T · Moneywise Dictionary

T Account T Account is the simple two sided chart accountants use to see what came in and what went out of one account, shaped like the letter T.

T Bill T Bill is a short term loan you give the Nigerian government, usually for 91, 182 or 364 days, and it pays you back more than you lent.

T Bond T Bond is a long term loan you give the United States government, usually for 20 or 30 years, in exchange for regular interest and your money back at the end.

T Plus One T Plus One means a trade you make today settles the next business day, so your money or shares actually land in your account one day after the deal.

T+2 Settlement T+2 Settlement means that when you sell or buy shares, the money or shares actually change hands two business days after the trade, not on the day itself.

Table Funding Table funding is when a mortgage lender puts up the cash to close a house purchase and then sells that loan to another lender almost immediately after.

Tactical Asset Allocation Tactical Asset Allocation means shifting your money between stocks, bonds and cash for a while to catch a short term opportunity, then shifting back.

Tagging Along Tagging Along describes a smaller business riding on the strength, reputation or customer traffic of a bigger one instead of building its own pull from scratch.

Tail Risk Tail risk is the danger that a rare, extreme event wrecks your investments far more badly than normal ups and downs would suggest.

Tailgating Tailgating is when a broker or ordinary investor copies a big trade they got wind of before it becomes public, hoping to profit from the same move.

Take Home Pay Take home pay is the money that actually lands in your account after tax, pension and other deductions leave your salary.

Take Out Loan Take out loan means to borrow a lump sum of money that you agree to repay, usually with interest, over a set period of time.

Take Over Take Over means one company buys enough shares in another to control it, often changing its board, its direction and sometimes its name.

Take Profit Take Profit is an order that automatically sells your shares once they hit a price you chose, so you lock in your gain without watching the screen all day.

Takeover Takeover is when one company buys enough shares in another to control it, whether the target's board agrees or not.

Taker Fee Taker Fee is the charge an exchange takes from you when you buy or sell crypto at the current market price instead of setting your own price and waiting.

Talent Acquisition Talent Acquisition is the fancy modern name for recruitment, the whole business of finding, wooing, and hiring the right people for a company's open roles.

Talent Management Talent Management is how a business finds, trains, keeps and grows the right people, instead of hiring in a panic and losing them just as fast.

Tangible Asset Tangible Asset is something a business owns that you can touch and see, like land, buildings, machines or delivery vans, and that holds real value on its own.

Tangible Book Value Tangible Book Value tells you what a company is worth if you stripped out goodwill and other invisible assets and only counted what you could touch and sell.

Tangible Net Worth Tangible Net Worth is what you truly own in real, sellable stuff, once you strip out goodwill, brand value, and other things you cannot touch or sell.

Tank Tank means a stock or the whole market falls hard and fast, wiping out value in days or hours rather than slowly drifting down over months.

Tape Reading Tape reading is watching the live flow of trades and prices, buy after buy, sell after sell, to sense where a stock is heading before the crowd catches on.

Target Audience Target audience is the specific group of people most likely to buy what you sell, the ones you build your product, price and adverts around.

Target Cost Target Cost is the price you decide a product must cost to make, worked backwards from what customers will pay and the profit you want.

Target Date Fund Target Date Fund is an investment that automatically shifts from riskier to safer assets as you approach a chosen year, usually your retirement year.

Target Market Target market is the specific group of people most likely to buy what you sell, the ones you build your business around instead of chasing everybody.

Target Price Target price is the figure an analyst or investor believes a share will reach in future, used as a guide for when to buy or sell.

Target Savings Target savings is a plan where you name an amount and a date, then pay in on a schedule until you reach it, with the money usually held until that date.

Tariff Tariff: a tax a government charges on goods coming in from abroad, meant to make imported items pricier and local ones more attractive by comparison.

Tax Tax is money the government takes from what you earn, spend or own, and understanding it is how you stop overpaying it.

Tax Accountant Tax Accountant: the trained professional who works out what you owe in tax, files it correctly, and finds the legal ways to help you keep more of your money.

Tax Advantaged Account Tax Advantaged Account is a savings or investment account where the government lets your money grow or move without the usual tax bite.

Tax Allowance Tax Allowance is the slice of your income the government lets you earn free of tax, before it starts asking for its share.

Tax Audit Tax Audit is when the tax authority sits down with your books and receipts to check that what you declared actually matches what happened.

Tax Avoidance Tax avoidance is using legal means, like allowances and reliefs, to reduce how much tax you owe, without hiding anything or breaking the law.

