Personal Finance

Personal Finance terms

1. "Bait-and-switch" schemes The lender may promise one type of loan or interest rate but, without good reason, gives you a different one.
2. "Blue Book" Price the price of a used car as measured by a quality index of many similar vehicles.
3. "Go-to" rate Interest rate you are charged after the introductory rate.
4. 10-k The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that all publicly traded companies file a Form 10-k every year.
5. 12b-1 fee A number of load and no-load mutual funds levy 12b-1 fees on the value of your mutual fund account to offset the fund's promotional and marketing expenses.
6. 401 (k) plan An employer-sponsored retirement plan that permits employees to divert part of their pay into the plan and avoid current taxes on that income.
7. 401(k) You participate in a 401(k) retirement savings plan by deferring part of your salary into an account set up in your name.
8. 401(k) Savings Plan and 457 Savings Plan Tax-deferred savings plans, both of which are offered under the South Carolina Deferred Compensation Program .
9. 403(b) A 403(b) plan, sometimes known as a tax-sheltered annuity (TSA) or a tax-deferred annuity (TDA), is an employer sponsored retirement savings plan for…
10. 403(b) Plan An arrangement in which an employee places pre-tax earnings into a tax deferred retirement account that a state or local government employer or non-profit…
11. 457 These tax-deferred retirement savings plans are available to state and municipal employees.
12. 529 college savings plan Each 529 college savings plan is sponsored by a particular state or group of states, and while each plan is a little different, they share many basic…
13. 529 Plan (Prepaid Tuition Plan) An education savings account or plan operated by a state or educational institution designed to help families accrue funds for future college costs.
14. 529 prepaid tuition plan With a prepaid tuition plan, you purchase tuition credits at current rates to be used at some point in the future when your beneficiary attends one of the…
15. 8-k The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that all publicly traded companies use Form 8-k to report anything that could have a significant…
16. ability to pay A concept of tax fairness that states that people with different amounts of wealth or different amounts of income should pay tax at different rates.
17. Accelerated death benefit If your life insurance policy has an accelerated death benefit (ADB), you may qualify to use a portion of the death benefit to pay for certain healthcare…
18. Account Agreement The contract governing your open-end credit account, it provides information on changes that may occur to the account.
19. Account balance Your account balance is the amount of money you have in one of your financial accounts.
20. Account History The payment history of an account over a specific period of time, including the number of times the account was past due or over limit.
21. Account Holder Any and all persons designated and authorized to transact business on behalf of an account.
22. Accredited investor An accredited investor is a person or institution that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) defines as being qualified to invest in unregistered…
23. Accrued Interest Interest that has been earned but not yet paid.
24. Accumulation period The accumulation period refers to the time during which your retirement savings accumulate in a deferred annuity.
25. Accumulation unit Accumulation units are the shares you own in the separate account funds of a variable annuity during the period you're putting money into your annuity.
26. acquisition If a company buys another company outright, or accumulates enough shares to take a controlling interest, the deal is described as an acquisition.
27. Action Taken Date The settlement or closing date for originations. For applications that did not result in an origination, the date when the action was taken or when the…
28. Action Taken Type The disposition of the loan/application.
29. Actively managed fund Managers of actively managed mutual funds buy and sell investments to achieve a particular goal, such as providing a certain level of return or beating a…
30. Activities of daily living To live independently, you must be able to handle certain essential functions, called activities of daily living (ADLs).
31. Activity Year The year for which the HMDA data are being collected.
32. Address on file Your address on file is the address that you provided on your application to open this credit card account, unless (1) we have received and processed your…
33. Adjustable Rate Loans (also known as variable-rate loans), usually offer a lower initial interest rate than fixed-rate loans.
34. Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM) (ARM) A mortgage that does not have a fixed interest rate. The rate changes during the life of the loan based on movements in an index rate, such as the rate…
35. Adjusted gross income (AGI) (AGI) Your AGI is your gross, or total, income from taxable sources minus certain deductions.
36. Advance Fee Loan Scam A form of fraud in which consumers are asked to pay a fee up front and receive a quick loan of a large size with a very low APR.
37. Advance-decline (A-D) line The advance-decline line graphs the ratio of stocks that have risen in value - the advancers - to stocks that have fallen in value - the decliners - over…
38. Advancer Stocks that have gained, or increased, in value over a particular period are described as advancers.
39. Adverse Action Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, a creditor's refusal to grant credit on the terms requested, termination of an existing account, or an unfavorable…
40. Adverse Action Notice The notice required by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act advising a credit applicant or existing debtor of the denial of their request for credit or…
41. Affidavit A sworn statement in writing before a proper official, such as a notary public.
42. Affinity card A card that offers rewards that benefit groups and organizations.
43. Affinity fraud Affinity fraud occurs when a dishonest person plays on your affiliation with a group - such as a house of worship, social club, support group, charity, or…
44. After-hours market Securities, such as stocks and bonds, may change hands on organized markets and exchanges after regular business hours, in what is known as the…
45. After-tax contribution An after-tax contribution, or excess deferral, is money you put into your 401(k) or other employer sponsored retirement savings plan in addition to your…
46. After-tax income After-tax income, sometimes called post-tax dollars, is the amount of income you have left after federal income taxes (plus state and local income taxes…
47. Agency A firm that solicits insurance for one or more insurance carriers. It also may issue policies and adjust losses.
48. Agency bond Some federal agencies, including Ginnie Mae (GNMA) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), raise money by issuing bonds and short-term discount notes…
49. Agency Code Code to identify the supervisory/regulatory agency of the HMDA reporting institution.
50. Agent Agent means any individual, other than a broker-dealer, who represents a broker-dealer or issuer in effecting or attempting to effect purchases or sales…
51. Aggressive-growth fund Aggressive-growth mutual funds buy stock in companies that show rapid growth potential, including start-up companies and those in hot sectors.
