A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
- A -
Allowance - an amount of money parents give kids to help them learn to manage money. The amount is usually given weekly. Sometimes an allowance is tied to completing responsibilities — household chores or jobs for the family.
Annual Percentage Rate (APR) - the rate of interest (in terms of a percent, such as 8.75%) being charged for a loan over a year's time. The APR rate includes interest, transaction fees, and service fees.
Appreciate - to grow in value. Usually a term used in relation to investments: stocks, collectibles, etc., which are now worth more than you paid for them.
Asset - any item of value that you own: house, land, gems, stocks, bonds, money in savings, etc.
ATM - These letters stand for Automatic Teller Machine. This is an electronic banking station that enables people to take care of banking business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can deposit and withdraw money, pay loans, etc., at most ATMs.
- B -
Balance - 1) In talking about loans, the balance is the difference between the amount owed and the amount paid. If you pay $45 on a $100 debt, your balance is $55. 2) In talking about checkbooks, balancing means to account for all money that came into and went out of your account, so that at the end of the month you and your bank statement agree. 3) In talking about savings, your balance is what is left in your savings account after you deposit or withdraw money.
Banknotes - These are issued by the Central Bank, in Europe ECB – in Frankfurt Germany. They have legal value therefore everyone has to accept them for any kind of payment and as a consequence any debt or obligation towards somebody else is annulled. What it said in this case in Italian is that “la moneta legale ha pieno potere liberatorio”.
Bankruptcy - a state of being in so much debt that you are legally declared unable to pay in full the people and companies you owe. When you legally declare yourself bankrupt in some states, you must sell off all your possessions and pay off your debts as best you can.
Blue Chip Stock - a name given to the stocks of major corporations, like IBM and General Motors. The name is derived from the most highly valued poker chip, the blue chip.
Bond - an IOU issued by a corporation or government that confirms you are lending the corporation or government money. Bonds pay interest regularly to lenders. At the end of the term of the bond, the borrower returns to the lender the face value of the bond (the amount the lender invested in the bond).
Broker - a licensed professional who advises people about investments; also helps people buy and sell stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc. The broker earns a fee for this help, called a commission, usually a percentage of the transaction.
Budget - a plan you create for controlling spending and encouraging saving.
- C -
Certificate of Deposit - a type of investment that requires you to invest money for a certain length of time and guarantees the same rate of return (interest) for that entire time. CDs usually require a minimum deposit.
Charge - to borrow money (from a store, service provider, or credit card company) to make a purchase. If you do not pay the debt off in full within the card issuer's grace period (usually 25-28 days), you will pay interest on the amount you owe.
Check register - (sometimes called a check ledger). This booklet is usually kept in your checkbook, and you use it to keep track of all the deposits, withdrawals, and checks you write. After you write each in your register, you subtract or add the amount to your checking account balance. If you keep your register up-to-date, you will always know how much money you have in your checking account.
Coins - These are metal money minted by the National Mint; they are mainly used for small payments
Collectibles - objects such as art, jewelry, baseball cards, and antiques that people buy in the hope that the objects' value will increase.
Commodities - raw materials — such as oil, wheat, soybeans, pork, or gold -you buy. In buying commodities you are hoping that the price will rise, so that you can sell the commodity for a profit.
Compound Interest - interest on an investment, like a savings account, that is calculated not only on the money you originally invested, but also on any interest the investment has already earned.
Corporation - the most common form of organizing a business — the organization's total worth is divided into shares of stock, and each share represents a unit of ownership and is sold to stock holders. A corporation is considered a separate entity from the stockholders for legal and tax purposes. Examples of corporations: Pepsi Cola, Intel, The Gap.
Credit - a loan that enables people to buy something now and to pay for it in the future.
Credit card - A plastic card having a magnetic strip, issued by a bank or business authorizing the holder to buy goods or services on credit. Also called charge card.
Credit Limit - the highest amount you may charge on a credit card. Your limit is set by your card company's opinion of your ability to handle debt.
Credit History - a record of your borrowing and paying habits. Credit reporting companies track your history and supply this information to credit card companies, banks, and other lenders.
