Bank Interview Questions

Inflation risk, also called purchasing power risk, is the chance that the cash flows from an investment won't be worth as much in the future because of changes in purchasing power due to inflation.

HOW IT WORKS (EXAMPLE):

For example, $1,000,000 in bonds with a 10% coupon might generate enough interest payments for a retiree to live on, but with an annual 3% inflation rate, every $1,000 produced by the portfolio will only be worth $970 next year and about $940 the year after that. The rising inflation means that the interest payments have less and less purchasing power. And the principal, when it is repaid after several years, will buy substantially less than it did when the investor first purchased the bonds.

The real interest rate is the percentage increase in purchasing power that the lender receives on a loan. A decline in the real interest rate will increase the amount of investment spending.

Purchase return and allowances is a contra account to purchases.

Fractional reserve banking is the practice whereby a bank accepts deposits, makes loans or investments, but is required to hold reserves equal to only a fraction of its deposit liabilities. Fractional reserve banking is a banking system in which only a fraction of bank deposits are backed by actual cash on hand and are available for withdrawal. This is done to expand the economy by freeing up capital that can be loaned out to other parties.

The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is defined as the measure of an investment’s rate of return. It is also called the discounted cash flow rate of return.