Glossary: R

RECEIPTS

Money coming in, for example, from selling goods and services or taking out a loan.

REPAYMENTS

The sums of money you pay back weekly or monthly on your loan or credit.

RETURN

The amount you get back on your capital. A general rule is that the higher the return the more risky the investment.

RESPONSIBILITIES

What you should do e.g. finish paying for goods taken out on credit.

RIGHTS

The protection that is given to you by law. For example, you have a right to compensation if your bank goes bust and you lose money.

RISK

Another name for chance or uncertainty. Types of risk include capital risk (your savings or investment fall in value), interest rate risk (the interest rate you agree to may not be good value in the future) and inflation risk (price levels will rise so the buying power of your savings or investments will fall). Shares and share-based investments, such as unit trusts, are considered higher risk because the value of your investment can fall (capital risk) but growth of these investments tends to outstrip inflation and over the medium- to long-term usually beats the return from savings accounts.