Credit Rating - Credit agencies are companies that keep track of how you pay your debts (bills). Do you pay on time? Do you make the required payments? When you want to borrow money from a bank or apply for a credit card, the bank or the credit card company will ask a credit agency to rate you. Lenders want to know if you are a reliable bill payer before they approve your loan or credit card.
- D -
Debit Card - This plastic card looks like a credit card, but it is used to withdraw money from a savings or checking account. When you use a debit card at Automatic Teller Machines or in stores to make purchases, money is immediately withdrawn from your account. You cannot withdraw more money than you have in the account.
Debt - money or goods you owe.
Deposit - to put money into a bank or investment account.
Diversify - to spread out the money you invest into different types of investments: bonds, stocks, CDs, mutual funds, etc. The idea is to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket. Different kinds of investments do well in different kinds of economic climates. Therefore, if one of your investments drops in value, the other kinds of investments should hold or increase their value.
Dividend - a payment made by a company to a stockholder to share in the company's profits.
Discount - to reduce from an original price or an item's full worth.
- E -
Earned Income - wages paid in exchange for work.
Entrepreneur - a person who assumes the risk to start a business with the idea of making a profit.
Expenses - things you pay money for - both needs and wants.
- F -
FDIC-Insured - Established as part of the Banking Act of 1933, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protects bank customers from possible losses by insuring various kinds of savings accounts up to $100,000 per account.
Finance Charge - the fee you pay when you do not pay off the entire credit card debt within a single payment period, usually about 25-28 days.
Fixed - not changing. Fixed interest rates never change during the time of the investment or loan.
Fixed Expenses - expenses which stay basically the same from month to month, such as housing and transportation.
- G -
Grace Period - the time, usually about 25-28 days, which you have to pay a bill or a loan in full. If you pay within the grace period, you do not have to pay a finance charge.
- H -
- I -
Income Tax - money that wage earners pay the government to run the country. The amount of the tax depends upon how much you earn.
Inflation - A persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or a persistent decline in the purchasing power of money, caused by an increase in available currency and credit beyond the proportion of available goods and services.
Insufficient Funds - a phrase that means you did not have enough money to cover an expense. Usually checks that bounce are returned stamped with the phrase, "insufficient funds." The amount of the check was larger than the balance in the checking account.
Insure - to protect yourself from loss. You pay premiums (payments) to an insurance company who, in turn, agrees to pay for losses to your property (house, car, jewelry, etc.) or your person (in case of injury). You can buy insurance that protects you even when you cause a loss to other people. For example, you cause a car accident.
Insured Savings - accounts that are insured up to $100,000 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Banks are insured by the FDIC, so your money in bank accounts is insured.
Interest - the amount paid by a borrower to a lender for the privilege of borrowing the money.
Interest Rate - the price paid for the use of someone else's money expressed as an annual percentage rate, such as 6.5%.
Invest - to put your money into CDs, money market accounts, mutual funds, savings accounts, bonds, stocks or objects that you hope will grow in value and earn you more money.
- J -
- K -
- L -
Lien - a right given to a lender over a borrower's property or money when the borrower cannot pay a debt.
Liquidity - - how quickly an asset (any item of value that you own) can be turned into cash. In other words, you don't have to wait until a certain date or pay a penalty to withdraw your money.
Loan - money or an object that is lent, usually with the understanding that the loan will be paid back, usually with interest.
- M -
Minimum Payment - the smallest amount you are required to pay a lender each month on a debt.
Money Market Account - a savings account offered by a bank (or a mutual fund). The account typically requires 1) a minimum deposit and 2) that you maintain a minimum balance. The account invests in certificates of deposit and treasury bills and pays a rate of interest that rises and falls with the economy.
Mutual Fund - a savings fund that uses cash from a pool of savers to buy a wide range of securities, like stocks, bonds, and real estate. This is a way to diversify your investments because you own small units of each of the fund's investments. The fund is managed by professionals and permits small amounts of money to be invested.
- N -
- O -
Opportunity Cost - the next best alternative that is given up when a choice is made.
