“Dollars Under the Mattress” and “Credit Is Evil”: Taras Kozak Debunks Seven Major Myths About Personal Finance

Modern people are surrounded by contradictory advice on managing personal finances: on the one hand, “keep your money in dollars,” on the other — “never take out a loan under any circumstances.” Yet each of these entrenched beliefs contains significant nuances that can cost you your savings. Taras Kozak, founder and president of the investment group UNIVER, systematically broke down seven of the most common myths about personal finance in a blitz interview for RBC-Ukraine, explaining why intuitively “correct” decisions often lead to a loss of capital in practice.

The Dollar as a “Safe Haven”: Why Keeping It Under the Mattress Doesn't Work

The first myth Kozak called mistaken is the belief that dollars are automatically more reliable than the hryvnia. According to the expert, the dollar is indeed a stronger currency, but it too is subject to inflation: “In dollars, life gets more expensive every year — by 3%, 5%, 10%, varying from year to year, but there is price growth every year.” Kozak emphasizes that Americans do not stash their savings in dollars under the mattress: they use the dollar as a means of payment and as an asset that is invested in income-generating instruments. Thus, the currency itself does not protect against devaluation — it is the investment strategy that provides the protection.

A Small Salary and Investing: Why You Should Start Now

The second myth addressed is “if your salary is small, there's no point in saving.” Kozak argues that waiting for an income increase can drag on for years, during which time a person fails to acquire a key skill — the ability to accumulate and manage capital. “It is better to gain experience with small amounts. There may be a wrong decision, losses, and so on. So it is better to test things with small amounts,” the expert explains. The same logic applies to the myth that only people with large capital can invest: the earlier a person starts, the more time they have to build experience, develop habits, and benefit from compound interest. “In the end, all wealthy people save and invest,” Kozak concludes.

Credit as a Tool: A Knife That Cuts Both Ways

The third myth is a complete rejection of credit. Kozak gives the example of banking products with a grace period, in which a loan effectively carries no interest burden. “Credit is there to solve some of your problems. It is still better to use a loan to solve that problem than to postpone it forever,” the expert says. At the same time, he does not advocate taking out loans systematically: “It does not mean you should always take out credit, but as a tool it is like a knife. It can be useful, it can be harmful.” The key criterion, in his words, is a conscious decision and an understanding of the terms.

Currency Diversification: Why “Buying on the Rise” Is a Bad Strategy

The fifth myth addressed by Kozak is the idea of buying currency at the moment the exchange rate starts to rise. The expert insists on the opposite approach: diversification should be constant and mechanical. “You decide that 20% of your funds are held in euros. You receive some income — you buy 20% of that income in euros and hold it,” he gives as an example. By his logic, shifting from one asset to another in response to a short-term rise or fall in the exchange rate turns diversification into speculation rather than a strategy for protecting capital.

Deposits and Cashback: Where the Real Value of Money Hides

The sixth myth is “if your money sits in a bank account, it does not lose its value.” Kozak explains that everything depends on the relationship between inflation and the interest rate after tax. According to his data at the time of the interview, hryvnia bank deposits offered around 13% per annum, which after tax amounted to roughly 10%, while inflation was approximately the same 10%. “Citizens who keep their hryvnia in a deposit at 10–13% per annum are in fact preserving their money, but not earning on it,” the expert states. For real growth, he recommends considering government bonds (OVGB), funds, bonds, or instruments in other currencies. The seventh myth is “cashback is free money.” Kozak explains the mechanism: cashback is formed from the commission the bank charges for processing a cashless payment. “A company sells something for 1,000 hryvnia, and 2%, or 20 hryvnia of that amount, is taken by the bank for processing the transaction. Of those 20 hryvnia, the bank can return, say, 5 hryvnia as cashback.” Since the seller builds this commission into the price, the final cost of goods for the consumer is 1–2% higher, which partially offsets the “free” cashback.

Contradictory Data

In the interview, Kozak works with specific figures: 13% per annum on deposits, around 10% inflation, and 10% real yield after tax. These indicators are tied to the time of the conversation and may differ from the actual values as of September 2026. Moreover, the expert himself acknowledges that the myth about the “safety” of a deposit “may be true — it depends on the situation,” which creates a certain ambiguity in the formulation: under one set of inflation and rate parameters a deposit protects capital, under another it does not. Readers are advised to verify the cited figures against current data from the National Bank of Ukraine before making financial decisions.