Glossary

Asset: Item or amount of money belonging to a natural person.
Shares: Part ownership of the capital of a business or company.
Amortization: Period of time required to completely repay your mortgge (e.g., 20, 25 or 30 years). This period may vary if a variable interest rate is selected.
Budget: Complete list of all the estimated spending and income of a business or an individual.
Credit bureau: Information centre on consumer credit use.
Capital: Amount of money that you have available to spend or invest.
Capital guaranteed: Option in the investment agreement you make with your caisse. If you choose a capital guaranteed investment, the caisse guarantees that the initial amount you invest will be protected from market risk.
Capital invested: Amount of money invested in an investment vehicle or in an asset.
Retirement savings: Amount of money saved to cover the cost of your living expenses when you retire.
Credit card: Plastic card issued by a credit company (e.g., VISA) that you can use to make purchases on credit and pay for them at a later date.
Debit card: Plastic card that you can use to carry out transactions online or at an ATM or to pay for purchases in a store.
Certified cheque: Cheque containing certification that the funds have already been withdrawn from the account of the person who issued the cheque and that these funds will be blocked until the recipient deposits the cheque. Guaranteed in the event of theft, loss or destruction.
Credit rating: Record of your financial reputation, in particular your ability to repay loans, published by a credit bureau. Financial institutions use your credit rating to assess the risk of lending you money.
Contribute: To make a payment into a retirement plan.
Credit: Money loaned to an individual to carry out a project, make a purchase or cover unexpected expenses.
Credit card balance: Amount you must pay to reimburse the purchases you charged to your credit card.
Credit limit: Maximum amount you can charge to your credit card.
Interest rate differential (IRD): Used to calculate a prepayment penalty on a closed fixed-rate mortgage. It's the difference between your mortgage rate and the posted rate*, that is, the rate recommended by the Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec to affiliated caisses for fixed-rate closed mortgages where the term most resembles the remaining term of your mortgage. This rate difference is used to calculate the penalty by applying it to the prepayment amount, until the end of the term.
* Go to the Mortgage loan page for the posted rate or contact your caisse. If you receive written confirmation of a lower interest rate, the posted rate is reduced by a percentage equal to the rate reduction.
Diversification: Investment strategy that decreases the risks of investing by dividing the funds into a variety of investment vehicles.
Dividends: Part of the earnings of a company that is paid to its shareholders, who receive an amount in proportion with the number of shares they hold.

Equity fund: Mutual fund that invests mainly in stocks.
Diversified fund: Mutual fund that invests in a variety of asset classes (stocks, bonds, monetary instruments).
Balanced fund: Mutual fund that invests in stocks, fixed-income securities and money market instruments to reduce risk and make a moderate long-term profit.
Index fund: Mutual fund that invests in the same securities (stocks or bonds) as a given reference index with the goal of mirroring the performance of the index.
Bond fund: Mutual fund that invests mainly in bonds to generate a higher potential income.
Investment fund: Fund in which investors with similar goals pool their money together. This money is invested by professionals who manage the fund.
Sector fund: Mutual fund that invests mainly in a single sector of the economy.
Specialized fund: Mutual fund that invests mainly in socially responsible, sector or parallel investments.
Cheque issuing charges: Fees charged by your financial institution when you write a cheque.
Interest: Fee you are charged for borrowing money from a financial institution (expressed as a percentage of the amount borrowed).
Service charges: Fees you pay for using the services of your financial institution.
Synonym : user fees, transaction fees.
Capital gains: Profit from the sale of capital assets (i.e., long-term assets such as stocks, bonds, land or businesses).
grams of CO2 equivalent: Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e): Unit that provides an equivalency, in terms of global warming potential, between the various greenhouse gasses and carbon dioxide (CO2), making it possible to assess the overall greenhouse gas effect caused by different kinds of emissions.

