Fascinating Facts About Money
Bling Bling Cha Ching: Fascinating Facts About Money
Money is an integral part of our lives, yet there are many intriguing and unusual aspects about it that often go unnoticed. Here are some interesting facts to consider:
Lottery Odds: If you drive 10 miles to buy a lottery ticket, you're more likely to die in a car accident than to win the lottery.
Investment Growth: Doubling your money every year for 20 years can turn a single dollar into over a million dollars ($1,048,576). More realistically, if you invest $3,900 (about $325 per month) at an 8% annual return from age 25 to 65, you’ll accumulate over a million dollars ($1,010,320).
Currency Durability: A piece of currency can be folded forward and back 4,000 times before it tears. Notably, currency is made of 25% linen and 75% cotton paper.
Canadian Currency Quirk: On a Canadian two-dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag.
Lincoln Memorial: All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.
Making Change: There are 293 different ways to make change for a dollar.
Dime Details: A dime features 118 ridges around its edge.
Credit Card Interest: Leaving an unpaid balance on a credit card with an 18% interest rate will see the amount you owe double in just over four years.
Coin Portraits: Why do coins feature profile views while paper money shows frontal views? Profiles are easier to stamp into coins, as the coin's 3D surface doesn't allow enough room for a frontal portrait's nose.
Credit Card Validity: Credit card numbers follow the Luhn algorithm. Start from the right, double each second digit, add them together, and the total should be divisible by ten. If not, it’s not a valid credit card number.
Cattle as Currency: Cattle are one of the oldest forms of money, dating back to 9000 B.C.
Length of Pennies: A mile of pennies laid out is worth $844.80. By this measure, America spans about $2.5 million from coast to coast.
Stack of Bills: A year's worth of destroyed bills would stack to 200 miles high, dwarfing Mt. Everest, which is only 19,035 feet tall (about 3 miles).
Currency Lifespan: Coins typically remain in circulation for about 30 years. The Federal Reserve provides these average lifespans for various denominations:
$1: 22 months
$5: 2 years
$10: 3 years
$20: 4 years
$50: 9 years
$100: 9 years
Rule of 72: Want to know how long it will take to double your money? The Rule of 72 can help. Divide your expected annual return by 72 to find out how many years it will take to double your investment. For example, at an 8% return, it will take about 9 years to double your money.