Money Terms A-Z

Unsure what ASIC or CGT stand for? Feeling L O S T? Whether you're a casual employee or financial investor across Australia our Money Terms A-Z will help you break down some financial terms and help you understand what they mean.

This useful infographic lays out some financial information you need to know and helps improve your financial literacy. Plus, we've made it easy for you to download as a resource to use later on.

Unpacking our Money Terms A-Z

Australian Securities and Investments Commission: The regulating body for the Australian financial system and entities in it.

Bank State Branch: The BSB is a six-digit number that identifies a bank code and its associated branch in Australia.

CGT: Capital Gains Tax. The tax you must pay on any profit from selling assets. You’ll need to look into this when you’re thinking about selling your first home or starting your investment journey.

Cryptocurrency: A digital currency that operates in a decentralised system.

Diversification: An investment theory that by spreading your money across different asset classes limits your risk.

EFTPOS: Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale. Coined in Australia, EFTPOS allows for credit/debit card payments at the point of sale.

First Home Owners Grant: A one-off payment to help first home owners manage the costs of buying a home.Introduced on 1 July 2000 to offset the effect of the GST on home ownership. Find out more here

Guarantor: A person who guarantees a loan for you. Responsible for paying back the entire loan if the borrower can’t. Find out more here

Hardship variation: Change to the terms of the loan, based on financial hardship. Find out more here

Interest-free deal: A deal/offer that allows you to purchase goods or services now and pay for them later with no interest for a set period.

Joint account: An account that is governed by more than one owner. 

Knots: Financial slang for a wad of cash. 

Liability: Something a person or company owes, usually a sum of money, includes; loans, mortgages, debt, etc.

Mortgage: A type of loan where real estate is used as collateral to purchase a home/property. 

Net worth: The total wealth (all financial assets and non-financial) of an individual, company, or household, minus the liabilities they owe. 

Overdrawn account: When you have exceeded the limit on a credit card or bank account, i.e. when your balance goes below zero

Phishing: Communication attempts to trick you into providing personal details, i.e. passwords or banking details.

Quid: One pound in British Currency. 

Rental Bond: A form of security for the landlord in case of any tenant damages or lease breaches. It is the money deposited by a tenant to the landlord when renting a property. 

Savings account: An interest-bearing deposit account held with financial institutions or banks. 

TFN: Tax File Number: All Australian taxpayers are assigned an individual TFN. You must supply it to employers, banks, benefit and allowance providers and if necessary, other financial institutions. 

Unsecured loan: A loan that isn’t secured against your property or protected by a guarantor. They include personal loans and revolving credit loans. 

Variable interest rate: Opposite of fixed interest rate. The rate may increase or decrease during the term of the investment. 

Warranty: A type of guarantee that an institution makes regarding their product condition. Contains terms and conditions.

Xenocurrency: Foreign currency. Any money that is traded in markets outside of its domestic borders. 

Yard: Financial slang for one billion dollars. 

Zero-based budgeting: A budget method that allocates your money based on expenses and savings such that your income minus expenditure equals zero at month end.

We hope that you have learnt some new money terms that come along with finance. If you’re still keen to learn more, check out our budgeting blogs - 10 Easy ways to save money every day or 4 Steps you need in your life for building a budget. Otherwise, download the Beforepay app to get access to our FREE budgeting planning and spending tools.

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