December 31, 2013 –  According to the recently published Fidelity 2014 New Year Financial Resolutions Study, 54% of you are making financial resolutions for the coming year.

While we can’t help you save more, spend less or pay down debt – the top three financial resolutions cited in the study – there are two specific areas where we CAN help you take command of your own financial future.

Retirement Annuities

Retirement account balances have rebounded, America is getting older and nobody wants to risk losing money again as happened to many during the Great Recession.

Add to this the fact that people are happier and feel more secure when they know they are receiving guaranteed lifetime income and the stage is perfectly set for a conversion of some of those ear-marked funds to a lifetime annuity.

Through the first nine months of 2013, $167.6 billion worth of annuities were purchased according to Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA).

While every annuity channel experienced increased activity, we concentrate on helping clients with low-to-moderate risk tolerance with their Fixed Annuity and Indexed Annuity choices to meet their retirement planning needs.

Structured Attorney Fees

Contingency fee-based attorneys have a unique opportunity to defer recognition of earned fees into a future year for a distinct tax advantage.

So strongly do we believe in this popular money-saving strategy which accounts for about 25% or more of our business in any given year that we maintain a companion website dedicated to the topic:

MyStructuredFee.com

And even though she wasn’t specifically talking about structured attorney fees, InvestmentNews columnist Darla Mercado helps illustrate the case for this option in today’s article “Getting a jumpstart on 2014 tax planning” by urging . . .

” . . . certain high earners might want to manage their income stream in order to keep themselves from drifting into higher tax brackets.”

So if your New Year’s resolution involves securing your financial future, we hope you’ll give us an opportunity to show you how we may be able to help you achieve your goals.

December 23, 2013 – It’s always nice to read something that gives you reason for optimism as you prepare to change calendars and head into a new year.

An article in today’s InvestmentNews caught our eye because it predicts 2014 could “be a big one” for a certain financial option near and dear to our firm’s heart.

“New year could bring a boon for annuities,” points toward a growing appreciation for this powerful, if historically under-appreciated, financial security solution.

If you’ve felt completely clueless about what an annuity is or how you can benefit from owning one up to this point in your life, fear not.

You are not alone.

Because 70% of the public cannot correctly define an annuity, the Insurance Information Institute produced this 2-minute video as a public service to help fill the educational void:

“What is an Annuity?”

All this lack of knowledge is changing, though, as built up demand for safe, secure cash flow options increases.

People want safety and security and many are more than a little risk averse.

As specialty annuity specialists (say that three times fast!), we are focused on helping people secure their financial futures through the effective use of specialty annuity products and services tailored to their unique needs.

While structured settlements remain the foundation of our business, we have experienced a major increase in requests from long term clients seeking assistance in converting their retirement savings into a “personal pension” so they never have to worry about outliving their money.

Part and parcel to this long-term retirement planning focus has been the significant increase in requests from plaintiff attorneys desiring to structure their fees.  In fact, 2013 was our best year ever in this area as tax brackets have risen.

So if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to take charge of your own retirement, let us show you how we have helped so many others.

2014 may be the Year of the Horse according to Chinese zodiac, but right here we’ll also be celebrating the Year of the Annuity.

You are most welcome to join the celebration with us!  Call anytime we can help.

Best wishes for a very, Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

December 5, 2013 – If you’re among the lucky ones, you had some retirement money saved up in your 401(k) or IRA in 2008, lost a bunch of it in the ensuing Great Recession years, gutted it out through 2013 and now have recovered most, if not all, of the wealth you originally watched evaporate.

If you were even luckier, you stayed invested and maybe even continued to make contributions to the market and are now comfortably ahead of where you were back then.

So now  what?

My choice of gambling oriented words like “lucky” and “luckier” in the first two paragraphs is not accidental.  The market is, after all, a crap shoot which goes up some years and goes down others even if the longer term direction trends positive.

But nobody, and I mean NOBODY, really knows what the market will do in the future despite the availability of exhaustive data and the existence of many sound strategies designed to help “hedge your bets” if you do choose to stay in the market.

Because negative years in the stock market, when experienced closer to retirement, can disproportionately and detrimentally impact one’s chances for retirement security and happiness, many people look for safer alternatives to simplify their golden years.

