An investor’s initial and ongoing contributions to an investment or fund. Dividends and interest also comprise principal when reinvested into the fund or account that paid them. Principal contributes to the calculation of cost basis, which is used to determine the profitability of an investment and its tax obligations. The return of principal is not subject to tax.
Glossary
Principal
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