Financial ideas in plain language

These are the learning terms in the Finmon web beta. An explanation is not personal financial, tax or legal advice.

• Emergency fund · Everyday money

  An emergency fund is money for unexpected expenses. You can access it without selling investments or borrowing.

• Interest and real returns · Economy

  Interest is the price of borrowed money. The real rate approximates the purchasing power left after prices change.

• Inflation · Economy

  Inflation means prices rise overall. The same money buys less.

• Compound growth · Investing

  When interest stays invested, it can earn interest too. That is compound growth.

• Risk & diversification · Investing

  Diversification means not putting everything in one basket. Losses are still possible.

• Understanding ETFs · Investing

  An ETF is a fund traded on an exchange. It gives you a share of a basket of investments.

• Understanding costs · Investing

  Fees reduce your money. Small annual differences can add up over many years.

• Borrowing costs · Everyday money

  Borrowed money usually costs interest. A small monthly payment can still mean high total costs.

• Liquidity · Everyday money

  Liquidity is how quickly you can use money without a large drop in price. Access and expected return are different properties.

• Sinking fund · Everyday money

  Large bills you already know about (tyres, a move, insurance) are not a surprise. You can plan for them separately from an emergency fund.

• Income and essential spending · Everyday money

  The emergency-fund calculator uses what you still have to pay if income pauses, not what you like spending.

• Opportunity cost · Everyday money

  Every use of money has alternatives you then do not take. The value of the best forgone alternative is the opportunity cost.

• Time horizon · Everyday money

  A time horizon is the span until you are likely to need the money. The date comes before the question of how much volatility you can bear.

• Mental accounting · Everyday money

  People sort money into pots: rent, holiday, emergency. That helps with oversight, and can mislead, because every euro is economically interchangeable.

• Current, instant access, term deposits · Everyday money

  Three properties distinguish deposits: what the account is for, how quickly you can access it, and whether the rate is fixed or variable.

• Nominal vs real · Everyday money

  Nominal is what the account shows in money. Real is what that money still buys after prices have changed.

• Variable vs fixed rates · Everyday money

  Variable means the rate can change. Fixed means it stays for the agreed time. A lock protects and constrains, on both sides.

• Compounding frequency · Everyday money

  Compound growth also depends on how often interest is credited. The same nominal rate is not the same effective rate monthly and yearly.

• Overdraft · Everyday money

  A German Dispokredit and a UK overdraft are the same idea: you can spend more than is in the account. Interest is usually charged on the amount you actually use, often more expensive than many other forms of credit.

• Instalment credit · Everyday money

  The monthly payment is not the price of the loan. A smaller payment over a longer term usually means more total interest when the rate is positive.

• APR / effective annual rate · Everyday money

  The German effective annual rate (Effektivzins) and the APR in English-speaking markets are parallel comparison figures: they put borrowing costs on a yearly basis. They are not a quality grade.

• Secured vs unsecured · Everyday money

  Collateral (often a car or a home) changes the risk for both sides. The lender may offer a lower rate because it can take the asset; you can lose the asset if payments stop.

• When payments no longer fit · Everyday money

  If instalments, rent or energy no longer fit the month, the next step is independent help, not an in-app optimisation and not a new loan being sold. Writing that down is not a failure.

• Credit records as a concept · Everyday money

  Credit-reference files store contract and payment data that lenders may look at. Finmon does not score anyone and does not change anyone's creditworthiness.

• Asset classes (shares, bonds, cash) · Investing

  Asset classes group investments by the source of return, such as shares, bonds and cash. A class does not prescribe how you should split your money.

• Shares as ownership · Investing

  A share is an ownership slice of a company, not a savings account. The price can rise or fall without the firm disappearing.

• Bonds as loans · Investing

  With a bond you lend money to a government or a company. In return a coupon and, usually, repayment at a date are promised, if the issuer pays.

• Index funds · Investing

  An index fund follows rules to track an index. “Index” does not mean magically broad. It means there is a method.

• Active and passive · Investing

  Passive means: stay as close as possible to a rule. Active means: someone deliberately differs in search of a different result. The reliable difference is often cost, not a promised extra return.

