March 25, 2013 – That’s the conclusion of the USA Today Editorial Board following its analysis of the recently concluded Los Angeles Kransky v DePuy trial in which a jury found the device manufacturer negligent to the tune of $8.3 million in compensatory damages awarded to a retired Montana prison guard who sued DePuy over complications arising from a failed metal-on-metal hip replacement.

The Kransky case, the first trial in the nation of approximately 10,000 lawsuits filed, is noteworthy for the higher than demanded compensatory value awarded and the finding that insufficient evidence existed to warrant punitive damages.

The latter may change in future cases if USA Today‘s analysis is any indication.

The widely circulated daily newspaper contrasts DePuy’s slow response in recalling the defective ASR hip device from market once problems became known to Johnson & Johnson’s prompt response to the Tylenol cyanide poisoning cases nearly three decades earlier.

Johnson & Johnson is the parent company of DePuy Orthopaedics who manufactured the recalled devices.

The nation’s second defective DePuy hip lawsuit began in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois just two weeks ago.

As all these case move forward, our firm remains committed to assisting those who have been adversely impacted.  We have established a companion website, ASRHipSettlement,com, to help clients familiarize themselves with the benefits of resolving their disputes with DePuy by choosing a structured settlement.

We continue to monitor the DePuy litigation closely.

March 8, 2013 – Jury deliberations have ended in the trial of Kransky v DePuy, the first lawsuit to go to trial in the United States for defective design of the recalled ASR metal-on-metal artificial hip manufactured by DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson.

The verdict?  Guilty of negligence.

The award:  Mixed.

While the jury awarded the plaintiff, Loren “Bill” Kransky, $8.3 million (57% higher than demanded in closing arguments) in compensatory damages, they failed to attribute any punitive damages to the verdict according to Bloomberg.

Plaintiff attorneys had sought up to $179 million in punitive damages.

It remains to be seen what impact this verdict will have on the remaining 10,000+ cases awaiting trial but we will continue to watch this litigation closely.

Johnson & Johnson lawyers plan to appeal the jury’s verdict.

March 7, 2013 – Shortly after posting an earlier blog on annuities today, I ran across an article I missed earlier in the week that reinforces the value of annuities in retirement planning.

Titled “Say Goodbye to the 4% Rule,” this Wall Street Journal column analyses a conventional retirement “draw down” strategy and comes to the conclusion that the rule is outdated.  Instead, the author offers three alternatives.

The first alternative was music to our ears:

“Use annuities instead of bonds“

If you don’t want to read the entire piece, here’s an excerpt showing how annuities can hold the key to unlocking your retirement anxiety:

Pairing the most plain-vanilla type of annuity—called a single-premium immediate annuity—with stocks, retirees can generate income more safely and reliably than if they use bonds for that piece of their portfolio, says Wade Pfau, a professor who researches retirement income at the American College of Financial Services in Bryn Mawr, Pa

Did you catch that “more safely and reliably” part?

Safety and reliability is what we’re all about.  So if you’re retired or soon to be retired and worried about securing your future, call us.

We can help.

We have access to a wide variety of the best single premium immediate annuities on the planet, along with other types to suit your risk tolerance, all certain to help you sleep better at night.

So call us.  Buy an annuity that suits your needs.  Then throw away the key!

March 7, 2013 – All it takes is 2:20 to learn what questions you should ask before purchasing an annuity.

And that even includes the three seconds it takes to click on the video we posted here for you, produced by the Insurance Information Institute:  “Buying an Annuity: 6 Questions to Ask”

While there, spend some time learning about the powerful benefits of annuities.

We talk a lot about annuities because we believe in them.

We believe in them because they offer certainty that is difficult to replicate elsewhere without incurring additional risk.

If you do your own Google research on annuities, you’re likely to find conflicting recommendations about their usefulness in an overall financial or retirement plan.

“Financial advisers not associated with insurance companies will generally argue for putting little in annuities: they feel they can get better returns through a diversified portfolio of securities.

That’s a harder sell, though, after two rounds of huge losses in the stock market in one decade.”

Paul Sullivan, New York Times “Wealth Matters” Columnist

Investment losses later in life are even harder to make up because of the shorter time horizon.

Annuities Work

When you spend your adult life helping people secure their futures with annuities as I have, without a single complaint, you can’t possibly deny their value in one’s overall retirement strategy.

And when you add the tax benefits they afford, particularly on structured settlement annuities, you’d be hard pressed to find anything comparable.

We don’t say and will never say that annuities (at least the ones we offer) are the be-all and end-all of retirement choices.  We believe in financial planners and managed funds and investment portfolios.  Always have.  Always will.

But as part of one’s overall retirement strategy, we can’t deny the value of adding a sure thing – annuities – to one’s future security.

