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Financial Glossary

All financial terms explained simply: taxation, investing, savings, credit, insurance. A no-jargon glossary to navigate our articles.

A clear and concise glossary of the main personal finance terms. Find here the essential definitions to understand the blog articles.

A C D L P R T U W

A

Arbitrage
Transferring all or part of the invested sums from one underlying to another within the same life insurance contract or PEA.

C

Capitalization
Mechanism by which the interest generated by an investment is reinvested to generate additional interest in turn.

D

Defiscalization (tax relief)
All legal mechanisms allowing a reduction of income tax or real estate wealth tax.

L

Life insurance
Long-term savings product allowing capital to be built with favourable taxation after 8 years, optimised transmission and a wide choice of underlyings.
Livret A
French regulated savings passbook, tax-free, capped at 22,950 euros for an individual.

P

PEA (Equity Savings Plan)
Tax wrapper allowing investment in European equities with exemption from income tax on gains after 5 years.
PER (Retirement Savings Plan)
Long-term savings product deductible from income tax at entry, taxed at exit.
Private Equity
Investment in the capital of unlisted companies, usually with a holding horizon greater than 5 years.

R

Return (Yield)
Performance of an investment expressed as a percentage, calculated on an annual basis.

T

APR (TAEG)
Annual Percentage Rate. Includes all the costs of a loan (interest, insurance, fees). Main indicator for comparing credit offers.

U

Unit-linked funds
Investment supports in life insurance whose value fluctuates according to financial markets (equities, bonds, real estate).

W

Wealth tax (IFI)
French real estate wealth tax. Applies to net real estate assets above 1.3 million euros.