Nasdaq: US-market which is the home to many high-tech firms and newly-formed companies.

Negative Equity: What you're left with if you buy a house for £100k and then find that it's only worth £50k a few years later. In that example you'd be left with £50k of negative equity.

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): Based on Wall Street, this is the main US Stock Exchange.

Occupational Pension Scheme: This is where you contribute to your company's pension scheme and would then expect to receive a pension based on your final salary. If you're lucky enough to be part of such a scheme then you're probably very much in the minority.

Ordinary Share: These are the "normal" shares in a company that you're most likely to own. If you own ordinary shares then you'll be able to receive dividends, although you will also be last in line to receive the cash if the company that you've invested in turns out to be a flop.

Penny Share: These are shares of very low value (hence the name) that are often prone to large fluctuations (in terms of percentage) of price. Can be very profitable but will also be risky by their very nature.

Price/Earnings Ratio: A measurement that indicates a share's value in relation to its last 12 months' earnings expressed per share. One of the indicators used by investors to examine the potential worth a company and future value in buying shares in that company.

Prospectus: Document (often a glossy brochure) issued by a company before it issues shares to members of the public. The prospectus gives basic information about a company, such as its history and details of which businesses it's involved in.

Public Limited Company (PLC): A company becomes public when it issues shares to the public. A company must be public to be listed on the London Stock Exchange or the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Redemption Penalty: Penalty charge applied by a mortgage lender if you try and get out of a mortgage early. Well worth looking at the small print of your mortgage agreement to see what you're letting yourself in for.

Reverse Takeover: When a smaller company theoretically takes over a larger one. In practice, the shareholders of the larger company maintain control of the resulting entity.