Glossary

Plain-language definitions.

Terms that come up while evaluating coaching software, wealth software, and tax planning. Written by the studio that ships Cadence and HELM. No marketing fluff; just clear definitions, with examples and distinctions from common look-alike concepts.

A-Z A C D F I L M N P Q R S W
A
AEO / GEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
Optimization for AI-driven answer engines (Perplexity, ChatGPT browse, Claude search, Google AI Overview) — distinct from traditional SEO.
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Aggregator Credentials
Stored brokerage and bank login credentials that aggregator services (Plaid, Yodlee, MX) use to sync your account data.
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AMT — Alternative Minimum Tax (IRC §55-§59)
A parallel federal tax system that catches certain types of income — most notoriously, ISO exercise spreads — that escape regular tax.
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API-First
A design philosophy where every product feature is exposed through an API first, with the user interface treated as one consumer of that API among many.
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Asset Location
The strategy of placing different asset classes in different account types (taxable, traditional IRA, Roth) to maximize tax efficiency.
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C
Check-In Compliance
The percentage of clients who submit their scheduled progress check-ins on time — a leading indicator of coaching retention.
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Churn Rate
The percentage of customers (or revenue) that cancels in a given period — typically calculated monthly or annually.
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Cohort Retention
The percentage of users who acquired in a given period (the cohort) who remain active or paying at later time intervals — the most honest retention metric.
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D
Deload Week
A planned recovery week within a strength-training program where volume and intensity are reduced 30-50% to allow systemic recovery.
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Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA)
An investing approach where the investor commits a fixed dollar amount on a fixed schedule (weekly, monthly), regardless of market price — smoothing entry-price across cycles.
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Dunning
The automated process of recovering failed credit-card payments through retries, customer notifications, and (eventually) account suspension.
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F
Founding Cohort
A limited group of early customers (typically 25-100) who get permanently locked discounted pricing in exchange for testimonials and product feedback.
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I
IRMAA — Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount
A Medicare premium surcharge for retirees with high modified-adjusted gross income, based on tax returns from 2 years prior.
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L
Lifetime Memory AI
Coaching AI that retains complete client history (every PR, meal, check-in, wearable signal) across the full coach-client relationship.
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LTV / CAC Ratio
Lifetime customer value divided by acquisition cost — the core unit-economics metric of any SaaS business.
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M
MAGI — Modified Adjusted Gross Income
Your AGI with certain deductions added back — used as the income gauge for many tax thresholds (Roth contribution limits, IRMAA, NIIT, EV credits, premium tax credit).
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Monte Carlo Simulation (FI Planning)
A statistical method that runs thousands of simulated retirement scenarios with random return sequences to estimate the probability your plan succeeds.
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MRR — Monthly Recurring Revenue
The predictable monthly revenue from active subscriptions, normalized to a monthly figure regardless of billing frequency.
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N
NIIT — Net Investment Income Tax
A 3.8% tax on investment income (dividends, interest, capital gains) for individuals with MAGI above $200K single / $250K MFJ.
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P
Per-Client Pricing
A pricing model where the platform charges a fee for each active client a coach manages.
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Periodization (Strength)
Structured progression of training stress (volume, intensity, frequency) over weeks/months to drive specific adaptations.
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Progression Tree (Calisthenics / Skill-based)
A branched skill-progression diagram showing prerequisite skills and variant progressions for bodyweight or skill-based training.
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PWA (Progressive Web App)
A web app that installs to the phone's home screen and behaves like a native app — without going through the App Store.
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Q
QBI Deduction (IRC §199A)
A 20% federal income tax deduction for qualified business income from pass-through entities (sole props, partnerships, S-corps) — created in TCJA, extended in OBBBA, sunset open as of 2026.
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QSBS — Qualified Small Business Stock (IRC §1202)
Stock in a qualified C-corporation that, if held 5+ years, is eligible for federal capital-gains exclusion up to $10M or 10× basis.
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R
Roth Conversion Ladder
A multi-year strategy of converting traditional IRA dollars to Roth IRA in low-income years to fill up lower tax brackets.
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RPE — Rate of Perceived Exertion
A 1-10 scale rating how hard a working set felt, where 10 = absolute max and reps-in-reserve = (10 – RPE).
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S
Sequence-of-Returns Risk
The risk that bad market returns early in retirement (or right before) permanently impair a portfolio's ability to sustain withdrawals — even if average returns over the full retirement are fine.
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Service-Area Business (GBP)
A Google Business Profile classification for businesses that deliver to customers rather than have a storefront customers visit.
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Stripe Connect
A Stripe product family that lets a platform onboard sub-merchants (coaches, sellers, freelancers) so each receives payouts directly to their own bank account.
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W
Wash Sale Rule (IRC §1091)
A tax rule that disallows a capital loss if you buy "substantially identical" replacement securities within 30 days before or after the loss sale.
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White-label Coaching App
A coaching app where the coach's brand — not the platform's — is the visible identity.
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