The Pecuvo coinPecuvo

Glossary

252 money terms — each explained in one sentence, simply and with an example, with a link to the module and the primary source. Where a term depends on national law: the EU rule, an example from Bulgaria and what to check in your country. Knowledge, not investment advice.

A–Z

2 5 A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W

By topic

2

  • 24-hour rule — The 24-hour rule is a personal rule to wait a full day before making an unplanned purchase above an amount you have chosen, or any money dec

5

  • 50/30/20 rule — The 50/30/20 rule is a budgeting guide: 50% of net income for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings and paying off debt.

A

  • Accident insurance — Accident insurance pays an agreed sum in the event of injury, permanent loss of ability to work or death caused by an accident.
  • Account for a minor — an account for a minor is a bank account in a child's name or for a child's benefit; who opens it and when the child can have their own card
  • Active and passive investing — active investing tries to beat a given index by choosing assets; passive investing simply follows the index, with fewer decisions and usuall
  • Annual tax return — An annual tax return is the document in which an individual reports all their income for the past year, the reliefs claimed and the tax stil
  • Annuity repayment — an annuity repayment is an equal instalment over the whole term of a loan, in which interest makes up most of the payment at the start and p
  • APR (annual percentage rate of charge) — the APR is the total cost of a credit — interest, fees, commissions and compulsory insurance — expressed as one annual percentage of the tot
  • Asset allocation — asset allocation is the decision about what share of your money goes into different groups of investments — for example interest-bearing (bo
  • Assets and liabilities — An asset is a resource you own that can bring you a benefit or money; a liability is an obligation — a debt you will have to pay.

B

  • Bank account — a bank account is a record at a bank where your money is kept and through which you receive and pay — salary, bills, card purchases and tran
  • Bank fees — bank fees are what the bank charges for its services — account maintenance, the card, withdrawals, transfers, currency conversion, closing;
  • Bank transfer (and SEPA) — a bank transfer is an instruction to your bank to move a sum from your account to another account by its IBAN; SEPA is the common set of rul
  • Barter — Barter is the direct exchange of one good or service for another good or service, with no money passing between the parties.
  • Basic payment account — a basic payment account is a payment account with the essential services — paying in, withdrawing, card payments, transfers — that banks in
  • Bitcoin — Bitcoin is the first major cryptocurrency — a digital unit on a public blockchain, described in Satoshi Nakamoto's white paper (31.10.2008)
  • Blockchain — A blockchain is a shared ledger whose records are grouped in a chain of blocks kept by many participants; each block contains a fingerprint
  • Blocking a card — blocking a card means stopping all use of it — in your bank's app or by phone — as soon as it is lost or stolen or its details have reached
  • Bond — a bond is a loan you make to a government or a company in return for a promise to repay the amount on a set date (maturity) and to pay you i
  • Bookkeeping and accounting — Bookkeeping and accounting are the systematic recording of all of an organisation's transactions — income, costs, assets and liabilities — b
  • Break-even point — The break-even point is the number of sales at which income equals costs — neither profit nor loss; you find it by dividing the monthly indi
  • Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) — The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) is Bulgaria's central bank — since 2026 part of the euro area and a participant in ECB decisions; it licen
  • Business plan — A business plan is a story with numbers about a business: who the customer is, what the product is, how it is sold, what it costs and how it
  • Buy now, pay later — "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) is paying for a purchase in a few instalments, often without interest — in substance a loan that can carry a cos

