A company that evaluates the creditworthiness of debt issuers, such as corporations and governments, and assigns letter ratings to their bonds. Investment-grade securities are rated BBB and higher; speculative-grade securities are rated BBB- and lower. The higher the rating, the lower the presumed risk of default. The three largest credit rating agencies in the United States are Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch. See Default Risk
Glossary
Credit Rating Agency
Your A‑to‑Z Glossary of Financial Terms
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- 401(k) Plan
- 403(b) and 403(b)(7) Plans
- 457 Plan
- 529 Plan
a
- ACA
- Accredited Investor
- Action Bias
- Active Management
- Activities of Daily Living
- Actuary
- Adjustable Expense
- Adjustable-Rate Mortgage
- Adjusted Gross Income
- Advance Directive
- Affordable Care Act
- Agent
- Alpha
- Alternative Investments
- Amortization
- Anchoring Bias
- Annual Percentage Rate
- Annuitant
- Annuitization
- Annuitize
- Annuity
- Asset
- Asset Allocation
- Asset Classes
- Asset Management
- Asset Management Fee
- Asset Management Industry
- Asset Manager
- Assets Under Management
- Attorney in Fact
- Availability Bias
b
- Balance Sheet
- Bank
- Bankruptcy
- Bear Market
- Beating the Market
- Behavioral Bias
- Benchmark
- Beneficiary
- Beneficiary IRA
- Beta
- Bitcoin
- Blockchain
- Bond
- Bonus Annuity
- Broker
- Broker-Dealer
- Brokerage Firm
- Budget
- Budgeting
- Bull Market
- Business Continuity Insurance
- Buy-and-Hold
- Buy-Now Pay-Later Programs
c
- Call Option
- Capital Asset
- Capital Gain
- Capital Gains Tax Rate
- Capitalism
- Captive Agent
- Cash Equivalents
- Cash Reserves
- Cash Value
- Cash Value Life Insurance
- Catastrophizing Bias
- Central Bank
- Certificate of Deposit
- Certified Financial Planner®
- CFP® Board of Standards
- Charitable Contributions
- Checking Account
- Claim
- Closing
- Co-Insurance Cap
- Co-Pay
- Coincident Indicator
- Collateral
- Collectibles
- College Planning
- College Savings Plan
- Commercial Paper
- Commissions
- Commodities
- Communism
- Compartmentalizing Bias
- Compound Interest
- Compounding
- Confirmation Bias
- Conflict of Interest
- Consumer Price Index
- Correlation
- Cost Basis
- Coupon
- Coverage Percentage
- Credit
- Credit Bureau
- Credit Card
- Credit Rating Agency
- Credit Record
- Credit Repair
- Credit Report
- Credit Risk
- Credit Score
- Credit Unions
- Cross-Sell Policy
- Crypto
- Currency Futures
- Currency Risk
- Custodian
- Custody
d
- Dealer
- Death Benefit
- Death Tax
- Debit Cards
- Debt
- Debt Securities
- Debt-to-Income Ratio
- Decedent IRA
- Decentralized Finance
- Deductible
- Deductible IRA
- Deduction
- Default
- Default Risk
- DeFi
- Defined Benefit Plan
- Defined Contribution Plan
- Deflation
- Delta
- Depreciation
- Depression
- Direct Rollover
- Directors and Officers Liability insurance
- Disability
- Disability Income Insurance
- Discount
- Discretionary Authority
- Discretionary Expense
- Distributed Ledger Technology
- Distributions
- Diversification
- Dividend
- Dollar Cost Averaging
- Down Payment
- Dread Disease Insurance
- Durable Power of Attorney
- Duration
e
- Earned Income
- Earned Income Tax Credit
- Earnings
- Economic Indicator
- Effective Tax Rate
- Efficient Frontier
- Elder Financial Abuse
- Emerging Markets
- Employee Benefit
- Employer Match
- Endowment Bias
- Endowment Fund
- Entrepreneurship
- Equifax
- Equities
- Equity
- Estate
- Estate Planning
- Estate Tax
- Exchange
- Exchange-Traded Fund
- Excise Tax
- Exclusion
- Executor
- Exemption
- Expenses
- Experian
- Exposome
f
- Face Value
- Fascism
- FDIC
- Fear
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Federal Income Tax
- Federal Reserve
- Federal Revenue
- Fees
- FICA
- FICO
- Fiduciary
- Fiduciary Obligation
- Financial Abuse
- Financial Advisor
- Financial Firm
- Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
- Financial Literacy
- Financial Planning
- Fitch
- Fixed Annuity
- Fixed Expense
- Fixed-Rate Mortgage
- Flexible Spending Account
- FOMO
- Foreclosure
- Foreign Exchange
- Forex
- Form 1040
- Framing Bias
- Futures Contracts
- FX
- FX Futures
g
- GDP
- Grantor
- Grantor Trust
- Greed
- Gross Domestic Product
- Gross Income
- Guaranteed Lifetime Income
- Guardian
h
- Harry Markowitz
- Health Care Power of Attorney
- Health Insurance
- Health Savings Account
- Healthspan
- Hedge
- Hedge Fund
- Heirs
- Herd Mentality Bias
- High-Deductible Health Plan
- High-Yield Bond
- Hindsight Bias
- Home Equity
- Home Equity Line of Credit
- Home Equity Loan
- Hospital Insurance
- Howey Test
i
- Illusion of Attention Bias
- Illusion of Control Bias
- Immediate Income Annuity
- In Force
- Income
- Income Tax
- Independent Insurance Agent
