Retirement.
Accounts, Social Security, pensions, and passing things on. The words behind your 401(k), your benefits, and the plans that protect your future and your family.
Featured in Retirement
Most read
401(k)
A retirement account offered through your job, usually with money taken out of each paycheck before tax.
Featured
403(b)
A 403(b) is a workplace retirement plan for public school, nonprofit, and church employees, similar to a 401(k).
Featured
529 plan
A state-sponsored education savings account with tax-free growth when used for qualified education expenses.
Featured
Backdoor Roth IRA
A backdoor Roth IRA is a legal workaround that lets high earners put money in a Roth IRA by contributing to a traditional IRA first, then converting it.
Featured
Catch-Up Contributions
Catch-up contributions are extra amounts people age 50 and older can add to a 401(k), IRA, or similar plan beyond the normal limit.
Featured
Claiming early vs delaying
Claiming early vs delaying is the choice of starting Social Security at 62 for a smaller permanent check or waiting up to 70 for a larger one.
Featured
Employer match
Money your employer adds to your 401(k) based on how much you contribute. Usually a percentage of your contribution up to a cap.
Featured
Fixed annuity
A fixed annuity is an insurance contract that pays a guaranteed interest rate and can later turn into steady, predictable income payments.
Most read in Retirement
Roth IRA ★
A retirement account where you pay taxes now, and never pay taxes on the growth.
401(k) ★
A retirement account offered through your job, usually with money taken out of each…
Traditional IRA ★
A retirement account where you may get a tax deduction now and pay taxes later, when you…
529 plan ★
A state-sponsored education savings account with tax-free growth when used for qualified…
Beneficiary
The person (or entity) named on an account or policy to receive the assets when the…
All retirement terms, A to Z
# 5 terms
401(k)★
A retirement account offered through your job, usually with money taken out of each paycheck before tax.
403(b)★
A 403(b) is a workplace retirement plan for public school, nonprofit, and church employees, similar to a 401(k).
457(b)
A 457(b) is a workplace retirement plan for state and local government and some nonprofit employees, with an unusually flexible early-withdrawal rule.
529 plan★
A state-sponsored education savings account with tax-free growth when used for qualified education expenses.
72(t) SEPP
A 72(t) SEPP lets you take penalty-free early withdrawals from an IRA before age 59 and a half by committing to equal payments for years.
A 4 terms
After-tax
Income you have already paid income tax on, like the dollars that go into a Roth account, so qualified withdrawals later come out tax-free.
After-tax 401(k)
After-tax 401(k) contributions are extra dollars you add to a 401(k) beyond the normal limit, already taxed, that power the mega backdoor Roth strategy.
Annuity
An insurance contract that pays a stream of income, often for life. Some are simple; many are complex with high fees.
Annuity surrender period
An annuity surrender period is the early stretch of years when pulling out more than a small amount triggers a surrender charge penalty.
B 2 terms
Backdoor Roth IRA★
A backdoor Roth IRA is a legal workaround that lets high earners put money in a Roth IRA by contributing to a traditional IRA first, then converting it.
Beneficiary
The person (or entity) named on an account or policy to receive the assets when the account holder dies.
C 4 terms
Catch-Up Contributions★
Catch-up contributions are extra amounts people age 50 and older can add to a 401(k), IRA, or similar plan beyond the normal limit.
Claiming early vs delaying★
Claiming early vs delaying is the choice of starting Social Security at 62 for a smaller permanent check or waiting up to 70 for a larger one.
Contribution limit
The maximum the IRS lets you put into a tax-advantaged account each year. Each account type has its own, and most adjust annually for inflation.
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)
A cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is an annual increase to a benefit or wage meant to keep its buying power steady as prices rise.
D 3 terms
Defined benefit vs defined contribution
A defined benefit plan (pension) promises a set retirement payout; a defined contribution plan (like a 401k) only sets what goes in, not what comes out.
Dependent Care FSA
A pre-tax account for paying childcare or dependent-care costs, like daycare, preschool, or after-school care, while you work.
Dying Intestate
Dying intestate means dying without a valid will, so state law decides who inherits your property instead of you.
E 2 terms
Employer match★
Money your employer adds to your 401(k) based on how much you contribute. Usually a percentage of your contribution up to a cap.
Executor
An executor is the person named in a will to settle someone's estate after they die: paying debts, filing taxes, and distributing what's left.
F 3 terms
Fixed annuity★
A fixed annuity is an insurance contract that pays a guaranteed interest rate and can later turn into steady, predictable income payments.
FSA (Flexible Spending Account)
A pre-tax account for medical or dependent-care expenses, but most of it usually has to be spent each year.
Full retirement age
Full retirement age is the age when you can collect your full, unreduced Social Security benefit, which is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.
G 2 terms
Growth period (Trump Account)
The years from when a Trump Account opens to December 31 of the year the child turns 17, when money stays invested and cannot be withdrawn.