- P -
Penny Stock - a nickname for extremely low priced stock, usually only a few dollars a share. These stocks are considered highly speculative, which is another way of saying highly risky. They are priced low because they have not yet proven themselves in the market.
Percentage - a way of measuring. The number 100 (which stands for the whole amount) is usually divided into 100 smaller, but equal, parts, each called a percent. So a percentage usually refers to a certain number of parts within the whole. Therefore, 6% is 6 units out of 100% (the whole). If you have invested $100, and you earn 8% interest on the money, you will earn 8 parts of the whole, or $8. A percentage explains a number in relation to the whole.
Profit - the money you've earned after you subtract a) any money you had to spend to make the product or perform the service. B) any taxes that had to be paid on your earnings.
- Q -
- R -
Rate of Compounding - When an account compounds interest (figuring interest on interest already earned) it does so regularly. Compounding can take place annually, semi-annually, quarterly, monthly, or daily. The more often interest is compounded the faster your money will grow.
Real Estate - property in the form of land or buildings.
Return - the amount of money a saver receives from a savings account or fund. The return is usually talked about as a percentage, such as "This account returns 7.37%."
Risk - the likelihood that you will lose money on an investment.
Rule of 72 - math formula that determines the number of years needed to double your money at a given interest rate. Here's how it works: you divide 72 by the interest rate. Therefore, money invested at 10% interest rate will double in 7.2 years.
- S -
Save - hanging onto your money for a future use instead of spending it. Saving is the opposite of spending.
Savings Account - a bank account that pays you interest for keeping your savings in it. Banks use your money to make loans, so they pay you interest for the use of your money. Your savings is insured up to $100,000 by the FDIC, so you don't have to worry about borrowers taking your money and not paying it back.
Scarcity - a lack of something, like money, natural resources, etc. Scarcity forces you to make choices about how you use or treat whatever is scarce.
Share - a unit of ownership in an investment or a company.
Shareholder - someone who owns stock in a company.
Social Security Tax - a tax used to fund a program of the US government that gives money to elderly people. The elderly receive funds because the federal government has deducted money from each of their paychecks during the course of their working lives. The money taken out of their paychecks has been deposited into the Social Security fund. Employers, too, deposited money to this fund on behalf of each employee. When people reach a certain age, they become eligible to receive Social Security payments. The government mails checks each month. These payments help the elderly live, now that they are no longer working full-time. The money they receive is drawn out of the Social Security fund, where it has been earning interest for many years.
Sole Proprietor - a business owned by a single person.
Splitting - to divide stock in order to lower its price so that more people will invest in it. In a two-to-one split, 100 shares of $70 per-share stock become 200 shares of $35 per-share stock. In a three-to-one split, 90 shares at $60 a share become 270 shares at $30 a share.
Standard of Living - the level of material well-being of an individual or group.
Stock - a certificate representing a share of ownership in a company.
Stock Market - an organized way for 1) people to buy and sell stocks and 2) corporations to raise money. There are three widely known stock exchanges: The New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System (you hear it called NASDAQ on the news).
- T -
- U -
Unearned Income - money you make that is not the result of your labor, such as interest from a savings account or other kind of investment.
Unit of account - money can be a real one or an ideal one.When we use money only to mesaure the value of things or debts or credits but not for payments, then it is referred to as a unit of account only. I.e.: the ECU was used as unit of account in EEC before the EURO. Now the EURO is both a currency and a unit of account.
U.S. Bond - a kind of investment in which you lend money to the government for a certain amount of time and at a certain interest rate. You are paid interest according to the terms of your bond. At the end of the agreed-on time, the borrower (the government) returns to you the amount you originally lent.
- V -
Variable Expenses - kinds of spending that can be controlled and typically change from month to month. For example, groceries can be a variable expense. You can choose to buy expensive food, (steak, lobster, lamb chops, or shrimp) or inexpensive food (chicken legs, turkey, hamburger). With variable expenses, you have choices.
- W -
Withdraw - take money out of an account.
Withdrawal - the act of taking money out of an account.
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- Z -