Structured Settlement ? Guaranteed Income for those with Disabilities
August 31, 2010
Up until twenty years ago, anyone who won a lawsuit as a result of a claim involving worker’s compensation, wrongful death or accident had to accept a lump sum payment as their compensation. The payment would be intended to be invested, with the beneficiary living off of the proceeds for as long as their recovery was expected to take. In many cases, this type of settlement works fine, but in other cases, the results are a disaster.It is difficult enough for someone who has been through the trauma of an accident or illness to have to adjust to a new lifestyle without having to also become an expert in the art of financial investing. If you have been active all of your life and you suddenly find yourself in a wheelchair and having to handle assets of several hundred thousand dollars or more, you could be overwhelmed. You could hire someone to handle the investments for you as well as the tax issues, but what if the person you hired wasn’t trustworthy? What if you hired a greedy relative who took all of the money? What if you hired someone incompetent? These problems, and statistics that show that people who receive large sums as compensation for accident, injury, or wrongful death often spend all of their money in a short period of time, led to Congressional action in 1982 that amended the Federal tax code to allow for structured settlements. A structured settlement is simply an agreement between the responsible party and the injured party that the payments will be made over time, rather than in a lump sum. The two parties reach an agreement, the party responsible for payment purchases an annuity, usually through an insurance company, and the injured party will receive steady income over a period of years or even a lifetime.The payments are adjusted for inflation; the sum of all of the payments will be greater than if the amount had been paid as a lump sum. Because the payments are purchased up front as an annuity, the paying party actually pays less than the sum of the payments, as well. The result is generally a win-win situation, with the injured party receiving a steady stream of income over as long a period of time as necessary, while the paying party does not have to worry about making monthly or annual payments. While a structured settlement is not the ideal payment arrangement in all situations where a long term injury settlement occurs, it does work well in many cases where a lump sum payout might be undesirable.
The Cost of Not Having Money
May 11, 2010
The self-esteem factor of not having enough money is underestimated. You know what I mean don’t you? The agony of financially struggling and the ecstasy of financial abundance are dramatically different moments in a person’s life. And I for one would choose the abundance over the struggling any day.
A particular emotional challenge structured settlement and annuity recipients face is the dilemma of having money but not having access to it. You have money coming to you but it is out of reach. The annoyance of such a situation would be exacerbated by a period of financial stress. Imagine if you were going to lose your home, and you have $300,000 coming to you over the next 20 years, but you can’t access that future money to meet your immediate needs.
Financial stress can be the catalyst of a downward spiral. Depression, addiction, isolation, are just a few of the storms spawned by the weight of financial burden. Instead of being dragged down, find help, find an answer to your money concerns, find a way to get out from under the weight of money worry. Professional counseling in both the mental health and financial strategies areas of your life could get you on the healthy and happy track.
When Should You Not Cash Out Your Annuity?
January 19, 2010
You should not cash out your annuity when it’s not in your best interest. Here are 3 reasons it might not be in your best interest; it’s too soon, you don’t have a good enough reason, it will cost you too much. Every day someone cashes out their annuity or settlement when it might not have been in their best interest. It’s an easy mistake to make when the call of money and burden of financial stress is weighing heavily on you. But read carefully and maybe you can avoid digging the hole deeper.
If you are a minor, or the parent of a minor trying to cash out an annuity, it’s too soon. Courts will rarely approve an advance of a minors settlement except in cases of extreme need. A guardian will need to be appointed to make sure the transaction is in the best interests of the minor and not the parent. Another way it can be too soon, your payments are too far away. $100,000 due in 2025 is not going to get you $100,000 today. In fact, you won’t even get $25,000. The payout date is too far away.
A Revolutionary Fundraising Opportunity — Life Settlements
September 29, 2009
Amid fundraisers’ growing concerns about the current charitable giving climate, dampened by the erratic stock market and shaky economy, a new fundraising opportunity has emerged ? Life Settlements.
What is a Life Settlement? A Life Settlement is the sale of an existing life insurance policy for a lump sum of cash that is more than the cash surrender value. A life insurance policy is property, like a car, house, stocks and bonds that can be legally sold in accordance with applicable laws. Through a Life Settlement, a policy owner can realize value today from an asset that is generally thought to only have a benefit when the insured passes away.
How can Life Settlements be used in Fundraising? There are many variations and complex estate and tax planning strategies that can be employed when utilizing Life Settlements in a planned giving program. However, in its simplest terms, a Donor who owns a life insurance policy gives the policy to the philanthropic organization that in turn immediately sells the policy for a lump sum of cash through a Life Settlement.
In order for a policy to be eligible for a life settlement, it must meet the following criteria:
- Insuring an individual over age sixty-five (65) or with a serious illness
Consider a Structured Settlement?
June 11, 2009
Structured settlements have been around for a long time however their popularity has steadily increased over the past 6 years. In 1999 only 7% of insurance settlements that were under $7,000 were completed as structured settlements. While we don’t have hard data for the current year, the number is much higher now.
