Money Terms You’ve Pretended To Know

We’ve all been there. You’re at a party talking about the federal shutdown and Miley Cyrus' Chun-Li buns, and someone somehow nonchalantly throws around one of those financial terms that you know you should know, but never bothered to look up the first time...or the second, or third, or fourth. Now, you've dug yourself into this hole where when someone asks whether or not you'd consider taking out a 3/1 ARM loan or what type of 401(k) plan your company offers, you mumble something about "fixed-rate, million-dollar bucket, high-risk adjustment lender" and change the subject to something where you actually understand the words you're using. So awkward. This ends now — capiche?

The first step to really taking control of your own finances is understanding how to talk about them. Sure, this vocabulary lesson isn't particularly fun, but it is super important in your quest to money mastery. Take some time — 10 minutes worth! — to read through some of the most essential and most common personal finance terms you should stop pretending to understand.