GlossaryGuide

To determine whether you should get a dividend, you need to look at two important dates. They are the “record date” or “date of record” and the “ex-dividend date” or “ex-date.” When a company declares a dividend, it sets a record date when you must be on the company’s books as a shareholder to receive… Continue reading EX-DIVIDEND DATES

Fees that direct-sold college savings plans may charge to join in the program

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. ERISA does not require employers to offer a pension plan. But it does require employers who do offer them to meet certain minimum standards.

A type of 529 plan that lets an account owner open an investment account to save for the account beneficiary’s qualified higher education expenses or tuition for elementary or secondary public, private, or religious schools.

EDGAR The SEC’s EDGAR database provides free public access to corporate information, allowing you to quickly research a company’s financial information and operations by reviewing registration statements, prospectuses and periodic reports filed on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. You also can find information about recent corporate events reported on Form 8-K. Learn more.

A public company’s net profit divided by the number of its common shares.

If a CD is redeemed before it matures, you may have to pay a penalty or forgo a portion of the interest.

Should problems arise with a company or its securities on deposit at The Depository Trust Company (DTC), DTC may impose a “chill” or a “freeze” on all the company’s securities. A “chill” is a restriction placed by DTC on one or more of DTC’s services, such as limiting a DTC participant’s ability to make a… Continue reading DTC CHILLS AND FREEZES

A portion of a company’s profit paid to shareholders. Public companies that pay dividends usually do so on a fixed schedule although they can issue them at any time. Unscheduled dividend payments are known as special dividends or extra dividends.

Diversification is a strategy that can be neatly summed up as “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” The strategy involves spreading your money among various investments in the hope that if one loses money, the others will make up for those losses.