For years, contingency fee-based attorneys-in-the-know have practiced the tax-deferral strategy known as Structured Attorney Fees. This simple, yet amazingly effective method of financial planning supplementation has allowed them to set aside funds earned during their prime income-producing years in exchange for a flow of guaranteed, uber-secure, tax-advantaged retirement income.

For those who ever doubted the wisdom of this approach to retirement security nirvana, good news arrived recently in the form of an article that appeared in Kiplinger’s Retirement Report which reinforces this practice as an exceptionally wise choice.

In “A Ladder of Annuities Can Hedge Your Bets” (Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, November, 2009, p. 6), the author, Managing Editor Rachel L. Sheedy, maintains that “laddering” annuity purchases (i.e. regularly buying annuities over time as opposed to purchasing all at once) helps achieve an optimal balance of return and hedge against inflation for those seeking retirement security.

The article goes on to describe a 25-Year MassMutual Financial Group study which compared and contrasted several retirement-income strategies only to conclude that the laddered annuity approach returned 67% more money over that span than the traditional stock/bond portfolio and was the highest performing strategy overall.

Click HERE to view the Kiplinger article online.

But it gets even better!

Because the Kiplinger article doesn’t even consider one of the primary benefits of structuring attorney fees (earning interest on pre-tax income), it’s likely a study that also included Laddered Structured Attorney Fees would have even out-performed the “regular” laddered annuity portfolio.

Practitioners are cautioned that Structured Attorney Fees typically must be arranged in advance of the conclusion of settlement negotiations. Failure to follow established procedures may result in loss of opportunity to structure fees. As such, clients are encouraged to plan ahead and seek independent tax advice as needed to avoid missteps.

For attorneys who qualify though, nothing beats a Structured Attorney Fee for combining safety, rate of return and long-term financial security. And when “laddered” over a number of years, the returns and security can be compounded leading to a future filled with many market anxiety-free nights.