A measure of what it costs an investment company to operate a mutual fund. An expense ratio is determined through an annual calculation, where a fund's operating expenses are divided by the average dollar value of its assets under management. Operating expenses are taken out of a fund's assets and lower the return to a fund's investors. Also known as "management expense ratio" (MER). |||Depending on the type of fund, operating expenses vary widely. The largest component of operating expenses is the fee paid to a fund's investment manager/advisor. Other costs include recordkeeping, custodial services, taxes, legal expenses, and accounting and auditing fees. Some funds have a marketing cost referred to as a 12b-1 fee, which would also be included in operating expenses. A fund's trading activity, the buying and selling of portfolio securities, is not included in the calculation of the expense ratio. Costs associated with mutual funds but not included in operating expenses are loads and redemption fees, which, if they apply, are paid directly by fund investors.
The Expedited Funds Availability Act (EFAA) was implemented to regulate the hold periods on deposits made to commercial banks. Enacted by U.S. Congress in 1987, the EFAA also standardized financial institutions' use of the deposit holds. The EFAA specifies the types of holds that banks can utilize on a check deposit, depending on the type of account and the amount of the deposit. |||The Expedited Funds Availability Act intends to standardize the handling of deposit holds. Banks and other financial institutions must inform customers of their policies regarding deposit holds, as well as any changes to the policies.
The Farm Credit System is a nationwide network of cooperative banks and associations that provide credit to farmers, agricultural concerns and related businesses. It was created by Congress in 1916 and was originally funded by the federal government to ensure American agriculture had a dependable source of credit. It is now self-funding and owned by its member-borrowers. |||The FCS makes loans for a variety of purposes, including agricultural processing and marketing activities, rural housing initiatives, farm-related businesses, rural utilities and foreign and domestic companies involved in agricultural trade.The FCS provides access to critically needed credit in rural areas where national and regional banks typically do not have a presence.
A type of partnership designed to centralize family business or investment accounts. FLPs pool together a family's assets into one single family-owned business partnership that family members own shares of. FLPs are frequently used as an estate tax minimization strategy, as shares in the FLP can be transferred between generations, at lower taxation rates than would be applied to the partnership's holdings. |||An FLP is different from a conventional trust, as family members actually own a share in a business. Shares can be gifted to family members over years, thus taking advantage of gift tax exemptions on an annual basis. The assets held in an FLP impact the level of estate tax savings that can be realized by using an FLP. In general, the more illiquid and complex the asset mix, the more difficult the FLP is to evaluate, and the larger the potential for estate tax savings.
A United States law which sets out various labor regulations regarding interstate commerce employment, including minimum wages, requirements for overtime pay and limitations on child labor. In general, the FLSA is intended to protect workers against certain unfair pay practices or work regulations. The Fair Labor Standards Act is one of the most important laws for employers to understand since it sets out a wide array of regulations for dealing with employees. |||The law goes on to specify at which times workers are “on the clock” and which times are not paid hours. There are also elaborate rules concerning whether employees are exempt or non-exempt from Fair Labor Standards Act overtime regulations. The FLSA requires overtime to be paid at 1.5 times the regular hourly rate for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours during a seven-day work week.
The governing body of the Federal Reserve System. The seven members of the board of governors are appointed by the president, subject to confirmation by the Senate. |||The board sets Fed policy regarding the discount rate and reserve requirements (among other key economic decisions). Typically, the chairman of the board of governors is also the chairman of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC).
The branch of the Federal Reserve Board that determines the direction of monetary policy. The FOMC is composed of the board of governors, which has seven members, and five reserve bank presidents. The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York serves continuously, while the presidents of the other reserve banks rotate their service of one-year terms. |||The FOMC meets eight times per year to set key interest rates, such as the discount rate, and to decide whether to increase or decrease the money supply, which the Fed does by buying and selling government securities. For example, to tighten the money supply, or decrease the amount of money available in the banking system, the Fed sells government securities. The meetings of the committee, which are secret, are the subject of much speculation on Wall Street, as analysts try to guess whether the Fed will tighten or loosen the money supply, thereby causing interest rates to rise or fall.
A U.S. law requiring a deduction from paychecks and income that goes toward the Social Security program and Medicare. Both employees and employers are responsible for sharing the FICA payments. |||FICA stipulates that there is a maximum that can be allocated to Social Security, while there is no maximum on what can go toward Medicare. once the maximum to Social Security is achieved, the contributor's FICA payment will not increase the Social Security portion but will continue to increase the contribution to Medicare. The amount of the FICA payment depends on the income of the contributor; the higher the income, the higher the FICA payment. If FICA states, for example, that 12.4% of your salary goes toward Social Security and 2.9% goes toward Medicare, half of the payment is made by you and the other half by your employer. This means you pay 7.65% (6.2% and 1.45%) of your income, while your employer pays the other 7.65%. Self-employed people, on the other hand, must pay the full amount, but half - which would represent the employer's half - is a deductible business expense.