Fixed Income Dashboard – Learn More

You can view multiple types of fixed income securities in the dashboard, including municipal bonds, corporate bonds, US Treasury bonds, agency/government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) bonds, brokered certificates of deposit (CDs), and bond mutual funds. This list of product types is not exhaustive. Other securities can be entered into the dashboard, but the dashboard may not be able to perform a complete analysis on them. IMPORTANT: If you have unsettled trades pending in any of the accounts identified on this page as of the date the dashboard was generated, the account balances, holdings data and analytical information presented in this report may be materially impacted and, depending on the size and scope of such unsettled trades, rendered unreliable.

The Fixed Income Dashboard (FID) is split into multiple pages.

• Summary page – An overview of your Fidelity accounts and fixed income positions. Summary calculations and totals are for individual bonds, CDs and bond mutual funds held in eligible Fidelity accounts.
• Bonds & CDs page – This page includes three tabs: Positions, Cash Flow, and Analytics. Each page contains information about the individual bonds and CDs in the account or hypothetical list in context. The default view only includes positions within eligible Fidelity accounts. You can update this view by selecting or removing additional accounts and hypothetical lists from the drop downs in the Customize your view section of each tab.
• Bond Mutual Funds page – This page includes three sections: Positions, Cash Flow, and Analytics. Each section contains information about the bond mutual funds in the account or list in context. The default view only includes bond fund positions within eligible Fidelity accounts. You can update this view by selecting or removing additional accounts and hypothetical lists from the drop downs in the Customize your view section of each tab.

The following products are specifically excluded from the Bonds & CDs Portfolio averages, Cash Flow Calculations, and Analytics sections of the dashboard:

• All mortgage and asset-backed securities
• All non-fixed-rate securities
• All securities that are in default
• All foreign-denominated bonds
• Unpriced securities, or securities with a current value of $0.00 (including new issue bonds and CDs, or positions purchased intraday)
• Some index-linked notes
• Bond mutual funds

The following are excluded from the Bond Mutual Funds section of the dashboard:

• Non-fixed income mutual funds
• Blended mutual funds
• Money market mutual funds
• Allocation funds
• Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

These lists of product types are not exhaustive. There may be other securities that are excluded from the Portfolio averages and Cash Flow Calculations sections of the dashboard.

For step-up bonds, the current coupon per the securities' step schedule is used to calculate the Average Coupon Rate in the Summary Calculations section of the dashboard. In addition, step-up bonds are excluded from the Annual Interest field.

Please also note that the Fixed Income Dashboard utilizes a third-party price to calculate an estimated yield to worst for individual bond and CD positions entered into the dashboard and this price may be different than the price at which the bond or CD may be purchased (ask price) or sold (bid price). This price also does not reflect the price or yield at the time of purchase. The Bond Ladder Tool utilizes actual offering prices (known as "ask prices") to compute yield and therefore the yields shown by the Fixed Income Dashboard will be different from those shown in the Bond Ladder Tool. If no third-party price exists, additional calculations will not occur.

Additionally, Fidelity does not calculate estimated yield for the following holdings:

• All mortgage and asset-backed securities
• All non-fixed-rate securities
• All securities that are in default
• All foreign-denominated bonds
• All bond mutual funds
• Step-up bonds
• Any security that cannot be priced or for which no price is available
• Some structured products

Because of this, the value in the Estimated Yield field defaults to 0.00. However, please note that the Estimated Yield may be something other than 0.00.

The maximum number of accounts the Dashboard can handle is 250, which includes accounts registered in your name or on which you have trading authority. The maximum number of total positions across accounts and lists is 5,000.

Yes. You can export the information in the positions table by selecting the export icon located at the top right of the positions table. The export only includes information in the positions table. Information located in the Positions drawer, the Cash flow tab, the Analytics tab, the Summary tab, and all bond mutual funds information are excluded from the export.

The portfolio calculations section analyzes totals and averages of the actual and hypothetical bond and brokered CD positions in your portfolio. The results can be displayed at the portfolio, account or list level, and calculations use the most recent price and value. Portfolio calculation averages are market value weighted.

