Vocabulary: Investing, Stocks & Wealth

Welcome to the exhaustive guide on finance and wealth! In this interactive vocabulary lesson, we will cover the essential words you need to discuss money like a professional.

We will explore basic finance concepts, the stock market, wealth creation, and how native speakers use Wall Street idioms in everyday conversation. Read through the vocabulary, test your knowledge in the quizzes, and complete today's missions below.

Basic Finance List:

Investment - The action or process of investing money for profit.
Capital - Wealth in the form of money or other assets.
Interest - Money paid regularly at a particular rate for the use of money lent.
Inflation - A general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money.
Deflation - Reduction of the general level of prices in an economy.
Budget - An estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time.
Savings - The money one has saved.
Debt - A sum of money that is owed or due.
Loan - A sum of money that is borrowed and expected to be paid back with interest.
Mortgage - A legal agreement by which a bank lends money to buy a house.
Compound - To calculate interest on the previously accumulated interest.
Profit - A financial gain.
Loss - An amount of money lost by a business.
Revenue - Income, especially when of a company or organization.
Expense - The cost required for something.

Stock Market List:

Stock - The capital raised by a business through the issue of shares.
Share - One of the equal parts into which a company's capital is divided.
Dividend - A sum of money paid regularly by a company to its shareholders.
Portfolio - A range of investments held by a person or organization.
Bear market - A market in which prices are falling.
Bull market - A market in which share prices are rising.
Broker - A person who buys and sells goods or assets for others.
Exchange - A market in which securities are bought and sold.
Trade - The action of buying and selling goods and services.
Shareholder - An owner of shares in a company.
Volatility - Liability to change rapidly and unpredictably.
Equity - The value of the shares issued by a company.
Index - An indicator or measure of something, often a market average.
Ticker - A symbol used to uniquely identify a particular stock.
Rally - A period of sustained increases in the prices of stocks.

Wealth & Assets List:

Wealth - An abundance of valuable possessions or money.
Asset - A useful or valuable thing, property owned by a person or company.
Liability - A debt or financial obligation.
Net worth - The value of all assets minus the value of all liabilities.
Real estate - Property consisting of land or buildings.
Property - A thing or things belonging to someone.
Commodity - A raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold.
Currency - A system of money in general use in a particular country.
Fund - A sum of money saved or made available for a particular purpose.
Pension - A regular payment made during a person's retirement.
Inheritance - A thing that is inherited.
Tycoon - A wealthy, powerful person in business or industry.
Billionaire - A person possessing assets worth at least a billion dollars.
Fortune - A large amount of money or assets.
Prosperous - Successful in material terms; flourishing financially.

Expressions List:

Nest egg - A sum of money saved for the future.
Bullish - Optimistic and confident that prices will increase.
Bearish - Pessimistic and expecting prices to fall.
Blue-chip - A reliable, large, and consistently profitable company.
Cash cow - A business, product, or service that provides a steady income.
Deep pockets - Having a lot of money or financial resources.
In the red - Spending and owing more money than is being earned.
In the black - Earning more money than is being spent.
Break even - To have no profit or loss at the end of a business activity.
Pay through the nose - To pay a very high and unreasonable price for something.
Bottom line - The final total of an account; the most important factor.

Please enable JavaScript to view the interactive flashcards, take the quiz, and download the audio resources.

menu_book 1. Interactive Vocabulary

Filter the words below and click on any card to reveal its definition, audio pronunciation, and a sentence-building mini-game.

bolt 2. Knowledge Check

Test your understanding of finance vocabulary and idioms.

visibility Definition Match

What is the term for a portion of a company's profit paid to its shareholders?

forum Market Logic

If a financial expert is "Bearish", they believe the market will...

warning LITERAL TRAP

If someone recommends investing in a "Blue-chip" company, what does it mean?

psychology Idiom Meaning

If you have saved a large sum of money for the future, you have a...

workspace_premium

Quiz Complete!

target 3. Action Missions

Complete these real-world tasks to lock the vocabulary into your memory.

Check the Market 📈 Use your phone to check the current price of a major stock (like Apple or Google). Say out loud: "The stock price is..."

Write your Goal ✍️ Write one sentence about your financial future using the word "Savings" or "Nest egg". (e.g., "I want to build a big nest egg.")

cloud_download 4. Study Resources

Lesson Summary & Review

Let's review the key concepts covered in the interactive module above to ensure you are ready to discuss finance confidently.

Assets vs. Liabilities

Asset: Something valuable that you own (e.g., real estate, stocks, a profitable business). Assets put money in your pocket.
Liability: Something that you owe (e.g., credit card debt, a car loan). Liabilities take money out of your pocket.
Net Worth: Your total Assets minus your total Liabilities.

Wall Street Idioms

Financial professionals love using metaphors, especially involving animals and colors!

Bull Market: A strong market where prices are going up. (Think of a bull attacking upward with its horns).
Bear Market: A weak market where prices are falling. (Think of a bear attacking downward with its paws).
In the Red: Operating at a loss (losing money). This comes from the old practice of accountants using red ink to show negative balances.
In the Black: Operating profitably (making money).

ESL Cambodia | Smart English learning for the modern Cambodian.

Welcome Back!

Core Lessons

Practice Labs

Extras