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Bonds

Bonds are how governments and companies borrow. You lend principal up front, receive coupon payments along the way, and get your principal back at maturity if the issuer stays solvent.

Why people search for bonds

Lock in a predictable interest stream with less day-to-day volatility than equities.

Every listing below is editorially independent — MoneyMoodBoard does not earn commissions on any of them. Numeric fields cite primary sources (regulator filings, operator pricing pages) on the individual listing page.

41 listings as of June 2026

Key attributes for bonds

Yield·Maturity·Issuer·Rating

What to look for in bonds

Use this checklist before committing to any bonds listed above: editorial criteria that consistently separate well-run products from the rest. Each point applies to most listings in the category, including those we have not yet reviewed in detail.

Credit quality

Investment grade (BBB-/Baa3 and above) issuers have meaningfully lower historical default rates than high-yield. The yield premium on lower-rated bonds compensates for higher expected losses — it isn't free money. Look at recent rating actions, not just the headline grade.

Duration

Duration translates interest-rate moves into expected price moves. Short-duration bonds (under 3 years) barely budge when the Fed acts; long-duration Treasuries can swing 10% or more on a single percentage point of rate change. Match duration to your spending horizon.

Yield to maturity

Compare bonds on yield to maturity, not coupon rate. YTM bakes in any premium or discount to face value and is the total annualized return if you hold to maturity and the issuer pays as promised. Watch yield-to-worst on callable bonds.

Liquidity and structure

Treasuries trade in deep markets with tiny spreads. Many corporate and especially municipal bonds trade thinly, with wide spreads and mark-ups baked into broker quotes. If you'll need to sell before maturity, that liquidity discount can dwarf the yield advantage.

What are bonds?

Bonds are fixed income securities. The five short sections below walk through how they work, who they suit, the main risks, where they fit in a broader plan, and the US regulatory rules that govern them today.

How bonds work

Each bond has a face value, a coupon rate, and a maturity date. The market price changes daily as interest rates move, but the coupon and face value at maturity stay fixed.

Who they suit

Investors who want predictable income, lower volatility than stocks, or who are getting closer to retirement and want to lock in known cash flows.

Key risks

When market interest rates rise, existing bond prices fall — that's interest rate risk. Corporate bonds also carry credit risk: the issuer can default. Inflation can erode the real value of fixed payments.

Fit in a broader plan

Bonds anchor most diversified portfolios as a stabilizer when stocks fall. A common rule of thumb sets the bond allocation roughly equal to your age, though risk tolerance and time horizon trump any rule. In retirement, bond ladders fund near-term spending without forcing equity sales in down markets.

US regulatory context

Treasuries are issued by the Treasury Department; corporate and municipal bonds are SEC-registered with prospectuses on EDGAR. FINRA's TRACE system publishes corporate bond trade data. Munis offer federal tax exemption and, for in-state residents, often state and local exemption as well.

Bonds glossary

These are the terms you will see most often across bonds listings, statements, prospectuses and support docs. Skim them once so the rest of the page, and every product page in this category, reads cleanly the next time you visit.

Coupon
The fixed interest rate the bond pays on its face value, expressed as an annual percentage.
Face value
The amount returned to the bondholder at maturity, typically $1,000 per bond in the US.
Yield to maturity
Total annualized return if the bond is held to maturity and all payments are made on schedule.
Duration
A weighted average of when cash flows arrive, used to estimate price sensitivity to interest-rate moves.
Credit spread
Yield premium over Treasuries demanded for taking credit risk. Widens in recessions, tightens in expansions.
Callable
A bond the issuer can repay early at a set price, usually when rates fall enough to refinance.
Coupon-bearing vs. zero
Coupon bonds pay periodic interest; zeros are sold at a discount and pay only face value at maturity.
Accrued interest
Interest earned between coupon dates that the buyer pays the seller on top of the purchase price.

Related listings in other categories

Investors comparing bonds often weigh adjacent categories that solve a similar job from a different angle. The cards below jump to sibling sections of the directory where the same money could plausibly be put to work or compared.

Treasury Bills

Short-term debt issued by the US Treasury, maturing in one year or less.

Mutual Funds

Pooled investment vehicles, most often actively managed, that price once a day at NAV.

ETFs

Baskets of securities that trade on a stock exchange like a single share.

Bonds: common questions

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