In the Bonds & CDs tab, the results for the portfolio calculations described below will be reflective of whether it is an account or list in context. In the Summary tab, the portfolio calculations only include positions held in your Fidelity accounts and will not adjust if you customize your view in the Bonds & CDs or Funds tabs. Calculations use the prior night's third-party price and value. For TIPS, the Total Market Value and Total Par Value are adjusted by the prior day's inflation factor.

In some instances, positions will not have a third-party price. When this occurs, calculations on those positions will not be performed. You should not rely on these calculations as the primary basis for your investment, financial, or tax planning decisions.

In cases where duration is unavailable, affected securities are excluded from the calculation.

Alternative investments, also known as alternatives or alts, can be generally defined as investments distinct from traditional holdings, such as stocks, bonds, and cash. The term "alternative investments" can cover a diverse range of asset types and investment strategies, including private equity, private credit, real assets, digital assets, and liquid alternatives.

These alternative asset types have distinct characteristics and can play unique roles in a portfolio for investors seeking to enhance returns, manage risk, or improve diversification.

You can group Fidelity and hypothetical lists according to your investment strategy or any other approach. To create a new list of individual bonds or CDs, use the Create a hypothetical list link located on the Bonds & CDs Positions, Cash Flow or Analytics tabs. You must name your list, enter a valid CUSIP, and provide a valid quantity. Bonds and CDs should be entered in par value. For example, 5 bonds should be entered as 5,000. When you have finished entering the CUSIPs and quantities, click the "Save list" button to save the list. You will then find the new list alongside all your other hypothetical lists in the Hypothetical lists dropdown.

To create a hypothetical list of bond fund positions, use the Create a hypothetical list link located on the Bond Mutual Funds tab. You must name your list, enter a valid Symbol, and provide a valid quantity. When you have finished entering the Symbols and quantities, click the "Save list" button to save the list. You will then find the new list alongside all your other hypothetical lists in the Hypothetical lists dropdown.

You can add hypothetical positions in two ways:

1. Select the Add hypothetical bonds & CDs, or Add hypothetical funds, button to add positions to an existing list. You will need to enter the CUSIP or the bond fund’s ticker and a quantity. Positions must be added to a hypothetical list.
2. Select the Manage hypothetical lists button in the Hypothetical lists drop down and then select the edit icon for the list you want to update. You will need to add the CUSIP or the bond fund’s ticker and quantity and click "Save list".

Once you have added a position, you see the impact of the new hypothetical position on the Cash Flow page, Analytics page, and Portfolio averages.

It may be possible to add acquired, closed or inactive bond mutual funds as a hypothetical holding. As a result, the dashboard may contain outdated information about the fund. Please refer to the "As of Date" on the positions tab or the Fund Composition Page on Fidelity.com to verify the status of hypothetical holdings. Positions held in your Fidelity accounts will be automatically updated to reflect these changes.

The Fixed Income Dashboard Summary page provides a snapshot of the fixed income holdings, including individual bonds & CDs and bond mutual funds, in your eligible Fidelity accounts. Hypothetical list positions are excluded from all calculations and position details on the Summary tab.

This includes the total market value of the individual bonds, CDs and bond mutual funds included in your Fidelity accounts. The market value of individual bonds and CDs is calculated using the prior night’s third-party price. The market value of bond mutual funds is calculated using the prior business day’s closing NAV.

On the Summary page, the portfolio calculations only include positions held in your Fidelity accounts and will not adjust based on any change to the Customize your view section on other pages. Calculations use the prior night's third-party price and value. For TIPS, the Total Market Value and Total Par Value are adjusted by the prior day's inflation factor. The total market value bar in this section will only include individual bonds & CDs included within eligible Fidelity accounts.

The Positions, Cash flow, and Analytics cards provide a snapshot of the information included within each of those tabs of the Fixed Income Dashboard. The information included within each card may not be indicative of your entire portfolio and may not include all position details. For the full list of positions, cash flow or analytics, click on the "See More" button included within each card. The summary cards only include positions held in your eligible Fidelity accounts.

On the Summary tab, the Bond Mutual Funds total market value bar will only include bond mutual fund positions included within eligible Fidelity accounts.

The Mutual Fund positions card provides a snapshot of the bond mutual fund positions included within the Bond Mutual Funds tab of the Fixed Income Dashboard. The information included within the card may not be indicative of your entire portfolio and may not include all position details. For the full list of positions, cash flow or analytics, click on the "See More" button included within each card. The Bond Mutual Funds positions card only includes positions held in your eligible Fidelity accounts.