Because of the fast increase in popularity of using a structured settlement as an option for lawsuits, many people are forgetting to consider the option of pursuing structured payments when settleing a lawsuit.
There are many reasons to consider a structured settlement as a funding option for a legal settlement:
- Clients ability to work long term is questionable
- Clients lack of ability to manage finances in the past
- Clients doesn’t want to manage a large settlement
- Immediate medical bills don’t affect the client
- You can get a higher settlement if paid over a longer time
Another type of legal option which can be finalized as a structured settlement are real estate lawsuits. While it hasn’t been very popular in the past, real estate structured settlements are gaining in popularity.
You can find out more about real estate structured settlements at UtahRealEstatehelp.com. They have good information about funding structured settlements for real estate.
Offshore Asset Protection Trusts for US Citizens
February 18, 2009
When it comes to discussing offshore anything and US citizens - from offshore trusts to investments, from offshore banking to company incorporation - it’s important to note the following facts: -
- US citizens are taxed on their worldwide income. This includes income from interest, dividends and gains whether onshore or offshore.
- The US government allows money and assets to be moved offshore freely; however it requires full disclosure relating to the amount of money or assets moved and when they are moved.
- The US government has task forces committed to the prevention of money laundering and tax evasion.
- The US government makes it clear that US citizens must comply with all reporting and taxation demands.
So, does this effectively render the offshore world inaccessible or at least useless for US citizens?
No, far from it in fact!
The utilization of offshore trusts and bank accounts can be an excellent way for US citizens to legally and securely protect their assets and themselves from litigation for example.
Offshore trusts offer an individual a fair degree of personal confidentiality, privacy and asset protection from claimants such as an ex-spouse or business client for example; and if properly structured, offshore bank accounts can offer degrees of financial protection from potential future claims as well.
Structured Settlement as an Investment Vehicle
October 30, 2008
You always hear people talking about the latest investment vehicle they’re using. It’s water cooler talk, dinner table talk, phone talk, it’s everywhere talk. People are always looking for a way to invest their money that might be a little ‘different’ from what others are doing. Buying a structured settlement is one of those options.
A structured settlement is where one party is awarded an amount of money that is to be paid out over a certain period of time. It is commonly the result of an insurance settlement or a life settlement where the insurance company is required by a judge to pay the victims an amount of money over time. The person who is awarded the settlement then knows they can count on $X.XX per month over the next Y years.
However, often people who are awarded structured settlements don’t want to receive the money over Y period of time. They want the money NOW. And why not? Often they can make better use of the money now than they could over 30 years, or sometimes they could better their personal finances right now and forever if they had a lump sum of cash right now for their structured settlement payments.
How To Form a UK Limited Company
July 9, 2008
When starting a business, a large number of people go down the route of forming a limited company or, to give it its full title, a limited liability company.
The alternative for someone starting up in business on their own is to trade as a sole-trader. There is less formal paperwork involved in going into business as a sole-trader, but a limited company can offer a number of advantages. These include greater opportunities to reduce the amount of tax your business pays, and increased protection of your personal assets in the event of the business running into problems.
This article explains how a limited company is structured, and details the steps you need to take to form your own limited company.
The first thing you will need to do is to decide on a name for your new limited company. Companies House maintains a list of all companies registered in the UK, and you can use their website to check if the name you want is available or whether it is already in use by another company.
The Cash Now Question
March 20, 2008
If you have ever been in a bind for cash you know the stress, the weight of not being able to pay your bills. In these desperate times, desperate measures are often taken. Expensive loans, overused credit cards, and a snowball of events quickly complicate your financial position. Once the collectors begin their relentless pursuit of your sanity, the road to financial prosperity seems a million miles away. On the scene arrives your hero, the "Cash Now" guy.
The "Cash Now" guy says he can buy your lawsuit settlement and give you a lump sum for it. Of course, you have to have a structured settlement; you have to be receiving annuity payments, on top of a myriad of other qualifications. So if you are a lawsuit winner with an annuity settlement, is it really as good as it seems? Can cash now ease your financial woes? Maybe, but maybe not, it all depends on your situation.
A Structured Lawsuit Settlement Seemed Like a Good Idea at One Time
November 30, 2007
You are receiving payments spread out over months, years, even a lifetime. It’s great when the money arrives but the payments are often too small or too spread out to really satisfy your needs. Careful research could yield more of your cash faster. There are some half dozen financial institutions with the knowledge and resources to effectively advance your future lawsuit payments.While the rewards are obvious, the risks are not so easily understood. Once you identify an annuity buyout funding source, consult your attorney for an explanation of the legal requirements.
Beware some of the following pitfalls when obtaining an advance on your future lawsuit payments.
It takes time.In most cases the industry-wide standard is several months. Some companies will tell you they can get your deal processed in weeks. Unfortunately, courts do not operate that quickly. Most people want a set time frame and need the money right away.
You have to go to court.Most states have passed a Model Act that requires annuitants to obtain a court order prior to reassigning their payments. A federal law levies stiff tax penalties on any advance obtained without a court order. (Unless you are the “owner” of the annuity)