C

  • Capital gain — a capital gain is the difference between the price at which you sell an asset (a share, a unit, a property) and the price you paid for it, w
  • Card limit — a card limit is the maximum amount you can withdraw or pay with the card per day or per transaction; you can change it in the app or at the
  • Cash flow — Cash flow is the movement of money over a period — how much comes in, how much goes out, how much remains, and exactly when.
  • Cash machine (ATM) — a cash machine (ATM) is a machine from which you withdraw cash with a card and PIN; a withdrawal may cost a fee, especially if the machine d
  • Central bank — A central bank is the institution that issues banknotes, sets the key interest rate and protects the value of money by keeping inflation und
  • Central Credit Register — a central credit register is a database, usually kept by the central bank, on the loans and arrears of a country's borrowers; lenders use it
  • Checking a licence — checking a licence means looking up a company in the supervisor's public register to see whether it is allowed to offer banking, payment, le
  • Child benefits — Child benefits are state payments, in cash or in kind, that support families during pregnancy, at birth and while raising children; some are
  • Civil (service) contract — A civil (service) contract is an agreement under which a contractor, for a fee, carries out a specific task or produces a result on their ow
  • Co-financing — Co-financing is the part of a project's costs that the programme does not cover and that the applicant pays itself — from its own funds or a
  • Collateral — collateral is property — a home, a car, a receivable — from which the lender can be paid first if the borrower does not pay; a pledge covers
  • Commercial register — A commercial register is the public state register in which traders and companies are entered — who the business is, who manages it and who
  • Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP) — the CPDP (Commission for Personal Data Protection) is Bulgaria's GDPR supervisory authority, to which anyone can complain if their personal
  • Complaint about goods and guarantee — A complaint about goods is your claim against the seller when a purchase is faulty or not as agreed; in the EU the seller is liable for faul
  • Complaint to a bank — a complaint to a bank is a written complaint about a payment service; if the bank does not answer in time or the answer does not satisfy you
  • Compound interest (compounding and capitalisation) — compound interest is interest charged not only on the starting amount but also on interest already added — which is why the sum grows faster
  • Comprehensive motor insurance — Comprehensive motor insurance is voluntary insurance of your own vehicle that covers damage to it — for example from a crash, theft or a nat
  • Consumer credit — consumer credit is credit a private individual takes for personal needs, outside their trade or profession; it is protected by special rules
  • Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) — the CPC (Consumer Protection Commission) is Bulgaria's state authority that protects consumer rights in purchases and services and hosts fre
  • Consumer rights — consumer rights are the legal guarantees you have as a buyer of goods and services — to withdraw from an online purchase, to receive goods w
  • Cooperative — A cooperative is an organisation that its members own and run together to meet shared economic and social needs — decisions are made by the
  • Cost price (full cost) — Cost price is what it costs you to make or deliver one unit of your product; the full cost is the direct costs per unit plus that unit's sha
  • Credit (loan) — credit is an agreement under which you receive money or goods now and promise to pay later, usually with interest and fees — a price you pay
  • Credit card — a credit card is a payment instrument that lets you pay with money lent to you by the bank up to a set limit; if you do not repay it in time
  • Credit history — your credit history is the record of how you have repaid your loans — on time or late; lenders use it to decide whether, and on what terms,
  • Creditworthiness — creditworthiness is the assessment of whether a person will be able to repay a loan — based on income, expenses, other debts and credit hist
  • Crypto scam — a crypto scam is a fraud involving crypto-assets — a fake platform, a fake token or a fake wallet page — in which your money or access keys
  • Cryptocurrency — A cryptocurrency is a digital record of value on a shared network (a blockchain), usually with no central issuer; most have no company, prof
  • Currency — A currency is the money that a country or a union of countries (such as the euro area) has declared legal tender — prices are counted and ta
  • Currency board — A currency board is a regime in which the local money can be exchanged for an anchor currency at a fixed rate, and the central bank holds re
  • Currency risk — currency risk is the chance of gaining or losing purely because of a change in the exchange rate, when your investment, loan or income is in
  • Current (payment) account — a current (payment) account is the account for everyday money — you use it to pay in, withdraw cash, receive your salary and pay by card or

