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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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…
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…