Tax Base Tax base is the total value of income, property, goods or sales that a government can legally tax before any rate is applied to it.

Tax Bill A Tax Bill is the official statement from the government showing the exact tax you owe.

Tax Bracket Tax Bracket is the income band that decides what rate of tax applies to your earnings, with higher slices of income often taxed at higher rates.

Tax Code Tax Code is the set of letters and numbers that tells your employer how much of your income should be tax free before PAYE is worked out.

Tax Credit Tax Credit: a direct reduction of the tax you owe, naira for naira, which makes it far more valuable than a deduction of the same size.

Tax Cut Tax cut means government reduces the rate or amount of tax people or businesses pay, leaving more money in their pockets or accounts.

Tax Deductible Tax deductible means an expense can be subtracted from your income before tax is calculated, so you pay tax on less money.

Tax Deduction Tax deduction means an expense the tax law allows you to subtract from your income before working out how much tax you owe.

Tax Deferred Tax deferred means the tax bill is not cancelled, only postponed to a later date, like a debt you agree to settle down the line.

Tax Deferred Annuity Tax deferred annuity is a savings arrangement where your money grows without tax being taken yearly, and you only pay tax when you eventually withdraw it.

Tax Efficient Investing Tax efficient investing means arranging your money so you legally keep more of what it earns, instead of losing chunks of it to tax you did not need to pay.

Tax Equity Tax equity asks whether people in similar situations pay similar tax, and whether people with more to spare carry more of the load.

Tax Evasion Tax evasion is deliberately hiding income or lying on your returns to pay less tax than you owe, and it is a crime, not a clever move.

Tax Exempt Tax exempt means income or an organisation that the law allows to escape tax entirely, so nothing is owed on it in the first place.

Tax Exempt Bond Tax Exempt Bond is a bond whose interest the government does not tax, which is why it can pay you less and still leave you with more.

Tax Filing Tax filing is the act of telling the tax authority what you earned and letting them see how much tax you owe or should get back.

Tax Fraud Tax Fraud is the deliberate act of lying to tax authorities, by hiding income, inflating expenses, or dodging returns entirely, to pay less than you owe.

Tax Free Tax free means no tax is charged on that particular income, gift or transaction at all, not even a small percentage.

Tax Free Savings Account Tax Free Savings Account is a savings or investment account where the government does not tax the interest or gains you earn, common in the UK and Canada.

Tax Haven Tax haven is a country that charges little or no tax on money kept or earned there, which is why wealthy people and companies park funds in one.

Tax Holiday Tax Holiday is a period when government lets a business pay no company tax or reduced tax, usually to reward it for investing in a certain sector or location.

Tax Identification Number Tax Identification Number (TIN) is the number FIRS or a state tax office gives you or your business, so every tax record has your name and only your name on it.

Tax Incentive Tax Incentive is a reward the government builds into the tax law, like a lower rate or a holiday from tax, to push you toward doing something it wants more of.

Tax Liability Tax liability is the total amount of tax you owe for a period, before you subtract anything you have already paid or any relief you qualify for.

Tax Lien Tax Lien is the government's legal claim on your property when you owe unpaid tax, and it can sit there calmly until you settle the debt or lose the asset.

Tax Loophole Tax loophole is a legal gap in tax law that lets someone pay less tax than the rule was meant to make them pay.

Tax Loss Tax loss is when a business or investment costs you more than it earned in a period, and that loss can sometimes reduce the tax you owe now or in future years.

Tax Loss Harvesting Tax loss harvesting means selling an investment that has fallen in value on purpose, so the loss can reduce the tax you owe on gains elsewhere.

Tax Planning Tax Planning means arranging your money and business decisions ahead of time so you pay only what the law truly asks, not a kobo more.

Tax Preparer Tax Preparer means the person or firm you pay to work out what you owe and file it correctly, so you are not the one guessing with HMRC or FIRS.

Tax Rate Tax rate is the percentage of your income or a transaction that goes to government, and it can climb as you earn more or stay the same for everyone.

Tax Refund Tax refund is money the tax authority pays back to you because you handed over more tax than you actually owed during the year.

Tax Relief Tax relief is any rule that lowers the tax you owe, whether through allowances, reliefs on pension contributions, or deductions for certain expenses.

Tax Return Tax return is the form you file to tell the tax authority what you earned, what you spent, and whether you owe more or deserve a refund.

Tax Sale Tax Sale: when government sells your property because you owe unpaid tax on it, often for far less than the house is actually worth.

Tax Shelter Tax Shelter: a legal arrangement, investment or account that reduces the tax you owe, from pension contributions to registered business reliefs.