• Index replication · Investing

  A fund can rebuild an index by buying the names, buying a sample, or matching the path with a swap. The method changes which extra questions you ask.

• Themes and concentration · Investing

  Many names in a fund do not automatically mean diversification. If they share the same supply chain, they can move together.

• TER vs tracking difference · Investing

  TER (total expense ratio) is a figure for ongoing fund costs. Tracking difference is how far the result drifted from the index. Those are not the same number.

• Bid-ask spread · Investing

  Buying and selling often have two prices: bid (sell) and ask (buy). The gap between them is a trading cost, on top of TER.

• Rebalancing · Investing

  When prices move, the weights shift by themselves. Doing nothing is also a change of mix.

• Sequence of returns risk · Investing

  The same average return in a different order can lead to different wealth, if you withdraw money along the way.

• Currency risk and exchange rates · Investing

  Currency risk arises when an exchange rate changes the value of a holding in your own currency. Placing that risk is education, not an instruction to trade currencies.

• Capacity vs. tolerance · Investing

  Capacity is what your everyday life can bear if prices fall or income stops. Tolerance is what your feelings can bear. The two can diverge.

• Pillars of retirement as an idea · Work & family

  Many countries describe retirement income in three pillars: state, workplace and private. That is a structural idea, not a ranking, not a product list, and not a recommendation of how you should mix the pillars.

• Longevity as a planning risk · Work & family

  You do not know in advance how long retirement will last. Living longer than planned is a planning risk for income, not a calculation the app orders you to run.

• Replacement rate as a concept · Work & family

  A replacement rate is a ratio: retirement income compared with a defined income before retirement. It is a statistic, not a target Finmon sets for you.

• Long horizons and uncertainty · Investing

  A 40-year model with a constant rate is a calculation assumption. It is not a forecast of what your money will do.

• German statutory pension · Work & family

  In Germany, Deutsche Rentenversicherung runs the statutory pension. A useful step is a Kontenklärung: checking the insurance record and closing gaps. Finmon does not turn that into a pension forecast.

• German workplace pension as a structure · Work & family

  Workplace pension provision (bAV) in Germany is a structure: the employer promises benefits for old age, invalidity or survivors. Finmon does not pick a product or a provider.

• Riester, explained · Work & family

  Riester is a German frame for state-supported private pension saving. This module only notes that the frame exists. Finmon does not decide whether you are eligible or whether a contract suits you.

• The German basic pension (Rürup), explained · Work & family

  The German basis pension (often called Rürup) is a private-pension frame, often mentioned alongside self-employment. Finmon does not decide whether you are eligible or whether it suits you.

• Tax is not a return · Understanding tax

  A tax benefit may reduce a tax bill. It is not the same as an investment return and does not automatically make a product suitable.

• Interest taxation in Germany · Understanding tax

  In Germany, much private investment income (for example interest) sits in a separate tax frame (Abgeltungsteuer). That is German law, not a UK ISA, and not a tax return in Finmon.

• Partial exemption as a concept · Understanding tax

  In Germany, part of the income from certain investment funds can stay tax-free (Teilfreistellung, a partial exemption). That is a legal concept. Finmon does not fill in a tax return.

• German saver’s allowance · Understanding tax

  The Sparer-Pauschbetrag is a German allowance for investment income. It is not a live balance in Finmon and not a UK ISA allowance.

• Insurance as risk transfer · Protection & safety

  Insurance moves large, rare, financially heavy losses for a premium. Saving carries small, frequent expenses yourself. Those are different tools.

• Deductible · Protection & safety

  A deductible means you bear the first slice of a loss yourself. You are choosing which small losses stay with you.

• Life cover versus investing · Protection & safety

  Life cover in the narrow sense is meant to protect against a defined event, often the death of someone whose income others rely on. Investing aims at wealth over time. Those are different purposes.

• Rent or buy: the questions · Housing

  Rent or buy is not a formula that “buying builds wealth”. It is a set of questions about horizon, buffer, flexibility and running costs.

• Housing running costs · Housing

  Housing costs more than the mortgage payment or the base rent. Running charges, maintenance and reserves belong in the same picture.

