Term Life insurance that provides protection for a specified period of time. Common policy periods are one year, five years, 10 years or until the insured reaches age 65 or 70. The policy doesn't build up any of the nonforfeiture values associated with whole life policies.
Whole Life Life insurance which might be kept in force for a person's whole life and which pays a benefit upon the person's death, whenever that might be.
Universal A combination flexible premium, adjustable life insurance policy.
Group Life Term Life insurance which the term is while you work for the company establishing the availability.
Roth IRA A new type of IRA, established in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which allows taxpayers, subject to certain income limits, to save for retirement while allowing the savings to grow tax-free. Taxes are paid on contributions, but withdrawals, subject to certain rules, are not taxed at all. Contributions to the Roth IRA are invested in mutual funds, stocks, or other securities, and the amount that someone is able to contribute is dependent upon their income, age, and tax filing status. Unique features of a Roth IRA are that it does not require you to start making withdrawals at a certain age, and also it allows an individual to make a qualified withdrawal up to $10,000 for a first time home purchase.
Traditional IRA Individual Retirement Account. A tax-deferred retirement account for an individual that permits individuals to set aside money each year, with earnings tax-deferred until withdrawals begin at age 59 1/2 or later (or earlier, with a 10% penalty). The exact amount depends on the year and your age. IRAs can be established at a bank, mutual fund, or brokerage. Only those who do not participate in a pension plan at work or who do participate and meet certain income guidelines can make deductible contributions to an IRA. All others can make contributions to an IRA on a non-deductible basis. Such contributions qualify as a deduction against income earned in that year and interest accumulates tax-deferred until the funds are withdrawn. A participant is able to roll over a distribution to another IRA or withdraw funds using a special schedule of early payments made over the participant's life expectancy.
SEP IRA A retirement program for self-employed people or owners of companies with less than 25 employees, allowing them to defer taxes on investments intended for retirement. This plan allows employers to contribute on behalf of eligible employees, and all contributions are tax-deductible as a business expense and can be integrated with Social Security contributions. In addition, there is no minimum contribution requirement.
529 Qualified Educational Plan The name for a tax-deferred investment vehicle, set up on or after January 1, 1998, which has now been replaced by the Coverdell Education Savings Account. Such an account may contain funds to be applied to future education-related expenses. The name is misleading, as an Education IRA is not actually an IRA and is not related to retirement in any way. Contributions are not tax-deductible but all deposits and earnings can be withdrawn without additional penalties or taxes.
401K A defined contribution plan offered by a corporation to its employees, which allows employees to set aside tax-deferred income for retirement purposes, and in some cases employers will match their contribution dollar-for-dollar. Taking a distribution of the funds before a certain specified age will trigger a penalty tax. The name 401(k) comes from the IRS section describing the program.
408K A simpler alternative to a 401(k) plan available only to companies with 25 or fewer employees, which gives employees the opportunity to make contributions to their SEP accounts with pre-tax dollars and reduce their current year's net income. Also called 408(k) plan. Also called Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension (SARSEP) Plan.
457 Deferred Compensation A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
403B A retirement plan similar to a 401(k) plan, but one which is offered by non-profit organizations, such as universities and some charitable organizations, rather than corporations. There are several advantages to 403(b) plans: contributions lower taxable income, larger contributions can be made to the account, earnings can grow tax-deferred, and some plans allow loans. Contributions can grow tax-deferred until withdrawal at which time the money is taxed as ordinary income (which is sometimes a disadvantage).
Simple IRA A retirement plan sponsored by companies with fewer than 100 employees which is attractive for employers because it avoids some of the administrative fees and paperwork of plans such as a 401(k) plan. A SIMPLE plan may be structured as a 401(k).
Pension A qualified retirement plan set up by a corporation, labor union, government, or other organization for its employees. A business could offer a profit-sharing plan, a stock bonus plan, an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), a thrift plan, a target benefit plan, a money purchase pension plan, or a defined benefit plan.
