1-3 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Identity theft: The illegal use of a person's personal information, such as your name, address, Social Security number, credit card account information, etc., to make purchases or obtain credit.
Impulse purchase: Buying something that was not planned and without thinking about it.
Inception costs (up-front costs or drive-off costs): Upfront fees paid to a car dealer when a person initiates an automobile lease. Inception costs typically include the first month's lease payment, a security deposit, and certain miscellaneous fees.
Income: Earnings from work or an investment. Also known as compensation.
Income fund: A mutual fund with an investment objective to earn regular dividend and interest payments.
Income statement: A report that a business issues at regular intervals (usually quarterly and annually) that illustrates financial results, including revenue, earnings, expenses and taxes.
Index: A statistical benchmark designed to reflect changes in financial markets or the economy.
Individual retirement account (IRA): A self-directed retirement plan you can open on your own, to which you may be eligible to make tax-deductible contributions pending you qualify. Depending on the type of IRA, your earnings are tax free or tax deferred.
Individual retirement annuity: An annuity that is similar to traditional IRAs in most ways, including contribution limits and withdrawals requirements.
Inflation: The rising cost of goods and services over time, which translates to a loss of buying power of a fixed amount of money.
Interest: Money paid to savers and investors by financial institutions, governments, or corporations for use of their money. Or money paid by individuals to lenders for use of credit that is expressed as a percentage of an unpaid balance.
Interest rate: The specified interest paid on your principal investment that you will receive for your investment from a financial institution, government, or corporation for the use of your money. Or the interest percentage you agree to pay on the borrowed principal.
International fund: A mutual fund with an investment focus on companies outside of the U.S.
Investment-grade: A ranking given to a bond-issuing company or municipal government, which indicates confidence that the issuer will be able to make interest payments on time and repay its debt at maturity.
Investment objective: The goal a mutual fund strives to meet, which governs its investment choices.
Invoice Price: The wholesale price that a dealer pays to buy a car from the manufacturer for resale at the retail price.
Irrevocable trust: A trust that you can't change or dissolve after creating. The assets in an irrevocable trust are not part of an estate or subject to estate taxes.