Tax Treaty Tax Treaty: an agreement between two countries that stops you from being taxed twice on the same income, like your UK salary or your Nigerian consulting fees.

Tax Waiver Tax Waiver is when the government lets a person or company skip paying a tax it would normally owe, usually to encourage a specific activity or ease a burden.

Tax Withholding Tax withholding is when your employer or bank removes tax from your money before it reaches you, and pays it straight to the government on your behalf.

Tax Wrapper Tax Wrapper: a special container around your savings or investment that changes how, or whether, tax touches the money inside it.

Tax Year Tax Year: the twelve month stretch that a tax authority uses to measure your income and work out what you owe, from start date to closing date.

Taxable Bond Taxable Bond: a bond whose interest the government can tax, unlike some government bonds that come tax free, so your real return is what remains after tax.

Taxable Estate Taxable Estate is everything a person owns at death, worth more than the free allowance, that the government can charge tax on before the family inherits it.

Taxable Event Taxable event: any moment or transaction that triggers a tax bill, like selling property, earning salary, or cashing out shares.

Taxable Income Taxable income is the part of your earnings left after allowed deductions and reliefs, which is the actual amount the tax man uses to calculate what you owe.

Taxation Taxation is the way government collects money from people and businesses to fund roads, schools, salaries and everything else it runs on your behalf.

Taxpayer Taxpayer means any person or business legally required to pay tax or file returns with a government, whether or not tax is actually owed that year.

Teacher Pension Teacher Pension is the retirement pay set aside for teachers, often through a government or state scheme, meant to support them after decades in the classroom.

Teaser Rate Teaser Rate is the low, friendly interest rate a lender shows you at first, before it climbs to a higher rate once the introductory period ends.

Tech Bubble Tech Bubble describes a time when investors pay silly prices for technology shares because everyone believes the good times will never stop, until they do.

Tech Sector Tech Sector describes companies whose business is built on software, hardware, the internet or digital services, grouped together for investing purposes.

Technical Analysis Technical Analysis is the practice of studying a stock's past price movements and trading charts to guess where the price might go next.

Technical Indicator Technical Indicator: a maths based clue drawn from a stock's price and volume history, used to guess where the price might head next.

Technical Recession Technical Recession means an economy has shrunk for two quarters in a row, back to back, straight from the official GDP numbers.

Technological Unemployment Technological Unemployment is the job loss that happens when a machine, software or app can do what a person used to be paid to do, faster and cheaper.

Technology Transfer Technology Transfer is when knowledge, skills or equipment move from the people who built them to the people who will now use them and, hopefully, improve them.

Teflon Stock Teflon Stock is a share that shrugs off bad news, scandals or weak results and keeps its price steady or rising, as if nothing sticks to it.

Telecom Sector Telecom Sector is the group of companies that build and run the networks giving us calls, data, and internet access, like MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile.

Telecommuting Telecommuting means doing your paid job from home or anywhere outside the office, using a laptop, phone and internet instead of a desk in a building.

Teller Teller: the bank staff member behind the counter who handles your deposits, withdrawals, and cheque payments, or the small slip you fill before you get to them.

Tenancy Tenancy is the legal right to occupy and use a property that belongs to someone else, for an agreed time and rent, under terms both sides accept.

Tenancy in Common Tenancy in Common is when two or more people own one property together, but each person's share can be different in size and can be sold or willed separately.

Tenant Tenant is the person paying to live in or use a property that belongs to someone else, under an agreement with the landlord.

Tenant Improvement Tenant improvement is the work a landlord pays for or allows to fit out a rented shop or office before the tenant moves in and starts trading.

Tender Offer Tender Offer: a public invitation to shareholders to sell their shares at a stated price, usually so the buyer can gain control of the company.

Tenure Tenure is the length of time and the terms under which you hold or occupy a property, whether you own it outright, lease it, or borrow to pay for it.

Term Term, in banking, is the fixed length of time a deposit, loan or agreement runs before it matures or must be settled.

Term Deposit Term Deposit: money you lock away with a bank for a fixed period, at a fixed rate, and agree not to touch until the date arrives.

Term Insurance Term Insurance is life cover that pays your family a lump sum if you die within a fixed period, and pays out nothing back to you if you outlive it.

Term Life Insurance Term life insurance is a simple promise that the people you love receive an agreed sum of money if you pass away within a set number of years.

Term Loan Term Loan: money you borrow once, in a lump sum, and repay in fixed instalments over an agreed period, rather than a credit line you dip into again and again.

