Finance — page 9 of 22

Finance terms

801. Fixed-income investment Fixed-income investments typically pay interest or dividends on a regular schedule and may promise to return your principal at maturity, though that…
802. Fixed-rate APR An APR set at a certain percent that cannot change during the period of time outlined in your credit card agreement.
803. Fixed-Rate Mortgage (FRM) (FRM) a mortgage loan with a fixed interest rate that remains the same for the life of the loan.
804. Flags Flags identify missing or incomplete information on a financial disclosure report in FDM.
805. Flat tax A flat tax, also known as a regressive tax, applies to everyone at the same rate, as a sales tax does.
806. Flexible spending account Some employers offer flexible spending accounts (FSA), sometimes called cafeteria plans, as part of their employee benefits package.
807. Float 1) The amount of uncollected funds represented by checks in the possession of one bank but drawn on other banks.
808. Floater Additional coverage for personal property such as jewelry, artwork, or antiques not otherwise included in the homeowners policy, or included for a nominal…
809. Floating The process of an applicant deciding against locking-in an interest rate at the time of application and instead electing to float with the market until a…
810. Floating an issue When a corporation or public agency offers new stocks or bonds to the public, making the offering is called floating an issue.
811. Floating rate A debt security or corporate preferred stock whose interest rate is adjusted periodically to reflect changing money market rates is known as a floating…
812. Floating shares Floating shares are shares of a public corporation that are available for trading in a stock market.
813. Flood A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more acres of normally dry land area or of two or more properties (at least…
814. Flood Disaster Protection Act (FDPA) of 1973 (FDPA) Made the purchase of flood insurance mandatory for the protection of property located in Special Flood Hazard Areas.
815. Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM) (FHBM) Official map of a community issued by the Federal Insurance Administrator, where the boundaries of the flood, mudflow, and related erosion areas having…
816. Flood Insurance Flood insurance protects against water from an overflowing river or a hurricane's tidal surge and also covers damage from water that builds up during…
817. Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) (FIRM) Official map of a community on which the Mitigation Division Administrator has delineated both the special hazard areas and the risk premium zones…
818. Flood Plain A strip of relatively flat and normally dry land alongside a stream, river, or lake that is covered by water during a flood.
819. Flood Zone (Zone) A geographical area shown on a Flood Hazard Boundary Map or a Flood Insurance Rate Map that reflects the severity or type of flooding in the area.
820. Floodplain Any land area susceptible to being inundated by floodwaters from any source.
821. Floodplain Management The operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damage, including but not limited to, emergency preparedness…
822. Floor broker Floor brokers at a securities or commodities exchange handle client orders to buy or sell through a process known as a double action auction, in which…
823. Floor trader Unlike floor brokers who fill client orders, floor traders buy and sell stocks or commodities for their own accounts on the floor of an exchange.
824. For Sale By Owner (FSBO) (FSBO) Indicative of a real estate transaction in which the seller is not represented by a real estate broker.
825. Forbearance A temporary period of time during which a regular monthly mortgage payment is reduced or suspended.
826. Foreclosure A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default.
827. Foreclosure Prevention steps by which the servicer works with the homeowner to find a permanent solution to resolve an existing or impending loan delinquency.
828. Foreign currency transaction A foreign currency transaction is a purchase and/or cash advance that you make in a foreign currency, i.e. not U.S. dollars.
829. Foreign exchange (FOREX) Any type of financial instrument that is used to make payments between countries is considered foreign exchange.
830. Foreign Transaction Fee A fee assessed by your financial institution for making a transaction at another financial institution or bank's ATM.
831. Forged Check A check on which the drawer's signature has been forged.
832. Forgery The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check.
833. Form ADV All investment advisory firms must register by filing a Form ADV either with the Securities and Exchange Commission if they manage $25 million or more in…
834. Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate Completed by the employee and used by the employer to determine the amount of income tax to withhold.
835. formal tax legislation process This is another term for a proportional tax.