Mutual Funds An open-ended fund operated by an investment company which raises money from shareholders and invests in a group of assets, in accordance with a stated set of objectives. mutual funds raise money by selling shares of the fund to the public, much like any other type of company can sell stock in itself to the public. Mutual funds then take the money they receive from the sale of their shares (along with any money made from previous investments) and use it to purchase various investment vehicles, such as stocks, bonds and money market instruments. In return for the money they give to the fund when purchasing shares, shareholders receive an equity position in the fund and, in effect, in each of its underlying securities.
For most mutual funds, shareholders are free to sell their shares at any time, although the price of a share in a mutual fund will fluctuate daily, depending upon the performance of the securities held by the fund. Benefits of mutual funds include diversification and professional money management. Mutual funds offer choice, liquidity, and convenience, but charge fees and often require a minimum investment. A closed-end fund is often incorrectly referred to as a mutual fund, but is actually an investment trust.
There are many types of mutual funds, including aggressive growth fund, asset allocation fund, balanced fund, blend fund, bond fund, capital appreciation fund, clone fund, closed fund, crossover fund, equity fund, fund of funds, global fund, growth fund, growth and income fund, hedge fund, income fund, index fund, international fund, money market fund, municipal bond fund, prime rate fund, regional fund, sector fund, specialty fund, stock fund, and tax-free bond fund.
CD's Certificate of Deposit. Short- or medium-term, interest-bearing, FDIC-insured debt instrument offered by banks and savings and loans. CDs offer higher rates of return than most comparable investments, in exchange for tying up invested money for the duration of the certificate's maturity. Money removed before maturity is subject to a penalty. CDs are low risk, low return investments, and are also known as "time deposits", because the account holder has agreed to keep the money in the account for a specified amount of time, anywhere from three months to six years.
Money Market A savings account which shares some of the characteristics of a money market fund. Like other savings accounts, money market accounts are insured by the Federal government. Money market accounts offer many of the same services as checking accounts although transactions may be somewhat more limited. These accounts are usually managed by banks or brokerages, and can be a convenient place to store money that is to be used for upcoming investments or has been received from the sale of recent investments. They are very safe and highly liquid investments, but offer a lower interest rate than most other investments.
Stocks An instrument that signifies an ownership position (called equity) in a corporation, and represents a claim on its proportional share in the corporation's assets and profits. Ownership in the company is determined by the number of shares a person owns divided by the total number of shares outstanding. For example, if a company has 1000 shares of stock outstanding and a person owns 50 of them, then he/she owns 5% of the company. Most stock also provides voting rights, which give shareholders a proportional vote in certain corporate decisions. Only a certain type of company called a corporation has stock; other types of companies such as sole proprietorships and limited partnerships do not issue stock. Also called equity or equity securities or corporate stock.
Bonds A debt instrument issued for a period of more than one year with the purpose of raising capital by borrowing. The Federal government, states, cities, corporations, and many other types of institutions sell bonds. Generally, a bond is a promise to repay the principal along with interest (coupons) on a specified date (maturity). Some bonds do not pay interest, but all bonds require a repayment of principal. When an investor buys a bond, he/she becomes a creditor of the issuer. However, the buyer does not gain any kind of ownership rights to the issuer, unlike in the case of equities. On the hand, a bond holder has a greater claim on an issuer's income than a shareholder in the case of financial distress (this is true for all creditors).
Bonds are often divided into different categories based on tax status, credit quality, issuer type, maturity and secured/unsecured (and there are several other ways to classify bonds as well). U.S. Treasury bonds are generally considered the safest unsecured bonds, since the possibility of the Treasury defaulting on payments is almost zero. The yield from a bond is made up of three components: coupon interest, capital gains and interest on interest (if a bond pays no coupon interest, the only yield will be capital gains). A bond might be sold at above or below par (the amount paid out at maturity), but the market price will approach par value as the bond approaches maturity. A riskier bond has to provide a higher payout to compensate for that additional risk. Some bonds are tax-exempt, and these are typically issued by municipal, county or state governments, whose interest payments are not subject to federal income tax, and sometimes also state or local income tax.
Real Estate A piece of land, including the air above it and the ground below it, and any buildings or structures on it. Real estate can include business and/or residential properties, and are generally sold either by a realtor or directly by the individual who owns the property (for sale by owner). In most situations in the United States, real estate is a legal designation, and is subject to legislation.