52. AICPA PFP Designation for an American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Professional Financial Planner.
53. All or none order (AON) When a trading order is marked AON, the broker who is handling the order must either fill the whole order or not fill it at all.
54. Alpha A stock's alpha is an analyst's estimate of its potential price increase based on the rate at which the company's earnings are growing and other aspects…
55. Alt-A Mortgages A classification of mortgages in which the risk profile falls between prime and subprime.
56. Alteration Any change involving an erasure or rewriting in the date, amount, or payee of a check or other negotiable instrument.
57. Alternate Designated Agency Ethics Official (ADAEO) The official selected by the agency head to act in the capacity of the Designated Agency Ethics Official in the event of his/her absence.
58. Alternative minimum tax (AMT) The alternative minimum tax (AMT) was designed to ensure that all taxpayers pay at least the minimum federal income tax for their income level, no matter…
59. Amended A financial disclosure report that has been changed and eSigned by the filer after the filer has submitted the report.
60. Amended Date Date that a filer eSigned again, changes made to a report that was previously submitted.
61. Amendment in Progress A financial disclosure report that is Under Review and currently being changed by the filer.
62. American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) The goal of this independent, nonprofit organization is teaching individual investors how to manage their assets effectively.
63. American depositary receipt (ADR) Shares of hundreds of major overseas-based companies, including names such as British Petroleum, Sony, and Toyota, are traded as ADRs on US stock markets…
64. American depositary share (ADS) When a company based overseas wants to sell its shares in the US markets, it can offer them through a US bank, which is known as the depositary.
65. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Enacted in 2009, this Act authorized a series of measures intended to create jobs and promote investment and consumer spending.
66. American Stock Exchange (AMEX) The AMEX is the second-largest floor-based stock exchange in the US after the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
67. American-style option A listed option that you can exercise at any point between the day you purchase it and its expiration date is called an American style option.
68. Amortization The process of reducing debt through regular installment payments of principal and interest that will result in the payoff of a loan at its maturity.
69. amount due Money that taxpayers must pay to the government when the total tax is greater than their total tax payments
70. Analyst A financial analyst tracks the performance of companies and industries, evaluates their potential value as investments, and makes recommendations on…
71. annual For FDM purposes, you are an annual filer if last year you filed an OGE Form 450 (or an OGE Form 450-A).
72. Annual fee A yearly fee that may be charged for having a credit card. Some card issuers assess the fee in monthly installments.
73. Annual Percentage Rate (APR) (APR) The cost of credit on a yearly basis, expressed as a percentage.
74. Annual Percentage Yield (APY) (APY) A percentage rate reflecting the total amount of interest paid on a deposit account based on the interest rate and the frequency of compounding for a…
75. Annual Post-Employment Certification and Notification DoD personnel who file Public Financial Disclosure Reports (SF 278) must certify annually that they are aware of the disqualification and employment…
76. Annual renewable term insurance If your term life insurance is an annual renewable policy, you can renew your coverage each year without filling out a new application or passing a…
77. Annual report By law, each publicly held corporation must provide its shareholders with an annual report showing its income and balance sheet.
78. Annuitant An annuitant is a person who receives income from an annuity. If you receive a distribution from an annuity that you or your employer buys with your…
79. Annuitization Annuitization means that you convert part or all of the money in a qualified retirement plan or nonqualified annuity contract into a stream of regular…
80. Annuitize When you annuitize, you choose to convert the assets in your deferred annuity or other retirement savings account into a stream of regular income payments…
81. Annuity A life insurance contract sold by insurance companies, brokers, and other financial institutions. It is usually sold as a retirement investment.
82. Annuity principal The annuity principal is the sum of money you use to buy an annuity and the base on which annuity earnings accumulate.
83. Annuity unit Annuity units are the shares you own in variable annuity subaccounts, also called annuity funds or separate account funds, during the period you're…
84. Appeal To call for a review of an IRS decision or proposed adjustment.
85. Applicant Ethnicity Ethnicity of the applicant. This is reported for originated loans and for loan applications that do not result in an origination.
86. Applicant Race Race of the applicant. This is reported for originated loans and for loan applications that do not result in an origination.
87. Applicant Sex Sex of the applicant. This is reported for originated loans and for loan applications that do not result in an origination.
88. Application Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), an oral or written request for an extension of credit that is made in accordance with the procedures…
89. Application Fee A fee charged when you apply for a credit card.
90. Application Received Date The date the application was received or the date shown on the application form. For purchased loans, "NA" for not applicable is reported.
91. Appointment or Nomination Date The date the filer entered a covered position or the President nominated them. The promotion date (not the frocking date) is the appointment date for…
92. Appraisal The act of evaluating and setting the value of a specific piece of personal or real property.
93. Appraisal Fee The charge for estimating the value of property offered as security.
94. Appraiser The person who evaluates the damage caused by an accident or other covered loss and determines the amount to be paid under the policy terms.
95. Appreciation When an asset such as stock, real estate, or personal property increases in value without any improvements or modification having been made to it, that's…
96. Approved charge With traditional fee-for-service health insurance, the insurance company sets an approved or allowable amount for each medical procedure or office visit.
97. Arbitrage Arbitrage is the technique of simultaneously buying at a lower price in one market and selling at a higher price in another market to make a profit on the…
98. Arbitration The process in which a third-party arbiter examines facts presented by both you and the insurance company when you disagree about a settlement offer.
99. Arithmetic index An arithmetic index gives equal weight to the percentage price change of each stock that's included in the index.
100. Ask The ask price (a shortening of asked price) is the price at which a market maker or broker offers to sell a security or commodity.