The Positions tab shows details about the individual bond and CD positions in the account and hypothetical list you have selected. You can customize the accounts and lists using the drop downs. Most columns can be sorted to your preference. The positions are sorted by maturity date by default. You can click on each position description hyperlink to view additional details on the Bond Details page of the selected CUSIP. Additional call details can be viewed by clicking the "View" or call date link in the Call date column.

The Location column identifies whether a position is held in a Fidelity account or as part of a hypothetical list.

The Accrued Interest column represents the amount of interest earned on a position since the last coupon date or dated date. Zero coupon bonds, including Treasury Bills, will display "$0.00" as the accrued interest amount. The calculation assumes the most recent business day as the settlement date.

The "LDR" indicator represents any individual bond or CD position that was originally purchased as part of a bond ladder or model CD ladder.

Positions marked with an asterisk ("*") represent positions that are excluded from certain summary calculations, cash flow calculations, or analytics. For additional details on excluded positions, see "What types of securities are excluded from the Fixed Income Dashboard?"

Positions marked with an "AR" indicator represent positions that are enrolled in the Fidelity Auto Roll Service. To learn more about the Auto Roll Service, click here.

The Bonds and CDs cash flow tab has multiple views showing potential future cash flows of the positions in the accounts and hypothetical lists you have selected. The section can be viewed using the default Cash Distribution graph or the Taxability graph. You can also view your data in monthly or annual increments. The cash flow calculations graphs display hypothetical future interest income and principal payments and are intended for educational purposes only. Your actual distributions, interest payments and principal payments may differ significantly from the amounts displayed and should not be relied upon for making investment, financial, or tax planning decisions. The graphs will not determine the likelihood that a call or early redemption will be exercised. The Cash Distribution section is intended to provide a general view of potential cash distributions and does not consider your tax situation or other complex situations in its calculations.

Certain securities, including TIPS, are excluded from the Cash Distribution section. For convertible securities, the graph models contractual coupon and principal payments only. The potential conversion to equity may result in a different cash flow than displayed. You should not rely on these estimates as the primary basis for your investment, financial, or tax planning decisions. For additional information about which specific securities in your holdings list are handled in the cash flow calculations, please see "What types of securities are excluded from the Fixed Income Dashboard?"

This graph shows the annual or monthly bond & CD cash flow based on cash distributions until a bond's maturity or pre-refunded redemption date. When a full call has been announced, the dashboard will reflect the updated redemption day and price, once known. The Cash Distribution graph is intended to provide a general view of hypothetical cash distributions and does not consider exercised calls, your tax situation, or other complex situations in its calculations. The Cash Distribution graph displays hypothetical future income of the bond and brokered CD positions of all the accounts in context. The monthly graph is limited to the next 30 years of principal and interest payments. TIPS are excluded from the Cash Distribution section. The graph will not determine the likelihood of a call being exercised. You should not rely on these estimates as the primary basis for your investment, financial, or tax planning decisions.

The Taxability graph is intended to provide the annual or monthly cash flow distribution based on a bond's tax status (taxable or tax-exempt). The Taxability graph displays hypothetical future income of the bond and brokered CD positions of all the accounts in context. TIPS are excluded from the Taxability graph. The graph will not determine the likelihood of a call being exercised. You should not rely on these estimates as the primary basis for your investment, financial, or tax planning decisions. Certain bond types, in particular bonds that do not have fixed rate coupons, such as mortgage-backed securities, are excluded from the Cash Flow Analysis section of the Fixed Income Dashboard. Learn more on Excluded Securities.

The Payment schedule section of the cash flow tab provides the hypothetical next twelve months' interest and principal of the bonds and brokered CDs of all the accounts selected. The schedule does not include any historical interest or principal payments. Payments starting from the current day through the next twelve months are included in the calculation and are noted above the schedule. Principal payments are based on a bond or CD's maturity date, exercised call, or pre-refunding date. The schedule will not determine the likelihood of a call being exercised. Upcoming schedule assumes all upcoming payments will be made and does not take into account potential default or other adverse conditions impacting issuer's payment. You should not rely on these estimates as the primary basis for your investment, financial, or tax planning decisions.

