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September 29, 2008

Is Being Financially Literate in Your Profession Too Much To Ask?

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Frank ReCouper, Sr. head of "cash now pusher" factoring company, FDR Resources and purportedly "Joe Pep's" partner (in R&P Capital),  embarrasses himself in  "Are Structured Settlements Affected By The Bailout"?  One wonders what someone who advertises that he has been in financial services for over 45 years  has been doing to get it all so wrong on the fundamentals.

Misinformation from Frank ReCouper, Sr.

ReCouper Misinforms:
1.Says annuities and structured settlements are regulated by a State Insurance Commissioner.

  • FACT: Insurance companies, agents, brokers and the sale of insurance products (including annuties) are regulated by the state insurance commissioners in the states in which those subject are domiciled and/or products sold.

2. Says "State Law states all annuities an structured settlements have separate reserve accounts". 

  • FACT: Annuities and structured settlements are insurance products. Products do not have reserve accounts.

3. Says  the individual state insurance laws covers all annuities and/or structured settlements and have a reserve set aside to cover all the responsibilities of that annuity and/or structured settlement. 

  • FACTS: Insurance laws do not have reserves, insurance companies do.
  • Annuities and/or structured settlements do not have responsibilities. When it comes to structured settlements there are multiple options of responsibility depending on the facts of the case: the responsibility is that of the defendant or its insurer if there is no qualified assignment; the assignee if there is a qualified assignment; the annuity issuer if the assignee fails to pay and there is a wrap around guarantee; an upstream holding company in the case of American General Life or Pacific Life and annuity structured settlements.
  • State insurance laws do not apply to treasury bond funded structured settlements.

4. Says "The State of Texas (which oversees the AIG life insurance department that guarantees these annuities and/or settlements) supervises and monitors each of these reserve accounts".

  • FACTS: The state of Texas DOES NOT oversee the affairs of American International Life Insurance Company of New York.
  • Insurance companies are regulated by state insurance departments in each of the states they do business.
  • The AIG life insurance department DOES NOT guarantee any annuity or structured settlement.
  • Annuities are backed by the full faith and credit of the insurance company which writes the annuity contract or policy.
  • As stated in 3 above, an upstream holding company of Houston based American General,  AGC Life Insurance Company, guarantees periodic payment obligations assigned to American General Annuity Service Corporation, when a qualified assignment is used in conjunction with an American General Life Insurance annuity.

The misinformation Frank ReCouper's provides is, with few exceptions,typical of "cash now pushers" whose members writes about structured settlements in attempt to gain shelf space to set consumers up for "the main event". Much of what I've explained should be basic knowledge for every licensed insurance agent. Poorly researched digitial diarrhea is not useful to consumers.

If you are going to write about structured settlements, is being financially literate AND articulate too much to ask?

Posted at 08:18 PM in Cash Now Pushers | The "Cash Now Fix", Factoring Industry AIG Response, FDR Resources, Financial Literacy, Misinformation About Structured Settlements, Settlement Advertising Wall of Shame, Social Media "Road Kill", Structured Settlement Factoring News, Structured Settlement Watchdog® |

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Guide to Structured Settlements 2022

