Aug
25
2010
0

What is a Payday Loan?

monopoly board collecting salaryPayday Loan is the name given to a short-term loan or cash advance which as its name suggests is only required until the borrower’s next payday when it can be paid back. A tied-you-over loan is often seen as a quick answer to a temporary shortage of money, but it is not designed as a [more...]

Jul
18
2010
1

Is it worth picking up pennies?

look-down-for-moneyInflation has eroded the value of the penny to the point where many people will no longer pick up a penny when they see one in the street. But how does this stand up to cold-blooded economic analysis? Suppose it takes three seconds to pick up a penny. There are 3600 seconds in an hour, [more...]

Written by eiffel | 125 views | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment
May
24
2010
2

Is there a problem with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme?

bank of englandAs we have all seen recently, the banking system is unstable. In the event that a bank goes bust and the bank’s liquidators are unable to repay your money, then the government’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme is available as place of last resort. However, there is a potential problem with the scheme which one must [more...]

May
03
2010
0

Why is the exchange rate worse for banknotes than for traveler’s checks or credit cards?

exchange-ratesYou would think that in most countries banks, exchange offices, stores should be delighted to be paid with your good, “hard” currency. The problem is that in most countries your dollar bills, Euros or pound notes are just paper until the holder can sell them and get his local currency, either in cash or as [more...]

Written by myoarin | 222 views | Tags: , , , | 0 Comments
Apr
28
2010
0

Is it better to buy foreign currency at home or after you arrive at your destination?

foreign-currencyThe best place to buy foreign currency depends on how that currency is traded. If there are serious exchange controls in the country you intend to visit, you will probably get a bad deal at the official rate of exchange in the country, whereas in your country banks or other sellers will be eager to [more...]

Written by myoarin | 764 views | Tags: , , , | 0 Comments
Apr
09
2010
2

What’s the best way to buy foreign currency?

foreign-currencySeveral decades ago, a bank would usually be the best place to change money from one currency to another. There was always a feeling that a money-changing business would be more likely to “rip you off”. Now the tables have turned, and specialist currency exchange businesses are often the best value when buying travel money. [more...]

Written by eiffel | 1,434 views | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments
Apr
08
2010
0

Can I give away all my money and then claim social security benefits?

british coins on table piled upThe state welfare system in the UK provides a number of benefits which are intended for the relief of, and protection against poverty. Some of these are known as Means Tested Benefits and they include Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. As the name Means [more...]

Jan
21
2010
4

Which UK towns have their own currency?

Lewes, East Sussex (photo by TravelEden CC-BY)If you visit the bustling county town of Lewes in East Sussex and go into of the shops or pubs, you will be offered the opportunity of exchanging your UK Sterling pounds for the local Lewes pounds. The exchange rate is one-to-one and there are no commission fees to worry about. In exchange you will [more...]

Written by answerfinder | 766 views | Tags: , , , , , , | 4 Comments
Oct
16
2009
1

What are the alternatives to an expensive coffin?

Home-built coffin (photo by Ambient Damage - CC-BY)Answerfinder’s article about Burial Clubs reminded me that many people worry about burial costs. Funeral insurance is big business, with a funeral home generally being the beneficiary of funeral expenses policies. This insurance pays for the casket (coffin), the flowers, the funeral service etc. This enables the policyholder to pay “up front” for their own [more...]

Written by eiffel | 1,076 views | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment
Jul
02
2009
0

Can I make money by investing in wine?

Tuscany Vineyard (photo by rayced - CC-BY)There is a thriving wine investment market, and some people manage to turn a reasonable profit by investing in quality wines at the right price, and buying and selling at the right time. But there’s one way you almost certainly won’t make a profit—and that’s by buying into a wine investment “opportunity” that is offered [more...]

Written by eiffel | 825 views | Tags: , , , | 0 Comments
May
18
2009
1

Which countries use the U.S. dollar as their official currency?

Here's what $5,700 U.S. looks like. AMagill photo. CC-BY.Seven countries other than the United States use the U.S. dollar as their official currency. Most of them are Latin American countries or island nations with small populations. The country that has used the U.S. dollar the longest is Panama, which adopted the balboa, pegged directly on a 1:1 to the dollar, as its currency [more...]

