rollover

Definition

The financial practice of moving money from one investment or retirement account to another without triggering tax consequences, because the IRS is generous like that. Also describes what happens to your old web design when you hover over a button, or what vehicles do in unfortunate accidents. In tech, it's that fancy effect where images change when your cursor touches them, making websites feel interactive since 1995.

Example Usage

I did a 401k rollover to my new IRA, which involved roughly 47 forms and three different financial advisors explaining why their fees are 'competitive.'

Source: Financial and technical terminology

Related Terms

Intermediate

unencumbered assets

Property or assets not pledged as collateral for any debt, representing truly owned stuff that hasn't been promised to creditors. The financial equivalent of actually owning your car rather than the bank owning it while you make payments.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Beginner

Accrual Basis

The accounting method where you recognize revenue when earned and expenses when incurred, regardless of when cash actually changes hands. It's like claiming you're rich because people owe you money, even if you're currently broke.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Intermediate

days in inventory

The average number of days it takes to sell through inventory, calculated as (inventory / cost of goods sold) × 365. A metric that reveals whether you're efficiently managed or operating a museum of unsold products.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Beginner

profit

The magical number left over after you subtract all expenses from revenue, assuming your accounting department is feeling generous about what counts as an expense. It's what companies supposedly exist to generate, though many startups operate for years as if this is merely optional. Shareholders love it, the IRS wants to tax it, and CFOs have seventeen different ways to calculate it.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Advanced

backstop facility

A backup financing arrangement that provides liquidity if primary funding sources fail, like a financial safety net nobody hopes to use. It's insurance that you're paying for just in case everything goes wrong.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Beginner

General Ledger

The master accounting record containing all financial transactions, organized by account. It's the single source of truth for a company's finances, assuming someone entered everything correctly.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Translate This Term

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

Try the Translator

Share This Term

Post on X Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn

Discover a Term

Beginner

Waudrn

What are you doing right now...