Term Sheet Term Sheet is the short document that spells out the price and conditions an investor is offering before the real, lengthy legal contracts are drawn up.

Term Structure Term Structure shows how interest rates change depending on how long you are willing to lend or invest your money, from a few months to many years.

Termination Termination means your employer has ended your job before you chose to leave, and it should come with proper notice or pay in place of it.

Terms of Service Terms of Service is the agreement you tick without reading, spelling out what a business promises you and what it expects from you in return.

Terms of Trade Terms of Trade compares how much your exports earn against how much your imports cost, showing whether a country is getting richer or poorer per shipment.

Territorial Tax System Territorial Tax System is a setup where a country only taxes income earned inside its borders, leaving money you make abroad alone.

Test Marketing Test marketing means selling a small batch of a new product in a limited area first, to see if people actually want it before you spend big money making more.

Testamentary Trust Testamentary Trust is a trust written into a will that only comes alive after the person dies, holding money or property for someone else under fixed rules.

Testator Testator is the person who writes a will, deciding while alive and clear headed who gets what after they are gone.

Tether Tether (USDT) is a digital coin built to always be worth one US dollar, giving crypto users a steady place to park money without leaving the crypto world.

Theta Theta is the daily amount an options contract loses in value simply because time is passing, whether or not the market moves at all.

Thin Capitalisation Thin capitalisation is when a company funds itself with far more debt than equity, often to a related party, so interest payments shrink its taxable profit.

Thin Market Thin Market means a stock or asset with so few buyers and sellers that even a small trade can shove the price around a lot.

Thin Trading Thin trading is when very few people are buying or selling a stock, so even a small order can swing the price about more than it should.

Think Tank Think Tank: a group of clever people paid to sit around, argue and produce ideas or research that shape policy, business or strategy.

Third Generation Bank Third Generation Bank refers to Nigerian banks licensed after 1986, like Zenith and GTBank, built on technology and speed rather than colonial roots.

Third Mortgage Third Mortgage is a third loan taken against a property that already carries two other mortgages, using whatever equity is left after those two are paid off.

Third Party Third party means anyone outside the two main people in a deal, brought in to handle a part of it, like a delivery rider, a guarantor, or a payment processor.

Third Party Cheque Third Party Cheque: a cheque written to one person who then signs it over to someone else instead of cashing it themselves.

Third Party Insurance Third party insurance covers the damage you cause to other people, not to yourself, and in Nigeria it is the legal minimum for a vehicle.

Third Party Logistics Third Party Logistics (3PL) means paying an outside company to store, pack and deliver your goods, so you focus on selling while they handle the road.

Third World Third World is an old label for poorer, developing countries, born from Cold War politics, that many now consider outdated and a bit insulting.

Thrift Thrift is the daily habit of spending less than you could, and it is unfashionable, unglamorous and the root of every fortune.

Thrift Bank Thrift Bank describes a small, community focused savings institution that lends to ordinary people and small businesses that the big banks often overlook.

Thrift Institution Thrift Institution is a small, member focused financial house built to help ordinary savers save and borrow, long before big banks cared about their kobo.

Thumbprint Authentication Thumbprint Authentication is a way of proving it is really you at the bank or on your phone, using your fingerprint instead of a PIN or signature.

Tied Selling Tied selling is when a business forces you to buy one product before it will sell you another, bundling them so you cannot get just what you want.

Tier 1 Account Account 1 is the tier one, low documentation bank account for small transactions and easy financial inclusion.

Tier 1 Bank A tier 1 bank is one of Nigeria's largest and best capitalised banks, which usually means safer, cheaper to fund and less generous to savers.

Tier 1 Capital Tier 1 Capital is a bank's own true muscle, the core money it owns outright, which absorbs losses first and keeps it standing when trouble comes.

Tier 2 Bank Tier 2 Bank means a Nigerian bank that is smaller than the big five, solid in its own way, but without their size, reach or balance sheet muscle.

Tier 2 Capital Tier 2 Capital is a bank's backup cushion of money and reserves, less solid than its core capital, but still there to absorb losses if things go wrong.

Tight Money Tight money is when the central bank makes borrowing expensive and cash scarce, to cool down an economy that is overheating with inflation.

Tight Spread Tight Spread means the gap between the buying price and the selling price of a stock is small, so you lose very little just by getting in and out.

Time and Sales Time and Sales is the live, second by second list of every trade a stock makes, showing the price, size and exact moment each deal happened.

Time Decay Time Decay is the way an option loses value simply because days are passing, even if the share price has not moved one bit.

