Vocabulary

• Budget – A financial plan that helps you track your income and expenses.
• Savings – The portion of income not spent on current expenses.
• Investment – The allocation of money in the expectation of some benefit in the future.
• Debt – Money that is owed or due.
• Interest Rate – The amount charged by a lender to a borrower for the use of assets.
• Credit Score – A numerical expression based on a level analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of that person.
• Financial Aid – Any grant or scholarship, loan, or paid employment offered to help a student meet his/her college expenses.
• Tuition – The fee that colleges charge for instruction.
• Student Loans – Money borrowed to pay for education expenses including tuition, books, and living expenses.
• Scholarships – Financial aid awards designed to help students pay for an undergraduate degree.
• Grants – A form of financial aid that does not have to be repaid.
• Work-Study – A federally and sometimes state-sponsored program that allows students to earn money to pay for education.
• Loan Repayment – The act of paying back money previously borrowed from a lender.
• FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid; an application that the federal government and many colleges use to determine eligibility for financial aid.
• Net Price – The amount that a student pays to attend an institution in a single academic year AFTER subtracting scholarships and grants the student receives.
• Compound Interest – Interest on a loan or deposit calculated based on both the initial principal and the accumulated interest from previous periods.
• Emergency Fund – A savings account set aside for unexpected expenses.
• Checking Account – A type of bank account from which money can be withdrawn by check or ATM.
• Savings Account – A bank account where money is kept for saving or for future use.
• Credit Card – A card issued by a bank to allow the holder to purchase goods or services on credit.
• Debit Card – A card issued by a bank allowing the holder to transfer money electronically from their bank account when making a purchase.
• Fixed Expenses – Costs that do not change from month to month, like rent or car payments.
• Variable Expenses – Costs that can change from month to month, like groceries or gas.
• Financial Literacy – The ability to understand and use various financial skills, including personal financial management, budgeting, and investing.
• Retirement Fund – A pool of funds set aside for retirement.
• Insurance – A contract in which an individual or entity receives financial protection or reimbursement against losses from an insurance company.
• Taxes – Compulsory contributions to state revenue, levied by the government on workers' income and business profits or added to the cost of some goods, services, and transactions.
• Salary – A fixed regular payment, typically paid on a monthly or bi-weekly basis but often expressed as an annual sum, made by an employer to an employee.
• Paycheck – A check for salary or wages made out to an employee.
• Direct Deposit – An electronic transfer of a payment directly from the account of the payer to the recipient's account.
• Minimum Wage – The lowest wage permitted by law or by a special agreement.
• Overdraft – A deficit in a bank account caused by drawing more money than the account holds.
• ATM – Automated Teller Machine, a machine that dispenses cash or performs other banking services when an account holder inserts a bank card.
• Online Banking – An electronic payment system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of transactions through the financial institution's website.
• Mobile Banking – A service provided by a bank or other financial institution that allows its customers to conduct financial transactions remotely using a mobile device.
• E-commerce – Commercial transactions conducted electronically on the Internet.
• Credit Report – A detailed report of an individual's credit history.
• Bankruptcy – A legal proceeding involving a person or business that is unable to repay outstanding debts.
• Inflation – The rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and subsequently, purchasing power is falling.
• Stock Market – A place where shares of publicly traded companies are bought and sold.
• Bonds – A fixed income instrument that represents a loan made by an investor to a borrower.
• Mutual Funds – An investment program funded by shareholders that trades in diversified holdings and is professionally managed.
• Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) – An investment fund traded on stock exchanges, much like stocks.
• Diversification – The practice of spreading investments among different securities to reduce risk.
• Asset – A resource with economic value that an individual, corporation, or country owns or controls with the expectation that it will provide a future benefit.
• Liability – A company's financial debt or obligations that arise during the course of its business operations.
• Equity – The ownership interest of investors in a business.
• Capital – Wealth in the form of money or other assets owned by a person or organization or available for a purpose such as starting a company or investing.
• Portfolio – A range of investments held by a person or organization.
• Dividend – A distribution of a portion of a company's earnings, decided by the board of directors, to a class of its shareholders.