Written by mvguy | 5,404 views | Tags: , , | 1 Comment
May
16
2009
1

Is Scottish money legal in England?

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown (artwork by eddiedangerous - CC-BY)The pound sterling (GBP) is the legal currency throughout the United Kingdom, and the Bank of England prints banknotes for this currency. Due to a quirk of history, three Scottish banks and four Northern Ireland banks also print notes denominated in United Kingdom pounds. Before 1844-45, each bank issued their own notes. The Bank Charter [more...]

Written by eiffel | 1,950 views | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment
Mar
22
2009
0

How do I go about exchanging my badly damaged banknote?

Grab those notes before it’s too late (photo by Jason Rogers CC-BY)It’s a dreadful experience, that sinking feeling as it dawns on you that the pair of jeans you’ve just put in the washing machine contains two £20 notes. It brings a whole new meaning to money laundering. As you take them out of the machine, you find that they are creased, crumpled and soggy. No [more...]

Written by answerfinder | 554 views | Tags: , , | 0 Comments
Mar
16
2009
0

How many credit cards and debit cards are there in the United States?

Pile or stack of credit cards (photo by Andres Rueda CCBY)Credit cardholders According to the U.S. Census Bureau,  there were 173 million credit cardholders  in the United States in 2006 and that number is projected to grow to 181 million in 2010.(1) Number of cards There were 1,488,000,000 credit cards in use 2006 and that number is projected to grow to 1,618,000,000 in 2010. Number [more...]

Mar
03
2009
1

Is “Quantitative Easing” the same as “printing money”?

Image by azrainman - CC-BYThe phrase “printing money” is loaded with all kinds of negative connotations. It’s something we associate with Robert Mugabe, destroying the value of Zimbabwe’s currency. But now “quantitative easing” is about to begin. How does that work, and is it really the same as printing money? Most of the money in circulation is not in [more...]

Written by eiffel | 1,616 views | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment
Feb
24
2009
0

Who or what is the “Old Lady of Threadneedle Street”?

Political Ravishment, or the Old Lady of Threadneedle-Street in Danger! Cartoon by James Gillray. PD-EXPThe Old Lady of Threadneedle Street is a nickname for the Bank of England situated in Threadneedle Street, in the City of London. It is obvious as to why the name of the street forms part of the nickname, but why ‘Old Lady’? The nickname comes from a Thomas Gillray cartoon published in May 1797. [more...]

Written by answerfinder | 1,497 views | Tags: , , , , | 0 Comments
Jan
30
2009
1

What is ethical banking?

Ethical Banking (photo by laurenatclemson - CC-BY)Ethical banking is a sector of the banking industry which takes ethical considerations into account when making business decisions. Sometimes it represents little more than a marketing catchphrase, but at the other end of the spectrum there are financial institutions whose entire reason for existence is to further a particular ethical goal. Ethical concerns may [more...]

Jan
29
2009
0

Is deflation bad, and why?

Deflationary Spiral (photo by FireChickenTA99 - CC-BY)Deflation is the opposite of inflation. Deflation is what we call it when things get cheaper. What could possibly be wrong with that? And yet some people argue that deflation is one of the worst things that could happen. How can that be? Suppose flat panel TVs keep getting cheaper. Some people will spend less [more...]

Written by eiffel | 1,367 views | Tags: , , , , , | 0 Comments
Jan
28
2009
0

What is optimum income tax?

Payment required (image by Ape Lad - CC-BY)Many mathematicians and economists have investigated the idea that optimum taxation rates can be mathematically derived. However, depending on the underlying assumptions different conclusions can be reached. We can illustrate the situation with a simple example. Suppose tax rates are nil. Zero tax causes no disincentive to work (and therefore to produce), however, the government [more...]

Written by eiffel | 471 views | Tags: , , , , , , | 0 Comments
Jan
23
2009
0

Can I earn good money working from home on Mechanical Turk?

photo by Schlüsselbein2007 CC-BYFor those who have not heard of Mechanical Turk (MT), it is a marketplace for work, operated by Amazon.com, Inc. After registration and acceptance, as an MT worker you can work from home on your computer, choose your own hours of work, select the work you want to undertake, and get paid for it. Your [more...]

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