Managed Fund
The money of individual investors. The combined capital is invested by a professional fund manager, in some cases being applied across a range of asset classes such as stocks, bonds, property, or infrastructure assets.
Market Capitalization
The value of a company is determined by the number of its issued ordinary shares multiplied by their market price.
Mediation
A settlement of a dispute or controversy by setting up an independent person between two contending parties to aid them in the settlement of their disagreement.
Minimum Payment
The lowest amount that a credit card company will allow a person to repay each month to clear their debt.
Misdemeanor
Any “lesser” criminal act in the legal systems is generally a crime inferior to (less than) a felony.
Mortgage
A loan to buy buildings and property, and if it is not paid back, the lending agency can take over the property.
Mortgage Protection
An insurance policy to ensure that the mortgage will be paid off in full if a person dies.
Net Book Value
The value of an asset after depreciation has been recorded.
Net Income
A person’s income each week, month, or year after taxes and all payroll deductions.
Net Interest
Interest from which tax has already been deducted.
No Fault Auto Insurance
Any type of insurance contract under which insureds are indemnified for losses by their own insurance company, regardless of fault in the incident generating losses.
Non-exempt Employees
A category of employees entitled to overtime pay and minimum wage as described in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Non-exempt employees must be paid for each hour that they work and 1.5x their hourly wage for any hours worked over 40. Employees who earn less than $455/week and those who do not use personal discretion and independent judgment at least 50% of the time are considered non-exempt.
Non-profit
An organization that has been formed by a group of people in order “to pursue a common not-for-profit goal,” that is, to pursue the stated goal expressly without the intention of distributing excess revenue (i.e., profit) to members or leaders.
Non-profit 501(c)3
One of 29 types of nonprofit organizations that are exempt from federal income taxes. Each local Church of the Nazarene is a part of the Church of the Nazarene Inc. 501(c)3, and documentation is available at the General Secretary’s Office.
Overdraft
Action from a bank or credit union that lets a person access more money than they have in their account for a charge. All institutions have policies on overdraft limits.
Pension Funds
Any plan, fund, or scheme that provides retirement income.
Per Annum
Each year.
Personal Property Tax
An involuntary fee is levied on individual property owners by the county or state government. Usually assessed as a percentage of the value of an item. They can fall under county or state taxes, depending on where you live. Not all states tax personal property, however, and what is subject to personal property tax varies widely from state to state.
PIN (Personal Identification Number)
A four-digit number that a person must use to authorize a debit card or ATM transaction.
Power of Attorney (POA)
A written document in which one person (the principal) appoints another person to act as an agent on his or her behalf, thus conferring authority on the agent to perform certain acts or functions on behalf of the principal.
Pro forma
A financial projection based on assumptions. Also refers to a statement of income and balance sheets that exclude non-recurring items. A financial statement that a company or an organization prepares to consider the effects of a potential activity. A pro forma financial statement can be part of the risk analysis of a situation.
Probate
A legal process that involves managing and distributing the estate of a deceased person, as left in a will.
Profit and Loss Statement
A financial statement that summarizes the revenues, costs, and expenses incurred during a specific period of time, usually a fiscal quarter or year.
Prospectus
A document from a public company that wishes to sell shares to the public, giving details of the company’s past performance and its plans for the future.
Real Property
Any subset of land that has been legally defined and the improvements to it have been made by human efforts: buildings, machinery, wells, dams, ponds, mines, canals, roads, etc.
Receipt
A document to confirm that money has been received, usually for goods and services.
Renter’s Insurance
Insurance to cover personal property in a rental dwelling or for ministers living in a church-owned parsonage.
Reserves
Amounts that an organization sets aside that it can spend in later years.
Residuary Estate
A term used in probate law to refer to the part of a deceased’s estate that remains after all specific gifts and bequests have been made and all claims satisfied.
Retainer
A fee paid in advance to someone, especially an attorney, to secure or keep their services when required.
Return on Investment
The money that a person or company earns as a percentage of the total value of his/her/its assets that are invested. Because it is easy to calculate the return on investment, it is a relatively popular measure of the profitability of an investment and can help in making investment decisions.
Revolving Credit
Credit is carried over from one billing period to the next when a person does not make the full credit card repayment when it is due.
Risk Management
A set of strategies for analyzing potential risks and instituting policies and procedures to deal with them.
SECA Tax (Self-Employed Contributions Act)
The “Social Security” tax is paid fully by the wage earner. The IRS allows ministers to either have the local church withhold FICA taxes and treat them as a regular employee or to file as a self-employed person and pay the full SECA tax. This tax is figured on both wages and housing allowance.
Secured Loan
A loan that is borrowed against a particular asset, known as security; if a person cannot make the repayments when they are due, the lender can take ownership of the asset.
Securities
A document, historically a physical certificate but increasingly electronic, showing that one owns a portion of a publicly-traded company or is owed a portion of a debt issue.
Shareholder
A person who owns a share or shares in a company.
Signatory
A person who signs a document, such as an application form or a check.
State Income Tax
The involuntary fee is levied on individuals’ income by the state government. Each of the states has its own tax commission and tax laws & forms.
Stock Options
An option to buy or sell a specific number of shares of stock at a fixed price until a specified date.
Subpoena
A formal document that orders a named individual to appear before a duly authorized body at a fixed time to give testimony.
Summons
The paper that tells a defendant that he or she is being sued and asserts the power of the court to hear and determine the case. A form of legal process that commands the defendant to appear before the court on a specific day and to answer the complaint made by the plaintiff.
Surcharge
An extra charge by a bank or credit union if a customer does not keep to their agreement.
Surrender Value
The sum that an insurance company pays a policyholder when they cancel a life insurance policy before its date of maturity; this value is usually lower than the value of the policy when it matures.
Underwriter
An organization, usually an insurance company, that agrees to pay a claim on an insurance policy.
Unsecured Loan
A loan that is not backed by a particular asset; if a person does not pay back the loan, the lender cannot take any asset in return but may still take the person to court.
Variable Interest Rate
An interest rate that is likely to go up or down over time.
Volatility Index (VIX)
A key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility conveyed by S&P 500 stock index option prices.
Warrant
A document issued by a legal or government official authorizing the police or some other body to make an arrest, search premises, or carry out some other action relating to the administration of justice.
Warranty Deed
A warranty deed is a type of deed where the grantor (seller) guarantees that he or she holds clear title to a piece of real estate and has the right to sell it to the grantee (buyer).
Will (Last Will & Testament)
A legal document by which a person expresses his or her wishes as to how his or her property is to be distributed at death and names one or more persons, the executor, to manage the estate until its final distribution.
Workers’ Compensation
A system whereby an employer must pay, or provide insurance to pay, the lost wages and medical expenses of an employee who is injured on the job. Workers’ compensation law is governed by statutes in every state. Specific laws vary with each jurisdiction, but key features are consistent. An employee is automatically entitled to receive certain benefits when he/she suffers an occupational disease or accidental personal injury arising out of and in the course of employment.
Wrongful/Discharge Termination
A legal phrase describing a situation in which an employee’s contract of employment has been terminated by the employer if the termination breaches one or more terms of the contract of employment or a statutory provision in employment law.