Definitions and ExplanationsWhat is Ownership? Ownership refers to the state of having the ultimate and exclusive rights and control over a particular thing or property. It is determined or conferred through a lawful title or claim. Owners have certain restrictions to occupy, possess, enjoy, sell, rent, give away or in some cases, destroy a particular property or [...]
What is FDIC Insured? FDIC insured refers to the state or condition that you are already entitled to the different rights and privileges of the insurance provider. FDIC refers to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This organization is responsible for preserving and promoting the public confidence especially in the financial system of the United States [...]
What is Jumbo Loan? Jumbo loans also referred to as jumbo mortgages or non-conforming loans are loans that exceed the established conforming loan limit. Each January the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) establishes the conforming loan limits. Traditionally, the limits have lingered around $400,000 per year. Currently, the conforming loan limit is $417,000 [...]
What is Annual Percentage Rate? Annual Percentage Rate refers to the rate or amount of interest for money that is borrowed. When a particular person decides to make a loan, he/she usually looks on the APR for a particular loan. The lower the APR, the less expensive is the interest. Computations for APR is quite [...]
What is FICA Tax? The acronym FICA refers to Federal Insurance Contributions Act. This is a federal act mandating employers to deduct a particular percentage from the salary of every employee each pay period. As an added requirement, FICA mandates the employer to match the amount deducted from each employee and put the money to [...]
What is Budget? Budget was derived from a French word bougette, which means purse. Budget is an essential concept not just in macroeconomics but as well as microeconomics. It is a financial plan concerning the process of saving and spending money. There are several types of budget. However, this article will be focusing mainly on [...]
What is a NAIC Number? NAIC number refers to the number issued by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to licensed and affiliated insurance companies across the US. The NAIC is a body or organization that helps in the creation of similar or uniform policies across various insurance companies and organizations. Officials of the NAIC [...]
What is CDO? CDO is a financial term that stands for “collateralized debt obligation”. CDO is an investment security that is backed—or secured—by a pool of other bonds, loans, or assets. The CDO a type of structured asset-backed security and is traded in public security markets. CDOs do not typically deal with mortgages—rather a CMO, [...]
What is KPMG? KPMG stands for Klynveld, Peat, Marwick, and Goerdeler representing the names of four people who joined their separate accounting firms together to form a global firm. Today, KPMG is one of the “Big 4” audit firms in the world along with Ernst & Young, Deloitte, and PwC. With its main office located [...]
What Is FDIC? FDIC stands for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It is actually an independent body which was created by the Congress back then in order to insure the money saved by people. It is also a way of building confidence when it comes to banking and other financial transactions. However, it is important to [...]
What is QE2? QE stands for quantitative easing and the 2 represents the second time or second round of this process. In this context, QE2 is the second time in which a particular central bank has offered or “done” quantitative easing to help stimulate the economy of a particular country. Quantitative easing is a process [...]
What is PMI Percentage? PMI refers to private mortgage insurance and PMI percentage is the rate of insurance required for properties that are acquired by borrowers who may default on the policy. This particular insurance policy is some sort of a guarantee for lenders in case the borrowers are not able to fully pay a [...]
What is Bumper to Bumper Warranty? Bumper to bumper warranty refers to warranty coverage for a new car bought by a customer. From the term itself, “bumper to bumper” literally means that the specific car is covered with a certain warranty from the “front bumper” to the “back bumper”. Though this is not an absolute [...]
What is HDHP? HDHP refers to a health insurance plan called “High Deductible Health Plan”. From the term itself, it is a type of health insurance plan that involves a high deductible but with low premiums. Deductible is the amount a person is required to pay the insurance company before it could give out the [...]
What are Bank Routing Numbers? Bank Routing Numbers are numeric codes that appear on bank checks and other negotiable instruments to basically give identification from which bank or financial institution a particular check is drawn. All banks in the US for example have unique 9-digit routing numbers or routing transit numbers which used to be [...]
What is BIG? BIG stands for “basic income guarantee” and it refers to a government-initiated program for social security, especially intended for people that are poor and live below the poverty line. The main concept of this program is the provision of some form of regular income to citizens covered under this program. This income [...]
What is a Derivative? In the world of business and finance, a derivative refers to a form of security which has a value that depends on a particular asset product. If the value of this particular asset changes with the market conditions, so is the value of the derivative. These assets from which the value [...]
What is Cash Flow? Cash flow is basically a financial term that involves all the cash of a particular company including those that are created or received and those that are spent as operations expense. And since it involves all the cash that a company is able to generate and spend, cash flow figures can [...]
What is FMP? FMP or Fixed Maturity Plan is a type of mutual fund that involves investing in debt with a maturity date that is pre-determined and fixed. Through FMPs, investors will be able to earn some income by means of interest payments but with quite minimal risk. Fixed Maturity plans are also referred to [...]
What is EFTPS? EFTPS or Electronic Federal Tax Payment System is literally an “electronic” way of paying taxes for American taxpayers. Whether the taxpayer is an individual or a business entity, taxes may be filed using means such as via phone call to a customer service hotline or through the online channel. This tax-paying system [...]
What is FNMA Alliance? Many people have been asking what the FNMA Alliance is all about. Some have heard of this organization through friends while others have direct experience with the organization through a series of phone calls. Not many people exactly know much about what business the FNMA Alliance is engaged in with some [...]
EBT cards are Electronic Benefit Transfer cards issued by the U.S. government to citizens who may be in need of some kind of assistance for their daily and other needs. Instead of the common practice of giving food items or cash to various beneficiaries, one may just opt to have an EBT card that will [...]
What is “CMTA”? “CMTA” or “clearing member trade agreement” refers to an agreement or understanding between one investor and more than one broker or brokerage firms with the intent of consolidating all possible trade orders for a single broker later. This agreement involves a document that has to be signed by the investor and the [...]
What is a DuPont analysis? “DuPont analysis” refers to a formula that measures a company’s financial performance in terms of ROE or “return on equity.” Its name comes from DuPont Corporation which is credited for creating and using the performance formula. Based on the DuPont analysis formula, a company’s ROE performance is mainly affected by [...]
What is an APF number? APF number refers to the Approved Project Financial number or code and this is provided by various financing companies in India that are involved with housing and related developments. This particular code is given to the authorized builder of a house, building, or similar project. When a person for example [...]
A CVS number refers to a credit card’s security value or number. Some credit card companies refer to this security value as a CVV or card verification value while others use CSC or card security code. Some people also equate a CVS number to other terms such as card code verification number or the signature [...]
“ITF bank accounts” refer to accounts that are set up in such a way that the account owner is able to designate a beneficiary when he/she dies. The “ITF” term in the bank account stands for “in trust for,” and this literally pertains to the authority given by the account owner to the named person [...]
MCIF or Marketing Customer Information File refers to a computerized filing system containing details and accounts of an organization’s existing customers. In simple terms, having MCIF is equivalent to having a full database of existing customer accounts and their associated relationships. The besting thing about getting a MCIF is that it not only provide basic [...]
