ExpertGlossary

A grace period is the number of days between the date a credit card issuer calculates your new balance and the date your payment is due.

In most cases, if you have paid the previous balance in full and on time, and you haven't taken any cash withdrawals, no finance charges are added to the amount of your purchases.

If you generally pay the entire balance due on time, you may want to choose a card with a longer rather than a shorter grace period, assuming the other terms are comparable. That gives you more time to be sure your payments arrive on time.

However, a minority of credit arrangements include a minimum finance charge, even if you do pay on time. Other lenders go back two billing cycles and will add finance charges if you have not paid the full amount due each time.

The grace period on a student loan allows you to defer repayment so that the first installment isn't due until six or nine months after you graduate or are no longer enrolled at least half time. The timing depends on the type of loan.

You also have a grace period in which to pay the premium on an insurance policy before the policy is cancelled. It's usually one month after the due date.

An optical fiber with a core having a refractive index that decreases with increasing radial distance from the fiber axis. Note: The most common refractive index profile for a graded-index fiber is very nearly parabolic. The parabolic profile results in continual refocusing of the rays in the core, and compensates for multimode distortion.