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Tax
A fee the government charges on income, property, and sales. The money goes to finance government programs and other costs.
Tax bracket
The rate at which you pay tax, based on your income level.
Tax break
A credit or deduction that lowers the tax you owe. Governments often offer tax breaks to help people save, go to school or pay costs such as child care.
Tax credit
The amount you can deduct from your income when you file your taxes. This lowers the tax that you owe.
Tax deduction
A cost that you can deduct from your income when you file your taxes. This lowers the tax that you owe. For example, if you contribute $5,000 to your RRSP, you can deduct $5,000 from your income when you file your taxes.
Tax rate
The rate at which you or a business pays tax on income. Often stated as a percentage, such as 25%.
Tax-free
Money that you do not pay tax on.
Tax-Free Savings Account
A Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) is a registered savings account that provides tax benefits. In most cases, investment income, including capital gains and dividends, earned in a TFSA is not taxed, even when withdrawn. There are annual contribution limits but you can carry forward any unused contribution room from previous years.
Taxable income
The amount of income you have to pay tax on, after tax credits and deductions.
Term
The period of time that a contract covers. Also, the period of time that an investment pays a set rate of interest.
Term annuity
An annuity that pays a guaranteed income for a set term. If you pass away before the end of the term, your payments will go to someone you name as your beneficiary or to your estate. Also called a fixed-term annuity.
Term life insurance policy
An insurance policy that covers you for a set period of time (the term). It pays a set payment if you die before the end of the term. At the end of the term, you can choose to renew the policy or let it end.
Term loan
A loan from a bank for a specific amount that you must pay back along a set schedule.
TFSA
See Tax-Free Savings Account.
Thinly traded
An investment, such as a stock, that does not trade often or in big amounts. It could reflect a lack of interest in a stock or a limited supply of the stock.
Ticker
A record of the current or recent trading activity on an exchange.
Ticker symbol
The symbol for an investment traded on a stock exchange. All stock traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange have a ticker symbol.
Time horizon
The length of time that you plan to hold an investment before you sell it. This may be a brief period of time or span as long as decades, depending on your financial goals.
Time value of money
Time value of money is the concept that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow. A dollar earning a return today is more desirable than a dollar tomorrow as it may lose purchasing power due to inflation.
Tip
The sharing of important information about a company not known to the public.
Title
The legal right to own or hold an item.
Top-down investing
An approach to investing that looks at the overall economy to find strengths and opportunities, identifying industries or sectors that will most likely perform well, and then choosing stocks with the greatest growth potential within those industries or sectors.
Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)
Canada's largest stock exchange, North America's third largest stock exchange, and the sixth largest in the world.
Trade
The process where one person or party buys an investment from another.
Trade confirmation
You receive a trade confirmation after you buy or sell an investment with the investment name, fees and commissions.
Trailer fees
Trailer fees are paid to salespeople monthly or quarterly for giving investment advice and other services to clients. The size of a trailer fee differs from one fund to the next and between fund companies.
Transaction
The process where one person or party buys goods or services from another for money. Examples include taking money out of an account, buying something with a credit card or taking out a loan.
Transaction fee
The fee that you may pay when you buy or sell a stock or other investment.
Treasury bill (T-bill)
An investment where you lend money to the federal or a provincial government for a set period of time. It does not pay interest, but rather you buy T-bills at a price below what the government will give you at the end of the term.
Trust
An account set up to hold assets for a beneficiary. A trustee manages the assets until the beneficiary reaches legal age.
Trust company
A company that offers the same services as a bank, but can also manage estates, trusts and pension plans, which banks cannot do.
Trust units
A way to represent the interests of each member of a trust. Assets often include property (real estate investment trusts), royalties from oil and gas production (royalty trusts) or business income (income trusts).
Trustee
A person or company that you appoint to manage the assets of a trust. You can name more than one trustee.