Financial Terms Main Page

This site contains comprehensive definitions for a wide range of terms that cover topics such as financial, finance, business, accounting, payroll, inventory, investment, money, inventory control, stock trading, financial advisor, tax advisor, credit...

Browse terms by the Alphabetical Index:
1 4 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Search terms for definitions using keywords:

Keyword(s):

Our proprietary algorithm provides many related definitions for each term, helping you better understand the subject.

Monthly Financial Term Picks:

FASB

Financial Accounting Standards Board. Sets accounting standards for U.S. firms.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

A federal institution that insures bank deposits.

Regulation M

Fed regulation currently requiring member banks to hold reserves against their net borrowings
from their foreign branches over a 28-day averaging period. Reg M has also required member banks to hold
reserves against Eurodollars lent by their foreign branches to domestic corporations for domestic purposes.

Safety cushion

In a contingent immunization strategy, the difference between the initially available
immunization level and the safety-net return.

Working capital

Current assets less current liabilities. Money that revolves in the business as part of the process of buying, making and selling goods and services, particularly in relation to debtors, creditors, inventory and bank.

quick ratio

See acid test ratio.

discounting

the process of reducing future cash flows to present value amounts

dispersion

the degree of variability or difference; it is measured
as the vertical distance of an actual point from the
estimated regression line in least squares regression analysis

economic order quantity (EOQ)

an estimate of the number
of units per order that will be the least costly and provide
the optimal balance between the costs of ordering
and the costs of carrying inventory

inspection time

the time taken to perform quality control activities

Accounts payable

Acurrent liability on the balance sheet, representing short-term obligations
to pay suppliers.

Dividend

As the term dividend relates to a corporation's earnings, a dividend is an amount paid per share from a corporation's after tax profits. Depending on the type of share, it may or may not have the right to earn any dividends and corporations may reduce or even suspend dividend payments if they are not doing well. Some dividends are paid in the form of additional shares of the corporation. Dividends paid by Canadian corporations qualify for the dividend tax credit and are taxed at lower rates than other income.
As the term dividend relates to a life insurance policy, it means that if that policy is "participating", the policy owner is entitled to participate in an equitable distribution of the surplus earnings of the insurance company which issued the policy. Surpluses arise primarily from three sources:
1) the difference between anticipated and actual operating expenses,
2) the difference between anticipated and actual claims experience, and
3) interest earned on investments over and above the rate required to maintain policy reserves. Having regard to the source of the surplus, the "dividend" so paid can be considered, in part at least, as a refund of part of the premium paid by the policy owner.
Life insurance policy owners of participating policies usually have four and sometimes five dividend options from which to choose:
1) take the dividend in cash,
2) apply the dividend to reduce current premiums,
3) leave the dividends on deposit with the insurance company to accumulate at interest like a savings plan,
4) use the dividends to purchase paid-up whole life insurance to mature at the same time as the original policy,
5) use the dividends to purchase one year term insurance equal to the guaranteed cash value at the end of the policy year, with any portion of the dividend not required for this purpose being applied under one of the other dividend options.
NOTE: It is suggested here that if you have a participating whole life policy and at the time of purchase received a "dividend projection" of incredible future savings, ask for a current projection. Life insurance company's surpluses are not what they used to be.