Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and Commentary

What is A Certified Structured Settlement Consultant

by John Darer® CLU ChFC CSSC MSSC RSP CLTC

What is a Certified Structured Settlement Consultant?

Certified Structured Settlement Consultant, also known by the acronym CSSC, is a professional designation or credential that is earned as the result of successful completion of a professional credentialing program established by the National Structured Settlements Trade Association (NSSTA) in conjunction with the University of Notre Dame. The CSSC training program is hosted annually at the Stayer Education Center, at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend Indiana. NSSTA has been awarding the CSSC to NSSTA members who qualify since 1994.

What Does It Take To Be A Certified Structured Settlement Consultant?

A Certified Structured Settlement Consultant should possess the fundamental body of knowledge required for success in the structured settlement profession having completed more than 60+ hours of study, having met an experience requirement and having successfully passed a comprehensive examination.

Advanced Structured Settlement Consultant Credentials Available

An advanced professional designation called the Master Structured Settlement Consultant (MSSC) was established in 2014.

I have been a Certified Structured Settlement Consultant for over 20 years and was one of the first 25 members of the structured settlement industry in the inaugural Master Structured Settlement Class who earned the MSSC designation.

Structured Settlement Annuities More Valuable If Interest Rates Go Lower or Negative So Don't Sell

by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

Businessmen who make gobs of money by getting structured settlement annuitants to sell their structured settlements for cash now may not the best sources for financial advice when it comes to your structured settlement.

For instance mincemeat was made of Genex Capital CEO Roger Proctor's plaintiff wail from 2010 that you should sell your structured settlement "to protect yourself against interest rate rises that will make you poorer".  Six years on, anyone who had heeded Roger Proctor's "joust at the windmill" of  clairvoyance would have lost lots of money because Armageddon did not happen.  Proctor was even peddling this sales pitch as far back as June 2009. Similar losses would have occurred if you succumbed to "The Sirens" of Woodbridge Structured Funding about AIG structured settlements in 2008. 

But what would happen if there were even lower or negative interest rates in the savings or bond markets?

If there were even lower or even negative rates, investors would be scrambling for yield, right?.  If your savings account is paying zero or confiscatory interest rates where do you think the investors backing purchasers of structured settlement payment rights would go?   They are already doing it and we're not at zero or negative. They would seek out the exact type of safe yield that structured settlement payments provide to personal injury victims,  wrongful death survivors and others who elect to receive structured settlements when their lawsuits settle.  Insurance companies are legally required to maintain reserves to back up their obligations and such reserves are tested frequently, subject to annual audits in each of the states they are licensed to do business.

At a time when the reckless behavior of participants in the structured settlement secondary market is worse than ever,  with no licensing or industry regulator,  why would things get any better if interest rates were lower or negative and you hold the cards with your structured settlement?  I would expect them to get significantly worse.   The structured settlement secondary market, an industry with an already shady reputation as predators and carrion feeders, sprinkled with a few felons, has spawned forgery of hundreds of judge's names on structured settlement transfer orders  in two states and national front page exposes about exploitation of African Americans cannot be expected to get better in those circumstances without adequate regulation that includes solicitation.

So don't be seduced by a free Ipad, gas card or a lap dance at a strip joint, or in the case of one company... a joint.  If you have a structured settlement, don't let anyone fool you into selling your structured settlement for cash now if savings rates and go to zero or negative.

Up Yours Cash Now For Structured Settlement

 

 

 

 

"All Time Master Spaghetti Chef" on Structured Settlements Isn't "Gnocchi Dokey"

by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

Mommy blogger Natalie Bracco is a self-proclaimed "all time master spaghetti chef" and a part-time writer, none of which qualifies her as an authority on structured settlements.  Here's how her structured settlement "sauce" is "bollocks bolognaise".

A. She claims "you can never withdraw the entire amount even if it’s a life or death situation. And the legal framework firmly supports this policy by the insurance companies as well, so taking the case to court also has to be ruled for. But all hope is not lost, there is indeed a way around it; it is by selling the structured settlement to a buyer and by receiving the appropriate amount in cash for it".

Reaction to Bracco's "Spaghetti Western" on Structured Settlements

Comments:  (1) Natalie Bracco is either clueless to,  or ignores the fact that the restrictions are in the Internal Revenue Code. (2) Usually a court involves a judge who issues a ruling upon...(3) Selling a structured settlement to a buyer will not get the seller "the entire amount". In fact (4) the "appropriate amount" is a "Sacccetini" of you know what,  set by the buyer that is nowhere near "the entire amount".

