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July 29, 2010

Plaintiff Settlement Solutions (PSSI): I Hate to Sound Like the FiOS Mom, BUT...

Basset_hound_hydrant_md_clrStructured Settlement Watchdog "Gettin' PSSI With It" in Castle Rock, CO!


 Plaintiff Settlement Solutions, Inc. says:

A structured settlement annuity will guarantee periodic payments over a lifetime or over a specific period of time. Also known as "period certain." An annuity is an investment vehicle in which the plaintiff allows all or part of the award or settlement to be placed with an insurance company. In return, the insurance company guarantees inflation adjusted periodic payments for life or period certain.

Reality:

  • A specified period of time is "period certain". Lifetime is never referred to as period certain because the duration of life is well... uncertain.
  • The insurance company does not provide "inflation adjusted payments". The best one can do at the current time is to have a fixed percentage increase that is compounded annually.

Plaintiff Settlement Solutions, Inc. says:

Due to the difficulty of self-managing a cash settlement, 92% of all claimants exhaust their funds completely within the first five years.

Reality

  • First of all, Plaintiff Settlement Solutions has not cited the source of 92% statistic.
  • Many other settlement  settlement consultants use a 90% figure, citing a California Law Practice Guide from 1992. 
  • An NYU Law student named Jeremy Babener published a white paper in 2009, based on his extensive research that highlighted the lack of empirical evidence to back up the 90% statistic. The PSSI web update occurred after Babener's paper was published.

Plaintiff Settlement Solutions, Inc. says:

(in 2010) Congress created this significant financial advantage 20 years ago to give beneficiaries a strong incentive to choose a structured settlement.

Reality

It's website was recently redone, thus by my count this means PSSI alleges that 1990 was the watershed moment in structured settlement history.

Yet THESE events all happened before 1990...

1979- Significant IRS Private Letter Ruling 79-220

1982-Periodic Payment Settlement Act of 1982  <-Congress involved in this

1986- Tax Reform Act of 1986-IRC 468B created  <--Congress involved in this

1988- Congress amends IRC 130 to permit recipients of periodic payments to have rights greater than that of a general creditor. ( see Pub. L. 100-647, 102 Stat. 3342, Title VII, § 6079(b)(1)). Also see H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 1104, 100th Cong., 2d Sess. at II-171(1988)

Posted at 12:57 AM in Denver Structured Settlements, Financial Literacy, Jeremy Babener | Commentary on His White Papers, Plaintiff Settlement Solutions Inc,,, Structured Settlement Information, Truth In Advertising Structured Settlement Factoring, Truth in Advertising Structured Settlements |

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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
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  • 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 update January 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

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  • Most states require that Testimonials represent the CURRENT opinion of the person who made the testimonial. Be prepared to back it up.
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