D

  • Debit card — a debit card is a payment instrument linked to your account, with which you pay and withdraw using your own money that is already in the acc
  • Debt — debt is an obligation to pay a sum in the future — on a loan, but also on an unpaid bill, tax, fine or guarantee; in a personal balance shee
  • Debt avalanche and debt snowball — the debt avalanche and the debt snowball are two ways to repay several debts: with the avalanche you clear the most expensive one (highest r
  • Debt consolidation — debt consolidation is combining several debts into one new loan with one instalment — a kind of refinancing that simplifies payments but doe
  • Deflation — Deflation is a general, lasting fall in prices: money buys more, but debts become heavier and people put off buying.
  • Delayed gratification — Delayed gratification is the ability to give up a smaller reward now to get a bigger one later; the opposite tendency — giving "now" too muc
  • Deposit — a deposit is a sum you leave with a bank on agreed terms for duration and withdrawal, in return for interest, while the bank may use the mon
  • Deposit guarantee — a deposit guarantee is protection under which, if a bank fails, a special fund pays each depositor up to €100,000 from all their accounts at
  • Digital euro — The digital euro is an ECB project for central bank money in digital form — like a banknote, but on a screen; one digital euro would always
  • Direct and indirect costs — Direct costs are linked to each item sold or to a specific activity (raw materials, packaging), while indirect costs (overheads) are the gen
  • Disputing a card payment (chargeback) — disputing a card payment (chargeback) is asking your bank to return money paid with your card when you did not authorise the payment, it was
  • Diversification — diversification means spreading money across different investments — companies, countries, asset types, time frames — so that the failure of
  • Dividend — a dividend is the part of a company's profit that it decides to pay out to its owners (shareholders or partners), usually as an amount per s
  • Down payment — a down payment is the part of the price of a home or item that you pay with your own money, while the rest is financed with a loan.

E

  • Early repayment — early repayment is paying back all or part of a loan before the agreed date; consumers have the right to do so at any time, and the total co
  • Eligible costs — Eligible costs are the project costs that a funding programme agrees to pay because they meet its rules; all other costs are ineligible and
  • Emergency fund — An emergency fund (reserve) is money set aside only for unexpected costs — illness, repairs, losing a job — kept accessible in an account, n
  • Employment contract — An employment contract is a written agreement by which an employer hires an employee for a job in return for pay, working hours, paid leave
  • ESG — ESG stands for three groups of issues taken into account in investing alongside profit: environmental (E), social (S) and governance (G).
  • ETF (exchange-traded fund) — an ETF is a fund whose units are traded throughout the day on a trading venue (for example an exchange), with a market maker ensuring that t
  • EU Digital Identity Wallet (eIDAS 2) — the EU Digital Identity Wallet is a state-issued app in which you keep digital documents to identify yourself online and share only the data
  • EU funds and programmes — EU funds and programmes are money from the EU budget used to finance projects of organisations, businesses, municipalities and schools — som
  • Euro changeover in Bulgaria — A euro changeover is the switch of a country's national currency to the euro at an irrevocably fixed rate; Bulgaria made it on 1 January 202
  • European Central Bank (ECB) — The ECB is the central bank of the euro area; together with the national central banks it manages the euro and sets interest rates to keep i
  • Excess — An excess (in American English, a deductible) is the part of each loss you pay yourself before the insurer starts paying — usually a fixed a
  • Exchange rate — An exchange rate is the price of one currency expressed in another — for example, how many US dollars one euro costs.
  • Excise duty — Excise duty is an indirect tax on certain goods — alcohol, tobacco, fuel and other energy products, and electricity — included in their pric
  • Experiences versus things — "Experiences versus things" is the research finding that once basic needs are met, money spent on experiences (a trip, a concert, time with

F

  • Fake celebrity adverts — fake celebrity adverts are paid adverts or videos in which the name, face or voice of a well-known person — often generated with artificial
  • Fiat money — Fiat money is money that is not tied to a metal; its value rests on the law, on taxes and on trust in the central bank that issues it.
  • Financial adviser and conflict of interest — a financial adviser gives recommendations on money and products; there is a conflict of interest when the adviser earns more from one recomm
  • Financial goal — A financial goal is a specific amount you want to save or pay off by a set date — how much, by when, and how much per week or month.
  • Financial regulators — financial regulators are the institutions that admit financial firms to the market, check that they follow the rules and receive complaints
  • Financial stress — Financial stress is the tension and worry a person feels when money does not stretch, debts grow or they do not know how they will cover the
  • Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) — the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) is Bulgaria's authority for regulating and supervising the non-bank financial sector — insurance,
  • First pillar (state pension) — The first pension pillar is the state (public) pension, which in most European countries works on a pay-as-you-go basis: today's contributio
  • Fixed and floating exchange rate — With a floating rate the price of a currency is set on the market every day; with a fixed rate the state promises a set price against anothe
  • Fixed and variable costs — Fixed costs stay the same however much you sell (rent, salaries, subscriptions), while variable costs rise and fall with the volume of sales
  • Fixed interest rate — a fixed interest rate is a rate agreed in the credit agreement for the whole term or for set periods, which does not change with market inte
  • Freelance profession — A freelance profession is work for yourself in which you sell your skills directly to clients for a fee — as a translator, designer, program
  • Fund fees and costs — a fund's fees and costs are everything you pay for management and transactions — one-off (on entry or exit) and ongoing (every year), visibl

