Plain-English definitions for the terms you'll encounter on your financial journey.
The legal power given to an insurance agent to provide immediate, temporary coverage before a final policy is officially issued.
An increase in Social Security or pension benefits to help maintain purchasing power as inflation rises.
A technique that allows gifts to a trust to qualify for the annual gift tax exclusion by giving beneficiaries a limited time to withdraw funds.
The process of using powerful computers to solve complex math problems to verify transactions and earn new units of cryptocurrency.
A federally-authorized tax practitioner who has technical expertise in taxation and is empowered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The total computational power being used by a network to process transactions and secure the blockchain.
The possibility that the rising cost of living will reduce the future value and purchasing power of retirement savings.
A court order granting an executor the power to manage an estate.
The process by which new units of a cryptocurrency are created and transactions are verified using powerful computer hardware.
Proof of Work is a security process used in digital currencies where computers solve complex puzzles to verify transactions, acting like a digital notary that proves work was done to prevent fraud. Think of it like a difficult contest that someone must win before they are allowed to update a shared record book.
A legal document giving one person the power to act for another person in financial or legal matters.
Purchasing Power Parity is an economic theory that compares the cost of the same basket of goods in different countries to see if their currencies are fairly valued. It essentially asks: how many Big Macs can you buy for the same amount of money in one country versus another?
The amount of goods or services that can be purchased with a specific unit of currency.
An economic theory that compares different countries' currencies through a 'basket of goods' approach. It suggests that exchange rates should adjust so that the same goods cost the same in different countries.
An economic theory used to compare the buying power of different currencies by measuring the cost of a fixed basket of goods in each country.