Time Deposit Time Deposit is money you lock away with a bank for a fixed period, at an agreed interest rate, and touching it early costs you.

Time Draft Time Draft: a payment instrument that promises to pay a stated sum not immediately but at a future date or a set number of days after it is presented.

Time Frame Time frame is the length of time you plan to hold an investment before you need the money back, and it decides how much risk you can safely carry.

Time Horizon Time horizon is how long you plan to keep your money invested before you need it back, and it decides how much risk you can sensibly carry.

Time in Force Time in Force tells your stockbroker how long an order to buy or sell shares should stay active before it expires unfilled.

Time Value Time Value is the part of an option's price that comes from the days it still has left to prove itself before it expires.

Time Value of Money Time value of money means ₦100,000 today is worth more than ₦100,000 next year, because today's money can earn, grow or save you from borrowing.

Time Weighted Return Time Weighted Return measures how well an investment itself performed, ignoring the effect of money you added or withdrew along the way.

Times Interest Earned Times Interest Earned shows how many times over a company's profit could cover its interest payments before things get tight.

Timeshare Timeshare is a deal where you pay to own or use a holiday property for a set week or two every year, instead of buying the whole place outright.

Timing the Market Timing the market means trying to buy shares at their lowest point and sell at their highest, a skill almost nobody actually has.

TIN TIN is the Tax Identification Number that identifies you or your business to FIRS, and increasingly, no bank account or contract works without it.

Tip Tip is the small extra cash you give someone for good service, and in business it can also mean a useful piece of advice about how to do something better.

Tip Income Tip Income is the extra money a worker receives from customers, on top of salary, as thanks for good service, and it can matter a lot for real pay.

Title Title is the legal proof that a piece of land or property truly belongs to you, and that the person selling it actually has the right to sell it.

Title Deed A title deed is the document proving who legally owns a piece of land, and in Nigeria it is the difference between an asset and a lawsuit.

Title Insurance Title insurance protects you if it turns out the person who sold you land or a house did not have the full right to sell it in the first place.

Title Search Title Search means checking the real history of a property's ownership and paperwork before you pay a single naira for it.

Token Token means a digital unit of value built on someone else's blockchain, used for anything from payments to voting rights to loyalty points.

Tokenisation Tokenisation is the trick of turning a real thing, like a house or a bag of rice, into digital pieces you can buy, sell or trade on a blockchain.

Tombstone Ad Tombstone Ad is the plain, boring looking announcement that a company has just sold shares or bonds, listing the banks that arranged the deal.

Top Down Analysis Top down analysis means studying the big economy first, then the sector, then the specific company, before you decide to invest.

Top Line Top Line is the total revenue a business brings in before any expenses are subtracted, the very first figure on an income statement.

Top Performer Top Performer is the staff member whose results consistently outshine everyone else's, the one management points to when targets are announced.

Topix Index Topix Index is a scoreboard of nearly all companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, showing whether Japanese stocks as a whole are rising or falling.

Total Addressable Market Total Addressable Market is the full size of the opportunity if every single person who could buy your product actually bought it.

Total Asset Turnover Total Asset Turnover measures how much revenue a business squeezes out of every ₦1 tied up in its assets, showing how hard those assets are working.

Total Cost Total Cost is everything it takes, in money, to make and sell your product, added up so you actually know if you are gaining or losing.

Total Cost of Ownership Total Cost of Ownership is the full price of a thing, the sticker figure plus every calm cost it brings after you have paid for it.

Total Debt Total Debt is the sum of everything a company owes that carries interest, both the short term borrowings and the long term ones, added together.

Total Equity Total Equity is what remains of a company's assets after every debt and obligation is paid off, the true value that belongs to its owners.

Total Expense Ratio Total Expense Ratio is the yearly percentage of your investment that a mutual fund or ETF calmly takes as fees, whether the fund makes you money or not.

Total Income Total Income is every naira that comes to you before tax or deductions, from salary to side hustles to rent you collect, all added together.

Total Liability Total Liability is everything a business or person owes, added up into one honest number, from loans to unpaid bills to future pension promises.

Total Quality Management Total Quality Management is a way of running a business where everyone, from the cleaner to the owner, treats getting things right as their personal job.

Total Return Total Return is the full profit an investment makes you when you add price gains and dividends together, more than the price change alone.

Total Revenue Total revenue is all the money a business earns from its normal trading activities before any costs or expenses are taken out.

Touched Order Touched order is an order that has been partly filled by the market, so part of your shares or units have changed hands while the rest still waits.