G

  • Gambling — gambling is staking money in the hope of a win on an outcome that depends wholly or mainly on chance — casinos, betting, lotteries; it is fo
  • GDPR — the GDPR is the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), which sets how companies and institutions may collect an
  • Giving (donating) — Giving is the voluntary handing over of money, things, time or skills to a person or a cause without expecting an equal return — and, resear
  • Gold as an asset — gold as an asset is an item of value bought for its own worth; its price is moved by many factors, and by itself it produces no income — no
  • Gold standard — The gold standard is a monetary system in which banknotes can be exchanged for a fixed amount of gold, so the amount of money depends on the
  • Government bonds — government bonds are bonds and other debt securities through which a state borrows money from investors, promising to repay the principal at
  • Grant — A grant is non-repayable funding from a programme, institution or foundation for a set purpose — money you keep only if you spend it by the
  • Greenwashing — greenwashing is presenting a product, company or investment as better for the environment than has been shown — through generic, unsubstanti
  • Gross pay — Gross pay is the amount written in your employment contract before the employee's social security contributions and income tax are deducted;
  • Guarantor — a guarantor is a person who commits to pay someone else's loan if the borrower does not — a personal responsibility for another person's deb

H

  • Health insurance — Private (voluntary) health insurance covers medical costs beyond the public health system — such as private consultations, hospital treatmen
  • Health insurance contributions — Health insurance contributions are compulsory payments into the public health insurance system that entitle you to health services — check-u
  • Hedonic adaptation — Hedonic adaptation is our tendency to get used to new things — a new purchase, a higher income, a nicer home — so that the joy fades and we
  • Herd behaviour — Herd behaviour is the tendency to do what everyone else does — buying because others buy, selling because others sell — often out of fear of
  • Hidden advertising and influencers — Hidden advertising is paid content presented as a personal opinion, a lesson or news, without making clear that someone paid for it — includ
  • History of money — The history of money is the path from records of debt and commodity money (barley, silver, shells) through the coin, the banknote and the go
  • Home energy efficiency — Home energy efficiency means the same comfort with less energy — through insulation, windows, heating and habits — which lowers monthly bill
  • Home insurance — Home insurance is voluntary insurance that covers the building and/or its contents against fire, water damage, theft, natural disasters and
  • Hyperinflation — Hyperinflation is an extremely fast rise in prices in which money loses its value within weeks or days and people flee to foreign currency a

