A market where contracts for the future delivery of a commodity or financial instrument are bought and sold. The future delivery date and price are agreed upon at the time of purchase.

The value of an asset or cash at a given date in the future.

A mortgage where the interest rate is constant throughout the term of the loan. The rate of the loan will likely be higher than the initial rate of an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), but a fixed-rate mortgage removes the risk that the interest rate will increase during the loan.

A person who helps you plan out your future and meet your short- and long-term financial goals. Financial planners use investments, tax planning, retirement planning, estate planning and risk management to help achieve those goals.

A fiduciary is a person entrusted with the property of another who must act in that person’s best interests. A financial adviser who is a fiduciary is held to a higher ethical standard than an adviser who is not.

A trust that names family members as beneficiaries. Often, family trusts are used to pass assets to children directly to avoid those assets being passed automatically to a spouse.