BOND MATURITY

Unlike stocks, bonds have finite lifetimes. The issuers of bonds determine the lifetimes before they sell the bonds to investors.

The date on which a bond comes due is called its maturity or maturity date.

Some people use the word "maturity" to refer to the lifetime itself. For example, they may say that a particular bond has a ten-year maturity.

Maturities range from one month to as long as fifty years. Some different maturity times for different bonds are as follows:

Corporate bonds—10 to 40 years

Municipal bonds—1 to over 20 years

Municipal notes—1 month to 1 year

U.S. Government agency bonds—3 years and over

U.S. Treasury bonds—10 to 30 years

U.S. Treasury notes—2 to 10 years