EMI
Market basicsEquated monthly instalment — a level monthly payment covering both interest and principal, calculated so the loan is fully repaid over its tenure.
In plain terms
A constant EMI hides a changing split: early instalments are mostly interest, later ones mostly principal. A low EMI over a long tenure can cost far more in total than a high one.
Read the full lesson →LRS
Regulation & taxAlso called: Liberalised Remittance Scheme
Liberalised Remittance Scheme — the RBI facility under which a resident individual may remit up to an annual limit abroad, including to buy foreign shares.
In plain terms
The direct route out of India. It brings tax collected at source on the remittance and a separate foreign-asset schedule in your return, with meaningful penalties for leaving that blank.
Read the full lesson →Option premium
DerivativesAlso called: Premium
The price paid for an option, which rises with expected volatility.
In plain terms
What a VIX spike actually tells you: protection has become expensive. That is a statement about what to trade, not which way.
Read the full lesson →Risk premium
Market basicsAlso called: Equity risk premium
The extra return an investor expects for holding a risky asset rather than a risk-free one.
In plain terms
Compensation for enduring drawdowns, not a payment that arrives on schedule. It shows up over decades and can be absent for years at a stretch.
Read the full lesson →RoDTEP
Fundamental analysisAlso called: Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products
Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products — a scheme refunding embedded duties and taxes on export value as transferable electronic scrips, notified rate by rate against the customs tariff.
In plain terms
It replaced the earlier MEIS after India’s export incentives were found inconsistent with WTO rules, and it is framed as a remission rather than a subsidy for that reason. It generally sits above EBITDA, so it lifts the operating margin rather than just the tax line.
Read the full lesson →Forward premium
DerivativesAlso called: Forward points
The gap between a currency’s forward or futures price and its spot rate, arising from the interest rate differential between the two currencies.
In plain terms
It shrinks to nothing at expiry by construction, so a currency futures chart can fall over a month in which the spot rate rose. Measure the premium as a distance and compare it with the move your setup expects.
Read the full lesson →Grey market premium
Market basicsAlso called: GMP
An unofficial price quoted for an IPO share before listing, in an unregulated market that has no legal standing.
In plain terms
No exchange, no reporting requirement, no audit trail, and nobody accountable for the number — which can be moved by the very people who benefit from a heavily subscribed issue. A sentiment reading, and it has been wrong spectacularly.
Read the full lesson →Combined ratio
Fundamental analysisClaims plus expenses divided by premiums, for a general insurer — below 100% means the underwriting itself is profitable.
In plain terms
Most general insurers run above 100 and earn their profit on the float instead, which quietly makes them part investment business and sensitive to interest rates.
Read the full lesson →Cumulative bonus
Market basicsAlso called: No-claim bonus
An increase in the sum insured granted for each claim-free year, at no additional premium.
In plain terms
A ₹10 lakh policy can grow well beyond that over time. On a port, this accrued layer is generally treated as part of the cover you carry across.
Read the full lesson →Float
Fundamental analysisPremiums an insurer holds between collecting them and paying out claims, invested in the meantime.
In plain terms
Where most general insurers actually earn their money, since underwriting itself frequently loses.
Read the full lesson →Free-look period
Regulation & taxA window after receiving a new insurance policy in which it may be returned for a refund of premium, less small deductions.
In plain terms
It exists because policies are sold quickly and read slowly. It is the one moment when walking away from a mis-sold policy costs almost nothing.
Read the full lesson →Goodwill
AccountingThe premium paid over fair value of net assets in an acquisition, carried on the balance sheet.
In plain terms
A standing candidate for future write-offs. Treat large goodwill with scepticism.
Read the full lesson →Indicative NAV
Market basicsAlso called: iNAV
The value of an exchange-traded fund’s underlying basket, computed and disseminated at short intervals during the session, as distinct from the price its units are changing hands at.
In plain terms
An ETF has two prices at once and your chart draws only the traded one. Comparing the two is the fastest way to tell whether a wick was information or a dislocation.
Read the full lesson →Interest rate differential
DerivativesThe gap between short-term interest rates in two currencies, which sets the forward premium and therefore the slope of a currency futures curve.
In plain terms
The same idea as cost of carry in an equity future, met on a currency chart. It is a financing number, not a view about either currency.
Read the full lesson →Paid-up policy
Market basicsAlso called: Paid-up value, Reduced paid-up
A life insurance contract on which premiums have stopped but which stays in force, with the benefit reduced in proportion to the premiums already paid.
