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Bond investing basics are simple. When you buy a bond, the bond issuer - either a government or corporation - pays you an agreed-upon rate of interest known as the coupon rate. In addition, you get your original investment back when the bond reaches a maturity date. Bonds come in many flavors: taxable and tax-exempt, long- and short-term, AAA-rated and junk, inflation-protected, fixed-rate and variable-rate. Before investing in a bond issue, you should consider several factors. ...