In finance, the term yield is the income an investment generates, expressed as a percentage of the investment’s current price.
It is the realised return that an investor can expect to receive on an investment, taking into account the interest, dividends, or other benefits that the investment generates.
Yield is often used to compare the potential return on different investments.
For example, if you are considering purchasing a bond, you might compare the yield on that bond to the yield of other bonds or to other types of investments, such as stocks or mutual funds.
Yield can also be used to compare the potential return on investment to the current market interest rates.
Typically, yield is stated as a percentage of the amount invested, the market value, or the par value of the securities.
The formula to calculate yield is: Yield = Net Realized Return/Principal Amount, where Net Realized Return is equal to the total income earned minus expenses and Principal Amount is equal to the initial investment amount.
For example, say an investor buys a stock for $100 and sells it for $110 after a year. During this time, the investor earned $3 in dividends. Then, the investor’s realized returns are equal to the sum of their profits and dividend payments, i.e., $13 in this case.
Using the formula outlined earlier, the investor’s yield from the investment is 13/100 or 13%, since there were no associated costs.
Sometimes, there are charges or expenses related to the purchase, storage, or maintenance of the asset.
For example, real estate investments, such as the purchase of an apartment, generally incur property taxes and maintenance charges. Those expenses must be deducted from income earned to get an accurate measure of the asset’s yield.
The yield of an asset can be affected by numerous things. For instance, Treasury bond yields are typically inversely proportional to the duration of the bond. Consequently, Treasury bonds with longer maturities have higher yields.
In contrast, bank savings account yields are based on the federal interest rate established by the Federal Reserve. High-yielding securities may not necessarily result in returns for investors.
For instance, equities with dropping prices may have high dividend yields since the payout remains constant despite the price decline. Even if the dividend yield is high, the overall return on the stock investment may be low if the stock’s price continues to decrease.
Similarly, bonds with high yields, sometimes known as trash bonds, have a greater risk because they are more susceptible to default.
Yield is comparable to a bond’s stated coupon rate, or the percentage interest to be paid by the bond, but differs since bonds trade for a price other than their face value.
The yield will be greater than the coupon rate if the bond is purchased at a discount and resold at face value since the investor will invest less for the same return and retain the difference between the discounted price and face value at maturity.
Therefore, the actual question is whether you would rather invest in a stable asset with low yields or a volatile asset with high yields.