is greater control on the performance of one’s own investments, and second is a possible career that anyone can have while enjoying the luxury of home. The loads and loads of information made available online allow potential traders to have thorough research on the latest trends, and make wise decisions on which stock is to buy. They could also keep track of what is going on with their purchased stocks, and employ strategies to prevent losing them when trends suddenly go awry. Moreover, because of the great speeds with which data transfer proceeds, all these stock trading business matters, from the research to the purchase and all, are executed as quickly as possible. Due to this, it is no wonder why online trading is now a highly plausible career, especially when you add in the fact that stock scanning software makes it so easy. However, just like the old version of trading, this kind of stock business also has the risks. You can earn easy money, but you can lose some, sometimes all. How much profit you get all depends on how knowledgeable you are of the twists and turns of the online investment game. Since buying shares online requires strategy, you need to have one can save your stocks and even bring you more.

Those are the pros and cons of this new industry. Anyone should not be afraid to venture in, though it may seem a great deal risky. Online stock trading could just be that sort of career that drops wads of money right at your doorstep, and you will never know unless you try.