- Index Funds
- Index Investing
- Indirect Tax
- Individual Retirement Account
- Inflation
- Inflation Rate
- Inheritance Tax
- Inherited IRA
- Institutional Investors
- Insurance Agent
- Insurance Cap
- Insurance Claim
- Insurance Company
- Insurance Contract
- Insurance License
- Insurance Policy
- Insured
- Intangibles Tax
- Interest
- Interest Rate
- Interest Rate Risk
- Internal Revenue Code
- Internal Revenue Service
- Intuition Bias
- Investment Advisers Act of 1940
- Investment Advisor Representative
- Investment Bank
- Investment Contract
- Investment-Grade
- Investment Manager
- IRA
- IRS
- Issuer
j
- Joint and Survivor
- Junk Bond
k
- Key Person Insurance
- Kidnap and Ransom Insurance
l
- Lagging Indicator
- Landlord
- Lapse
- Large-cap
- Leading Indicator
- Liabilities
- Lien
- Life Expectancy
- Life Insurance
- Lifespan
- Liquid
- Liquidity
- Living Will
- Loan
- Loan Agreement
- Long-Term Capital Gains
- Long-Term Care
- Long-Term Care Insurance
- Longevity
- Loss Aversion
- Lump Sum
m
- Major Medical Insurance
- Marginal Tax Rate
- Market Capitalization
- Market Correction
- Market Sector
- Maturity
- Maturity Date
- Medicaid
- Medical Expense Insurance
- Medical Expenses
- Medicare
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
- Medicare Part C
- Medicare Part D
- Mental Accounting Bias
- Metaverse
- Mid-cap
- Modern Portfolio Theory
- Modified Adjusted Gross Income
- Money Manager
- Money Market Account
- Money Market Fund
- Moody’s
- Mortgage
- Mortgage-Backed Securities
- Mortgage Interest
- Municipal Bond
- Mutual Funds
n
- Nasdaq
- National Credit Union Administration
- Net Investment Income Tax
- Net Profit
- Net Worth
- New York Stock Exchange
- NGO
- Non-Deductible IRA
- Non-Discretionary Expense
o
- Obamacare
- Offshore Account
- Opportunity Cost
- Optimism Bias
- Options Contract
- Ordinary Income
- Ordinary Income Tax Rate
- Out of Force
- Out-of-pocket
- Over-the-Counter
- Overconfidence Bias
- Overtime Pay
p
- Passive Income
- Passive Management
- Pattern Recognition Bias
- Payroll Tax
- Pension
- Pension Fund
- Pension Plan
- Permanent Life Insurance
- Personal Finance
- Pessimism Bias
- Picks and Shovels
- Policy Limit
- Policy Owner
- Portfolio Manager
- Power of Attorney
- Premium
- Premium
- Prenuptial Agreement
- Primary Beneficiary
- Principal
- Private Equity
- Private Mortgage Insurance
- Probate
- Profit
- Profit-Sharing Contribution
- Profit-Sharing Plan
- Proof of Stake
- Proof of Work
- Property and Casualty insurance
- Property Tax
- Proud Papa Bias
- Publicly Traded Company
- Purchasing Power
- Put Option
r
- Real Estate
- Real Estate Investment Trust
- Realized Capital Gain
- Rebalancing
- Recency Bias
- Recession
- Refinance
- Registered Investment Advisor
- Regret Avoidance Bias
- Rent
- Retirement Account
- Retirement Plan
- Retirement Planning
- Revenue
- RIA
- Risk
- Risk Tolerance
- Rollover
- Rollover IRA
- Roth IRA
- Royalty
- Rule of 55
- Rule of 72
s
- Salary
- Sales Tax
- Savings Account
- Schedule C
- Second Mortgage
- Secondary Beneficiary
- Securities
- Securities Investor Protection Corporation
- Securities License
- Self-Employment Earnings
- Self-Employment Tax
- Separation of Service
- Settlor
- Shareholder
- Shares
- Short-Term Capital Gains
- Single-Life Option
- SIPC
- Small-Cap
- Small Sample Size Bias
- Social Security
- Social Security Administration
- Socialism
- Soft Dollar Compensation
- S&P
- S&P 500 Stock Index
- S&P Dow Jones Indices
- Speculative-Grade
- SPIVA Scorecard
- Spousal IRA
- Spread
- Stablecoins
- State Income Tax
- State Securities Regulator
- Status Quo Bias
- Stock
- Stock Exchange
- Stock Market
- Stockbroker
- Strike Price
- Student Loan
- Suitability
- Surrender
- Surrender Periods
- Surtax
t
- T-Bills
- T-Bonds
- T-Notes
- Tax Avoidance
- Tax Code
- Tax Credit
- Tax-Deductible
- Tax Deduction
- Tax Deferred
- Tax-Deferred
- Tax-Efficient
- Tax Evasion
- Tax Exclusions
- Tax Exemptions
- Tax-Free
- Tax-Loss Harvesting
- Tax Rate
- Tax Refunds
- Taxable Income
- Taxes
- Term Certain
- Term Life Insurance
- Thrift Saving Plan
- Tips
- Tokens
- Trades
- Traditional IRA
- TransUnion
- Travel Cancellation and Medical Evacuation Insurance
- Treasury Bills
- Treasury Bonds
- Treasury Notes
- Trip Insurance
- Trust
- Trustee
- Trustee-to-Trustee Transfer
- Trustor
- Tuition Prepayment Plan
u
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Umbrella Liability Insurance
- Underwriting
- Unemployment Rate
- Universal Life Insurance
- Utmost Good Faith
v
- Value-Added Tax
- Variable Annuity
- Variable Expense
- Variable Life Insurance
- Volatility
w
- Wages
- Waiting Period
- Ward
- Wealth Management Industry
- Whole Life Insurance
- Will
y
- Yield
z
- Zero-Coupon Bonds