Forms of Payment are used to specify the structure of the underlying benefit payment stream. They are needed for any annuity factor or conversion factor calculated using the add-in. While our add-in comes pre-loaded with many of the standard payment forms, you may need to add your own.

• View/Edit:  to view or edit an existing Form of Payment, double-click the corresponding item within the list.
• Add:  to add a new Form of Payment, press the Add button.
• Delete:  to delete an existing Form of Payment, select the corresponding item and press the Delete button.
• Copy/Paste:  to copy an existing Form of Payment to another definition, select the source item, and press the Copy button. Then select the target item and press Paste. Note that this will copy all parameters except for the definition name.

Once you double-click on an item in the list described above, you will be brought to the Form of Payment Detail screen which allows you to view details of the selected definition:

• Definition Name:  this is the name of the Form of Payment Definition. It may not contain any spaces or match the name of another definition.
• Parameters for Underlying Annuity: the combination of the parameters in this section defines the specifics of the form of annuity.
  
  You can either fill in this section manually or use the blue Choose button described below to speed up the process.
• Choose: the Choose button provides a quick and easy way to fill in the parameters for a variety of types of annuities.
  
  From the screen entitled Select Annuity, select the form of annuity you wish to use from the list and click on the OK button. The parameters in this section will then be pre-filled with the entries that correspond to that form of annuity.
• Fraction of Benefits Payable: enter the fraction of the initial benefit that is payable during the specified period below.
• During the Certain Period: enter the fraction payable during the certain period only. Generally, this value will either equal 0 when there is no certain period or 1 when the entire initial benefit is payable during the certain period.
• When Only the Primary Annuitant is Alive: indicate the fraction of the initial annuity that is payable when only the primary annuitant is alive.
• When Only the Beneficiary is Alive: enter the fraction of the initial annuity that is payable when only the contingent annuitant is alive.
• When Both are Alive: indicate the fraction of the initial annuity that is payable when both the primary and contingent annuitants are alive.
• Certain Period: Enter the length of the certain period in years in the box provided.
• Start Date of Underlying Annuity Payments: indicate the date the underlying annuity payments are to commence when calculating the annuity factor. Select from the following:
• Not a Deferred Annuity (Immediate): select for immediate annuities.
• Fixed Age: select if underlying annuity payments all begin at a fixed age. Enter such age in the box provided.
• Fixed Deferral Period: choose this option if payments begin after a fixed period. This is an alternative to defining the age upon which payments start. Instead, you define the period to wait before they commence.
  
  Enter the fixed number of years of deferral from the current date in the space provided.
• Stop Date of Underlying Annuity Payments: indicate the date the underlying annuity payments are last payable. Select from the following:
• Not a Temporary Annuity: select if there is no stop date. This is applicable if the underlying annuity is not temporary.
• Fixed Age: select if underlying annuity payments all cease at a fixed age. Enter such age in the box provided.
• Fixed Payment Period: choose this option if payments are made for a fixed period. This is an alternative to defining the age upon which payments stop. Instead, you define the length of time that benefits are paid.
  
  Enter the fixed number of years of the payment period in the space provided.
• Cost of Living Adjustment: for specifying the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to be applied to the underlying annuity, if any. Enter the following:
• Annual Increase Rate: enter the annual increase in benefit. For example, enter .02 for a 2% annual COLA increase. If there is no COLA, this field should be set equal to 0.
• Age COLA starts: select either Payment Age or Current Age for the age the COLA begins to be applied to the underlying annuity.
• Maximum Benefit Ratio: specify the maximum total benefit with cumulative COLA increases expressed as a ratio of the initial benefit. For example, a value of 1.5 in this field represents a maximum equal to 150% of the initial benefit. The total underlying annuity benefit with all COLAs can not be greater than 150% of the initial benefit in this case.
  
  If there is no maximum COLA, check the box labeled None.
• COLA Deferral Period: if the COLA does not begin when payments begin, enter a non-zero deferral period here. For example, if payments begin at age 65 but the COLA does not begin until age 67 (the year following), then you would specify 2 here.
• COLA Frequency: if the COLA is applied each year after payments start, then specify Annual here, otherwise specify the non-annual payment frequency.
• COLA Type: choose compound or simple here. For example, for a 3% compound COLA, the second adjustment would result in a benefit equal to the initial benefit x 1.03^2. However, with a simple COLA, this amount would equal 1 + (0.03 x 2).
• Timing of Payments: specify when benefit payments are made during a period. Choose either Beginning of Period or End of Period.
• Factor Determination for Non-Integer Ages: for specifying how to determine annuity factors at ages that are non-integer.
  
  This is only applicable if ages are not rounded to integers.
  
  For non-integer ages, choose either Linear Interpolation or Geometric Interpolation. Factors are determined at the two bracketing integer ages and then either linear or geometric interpolation is used to estimate the factor at the interim age.
• Age Rounding:  select from the drop-down list the way that ages should be rounded.
• Payment Frequency: select the frequency of payment. Choose either Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-annual, or Annual.