The Potential early redemptions table shows the next ten calendar years annual principal cash flow based on a bond or CD’s next potential redemption date. This may include a scheduled call (either full or partial), maturity, sinking fund, or other refunding type. If a bond is noncallable, the table with show the bond at its anticipated maturity date. Click the arrow to the left of any year to see a detailed listing of positions with potential early redemptions during that year. The table will value principal at the redemption price, if known. If the redemption price is not known at the current time, the redemption price will default to par. This table does not predict the likelihood of a call being exercised. Each position or year’s portfolio percentage is based on the total value of all the bond and CD positions in the accounts or hypothetical lists selected.

The Upcoming scheduled payments table lists the current and upcoming calendar years' coupon and principal payments of the bond and brokered CDs of all the Fidelity and hypothetical accounts selected. The table can be sorted to show only coupon payments or only principal payments. The table does not include any historical payments. Upcoming schedule assumes all upcoming payments will be made and does not take into account potential default or other adverse conditions impacting issuer's payment. You should not rely on these estimates as the primary basis for your investment, financial, or tax planning decisions.

This chart identifies the percentage of your positions that are federally taxable or tax-exempt. Corporate bonds, agency/government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) bonds, US Treasury bonds, and brokered CDs are categorized as taxable because their interest is not exempt from federal income tax. Most municipal bonds are categorized as federally tax-exempt because their interest is generally exempt from federal income tax, though this interest may be subject to federal and/or state alternative minimum taxes. Federally taxable municipal bonds such as Build America Bonds also exist. Check Bond Details to determine the tax status of a municipal bond. Note that this information is general in nature and should not be construed as tax advice.

This chart shows a market-weighted percentage of the type of individual fixed income security positions using the following categories: corporate, municipal, agency/government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), US Treasury, US Treasury Inflation-protected securities (TIPS), Mortgage-Backed securities (MBS) and CD. Asset-backed securities (ABS) are captured in the Other category.

This chart identifies the percentage of the positions in the selected accounts or hypothetical lists that are either callable or call protected. The chart does not determine if a call has been exercised or the likelihood a call will be exercised.

This chart shows bond and CD positions aggregated by duration ranges. Duration may be used to estimate how much a bond's price will fluctuate with changes in comparable interest rates. Securities with longer durations generally tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with shorter durations. Other factors, however, also can influence a bond's price. As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa. This effect is usually more pronounced for longer-term securities. TIPS are excluded from the duration analysis. In cases where duration is unavailable, affected securities will be categorized as "Unknown".

This chart shows the distribution of the credit ratings for fixed income positions. Positions that are not rated will appear as NR. The chart can show either the Moody's or S&P ratings. For insured municipal bond positions, please note that the chart reflects the higher of the issuer or insurer's ratings and you should consider both the issuer and insurer's financial health when assessing credit risk. The credit rating chart on the Overview tab includes all bond types. The credit rating chart on the Municipal Bonds only tab includes the ratings of both taxable and tax-exempt municipal bonds in your selected accounts and/or hypothetical lists. The values are market-weighted based on each positions current value. Check Bond Details to see a complete listing of a CUSIPs ratings.

Use this chart to determine the concentration of a single issuer or group of issuers for diversification purposes. The Overview tab chart includes all the bond and CD positions in the selected accounts and hypothetical lists. The values are market-weighted based on each positions current value. The Corporate Bonds Only and Municipal Bonds Only tabs issuer concentration charts include only corporate or municipal (taxable and tax-exempt) bond positions. In these tabs, the values are market-weighted as a percentage of your entire portfolio, not just the respective bond type.

This chart shows the total par value of all brokered certificates of deposit (CDs) held in the selected accounts and hypothetical lists. CDs are grouped by their FDIC insurance number. For details on FDIC insurance limits, see www.fdic.gov.

This chart will show the percentage of municipal bond positions that are expected to generate interest income subject to federal AMT. This information is general in nature and should not be construed as tax advice. The values are market-weighted based on each positions current value.

This chart will show the percentage of municipal bond positions that are categorized as general obligation (GO) or revenue. The values are market-weighted based on each positions current value.

This chart will show a market value weighted percentage of the revenue source of each municipal bond in each selected account and hypothetical list. This chart includes both taxable and tax-exempt municipal bond positions. The values are market-weighted based on each positions current value.

