Financial & Actuarial Glossary (A-Z)

The process of gradually paying off a debt through scheduled periodic payments over time. Each payment is split between interest expense and principal reduction.

One hundredth of one percentage point (0.01% or 0.0001). Used frequently in finance to express percentage changes in interest rates and bond yields.

The predetermined out-of-pocket monetary amount that an insured policyholder must pay before insurance coverage initiates claim payouts.

A personal finance metric comparing total monthly debt service obligations against gross monthly income, utilized by lenders to assess creditworthiness.