Guardianship designation
A guardianship designation is the part of a will where you name who would raise your minor children if you and the other parent could not.
H 3 terms
HDHP (High-Deductible Health Plan)★
A health insurance plan with higher deductibles and lower premiums. The IRS sets specific minimums for HSA eligibility.
Healthcare directive
A healthcare directive is a legal document that says what medical care you want, and who can decide for you, if you cannot speak for yourself.
HSA (Health Savings Account)
A triple-tax-advantaged account for medical expenses, but you have to be on a high-deductible health plan.
I 4 terms
Income limit
An income limit is an earnings ceiling that phases out or blocks a tax break or account, like the income cap on contributing directly to a Roth IRA.
Indexed annuity★
An indexed annuity ties your returns to a market index like the S&P 500, with a cap on gains and a floor that limits losses.
IRA (Individual Retirement Account)
An IRA is a tax-advantaged retirement account you open on your own, separate from any workplace plan, in either a traditional or Roth version.
Irrevocable Trust
An irrevocable trust is a trust you generally cannot change or undo once created, used to protect assets and reduce certain taxes.
P 6 terms
Pension
A pension is a retirement plan where your employer promises you a set monthly income for life, usually based on your salary and years of service.
Pension lump sum vs annuity★
Pension lump sum vs annuity is the choice between taking your pension as one big cash payout or as guaranteed monthly checks for life.
Per Stirpes
Per stirpes is a way to name beneficiaries so that if one of your heirs dies before you, their share passes down to their children instead.
Power of attorney
A power of attorney is a legal document that lets someone you name make decisions for you, usually about money, while you are still alive.
Pro-Rata Rule
The pro-rata rule means when you convert IRA money to Roth, the IRS treats it as a proportional blend of all your pre-tax and after-tax IRA dollars.
Probate
Probate is the court process that validates a will, pays a deceased person's debts, and transfers their remaining property to heirs.
Q 2 terms
QLAC
A QLAC is a deferred annuity bought inside a retirement account that pays guaranteed income starting later in life, up to age 85.
Qualified vs Nonqualified Withdrawal
A qualified withdrawal from a Roth comes out fully tax and penalty-free; a nonqualified one can owe tax, a penalty, or both.
R 7 terms
Revocable Living Trust
A revocable living trust is an estate-planning document you create while alive, can change anytime, and use to pass assets without probate.
RMD (Required Minimum Distribution)
The amount the IRS forces you to withdraw from most retirement accounts each year, starting at age 73.
Rollover
Moving money from one retirement account to another without triggering taxes or penalties.
Roth Conversion★
A Roth conversion moves money from a pre-tax retirement account into a Roth account, and you pay income tax on the amount you move now.
Roth Five-Year Rules
The Roth five-year rules set waiting periods you must clear before earnings or converted money can come out tax and penalty-free.
Roth IRA★
A retirement account where you pay taxes now, and never pay taxes on the growth.
Rule of 55
The rule of 55 lets you take penalty-free 401(k) withdrawals from your current employer's plan if you leave that job in or after the year you turn 55.
S 8 terms
Safe Withdrawal Rate★
The safe withdrawal rate is the share of your savings you can take out the first year of retirement, then adjust for inflation, without likely running out.
Sequence of returns risk★
The risk of bad market returns in the first years of retirement. Same average return, very different outcome based on order.
Social Security
Social Security is the federal program that pays monthly benefits to retirees, people with disabilities, and survivors, funded by payroll taxes.
Social Security COLA
The Social Security COLA is the annual cost-of-living adjustment that raises benefits to keep up with inflation, announced each fall.
Social Security retirement benefits
Social Security retirement benefits are monthly federal payments, based on your work history, that replace part of your income once you retire.
Spousal benefits
Spousal benefits let a husband or wife collect Social Security based on their partner's work record, worth up to half the partner's full benefit.
Spousal IRA★
An IRA opened in the name of a non-working (or low-earning) spouse, funded with the working spouse's earned income.
Survivor benefits
Survivor benefits are Social Security payments to a widow, widower, or dependent after a worker dies, based on the worker's earnings record.
T 7 terms
Target-date fund
A single mutual fund that automatically adjusts its mix of stocks and bonds as you approach a chosen retirement year.
Tax-advantaged account
Any account where the tax code gives your money a break: on the way in, while it grows, on the way out, or some combination.
Thrift Savings Plan★
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is the federal government's low-cost 401(k)-style retirement plan for federal employees and military members.
TOD/POD designations
TOD and POD designations let you name who gets a bank or investment account when you die, so it passes to them directly without going through probate.
Traditional IRA★
A retirement account where you may get a tax deduction now and pay taxes later, when you withdraw.
Trump Account
A new kind of traditional IRA for a child, seeded with a one-time $1,000 federal deposit for eligible kids and generally locked until age 18.
Trust
A legal arrangement where one party holds and manages assets for the benefit of another, often used to control how and when heirs receive an inheritance.