User:Waltpohl/Drafts/Finance

Finance is the mechanism by which individuals or organizations transfer wealth through time and manage risk. Finance includes banking, investment, credit, and insurance.

Individuals or organizations transfer wealth through time by either investment or debt. Investment is the creation or acquisition of an asset in the hopes that it will maintain or increase in value over time. Debt is an arrangement where a lender provides wealth to a borrower now and later the borrower returns it. From the point of view of the lender, debt transfers wealth forward in time, while from the point of view of the borrower it transfers it backwards in time.