Bonds — the steady-income layer your portfolio is missing

Equity builds wealth; bonds pay the bills. Yet most Indian portfolios jump from savings accounts straight to stocks, skipping the layer professionals use for steady, contracted income.

A bond is simply a loan you give a company or government. They pay fixed interest (the coupon) and return your principal at maturity. Three things tell you everything:

1. Credit rating. AAA means the strongest balance sheets (HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, REC). Every step down — AA, A, BBB — pays more interest because the risk is real. Higher yield is never free.

2. Yield/XIRR, not coupon. A bond bought above face value earns less than its printed coupon. The XIRR is your true return if held to maturity — currently ~7.3–7.8% on AAA names and 8–8.6% on government-guaranteed state paper (indicative).

3. Secured vs unsecured. Secured bonds have named assets backing them if things go wrong.

A sensible structure: safety money in AAA and government-guaranteed bonds, a small high-yield slice (9–11% NCDs) only if you understand the issuer, and maturities laddered so cash keeps returning to you. Interest is taxed at your slab — factor that in.

Browse live bond and FD offers at wealthy.findost.io, or ask PaisaGuru "explain bonds" in any of 11 languages.

Indicative yields, subject to change and availability. Educational content, not investment advice.