Total assets = Total liabilities + Equity. The balance sheet is one of the key elements in the financial statements, of which the other documents are the income statement and the statement of cash flows. A statement of retained earnings may sometimes be attached.
A variable interest rate is just what it sounds like: an interest rate that varies over time. Itâs the opposite of a fixed interest rate, which remains the same over time. Variable interest rates are generally used by financial institutions to move the rates on their products up and down as the market conditions change.
Because of inflationâs impact, the interest rate on a fixed income security can be expressed in two ways. 1  The nominal, or stated, interest rate is the rate of interest on a bond without any adjustment for inflation. 2  The real interest rate on an asset is the nominal rate minus the rate of inflation.