Use this chart to see a breakdown of your municipal bond positions according to the issuer's state of origin. The values are market-weighted based on each positions current value.

This table displays municipal bonds that have been pre-refunded, listed in order of their upcoming pre-refunding date.

Corporate bonds are classified by sectors representing the industries in which the companies issuing the bonds operate, such as the transportation, education, and retail sectors. This chart will show a market value weighted percentage of corporate bond holdings that belong to various sectors.

This chart shows the market value weighted percentage of corporate bonds in the selected account or hypothetical list that are categorized as high yield or convertible. High Yield bonds are those with a Moody’s or S&P rating of Ba1/BB+ and below. Unrated bonds would be included in this calculation. Convertible bonds are issues of bonds with an option allowing the bondholder to exchange the bond for a specified number of shares or common stock in the firm. This is disclosed at the time the bond is issued. Check Bond Details for additional information.

The Positions table on the Funds tab shows details about the bond fund positions in the account and hypothetical list you have selected. You can customize the accounts and lists using the drop downs. Non-fixed income funds are excluded from the list. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Click on the fund name for additional information about each fund, including quarter end returns, month-end yields (unsubsidized/subsidized), investment objective, risk, fees, and expense ratio information.

The Bond Fund Cash Flow chart shows the hypothetical future income of bond mutual funds held within your portfolio. Hypothetical future income is calculated using the 30-day yield of each fund in the accounts and/or hypothetical lists you have selected. The bond fund's current 30-day yield will be applied for the current month and future months through the next calendar year. The cash flows displayed are hypothetical and are for educational purposes only. Your actual distributions may differ significantly from the amounts displayed and should not be relied upon for making investment, financial, or tax planning decisions. Future income calculations are hypothetical illustrations based on mathematical concepts and there are circumstances in which cash flow calculations will not be performed for specific securities in your holdings list.

Each position is assigned a weighting based on its respective market value relative to the sum of the market values of all the positions. For example, if a customer has three bond mutual funds totaling $10,000, a single bond fund position with a market value of $5,000 receives a 50% weighting.

Some bond mutual funds may hold a short position which may appear as a negative value. If the concentration is large enough, the short positions within the funds will be displayed using a red bar and labeled with the negative value.

The Other analytics bar chart category is displayed as the tenth category when more than ten unique categories exist or when position data is not available or is unknown. The exceptions to this are the Duration chart and the Portfolio Diversification chart for Bond Mutual Funds. These charts have an Unknown category instead of Other because that is the primary type of uncategorized data.

This chart displays the percentage of bond fund assets allocated to taxable or tax-exempt bond fund categories. Note that this information is general in nature and should not be construed as tax advice.

The Duration chart shows bond fund positions aggregated by duration ranges. When duration data is not available for specific positions, those positions will be included in the bar labeled "Unknown." Duration may be used to estimate how much a bond fund's price will fluctuate with changes in comparable interest rates. Securities with longer durations generally tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with shorter durations. Other factors, however, can also influence a bond fund's share price. As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa. This effect is usually more pronounced for longer-term securities.

This chart shows the underlying credit ratings for bond fund positions. Fund managers are asked to consider ratings provided by all rating organizations for underlying bond holdings of the fund and map those ratings which are represented by the Standard & Poor's letter rating classifications. All short-term ratings are reflected in a short-term category on the chart. Click on the fund name for additional information about each fund, including quarter end returns, month-end yields (unsubsidized/subsidized), investment objective, risk, fees, and expense ratio information. Positions for which data is not available or unknown will appear as "Unknown". Positions that are not rated will appear as "NR". Credit Quality analytics may differ between funds and fund companies. The dashboard will display the ratings categories as reported by the fund or fund company. Some non-investment grade funds may aggregate investment grade debt into one rating category. This may affect the percentage of holdings by ratings category for portfolios holding a mix of investment grade and non-investment grade funds. In addition, U.S Government holdings may be shown in multiple categories. The dashboard will categorize them as either "U.S. Government" or "AAA" depending on how the fund or fund company reports it. This can affect the percentage of holdings by ratings category for portfolios holding funds with U.S. Government securities.

This chart represents the percentage of bond fund assets invested in securities from issuers domiciled in the US or abroad.

This chart shows the percentage of bond fund assets invested in securities from issuers domiciled in each country.

