Retirement Accounts
This account type is funded with after-tax dollars, and qualified withdrawals come out tax-free.
What is a Roth IRA (or Roth account)?
For most individual filers, this mid-April date is the federal income tax filing deadline.
What is April 15 (Tax Day)?
The amount a policyholder pays out of pocket before insurance coverage starts paying.
What is a deductible?
This bias describes feeling the pain of a loss about twice as strongly as the joy of an equal gain.
What is loss aversion?
This popular budgeting rule splits after-tax income into needs, wants, and savings.
What is the 50/30/20 rule?
Many employers match contributions to this employer-sponsored plan, so skipping the match leaves money on the table.
What is a 401(k)?
Employers send this form each January to report an employee's wages and tax withholding.
What is a W-2?
This type of life insurance covers a set period, such as 20 or 30 years, and builds no cash value.
What is term life insurance?
Fixating on the price you originally paid for a stock when deciding whether to sell is an example of this bias.
What is anchoring?
Many planners recommend keeping this many months of essential expenses in an emergency fund.
What is three to six months?
Under SECURE 2.0, people born between 1951 and 1959 must begin required minimum distributions at this age.
What is 73?
Independent contractors, including many emergency physicians, receive this form instead of a W-2.
What is a 1099-NEC?
This disability insurance definition pays benefits when you cannot perform the duties of your specific occupation, even if you could earn income in another field.
What is own-occupation coverage?
This money script holds that more money will solve all of life's problems.
What is money worship?
At 35%, this factor makes up the largest share of a FICO score.
What is payment history?
High earners above the Roth income limits often use this two-step strategy: a nondeductible traditional IRA contribution followed by a conversion.
What is a backdoor Roth?
This account offers a triple tax advantage: deductible contributions, tax-free growth, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses.
What is an HSA (Health Savings Account)?
This liability policy sits on top of auto and homeowners coverage to provide an extra layer of protection.
What is an umbrella policy?
This money script includes beliefs such as "rich people are greedy" or "I don't deserve money."
What is money avoidance?
This debt payoff method targets the smallest balance first to build momentum.
What is the debt snowball?
This is the 2026 employee elective deferral limit for a 401(k) for savers under age 50.
What is $24,500?
Selling an investment at a loss to offset capital gains elsewhere in a portfolio.
What is tax-loss harvesting?
In a disability policy, this waiting period runs from the start of the disability until benefits begin.
What is the elimination period?
Treating a tax refund or bonus as "fun money" while carefully budgeting a paycheck reflects this bias.
What is mental accounting?
This term describes spending that creeps upward as income rises.
What is lifestyle creep (lifestyle inflation)?