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margin

The amount of money supplied by an investor as a portion of the total funds needed to buy or sell a security, with the balance of required funds loaned to the investor by a broker, dealer, or other lender.

margin account

A special account set up by a broker for a client who wants to buy and sell securities using margin.

margin call

A call from a broker to a client asking for more money to back up a security purchased on margin when such a security has declined in value. If more money is not supplied, the broker usually sells the security.

market order

An order to buy at the lowest price going, or sell at the highest price possible.

market risk

Every investment carries some element of market risk, the risk that the entire market will decline, reducing the investment's value regardless of other factors.

medical power of attorney

This special power of attorney document allows you to designate another person to make medical decisions on your behalf.

minimum distributions

An individual must start receiving distributions from a qualified plan by April 1 of the year following the year in which he/she reaches age 70 ½ . Subsequent distributions must occur by each December 31st. The minimum distributions can be based on the life expectancy of the individual or the joint life expectancy of the individual and beneficiary.

money purchase plan

A Money Purchase Plan has contributions that are a fixed percentage of compensation and are not based on the employer's profits. For example, if the plan requires that contributions be 10% of the participant's compensation, the plan is a Money Purchase Pension Plan. With this type of plan, the employer is committed to making contributions each year even if the employer has no profits or is experiencing cash flow problems. Employee contributions are limited to 25% of compensation. Employer contributions are limited to the smaller of $30,000 or 25 percent of a participant's compensation.

mortality

Mortality is the risk of death of a given person based on factors such as age, health, gender, and lifestyle.

mortgage

A legal instrument providing a loan to the mortgagee to be used to purchase a real property in exchange for a lien against the property.

mortgage broker

A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary between a borrower and a lender. A broker's expertise is to assist the borrower in identifying mortgage lenders and products that they might not identify otherwise.

mortgage insurance (mi)

Mortgage insurance protects the lender against the default of higher risk loans. Most lenders require mortgage insurance on loans where the loan-to-value ratio is higher than 80% (less than 20% equity).

municipal bonds

A bond offered by a state, county, city or other political entity (such as a school district) to raise public funds for special projects. The interest received from municipal bonds is often exempt from certain income taxes.

mutual funds

A mutual fund is a pooling of investor (shareholder) assets, which is professionally managed by an investment company for the benefit of the fund's shareholders. Each fund has specific investment objectives and associated risk. Mutual funds offer shareholders the advantage of diversification and professional management in exchange for a management fee.