  • What is a Structured Settlement? What You Need to Know
    What you need to know about structured settlements. General explanation of structured settlements, including the stable guaranteed income and favorable tax benefits that give structured settlements their "juice" and a helpful introductory video featuring 2022 A.M. Best Client Recommended structured settlement expert and Registered Settlement Planner John Darer® of 4structures.com® LLC
  • How Do Structured Settlements Work? How Structured Settlements Work | Structured Settlement Diagram
    How structured settlements work, including 4structures.com LLC's super helpful structured settlement flow chart/diagram showing how structured settlements fit in with other settlement planning solutions.
  • Rated Ages and Structured Settlement Cost
    Rated Ages for Structured Settlement Annuities present advantages to all parties. Shift the mortality risk to a life insurance company whose business it it is to assess mortality risk to price its life insurance and annuities. Rated ages boost your structured settlement annuity benefit per premium dollar, or your yield on lifetime payments. Rated ages help to reduce the cost of funding a Medicare Set Aside arrangement where a Structured MSA, is being used { WCMSA LMSA or NFMSA].
  • Structured Settlement Annuity Companies 2022
    Which life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities going into 2022? A list of current structured annuity issuers, the location of their home offices and their financial ratings from A.M. Best, Moodys, Fitch, Standard & Poors and/or other Tier1 NAIC ratings, with links to their websites and other useful information.
  • Treasury Funded Structured Settlements
    Treasury Funded Structured Settlements are a settlement option for the most conservative using the OTHER permissible qualified funding asset under IRC 130(d), United States Treasury Bonds in addition to, or instead of, structured settlement annuities. Treasury Funded Structured Settlements can also be used to fund installment sales, also known as structured sales and other non qualified structured settlements.
  • Compare Structured Settlement IRR to Other Settlement Alternatives
    Use the Taxable Equivalent Yield chart to help compare the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of a structured settlement to other alternative or complementary investments. Need help with the chart? Call 4structures.com® LLC at 888-325-8640
  • Structured Settlement Payments | Types of Structured Settlements
    Ways You Can Structure Your Settlement Payments. With a structured settlement you can have more than one type of payment in a single contract. Different types of structured settlement payments can be customized and combined to meet your needs on a stand-alone basis, or in conjunction with other financial products. Diversify your structured settlement, if you wish, by funding with more than one annuity issuer, with treasury funded structured settlements, index linked structured settlement payments and market based structured .
  • Structured Attorney Fees for Tax Deferral for Contingency Fees
    Structured attorney fees is a financial strategy that offers a unique way to defer taxes for lawyers and law firms. Lawyers CAN structure their legal fees even if the plaintiff doesn't structure their settlement. There are multiple ways to structure your attorney fees, such as the an index linked structured settlement where payments are adjusted based on upside changes in the S&P 500 with no downside and a cap of 5%. Trial Lawyers may also use a special deferred pay/deferred compensation arrangement, if market based returns returns are desired with no cap. Plan NOW for year end! Put structured attorney fee expert John Darer® on your settlement planning team.
  • Structured Settlement Annuity Company Customer Service Phone Numbers
    Receiving structured settlement payments from your own structured settlement or inherited structured settlement? You'll like this huge time saver. Click for a comprehensive list of customer service telephone numbers that includes both current AND former structured settlement annuity issuers and reinsurers. If you have simple bank or beneficiary changes, or if the insurance company that issued the structured annuity has merged, sold or spun off its block of structured annuity business (e.g. Aviva, Transamerica, AEGON, GE Capital, Liberty, CNA) or changed its name and you're trying to track them down, here you go! The list is regularly updated. Last updated July 13, 2022.
  • Structured Settlement Quote Lock-Ins | What You Need To Know
    What does a Structured Settlement Lock-In Mean? How do plaintiffs, defendants and insurers benefit from a structured settlement quote lock in when finalizing a settlement? How does the defendant/insurer/court benefit from using a structured settlement lock-in? Where to be careful when using structured settlement lock ins.
  • What Are Structured Settlement Annuities?
    Structured settlement annuities are annuities that can provide one or more customized annuity payment streams in a single contract. Read about structured settlement annuities here.
  • History of Structured Settlements
    Tracing the roots of structured settlements history from 1918, when Congress exempted damages for personal injury or sickness from income tax, to the establishment of structured settlements as a core personal injury settlement planning tool to the present day.
  • What Are Market Based Structured Settlements?
    Market based structured settlements are an alternative or supplementary structured settlement solution for the plaintiff, attorney or law firm that: 1. Can afford to take some market risk 2. Have discretionary settlement dollars. Claimants and attorneys alike may find that market-based structured settlements provide the opportunity to receive tax-free income, or tax-deferred income, while enjoying growth potential.
  • iStructure |Uncapped Fixed Index Structured Settlement Annuity
    iStructure is an innovative game changing fixed index structured settlement annuity for plaintiffs or attorneys. with an intermediate to long term horizon

Qualified Settlement Funds

  • What is a Qualified Settlement Fund?
    Qualified Settlement Funds | What You Need to Know
  • Firmwide Qualified Settlement Funds Debunked
    Firmwide qualified settlement funds have been heavily promoted to trial lawyers, but have been debunked in a detailed analysis in a July 2022 legal opinion a tax partner at the law firm of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP. Trial lawyers and firms who have established Firmwide QSFs or coinsidering establishing a Firmwide QSF should read the analysis as part of their evaluation.

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  • STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS 4REAL® Blog Is a Popular Source of Structured Settlement News and Information, Settlement Planning News, Tax Deferral and Deferred Income Planning Solutions,
    with a stable readership that seeks credible structured settlement information and/or opinion about topical issues related to settlement planning, targeted to lawyers, injured persons and their family members, guardians, survivors, judges, magistrates, special masters, mediators, administrators, trust companies, insurance company executives and adjusters, financial advisers settlement professionals, financial professionals, insurance regulators, government leaders, federal and state law enforcement, buyers and sellers of structured settlement payment rights, the news media and other interested parties. 4structures.com LLC established the structured settlement blog in 2005 and for over 16 years it has been a leading source for critical commentary. The John Darer authored blog has been among the most prolific, regularly providing fresh structured settlement, settlement planning and litigation recovery management content and commentary. John Darer®, CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT® RSP CLTC, President of Stamford, CT based 4structures.com, LLC, is an experienced New York City area structured settlement expert, structured settlement broker, Certified Financial Transitionist, and Registered Settlement Planner. In his capacity as a investigative journalist and commentator, and professionally, John Darer passionately believes that exposing a business practice is both healthy and newsworthy. It is in the best interest of tort victims, their families and their legal advisers, that the settlement planning discussion involve those that are properly trained in the topic, properly informed on the topic and, with respect to structured settlements, properly licensed and/or appointed). It has significant instructional and deterrent value to other practitioners and firms as well as those who may be caught in the cross hairs. WHAT YOU GET here is the straight stuff with a touch of irreverence and humor. We hope you enjoy and find the content to be helpful. Subscribe to the structured settlement blog feed, or a specific category feed through your blog reader, or through the Feedburner icon on this page. Followers of JDDarer™ on Twitter may also receive select content. If you would like to speak with John he can be reached at (888)325-8640 Thank you for reading!

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Structured Settlement Best Practices Corner

  • New York Insurance Advertising law requires the full name of the Insurer to be listed along with the city and state of the principal office. Stating that you represent these fine companies using Insurance company logos without the preceding information are also illegal
  • When it comes to settlement documents it is the ultimate responsibility of the lawyers or claims adjusters who receive input concerning the structured settlement aspects of the documents to actually read the entire document, exercise independent thought and advise their clients properly
  • Be aware that financial advisors use of testimonials is prohibited or restricted
  • Most states require that Testimonials represent the CURRENT opinion of the person who made the testimonial. Be prepared to back it up.
  • Number of States That Prohibit Payment of QSF expenses by licensed agents and brokers
    5 Survey not yet complete.

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