Yield to Maturity Calculator
Estimate a bond's annualized yield from its price, coupon, face value, payment frequency, and remaining term.
Bond inputs
Principal repaid at maturity. Use U.S. decimal notation.
Current clean purchase price per bond.
Annual coupon as a percentage of face value.
Number of coupon payments per year.
Remaining term; must create a whole number of payment periods.
Live results
Because the bond trades below face value, its YTM is above its 5.00% coupon rate.
Discounted cash-flow schedule
| Payment | Time (years) | Coupon | Principal | Total cash flow | Present value |
|---|
Each cash flow is discounted at the solved periodic yield. The present values sum to the $980.00 bond price.
How to use the Yield to Maturity Calculator
What this calculator does
This calculator solves for the annualized yield to maturity of a conventional fixed-rate bond. YTM is the discount rate that makes the present value of every remaining coupon payment and the final principal repayment equal to the bond's current price. It is useful as a consistent comparison rate, but it is not a promise of realized return. The estimate assumes all scheduled payments arrive on time, the bond is held to maturity, and coupon cash can effectively be reinvested at the same yield. FINRA's explanation of bond yield and return provides helpful context for these assumptions.
When to use it
Use the calculator to compare bonds with different prices and coupon rates, evaluate whether a discount or premium bond offers an attractive annualized yield, check a broker quote, or test how a price change affects expected return. It also helps separate coupon rate, current yield, and YTM – three related but different measures.
How to calculate
- The calculator opens with a complete demonstration bond and a validated Excel workbook ready to download.
- Replace the five sample values with the bond's actual face value, price, annual coupon rate, coupon frequency, and remaining years.
- Read the live YTM and supporting measures. Review the schedule to see how coupon and principal cash flows reconcile to the price.
- Select Download Excel to export the current canonical inputs and results as a real XLSX workbook.
- Select Reset to clear the demonstration and all calculated content. Excel export remains unavailable until a complete valid scenario is entered again.
Input guide
Face value is required currency and represents principal repaid at maturity. Enter a positive amount using U.S. decimal notation, such as 1000. A higher face value raises both coupon dollars and final principal when other inputs are unchanged. Do not confuse face value with market price. Bond price is required currency and should be the amount paid for one bond, such as 980. A lower price generally produces a higher YTM; a higher price generally produces a lower YTM. This model treats the input as a clean price and does not add accrued interest.
Annual coupon rate is a required percentage from 0% through 100%, such as 5. It is multiplied by face value to find annual coupon dollars. Enter 5 for 5%, not 0.05. Coupon frequency is required and controls how many coupon payments occur each year: annual, semiannual, quarterly, monthly, weekly, or daily. The calculator divides annual coupon dollars by this frequency and annualizes the solved periodic yield using the same frequency. Match the bond's actual payment convention rather than choosing a frequency only to obtain a preferred result.
Years to maturity is required and may include decimals only when the selected frequency creates a whole number of remaining payment periods. For example, 7.5 years is valid with semiannual payments because it creates 15 periods. A longer term usually increases the influence of market yield assumptions and delays principal recovery. Enter the remaining term, not the bond's original term at issuance.
Output guide
Yield to maturity (YTM) is the solved nominal annual rate, compounded at the selected coupon frequency. It is an estimate based on the contractual cash flows and the assumptions above. Annual coupon payment is face value multiplied by the coupon rate. Coupon per period divides that annual coupon by payment frequency. Current yield divides annual coupon dollars by current price; it ignores the gain or loss between price and face value, so it is not the same as YTM. Total coupon income is the undiscounted sum of remaining coupons.
The summary pills identify whether the bond is priced at a discount, at par, or at a premium; show annual coupon dollars; and report the number of remaining payments. In the Discounted cash-flow schedule, Payment is the sequential period, Time is years from now, Coupon and Principal are contractual cash flows, Total cash flow combines them, and Present value discounts that total at the solved YTM. The present-value column should sum to the entered bond price, apart from tiny numerical rounding.
Worked example
The opening example uses a $1,000 face value, a $980 price, a 5% annual coupon, annual payments, and 10 years remaining. Annual coupon dollars equal $1,000 × 5% = $50. The calculator solves the rate r in the bond-pricing identity so that $980 equals the present value of nine $50 payments plus a final $1,050 payment. The result is a YTM of approximately 5.26%. Current yield is $50 ÷ $980 = 5.10%. Because the bond is purchased below face value, YTM is higher than both the coupon rate and current yield.
Bond price = Σ [coupon per period ÷ (1 + periodic yield)t] + face value ÷ (1 + periodic yield)N
Learn more
The U.S. Treasury's guide to security pricing and interest rates explains the relationship between prices and yields. Investor.gov also explains how bonds work and why selling before maturity can change the investor's outcome.
How to interpret YTM responsibly
A discount bond normally has YTM above its coupon rate because the investor receives both coupon income and a gain when principal is repaid at face value. A premium bond normally has YTM below its coupon rate because part of the larger coupon stream offsets the loss from paying more than face value. A bond priced exactly at par generally has YTM equal to its coupon rate.
YTM is most useful for comparing contractual cash-flow patterns on a common annualized basis. It does not capture default losses, taxes, transaction costs, callable-bond redemption, changing reinvestment rates, or a sale before maturity. For callable securities, review yield to call and yield to worst as well. FINRA's discussion of callable-bond risk explains why maturity may not be the only relevant redemption date.