Plain-English definitions for the terms you'll encounter on your financial journey.
Earnings Per Share is a way to see how much profit a company makes for each individual share of stock you own. Think of it like dividing a giant pizza into slices; this number tells you exactly how much 'crust and cheese' each slice represents for your personal portion.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a set of rules that prevents debt collectors from harassing or lying to you while they try to get paid. It keeps the process fair by stopping them from calling at unreasonable hours or using abusive language to intimidate you.
A notice on a credit report that tells lenders to take extra steps to verify your identity before granting credit.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is a government agency that acts as an insurance company for traditional company pensions. If your employer goes out of business and can't pay your retirement benefits, this group steps in to make sure you still get your monthly check.
A Unit Investment Trust is an investment product where a company buys a fixed portfolio of stocks or bonds and keeps them for a set period, selling shares of that collection to investors.