Pensions, which have gone the way of the 8-track tape player, were good enough for previous generations.

Pension substitutes (aka annuities) are sensible replacements for this one.

With great pride we announce today our firm’s inclusion in Best’s Directory of Recommended Expert Service Providers in its Structured Settlement listing.

America’s premier independent insurance rating organization, A.M. Best Company, Inc. is  designated as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Directory listing eligibility is based upon an applicant’s “reputation, character and industry experience” and requires endorsements from past clients and peers familiar with the candidate’s credentials.

We are honored to be acknowledged as one of the nation’s only Structured Settlement Experts recognized by A.M. Best and are humbled by the outpouring of support received from the many attorneys, claims professionals and insurance industry veterans who gave so willingly of their time to validate our candidacy when contacted by this respected organization.

We share this distinction with all of you who make our success possible by trusting us with all your structured settlement and specialty annuity planning needs.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the vetting process and thank you all for continuing to believe in us.  We appreciate the opportunity to be of service to YOU.

Best wishes for continued Struccess!

 “We like annuities!”

March 3, 2013 – And by “we,” we mean YOU!

This according to a recent study conducted by Life Insurance and Market Research Association (LIMRA).

Reinforcing a theme we’re quite familiar with at our firm, the study overwhelmingly concludes:

People who choose annuities are glad they did.

Among the LIMRA study findings, published about seven months ago:

• 86% of fixed annuity buyers were satisfied with their purchases
• 83% of indexed annuity buyers were satisfied with theirs
• More than half of all respondents owned two or more annuities
• 80% of those surveyed would recommend annuities to friends and family
• Financial strength of annuity issuer was an important consideration

Money for Life

Perhaps not surprisingly, supplementing Social Security or a pension was given as the most popular reason for purchasing annuities.

And in what might have been a page taken from our own play book:

“Annuity buyers’ single most important financial objective is to have enough money to last their and/or their spouse’s lifetime.”

The results of this LIMRA study contrast somewhat sharply with another recent survey – this one conducted by Spectrem Group – which found declining levels of satisfaction by wealthy investors with their own financial advisor.

In that survey, no category of investor was more than 73% satisfied with their financial advisor.

73% chance of satisfaction or 86% chance of same?  (Hmmmmm . . . )

Annuities have played vital roles in shaping the lives of the countless people we’ve had the privilege of helping for more than two decades.

We don’t specialize in everything.

We are not financial advisors.

But we are experts in the niche specialty annuity business helping people when they need trusted, professional advice with their:

Structured Settlements

Taxable Structured Settlements

Structured Attorney Fees

401(k) and SEP Conversions

And since some 80%+ of the annuity buying public is happy when they choose annuities, that pretty much makes us happiness experts too.

We’re here for YOU and always happy to help.  Call today!

February 28, 2013 – Professional sports and big money go hand in hand.  One is not possible without the other.

Contracts are signed, big money changes hands and athletes and team owners smile for the cameras.

For the lucky ones, this cycle repeats itself a few times as the prospects of ongoing riches loom ever larger.

But sooner or later, things change.

The athlete’s shelf life expires and there are no more contracts forthcoming.

The owners and the public find a new flavor-of-the-week star to admire and shower with affection.

And money.

The Mighty Casey strikes out.

Now what?

This week’s Business Insider features a revealing article about the inverse relationship between professional athletes and post-career financial prosperity.

“This Is Why So Many Professional Athletes Are Going Broke” offers some unhappy statistics about this segment of the population.

In addition to a very short average career life, among the reasons offered for so many professional athletes going “from stoked to broke” are:

• Overspending
• Poor investment choices
• Entrusting their money to the wrong people

Too bad more of them don’t come to us.

We’d talk to them about the value of using some of their money to purchase a lifetime annuity.

True, lifetime annuities don’t turn heads quite the same way Lamborghinis do.  But for safety, security and long-term happiness, they really can’t be beat.

“As one goes through life, it is extremely important to conserve funds, and one should never spend money on anything foolish, like pear nectar or a solid-gold hat.”

– From “On Frugality” by Woody Allen –

Don’t let the fact that you’re not a professional athlete stop you from making a smart move with your own financial future.

If you have any savings or 401(k) balances you no longer want to expose to market risk, let us show you how you can convert that lump sum into guaranteed cash flows you can never outlive.

We specialize in helping people find safe, secure, tax-advantaged solutions to their retirement challenges.

We’re not saying you’re destined for bankruptcy court.

But if you’re like most people, you can probably benefit from some guaranteed cash flows you can never outlive.

Call us to schedule your no obligation review today.

Annuities:  Best Choice for Security, Satisfaction and Serenity

February 26, 2013 – We have been advising clients for years about the benefits of lifetime annuities for retirement.

