Short-term U.S. government debt (4-week to 1-year maturities). State-tax-free and one of the safest places to park cash — often beat high-yield savings rates.
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Related terms
Investment return after subtracting inflation. A 10% nominal return with 3% inflation is a 7% real return — what actually grows your purchasing power.
A fund that trades on an exchange like a stock. ETFs often track an index, have low expense ratios, and can be bought and sold throughout the trading day.
How your portfolio is split across asset classes (stocks, bonds, cash, real estate). The single biggest driver of long-term returns and volatility — pick one you can actually stomach in a crash.
The annual fee a fund charges, expressed as a percentage. A 0.03% ratio means $3/year on $10,000. Tiny differences compound massively over 20+ years — always minimize this.
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