May 15, 2013 – Expect the unexpected. Sage advice generally but a recent Ameriprise Financial Retirement Derailers Survey finds these words of wisdom to be especially true for those with retirement goals in mind. This comes on the heels of another study we referenced in yesterday’s blog, “Peace and the New Retirement Realities,” so we’re…
May 14, 2013 – Art Buchwald once said, “The best things in life aren’t things.” Baby boomers heading into retirement have taken the late Pulitzer Prize winning columnist’s philosophy to heart according to a new retirement study entitled “Americans’ Perspectives on New Retirement Realities and the Longevity Bonus.” A recognition that the rules of the…
May 13, 2013 – No sooner does FINRA and the SEC come out with warnings to, for and on behalf of people who might be considering buying and/or selling structured settlements and pensions (see our May 9 blog post) than we read about one state, Massachusetts, looking into practices of nine firms that buy these…
May 9, 2013 – You’ve seen the silly commercials. Your intuition told you there was something wrong, possibly immoral, about a company advertising on TV to buy future income payments from someone in a wheelchair at a very steep discount only to turn around and sell those benefits to others at a hefty profit. You…
From our May 6, 2013 Newsletter: Be sure to read my latest article “Taxable Damage Structured Settlements: Solving the unintentional verdict and settlement unfairness problem caused by Prop 30 and ATRA” appearing in the May, 2013 issue of Advocate: Click [HERE] to read the article online For those outside the area who may be unfamiliar…
May 2, 2013 – When HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical debuted at The Public Theater in 1967 as the venue’s first-ever production, our country’s social fabric was in the midst of a rinse cycle involving some pretty harsh chemicals. Literally and figuratively. Just twelve years earlier, the most popular album of the time was…
April 23, 2013 – Today’s announcement that Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) will NOT be seeking a seventh term is indeed a “mixed emotions” news item for the structured settlements community. While we all wish our industry’s long time friend the absolute best life has to offer as he retires to the magnificent Big Sky country…
April 22, 2013 – With all apologies to Dean Martin, Tony Bennett and anyone else who ever crooned the old Hague/Horwit standard, it turns out “young” folks aren’t so foolish after all. At least not when it comes to making financial decisions if you believe two recent articles published in InvestmentNews. The first article, “Throw…
April 8, 2013 – Things were so different in 1983 when I began my claims career than they are today. Notices of loss were still being taken by hand. Pretty much every claims manager had his own secretary. (And I used “his” intentionally since nearly every claims manager was male) Among the tools in common…
Dan Finn joins CCFOC Board of Directors March 29, 2013 – The Collaborative Courts Foundation of Orange County (CCFOC) recently invited me to join its distinguished Board of Directors. I was only too honored to enthusiastically accept the opportunity to become part of an organization that positively impacts the lives of so many people while…