Bond Ladders for Income: Building Rungs, Reinvestment & Cash-Flow Matching
Design an equal-rung ladder, map coupons and maturities year by year, weight maturity and yield with SUMPRODUCT, roll the ladder at new rates with a chart, fund planned expenses by cash-flow matching, compare barbell, ladder and bullet, protect real income with inflation-linked bonds and compare a ladder with a bond fund, every cell checked live. Fictional bonds and CDs, educational only, not investment advice.
The first lesson is free — no account needed.
About this course
A bond ladder course that designs and runs an income ladder of fictional bonds and CDs in a spreadsheet, for retirees, savers and anyone comparing a ladder with a bond fund. You split $100,000 into equal rungs that mature one year apart, map coupons and maturing principal year by year, weight maturity and yield with SUMPRODUCT, roll the ladder at new rates and chart how income follows falling rates with a delay, buy bonds backwards from the last expense so that coupons and principal cover planned withdrawals, compare a barbell, a ladder and a bullet by income, duration and rate risk, deflate a fixed nominal income and compare it with inflation-linked bonds, and estimate how a bond fund and a ladder react to rate changes with duration and convexity. Educational only, not investment advice. The first lab is free.
Lessons
- Designing a Ladder: Rungs, Equal Amounts & Maturity YearsFree
- Annual Coupon Income & the Maturity Schedule Pro
- Weighted Average Maturity & Yield of the Ladder Pro
- Rolling the Ladder: Reinvestment at New Rates (Chart) Pro
- Cash-Flow Matching: Buying Bonds to Fund Planned Expenses Pro
- Barbell vs Ladder vs Bullet: Income and Duration Pro
- Inflation & Real Income: Nominal Ladder vs Inflation-Linked Bonds Pro
- Ladder vs Bond Fund: Price Sensitivity with Duration Pro