836. Formula investing When you invest on a set schedule, you're using a technique known as formula investing.
837. Forward contract A forward contract is similar to a futures contract, in the sense that both types of contracts cover the delivery and payment for a specific commodity at…
838. Forward price-to-earnings ratio Stock analysts calculate a forward price-to-earnings ratio, or forward P/E, by dividing a stock's current price by estimated future earnings per share.
839. foster child A foster child is any child placed with a taxpayer by an authorized placement agency or by court order.
840. Fourth market Institutional investors, including mutual fund companies and pension funds, who trade large blocks of securities among themselves are operating in what's…
841. Fractional share If you reinvest your dividends or invest a fixed dollar amount in a stock dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) or mutual fund, the amount may not be enough…
842. Fraud Alert A key provision of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 is the consumer's ability to place a fraud alert on their credit record.
843. Freddie Mac Freddie Mac is a shareholder-owned corporation that was chartered in 1970 to increase the supply of mortgage money that lenders are able to make available…
844. Free cash flow A business's free cash flow statement may differ significantly from its cash flow statement.
845. Free Checks Number of free transactions allotted to the described account on a monthly basis. If this limit is exceeded, the per-item charge is assessed.
846. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (FOIA) A Federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by Federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public…
847. Front-end load A sales charge levied on the purchase of mutual fund units.
848. Frontrunning If you trade stock or other investments because you know that an upcoming transaction by a third party is likely to affect the market price of the…
849. Frozen Account An account on which funds may not be withdrawn until a lien is satisfied and a court order or other legal process makes the account available for…
850. Full faith and credit Federal and municipal governments can promise repayment of debt securities they issue because they can raise money through taxes, borrowing, and other…
851. Full Replacement Policy A homeowner's policy that pays the full replacement cost, up to the policy maximum, to repair or restore damaged property.
852. Full Tort With a Full Tort selection, you retain unrestricted rights to bring suit against the negligent party.
853. Full-service brokerage firm Full-service brokerage firms usually offer their clients a range of services in addition to executing their buy and sell orders.
854. Fund family A fund family, or family of funds, is a group of mutual funds controlled by a single investment company, bank, or other financial institution.
855. Fund network Fund networks, sometimes called fund supermarkets, offer access to thousands of different mutual funds from many of the major fund families.
856. Fund of funds (FOF) A fund of funds is a pooled investment, such as a mutual fund or a hedge fund, whose underlying investments are other funds rather than individual…
857. Fundamental analysis Fundamental analysis is one of two primary methods for analyzing a stock's potential return.
858. Funds Receivable Filers and their spouses and dependent children may also serve as the lender for a loan, which is a receivable account.
859. Funeral Benefit This coverage pays, up to a certain dollar amount, money for funeral expenses if you or a family member dies as a result of an auto accident.
860. Fungible When two or more things are interchangeable, can be substituted for each other, or are of equal value, they are described as fungible.
861. Furnisher An entity that provides information about a consumer to a consumer reporting agency for inclusion in a consumer report.
862. Futures Contracts to buy or sell specific quantities of a commodity or financial instrument at a specified price with delivery set at a specified time in the…
863. Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) A futures commission merchant (FCM) is a person or a firm that acts as an agent to execute buy or sell orders for futures contracts or commodity options.
864. Futures contract Futures contracts, when they trade on regulated futures exchanges, obligate you to buy or sell a specified quantity of the underlying product for a…
865. Futures exchange Traditionally, futures contracts and options on those contracts have been bought and sold on a futures exchange, or trading floor, in a defined physical…
866. Gainer Stocks that increase in value over the course of the trading day are described as gainers or advancers.
867. Gap Insurance Insurance coverage that pays the difference between what you owe on your auto loan and your totaled car’s actual cash value.
868. Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act Legislation enacted in 1982 that provided the thrift industry more flexibility in managing assets and liabilities.
