PAYMENT PROTECTION INSURANCE
A form of insurance that pays off your debts (or, more commonly, makes the minimum repayments) if you can't work because you're ill or have been made redundant. It may be expensive in relation to the benefits you get and some policies have lots of exclusions. If you're keen on this type of policy, make sure you shop around for the best deal.

PENSION CREDIT
A state benefit paid to people aged 60 or over who receive other benefits or who are on a low income.

PENSION EARMARKING
A way of splitting a pension in a divorce. Instead of the pension being divided at the time of divorce, one partner agrees to pay the other a lump sum or a pension income when they retire.

PENSION OFFSETTING
A way of dividing assets on divorce so that the value of the pension can be offset against, for example, the value of the family home. It means that one person will be able to keep their pension intact while the other receives a bigger percentage of the property (and/or other assets).

PENSION SHARING
A way of dividing a pension at divorce so that some of the money in one partner's pension fund is transferred to the other. It means that both parties have a pension in their own right after the divorce.

PERSONAL ACCOUNT
A new type of work-based pension that is due to be launched in 2012. It's designed to help people on a lower income who have not joined their employer's pension scheme. If your employer offers a personal account, you will be automatically enrolled into it, although you can opt out afterwards.

PERSONAL PENSION
A pension that you take out directly with a pension provider. Confusingly, this may be offered through your work, in which case it's called a 'group personal pension'.

PHISHING
Emails sent by fraudsters that try and con you into giving personal or financial details. Typically, they pretend to be from your bank or credit card provider.

POOLED FUND
A way of pooling your money with that of thousands of other investors so that it can be spread between a number of investments. There are different types of pooled fund (such as OEICS, unit trusts and investment trusts) and they can invest in different assets (such as shares, bonds, commercial property or a mixture of them all).

POST-NUPTIAL AGREEMENT
An agreement made after marriage between a husband and wife (or civil partners) relating to - typically - money, property or a business that one partner owns. It is most likely to be drawn up when one partner is due to inherit a significant sum of money and it's often the parent, rather than the husband or wife, who insists on the agreement. They are thought to be generally enforceable.

POTENTIALLY EXEMPT TRANSFER (PET)
If you give away money, property or other assets and survive for seven years afterwards, the person who receives it may not have to pay any inheritance tax. The rules are more complex than they first appear, so take advice.

POUND COST AVERAGING
The term is not particularly user friendly, but the principle behind it is a useful one. If you pay a regular amount into an investment plan every month (say, £100), you get fewer units or shares when prices are high and more when prices are low. The clever bit is that you avoid some of the effects of volatility in the stock market that you'd have experienced if you'd invested a lump sum instead.

PRE-EXISTING CONDITION
Any illness or medical condition that you suffer from before you sign up to certain types of insurance policy. If you don't tell the insurer about a pre-existing medical condition, your cover could be void.

PRE-NUPTIAL AGREEMENT
A legal document that you can draw up before you get married, where you agree that you will divide what you own in a particular way or that certain assets (such as a business or property) will be kept out of the financial settlement in the event of a divorce. It's not currently legally binding in England or Wales, but is considered legally binding in Scotland (with certain stipulations relating to where the agreement was drawn up).

PRIORITY DEBTS
Debts that should be paid first if you're struggling to make all your debt payments. They include rent or mortgage, council tax, electricity or gas and court fines. The consequences of not paying them can be serious.

PRIOR RIGHTS
In Scottish law, your husband or civil partner has certain rights to a percentage of any property you owned at the time of your death. He or she can claim the house, if it's worth less than £300,000 (or £300,000 of its value if it's worth more), furniture and furnishings worth up to £24,000 and up to £42,000 or £75,000 of any money you had depending on whether or not there are any children.

PRIVATE MEDICAL INSURANCE (PMI)
Insurance that pays for the cost of treatment of medical conditions. These policies tend to be heavy on the small print so it's important to check exactly what you're buying. PMI is an annual policy, which means insurers can change the terms at renewal. A disease that was covered one year may not be covered the following year.

PRIVATE PENSION
A catch-all term that can have two meanings. Some people use it to mean any pension except the state pension, others to mean any pension not provided by the state or your employer.

PROBATE
The authority given to one or more people (the executors if you've made a will and administrators if you haven't) to administer your estate when you die. In Scotland, the process is called 'confirmation'.