B.  Bracco claims that "Structured settlement companies offer to buy the settlement only if they see a reasonable profit in doing so. So inevitably they are going to charge you a fee for lending their services, which will be deducted from the amount that will be paid to you. So essentially you will not be getting the entire amount of the structured settlement, but if you’ve chosen the right company then you might only lose a fraction as fee amount"

Comments:  (1)  Misleading.  You will lose far more than a fraction of the fee amount.  Selling your structured settlement will always result in a loss of capital. Cedric Martez Thomas lost almost $1,500,000 in a deal approved in Okeechobee County Florida at the end of October 2015.  The combination of 365 Advance Services  and Novation profiteered to the extreme.

C.  More "Bric a Bracco"  "transfer of annuity benefit rights to a third party is a completely legal process by which you can transfer the rights of your settlement to a third party buyer and get the equivalent cash from them in return.

Comments: It's the structured settlement payment rights, not the rights to your settlement.  You are not getting equivalent cash in return, because the payments have been discounted to present value and the transaction fees for the buyer and the broker built in.

D.  This not only solves the immediate financial urgency that you might have but also provides a clever way in which you can transfer your existing settlement to a much rewarding investment platform such as real estate or gold etc

Comments: Here's a reason why the all star spaghetti chef should stick to monitoring the state of "sticks of semolina" in boiling salted water.  Natalie Bracco simply hasn't a clue.. Selling your structured settlement and investing in Gold would have been an unmitigated disaster. If Bracco was a financial adviser her clients would have good grounds to sue her.  Essentially what she says is take a hit on selling your structured settlement and put it into one of the most underwhelming assets.  According to Morningstar an investment in the SPDR GLD Trust  has lost 5.96% YTD through Q3 2015;  essentially broken even in 2014 and lost in the high teens in 2013.

With a modicum of research Bracco's blog post could have been "al dente".

Structured Settlements 202 | NSSTA University 2015

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT® RSP CLTC

Having over 24 years of hands on structured settlement industry experience with over 1,000 cases and having completed the classroom portion of the Master's Certificate in Settlement Consulting in October, one might assume that attending Structures 202 would be "a step backward". It was anything but. The most recent installment of NSSTA University was well attended by both seasoned producers, admin staff and "newbies" and the 2 day seminar included a potpourri of important topics in a fast paced format that kept one engaged throughout.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the seminar was working on settlement documentation for a case study.  I was fortunate to have the fundamentals of how to approach settlement documents "beaten" into me by my mentor Frank Sheerin, to the point where it seemed as natural as tying my shoelaces. My skills were then honed and refined through interactions with a number of esteemed competitors. It was interesting to see what people picked up and how quickly and I especially enjoyed helping some of the less experienced attendees navigate the project.   Some brokerages and life companies have cookie cutter documents that are built for "production line" efficiency, but have, in my opinion, either served to leave some weak on important fundamentals..  A bit of perhaps unintended humor was injected into the process when it was observed by one of the attendees, that a plaintiff due periodic payments was "born" four months after the date of death of her mother who supposedly died in the accident that was in the case study.

The respect given to Structures 202 was evident by the caliber of those who made their way to Las Vegas to conduct each of the sessions.  Kudos to the NSSTA 2015 Educational committee and NSSTA staff for a job well done. 

Annuity Campus Cash Structured Settlements Video Says "Back Up Trucks" | Down on Your Luck? Don't Be a Shmuck!

by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

A Las Vegas "cash now pusher" suggests that trading your structured settlement for cash is not just a back up the truck move, but a back up the trucks move.

Annuity Campus "Professor" Robert C Eldridge Jr, 36,  of  Las Vegas, NV (who occasionally goes by the alias Robert Vegas 88), is the registrant of annuitycampus(dot).com, an unaccredited "Oh Vey League" school. He also has a video channel on YouTube on which was recently posted the video called "Cash For Structured Settlement- Back Up The Trucks.

If you want cash for structured settlement it is not at all like Professor Robert C. Eldridge Jr, suggests. You may feel some temporary relief but having traded predictable income for a reduced amount of cash now you are not going to feel rich for long, if at all.

You're more likely to feel like you spent all night in Bobby Vegas' hometown pumping quarters into a "one armed bandit" with the extent of your winnings "backed up" into your little paper cup.

"What They Say In Vegas Should Stay in Vegas"

Postscript

Following public awareness generated by the publication of this post, the Robert Eldridge 'Back up the Trucks" video was disabled

Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyer on Structured Settlements

by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

Apparently they do structured settlements a bit differently on The Strip (see picture). That's why in this instance, the Structured Settlement Watchdog simply cannot let  "what happens in Vegas" stay in Vegas.

You see Farhan R. Naqvi, a Las Vegas Personal Injury lawyer  "with experience",  claims that when plaintiffs and defendants reach a settlement agreement, in some instances the defendant will receive what is known as a structured settlement  (underlines and bold for emphasis).

From a settlement planner "with experience" here is how a structured settlement really works:

 

Structured settlement watchdog "mingling with the locals" while researching this story