• Mortgage mechanics · Housing

  With a repayment (amortising) mortgage you usually pay an instalment that contains interest and principal. Early on the interest share is often higher; later the principal share rises.

• Typical money biases · Behaviour

  Money decisions often use the same shortcuts: now outweighs later (present bias), losses weigh more than equal gains (loss aversion), and what many people do can feel safer (herd). These are patterns, not a verdict on character.

• Inaction as a decision · Behaviour

  Leaving things unchanged is also a decision. A situation does not stay „neutral“ just because no click happened.

• Present bias · Behaviour

  Today often feels more real than later. That is a timing pattern, not a moral judgement of consumption.

• News vs. what you need · Behaviour

  Not every money headline is a decision. Finmon is not a news feed and not a ticker.

• Price index and basket · Economy

  A price index measures how a basket of typical spending changes in price, not exactly what you bought this week.

• Disinflation is not deflation · Economy

  Disinflation means prices are still rising, but more slowly. Deflation means the general price level is falling.

• What central banks do (and don’t) · Economy

  The ECB’s task is to maintain price stability in the euro area. That is not the same as the interest on your current account.

• Real rates and policy · Economy

  The real rate roughly describes what remains of a nominal rate after inflation. Policy rates are quoted in nominal terms; purchasing power is the real view.

• Income interruption · Work & family

  Income can pause or fall: job loss, fewer hours, illness, care. That is a liquidity event, not a character test.

• Parental leave cashflow questions · Work & family

  Parental leave changes cashflow. A list of questions is useful (dates, replacement pay, essential costs), not a neighbour’s product.

• A buffer when you are self-employed · Work & family

  Irregular income often needs a larger visible buffer than a steady monthly wage, as a planning assumption, not as a Finmon rule.

• Severance: questions before use · Work & family

  A severance payment is a lump sum. Before it is used, questions help: when it arrives, which tax rules apply in your jurisdiction, which costs continue.

• Common scam patterns · Protection & safety

  Three patterns often return: urgency, secrecy, fake authority. Noticing them is enough to pause. Finmon does not run fear streaks.

• Finance phishing · Protection & safety

  Phishing tries to obtain login data for an account or brokerage via fake emails, SMS or pages that look like a bank.

• Crypto as a highly volatile asset · Protection & safety

  Cryptoassets can move sharply and can fall to zero. Total loss is not an edge case to downplay.

• Protecting account access · Protection & safety

  Account access needs more than a password. A second factor makes a stolen password less useful.

• Assets and obligations · Everyday money

  A household snapshot lists what is there and what is owed, on a date. It is not a score and not a verdict on you.

• Reviewing recurring costs · Everyday money

  Recurring costs leave the account every month or every year. A list makes them visible. Visibility is not a lecture.

• One-off versus repeating · Everyday money

  Some costs come once, some repeat. Mixing the two blurs the month.

• Deposit guarantee in Germany · Protection & safety

  Deposit guarantee in Germany can protect certain bank balances if a credit institution fails. Securities are not deposits. Finmon pays nothing out.

• Consumer insolvency (Germany) · Everyday money

  This is German law, not UK insolvency. Germany has a court consumer-insolvency procedure that may lead to residual-debt discharge. Finmon does not file anything and does not give legal advice. The educational path starts with independent debt counselling, not with a loan comparison in the app.

• Withdrawal from consumer credit (Germany) · Everyday money

  This is German civil law, not a UK cooling-off rule. A consumer credit agreement usually comes with a statutory right of withdrawal. That is a right to know, not a Finmon ruling and not legal advice. Finmon does not assess whether your contract can still be withdrawn.

• SCHUFA access right (Germany) · Everyday money

  This is German data and credit-reporting practice, not a UK credit file. Agencies such as SCHUFA store contract and payment data. You have a legal right to see what is held about you. Finmon scores no one, produces no score and reports nothing to agencies.

• Effective annual rate / PAngV (Germany) · Everyday money

  This is German price-indication law (PAngV), not a UK APR label. Lenders offering consumer credit must state the effective annual interest rate. It helps you compare. It is not a grade and not a Finmon recommendation of which offer to take.

