Banking and Investing
The type of account connected to your debit card
What is a Checking Account?
The term for the amount borrowed for a loan.
What is the Principal?
The amount you pay, typically monthly or yearly, or an insurance policy.
What is a Premium?
The form you fill out on your first day of work that tells your employer how much tax to withhold from your paycheck.
What is a W-4?
A stock market index that tracks the performance of approximately 500 of the largest and most established publicly traded companies in the U.S.
What is the S&P 500?
(or Standard and Poor's 500)
The federal insurance program that protects the money you deposit in member banks up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank
What is the FDIC?
(or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
An initial amount paid out of pocket when buying something expensive, such as a car or house.
What is a Down Payment?
The amount you will pay out-of-pocket in the event you have an insurance claim before the insurance company starts to pay the rest of the claim.
What is a Deductible?
The date each year (unless it happens to fall on a weekend or holiday) on which your Individual Income Tax form is due to be filed with the IRS.
What is April 15?
Herd Mentality, the Endowment Effect, and the Availability Heuristic are examples of this kind of systematic, unconscious error in thinking that affects how people make decisions.
What is a Cognitive Bias?
This is what APR stands for in the context of financial transactions.
What is "Annual Percentage Rate"?
The lowest amount you can pay on your monthly credit card bill to remain in good standing.
What is a Minimum Payment?
A U.S. government health insurance program for senior citizens.
What is Medicare?
A statement provided to you and to the IRS by your employer that shows wages earned and taxes withheld.
What is a W-2?
A type of tax-advantaged account that individuals can set up that allows them to save for retirement - they can contribute pre-tax dollars to this account but must pay taxes on amounts distributed to them when they retire.
What is an IRA?
(do not accept Roth IRA)
(also do not accept 401(k), 403(b), or other employer-sponsored type of account)
This represents an ownership share in a company.
What is a stock?
Something of value that is provided to a lender as a guarantee of repayment.
What is Collateral?
The type of auto insurance coverage that will cover damage caused by events such as having your car stolen or having a tree fall on it.
What is Comprehensive Coverage?
(accept any form of response the includes "comprehensive")
In the U.S., the federal income tax was authorized by this amendment to the Constitution.
What is the 16th Amendment?
(ratified in 1913)
Investments of time, effort, or money that cannot be recovered (and should therefore be irrelevant for future decision-making).
What are Sunk Costs?
An investment philosophy arguing that it is impossible to consistently ‘beat the market’ and is therefore best to adopt an approach involving long-term diversification
What is Passive Investing?
A term for an individual or household's wealth calculated as Assets minus Liabilities.
What is Net Worth?
Renters insurance policies cover damage to your own personal property, and they also offer this type of coverage for accidental injuries or damage you may cause to another person or their property.
What is Liability Coverage?
(accept any responses the include "liability")
A fixed amount based on your filing status by which you can “automatically” reduce your taxable income. In 2024, the amount was $14,600 for single taxpayers.
What is the Standard Deduction?
(response needs to include "standard")
The unique, nine-digit code that identifies U.S. financial institutions for electronic fund transfers and direct deposits.
What is the ABA Routing Number?
(accept "routing number")