Personal Finance terms starting with R

104 terms

R-squared R-squared is a statistical measurement that determines the proportion of a security's return, or the return on a specific portfolio of securities, that…
Rally A rally is a significant short-term recovery in the price of a stock or commodity, or of a market in general, after a period of decline or sluggishness.
Random walk theory The random walk theory holds that it is futile to try to predict changes in stock prices.
Ranking Ranking is a method of assigning a value to an investment in relation to comparable investments by using a scale.
Rate Lock The period of time that a mortgage company will guarantee a loan's interest rate, usually 30 or 60 days.
Rate of return Rate of return is income you collect on an investment expressed as a percentage of the investment's purchase price.
Rate Spread The price data take the form of a "rate spread." Lenders must report the spread (difference) between the annual percentage rate (APR) on a loan and the…
Rating Rating means evaluating a company, security, or investment product to determine how well it meets a specific set of objective criteria.
Rating service A rating service, such as A.M. Best, Moody's Investors Service, or Standard & Poor's, evaluates bond issuers to determine the level of risk they pose to…
Real Estate Typically includes residential property (e.g., homes, apartment buildings, hotels), commercial property (e.g.
Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Managed diversified portfolios of real estate and mortgages. REITs are usually publicly traded like mutual funds and qualify as excepted investment funds…
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) Federal law that, among other things, requires lenders to provide "good faith" estimates of settlement costs and make other disclosures regarding the…
Real interest rate Your real interest rate is the interest rate you earn on an investment minus the rate of inflation. For example, if you're earning 6.
Real property A dwelling or home is often referred to as real property.
Real property tax A real property tax is a local tax on the value of real estate. The property may be assessed at full value, which is presumably the price that the owner…
Real rate of return You find the real rate of return on an investment by subtracting the rate of inflation from the nominal, or named, rate of return.
Real Time When an event is reported as it happens - such as a quick jump in a stock's price or the constantly changing numbers on a market index - you are getting…
Realized gain When you sell an investment for more than you paid, you have a realized gain. For example, if you buy a stock for $20 a share and sell it for $35 a share…
Reasons for Denial These fields identify why an application was denied. As many as three reasons may be reported.
Recapture When you recapture assets, you regain them, usually because of the provisions of a contract or legal precedent.
Recession In general usage, the word recession connotes a marked slippage in economic activity.
Recharacterization When you have converted one type of individual retirement account (IRA) to another type - such as a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA - and then convert it…
Reconciliation The process of analyzing two related records and, if differences exist between them, finding the cause and bringing the two records into agreement.
Record date To be paid a stock dividend, you must own the stock on the day that the corporation's board of directors names as the record date, also known as the date…
Recording Fees Charged by the Registry of Deeds for the filing of documents or details of a legal document to make them a matter of public record.
Recusal Is an ethics agreement in which an employee disqualifies himself from acting in official matters involving entities that present a financial conflict of…
Red herring When a security is offered to the public for the first time, the underwriter prepares a preliminary prospectus, called a red herring.
Redemption A redemption is the right given to a security holder to sell, at anytime, some or all of his/her units back to the fund for cash.
Redemption fee Some open-end mutual funds impose a redemption fee when you sell shares in the fund, often during a specific, and sometimes brief, period of time after…
Redlining The alleged practice of certain lending institutions of not making mortgage, home improvement, and small business loans in certain neighborhoods-usually…
Refinance The repayment of a debt from the proceeds of a new loan using the same property as security.
Refinancing A way of obtaining a better interest rate, lower monthly payments, or borrow cash on the equity in a property that has built up on a loan.
Refund An amount paid back because of an overpayment or because of the return of an item previously sold.
refundable credit When the amount of a credit is greater than the tax owed, taxpayers can receive a "refund" for some of the unused credit.
Regional exchange Stock exchanges in cities other than New York are called regional exchanges. They list both regional stocks, which may or may not be listed on the New…
Registered bond When a bond is registered, the name of the owner and the particulars of the bond are recorded by the issuer or the issuer's agent.
Registered investment adviser (RIA) Investment advisers who register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and agree to be regulated by SEC rules are known as registered…
Registered representative An investment salesperson or broker who is licensed by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and by the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange).
Regressive tax A regressive or flat income tax system taxes everyone at the same rate, as sales tax does.
Regular Program Community A community wherein a Flood Insurance Rate Map is in effect and full limits of coverage are available under the Flood Disaster Protection Act (FDPA or…
Regulation D Regulation D is an exemption from federal securities registration for private placements of securities.
Regulation T Regulation T is the Federal Reserve Board rule that governs how much you can borrow through your margin account to cover the purchase price of a security.
Regulation Z Under Regulation Z, a Federal Reserve Board rule covering provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act of 1968, lenders have to tell you certain terms…
Rehypothecation Rehypothecation occurs when your broker, to whom you have hypothecated - or pledged - securities as collateral for a margin loan, pledges those same…
Reinvestment Using dividends, interest, and/or capital gains distributions generated by a mutual fund investment to purchase additional shares, rather than receiving…
Reinvestment risk Reinvestment risk occurs when you have money from a maturing fixed-income investment, such as a certificate of deposit (CD) or a bond, and want to make a…
Relative An individual who is related to the filer or reporting individual, as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, great uncle, great…
Release of Lien To free a piece of real estate from a mortgage.