This chart shows the percentage of bond fund assets invested in securities from issuers in each industry and sector category. Diversification of an investment's assets by fixed-income sector, arranged by weighting from largest to smallest positions for the date shown. Typically, Portfolio Diversification data is reflective of the fixed income holdings within a portfolio, but may be broader, depending on the product type and/or investment manager. The portfolio diversification may not be representative of the fund's current or future investments and may change at any time.

This chart shows the percentage of bond fund assets invested in securities from issuers in each industry and sector category. Diversification of an investment's assets by fixed-income sector, arranged by weighting from largest to smallest positions for the date shown. Typically, Portfolio Diversification data is reflective of the fixed income holdings within a portfolio, but may be broader, depending on the product type and/or investment manager. The portfolio diversification may not be representative of the fund's current or future investments and may change at any time.

This chart illustrates which of your bond mutual funds positions are subject to AMT and which are not. Data is only available for Fidelity bond mutual funds. All non-Fidelity bond mutual funds will be grouped into a non-Fidelity funds category to show the percentage of bond mutual funds in your portfolio for which the AMT information is not available. Note that this information is general in nature and should not be construed as tax advice.

This chart displays revenue sources defined by specific types of projects associated with the underlying bonds' revenue streams across the municipal bond fund portfolio. This chart only includes Fidelity fund positions.

A ladder is a portfolio of bonds or CDs that mature at staggered intervals. These intervals, or “rungs”, are designed to help create a predictable stream of income and manage some potential risks from changing interest rates.

Creating a ladder can provide several benefits, including:

• Reduce reinvestment risk
  If interest rates rise, you may benefit from purchasing higher-yield bonds with the income from the bonds already in your ladder. If rates fall, bonds with future maturity dates would continue to be locked into the initial higher rates (assuming they are not callable).
• Generate dependable income
  Income payments can be scheduled monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually based on your individual needs.
• Provide ongoing liquidity
  If you structure your ladder to have bonds expire at regular intervals, cash can be available on a consistent, scheduled basis (assuming no default by the issuer of the bond).

The main risks associated with owning a ladder revolve around:

• Diversification and investment strategy
  Depending on the types and amount of securities within your ladder, the ladder may not ensure adequate diversification of your investment portfolio. While diversification does not ensure a profit or guarantee against loss, a lack of diversification may result in heightened volatility of your portfolio value. You must evaluate whether a ladder and the securities held within it are consistent with your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and financial circumstances.
• Credit quality
  Although ladders do create a certain degree of diversification for your investments by reducing issuer-specific and single bond risks, credit quality should also factor into any evaluation of risk.

If you decide to include callable bonds or CDs in your ladder, these may be called prior to maturity. If a bond or CD is called, your interest payments cease and the principal is returned as of the call date. If you seek to reinvest the principal in a similar issue, you will likely have to accept a lower yield (and typically lower interest payments) consistent with prevailing interest rates. The ladder attempts to mitigate reinvestment risk, as rungs are scheduled to expire at regular intervals. A called bond will alter your payment schedule and the scheduled intervals of principal coming due.

You determine your bond ladder's structure by selecting the following options:

• Amount to invest
  The total amount of money you would like to invest in your ladder
• Time Horizon
  The date when the first principal payment and the final principal payment will be made
• How often do you want your bonds to mature
  Each rung represents the maturity date for a bond in your ladder. There are four pre-defined rung configurations for your convenience. They include monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual. The Bond ladder tool is limited to a maximum of 50 rungs.
• Bond type & rating
  Although ladders do create a certain degree of diversification for your investments by reducing issuer-specific and single bond risks, credit quality should also factor into any evaluation of risk. You can build your ladder with either taxable or tax-exempt bonds. Currently, the tool does not allow you to select both taxable and tax-exempt bonds. In either case, select a minimum Moody's/S&P credit rating for your bond ladder. Note that tax-exempt bonds may include insured municipal bonds, which would include a form of credit enhancement or other form of third-party guarantee or support. Click on a bond’s description for more ratings information.
• Call protection
  You can specify call protection for your ladder by excluding callable bonds from your ladder, or you can decide to assume the risk of including callable bonds. (See: What are the risks of including callable bonds in a bond ladder?)
• Zero coupon bonds
  For some product types, you can specify to include or exclude zero coupon bonds. Zero coupon bonds are purchased at a discount and receive one payment at maturity that usually includes interest. Zero coupon bonds tend to have higher price volatility than coupon bonds.