I

  • IBAN and BIC — the IBAN is the international bank account number, starting with the country's letters (for Bulgaria — BG), and the BIC is the code that ide
  • Identity theft — identity theft is the use of someone else's personal data — name, ID number, documents, access to their phone or email — to take money or si
  • Impulse buying — Impulse buying is an unplanned purchase made on a passing wish, emotion or pressure ("today only", "3 left") without thinking about whether
  • In-game purchases and loot boxes — in-game purchases are payments with real money for virtual coins, items or "loot boxes" whose contents you don't know in advance.
  • Index fund — an index fund is a fund that does not choose its own assets but follows the composition of a given market index — with fewer decisions and u
  • Individual pension account — An individual pension account is a personal account in a pension fund in which your contributions, the income from investing them and the fe
  • Inflation — Inflation is the general rise in prices over time, so the same amount of money buys less.
  • Inheritance — An inheritance is the property, rights and debts of a deceased person that pass to their heirs — under the law or under a will.
  • Instant payment — an instant payment is a euro transfer that reaches the payee within 10 seconds, around the clock and every day, including public holidays.
  • Insurable income — Insurable income is the amount on which social security contributions are calculated; many countries set a minimum below which you cannot be
  • Insurance — Insurance is a contract in which you pay a regular sum (the premium) to an insurer, which agrees to pay you if a specified event happens — d
  • Insurance premium — An insurance premium is the amount you pay the insurer — in one go or in instalments — so that the policy covers you for a set period.
  • Interest — interest is the price paid for using someone else's money — what a borrower pays a lender, or a bank pays a saver, for the time the money is
  • Interest rate (borrowing rate) — the interest rate (borrowing rate) is the percentage at which interest is charged on the amount used over one year — fixed or variable; it s
  • Interest-free (grace) period — an interest-free (grace) period is a time during which no interest is charged — on a credit card, if you repay everything spent by the agree
  • Investing — investing means putting money today into something that may produce income or rise in value in the future — with no guarantee, because its v
  • Investment firm (broker) — an investment firm is a licensed company through which individuals buy and sell securities or receive investment advice and portfolio manage
  • Investment fund — an investment fund pools the money of many people, and a manager invests it in many assets; each person holds units whose price changes with
  • Investment property — an investment property is real estate bought not to live in but for rental income or to sell at a higher price — in practice a small busines
  • Investment scam — an investment scam is an offer to put money into a "safe" opportunity with high returns, with no licensed provider and no real investment be
  • Investor protection (compensation scheme) — investor protection is the set of rules, supervision and the compensation scheme that protect clients if an investment firm breaks the rules
  • Invoice — An invoice is a document proving the sale of goods or a service — what, when, between whom and at what price — showing VAT separately when t

K

  • Key information document (KID) — a key information document (KID) is a short document with a common layout that, under EU law, you receive before buying a packaged investmen

L

  • Labour Code — A labour code is the main national law on relations between workers and employers: the employment contract, working time, rest, leave, pay a
  • Labour Inspectorate — A labour inspectorate is the state body that checks whether employers follow labour law — contracts, pay, working time, safety — and receive
  • Leasing — leasing is an agreement under which you use an item — such as a car — in return for regular payments and may acquire it at the end of the te
  • Legal capacity — legal capacity is a person's ability to acquire rights and take on obligations through their own actions — for example by signing contracts;
  • Length of service and insurance record — Your insurance record is the time for which social security contributions have been paid or are due for you; your right to a pension and ben
  • Life insurance — Life insurance is a contract under which the insurer pays an agreed sum to named people if the insured person dies, and — for savings types
  • Limited liability company — A limited liability company is a business that is a legal person separate from its owners: it has its own money and obligations, pays corpor
  • Liquidity — Liquidity is how quickly, and without a big loss, an asset can be turned into money.
  • Local taxes and fees — Local taxes and fees are payments to your municipality — on property, vehicles, waste collection, gifts and inheritance — that fund local se
  • Loss aversion — Loss aversion is the observation that a loss often weighs more on us than a gain of the same size — so we cling to losing positions and avoi

M

  • Margin — Margin is the part of the price left after costs are taken away; in a small business the key figure is usually the margin per item — the pri
  • Maternity benefit — Maternity benefit is a social security payment that replaces a mother's income before and after birth and, in many countries, is followed by
  • Mental accounting — Mental accounting is the habit of splitting money in our heads into separate "boxes" — for holidays, from the bonus, for bills — and treatin
  • Minimum wage — The minimum wage is the lowest monthly (or hourly) gross pay an employer may pay for full-time work, set by law or by collective agreements.
  • Money and happiness — Money and happiness are linked more subtly than the saying suggests: for most people happiness keeps rising with income, but money mainly re
  • Money mule — a money mule is a person whose account is used to pass on other people's money from fraud — they receive it and forward or withdraw it for a
  • Mortgage — a mortgage is a long-term loan, usually for a home, secured on a property — if it is not repaid for a long time, the property can be sold to
  • Motor third-party liability insurance — Motor third-party liability insurance is compulsory insurance that pays for the harm a driver causes to other people and their property with

