Reference

Glossary Terms

Browse our comprehensive glossary of terms. Search, filter by topic, or navigate alphabetically.

463 Total Terms
18 Topics

#

8 terms
401(k) A 401(k) is a tax-advantaged retirement savings plan sponsored by an employer. It allows employees to save and… Retirement Planning 457 plan A 457 plan is a type of tax-advantaged retirement savings account offered to employees of state and local… Retirement Planning 10-Q The 10-Q is a detailed financial report that publicly traded companies in the United States must file with… Financial Statements & Accounting Stocks & Equity Markets

A

View all 29 terms →
APR APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate. It is the total yearly cost of borrowing money, expressed as a… Banking & Depository Institutions Credit, Debt & Lending Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) An Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM) is a type of home loan where the interest rate is not fixed for… Real Estate & Mortgage Finance Asset turnover Asset turnover is a financial ratio that measures how efficiently a company uses its assets to generate sales… Financial Ratios & Analysis Financial Statements & Accounting

B

View all 25 terms →
Bond ladder A bond ladder is an investment strategy that involves purchasing a portfolio of bonds with different maturity dates.… Bonds & Fixed Income Backdoor Roth A Backdoor Roth is a legal strategy that allows high-income earners to contribute to a Roth IRA, even… Retirement Planning Broker A broker is an individual or firm that acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers in financial… Financial Markets & Market Mechanics

C

View all 59 terms →
Capital budgeting Capital budgeting is the process that companies use to evaluate and decide which long-term investments or projects to… Corporate Finance Charge-off A charge-off is a formal declaration by a creditor, typically a bank, credit card issuer, or lender, that… Credit, Debt & Lending Claim In the world of insurance, a claim is a formal request you make to your insurance company asking… Insurance & Risk Protection

D

View all 36 terms →
Deductible A deductible is the amount of money you must pay out of your own pocket for covered healthcare… Insurance & Risk Protection Dividend policy Dividend policy refers to the set of guidelines and strategies that a company’s management uses to decide how… Corporate Finance Deferred annuity A deferred annuity is a type of retirement savings contract offered by insurance companies. With a deferred annuity,… Retirement Planning

E

View all 25 terms →
EBIT EBIT, an acronym for Earnings Before Interest and Taxes, is a key profitability metric that measures a company’s… Financial Ratios & Analysis Financial Statements & Accounting Equity Equity, also known as shareholder’s equity or owner’s equity, represents the residual interest in the assets of an… Financial Statements & Accounting Exchange rate An exchange rate is the price of one country’s currency expressed in terms of another country’s currency. It… Economics for Finance

F

View all 29 terms →
FDIC insurance The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency of the United States government that protects depositors… Banking & Depository Institutions FSA (Flexible Spending Account) A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) is a type of savings account offered by employers that allows you to… Insurance & Risk Protection Fiduciary duty Fiduciary duty is a legal obligation that requires one party, known as the fiduciary, to act solely in… Financial Regulation

G

View all 10 terms →
Growth stock A growth stock is a share in a company that is expected to grow at an above-average rate… Stocks & Equity Markets Goodwill Goodwill is an intangible asset that arises when one company purchases another company for a price greater than… Financial Statements & Accounting Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total monetary value of all finished goods and services produced within a… Economics for Finance

H

View all 9 terms →
Household cash flow Household cash flow is the total amount of money moving into and out of a household over a… Personal Finance & Money Management Homeowners insurance Homeowners insurance is a type of property insurance that protects an individual’s home and personal belongings against damage,… Insurance & Risk Protection Home equity loan A home equity loan is a type of second mortgage that allows homeowners to borrow money using the… Real Estate & Mortgage Finance

I

View all 19 terms →
Installment debt Installment debt is a type of loan that is repaid over time with a set number of scheduled… Credit, Debt & Lending IPO An IPO, or Initial Public Offering, is the process by which a private company sells shares of its… Stocks & Equity Markets Interest coverage The interest coverage ratio (also known as times interest earned) is a financial metric that measures a company’s… Financial Ratios & Analysis

J

2 terms
JOBS Act The JOBS Act, officially the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, is a landmark piece of U.S. legislation signed… Financial Regulation Jumbo loan A jumbo loan is a type of mortgage used to finance properties that are too expensive for a… Real Estate & Mortgage Finance

L

View all 10 terms →
Long-term disability insurance Long-term disability insurance (LTD) is a type of insurance policy that provides income replacement if you become unable… Insurance & Risk Protection Leverage Leverage is the strategic use of borrowed capital (debt) to increase the potential return on an investment. In… Corporate Finance Limit order A limit order is a type of order to buy or sell a security at a specific price… Financial Markets & Market Mechanics