In addition to the criteria above, there are a couple additional criteria to consider when building a ladder with tax-exempt bonds including:

• State of residence – the tool allows users to search for bonds in their selected state of residence or across all states. Purchasing tax-exempt bonds from your state of residence may provide additional tax benefits.

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) - Some municipal bonds, including private activity bonds (PABs), may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax (AMT). Typically, bonds subject to AMT have higher yields to offset the additional tax risk. Consult your tax advisor for advice about your specific situation.

You can choose to have your ladder invest in taxable bonds, or in tax-exempt municipal bonds. Tax-exempt municipal securities are generally inappropriate holdings for tax-advantaged accounts such as IRAs and other retirement accounts. Consult your tax advisor for advice about your specific situation. Currently, the tool does not allow you to co-mingle taxable and tax-exempt bonds.

The minimum credit rating acceptable for your ladder represents your highest acceptable risk (the lower the credit rating, the higher the perceived risk). The Bond Ladder Tool searches a subset of Fidelity's inventory of bonds, ranging from your requested minimum rating to the highest rating (AAA). For example, if you indicate an A rating, the Bond Ladder Tool searches for bonds rated A and above. The Bond Ladder Tool searches the inventory of A rated bonds before searching the more conservatively rated AA and AAA bonds. The stated rating for a bond takes into consideration the credit rating of both.

The Bond Ladder Tool is not intended as a tax planning tool. Since the tool does not consider the income tax rules regarding the purchase, sale, or holding of bonds, the tool's calculation of estimated cash flows does not reflect any income tax consequences. Any tax information, such as the tax equivalent yield, is for information purposes only. Fidelity does not offer tax advice. You should contact an attorney or tax advisor regarding your specific legal or tax situation prior to taking any action based upon the information.

Bond options returned in the bond selection modal are returned in response to the criteria you entered, such as taxable/tax-exempt, credit quality, callable/non-callable, etc. To verify that Fidelity's inventory (which includes third-party offerings) is sufficient to complete your ladder, we take the number of bonds you need per rung of the ladder and only include bonds if a sufficient quantity of bonds is offered on our platform to meet your order. The Bond Ladder Tool searches a subset of Fidelity's inventory of bonds, ranging from your requested minimum rating to the highest rating (AAA). The Bond Ladder Tool identifies bonds based on two criteria: the minimum rating you've selected and the central rung month. The tool finds bonds trading on/around the minimum rating yield curve taking into account the central rung month. In the case of municipal bonds, the stated rating for a bond takes into consideration the credit rating of both the underlying and the insurer and takes the lower of the two.

The Bond Ladder Tool calculates the spacing between maturities (rungs) in your ladder. Central rung months are spaced equally across the life of the ladder and are determined by dividing the number of months between the ladder's first and final maturity dates by the number of rungs you selected.

You can select an offering to fill each rung by clicking on the “Choose bond(s)” button located in the top right of each rung. A modal will appear with all the available bond options that fit the criteria you have selected. Select the bond that best fits your needs by clicking the radio button in the lefthand column and then clicking the “Add bond” button at the bottom of the position grid. You can only select one bond position per rung. The tool will calculate the rung quantity for each position by dividing the total investment amount by the number of rungs.

You can edit the quantity by clicking on the box in the column labeled “Qty” on the Choose bonds or Choose CDs page. Enter the quantity of your choice and click anywhere outside the box. The portfolio averages, totals and cash distribution charts will all update based on the new quantity.

Bonds that are returned as part of the search results are "real-time" and come from our available inventory.

When you have finished creating your ladder, click the “Add to cart” button located below the ladder averages section. This will bring you to you cart where you can review the selected bonds before purchasing them. You must click on the “Purchase ladder” button on the Cart page to place the order(s).

Fidelity’s Model CD Ladders provide a quick and easy way to implement a CD ladder strategy for a portion of your portfolio. Brokered CDs are time deposit instruments issued by banks with a range of available maturities and can be bought and sold in a brokerage account. The intent behind offering the Model CD Ladders is to show how simple combinations of CDs can be modeled and then built or modified to suit an investor’s specific requirements.

