Are Your Eyes Open About Your Retirement?

Expanding on the theme of yesterday’s newsletter, “The Secret to Living Well at 100,”  which we sent our clients so they can properly plan for their financial futures, here’s some supplemental information you’re sure to find helpful.

And probably more than a little disconcerting.

Simply put, we all need to take off the retirement goggles and face some cold, hard facts:

• Most of us DO NOT have enough savings to live the rocking chair retirement we once imagined.
• Many of us WILL live a whole lot longer than we ever believed possible.
• Annuities and pensions are among THE BEST options to protect yourself from the possibility you will become someone else’s financial responsibility later in life.  Yet too few people take full advantage of these attractive alternatives.

People anticipating personal injury settlements and the attorneys who represent them are uniquely positioned to fill this retirement reality void by accepting  structured settlements and structured attorney fees when their cases settle.  Both offer so much potential to lay a strong foundation for a very secure future.

While the appeal of cash when a case settles is understandably very strong, large sums of cash have been known to cause as many problems as they solve.  Ask anyone who’s gone through an inheritance dispute.  Or many lottery winners.

By contrast, safe, secure, tax-advantaged future cash flows that are GUARANTEED make life so much easier.  It may not produce the same “thrill of being rich” (if only for a while) but it gets to the foundation of an injury settlement.  Structured settlements address real needs.

Retirement gap bridging is a very real need for almost everybody.

Some excellent recommended further reading from DailyFinance that highlights our concerns for our clients and some of our favorite quotes the articles contain:

“Should You Accept a Pension Buyout Offer?”

” . . . taking the lump sum puts the responsibility of investing on your shoulders.”

”  . . . if you make a bad investment, you’ll never get your lost money back.”

“Sometimes, the best answer will be to turn that money down and keep collecting safe, stable monthly checks for the rest of your life.”

“Prepare for a Scary Income Gap in Retirement”

” . . .38% of current retirees don’t generate enough income to cover their expenses and are thus already living on borrowed time.”

“When it comes to retirement funding, ‘hope’ is not a successful strategy.”

Whether you are a soon-to-be retiree considering your options, a personal injury claimant contemplating a settlement offer or a plaintiff attorney looking to solidify your post-legal career financial position, call us to let us help you evaluate your options.  We’re committed to helping you meet your long-term financial needs in the safest way possible.