contribution

Definition

Money you hand over to a retirement plan, fund, or charity so the spreadsheet can call it an investment. In finance, a contribution is a deposit into a savings or pension vehicle, usually on a schedule, so you feel responsible without necessarily feeling rich.

Example Usage

Our 401(k) contribution gets matched by the company, which briefly made Dave believe in capitalism.

Source: Dictionary definition as supplied by user; standard retirement and fund-accounting usage

Related Terms

Beginner

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

The direct costs of producing your products—basically the stuff that physically goes into making what you sell.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Advanced

vulture fund

Investment funds that buy distressed debt for pennies then aggressively pursue collection, like financial hyenas picking at corporate carcasses. Compassion not included.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Advanced

activity-based costing

An accounting method that assigns overhead costs to products based on the activities that actually drive those costs, rather than arbitrary allocations like direct labor hours. It's acknowledging that not all products consume resources equally, which revolutionized cost accounting but requires painful implementation.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Intermediate

remitting

To send money (usually begrudgingly) to pay a debt or obligation. The financial equivalent of admitting defeat while simultaneously proving you're solvent.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Advanced

ring-fence

To financially quarantine funds so they can only be used for their intended purpose and can't be poached by other needy projects. It's like putting money in a protective bubble to prevent bureaucratic fungibility.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Intermediate

royalties

The passive income dream where creators get paid every time someone uses their work, like a toll booth on the highway of intellectual property. These recurring payments flow to authors, musicians, inventors, and landowners who've figured out how to make money while sleeping. It's the closest thing to free money that still requires you to have created something valuable first, which is why most people just get regular jobs instead.

💰 Finance / Accounting

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Realpolitik

Foreign policy based on pragmatic national interests rather than ideology or morality. Essentially, 'ethics are a luxury...