Definition

The financial equivalent of betting against your own bad luck. You pay a company money regularly, they promise to pay you back a lot more if something awful happens—unless they can prove it's not technically their problem.

Example Usage

We insured the building against fire, but the policy excludes 'acts of negligence,' which apparently covers everything.

Source: Insurance and finance terminology

Related Terms

Intermediate

treasury stock

Shares that a company has issued and later repurchased, sitting in corporate limbo—not quite cancelled but no longer outstanding. The equity equivalent of taking back your gift because the recipient didn't appreciate it enough.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Intermediate

Capital Expenditure

Money spent on big-ticket items that a company will use for years, like equipment, buildings, or that espresso machine in the CEO's office. Accountants love CapEx because they get to depreciate it over time, which is basically financial foreplay.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Advanced

Defalcation

A fancy legal term for embezzlement that makes stealing company funds sound almost scholarly. It's the misappropriation of money held in trust or fiduciary capacity, often discovered when the auditors start asking uncomfortable questions.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Intermediate

beneficiaries

The lucky souls legally designated to receive your money, assets, or insurance payout after you've shuffled off this mortal coil—or sometimes while you're still using it. They're the people you're incentivizing to keep you alive, or in some noir scenarios, quite the opposite. Estate planning's way of playing favorites from beyond the grave, ensuring your ungrateful nephew gets exactly nothing while your cat inherits the vacation home.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Advanced

negative goodwill

When you acquire a company for less than the fair value of its identifiable net assets, essentially buying a dollar for seventy cents. Also called a 'bargain purchase,' it's as rare as it sounds and usually indicates something's wrong.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Intermediate

days sales outstanding

The average number of days it takes to collect payment after a sale, abbreviated as DSO. It measures how long customers ignore your invoices before grudgingly paying—lower is better unless you enjoy running a free lending operation.

💰 Finance / Accounting

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See “insure” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

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