Remittance Transfers Federal law defines “remittance transfers” to include certain electronic money transfers from consumers in the United States to recipients abroad…
Renewable term A renewable term life insurance policy allows you to extend your coverage for an additional period without having to requalify for coverage, provided that…
Renewal A form of extending an unpaid loan in which the borrower's remaining unpaid loan balance is carried over (renewed) into a new loan at the beginning of the…
Repayment Plan a process where a homeowner promises to pay down past due amounts on a mortgage while continuing to make regular monthly payments on a property
Reporting Individual The term is synonymous with "filer" of an SF 278, Public Financial Disclosure Report (see 5 C.F.R. § 2634.
Reporting Status Is a type of financial disclosure report an FDM filer can complete. For the SF 278 Filer, the Reporting Statuses are New Entrant, Incumbent, Termination…
Required beginning date (RBD) Your required beginning date is the date by which you must take your first minimum required distribution from retirement savings plans that require…
Rescission The cancellation, or “tearing-up,” of a contract. Some consumer loans (home mortgages) feature a 3-day right of rescission during which the borrower…
Reserve requirement The Federal Reserve requires its member banks to keep a certain percentage of their customer deposits in cash and other liquid assets in reserve at all…
Residual Interest Interest that continues to accrue on your credit card balance from the statement cycle date until the bank receives your payment.
resources Factors needed to produce goods and services (natural, human, and capital goods).
Respondent Name The name of the HMDA reporting institution.
Respondent or Reporter ID (RID) A ten-digit number used to identify a HMDA reporting institution. RIDs often require leading zeros to meet the length requirement.
Restricted security Restricted securities are stocks or warrants that you acquire privately, through stock options or a corporate merger, rather than by buying them in the…
Retail credit card A credit card associated with a retail store. Depending on the type of card, you may be able to use it at locations other than the one where you received…
Retained earnings Retained earnings, also known as retained surplus, are the portion of a company's profits that it keeps to reinvest in the business or pay off debt…
Retirement Accounts An account that helps you plan for your retirement. It is also the best way to save for tomorrow.
Retirement Annuity A monthly annuity payable to a member or his designated beneficiary. Retirement Systems This is the informal name used by the South Carolina Retirement…
Return Your return is the profit or loss you have on your investments, including income and change in value.
Return Item A negotiable instrument—principally a check—that has been sent to one bank for collection and payment and is returned unpaid by the sending bank.
Return on equity Return on equity (ROE) measures how much a company earns within a specific period in relation to the amount that's invested in its common stock.
Return on investment Your return on investment (ROI) is the profit you make on the sale of a security or other asset divided by the amount of your investment, expressed as an…
Returned payment This is a payment that you make to us that is not honored by your financial institution.
Revenue Revenue is the money you collect for providing a product or service. Revenue is different from earnings, which is what's left of your revenue after…
Revenue bond Revenue bonds are municipal bonds issued to finance public projects, such as airports and roadways.
revenue tariff A tax on imported goods levied primarily to generate revenue for the federal government.
Reverse merger In a reverse merger, a privately held company purchases a publicly held company and, as part of the new entity, becomes public without an initial public…
Reverse Mortgage A reverse mortgage is a special home loan product that allows a homeowner aged 62 or older the ability to access the equity that has accumulated in their…
Reverse stock split If a company's stock is trading at a low price, the company may decide to reduce the number of existing shares and increase their price by consolidating…
Review Chain The assigned users selected within FDM to review and eSign a filer's financial disclosure report before it is completed. See definition of "Complete".
Review Date Review Date is the date on which a reviewer has completed a review of the report.
Reviewer For FDM purposes, a person who checks a filer's financial disclosure report for accuracy and completeness and to identify those financial interests that…
Reviewing Official The designated agency ethics official or his delegate, the Secretary concerned, the head of the agency, or the Director of the Office of Government…
Revocable trust A revocable trust is a living trust that can be modified or revoked by the grantor, or person who establishes the trust and transfers property to it.
Revolving Credit A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services.
Rider A written agreement attached to the policy expanding or limiting the benefits otherwise payable under the policy. Same as an "endorsement."
Right of Offset Banks' legal right to seize funds that a guarantor or debtor may have on deposit to cover a loan in default. It is also known as the right of set-off.
Right of Rescission Right to cancel, within three business days, a contract that uses the home of a person as collateral, except in the case of a first mortgage loan.
Rights of survivorship If two or more people own property jointly with rights of survivorship and one of the owners should die, the deceased owner's share of the property…
Rights offering In a rights offering, also known as a subscription right, a company offers existing shareholders the opportunity to buy additional shares of company stock…
Risk The possibility of loss; the uncertainty of future returns.
Risk premium A risk premium is one way to measure the risk you'd take in buying a specific investment.
Risk ratio Some investors and financial analysts try to estimate the risk an investment poses by speculating on how much the investment is likely to increase in…
Risk Tolerance The degree to which you are willing to risk losing some (or all) of your original investment in exchange for a chance to earn a higher rate of return.
Risk-adjusted performance When you evaluate an investment's risk-adjusted performance, you aren't looking simply at its straight performance figures but at those figures in…
Risk-free return When you buy a US Treasury bill that matures in 13 weeks, you're making a risk-free investment in the sense that there's virtually no chance of losing…
Rollover If you move your assets from one investment to another, it's called a rollover.
Rollover IRA A rollover IRA is an individual retirement annuity you create with tax-deferred assets you move from an employer sponsored retirement plan to a…
Roth 401(k) The Roth 401(k) retirement plan, which was introduced in 2006, allows you to make after-tax contributions to your account.
Roth 401(k) Savings Plan After-tax retirement savings plan offered through the South Carolina Deferred Compensation Program .
Roth IRA A Roth IRA is a variation on a traditional individual retirement account (IRA).
Round lot A round lot is the normal trading unit for stocks and bonds on an organized securities exchange or market, also called a trading platform.