Wealth has a vocabulary, and most of it is designed to be opaque. Some of the opacity is deliberate. Most of it is just the residue of tax law, partnership agreements, and regulation written by specialists for other specialists, then absorbed into ordinary conversation without ever being explained.
This glossary is the reference layer for the rest of the site. Each entry does the same five things a full post does, compressed: says what the term means in one sentence, explains the mechanics, gives the actual numbers with the year attached, corrects the most common misconception, and points to the longer piece.
The same rules apply here as everywhere else on this site. Numbers are sourced and dated. Jurisdiction is stated — most of these terms are specific to the United States, and where that matters it is said out loud. Nothing here is advice; every entry explains how a mechanism works, not what anyone should do about it.
New entries are added in batches. The list below is what exists so far.
Money & Structures
Carried interest — A fund manager’s share of a fund’s investment profits, conventionally 20%, taxed as long-term capital gain rather than as ordinary income.
QSBS (Qualified Small Business Stock) — A US tax provision that lets founders and early employees exclude up to $15 million of gain per company from federal tax.
SBLOC (securities-based line of credit) — A revolving line of credit secured by a pledged portfolio, which allows borrowing against investments without selling them.
Buy, borrow, die — The strategy of never selling an appreciated asset: hold it, borrow against it, and pass it at death, where the gain is erased.
83(b) election — A filing that taxes restricted stock at its value on the grant date rather than at vesting, converting later appreciation into capital gain.
Single-family office — A private company that manages one family’s money and administrative life, excluded from SEC registration under the family office rule.
Multi-family office — A firm delivering family-office services to multiple unrelated families, which unlike a single-family office must register as an investment adviser.
Trusts & Estates
Step-up in basis — The rule that resets an inherited asset’s cost basis to market value at death, erasing a lifetime of capital gain.
GRAT (Grantor Retained Annuity Trust) — A trust that passes investment growth above an IRS-assumed rate to heirs without using estate tax exemption.
Dynasty trust — An irrevocable trust built to hold wealth across successive generations without a transfer tax at each death, in states that permit very long or perpetual trusts.
Funds & Investing
Accredited investor — The SEC threshold that permits a person to buy unregistered securities: $200,000 of income, or $1 million of net worth excluding a primary residence.
Access & Status
Donor-advised fund — A charitable account that produces an immediate tax deduction while leaving the timing and recipient of the actual grants open indefinitely.
Corrections and suggested terms are welcome. The glossary is maintained alongside the main canon, and entries carrying a legislated or indexed figure are reviewed annually.