One line each. Search for a word at the top of the Learn hub.
- AFSL
- Australian Financial Services Licence. Advisers must work under one.
- Asset allocation
- How your money is split between shares, property, bonds and cash.
- CGT discount
- Hold an asset over 12 months and, as an individual, only half the gain is taxed.
- Capital gain
- The profit when you sell something for more than you paid.
- Carry-forward
- Using unused concessional cap from up to five earlier years, if your balance is under $500,000.
- Compound growth
- Earning returns on your earlier returns, so growth speeds up over time.
- Concessional cap
- The yearly limit on before-tax super contributions. $32,500 for 2026–27.
- Concessional contributions
- Money put into super before income tax, like your employer's super and salary sacrifice.
- Condition of release
- An event, like retiring after preservation age, that lets you access super.
- Deduction
- An expense that reduces your taxable income, not your tax dollar for dollar.
- Depreciation
- Claiming the cost of a work item gradually over its useful life.
- Diversification
- Spreading money across different investments so one bad one doesn't sink you.
- Dividend
- Your share of a company's profit, paid out to shareholders.
- Division 293
- Extra tax on super contributions for people with income plus contributions over $250,000.
- ETF
- Exchange traded fund: a fund you buy and sell on the stock exchange like a share.
- Financial Services Guide
- A document explaining who an adviser is, how they're paid and how to complain.
- First home owner grant
- A Queensland payment of up to $30,000 for buying or building a new first home.
- Franking credit
- Tax a company has already paid on a dividend, credited to you.
- Index fund
- A fund that buys everything in a market list rather than picking winners.
- LVR
- Loan to value ratio: your loan as a percentage of the property's value.
- Marginal tax rate
- The rate on your next dollar of income. Not the rate on all of it.
- Medicare levy
- An extra 2% of taxable income for most people, to help fund Medicare.
- Negative gearing
- When an investment's costs (like interest) are more than its income, and the loss reduces your other taxable income.
- Non-concessional contributions
- Money put into super from your after-tax pay, with no deduction claimed.
- Notice of intent
- A form you give your super fund before claiming a tax deduction for a personal contribution.
- Offset
- A direct reduction of the tax you owe.
- Offset account
- A bank account linked to your home loan. The balance reduces the interest you pay.
- Payday Super
- From 1 July 2026, employers pay super with each pay instead of quarterly.
- Pre-approval
- A lender's in-principle okay on how much you can borrow.
- Salary sacrifice
- Asking your employer to pay part of your salary into super before tax.
- Statement of Advice
- The written document setting out personal advice, the reasons and the costs.
- Super guarantee
- The super your employer must pay for you: 12% of ordinary earnings.
- Taxable income
- Your income after deductions. This is what tax is worked out on.
- Total super balance
- Everything you have across all your super accounts, measured on 30 June.
- Transfer duty
- Queensland's name for stamp duty: a tax on buying property.
- Volatility
- How much and how fast an investment's price moves up and down.
Sources
- ATO: Contributions caps (concessional cap $32,500 from 1 July 2026; carry-forward rules)
- ATO: Super guarantee percentage (12% for 2026–27)
- ATO: Tax rates for Australian residents 2026–27
- ATO: Division 293 tax (income plus concessional contributions over $250,000)
- Queensland Government: First home owner grant ($30,000, new homes under $750,000)
- ATO: Payday Super from 1 July 2026
Figures checked 1 November 2026.