In plain terms
The third door most people never consider. It stops the outflow without crystallising a punitive exit value, and it is not the same thing as letting a policy lapse.
Read the full lesson →Policy lapse
Risk & psychologyAlso called: Lapsed policy
An insurance contract ending because a premium was not paid within the time the policy allows.
In plain terms
Not a pause. Waiting periods and the clock after which a claim stops being contestable both count unbroken cover, and both restart.
Read the full lesson →Policyholders' funds
Regulation & taxThe pool of premium money an insurer holds separately from shareholders’ funds, with regulatory limits on how it may be invested.
In plain terms
Premiums are not the shareholders’ money. A large proportion has to sit in government and other approved securities — the money backing a thirty-year promise cannot chase this year’s best return.
Read the full lesson →Section 80C
Regulation & taxThe old-regime deduction of up to ₹1.5 lakh covering EPF, ELSS, PPF, life premiums and home loan principal.
In plain terms
The reason offices fill with insurance agents every January. Useful for what you were paying anyway, expensive for anything bought to fill it.
Read the full lesson →Standing instruction
Market basicsAlso called: NACH mandate
A recurring automated debit from a bank account — an EMI, a SIP, an insurance premium or a utility mandate.
In plain terms
The point of automating them was to stop thinking about them, which is why they all fail together on their scheduled dates when an account freezes. Knowing which run from which account is a twenty-minute exercise you cannot do in a hurry.
Read the full lesson →Systematic Withdrawal Plan
Market basicsAlso called: SWP
Redeeming a fixed amount from a fund at regular intervals to create an income.
In plain terms
The alternative to an annuity: keeps the capital, keeps growth, keeps flexibility — and exposes you to the order in which returns arrive.
Read the full lesson →TCS
Regulation & taxAlso called: Tax Collected at Source
Tax Collected at Source — tax taken on LRS remittances above a threshold, recoverable against your liability when you file.
In plain terms
Less a cost than a cash-flow delay: the money comes back at filing but is blocked until then. Nothing to do with the IT company that shares the initials.
Read the full lesson →Time decay
DerivativesAlso called: Theta
The erosion of an option’s premium as expiry approaches, since the time and uncertainty the premium pays for are steadily running out.
In plain terms
It produces a falling chart in a market that is doing nothing, which is why a decay and a breakdown look identical on a premium chart. It accelerates close to expiry.
Read the full lesson →VNB margin
Fundamental analysisAlso called: Value of new business margin
Value of new business as a percentage of the premium written on that business — a life insurer's core profitability ratio.
In plain terms
It stands in for net margin, because an insurer's reported profit falls precisely when it sells more. A fast-growing insurer looks worse on P/E than one that has stopped selling.
Read the full lesson →Volatility crush
DerivativesAlso called: IV crush
The collapse in an option’s premium after a scheduled event, as the expected volatility the price was carrying resolves into a known outcome.
In plain terms
It is why you can be right about the direction of the underlying and still lose on the option. The input that moved is not visible anywhere on the premium chart.
Read the full lesson →Acceptance ratio
Market basicsThe proportion of tendered shares a company actually accepts in a buyback.
In plain terms
This, not the premium, decides what you earn. A 20% premium at 15% acceptance is a 3% return.
Read the full lesson →Authorised participant
Market basicsA firm appointed by a fund house and permitted to create and redeem an exchange-traded fund’s units in creation-unit blocks against the underlying basket.
In plain terms
The only party who can close a premium or a discount by making or unmaking units. Retail investors deal only in the secondary market, which is why the link between price and basket is a trade somebody has to want to do rather than a rule.
Read the full lesson →Call
DerivativesAlso called: Call option
An option giving its buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy the underlying at a set price by expiry.
In plain terms
The buyer's maximum loss is the premium, which is the whole appeal. The seller collects that premium and carries the entire remaining risk — the half most beginners never look at.
Read the full lesson →Co-applicant
Market basicsAlso called: Co-borrower
A person who signs a loan as a joint borrower, jointly and severally liable for the whole amount.
In plain terms
Not a backstop but a borrower. The full EMI counts against your income the next time you apply for anything, whoever is actually paying it each month.
Read the full lesson →Co-payment
Market basicsA fixed share of every claim the policyholder must bear.
In plain terms
Common on cheap and senior-citizen plans. A 20% co-pay on a ₹8 lakh bill is ₹1.6 lakh out of your pocket after the premium was paid.
