Fixed rate fully amortizing loans have two distinct features. First, the interest rate remains fixed for the life of the loan. Secondly, the payments remain level for the life of the loan and are structured to repay the loan at the end of the loan term. The most common fixed rate loans are 15 year and 30 year mortgages. 

During the early amortization period, a large percentage of the monthly payment is used for paying the interest . As the loan is paid down, more of the monthly payment is applied to principal . A typical 30 year fixed rate mortgage takes 22.5 years of level payments to pay half of the original loan amount. 

With the aging of the "Baby Boom Generation", many consumers are anxious to repay their mortgage sooner than 30/15 years. Recently, s have begun offering 10 and 20 year fully amortizing fixed rate mortgages as a method to quickly pay mortgage debt. An alternate strategy is to obtain a 30 year fixed mortgage, but make regular extra principal payments; any extra principal payments will help reduce the loan amount and reduce the term of the loan. 

Most fixed rate mortgages originated by primary s and mortgage brokers are sold in the secondary mortgage. The loans are aggregated with other fixed rate mortgages with similar characteristics, such as note rate, term, etc., and converted into mortgage backed securities and bonds. These mortgage backed securities become part, the larger capital markets which also includes government securities, corporate bonds and municipal bonds. The yields on mortgage backed securities track other capital market instruments with similar maturities. Generally, mortgage backed securities that include 30 year fixed mortgages track the yields on the 10 year maturity U.S. government securities.