T-Bills: A colloquialism for government treasury bills

Term-Certain Annuity: An annuity providing for payments until the annuitant reaches 90 or, if he/she chooses, until the annuitant's spouse reaches age 90. Also called a fixed-term annuity.

Term Deposit (TD): A deposit instrument most commonly available from chartered banks, requiring a minimum investment at a predetermined rate of interest for a stated term. The interest rate varies according to the amount invested and the term to maturity, but is competitive with comparable alternative investments. A reduced interest rate usually applies if funds are withdrawn prior to maturity.

Term Insurance: A type of life insurance providing coverage for a specified period or "term". Unlike whole life insurance, there is no investment or savings component.

Top-Down Approach to Investing: An approach to security analysis that looks first at trends in the general economy, then at specific areas and industries likely to be beneficiaries of those trends and, finally, at individual companies, to determine the ones that should be leaders within those industries.

Treasury Bills: Short-term government debt issued in denominations ranging from $1,000 to $1 million. Treasury bills do not pay interest, but are sold at a discount and mature at par (100 percent of face value). The difference between the purchase price and par at maturity represents the lender's (purchaser's) income in lieu of interest. In Canada such gain is taxed as interest income in the purchaser's hands.

Trustee: For bondholders, usually a trust company appointed to protect the security behind the bonds and to make certain that all convenants of the trust deed relating to the bonds are honoured.

Trust Indenture: A contract between the issuer and the bondholder. Part of the indenture is a set of restrictions on the firm issuing the bond to protect the rights of the bondholders. Such restrictions include provisions relating to collateral, sinking funds, dividend policy and allowed further borrowing. It can also be a contract between two parties that sets out the rules that govern business dealings between them.

Western Grain Transportation Act: A program that subsidized the transportation of wheat from the prairie provinces.

Whole Life Insurance: Life insurance combining risk coverage and an "investment" component.

Yield - Bond & Stock: Return on an investment. A stock yield is calculated by expressing the annual dividend as a percentage of the current market price of the stock. A bond yield is a more complicated calculation, involving annual interest payments and amortizing the difference between its current market price and par value over the life of the bond. This yield can be obtained from a bond yield table.

Yield Curve: The relationship among the yields of bonds of the same quality but different maturities, put into graph form.

Yield To Maturity: The rate of return on an interest-bearing investment if held to maturity, taking into account purchase price, coupon rate and value at maturity.