Click HERE for a printable PDF of inventory.
Remember, we can split payment streams to suit your needs and create a branded PDF just for you- Call for Details!
- Load an available cash flow by selecting the case code from the drop-down menu & click Solve.
- To solve for price based on a rate, enter your desired Interest Rate, & click Solve.
- To solve for rate based on a price, enter “Unknown” in the Interest Rate field, then enter your desired price in the Amount field, & click Solve.
- Click ‘Download’ to see amortization, reservation and illustration documents at your custom price or rate.
Understand Discounted Cash Flow Rates
A DCF Income Payment investment price is the Present Value cost of the specific Future Value payments shown, at the Discount Rate shown, and Priced On the date shown.
The Basics of Discounted Cash Flow and Time Value of Money
The basic premise is that the dollar you invest today will pay more than a dollar tomorrow. How much more? Well that depends on the rate or return, or the discount rate, of your invested dollar. Thus, there are three key terms to understand the concept of “Time Value of Money” and of discounted cash flow math.
Future Value- FV is one or more payments, at specific dates in the future. With DCF Income Payments, it’s the specific payment description, for example, “120 monthly payments of $1000 starting on 1/1/2020 until 12/1/2029” or “One lump sum of $100,000 on 12/1/2030”. This is the Future Value(s) you receive
Discount Rate- This is the rate at which a Future Value decays, or is discounted. In the most basic sense, $100 one year from now is worth $95 today, at a 5% discount rate. For our purposes with DCF Income Payments, the Discount Rate is the same as the Effective Rate and is also the same as the Internal Rate of Return (IRR), or the Annual Percentage Yield (APY). This rate is clearly shown on the inventory page.
Present Value- PV is the value today (or on a specific date) of the specific Future Value(s) of the payment stream, discounted to that purchase date at the Discount Rate shown. In our case, Present Value is also the Purchase Price or investment cost, and the day we use to calculate that PV is the ‘Priced On’ date shown in the calculator and on the inventory.
Every Future Value needs to be discounted using the Discount Rate, back to today, using the compounding period specified, to arrive at today’s Present Value for that specific payment.
Thus, every piece of information you need to verify the mathematics is shown on our inventory page, and so…
A DCF Income Payment investment price is the Present Value cost of the specific Future Value payments shown, at the Discount Rate shown, and Priced On the date shown.
There’s no mystery to it at all, but unfortunately, people accustomed to complex annuities with hidden fees and charges and complicated crediting methodologies and various rollup and payout rates just don’t believe that what you see is, in fact, what you get.
The best part is that all this math can be verified using a good discounted cash flow annuity calculator. Use ours above, or use T-Val, or use MS Excel and the XIRR or XNPV functions.
SWAPS and Treasury Market Interest Rates:
Retail consumer yields on DCF Income Payments are correlated to underlying interest rate markets, but lag the markets by several months.
Below is a live data feed of current markets for US Treasuries and interest rate SWAPS. This data gives an indication of current market status as well as historic trends.
Summary of DCF Income Payments:
- DCF Income Payments are existing and in-force payment streams backed by annuities, available at a discounted price & higher yield than comparable fixed term annuities.
- Purchasers acquire the right to receive these future payments in a court ordered and state- regulated transfer procedure.
- DCF payments offer a higher yield and lower price because sellers need cash today, and they sell their rights to future payments at a discount.
- Fixed Term DCF payments will pay exactly as scheduled to the purchaser or their heirs. Insured DCF Income Payments offer a fixed yield but may pay out earlier than expected via life insurance on the seller.
- DCF payments have no volatility, no market exposure, no fluctuation in value, and no complicated terms or contracts.
How To Choose:
- In Stock cases are fully approved, ready for immediate resale
- In Review cases are court approved and in DCF’s legal review process. Buyers can expect to close within 1-2 weeks
- In Pipeline cases are in an earlier stage of the transfer approval process. Buyers can expect to close in 15 to 45 days.
- Insured cases are insured with life insurance. If the seller dies before the end of the assigned payments, life insurance repays any principal and interest due to the purchaser under the assignment agreement as of the date of the seller’s death.
- Inventory is priced as of a projected close date- the final price will change slightly based on actual close date.
- Cash or IRA funds are accepted- Use GoldStar Trust as the self directed IRA custodian to purchase with qualified funds
- Cases can be split to suit individual needs, see “Split Cases” tab on this page and call for details.
How to Buy:
- Hold a case for 48 Hours to take it ‘Off-Market’
- Reserve a case by sending in a purchase order with purchaser details (name/address etc)
- If using qualified funds, open a Self Directed IRA with GoldStar and rollover/ transfer sufficient funds.
- Closing book is sent by Docusign for review and electronic signature. For IRA’s, the purchaser signs a Direction of Investment included in the closing book to complete the purchase.