N

  • National Revenue Agency (NRA) — The National Revenue Agency (NRA) is Bulgaria's state agency that collects taxes and social security contributions, receives tax returns and
  • National Social Security Institute (NSSI) — The National Social Security Institute (NSSI) manages Bulgaria's state social insurance and pays pensions, sick pay, maternity benefit and u
  • Net pay — Net pay is the money you actually receive in your account: gross pay minus the employee's social security contributions and minus the income
  • Net worth — Net worth is everything you own (assets) minus everything you owe (liabilities) — the most honest "thermometer" of personal finances.
  • Non-profit organisation — A non-profit organisation — usually an association or a foundation — is a legal person set up for a public or mutual purpose that does not d

O

  • Occupational pension fund — An occupational pension fund is a pension fund linked to a job or an employer, into which contributions are paid for the workers so that the
  • Opportunity cost — Opportunity cost is the value of the best thing you give up when you choose one option over another.
  • Over-indebtedness — over-indebtedness is a situation in which a person persistently cannot cover their instalments and bills from income without sacrificing bas
  • Overdraft — an overdraft is credit that lets you spend more than you have in your account, up to an agreed limit — the minus is a loan on which you pay

P

  • Paid annual leave — Paid annual leave is the number of days a year an employee may rest while still being paid; the law sets a minimum, and a contract may give
  • Passive income — Passive income is income that comes from property or capital you own — interest, dividends, rent, royalties — and does not require ongoing h
  • Password and password manager — a password is the secret you use to log in to an account, and a password manager is a "safe" program that stores a different long password f
  • Pay yourself first — "Pay yourself first" is the principle that saving is the first expense on payday, not whatever is left at the end of the month.
  • Paying in a foreign currency — paying in a foreign currency means paying in money other than your account's currency; the payment is converted, and the price of conversion
  • Payment holiday and restructuring — a payment holiday postpones payments to a later date, and restructuring changes the terms of a loan (term, instalments, rate) by agreement w
  • Payslip — A payslip is a document showing which month the pay is for, the gross amount, each deduction separately (contributions, tax, others) and the
  • Pension — A pension is a regular monthly payment a person receives after they stop working because of age, paid by the social security system and pens
  • Pension fund fees — Pension fund fees are the charges by which a pension company is paid for its work — a percentage of each contribution, a fee for managing th
  • Pension indexation — Pension indexation is the regular increase of pensions already being paid, using a formula linked to prices, to wages, or — under the "Swiss
  • Personal budget — A personal budget is a plan of how much money comes in and where it will go over a period — for example a month — regularly compared with wh
  • Personal income tax — Personal income tax is the tax individuals pay on wages, fees, rent and other income; on wages the employer usually withholds it every month
  • Phishing — phishing is a scam in which a message — usually an email — prompts you to open a link to a fake page that looks like the real one and collec
  • Phone scam (fake bank employee) — a phone scam (vishing) is a call from someone posing as an employee of your bank, the police or another institution who, under pressure, ask
  • Pocket money — Pocket money is a small sum a child receives regularly and decides about alone — the first real lesson in choosing, saving and setting a goa
  • Policy exclusions — Policy exclusions are the events, losses and situations that an insurance contract expressly does not cover — even if they look similar to t
  • Ponzi scheme — a Ponzi scheme is a fraud in which the "profit" of earlier investors is paid with money from new ones, with no real business behind it; it c
  • Power of attorney — A power of attorney is a document by which you authorise another person to act on your behalf — for example at a bank, before an authority o
  • Prepaid card — a prepaid card is a card you first load with an amount (electronic money) and then spend only up to it; you cannot spend more than you loade
  • Pricing — Pricing is how you set the price of a product or service so that it covers the full cost, leaves a profit and is competitive enough to sell.
  • Principal — the principal is the amount you actually borrowed (or deposited) — without interest and fees; interest is charged on what remains of it.
  • Profit — Profit is the difference between income and costs over a period — what is left once all the costs of the business are taken away from sales.
  • Property tax — Property tax is a recurring local tax that owners of homes, buildings and land pay to the municipality where the property is.
  • Psychology of money — The psychology of money studies how feelings, habits and surroundings shape our money decisions — why we spend, save and invest differently
  • Purchasing power — Purchasing power is the amount of goods and services a given sum of money can buy; inflation reduces it.
  • Pyramid scheme ("guaranteed high returns") — a pyramid scheme is a scheme in which members earn not from a real product or activity but from the fees of new members they recruit; it alw

