Personal Finance terms starting with M

85 terms

Maine State Housing Authority (MSHA) A mortgage program available only to first-time homebuyers within the State of Maine . Income limitations are applicable.
Make a market A dealer who specializes in a specific security, such as a bond or stock, is said to make a market in that security.
Managed account A managed account is a portfolio of stocks or bonds chosen and managed by a professional investment manager who makes the buy and sell decisions.
Management fee A management fee is the percentage of your account value that an investment company or manager charges to handle your account.
Margin See Margin, or margin costs
Margin Account Arrangement with a broker or financial institution permitting a customer to borrow in order to cover the cost of investment purchases.
Margin call To protect the margin loans they make, brokers issue a margin call if your equity in your margin account falls below the required maintenance level of at…
Margin requirement The margin requirement is the minimum amount the Federal Reserve, in Regulation T, requires you to deposit in a margin account before you can trade…
Marginal tax rate Because the US income tax system is progressive, your tax rate rises as your taxable income rises through two or more tax brackets.
Mark to the market When an investment is marked to the market, its value is adjusted to reflect the current market price.
Markdown A markdown is the amount a broker-dealer earns on the sale of a fixed-income security and is the difference between the sales price and what the seller…
Market Traditionally, a securities market was a place - such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) - where members met to buy and sell securities.
Market capitalization Value of a corporation as determined by the market price of its issued and outstanding securities.
Market cycles Market cycles are the recurrent patterns of expansion and contraction that characterize the securities and real estate markets.
market economy An economic system based on private enterprise that rests upon three basic freedoms: freedom of the consumer to choose among competing products and…
Market maker A broker-dealer who is prepared to buy or sell a specific security - such as a bond or at least one round lot of a stock - at a publicly quoted price, is…
Market order An order to buy or sell a security immediately at the best possible price.
Market Price The price at which a security trades (i.e. could be purchased or sold) in the secondary market.
Market risk Market risk, also known as systematic risk, is risk that results from the characteristic behavior of an entire market or asset class.
Market timing Market timing means trying to anticipate the point at which a market has hit, or is about to hit, a high or low turning point, based on historical…
Market Value The price that the market - any market - sets at a particular time as the price at which an asset can be bought or sold.
Markup When you buy securities from a broker-dealer or market maker, you pay a markup.
Married Filing Joint filing status You are married and both you and your spouse agree to file a joint return. (On a joint return, you report your combined income and deduct your combined…
Married Filing Separate filing status You must be married. This method may benefit you if you want to be responsible only for your own tax or if this method results in less tax than a joint…
mass tax A broad tax that affects a majority of taxpayers.
Matching contribution A matching contribution is money your employer adds to your salary reduction retirement savings account, such as a 401(k).
Matrix trading Matrix trading occurs when the yield spread between two categories of bonds with different levels of risk is temporarily inconsistent with what that…
Maturity Date The date as of which the principal of and interest on a security become due and payable.
MCCC-1 Annual notification/reporting form required under Title 9-A M.R.S.A.§6-202 for all creditors conducting Maine consumer credit business.
Mediation Mediation is an informal, voluntary method of resolving disputes, in which the parties in conflict meet with a trained, independent third party to come up…
Medicaid Medicaid is federal government program run by the individual states. It's designed to provide assistance to people who can't afford skilled or custodial…
Medicare Medicare is a federal government insurance program designed to provide healthcare coverage for people 65 or older, certain disabled people, and people…
Medicare tax Used to provide medical benefits for certain individuals when they reach age 65.
member Member means any person who has been admitted to membership in the Connecticut credit union in accordance with state law.
Membership fee See annual fee.
Merger When two or more companies consolidate by exchanging common stock, and the resulting single company replaces the old companies, the consolidation is…
Metropolitan Division (MD) A metropolitan division is a subset of an MSA having a single core with a population of 2.5 million or more.
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) For purposes of HMDA, the term is interchangeable with "metropolitan area." The underlying concept of an MSA is that of a core area containing a large…
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) / Metropolitan Division (MD) An area that has at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic…
Micro-cap stock A micro-cap stock is one with a smaller market capitalization - sometimes much smaller - than stocks described as small-caps.
Mid-capitalization (mid-cap) stock A mid-cap stock is one issued by a corporation whose market capitalization falls in a range between $2 billion and $10 billion, making it larger than a…
Minimum Amount to Open The minimum initial deposit required to open the account described.
Minimum Balance Required The balance in the account from day-to-day must average this amount when calculated.
Minimum finance charge A minimum finance charge is a fee collected by a credit card issuer each billing period.
Minimum interest charge The minimum amount of interest you will be charged if you are charged any interest. For example, if your total interest charge is $0.
