The Financial Dictionary

Finance terms explained clearly

Every term comes with a plain-English definition, a worked example using real company data, and an interactive calculator you can use with your own numbers.

Try a calculator — no signup
Compound Interest Live
$
%
yr
$
Future Value $299,483
Updates as you type Full calculator →
1719+ Terms Defined
156+ Live Calculators
35 Categories
Free Always

Interactive Tools

Popular Calculators

View all calculators →

Browse by Topic

All Categories

View all →

Valuation

Metrics used to assess whether a stock or company is fairly priced.

23 terms

Profitability

Measures of how efficiently a company generates profit from its operations.

10 terms

Income & Dividends

Metrics related to shareholder income and dividend distributions.

4 terms

Size & Scale

Measures of a company's overall scale and market presence.

1 term

Leverage & Debt

Metrics that quantify a company's use of debt relative to equity.

5 terms

Liquidity

Measures of a company's ability to meet short-term obligations.

3 terms

Growth

Metrics that track how quickly a company or investment grows over time.

2 terms

Market & Trading

Terms describing market conditions, trading mechanics, and market structure.

190 terms

Corporate Actions

Events initiated by companies that affect shareholders, such as IPOs, splits, and buybacks.

57 terms

Economics

Macroeconomic concepts including growth, inflation, and monetary policy.

178 terms

Accounting

Financial reporting standards, accounting concepts, and income statement terms.

251 terms

Regulatory & Legal

Regulatory bodies, compliance requirements, and securities law.

84 terms

Efficiency

Metrics that measure how effectively a company uses its assets to generate revenue.

9 terms

Credit & Risk Scoring

Quantitative models used to assess a company's financial health and default risk.

10 terms

DuPont Analysis

Framework for decomposing return on equity into its component drivers.

1 term

Risk & Portfolio

Metrics that quantify investment risk and evaluate portfolio performance relative to a benchmark.

46 terms

Return Metrics

Risk-adjusted return measures used to evaluate the efficiency of a portfolio manager's performance.

9 terms

Bonds & Fixed Income

Metrics for pricing, risk, and return analysis of bonds and other fixed-income instruments.

61 terms

Yield & Income

Measures of the income return on bonds, including nominal, real, tax-equivalent, and after-inflation yields.

4 terms

Options

Pricing models and sensitivity measures (Greeks) for equity options and other derivatives.

14 terms

Derivatives

Futures, forwards, and other derivative instruments used for hedging and speculation.

31 terms

Loans & Borrowing

Mortgage calculations, loan affordability, refinancing analysis, and borrowing cost metrics.

76 terms

Personal Finance

Budgeting, savings, FIRE planning, retirement accounts, and household financial health metrics.

144 terms

Tax Planning

US federal income tax estimation, capital gains tax, after-tax return, and inflation adjustment.

73 terms

Time Value of Money

Present value, future value, annuities, and perpetuity calculations that account for the time value of money.

6 terms

Capital Budgeting

NPV, IRR, MIRR, and payback period metrics used to evaluate long-term investment projects.

6 terms

Macroeconomics

GDP growth, inflation, interest rates, and other economy-wide indicators that drive financial markets.

35 terms

Forex & Currencies

Foreign exchange rates, interest rate parity, carry trades, and cross-currency calculations.

25 terms

Insurance

Life, disability, and annuity calculations used to size insurance coverage and estimate retirement income.

60 terms

Healthcare Finance

Health insurance cost-sharing, HSA contribution limits, Medicare premiums, and long-term care projections.

28 terms

Crypto & Digital Assets

Metrics and calculations for cryptocurrency investing, including DCA strategies, position sizing, and token supply analysis.

34 terms

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Formulas used in DeFi protocols including liquidity provision, yield compounding, and impermanent loss quantification.

23 terms

Real Estate Investing

Metrics for evaluating rental properties, commercial real estate, and investment returns including cap rate, NOI, and DSCR.

37 terms

Corporate Governance

Board structure, executive compensation, shareholder rights, analyst research, and corporate oversight concepts.

74 terms

Investing Concepts

General investing principles including alternative assets, derivatives, commodities, and risk management strategies.

105 terms

Learn finance at your own pace

Every term includes a plain-English definition, a real worked example, and an interactive calculator. No signup required.

Browse the glossary →