We’ve extolled their virtues and provided empirical evidence about the correlation between retirement and satisfaction in several previous newsletters and blogs about retirement annuities.

Here’s a sampling:

• A Happier Retirement
• The Secret to Living Well at 100
• A Paycheck for Life
• What’s Your Retirement Vulnerability?
• Annuities Are The New Black
• Live Longer . . . Buy Annuities
• Advisors say “Yea” to Annuities
• Retirement Goggles

Annuities Can’t Be Beat

In every one of these and others on our site, we provide links to studies, charts, graphs, quotes from respected professionals and a host of other support detail that helps convince us that annuitizing one’s nest egg is the absolute best path to retirement happiness.

As more and more baby boomers transition to “life after the salt mines,” we’re convinced that those who choose lifetime annuities will simplify their financial lives and sleep better at night.

BONUS:  Here’s a “Retirement checklist for Boomers” from InvestmentNews to help you see if you’re heading in the right retirement direction.

So if you’re tired of watching the stock market go up and down and want to put your mind to rest, call us when thinking about what to do with your next egg.

In addition to our thriving structured settlement practice, we are helping clients secure their retirement futures with lifetime annuities designed to meet their risk tolerance and income goals.

Let us help you.  Call us today for a no obligation consultation.

Dog Breeds, Bites and Insurance Claims

February 18, 2013 – According to the Insurance Information Institute, dog bites accounted for more than one-third of ALL homeowners liability dollars paid in 2011.  It took a total of about $479 million to satisfy more than 16,000 claims that year.

That’s $3.53 trillion in dog dollars.

Laws vary by state but generally homeowners are responsible for the damage caused by their dogs, including personal injury caused by a dog that bites someone.  And your insurance premiums can be influenced by a number of dog-related factors primarily:

Breed of dog

Dog’s biting history

Since the financial impact of dog ownership can be significant (see our blog post from last year entitled Doggone Insurance Claims), it pays to be a responsible dog owner.

Those who want to be extra cautious about limiting the possibility someone will be injured by their family pet may wish to be selective when choosing a breed in the first place.

According to DogsBite.org, a 30-year study on dog bites revealed some telling statistics about certain breeds.  Among the findings:

• The pit bull is far and away the breed most likely to cause bodily harm
  • Pit bulls were responsible for 233 deaths and 1,268 maimings during this period
  • 911 children were harmed by pit bulls
  • Pit bulls caused 12 times more fatalities than even a wolf hybrid
  • When a pit bull has a “bad moment” and attacks someone, that person has an “off the charts” actuarial risk of being killed or maimed as opposed to simply being bitten

When people are bitten and receive insurance settlements for their damages, structured settlements are often chosen as a preferred method of resolution.  In addition to enabling the victim to set aside future dollars which can pay for scar revision and counseling, some of the general damage dollars are often used to arrange for college funding for minors.

The dog lover in me feels bad that anyone ever has to suffer from being bitten by a dog.  But the insurance professional in me is appreciative of these studies designed to help policyholders and the public at large make more informed choices about the animals they choose.

February 18, 2013 – An article from last week’s issue of Claims Journal serves as a timely reminder to claims professionals everywhere of the interconnectivity between structured settlements, the current debate on income taxes and effective claims resolution.

In short, rising tax rates make tax-free income more attractive when settling injury claims.

This is but one of the messages the author deftly carries in his excellent article “Higher Taxes Make Tax Free Structured settlements a Compelling Option.”

Compelling is the operative word here.  Not only are structured settlements compelling to those on the receiving end of the future cash flows, they are also compelling as tools to help claims professionals properly address claimants’ future needs and design settlement offers to better meet those needs.

Being aware of the tax implications can help swing the dialog to a more practical settlement discussion.

While this particular article is necessarily focused on traditional structured settlements which are in compliance with Sections 104(a)(1) & (2) of the Internal Revenue Code for personal, physical injury, an even greater case can be made for their value when implementing non-physical injury structured settlements.

Because many personal injury settlements arise from disputes which are non-physical in nature (employment disputes, punitive damages, copyright infringement and discrimination to name a few), the tax implications of these completely settlements can be even more pronounced.

This last message is one we have been broadcasting as loudly as we know how in many of our previous newsletters and blog posts.  Since taxes can seriously erode the value of taxable settlements occurring (especially) at the higher resolution values, choosing a non-physical injury structured settlement can often mean the difference between walking away with a good portion of your settlement and writing a heftier-than-necessary check to the government.

We prefer to see our clients keep as much of their recovery as possible.

We created a helpful webinar entitled “Taxable Damages:  Mitigating Your Tax Liability with a Structured Settlement” to help clients better understand the implication of taxes on their non-physical injury settlements and hope you’ll call us anytime we can be of assistance to you or someone you know.