The Financial Lies People Tell

When it comes to money and finances, people are prone to telling lots of lies and half-truths, all with the intent of saving a little (or sometimes a lot) of money. In fact, even if you consider yourself to be a pretty honest person, there’s a good chance you tell a few “money lies” from time to time,  NerdWallet survey, which divulged some of the most common financial fibs people tell.

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Sharing Subscriptions

Services like Netflix, Hulu, and the like are intended to be used by one person, right? However, that doesn’t stop 33% of Americans, according to the survey, from using the subscription accounts of others to access content. There are even some people who sell their passwords and make a profit off letting others use their Netflix accounts!

Concealing Income

Another dishonesty people commonly engage in is not reporting under-the-table income to the IRS. And, while sharing a subscription service might be immoral, it’s not going to get you in trouble the way concealing income can. On the off-chance you do get caught not reporting income, that lie definitely won’t seem worth it, so lying to the IRS is something you’ll want to avoid.

Deluding for Discounts

A big chunk of people surveyed admitted to telling “little white lies” in order to qualify for discounts. Saying their children were younger than they were to get discounts at restaurants, professing to be older for a senior citizen discount, or trying to pass off that old college ID as current were all common practices among the dishonest.

Auto Insurance Lies

Many people also confessed to lying about things, like the number of miles they drive yearly, in order to get a discount on their car insurance. Like lying to the IRS, this is a practice that should really be avoided. Insurance agencies have a way of finding out about the fibs they’ve been told, and if you get caught, you could lose your insurance and owe “back money,” undoing any savings your lie gained you.

Credit Card Capers

People were also prone to lying about their income on credit card applications in order to get higher spending limits. Unfortunately, though, as is the case with car insurance, most people who lie eventually get caught- the credit card company checks up on the figure you report! Plus, do you really want the temptation of a limit that is more than you can reasonably handle?

As you can see, people tell all kinds of financial lies, some of them riskier than others. While, honestly, you probably shouldn’t be lying or being dishonest about anything, at least learn to separate areas where it’s harmful to be dishonest from areas where it doesn’t matter as much.

Obviously, you don’t want to tell any kind of money lies that could get you in serious trouble, like lying to the IRS in any way, nor any lies that could result in financial punishments for you. Be honest as often as you can, but especially when there’s a huge risk that goes along with being dishonest.