Q

  • Quick (payday) loan — a quick loan is a small amount for a short term with fast approval, usually from a non-bank lender — convenient, but often expensive relativ

R

  • Real and nominal interest rate — the nominal interest rate is the percentage written in the contract; the real interest rate is that percentage after inflation — it shows wh
  • Refinancing — refinancing is paying off an existing loan with a new one — usually at a lower cost, with a different term or on easier terms.
  • Regular saving (monthly contributions) — Regular saving means putting aside the same amount every month or week, which over time — with interest on the interest — grows to more than
  • Repayment schedule — a repayment schedule (amortisation table) is the table attached to a credit agreement that shows the amount, number and dates of the instalm
  • Reporting fraud — reporting fraud means telling your bank and the competent authorities what happened as quickly as possible — to stop the payment, trace the
  • Retirement age — The retirement age is the age set in law at which a person — together with the required years of contributions — acquires the right to a sta
  • Retirement planning — Retirement planning is working out how much income you will need after you retire, how much your pensions will pay and how to cover the gap
  • Return (yield) — return is how much an investment has gained (or lost) over a period, expressed as a percentage of the amount invested — from the change in p
  • Returning goods (14 days online) — When you buy at a distance (online or by phone) in the EU, you have 14 days to withdraw from the contract without giving a reason; for goods
  • Right of withdrawal from a credit agreement — the right of withdrawal lets a consumer withdraw from a consumer credit agreement within 14 calendar days, without giving a reason and witho
  • Romance scam — a romance scam is a fraud in which a stranger on a dating site, social network or email wins your trust with "love" and then asks for money,
  • Rule of 72 — the rule of 72 is a quick approximate way to work out how many years it takes for a sum to double: divide 72 by the annual percentage rate.

S

  • Safe account scam — the "safe account" scam is a call from a fake bank or police employee who persuades you to transfer your money to a "protected" account, sup
  • Salary negotiation — Salary negotiation is a prepared conversation in which an employee or applicant agrees their pay and conditions, based on market levels, the
  • Saving — Saving is setting aside part of your income today to use later — for a reserve, a goal or the future — with the money kept safe and accessib
  • Savings account — a savings account is a bank account for money you don't need straight away; it pays interest, and the withdrawal terms and interest rate are
  • Second pillar — The second pension pillar is a funded pension: part of the contributions goes into an individual account in your name, managed by a licensed
  • Self-employed person — A self-employed person works for themselves — as a sole trader, freelancer, owner or registered farmer — and pays their own social security
  • Separate accounts (envelope method) — The separate-accounts ("envelope") method splits money by purpose — bills, reserve, goals, free spending — into separate accounts or envelop
  • Share — a share is a piece of ownership of a company — it gives a right to part of the profit (through dividends), a vote and information, and its p
  • Sick pay — Sick pay is a cash benefit that replaces part of your pay when illness or an accident temporarily stops you from working; it is paid by the
  • Small-business financing — Small-business financing means the sources of money to start and grow a business — your own savings, family and friends, a bank loan, a gran
  • SMS scam (smishing) — smishing is phishing by text message or chat app — a short message with a link that gets you to pay a small sum or enter your card details o
  • Social comparison — Social comparison is our tendency to judge our own income, possessions and life against the people around us — which affects satisfaction an
  • Social enterprise — A social enterprise is a business that sells goods or services and pays its own way, but whose main aim is measurable social impact, with pr
  • Social security contributions — Social security contributions are compulsory payments from income into funds for pensions, sickness and maternity, unemployment, accidents a
  • Sole trader — A sole trader is an individual registered to run a business in their own name, without setting up a separate company; the person and the bus
  • Speculation — speculation is buying something only because you expect its price to rise and someone else to pay more — regardless of what stands behind th
  • Stablecoin — A stablecoin is a crypto token that promises a stable value against a currency (for example €1) or against assets; how stable it is depends
  • State and municipal budget — A public budget is the yearly plan of a state or municipality for what revenue (taxes, fees, contributions) it will collect and what it will
  • Statutory deductible expenses — Statutory deductible expenses are a percentage of income fixed by law that is deducted before tax on fees or freelance income, without havin
  • Stock exchange — a stock exchange is an organised market where buyers and sellers of securities — shares, bonds, fund units — meet under common rules, and pr
  • Strong customer authentication (SCA, 3D Secure) — strong customer authentication (SCA) is an EU rule under which your bank requires at least two independent proofs — knowledge, possession or
  • Subscriptions — A subscription is a contract for a service you pay for regularly — every month or every year — until you cancel it; it often renews automati
  • Sum insured — The sum insured is the maximum amount the insurer will pay under the contract when an insured event happens.
  • Sustainable finance — sustainable finance means taking environmental, social and governance considerations into account when making investment decisions, as the E
  • Switching bank account — switching bank account is a legal service in which, with your written authorisation, the new bank moves your payments, balance and standing
  • Switching pension fund — Switching pension fund means moving your individual pension account from a fund run by one pension company to the same type of fund run by a

