Typically debt financing can be either short- or long-term, whereas equity financing is almost all long-term, the word "term" meaning: the time between a security's issue and its retirement the duration specified in all debt and equity securities the amount of time necessary to realize the return on the investment all of the above The term of investment can be described as either: long or short, long-term meaning any duration longer than one yearlong, intermediate, or short, intermediate being any duration longer than one year but shorter than five years none of the above The principle differences between capital markets and money markets are that: money and capital markets deal in the same securities, the only difference is term both markets deal in short-term debt securities; however, capital markets deal also in equity securities which have an indefinite term money markets deal only in short-term government debt capital markets deal in long-term debt and equity securities, while money markets deal only in short-term debt