• Deposit guarantee (Austria) · Protection & safety

  This is Austrian law, not the German EdB scheme. Austria runs its own national system for covered deposits if a member institution fails. Educational snapshot of Austria’s implementation of the EU directive: EUR 100,000 per person per credit institution. Finmon does not calculate it.

• KESt capital-yields tax (Austria) · Understanding tax

  This is Austrian income-tax law, not German Abgeltungsteuer and not a UK ISA. Austria levies Kapitalertragsteuer (KESt) on interest, dividends and many securities gains. Finmon does not file a return.

• State pension in Austria · Work & family

  The state pension in Austria is statutory pension insurance, not the German statutory pension. Finmon does not forecast a pension.

• Depositor protection (Switzerland) · Protection & safety

  This is Swiss law, not the EU deposit-guarantee directive and not German EdB. Switzerland runs its own depositor protection. Educational snapshot: protected balances up to CHF 100,000 per customer per bank. Finmon does not calculate it.

• AHV, BVG, Pillar 3 (Switzerland) · Work & family

  This is Swiss federal structure, not German Riester/bAV and not UK auto-enrolment. Swiss retirement provision has three pillars: AHV (state), BVG (occupational), Pillar 3 (private). Finmon does not rank the pillars and recommends no product.

• Withholding tax in Switzerland (Verrechnungssteuer) · Understanding tax

  Withholding tax in Switzerland (Verrechnungssteuer) is a federal tax on domestic interest and dividends. It is not Austrian KESt and not German Abgeltungsteuer. Finmon files nothing.

• FSCS protection in the United Kingdom · Protection & safety

  The FSCS can compensate in the United Kingdom if an authorised firm fails. This is UK law, not the German deposit guarantee. Finmon pays nothing out.

• ISA wrapper (United Kingdom) · Understanding tax

  This is UK tax law, not a German savings product and not Sparer-Pauschbetrag. An ISA (Individual Savings Account) is a tax wrapper around cash or investments. Finmon does not open an ISA and recommends none.

• Workplace pension / auto-enrolment (UK) · Work & family

  This is UK employment and pensions law, not German bAV or Riester. UK employers must usually enrol eligible workers automatically into a workplace pension. Finmon does not forecast a pension and does not pick a provider.

• FCA scam warnings (United Kingdom) · Protection & safety

  This is UK FCA education, not BaFin. Typical UK investment-scam patterns: pressure, secrecy, “guaranteed” returns, cloned firms. Finmon sells nothing and does not phone you.

• EU deposit-guarantee framework · Protection & safety

  The EU deposit-guarantee directive is a frame: it sets shared aims for member states. Payout comes from your national scheme, not “the EU” and not Finmon. Check your bank’s information sheet and the national guarantee body.

• Principal vs interest share · Everyday money

  Each payment on an amortising loan has two parts: interest on the current balance and principal that reduces that balance. Early on the interest share is often larger; later principal repayment grows.

• Balloon payment · Everyday money

  A balloon payment is a large final payment at the end of the term. Earlier instalments can look lower because they do not fully repay the debt.

• Early repayment as a concept · Everyday money

  Early repayment means you pay the open amount in full or in part before the planned end. Whether and at what cost that is allowed sits in the contract and in local law.

• Revolving credit · Everyday money

  Revolving credit is a facility you can draw and repay repeatedly: a credit line, many cards, an overdraft. Available credit rises again when you repay, as long as the limit stays open.

• Minimum payment and remaining balance · Everyday money

  The minimum payment is the smallest amount the contract asks in a period so you are not treated as late. It often reduces the remaining balance only slowly, or barely, when interest and fees take a large share.

• Total cost of credit · Everyday money

  Total cost of credit means what you pay beyond the principal borrowed: interest, compulsory fees and whatever local rules put into the disclosure. The monthly payment alone is only a slice.

• Margin and collateral calls · Investing

  A margin or collateral call arises when a position's value falls below a contractual threshold. You are trading with borrowed money or pledged collateral. The broker then asks for more cash or collateral, or closes positions.