- Closing book contains the contractual assignments from seller, to intermediary, and then to purchaser, along with the final court order, carrier stipulation agreement or acknowledgement letter, amortization schedule, and payment servicing agreement.
Closing and Funding Process:
- No pre-purchase buyer deposits are required.
- Transactions are funded only after the purchaser has received and reviewed the complete closing book.
- Once purchaser reviews and e-signs the Absolute Assignment of Cash Flow and Payment Servicing Agreement, the purchase price is sent to the dedicated escrow account, and the case is closed.
- Closings are safe, quick and efficient through the use of a dedicated, third party escrow account and electronic signatures.
Receiving Income and Cash Flows:
- Income payments are received into a payment servicing account specific to each case and under the sole control of the purchaser.
- The payment servicer is GoldStar Trust Company, a federally regulated bank and trust company based in Texas.
- GoldStar receives payment from carrier and sends payments by ACH or check on to the purchaser, their IRA if applicable, or to their heirs or assigns.
- Payment servicing allows for easy beneficiary designation, anonymity, and transferability to purchaser’s heirs, assigns, or estate.
Heirs, Beneficiaries, and Liquidity Provisions
- The payments will pay as scheduled to the purchaser or to their heirs
- Beneficiaries may be designated directly with the Payment Servicer
- Payments may be re-assigned or sold to another buyer
- DCF may offer to re-acquire payments from Purchasers on a case by case basis and at a market price determined at the time of resale.
- There is no partial or full cash surrender schedule.
How to Choose?
How to Buy?
Top 10 FAQ
SPLITTING CASES
DCF Exchange is able to easily accommodate splits or portions of cases.
Lump Sum Splits
Lump sum cases may be split to suit the purchaser. For example, one lump sum of $250,000 on 1/1/2030 may be split for a purchaser who only wants to purchase $150,000 of that future payment. Lumps may also be split so the payout is sized to fit an available present day investment amount, such as the balance of an IRA or a specific desired purchase price.
Income Splits
Income streams may also be split or tailored to suit your clients needs. For example, 240 monthly payments of $1000 may be split into 240 payments of $500 to your customer and DCF retains and sells the remaining $500 to another customer.
We can also accommodate a split such that one of your buyers takes the first 120 payments of $1000, and another of your buyers takes the deferred 120 payments of $1000. This is especially useful where you have a client who buys a portion of a case with an IRA and buys the remainder of the same case with non qualified funds.
Please note, we would not approve a split of the first 120 payments of the example above without the back end piece being simultaneously sold, nor would we split out a portion of payments in the middle of an otherwise smooth income stream without all the other pieces being simultaneously sold.
Please call or email for approval of a proposed split prior to presenting to your customer. Closing books clearly display and reconcile all splits.
SELF DIRECTED IRAS
To buy DCF Income Payments with qualified funds, a self-directed IRA is required. We have worked with many SDIRA custodians, however we only recommend GoldStar Trust. They offer the best service, the lowest price, and the fastest execution, and thus there is no reason to look elsewhere.
THERE ARE THREE STEPS IN A DCF INCOME PAYMENT/IRA TRANSACTION:
- Open the Gold Star IRA Account– Complete and sign the application and pay account opening fee
- Account establishment fees can be paid by credit card.
- Page 5, Account Representative Form. Please sign where indicated with DCF Exchange as an authorized party. This authorizes us to communicate with, but not direct, GoldStar regarding your DCF Income Payment purchase. If there is also another party you wish to additionally authorize, use page 7.
- Fund the Gold Star IRA- Page 6 , IRA Transfer/Rollover Request
- Depending on the current custodian and the investments held, transfer may take 2 days or 4 weeks.
- Typically, we wait until the DCF Payment is court approved, then initiate transfer of funds to Gold Star.
- Buy the DCF Income Payment-
- The DCF Income Payment closing book will be emailed via DocuSign with a Direction of Investment form included and ready for purchaser signature
- Once the DOI is signed, Gold Star signs the Absolute Assignment and the Servicing Agreement as custodian, and funds the purchase of the DCF Income Payment
- Closed/Funded/Complete
Here are the detailed instructions for opening a GoldStar IRA:
Page 2 is the Account Application and Patriot Act info. On part 3, select the IRA type (Roth or Traditional) and input drivers license details in part 4. Please be sure to get a scan of the driver’s license or other ID, as requested in part 4.
Page 3 Account Funding, please select the appropriate box, typically a Direct Transfer from another IRA. Get a spousal consent signature if applicable.
Page 4, Beneficiary Designation, name your beneficiaries and sign as needed.
Page 5, please sign on the bottom for DCF to be authorized as the Account Rep. This allows us to communicate with GoldStar and assist with the account setup.
Page 6 is an interested party form- This is used for agents and advisors who would need view- only access to the account. Please ensure this page is signed if it is applicable.
