Terms A–Z
Search a term, browse the basics, or jump straight to the one that keeps showing up in headlines, apps, or your retirement-plan menu.
If you want to go beyond the plain-English definitions here, you can dig into dedicated BNK resources for Dividend stocks · ETFs · Preferred stocks · BDCs · Closed-end funds · Technical analysis.
How Much Should I Put in My 401(k)?
This is one of the most practical beginner questions because it turns investing from theory into a paycheck-level decision.
Should I Use My 401(k) or IRA First?
This is one of the most common beginner retirement-account questions because people realize they have more than one lane and want the right order.
What Are Fees in Investing?
Fees are costs tied to investing. They may look small, but small and irrelevant are not the same thing.
What Are Interest Rates?
Interest rates are one of the main prices in money itself. They affect borrowing, saving, business decisions, and investor behavior.
What Happens to My 401(k) If I Leave My Job?
Leaving a job does not make your 401(k) vanish. It turns the account into a next-step decision.
What Is a 401(k)?
A 401(k) is a retirement account tied to your job. The cleanest beginner frame is that the 401(k) is the container, while the investments inside it are the part built to grow.
What Is a Bond?
A bond is generally tied to lending rather than ownership. That is the cleanest beginner distinction.
What Is a Brokerage Account?
A brokerage account is a general investing account, not automatically a retirement account.
What Is a Mutual Fund?
A mutual fund is a pooled investment structure that can hold many investments inside one fund.
What Is a Portfolio?
A portfolio is the overall collection of investments you own. It is the full picture, not just one holding.
What Is a Recession?
A recession is one of the big economic slowdown words people hear in headlines when things start feeling shaky.
What Is a Rollover IRA?
A rollover IRA is a term people often meet when money moves out of an old workplace retirement plan.
What Is a Roth 401(k)?
A Roth 401(k) is still a 401(k). The word Roth changes the tax setup, not the fact that it is a workplace retirement account.
What Is a Roth IRA?
A Roth IRA is still an IRA. The word Roth changes the tax setup, but not the fact that it belongs in the IRA family.
What Is a Stock?
A stock usually means ownership in a company. That ownership idea is the first piece beginners need.
What Is a Traditional IRA?
A Traditional IRA is a type of IRA. It lives in the same broad account family while carrying a different tax setup than a Roth IRA.
What Is an Employer Match?
An employer match usually means your employer contributes to your retirement plan based on what you contribute, subject to plan rules.
What Is an ETF?
An ETF is a fund that can hold many investments inside it and still trade during the day like a stock.
What Is an Expense Ratio?
An expense ratio is a cost figure you often see attached to a fund. It helps show what the fund costs on an ongoing basis.
What Is an IRA?
An IRA is usually a retirement account you open yourself instead of receiving through work. It still lives in the retirement world, just through a different doorway.
What Is Compound Interest?
Compound interest is the idea that growth can build on prior growth, not just on the original starting amount.
What Is Diversification?
Diversification means not letting one company, one sector, or one story carry your entire financial future on its back.
What Is Dollar-Cost Averaging?
Dollar-cost averaging means investing on a steady schedule instead of trying to guess the perfect moment.
What Is Inflation?
Inflation means prices can rise over time, so the same amount of money buys less than it used to.
What Is Market Cap?
Market cap is one of the most common ways investors talk about company size.
What Is Risk Tolerance?
Risk tolerance is about how much uncertainty, downside, and movement you can realistically handle without falling apart.
What Is Vesting?
Vesting is a workplace-plan term that usually comes up when employer contributions are involved.
What Is Volatility?
Volatility is about movement. When prices swing more sharply up and down, people call that volatility.
What Is Yield?
Yield is one of the main words people hear when investments generate income. It matters, but it is not the whole story.