• Compounding on debt · Everyday money

  In saving, compounding can grow a balance. In debt, unpaid interest can be added to the balance and then itself bear interest. Same mechanic, other direction.

• Grace period as a concept · Everyday money

  A grace period is an interest-free payment window on some credit cards. It often applies only if you pay the balance in full by the due date. Not every product has one.

• Collections as a process · Everyday money

  Collections is the process of recovering unpaid debts: often the creditor first, later a collection agency or legal steps. It is a process, not a moral judgment.

• Emergency vs opportunity cash · Everyday money

  An emergency buffer is money for unexpected hits: a broken appliance, a sudden income gap, an urgent trip. Opportunity cash is money you keep on purpose for optional buys or timing. Both are liquid, but they serve different jobs.

• Simple net worth · Everyday money

  Simple net worth is what you own minus what you owe. Account balances, a car at a rough value, reserves on one side; loans, overdraft, open card balances on the other.

• Cashflow timing · Everyday money

  Cashflow timing means when money arrives and when it leaves. You can balance over the month and still be tight mid-cycle if rent is due before payday.

• Zero-based planning as an idea · Everyday money

  Zero-based planning means you assign every unit of income a job until nothing is left unassigned (spending, reserves, debt payments). It is an allocation idea, not a mandatory programme.

• Envelope method · Everyday money

  The envelope method splits money into pots (envelopes) by category: food, transport, leisure. When an envelope is empty, spending in that category stops until the next refill.

• Personal inflation basket · Economy

  The official price index measures an average basket. Your life can be weighted differently: more rent, less tech, other food. The index is not automatically your life.

• Inflation, deflation and stagflation · Economy

  Inflation means prices rise. Deflation means they fall. Stagflation means prices rise while the economy is weak. This is education, not a forecast.

• Hyperinflation as history only · Economy

  Hyperinflation means, in economic history, extremely rapid and very high collapse of a currency's purchasing power. This module treats it as a historical term, not a forecast for you.

• Limits of diversification · Investing

  Diversification spreads risk across more holdings, countries or asset classes. It typically reduces single-name blow-ups. It does not erase market risk.

• Averaging into purchases · Investing

  Dollar-cost averaging means buying fixed amounts over time instead of all at once. With moving prices you buy more or fewer units for the same cash each time.

• Lump sum vs drip purchasing · Investing

  Two patterns: invest available cash all at once (lump sum) or buy in instalments over time (a savings plan). Both are descriptions, not Finmon recommendations.

• Past performance is not a forecast · Investing

  Strong past performance does not say what comes next. Markets and funds can weaken after strong phases and the reverse.

• Guaranteed return myth · Investing

  A 'guaranteed high return with no risk' contradicts the basic link between chance and risk. Whoever promises that often sells an illusion or a scam.

• Fake investment pitches · Protection & safety

  Fake investment pitches lure with supposedly safe high gains, pressure ('today only') or forged authority/celebrity names. The aim is to take money or login data.

• Identity theft and accounts · Protection & safety

  Identity theft means someone uses your data without your consent. A name, an ID or account numbers can open accounts, take credit or move money.

• Financial control red flags · Protection & safety

  Financial control means someone uses money, access or debt to restrict another person. Example signals: cutting off account access, monitoring every spend, blocking work, building debt in the other person's name.

• Side income and tax duty as an idea · Understanding tax

  Side income (freelance, sales, rent, a second job) can be tax-relevant. Whether and how is local tax law, not Finmon.

• Gifts vs family loans · Everyday money

  In families it is often unclear: is money a gift (no repayment claim) or a loan (repayment expected)? The distinction prevents later conflict.

• Joint accounts · Everyday money

  A joint account belongs to more than one person. Typically each authorised person can use it alone, unless the contract says otherwise.

• Money power of attorney as a concept · Protection & safety

  A money power of attorney lets another person manage accounts or payments in your name. Scope and form depend on local law and the document.

• Payment rails · Everyday money

  Payment rails are the systems money moves on: credit transfer (for example SEPA), card, instant payment. Each path has its own timing, costs and rules.

• Direct debit mandate · Everyday money

  A direct debit mandate lets a payee pull amounts from your account. You give permission; the payee initiates the payment.

• Standing order · Everyday money

  A standing order is a recurring credit transfer you set up: fixed payee, amount and rhythm, pushed from your account.

• Open Banking as an idea · Everyday money

  Open Banking means that, with your consent, regulated third parties can read account data or initiate payments instead of only using your home-bank app.

• Buy now pay later · Everyday money

  Buy now, pay later (BNPL) shifts payment into instalments or a later date. It is credit mechanics at checkout, often without looking like classic 'credit'.

• Store cards as credit · Everyday money

  A store card is often a credit line for purchases at a shop or brand group. It works as revolving or instalment-like credit, not as a gift voucher.

• FX conversion costs · Investing

  FX conversion costs arise when money is converted from one currency to another: the gap between buy and sell rates (spread) and often an extra fee. Both reduce the amount you finally receive or spend.

• Leasing vs buying as questions · Everyday money

  Leasing and buying are two ways to use an asset (often a car). This module asks comparison questions, not a verdict and not a car tip.

• Stacking deductibles · Protection & safety

  An excess (Deductible) is the amount you bear on a claim before cover pays. Several policies can stack excesses.

• Third-party liability as an idea · Protection & safety

  Third-party liability as an idea protects against paying third-party claims for harm you are responsible for under the contract and the law. It is risk transfer, not a Finmon product.

• Health cost buffer · Protection & safety

  A health cost buffer is liquid money for unexpected health spending (co-pays, travel to care, lost workdays), separate from everyday budget. It is a buffer, not an insurance sale.

• Income protection as an idea · Protection & safety

  Income protection as an idea asks: what happens to your cashflow if illness or accident reduces earning capacity? Structure can be public benefits, workplace rules or private cover.

• Estate basics overview · Work & family

  Estate basics means, roughly: what happens to assets, debts and access after death. It is an overview of terms and questions, not legal advice and not a will template.

• Naming beneficiaries · Work & family

  Naming beneficiaries means: on some accounts, retirement or insurance contracts, who should receive benefits at death. It is a question list, not instructions to complete a form.

• Connecting planning horizons · Everyday money

  Connecting planning horizons means: consciously holding short-term liquidity, medium goals and long spans side by side instead of pouring everything into one pot.

• Goal-based buckets · Behaviour

  Goal-based buckets are mental or separate money pots per goal (reserve, holiday, appliance). The idea extends mental accounts: purpose instead of one mixed pile.

• Review cadence · Behaviour

  Review cadence means: how often you deliberately look at goals, budget and holdings, instead of only following the status quo or trading constantly.

• Dividends as a concept · Investing

  A dividend is a distribution from a company to shareholders, often from profits. It is not interest and not a guarantee.

• Stock splits · Investing

  In a stock split one share becomes several (for example 2-for-1). Your ownership stake stays the same; share count rises and price per share falls roughly in the same ratio.

• Market capitalisation · Investing

  Market capitalisation is roughly share price times shares outstanding. It estimates what the market values as the company's equity.

• Volatility vs permanent loss · Investing

  Volatility describes how much prices swing. A temporary price drop is not automatically a permanent loss while you have not realised it and the investment still exists.

• Drawdown as a concept · Investing

  Drawdown measures the fall from a prior peak to a later trough. It describes how deep a price series fell in between.

• Time to recover losses · Investing

  Recovery time describes, in a model, how long a price needs to return from a trough to a prior level. It is maths and history, not a personal promise.

• Home bias · Investing

  Home bias means investors hold a disproportionate share of assets from their own country or region, often more than world market weight would suggest.

• Wrapper vs underlying asset · Investing

  The wrapper is the product format (ETF, fund share, certificate, insurance wrapper). The content is the underlying assets or risks. The wrapper name is not automatically the content.

• Money market funds as a concept · Investing

  Money market funds typically hold very short-term, liquid instruments. The design aims at share-price stability and access to liquidity, not equity-style growth.

• Accumulating vs distributing · Investing

  Distributing share classes pay out income (for example dividends/interest). Accumulating ones keep income in the fund and typically raise the share value. Both are structure, not a quality grade.

