Bonds are loans you make to governments or companies, and understanding how they work requires knowing two key concepts: what your bond is worth right now, and when you'll get your money back. Bond value changes based on interest rates and market conditions, which means a bond you buy today might be worth more or less if you need to sell it before it matures. Maturity is the date when the issuer repays your principal, and bonds can mature in months, years, or decades. These factors directly affect your returns and how bonds fit into your overall savings strategy.
The articles here explain how interest rate changes affect bond prices, why older bonds trade at discounts or premiums, how to read maturity dates and what they mean for your money, and how to think about the trade-offs between bonds that mature soon versus those that mature far in the future. You'll learn how to compare bonds with different maturity dates and understand the relationship between the interest rate a bond pays and its current market value.