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.
Term to maturity refers to the remaining life of a debt instrument. With bonds, term to maturity is the time between when the bond is issued and when it matures, known as its maturity date, at which time the issuer must redeem the bond by paying the principal or face value. Between the issue date and maturity date, the bond issuer will make coupon payments to the bond holder. BREAKING DOWN 'Term To Maturity' Bonds can be grouped into three broad categories depending on their terms to maturity: short term bonds of 1 to 5 years, intermediate term bonds of 5 to 12 years, and long term bonds of 12 to 30 years.