• Prospectus and key information document basics · Investing

  A prospectus and a key information document explain what a product is, which risks and costs are disclosed and how it works. They are 'read this' ideas, not ad copy.

• Preferred shares as a concept · Investing

  Preferred shares are an equity class with different rights than common shares: often priority on dividends, usually with little or no voting power.

• Earnings and cash flow · Investing

  Profit is a period calculation. Cash flow shows cash movements. Under IAS 7, operating cash flow can start from profit and adjust for items that are not cash.

• Bond duration · Investing

  Duration measures how much a bond price is likely to move when interest rates rise or fall. A higher number means more sensitivity to rates.

• Yield curve as an idea · Economy

  A yield curve shows how the market yield on debt securities relates to the time left until maturity. The ECB publishes curves of this kind for the euro area.

• Credit spread as an idea · Investing

  The credit spread is the yield gap between a bond and a lower-risk comparison bond of the same maturity. The comparison is often a government bond.

• Target date funds · Investing

  A target date fund is a diversified fund that automatically shifts its mix towards a more conservative one as a stated year approaches. The date is part of the design, not a promise of the outcome.

• Factors in an index · Investing

  Some indexes do not weight only by market value. They use characteristics, called factors, such as value, dividends or quality. That is a construction method, not a return guarantee.

• ESG in a fund name · Investing

  In the EU, ESMA guidelines set when ESG or sustainability words in a fund name are unclear or misleading. The name is not a return promise.

• PRIIPs key information document · Investing

  The PRIIPs Regulation requires a short key information document. It is meant to show retail investors the nature, risk, costs and possible gains and losses. It is not advertising.

• NAV and share price · Investing

  Investor.gov defines a fund's net asset value as its assets minus its liabilities. Per share, that value is divided by the shares outstanding.

• Creation and redemption · Investing

  ETFs generally do not sell shares to, or redeem shares from, retail investors one by one. Large partners, called authorized participants, create and redeem blocks in the primary market.

• Securities lending in a fund · Investing

  A UCITS may lend securities. ESMA requires that it can recall them at any time or end the lending agreement. The fee is not a free extra.

• Currency-hedged share class · Investing

  A currency-hedged share class uses derivatives to reduce the currency risk of that class. It shares the same pool of assets. It does not remove the market risk of those assets.

• Custody of fund assets · Investing

  In a UCITS the assets sit with a depositary, not on the management company's own account. Custody risk is the question of whether that separation holds.

• Counterparty risk · Investing

  Counterparty risk is the risk that the other side of a contract does not pay or deliver. For a UCITS it concerns especially over-the-counter derivatives and securities lending or repos.

• Market liquidity · Investing

  Market liquidity is the question of whether a position can be sold at limited cost. For a fund, that means meeting redemptions without having to close the position only at a high cost.

• How holdings move together · Investing

  Co-movement describes whether two holdings rose and fell together in a period you look at. Investor.gov uses that for the question of whether losses can offset each other.

• Rental deposit · Housing

  A rental deposit secures the landlord's claims from the tenancy. A cash deposit is capped and must be kept apart from the landlord's assets.

• Service charge statement · Housing

  Service charge advances are instalments toward operating costs. Once a year the statement sets those advances against the actual cost.

• Rent burden ratio · Housing

  The rent burden ratio sets rent against income. It is a statistic and not a target rule for a contract.

• Housing benefit · Housing

  Housing benefit is a state grant: a rent subsidy for tenants, or a burden subsidy for owner-occupiers, for households with a low income. The local housing benefit office decides whether it is paid.

• Types of rent increase · Housing

  Comparative rent, an index-linked rent and a stepped rent are three ways to change the rent. They generally do not apply side by side.

• Purchase closing costs · Housing

  Closing costs are added to the purchase price of a property. They include real estate transfer tax, notary, land register and often a broker's fee.

• Marginal and average tax rates · Understanding tax

  The average rate divides tax by income. The marginal rate applies to the next euro on the tariff.

• Gross and net pay · Understanding tax

  Gross is pay before deductions. Net is the amount paid out after wage tax and social contributions.