Fidelity currently offers three Model CD ladders:

• 1 Year Ladder – Composed of four maturity rungs including 3-month, 6-month, 9-month, and 12-month CDs.
• 2 Year Ladder - Composed of four maturity rungs including 6-month, 12-month 18-month, and 24-month CDs.
• 5 year Ladder - Composed of five maturity rungs including 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5-year to maturity CDs

To learn more about the methodology and how Model CD ladders are constructed, please click here.

The ladder averages section shows several totals and averages of the bonds or CDs included in your ladder including:

• Market value – The total market value of all the positions in the ladder
• Accrued interest – The sum of all interest accrued from the last payment date of the securities in the ladder that will need to be paid if the ladder is purchased that day.
• Principal gain/loss – The potential gain or loss of principal if a bond or CD is held until maturity. A gain occurs if a position is purchased at a discount (price below par value). A loss will occur if a position is purchased at a premium (price above par value).
• Total par value – The total par value of all the positions in the ladder. Most bonds and CDs have a par value of 1,000.
• Average coupon rate – The par-weighted average coupon rate of all the positions in your ladder
• Next 12 months interest – The hypothetical amount of interest the ladder will generate over the next 12 calendar months, beginning with the next calendar month
• Average yield to worst – The par-weighted average yield to worst for all the bonds and CDs in your ladder, reflecting the lower of the yield to maturity or the yield to call based on the most recent price.
• Average price – The par-weighted average price of all the positions in the ladder
• Average maturity (years) – The par-weighted average maturity, in years, of all the bond or CD positions in the ladder.

The Annual Cash Distribution chart shows the total hypothetical principal and interest the ladder will generate each year, until the final position is redeemed. You can view the principal and interest details for each year by hovering over the corresponding bar.

The Monthly Cash Distribution table shows the hypothetical principal and interest payments for each month, until the final position is redeemed. You can jump to a specific year in the table by selecting that year in the dropdown located at the top right of the table.

The Ladder Cart page will allow you to review the quantity, description, price, mark-up, settlement date, accrued interest and total cost of your pending ladder orders prior to placing the order(s). You should verify all this information is correct before placing your orders. PLEASE NOTE: You must click the “Purchase ladder” button to place the orders.

Bonds and securities in your ladder are traded as individual fill-or-kill limit orders, subject to the same markups that would apply if the bonds were purchased separately (outside of the ladder).

Yes, you can click Edit ladder on the Cart page to modify your bond ladder order. Your order will not be sent to Fidelity if you leave the Verification page before you click the “Purchase Ladder” button.

When you click Purchase ladder on the Cart page, you are agreeing that the order information is correct, and you are authorizing Fidelity to execute the order(s) on your behalf.

After you submit a ladder order(s) by clicking the “Purchase ladder” button, you should receive a “Success” message. The message will confirm your orders have been processed. To check the status of your orders, you can go to you Activity & OrdersLog In Required tab on your Positions page.

If your ladder order(s) do not fill you have a couple options to help find a replacement. You can:

1. Search for available offerings on Fidelity.com with similarcriteria, including a similar time to maturity and rating.
2. Click on the Purchased ladder card on the Ladderslanding page in the Fixed Income Dashboard. From here,you will be taken to the Choose bonds or Choose CDspage, allowing you to search for offerings that fit the rungcriteria you previously selected.

Once you add positions to the cart, a Fixed Income Bond Details report will be sent to the Communications Center, which can be found by clicking the Messages link on your Positions page. The report will include important bond and CD information for all the positions included in the ladder. The report also includes CUSIP level material or issuer events. In addition, once orders are filled you will be sent a trade confirmation, which can be found by clicking Documents < Other Documents < Trade confirmations on the Positions page.

From the Orders page, you can attempt to cancel a pending bond or security order that has not yet been executed. See Orders for more information. Attempts to cancel open orders are performed on a best-efforts basis. There is no guarantee that an open order can be canceled, either in whole or in part.

Fidelity provides a free Alert service, which notifies you a few days prior to any call or maturity date for bonds you own. This gives you the opportunity to decide if you wish to replace the bond prior to missing any future income payments. You are also notified of any maturing or called bonds on your statements, but your statements report these events only after the bond has been called or matured.