Taxes: A fee charged by the government on your income or on products you buy. Taxes finance government expenditures like public goods and services.
Benefit: Amount paid to a person under the coverage of an insurance policy to compensate for what he or she has lost.
Mortgage penalty: A sum of money required from borrowers when they fully or partially prepay their mortgage before the term, serving to compensate mortgage lenders for losses incurred when mortgages are prepaid.
Liquid assets: Money immediately accessible or assets that can be quickly and easily converted to cash.
Money order: Guaranteed payment method that ensures the recipient a precise amount on a determined date. Ideal for amounts of less than $1,000.
Stock market: System in which investments such as company stocks and securities are traded through capital markets (e.g., New York Stock Exchange).
Line of credit: Amount of money determined by a financial institution that you can use in exchange for paying interest fees.
NSF: Not sufficient funds. This charge occurs when you write a cheque for an amount that is more than the amount in your account.
Bond: A certificate of debt given by a public organization or company to those who lend it money and that guarantees the bondholders an annual interest.
Direct payment: Electronic payment made with a debit card at a terminal that immediately removes the purchase amount from your account.
Investment fund share: Share in a group investment in which investors pool their money together to generate profit.
Market-linked guaranteed investment: Type of investment that poses no risk to your capital and has a higher return potential.
Investment: Amount of money invested to generate profit.
Loan: Amount of money lent for a predetermined period of time.
Closed mortgage: A mortgage that can be paid off in advance provided a prepayment penalty is paid, except in the case of some partial payments. These can be fixed rate mortgages, Yearly Rate Resetter Mortgage Loans, Reduced Variable-Rate Mortgages and Protected Variable-Rate Mortgages.
Open mortgage: A mortgage that can be paid back at any time, in whole or in part, without penalty. This is the case for open fixed-rate mortgages and regular variable rate mortgages.
Fixed rate mortgage: Open or closed mortgage where the rate remains fixed until the end of the term (Terms may vary from 6 months to 10 years. The most common term is 5 years.) You know what the credit charges and due date of your mortgage are right away.
Yearly Rate Resetter Mortgage Loan: A one-year fixed-rate mortgage revised annually for a 5-year term, including a predetermined discount for each year.
Variable rate mortgage: Open or closed mortgage where the rate fluctuates with the Caisse centrale Desjardins prime rate during your mortgage term. Your payments remain the same, even if the rates fluctuate; only the amortization period varies based on rate fluctuations. Variable rate mortgages let you benefit from dropping interest rate and repay your mortgage faster.
Insurance premium: Amount that an insurance policy holder must pay to the insurer in exchange for financial protection in case of loss of life, health or property.
Investor profile: Personality or type of investor (e.g., prudent, ambitious) determined by an individual's circumstances and risk tolerance.
Coverage: Protection offered by an insurance policy in exchange for the payment of premiums.
Interest rate reduction: Discounted interest rate sometimes set when a mortgage is taken out or renewed.
RRSP: (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) Savings method that allows you to put savings in tax-sheltered investments during your active life to supplement your income when you retire. Your RRSP savings will not be taxed until you withdraw them.
Group insurance plan: Insurance plan that covers several people from the same business or organization.
Cash back: Amount sometimes awarded borrowers when repaying or renewing a mortgage. In some cases, borrowers may have to pay back a portion of the cash back amount (e.g.: when prepaying a loan and subject to a penalty.) Your contract states how the amount is calculated in these cases.
Cheque image return: Option that lets members receive the original cheques debited from their account or view the front and back of each of these cheques online.
Return: Amount of interest or dividends received from an investment in a given period of time.
Compound return: Annual rate of return earned on an investment in which dividends, interest and capital gains are reinvested at the same annual rate of return.
Direct withdrawal: Function you can set up to automatically pay your regular bills.
Risk tolerance: Ability to handle a decrease in the value of your investments for a certain period.
Credit card balance: Amount you must pay to reimburse the purchases you charged to your credit card.
Fixed rate: The fixed rate remains stable until the end of the term. You to know what the credit charges and due date of your loan are right away. It can apply to both open and closed mortgages.
Interest rate: Amount charged or paid for the use of money, expressed as a percentage. Investors receive interest for letting others use their money and borrowers pay interest to borrow money.
Variable rate: The variable rate fluctuates with the Caisse centrale Desjardins prime rate during your mortgage term. This allows you to benefit from possible rate decreases and, consequently, pay back your mortgage sooner. Your payments remain the same, even if the rates fluctuate; only the amortization period (number of years necessary to pay back your loan) varies based on rate fluctuations.
Tax-sheltered: You will not have to pay income taxes on money you invest in a tax-sheltered investment (e.g., RRSP) until you withdraw the funds.
Term: Period between the date the mortgage deed or renewal agreement is signed, and the date the balance of the mortgage is due (e.g., 5 years). At the end of the term, you may pay your mortgage in full or renew it under new conditions, depending on your needs and situation. Note that the term of a mortgage is not the same as the amortization period.
Security: Document that certifies the value of a stock or a bond to its holder.
Growth stock: Type of investment that is expected to gain value quickly, but for which there is no guaranteed rate of return.
Fixed-interest security: Type of investment for which the rate of return is known in advance.
Draft: Payment method that ensures the recipient a precise amount on a determined date. Guaranteed in the event of theft, loss or destruction. Ideal for amounts in foreign currencies. Also referred to as "letter of exchange"
Net asset value: Current dollar value per share of your investment.
Investment vehicle: Any financial product (RRSP, term savings, investment fund, etc.) that allows you to invest an amount of money and make it grow.
Regular instalment: Amount withdrawn regularly from an account and automatically placed in a savings account or an investment or used to pay off a loan.