Voyant doesn’t model individual bonds natively. The most accurate workaround is to model the coupon as taxable Other Income and, if you want the principal visible, add a bond placeholder asset.
Use Timeline events to stop coupon flows at maturity (or sale) and Transfers to show where proceeds land.
Prerequisites (what to gather first)
Coupon amount, frequency, start date, and maturity year.
Current market or cost basis (if you’ll model the principal).
Step 1 — Create Timeline Events
Add an event on the Timeline for Bond Start (if needed).
Add an event for Bond Maturity (or Bond Sale if selling early).
(Optional) Add an event for Proceeds Reinvestment if you want to show where the money goes next.
Tip: Naming events (e.g., “Bond Maturity 2032”) makes them easy to reference on multiple inputs.
Step 2 — Model the Coupon as Taxable Other Income
Add → Income → Other Income.
Owners: Select the appropriate person(s).
Amount & Frequency: Enter the coupon payment amount and corresponding frequency
Tax Status: Set to Taxable
Growth Rate: Set to 0% (coupon is fixed) unless you specifically expect step‑ups.
Start/End: Start at the first coupon year; End at the Bond Maturity/Sale event.
Verify: In Year View → Taxes > Federal Taxable income, you should see coupon amounts included in taxable income each year.
Step 3 — Represent the Bond as an Asset
If you want the bond principal visible (and to capture capital gains on sale):
Opening balance: Current market value or cost basis.
Growth rate:
0% — for hold‑to‑maturity modeling (no price volatility).
Positive expected rate — if you plan to model a sale and want the value to drift to an expected sale price.
Cost basis: Enter if you want Voyant to compute capital gains at sale.
Fee Rate: Only model if appropriate; otherwise leave at 0%.
Withdrawal Limit: Set to Scheduled Only to prevent the account from being used automatically by Voyant’s liquidation logic.
Note: This placeholder gives you a line on the Asset Chart and enables a clean transfer/liquidation at a Timeline event.
Step 4 — Move Proceeds at Maturity/Sale (Transfers)
If you don’t already have one, create the destination account (Savings/Investment or Premium Funding account).
Add → Transfers.
From: Bond placeholder account.
To: Destination account.
Amount:All available (or a specific amount if partial).
Timing: Set Start/End to the Bond Maturity/Sale event.
Recurring: No — this should be a one‑time event.
7. Timing: Set the Start/End to the Bond Maturity/Sale event.
Effect: The transfer “liquidates” the bond placeholder and shows proceeds moving into the destination, updating cash flow and net worth.
Step 5 — Double Check Your Work
Taxes → Year View:
Coupon appears as other income each year before maturity/sale.
Cash Flow: Coupon, other income inflows cease at the maturity/sale event.
Liquidation rules: Confirm the Bond's placeholder account has a withdrawal limit set to "Scheduled Only" so it won’t be used automatically.
Transfers: Bond placeholder account balance declines to zero at maturity/sale; destination account increases accordingly.
What This Workaround Captures / Doesn’t
Captures: Fixed coupon cash flow taxed as income; principal value on Asset Chart; liquidation and reinvestment at a chosen date; capital gain on sale if basis/value are set.
Modeling early sale: Create a Bond Sale event, set a growth rate on the bond asset account to approximate the expected sale price, and transfer at that event.
Direct routing of coupons: If coupons are paid into a specific custodial account, model the coupon as Other Income and then create a recurring Transfer from all surplus into the custodial account each coupon period.