M

View all 23 terms →
Micro-cap A micro-cap (or micro-cap stock) refers to the equity of a publicly traded company with a relatively small… Stocks & Equity Markets Marginal tax rate The marginal tax rate is the percentage of tax applied to your last dollar of income. In a… Taxation Minimum balance A minimum balance is the lowest amount of money a bank or credit union requires you to keep… Banking & Depository Institutions

N

View all 18 terms →
National debt The national debt is the total amount of money that a country’s federal government has borrowed and has… Monetary & Fiscal Policy Net income Net income is the bottom line of a company’s income statement. It represents the total profit a business… Financial Statements & Accounting NCUA The NCUA, or National Credit Union Administration, is an independent federal agency created by the United States Congress… Financial Regulation

O

View all 12 terms →
Order book An order book is a real-time, electronic list of buy and sell orders for a specific financial security,… Financial Markets & Market Mechanics Open market operations Open market operations (OMO) are the primary tool used by the Federal Reserve System to influence the supply… Monetary & Fiscal Policy Operating income Operating income, also known as operating profit or operating earnings, measures the profit a company makes from its… Financial Statements & Accounting

P

View all 28 terms →
PCE price index The PCE price index, or Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, is a measure of inflation in the United… Economics for Finance Principal Principal is the original sum of money borrowed in a loan or the original amount invested, before any… Credit, Debt & Lending PCAOB The PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) is a nonprofit corporation established by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.… Financial Regulation

Q

View all 5 terms →
Qualified plan A qualified plan is a retirement savings plan that meets the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC)… Retirement Planning Quantitative tightening (QT) Quantitative tightening (QT) is a contractionary monetary policy tool used by a central bank, like the Federal Reserve,… Monetary & Fiscal Policy Qualified dividend A qualified dividend is a type of dividend payment that meets specific criteria set by the Internal Revenue… Taxation

R

View all 29 terms →
Recession A recession is a significant, widespread, and prolonged downturn in economic activity. While there is no single, universally… Economics for Finance Roth IRA A Roth IRA (Individual Retirement Account) is a powerful retirement savings vehicle that offers tax-free growth and tax-free… Retirement Planning Refundable tax credit A refundable tax credit is a type of tax credit that can reduce your tax liability below zero,… Taxation

S

View all 39 terms →
Secured debt Secured debt is a type of loan or credit that is backed by an asset, known as collateral.… Credit, Debt & Lending S&P 500 The S&P 500, or Standard & Poor’s 500, is a stock market index that tracks the performance of… Stocks & Equity Markets Securities Exchange Act of 1934 The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is a landmark United States federal law that created the legal framework… Financial Regulation

T

View all 23 terms →
Target-date fund A target-date fund is a type of mutual fund or exchange-traded fund designed to simplify retirement investing for… Mutual Funds, ETFs & Pooled Vehicles Treasury notes Treasury notes, often called T-notes, are debt securities issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. They are… Bonds & Fixed Income Truth in Lending Act (TILA) The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) is a landmark federal law enacted in 1968 as part of the… Credit, Debt & Lending

U

View all 6 terms →
Unsecured debt Unsecured debt is a type of loan or credit that is not backed by any form of collateral.… Credit, Debt & Lending Umbrella policy An umbrella policy, also known as personal umbrella insurance, is an extra layer of liability insurance that goes… Insurance & Risk Protection Universal life insurance Universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that offers flexible premiums, adjustable death benefits, and… Insurance & Risk Protection

V

View all 7 terms →
Variable annuity A variable annuity is a type of insurance contract that offers a way to save for retirement by… Retirement Planning Volatility Volatility is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index. In… Investing Fundamentals VA loan A VA loan is a mortgage loan in the United States guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans… Real Estate & Mortgage Finance

W

View all 7 terms →
Weighted average cost of capital (WACC) The Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) is a financial metric that represents the average rate of return… Corporate Finance Whole life insurance Whole life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that provides coverage for the insured’s entire lifetime,… Insurance & Risk Protection Withholding Withholding is the portion of an employee’s wages that an employer sends directly to the government to cover… Taxation

Y

3 terms
Yield to maturity (YTM) Yield to Maturity (YTM) is the total return anticipated on a bond if it is held until it… Bonds & Fixed Income Yield Yield is a financial term that measures the income generated by an investment, typically expressed as a percentage… Investing Fundamentals Yield curve The yield curve is a graphical representation that shows the relationship between interest rates (yields) and the time… Bonds & Fixed Income

Z

2 terms
Zero-coupon bond A zero-coupon bond is a type of bond that does not pay periodic interest payments (coupons) to its… Bonds & Fixed Income Zero-based budgeting Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) is a method of budgeting where every expense must be justified for each new period,… Personal Finance & Money Management