Written, signed, unconditional, and unsecured promise by one party (the maker or promisor) to another (the payee or promisee) that commits the maker to pay a specified sum on demand, or on a fixed or a determinable date. Promissory notes (such as bank or currency notes) are negotiable instruments.
Advanced Bond Concepts: Duration. The term duration has a special meaning in the context of bonds. It is a measurement of how long, in years, it takes for the price of a bond to be repaid by its internal cash flows. It is an important measure for investors to consider, as bonds with higher durations carry more risk and have higher price volatility than bonds with lower durations.
Answer: Maturity and duration may sound somewhat alike, and both measures are expressed in years. However, they mean very different things. Maturity is pretty straightforward. A bond's maturity is the length of time until the principal must be paid back. So a 10-year bond will earn interest for 10 years from the date it is purchased. At the end of that time period the bond's principal is repaid to the owner of the bond and interest payments cease.