Tourism Tourism is the business of people travelling to see, rest, worship or explore, and the money they spend along the way, which can calmly fund a whole economy.

Toxic Asset Toxic Asset: something a bank owns on paper that is worth far less in real life, often a loan nobody will ever fully repay.

Toxic Debt Toxic debt is a loan so unlikely to be repaid that it starts poisoning the lender's books, and sometimes the whole financial system around it.

Toyota Production System Toyota Production System is a way of running a business that removes waste, fixes problems at the source and only makes what is actually needed.

TPP TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) was a big trade deal among Pacific Rim countries meant to cut tariffs and set shared trading rules between member nations.

Trade Trade is the act of buying or selling something, like a stock or a bag of rice, and the moment ownership actually changes hands for an agreed price.

Trade Agreement Trade agreement: a deal between two or more countries that sets the rules for how they buy and sell goods and services to each other.

Trade Allowance Trade allowance is a price cut or credit a supplier gives a business customer, often for buying in bulk, trading in old stock, or promoting a product.

Trade Balance Trade Balance is the gap between what a country sells abroad and what it buys from abroad, and whether that gap is a surplus or a deficit.

Trade Barrier Trade barrier: a rule, tax, or limit that a government places on imports or exports to make foreign goods harder or costlier to buy at home.

Trade Bloc Trade Bloc: a group of countries that agree to trade more freely with one another, often with lower tariffs inside and shared rules facing the outside world.

Trade Credit Trade credit is when a supplier lets you take goods now and pay later, turning your supplier into your first and cheapest lender.

Trade Date Trade Date is the day your buy or sell order for a stock actually happens on the exchange, not the day the money leaves or enters your account.

Trade Deficit Trade deficit is what happens when a country buys more from the world than it sells to the world, so more money flows out than flows in.

Trade Discount Trade discount is the price cut a seller gives a buyer, usually a business buying in bulk, before any invoice or receipt is even written up.

Trade Dress Trade dress is the overall look and feel of a product or shop, its colours, shape and packaging, that customers recognise without reading the name.

Trade Finance Trade finance is the money and instruments that let goods move across borders before anybody has been paid.

Trade Liberalisation Trade liberalisation means a country lowers tariffs and removes import restrictions so goods and services can move across borders more freely.

Trade Mark Trade Mark is the legal fence you build around your brand name, logo or slogan so nobody else can wear your name and take your customers.

Trade Name Trade Name is the name a business trades under, which can be different from the official name registered with the government.

Trade Off Trade off is the plain truth that choosing one good thing usually means giving up another good thing, in money and in life.

Trade Receivable Trade Receivable is money a business has earned by selling goods or services on credit, which customers still owe and have not yet paid.

Trade Show Trade Show: a gathering where businesses in the same industry show their products to buyers, distributors and the public, often to win deals or attention.

Trade Surplus Trade surplus is when a country sells more to the rest of the world than it buys from it, so more money flows in than flows out.

Trade War Trade War is when countries punish each other's goods with taxes and bans, and the fight ends up landing on ordinary shoppers and traders far from the argument.

Trade Weighted Index Trade Weighted Index is a single score showing how strong or weak the naira is against all the countries Nigeria trades with, more than the dollar.

Trademark Registration Trademark Registration is the legal process of claiming a name, logo, or slogan as yours alone, so no one else in your line of business can use it.

Trader Trader: someone who buys and sells things like shares, currencies or goods, hoping to profit from price changes over a short or medium time, not years.

Trading Trading is buying and selling assets like stocks, currencies or crypto to profit from price moves, often over days, hours or minutes rather than years.

Trading Account Trading Account is the account that holds your money and shares together so you can buy and sell stocks on the exchange.

Trading Curb Trading Curb: a temporary stop or slowdown on buying or selling a stock or the whole market, switched on to calm a price fall or spike before panic sets in.

Trading Day Trading Day is any day the stock exchange is open for business, when shares can actually be bought and sold, unlike weekends or public holidays.

Trading Desk Trading Desk: the busy table, real or virtual, where a bank or broker actually buys and sells shares, bonds or currencies for clients or for itself.

Trading Floor Trading Floor is the physical or electronic space where stocks and other assets are bought and sold, once a shouting hall, now mostly rows of screens.

Trading Halt Trading Halt: a temporary pause in the buying and selling of a stock, called by the exchange, usually because of big news or wild price swings.

Trading Hours Trading hours are the fixed window each day when a stock exchange is open for buying and selling, like a market with a gate that opens and shuts on time.

Trading Plan Trading plan: a written set of rules that tells you when to buy, when to sell, how much to risk, and when to simply sit on your hands.

Trading Platform Trading platform: the app or website where you buy and sell shares, funds or other investments, like a market stall you carry in your pocket.

Trading Range Trading range is the price band a stock keeps bouncing between, refusing to break above the top or fall below the bottom for a while.

Trading Session Trading Session means the fixed block of hours on any given day when a stock exchange is open for buying and selling to actually happen.

Trading Strategy Trading Strategy is the set plan an investor follows for when to buy or sell, so decisions come from a rule, not from panic or gist in the group chat.

Trading Symbol Trading symbol is the short code a share trades under on the exchange, like DANGCEM or GTCO, so buyers and sellers can find it fast.

Trading Volume Trading volume is the number of shares of a stock that changed hands in a given period, and it tells you how much real interest is behind a price move.

Tradition Tradition is the money habit your family or culture hands you before you ever have your own opinion about money, for better or worse.

Traditional IRA Traditional IRA is a United States retirement account where you put money in before tax, let it grow, and pay tax only when you withdraw in retirement.

Trailing Earnings Trailing earnings means a company's actual profit over the last twelve completed months, not a guess about the future.

Trailing P/E Trailing P/E compares a share's price to the company's profit over the last twelve months, showing what investors are paying for earnings already earned.

Trailing Stop Trailing Stop is a sell order that follows your share price up as it rises, but locks in place once the price starts falling, protecting your gains.

Trailing Twelve Months Trailing Twelve Months (TTM) means the most recent twelve months of a business's numbers, counted from today backwards, not from January to December.

Tranche Tranche means one portion of a larger sum of money, loan or investment that is released or repaid in stages rather than all at once.

Transaction Transaction means any exchange of money or value between two parties, from buying pure water to sending ₦500,000 abroad, and every one leaves a trace.

Transaction Cost Transaction Cost is the money you lose to fees, spreads and charges just for buying or selling an investment, even before you gain or lose a single naira on it.

Transaction Fee Transaction Fee: the small charge a bank or payment platform takes for moving your money, whether by transfer, withdrawal, or card payment.

Transaction Tax Transaction Tax is a small charge the government takes each time money moves, like when you transfer funds, buy shares, or send cash abroad.

Transfer Agent Transfer Agent: the company that keeps the official record of who owns shares in a company, and updates it every time shares change hands.

Transfer Fee Transfer Fee is the small charge your bank takes when you move money from your account to someone else's, whether across the road or across an ocean.

Transfer of Wealth Transfer of wealth is the passing of money, property and assets from one generation, or one person, to another, whether by plan or by chance.

Transfer Payment Transfer payment is money the government (or a person) gives out with nothing produced in return, like a pension, a subsidy, or cash sent home to your mother.

Transfer Pricing Transfer pricing is the price a company charges itself when one branch or subsidiary sells goods or services to another branch of the same group.

Transfer Risk Transfer risk is the danger that you have the money to pay someone abroad, but your country will not let it leave, or makes it painfully hard to.

Transfer Tax Transfer Tax is the fee a government collects when property or land changes hands, usually paid when you register the new ownership.

Translation Risk Translation risk is the paper loss or gain a company records when it turns a foreign subsidiary's accounts into naira, even though no cash has actually moved.

Transparency Transparency means a bank or fintech shows you the true cost of a service upfront, in plain terms, before you commit your money to it.

Transparency International Transparency International is a global body that measures corruption in countries and institutions, so citizens can see how honestly public money is handled.

Travel Insurance Travel insurance is a short term policy that pays for medical bills, lost luggage or cancelled trips while you are away from home.

Treasury Treasury refers to government debt instruments, like Nigerian Treasury Bills or UK Gilts, that let you lend money to the government and earn interest in return.

Treasury Bill A treasury bill is a short term loan you make to the government, which pays you back with interest on a fixed date.

Treasury Bills Treasury bills are short term loans to the Federal Government of Nigeria, bought below face value and repaid at full face value on a fixed date.

Treasury Bond Treasury Bond is a long term loan you give the Nigerian government, usually for two to twenty years, paid interest twice a year until they return your money.

Treasury Note Treasury Note is a medium term loan you give a government, usually for two to ten years, paid back with regular interest along the way.

Treasury Single Account The Treasury Single Account pooled federal government revenue into one account at the Central Bank, so public money stopped sitting idle in commercial banks.

Treasury Stock Treasury Stock is a company's own shares that it bought back from investors and now holds, which oddly reduces its equity instead of counting as an asset.

