Yield to Maturity Calculator
Work out the annual return you lock in by buying a bond at today's price and holding it to maturity. Enter the price, face value, coupon rate and time left, and see the YTM, current yield, effective annual yield and every cash flow.
What you pay per bond, excluding accrued interest.
How to use the Yield to Maturity Calculator
- Enter the bond price you would pay (the clean price, without accrued interest) and the face (par) value.
- Add the coupon rate as an annual percentage and choose how often coupons are paid.
- Enter the years to maturity. Use whole coupon periods (for example 4.5 years for a semi-annual bond).
- Tick Callable bond if the issuer can redeem it early, and enter the call price and years to call.
- Read the YTM, current yield and duration, then check the cash flow table or copy the results.
Yield to maturity formula
A bond's price equals the present value of everything it will still pay you. Yield to maturity is the rate y that makes that true:
Price = C ÷ (1 + y) + C ÷ (1 + y)2 + … + (C + F) ÷ (1 + y)n
where C is the coupon per period (face × annual coupon rate ÷ payments per year), F is the face value repaid at maturity, and n is the number of coupon periods left. Because y appears in every term, it has to be found by iteration. The annual YTM quoted by brokers is y × payments per year (the bond-equivalent yield).
Example: a $1,000 bond with a 5% semi-annual coupon, 10 years left, priced at $950. C = $25, n = 20. The yield that discounts the 20 coupons and the $1,000 back to $950 is about 2.83% per half-year, so YTM ≈ 5.66%. The current yield is only 50 ÷ 950 = 5.26%, because it ignores the $50 you gain when the bond is repaid at par.
How price and yield move together
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. When market rates rise, existing bonds with lower coupons fall in price until their YTM matches the new rates. Duration tells you how sensitive the price is: modified duration of 7 means a 1 percentage point rise in yield lowers the price by roughly 7%.
| Price vs par | Relationship | Example (5% coupon) |
|---|---|---|
| Discount (price < face) | YTM > current yield > coupon rate | Price 950 → current yield 5.26%, YTM above 5.26% |
| Par (price = face) | YTM = current yield = coupon rate | Price 1,000 → all three are 5.00% |
| Premium (price > face) | YTM < current yield < coupon rate | Price 1,050 → current yield 4.76%, YTM below 4.76% |
YTM assumes you hold to maturity, the issuer never defaults and every coupon is reinvested at the same yield. Real returns differ if you sell early, rates change or the bond is called. For callable bonds, compare yield to call and use the lower figure (yield to worst).
Frequently asked questions
What is yield to maturity?
Yield to maturity (YTM) is the single discount rate that makes the present value of all a bond's remaining coupons plus its face value equal to its current price. It is the annualized return you earn if you buy at that price, hold to maturity, receive every payment on time and reinvest coupons at the same rate.
How do you calculate yield to maturity?
Solve Price = Σ C ÷ (1 + y)^t + F ÷ (1 + y)^n for the periodic yield y, where C is the coupon per period, F the face value and n the number of periods. There is no closed-form answer, so the equation is solved by trial and error; this calculator uses a bisection search accurate to many decimals. The annual YTM is y times the number of coupons per year.
What is the approximate YTM formula?
Approximate YTM = (annual coupon + (face − price) ÷ years) ÷ ((face + price) ÷ 2). For a $1,000 bond with a $50 coupon, priced at $950 with 10 years left: (50 + 5) ÷ 975 = 5.64%. It is close for bonds near par but drifts for long, deep-discount or high-coupon bonds, so the calculator shows both.
What is the difference between current yield and yield to maturity?
Current yield is just the annual coupon divided by the price, so it ignores the gain or loss you get when the bond is repaid at face value. YTM includes that pull to par. For a discount bond YTM is higher than the current yield, for a premium bond it is lower, and at par they are equal to the coupon rate.
Why is YTM quoted for semi-annual bonds as a doubled rate?
US Treasury and most corporate bond yields are quoted on a bond-equivalent basis: the semi-annual yield times two. The true effective annual yield is a little higher because of compounding, (1 + y)^2 − 1. Both figures are shown.
What is yield to call?
Yield to call is the same calculation but assumes the issuer redeems the bond at the call price on the first call date. For callable bonds trading above par, investors often look at the lower of YTM and yield to call, called the yield to worst.
Does this include accrued interest?
The calculation assumes you buy on a coupon date, so the price is the clean price and there is no accrued interest. Between coupon dates the dirty price includes accrued interest, and dealers use exact day counts, so a broker's YTM can differ slightly.