Problem: Article: You can calculate your total return by adding the interest earned on the bond to the gain or loss your incur. The gain or loss may be generated based on selling the bond, or simply holding the bond until maturity. Assume that you buy a $10,000 face amount. You hold the bond until maturity and receive the $10,000 principal amount. There is no gain or loss on the bond. The bond pays 6% interest, and you hold the bond for 5 year and 11 months. The 11 of 12 months in the final year can be converted into .958. Your total interest earned over the life of the bond is [($10,000) X (6%) X (5.958 years) = $3,575]. Your total return on the bond is the interest earned ($3,575). Say that you buy the same bond and own the security for the same length of time. Assume, however, that you buy the bond for $10,000 and sell the bond for $9,800. You generate a $200 loss. The total return on your bond is ($3,575 interest) - ($200 capital loss) = $3,375. Assume that you buy the same bond and own the security for the same length of time. In this instance, you buy the bond for $10,000 and sell it for $10,100. You generate a $100 gain. The total return on your bond is ($3,575 interest) + ($100 capital gain) = $3,675. Your interest income and any capital gain or loss will be taxed. You should consider the dollar amount of your payments after taxes are paid. Assume that your interest income and a gain on a bond sale total $3,675. You pay a 20% tax on the interest income and the gain. Your total return after taxes is $3,675 X 80% = $2,940. Interest income is taxed as ordinary income. The tax rate for interest income is the same rate that you pay on your wages. Keep in mind that the tax rates for interest income and capital gains or losses may be different. It is important to note that you can declare capital losses as deductibles on your tax return. You can use your capital losses from investments to reduce your capital gains. This reduces how much you have to pay in taxes. If your capital losses are more than your capital gains, you can offset your ordinary income up to $3,000 in a single tax year. If your loss is greater than $3,000, then you can claim another $3,000 the next year, and so on until the entire amount has been deducted. The selling price of a bond varies depending on the current interest rate in the market. If the current market interest rate goes higher than the bond's coupon rate, then the bond is sold at a discount. Conversely, if the market interest rate falls below the bond's coupon rate, then the bond is sold at a premium. For example, suppose a company is selling $500,000, 5-year, 10 percent bonds, but the current market interest rate is 12 percent. If the current market interest rate is 12 percent, you are not going to want to invest your $1,000 in a bond that only has a 10 percent rate of return. So the company discounts the price of the bond to compensate you for the difference in the interest rate. In this example, the company would set the selling price at $463,202. Conversely, suppose the current market interest rate is 8 percent. In that case, the 10 percent coupon rate of the bond is a better return than you could get elsewhere. The company knows this, so they increase the price of the bond and issue it at a premium. The company would issue the $500,000 bond for a selling price of $540,573. In either case, you still receive interest payments based on the face value and coupon rate of the bond. The annual interest payments on the bond are $50,000 ($500,000 * .10 = $50,000). When a bond matures, you get the face value of the bond. Whether you bought the bond at a discount or a premium, upon maturity you receive the face value. Using the example above, whether you bought the bond at a discount or a premium, you would receive $500,000 upon maturity. The yield is your total return on the principal of a bond. The yield is impacted by the market interest rate because the market interest rate affects the selling price of the bond. But, the yield is different from the coupon rate and the market interest rate. Calculate the yield with the formula coupon amount / price. Using the example above, a company issues $500,000, 5-year, 10 percent bonds, and the market interest rate is 12 percent. The company sells the bond at a discount, and the price is $463,202. The annual coupon payments are $50,000. The annual yield is $50,000 / $463,202 = 10.79 percent. In the example where the market interest rate was 8 percent, the bond was sold at a premium, and the price was $540,573. The annual yield is $50,000 / $540,573 = 9.25 percent.
Summary: Add up your total proceeds from the bond. Adjust your bond's total return for the impact of taxes. Calculate the impact of the market interest rate on the price of the bond. Understand the difference between yield and interest rate.

Problem: Article: In simple terms: don't be perverse, rude, or vulgar. Any girl with an iota of self-respect won't tolerate that sort of behavior. Play the part of the polite gentleman if you want her to respond to you in a positive manner. Don't treat the girl like an object, curse at her when she doesn't respond the way you'd like her to respond, or turn the conversation to sex before any mutual attraction and romantic interest has been established. Being respectful encompasses more than just these three points, but minding these basic manners will at least be a good start. You can open the conversation with a joke to break the ice, but the wrong joke can start the conversation on an excruciatingly bad note. Humor doesn't always shine through when you're communicating digitally, so it's usually best to save it for when she gets a better understanding of your personality and sense of humor. If you do decide to open with a joke, stick with something safe. An obviously cheesy joke can work out well, and mildly self-deprecating humor might make her chuckle, too. Avoid off-color humor or jokes that can be easily misinterpreted, though. Opening a conversation by talking about your good points will only make you look egotistical. As the conversation progresses, the girl will likely ask you questions about yourself, and that's when you should start opening up about the details of your own life. On a similar note, don't talk and behave as though you're "God's gift to women." Even if you're the most charming guy alive, no woman is obligated to develop an interest in you. Try your best, but don't blame or insult the girl if it doesn't work out. Even if you're hoping to pursue some sort of relationship with this girl, you shouldn't start the conversation by asking her out. In fact, you should probably wait until you've gotten to know her over the course of several conversations before moving to that stage. As a general rule, you should wait until some mutual level of chemistry has been established. If and when you ask her out, do so as casually as possible. You don't even have to call it a "date"saying that you'd like to meet up and hang out in person is usually the best way to go. Don't ask her about other guys when you send her that first message. If you obsess too much about the other guys talking to her and appearing in her photos, you'll probably scare her off. Only ask her about the other guys in her life if you can do so naturally and as part of another topic. For instance, you could ask her about how she knows a mutual friend who happens to be male or ask her about the mixed group of friends she went to a concert with. The key here is to keep the conversation about her and her experiences while making the identity of the guy a secondary concern.
Summary:
Demonstrate respect. Use humor cautiously. Avoid bragging. Practice patience. Abandon any jealousy.