T

  • Talking to children about money — Talking to children about money means calmly and regularly explaining at home how the family earns, spends, saves and gives — the strongest
  • Tax reliefs — Tax reliefs are legal ways to reduce your taxable base or your tax if you meet conditions — for example for children, a young family's mortg
  • Term deposit — a term deposit is a deposit for a set period during which the money stays at the bank; if you withdraw early, the contract says what happens
  • The three pension pillars — The three pension pillars are the three layers of a pension system: the state pension (first pillar), funded compulsory or workplace pension
  • Third pillar (voluntary pension) — The third pension pillar is voluntary pension saving — contributions you (or your employer) choose to pay into a voluntary pension fund, a p
  • Time bank — A time bank is a community system in which people exchange services for hours: one hour of work equals one hour of work, whatever the servic
  • Transferring second-pillar savings to the state fund — A second-pillar transfer is the choice, where the law allows it, to leave the funded personal account and be insured only in the state pensi
  • Travel insurance and EHIC — Travel insurance covers medical and other costs on a trip abroad, while the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) gives free access to neces
  • Two-factor authentication — two-factor authentication is a login in which, besides your password, you prove it's you with something else — a code in an app, a physical

U

  • Unauthorised payment — an unauthorised payment is a transaction from your account or card that you did not consent to; the bank must refund it by the end of the ne
  • Unemployment benefit — Unemployment benefit is a regular payment from social security to a person who has lost their job, was insured against unemployment and has
  • Unit-linked insurance — Unit-linked insurance is life insurance in which your premiums are invested in funds, so its value rises or falls with them — the investment
  • Universal pension fund — A universal pension fund (UPF) is Bulgaria's compulsory second-pillar fund, in which every insured person born after 31 December 1959 has a

V

  • Variable interest rate — a variable (floating) interest rate is a rate that changes with a set interest index (reference rate), so the instalment on the loan can go
  • VAT (value added tax) — VAT is an indirect tax included in the price of most goods and services: the final buyer pays it, and a VAT-registered business collects it
  • VAT registration — VAT registration is entering a business or self-employed person with the tax authority as someone who charges VAT on sales and pays it over;
  • Vehicle tax — Vehicle tax is a recurring tax that owners of cars, motorcycles and other vehicles pay, in many countries to the municipality.
  • Verification of payee — verification of payee is a free service in which, before you confirm a transfer, the bank compares the name you entered with the account (IB

W

  • Waste collection fee — The waste collection fee is a local charge paid to the municipality for collecting, transporting and treating household waste and for keepin
  • Will — A will is a document in which a person decides what should happen to their property after their death, within the limits allowed by law.
  • Working capital — Working capital is the money a business needs to pay its running costs — stock, rent, wages — until its customers pay and the business start

Money and currencies

Banking and payments

Credit and debt

Income and taxes

Budgeting and saving

Investing

Pensions and insurance

Business and projects

Fraud and security

The psychology of money