Minimum Payment The minimum dollar amount that must be paid each month on a loan, line of credit, or other debt.
Minimum required distribution (MRD) A minimum required distribution is the smallest amount you can take each year from your retirement savings plan once you've reached the mandatory…
Minor Child A son or daughter who is under a state's age of legal competence, which is age 18 in most states.
Minority interest All shareholders whose combined shares represent less than half of the total outstanding shares issued by a corporation have a minority interest in that…
Modern portfolio theory In making investment decisions, adherents of modern portfolio theory focuses on potential return in relation to potential risk.
Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) Your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is your adjusted gross income (AGI) plus deductions, such as college loan interest and contributions to a…
Momentum investing A momentum investor focuses on stocks that are rising in value on increasing daily volume, and avoids stocks that are falling in price or that are…
Monetary policy A country's central bank is responsible for its monetary policy. In the United States, for example, the Federal Reserve aims to keep the economy growing…
Monetary reserve A government's monetary reserve includes the foreign currency and precious metals that its central bank holds.
Money factor A money factor, also called a lease factor, is the finance charge you pay on an automobile lease.
Money manager Registered money managers are paid professionals who are responsible for handling the securities portfolios they oversee in the best interest of the…
Money market A sector of the capital market where short-term obligations such as Treasury bills, commercial paper and bankers' acceptances are bought and sold.
Money Market Account Offered by full-service brokers, these are similar to checking accounts but usually pay higher rates.
Money Market Fund An open-ended mutual fund that invests in short-term debts and monetary instruments such as Treasury bills and pays money market rates of interest.
Money Order A money order is similar to a check. It is used to pay bills or make purchases in cases where cash is not accepted.
Money Order Fee Many institutions sell money orders for a fee. Institutions may impose separate fees on both account holders and non-account holders for the purchase of…
Money purchase plan A money purchase plan is a defined contribution retirement plan that requires the employer to contribute a fixed percentage of each employee's salary…
Money supply The money supply is the total amount of liquid or near-liquid assets in the economy.
Monte Carlo simulation A Monte Carlo simulation can be used to analyze the return that an investment portfolio is capable of producing.
Monthly Gross Income (MGI) the total income of all homeowners who sign a mortgage before any taxes or other deductions are made.
Monthly or Annual Fee The fee that the institution charges, to its own account holders, for the ability to use their cards. This fee is charged on a monthly or yearly basis.
Moody's Investors Service, Inc. Moody's is a financial services company best known for rating investments. Moody's rates bonds, common stock, commercial paper, municipal short-term…
Morgan Stanley Capital International Indexes These indexes are computed by the investment firm Morgan Stanley's Capital International group (MSCI).
Morningstar, Inc. Morningstar, Inc., offers a broad range of investment information, research, and analysis online, in software products, and in print.
Mortgage A debt instrument used in a real estate transaction where the property is the collateral for the loan.
Mortgage Company (Supervised Lender) A Supervised Lender is any person authorized to make or take assignments of supervised loans either under a license issued by the Bureau, or as a…
Mortgage Insurance (MI) insurance that protects lenders against losses caused by a rhomeowner's default on a mortgage loan.
Mortgage life insurance Term life insurance paid by the borrower in which the amount of coverage decreases as the mortgage balance declines.
Mortgage Modification a change in the terms of a loan, usually the interest rate and/or term, in response to the homeowner's inability to make the payments under the existing…
Mortgage Payment the amount of money paid on a monthly basis for principal, interest, property taxes, hazard insurance and homeowner’s association fees, if applicable.
Mortgage Payment Guideline the calculation within HAMP that helps determine a homeowners eligibility. It is calculated as 31% of the homeowner’s current monthly gross income.
mortgage-backed securities Securities issued by government-related agencies that buy up mortgage loans from lenders such as banks and savings and loan associations.
Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) MBS are debt securities that represent claims to the cash flows from pools of mortgage loans, most commonly on residential property.
Mortgage-backed Security Ownership claim in a pool of mortgages or an obligation that is secured by such a pool.
Moving average A moving average of securities prices is an average that is recomputed regularly by adding the most recent price and dropping the oldest one.
Multiple A stock's multiple is its price-to-earnings ratio (P/E). It's figured by dividing the market price of the stock by its earnings.
Municipal bond (muni) Municipal bonds are debt securities issued by state or local governments or their agencies to finance general governmental activities or special projects.
Municipal bond fund Municipal bond mutual funds invest in municipal bonds. Earnings from these funds are always free of federal income tax for all shareholders in the fund.
Mutual company A mutual company is a privately held company owned by its policyholders, depositors, or other customers.
Mutual Fund A fund operated by an investment company that raises money from shareholders and invests it in stocks, bonds, options, commodities, or money market…