Read the full lesson →Contract note
Trading & ordersThe legally binding record of a trade, issued by the broker the same day.
In plain terms
The app price is a convenience; this is the document. It itemises every charge and every individual fill.
Read the full lesson →Coupon
Market basicsThe fixed periodic interest a bond pays, expressed as a percentage of its face value.
In plain terms
Not your return. Buy above face value and the premium is a loss spread across the holding period, which yield to maturity captures and the coupon does not.
Read the full lesson →Creation unit
Market basicsThe fixed large block in which an exchange-traded fund’s units are created or redeemed against the underlying basket at the official NAV, rather than one at a time on the exchange.
In plain terms
It is the mechanism that ties an ETF’s traded price to what it holds. When new units cannot be made, that tether is off and a premium can stand for weeks.
Read the full lesson →Demerger
Fundamental analysisAlso called: Spin-off
Separating a division into an independently listed company, with shares issued to existing holders.
In plain terms
No premium is paid and each business gets its own multiple, which is why the record is better than for acquisitions.
Read the full lesson →DICGC
Regulation & taxAlso called: Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation
The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank that insures deposits at covered banks.
In plain terms
Cover is automatic, the bank pays the premium and you cannot opt out. It pays up to the prescribed limit per depositor per bank, net of anything you owe that bank.
Read the full lesson →Effective interest rate
Market basicsThe true annual cost of borrowing once compounding, fees and the repayment schedule are counted.
In plain terms
The number on the loan document is often not what you pay. A "no-cost EMI" usually hides the discount you did not get.
Read the full lesson →Feeder fund
Market basicsAn Indian mutual fund scheme that invests into an overseas fund rather than buying foreign securities directly.
In plain terms
No remittance and no forex paperwork, which is the appeal. Expenses are higher, and the industry-wide overseas investment limit has been hit before — schemes then stop accepting fresh money.
Read the full lesson →Fixed expenses
Market basicsCosts that recur at a predictable amount each month.
In plain terms
Rent or EMI, fees, utilities, insurance — and for many Indian households, support to parents. Name it and size it rather than treating it as a surprise.
Read the full lesson →Insured declared value
Market basicsAlso called: IDV
The agreed current value of a vehicle, which caps what the own-damage portion of a motor policy will pay and forms the basis of a total-loss settlement.
In plain terms
It falls every year as the vehicle depreciates, which is why the own-damage premium falls too — and why dropping that cover on an old car is a bounded, knowable decision.
Read the full lesson →International ETF
Market basicsAn exchange-traded fund listed on an Indian exchange that tracks an overseas index, bought through an ordinary demat account.
In plain terms
The simplest of the three routes abroad. Liquidity can be thin, and the price sometimes trades at a noticeable premium to what it holds.
Read the full lesson →Merger
Fundamental analysisAlso called: Acquisition, M&A
A transaction combining two companies into one entity.
In plain terms
The acquirer pays a premium today for benefits that are uncertain and deferred. Most disappoint.
Read the full lesson →Moneyness
DerivativesAlso called: In the money, Out of the money, At the money
How far an option’s strike sits from the current price of the underlying — in the money, at the money or out of the money.
In plain terms
It changes as the underlying moves, so the same underlying move produces a different premium response than it did an hour ago. A premium chart mixes that in with everything else.
Read the full lesson →Options
DerivativesA contract giving the right, but not the obligation, to buy (call) or sell (put) at a set price.
In plain terms
Buyers risk only the premium. Sellers take limited gain for potentially very large loss.
Prepayment
Market basicsPaying off part or all of a loan ahead of schedule.
In plain terms
Most effective early, when almost all of the EMI is interest. Always ask the bank to cut the tenure, not the EMI.
Read the full lesson →Tangible book value
AccountingBook value with goodwill and intangible assets removed.
In plain terms
The conservative floor. Goodwill is the premium paid in past acquisitions, and it goes if those disappoint.
Read the full lesson →Term insurance
Market basicsAlso called: Term plan
Pure life cover for a fixed period, with no maturity or investment value.
In plain terms
The only kind of life insurance worth buying: maximum cover, minimum premium, nothing bundled.
Read the full lesson →Tips
Risk & psychologySecond-hand stock suggestions with no verifiable source.
In plain terms
Acting on one to avoid seeming dismissive is the most expensive politeness available.
Read the full lesson →