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July 29, 2010

Plaintiff Settlement Solutions: 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 receipients f 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 2020

  • What is a Structured Settlement? How do I get a Structured Settlement?
    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 2020 A.M. Best recommended structured settlement expert and Registered Settlement Planner John Darer® of 4structures.com® LLC
  • How Do Structured Settlements Work? Structured Settlement Diagram
    How structured settlements work, accompanied by 4structures.com® LLC's 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 2020
    Which life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities going into 2020? 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, 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 or even an index linked structured settlement.
  • 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 a structured settlement? You'll like this huge time saver. Click for a comprehensive list compiled by 4structures.com® LLC, 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, GE Capital, CNA) or changed its name and you're trying to track them down, here you go! The list is regularly updated. Last update April 2020.
  • 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 it here.

Contact Structured Settlement Expert John Darer®

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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 to fill a need for critical commentary in an under-served.marketplace. The John Darer® authored blog has been among the most prolific, providing fresh structured settlement, settlement planning and litigation recovery management content and commentary regularly. 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. 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. Thank you for reading!

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  • Thank you so very much for discussing my concerns about Symetra, my annuity company. I am amazed that PI attorneys as well as a settlement broker in San Diego, could not answer the simplest questions I had regarding the Safeco/Symetra issue. Your blog/web site is most interesting and informative, and I am grateful you have take on the "watchdog" role! Thank you so much again (3/25/10)
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  • I heard a radio ad for the Peachtree Settlement Fund as I was driving into work this morning. (San Francisco Bay area.) I decided to check it out on the Internet and came upon your blog. Thank you very much. I do not have a “structured” settlement,
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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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Why Take a Structured Settlement?

  • A structured settlement offers guaranteed financial security to personal injury victims, wrongful death survivors and their families. A structured settlement involves a customized stream of payments, provides long-term stable tax-free income, for a period of years or a lifetime. Unlike other income annuities. a structured settlement annuity can have multiple payment streams to address multiple needs in a single contract.

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