What is a Rollover IRA (and What Are the Benefits)?

A rollover IRA refers to an individual retirement account that is set up to accept a transfer of money from an existing retirement account, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan. Sometimes, employer plans don't allow you to leave the money in the account after you've left the company, so a rollover gives you an option if you don't want to take an outright distribution.

Benefits of Rollover IRAs

What Is a Roth IRA?

A Roth individual retirement account is a special type of IRA that offers after-tax savings, rather than pretax savings like a traditional IRA. Because you forgo the tax break for contributions that you would receive from a contribution to a traditional IRA, Roth IRAs are especially attractive to people who are paying a lower income tax rate today than they anticipate paying when they take the money out at retirement, according to CNN Money.

What Is a Short Refinance

A short refinance is when your mortgage lender agrees to accept less money than you currently owe on your mortgage. This type of refinance can be done through your current lender or a completely different lender; the refinance pays off your current lender.

What Is A Short-Sale Home?

A short sale of a home is when a home sells for less than the amount needed to pay off the mortgage. In a short sale, the lender agrees to accept the lower sales price as payment in full for the remaining mortgage balance. For example, if someone owes $150,000 on mortgage and is falling behind on payments, the bank might agree to take $135,000 as payment for the mortgage.

What Is a Stipend?

A stipend is a payment made to a trainee or learner for living expenses, unlike a salary or wages which are paid to an employee. Though the terms "stipend" and "salary" are often used interchangeably, the U.S. Department of Labor has specific criteria that must be met to pay a stipend.

What Is a Stop Payment?

A stop payment is an instruction you give to a bank or financial institution to cancel the payment of an "item," which may be in the form of a check, electronic payment or some other type of bank draft. You must be the holder, either individually or jointly, of the account from which the item was drawn. A stop payment order is only effective if you issue it before the bank processes the item. Banks frequently charge a fee for a stop payment order.

What Is a Surcharge?

In common usage, a surcharge refers to an additional payment or tax heaped upon an existing charge. Surcharges can arise due to a variety of reasons, such as a locality's need to collect money for extra services. Surcharges can be assessed by governments, corporations and organizations.

What Is Alimony?

Alimony is the court’s way of making sure one spouse doesn’t get to live high on the hog while the other claws to make ends meet after a divorce. A spouse who earns significantly more than the other is ordered to pay a percentage of his income to the one who earns less. Unlike in years past, the paying spouse isn’t always the man.

An Emergency Fund: Why Everyone Needs One

An emergency fund is an amount of money you set aside to prepare for an unexpected event such as a medical emergency, major home repair, or job loss.