Rating: A rating assigned to debt securities by independent rating services based on the issuer's ability to meet interest and principal payments.

Real estate investment trust (REIT): A company that owns and manages a portfolio of real estate properties. REITs serve as conduits through which rental income is passed from real estate holdings to shareholders.

Redemption fee: A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment.

Regulation T call: Also called a Fed call - This is the amount of money or securities an investor must deposit if buying on margin or selling short, as required by the Federal Reserve Board's Regulation T.

Retirement plan distribution: A withdrawal of funds from a retirement plan.

Right: The privilege given to existing shareholders to buy a proportionate number of shares of newly issued stock at a specified and usually discounted price before it is offered to the public.

Risk/return factor: The relationship between an investment's growth potential and its exposure to loss. Typically an investor must be willing to accept greater risk to pursue greater returns.

Rollover IRA: An individual retirement account (IRA) to which you can transfer assets from other qualified retirement plans.

Roth Individual Retirement Account (Roth IRA): A new investment vehicle designed for retirement savings. The Roth IRA offers the opportunity to achieve tax-free growth of investment earnings and make tax-free withdrawals of the assets at retirement or earlier for special purposes. (See also "traditional individual retirement account.")

Round lot: The standard unit of trading in a particular type of security. For stocks, the generally accepted unit of trading is 100 shares. (See also "odd lot.")