Page 7-8 is an IRA rollover self-certification. Use only if needed, see instructions on that page.
On Page 9, Transfer/ rollover Request, input your info in the top section, and your current custodian’s information with a copy of a recent statement, and the type of plan. In asset liquidation and instructions, most people input partial or a complete transfer and cash as the asset description. If this is a partial transfer, you should specify an amount somewhat more than the estimated purchase price of the case to account for any delays in funding, and check ‘transfer by wire’ and sign where indicated. Please ensure this page is signed.
Page 11 outlines GoldStar’s fee structure. The account holder will need to be able to receive a call from GoldStar to confirm their info – a Patriot Act compliance issue. GoldStar will also need a credit card for setup and annual fee payment.
When the forms are complete, you can scan/ email directly to GoldStar using their forms@goldstartrust.com email address, or you can fax or mail it in to them.
Taxation Information
The following is general information and should not be considered tax advice. Please consult your own tax professionals. Click Here to Download this info.
Structured settlement payments are typically tax free payments for the original annuitant, per 26 U.S. Code § 104, and carriers do not issue IRS Form 1099. But just because there is no 1099 does not mean that these assigned structured settlement payments (DCF Income Payments) are tax-free. Income received that is in excess of the purchase price is subject to tax for the purchaser of a payment stream.
The income is typically considered ‘ordinary’ and recognized for tax purposes only when it is received, leaving unrealized income to defer, accrue, and compound. The portion of a payment that is reportable as income (and not principal) is ultimately determined by the taxpayer, but below are three methodologies you and your tax advisor may discuss.
Payment Table Methodology:
DCF Exchange obtained guidance from a well-recognized nationwide accounting firm, which we make available to our clients. This guidance states that the income portion of a payment is (1) the amount received minus (2) the price of purchase for that payment. That allows for substantial deferral as early payments have proportionally less taxable income, and later payments have more. This is shown on the Payments Table in the closing book, and the Payments Table can also be downloaded from the inventory page and from the calculator.
The ‘Payments Table’ treats each individual payment in a series of payments as its own discounted cash flow event.
For example, using 100 monthly payments of $1000 starting in 1 month, the first payment will have very little interest and almost all principal. It requires $995.10 today to grow to $1000 in 1 month at a 6% annual rate. Because it only had 1 month to accrue and grow, you only recognize that $4.90 as interest income on that first payment. The second monthly payment will have a little more interest, and so on. By the end, the 100th payment has had 100 months to grow. It requires $615.34 today to grow to $1000 in 100 months at 6%, and therefore the last payment of $1000 has $384.66 of interest.
In sum, the ‘payments table’ is an approach that allows you to defer the recognition of income until later years.
Exclusion Ratio Methodology:
Some purchasers choose to compute taxes based on an “exclusion ratio” applied to the whole payment stream so as to obtain a consistent ratio of income vs. principal across all payments. This ratio is also shown on the Payments Table and while DCF has not obtained tax advice regarding this method, your tax advisors may choose to utilize this approach.
For example, a single lump sum that costs $50,000 and pays out $100K has a 50% exclusion ratio. Half of the payment, when received, would be taxable income. Likewise, 100 monthly payments of $1000 that costs $50,000, also has a 50% exclusion ratio. Half of each monthly payment would be recognized as interest when it is received.
Amortization Schedule Methodology:
The amortization schedule is a traditional method of allocating principal and interest in a loan or a stream of payments, that results in recognizing more interest in the early years of a payment stream.
By its nature, an amortization schedule reflects the accrual of interest on the entire investment at every compounding period. At the end of that compounding period, the schedule ‘posts’ accrued interest to principal, whereupon the now-larger amount of principal accrues in the next compounding period. DCF Payments are typically computed using monthly compounding and the amortization schedule can be downloaded from our calculator, but calculating Internal Rate of Return (XIRR) in MS Excel, for example, uses a daily compounding method by default.
In an amortization schedule, payments early on in the schedule contain large amounts of interest and relatively small amounts of principal. You see this most commonly in a mortgage- when you borrow to buy a house, your early years of the mortgage pay down principal very slowly.
Following the amortization schedule, you will recognize more taxable income early on in a payment stream, and less interest in later years. You can generate and download an amortization table of any payment stream directly from our calculator online.
Taxation Information Summary:
It’s important to note that in all three methods, the exact same amount of interest is recognized- they just vary as to when you recognize it. Different clients use different approaches, and we typically include the payments table in the closing book.
Please note, if a DCF Income Payment is owned by your IRA then the tax treatment above does not apply, as IRA distributions trigger taxes for IRA holders, not the income from IRA owned assets.
Again, DCF Exchange, LLC does not offer tax advice, and this page is for general information only, so please be sure to consult your own tax adviser for more information.
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