Also called YTM
Yield to maturity
The total return on a bond held to the end, counting both interest and the pull toward face value. It is the bond's internal rate of return.
Updated 2026-09-05
Yield to maturity is the total annualised return from holding a bond to the end, counting both the interest received and the difference between the price paid and the face value repaid.
It is the bond's internal rate of return, and it is the same arithmetic as a DCF run backwards: the discount rate at which the present value of every future payment equals today's price. A bond and a company are valued the same way; the bond's cash flows are simply contractual.
See also
- Bond — A loan to a company or government, repaid on a fixed schedule with interest. You are a creditor, not an owner, and you get paid before shareholders.
- Coupon rate — The fixed annual interest a bond pays, as a percentage of its face value. It never changes, which is why the price has to move instead.
- Duration — How much a bond's price moves for a one-point change in rates. A duration of 7 means roughly a 7 percent fall if yields rise a point.
- Present value — What a future year's free cash flow is worth in today's money.
Educational content, not investment advice. Angie explains how a valuation is built so you can judge it yourself. What you do with that is your call.
