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Define Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
retirement account in the form of a long-term time deposit, with annual contributions not taxed until withdrawn during retirement
Define Infrastructure
the highways, levees, mass transit, communications, power, water, sewerage, and other public goods needed to support a population
Define Debtors
persons or institutions that owe money
Define Progressive Tax
tax where percentage of income paid in tax rises as level of income rises
Define Payroll Tax
tax on wages and salaries to finance social security and medicare costs
Define 401(k) plan
a tax-deferred investment and savings plan that acts as a personal pension fund for employees
Define Business cycles
systematic changes in real GDP marked by alternating periods of expansion and contraction
Define Unemployment Rate
ratio of unemployed individuals divided by total number of persons in the civilian labor force, expressed as a percentage
Define Marginal Tax Rate
tax rate that applies to the next dollar of taxable income
Define Property Tax
tax on tangible and intangible possessions such as real estate, buildings, furniture, stocks, bonds, and bank accounts
Define Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIJA)
an index 30 representative stocks used to monitored price changes in the overall stock market
Define Deflation
sustained decrease in the general level of the prices of goods and services
Define Sin tax
a relatively high tax designed to raise revenue while reducing consumption of a socially undesirable product
Define Flat Tax
proportional tax on individual income after a specialized threshold has been reached
Define Supply-Side Economics
economic policies designed to stimulate the economy by removing government regulations and lowering marginal tax rates to increase production
Define Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P 500)
an index of 500 stocks used to monitor prices on the NYSE, American Stock Exchange, and the OTC market
Define Consumer Price Index
index used to measure price changes for a market basket of frequently used consumer items
Define Tax Loopholes
exceptions or oversights in the tax law allowing taxpayers to avoid taxes
Define Value Added Tax (VAT)
tax on the value added at every stage of the production process
Define Macroeconomics
the branch of the economic theory focused on the economy as a whole and decision making by larger units, such as governments and unions
Define Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
dollar value of all final goods, services, and structures produced within a country's national borders during a one-year period
Define Creditors
persons or institutions to whom money is owed
Define Tax Returns
annual report filed with local, state, or federal government detailing income earned and taxes owed
Define Fiscal Year
12-month financial planning period that may coincide with the calendar year, October 1 to September 30 for the federal government