Treaty Treaty: a formal agreement between countries that sets the rules for trade, tax, or money matters, and calmly shapes what you pay and earn without you noticing.

Trend Trend means the general direction a stock, market, or price has been moving over time, whether steadily up, down, or sideways.

Trend Analysis Trend Analysis is the habit of studying a stock or market's past movements over time to spot patterns that might hint at where it is headed next.

Trend Following Trend Following means buying an asset because its price is already rising, and selling because it is already falling, instead of guessing where it will turn.

Trend Line Trend Line: a straight line drawn on a stock chart connecting rising or falling prices, used to show the direction a stock or market is generally moving.

Trial Balance Trial Balance is the list that checks every debit in your books has a matching credit before you dare prepare final accounts.

Triangular Arbitrage Triangular arbitrage is trading three currencies in a loop to catch a pricing mistake between them and pocket a small, riskless profit.

Tribunal Tribunal: a court like body that settles specific disputes, such as tax or employment cases, faster and less formally than a regular court.

Trickle Down Economics Trickle Down Economics is the idea that giving more money and tax breaks to the rich and to big businesses will eventually benefit everyone else too.

Trigger Price Trigger price is the exact figure you set that wakes up a sleeping order and turns it into a live buy or sell on the exchange.

Triple Bottom Line Triple Bottom Line is a way of judging a business by three profits at once: money made, people affected, and the environment touched.

Triple Lock The Triple Lock is a United Kingdom rule that raises the state pension each year by whichever is highest among inflation, wage growth, or 2.5 percent.

Triple Net Lease Triple Net Lease is a rental deal where the tenant pays rent plus the property's tax, insurance and repairs, so the landlord collects a cleaner, quieter income.

Triple Witching Triple Witching is the day, four times a year, when stock options, index options and index futures all expire together and trading turns wild in the last hour.

Troubled Asset Troubled Asset is a loan or investment a bank holds that has gone bad or is close to going bad, so the bank may never get the full value back.

Trough Trough is the lowest point of an economic cycle, the moment things stop falling and calmly start turning back up.

True Cost True cost is the full amount something takes from you once you add every hidden fee, delivery charge, and follow up expense to the price tag you first saw.

True Lease True Lease is a rental deal where the landlord keeps real ownership of the property and its tax perks, while the tenant simply pays to use it.

True North True North is the fixed sense of what money is for in your life, the value that stays constant even when your income, city, or bank balance changes.

True Yield True yield is the real return an investment actually pays you after fees, taxes, reinvestment timing and inflation have taken their share.

Trust A trust is a legal arrangement where somebody holds assets on behalf of others, and it is how families protect wealth across generations.

Trust Account Trust Account is a bank account where money is held by one person or company for the benefit of another, kept separate from everyone's personal funds.

Trust Bank Trust Bank was a name several Nigerian banks carried before mergers and rebrandings folded them into the bigger institutions we bank with today.

Trust Company Trust Company: a licensed institution that holds and manages money or property for other people, following strict rules rather than personal favour.

Trust Deed Trust Deed: a document that hands your property to a neutral third party as security for a loan, until you finish paying and get it back.

Trust Fund Trust Fund is money or property held by one person or a company for the benefit of someone else, often a child, released only under agreed conditions.

Trustee Trustee is the person or institution trusted to hold and manage money or property for someone else's benefit, following clear rules and not their own wishes.

Trustor Trustor is the person who sets up a trust and hands over money or property for someone else to manage or benefit from, under rules the trustor writes.

Truth in Lending Act Truth in Lending Act is a United States law forcing lenders to state the real cost of a loan in plain terms, including interest rate and fees, before you sign.

Turnaround Turnaround is the recovery of a struggling company from serious losses back to stability and profit, often after new leadership, new money or hard cost cutting.

Turnkey Business Turnkey business means a fully set up operation you can buy and start running immediately, with the systems, training and sometimes stock already in place.

Turnkey Property Turnkey Property is a home or investment property that is fully finished and ready to live in or rent out the moment you collect the keys, no repairs needed.

Turnover Turnover is the total value of sales a business makes in a period, before any expenses, costs or profit are taken out.

Turnover Ratio Turnover Ratio measures how many times a business sells through its stock or collects its money in a given period, showing how hard its assets are working.

Two Sided Market Two Sided Market: a market where you can find someone quoting a price to buy and a price to sell at almost any moment, so trading flows freely.

Two Way Quote Two Way Quote is when a trader gives you both a buying price and a selling price at the same time, so you know exactly what it costs to deal either way.