869. Garnishment/Garnish A legal process that allows a creditor to remove funds from your bank account to satisfy a debt that you have not paid.
870. gasoline excise tax An excise tax paid by consumers when they purchase gasoline. The tax covers the manufacture, sale, and use of gasoline.
871. General account A general account is a deposit account. In the insurance industry, a general account is the account into which all incoming funds, except those designated…
872. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) A General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was signed in 1947 to provide an international forum to encourage free trade, reduce tariffs, and provide a…
873. General obligation (GO) bond State and local governments issue general obligation (GO) municipal bonds and pay the interest and repay the principal from general revenues.
874. geocode Geocode refers to the combination of applicable codes for the metropolitan area, state, county and census tract.
875. Gift A payment, advance, forbearance, rendering, or deposit of money, or anything of value, unless consideration of equal or greater value is received by the…
876. Gift tax A gift tax is a tax on the combined total value of the taxable gifts you make that exceed your lifetime federal tax-exempt limit of $1 million.
877. Gilt-edged security When the term gilt-edged is applied to bonds, it's the equivalent of describing a stock as a blue chip.
878. Global depositary receipt (GDR) To raise money in more than one market, some corporations use global depositary receipts (GDRs) to sell their stock on markets in countries other than the…
879. Global fund Global, or world, mutual funds invest in US securities as well as those of other countries.
880. Go long When you go long, you buy a security or other financial product that you intend to hold for a period of time or one that you expect to increase in value…
881. Go public A corporation goes public when it issues shares of its stock in the open market for the first time, in what is known as an initial public offering (IPO).
882. Go short When you enter a futures contract that commits you to sell or deliver the underlying product, you go short or have a short position.
883. Gold standard The gold standard is a monetary system that measures the relative value of a currency against a specific amount of gold.
884. Good 'til canceled (GTC) If you want to buy or sell a security at a specific price, you can ask your broker to issue a good 'til canceled (GTC) order.
885. Good Driver Plan A rating program offered by some insurance companies that reduces your premium if you have had no accidents or traffic violations within a specified time…
886. Good faith deposit A good faith deposit is a sum of money provided by a buyer to a seller, which demonstrates the buyer's intention to purchase.
887. Good faith estimate A good faith estimate is a written summary provided by your mortgage lender. It shows the amount you can expect to pay at your real estate closing to…
888. Good Faith Estimate (GFE) (GFE) A document which tells borrowers the approximate costs they will pay at or before settlement, based on common practice in the locality.
889. Good will When the term good will is used in connection with evaluating a company, it covers the intangible value of its reputation, its satisfied clients, and its…
890. Government bond The term government bond is used to describe the debt securities issued by the federal government, such as US Treasury bills, notes, and bonds.
891. Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) (Ginnie Mae) The Government National Mortgage Association, known as Ginnie Mae, guarantees mortgage-backed securities issued by approved private institutions and…
892. Government-Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) (GSE) Business organizations chartered and sponsored by the federal government, which include Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHLBanks.
893. Government-Sponsored Enterprise (GSEs) (GSEs) Private corporations created by the U.S. Government to reduce borrowing costs. They are chartered by the U.S.
894. Grace Period A time period after the due date that you may pay a premium without penalty. The policy remains in force during this time.
895. Grandfathering An exemption based on circumstances previously existing. Under the NFIP, buildings located in Emergency Program communities and Pre-Flood Insurance Rate…
896. Grantor The person conveying real property by a trust deed as security for the performance of an obligation.
897. Green fund A mutual fund that selects investments based on a commitment to environmental principles may be described as a green fund.
898. Green shoe clause A green shoe clause allows the group of investment banks that underwrite an initial public offering (IPO) to buy and offer for sale 15% more shares at the…
899. Gross Annual Income The income reported is the total gross annual income an institution relied upon in making the credit decision.
900. Gross domestic product (GDP) The market value of goods and services produced by labor and property in the United States, regardless of nationality; GDP replaced gross national product…