Question

. What are two definitions of yield to maturity ?

Answer 1

Yield to maturity (YTM) is the total return anticipated on a bond if the bond is held until it matures. Yield to maturity is considered a long-term bond yield but is expressed as an annual rate. In other words, it is the internal rate of return (IRR) of an investment in a bond if the investor holds the bond until maturity, with all payments made as scheduled and reinvested at the same rate.Yield to maturity is similar to current yield, which divides annual cash inflows from a bond by the market price of that bond to determine how much money one would make by buying a bond and holding it for one year. Yet, unlike current yield, YTM accounts for the present value of a bond's future coupon payments. In other words, it factors in the time value of money, whereas a simple current yield calculation does not. As such, it is often considered a more thorough means of calculating the return from a bond.The YTM of a discount bond that does not pay a coupon is a good starting place in order to understand some of the more complex issues with coupon bonds. The formula to calculate YTM of a discount bond is as follows: