Fixed income refers to any type of investment that yields a regular (fixed) payment. Such investments provide a return in the form of fixed periodic payments and eventual return of principal at maturity. Fixed income securities are nothing new. They have been a part of the financial system ever since the concept of interest and ever since money and time has had a correlation. It is because of the time-value concept of fixed income securities that they have been instrumental in fuelling the growth and a strengthening of the financial system over the past few centuries.

All fixed income securities from any entity have risks including but not limited to inflationary risk, interest rate risk, currency risk, default risk, repayment of principal risk, reinvestment risk, liquidity risk, maturity risk, streaming income payment risk, duration risk, convexity risk, credit quality risk, political risk, tax adjustment risk, market risk, and other risks.

There are differences however, among various types of fixed income securities. People often understand the various types of fixed income securities as being the same. However, one should note that for instance bonds actually have the highest risk, while notes and bills have less risk.

TYPE OF FIXED INCOME
There are many different types of fixed income investments: bonds, mid-term notes, debentures, mortgages, asset-backed securities, savings bonds, Guaranteed Investment Contracts (GICs), and Certificates of Deposits (CDs).

Some fixed income securities, such as Government Bonds, are "negotiable" meaning that they can be bought and sold on the secondary market. Most investors refer to marketable fixed income investments as "bonds". Others, such as Government Savings Bonds and some types of Bank Deposit contracts, are not negotiable and must be held until maturity or refunded by the issuer.