• Wage tax classes · Understanding tax

  Wage tax classes steer the monthly withholding. They do not set the income tax that the tax office assesses at the end.

• Tax return basics · Understanding tax

  The tax return reports income and deductions to the tax office. The tax office sets the tax in a notice.

• Work expenses · Understanding tax

  Work expenses are costs of earning employment income. The flat amount applies while no higher costs are claimed.

• Advance lump sum · Understanding tax

  The advance lump sum is a taxable fund return, even with no payout. The base rate used for it is announced anew each year.

• Health insurance · Protection & safety

  In Germany, statutory health insurance and private health insurance sit side by side. Finmon recommends neither system.

• Contents and buildings cover · Protection & safety

  Contents insurance concerns movable things in the home. Buildings insurance concerns the building. These are German market terms.

• Motor liability and own-damage cover · Protection & safety

  Motor liability covers harm to others and is compulsory in Germany. Own-damage cover is a voluntary contract for your own car.

• Long-term care and the personal share · Protection & safety

  In full inpatient care the long-term care fund pays a benefit amount. The person in need of care carries part of the care-related costs as a personal share.

• Payment protection insurance · Protection & safety

  Payment protection insurance is a contract of its own beside the loan. Whether the loan may depend on it follows the kind of credit.

• Reading the pension statement · Work & family

  The pension statement from German statutory pension insurance shows what pension has built up on today's rules. It is not a guarantee of the amount in old age.

• UK State Pension · Work & family

  The new UK State Pension depends on the National Insurance record. It is not the German statutory pension and not a forecast from Finmon.

• Early retirement deductions · Work & family

  Someone who draws an old-age pension before the relevant age receives a deduction. It reduces the pension on a lasting basis through the access factor.

• Taxation of the pension · Understanding tax

  The taxable share of a statutory pension depends on the year the pension started. The tax office sets the tax. Finmon does not.

• Drawing down savings · Investing

  The drawdown phase is the time when saved money is paid out instead of only being paid in. There is no universal rate that fits everyone.

• Protected account · Everyday money

  A garnishment protection account protects a statutory allowance on the payment account from seizure. It does not repay debts.

• Repaying BAföG · Work & family

  BAföG for school is usually a grant. At higher education it is often half grant and half loan. The loan is what gets repaid.

• Court payment order · Everyday money

  A payment order is a court's demand to pay a money claim. It is not yet a judgment.

• Basic payment account · Everyday money

  A basic payment account is a payment account with core functions. Many consumers have a statutory right to one. It is not a loan.

• Debit card and credit card · Everyday money

  A debit card charges the balance or an overdraft. A credit card advances the amount, which you repay to the issuer.

• Verification of payee · Everyday money

  Verification of payee compares the name of the payee with the IBAN. A match does not prove that the payment is safe.

• Ending a contract · Everyday money

  Continuing consumer contracts can be ended. That is not the same as a withdrawal right just after the contract was concluded.

• Energy bill instalments · Everyday money

  Instalments are payments toward the expected yearly use of electricity or gas. The annual bill sets them against actual use.

• Child benefit · Work & family

  Child benefit is a family payment under the Income Tax Act. The family benefits office pays it. The tax office does not pay it out as wages.

• Brokerage account · Investing

  A custody account holds securities. It is not a current account and not a deposit. The holding belongs to the customer, and the firm keeps the record.

• Order types · Investing

  Market, limit and stop are ways to instruct a purchase or a sale. None of them removes the risk that the price moves against you.

• Investor compensation · Protection & safety

  Investor compensation applies in a compensation event: when BaFin determines that the firm cannot meet liabilities from securities business because of its financial situation. A loss of price is not such a case.

• Open-ended real estate funds · Investing

  An open-ended real estate fund holds property and issues units. Returning units to the company is not possible every day. The periods are in the statute.

• Sunk cost fallacy · Behaviour

  Sunk costs are money or time already spent. They do not change what the next decision will cost or bring in from here.

• Real wages · Economy

  The real wage sets the nominal wage against consumer prices. A higher wage on paper can still mean less purchasing power.

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