A type of fund, commonly found in Australia, that is formulated for conservative investors seeking preservation of capital and reasonable investment returns. The portfolio managers of cash plus funds invest in a mixture of high-yield, fixed-income securities and money market securities. The success of these funds is commonly compared to the UBS Australian Bank Bill Index and the fees are generally very low.
The method of funding any type of qualified profit-sharing or stock bonus plan. Cash or deferred arrangements allow employees to contribute a portion of their salaries to the plan so that their savings can grow tax-deferred. The most common type of CODA is a cash bonus which is paid into their 401(k) plan, but it could also be a salary reduction. Employees who participate in cash or deferred arrangements may still contribute to traditional or Roth IRAs as well. However, they may not receive the full deduction from a traditional IRA contribution if their incomes are above a certain level. CODA plans allow the individual to fund their retirement and avoid immediate taxation on the diverted contributions.
A pension plan under which an employer credits a participant's account with a set percentage of his or her yearly compensation plus interest charges. A cash balance pension plan is a defined-benefit plan. As such, the plan's funding limits, funding requirements and investment risk are based on defined-benefit requirements: as changes in the portfolio do not affect the final benefits to be received by the participant upon retirement or termination, the company solely bears all ownership of profits and losses in the portfolio. Although the cash balance pension plan is a defined-benefit plan, unlike the regular defined-benefit plan, the cash balance plan is maintained on an individual account basis, much like a defined-contribution plan. The cash balance plan acts similar to a defined-contribution plan also because changes in the value of the participant's portfolio does not affect the yearly contribution.
A mathematical term relating to the likeliness of two independent events occurring. The compound probability is equal to the probability of the first event multiplied by the probability of the second event. Compound probabilities are used by insurance underwriters to assess risks and assign premiums to various insurance products. The most basic example of compound probability is flipping a coin twice. If the probability of getting heads is 50% (.50), then the chances of getting heads twice in a row would be (.50 X .50), or .25 (25%). As it relates to insurance, underwriters may wish to know, for example, if both members of a married couple will reach the age of 75, given their independent probabilities. Or, the underwriter may want to know the odds that two major hurricanes hit a given geographical region within a certain time frame. The results of their math will determine how much to charge for insuring people or property.
A type of trust that allows a married investor to avoid estate taxes when passing assets on to heirs. The trust is structured so that upon the death of the investor, the assets specified in the trust agreement (up to a specified maximum dollar value) are transferred to the beneficiaries named in the trust (normally the couple's children). However, a key benefit to this type of trust is that the spouse maintains rights to the trust assets and the income they generate during the remainder of his or her lifetime.This type of trust is also referred to as an "AB Trust". In certain circumstances, such as the need to fund healthcare expenses, the surviving spouse may even tap into the principal of the trust assets, not just their generated income. When the surviving spouse eventually dies, the assets are transferred wholly to the beneficiaries (children) without any estate taxes levied. This can amount to significant tax savings and can be very valuable, especially considering that the surviving spouse essentially maintains full use of the assets while they are in the trust anyway.
A tax-deferred trust account created by the U.S. government to assist families in funding educational expenses for beneficiaries 18 years old or younger. While more than one ESA can be set up for a single beneficiary, the total maximum contribution per year for any single beneficiary is $2,000. Formerly called an education IRA, the ESA allows families to increase investment earnings through tax-deferral as long as the funds are used for educational purposes. For example, if you contributed $500 to an ESA and it appreciated to $5,000 in 10 years, the earnings would not be taxed until the account's owner was enrolled in a post-secondary institution. When the contributions are distributed, they are tax-free assuming that they are less than the account holder's annual adjusted qualified education expenses. In the event that the distributions are higher than the expenses, the gains are taxed at the account holders' rate, rather than the contributor's rate, which is typically higher.
A formal arrangement between a company and its employees - or the employees' union - that provides funding for the employees' retirement. This pool of funds can be financed in several ways and will eventually be used to make periodic payments to retired employees. In most cases, both employer and employees make regular contributions to the plan. In the past, employers were wholly responsible for contributing to the plan based on an employee's work, length of employment and position held. Two of the most common corporate pension plans are the defined-benefit and defined-contribution plans. With defined-benefit plans, employee retirement benefits are calculated according to a formula, usually based on duration of employment and salary history, and it is the employer's responsibility to come up with the necessary cash to fund the plan. Defined-contribution plans, on the other hand, offer no guarantee on the amount of benefit that an employee will receive at retirement; the payout from this plan rests solely on the success of the investment plan. Many corporate pension plans promise to fund the living requirements of retired employees until they die. Not surprisingly, financing them can put a strain on corporations. As a result, many companies are changing their pension plans from defined benefit to defined contribution.
A written instrument, such as a deed or lease, that transfers some ownership interest in real property from one person to another. You are typically charged a conveyance tax on the transfer.