Enter deferred-income annuities

Earlier this week, under the broad heading of “Best New Money Ideas,” CNNMoney featured six “Best new ways to make money” as we head into 2014.

According to the authors, one the “Best new investment ideas” is also the “Best new retirement tool . . . ”

We haven’t seen the word “Best” featured so prominently in an article since the August 23, 1962 issue of Mersey Beat when The Beatles announced Ringo was joining the band as its new drummer.

And NEVER In a financial column.

(Emphasis on Best is ours throughout, btw)

The CNNMoney piece describes an excellent retirement strategy, growing exponentially in popularity, designed to ensure you don’t end up broke in your later years.

With life expectancies ever-increasing, designating a portion of your retirement assets NOW to guarantee lifetime income in the FUTURE is one of the Best things you can do to secure your future.

And it’s not just easy, it makes financial sense:

“lifetime annuities are . . . the most cost effective and least risky asset class for generating guaranteed retirement income for life.”

– Economists David F. Babbell and Craig B. Merril –

I hope you’ll take a few moments to read the helpful CNNMoney column.

Then give us a call.  We’ll provide you with several preliminary quotes and we’ll walk you through the rest if you decide this option makes sense for you.

We like helping make people happy and helping them secure their financial futures.

You might even say it’s what we do Best.

Click on the Smiley Face . . .

. . . to be transferred to our November 15, 2013 newsletter where you can learn about two choices you can make that are scientifically proven to make you happier.

    “Substitute me for him – Substitute my coke for gin – Substitute you for my mum – At least I’ll get my washing done”

– Pete Townshend –

October 4, 2013 – Ever try to find a good substitute for security?

Betcha can’t.

At least not on synonym.com you can’t.  I tried but all I got was this message:

“Sorry, I could not find synonyms for ‘security’.”

I had to smile when I saw the website’s somewhat allegorical response since it contains meaning beyond its literal apology.

After all, when you’re talking about security, whether physical or financial, is there really anything else that can compare to “the state of being free from danger or threat?”

Structured Settlement Security

Individuals who choose structured settlements when resolving their personal physical or non-physical injury claims are choosing one of the most secure settlement options available.

The entire structured settlements industry was founded with safety and security in mind.  Structured settlements add stability to an unsettling process and provide people with the peace of mind necessary to resume as normal a life as possible following an injury or loss of a loved one.

JUST ADDED TO OUR WEBSITE:

Check out the new BROCHURES section of our website featuring a variety of pamphlets touting the security of structured settlements.

Moral of today’s story:  There is no substitute for security.

So don’t fight the truth.  Just call us next time you have a need to secure your financial future.

September 25, 2013 – From the time a person enters the workforce until one’s last day on the job, nearly all the emphasis on retirement planning centers around what a person should do to amass as much money as possible.

For essentially one’s entire work life, the goal is the same:

Save as much money as possible and, along the way, find a way to make it grow as large as possible.

Unless your company offers a Defined Benefit plan that will pay you a monthly retirement income based on years of service, you probably spend your career trying to ACCUMULATE retirement wealth.

Read any financial text or listen to any financial talk show and most of the time the conversation revolves around some variation of this general theme:

How to turn some money into MORE money.

Changing Speeds, Gears and Directions

But a strange thing happens on the way to the rocking chair making it wise not to get too comfortable with this pattern of behavior. As Jerry Garcia once sang, “When life looks like Easy Street, there is danger at your door.”

When you hit retirement, the need to AC-cumulate wealth shifts to the need to DE-cumulate what you’ve saved.

In other words, you’ve earned it. Now, spend it.

And . . . (oh, by the way) . . . make it last a lifetime.

But achieving success in this area requires a philosophical and behavioral shift that many find exceptionally difficult to make.

Unfortunately, the financial community has generally done a poor job helping the public understand the concept of decumulation.

Fortunately, there is a solution.

Annuities Work!

While not the only solution, annuities offer perhaps the best solution to addressing the decumulation challenge everybody will face eventually.

According to one excellent research paper, Rational Decumulation, lifetime annuities are the most cost-effective and least risky asset class for generating retirement income for life.

But old habits die hard as evidenced by the fact that too many people still prefer clinging to the seemingly sensible notion that “what got me here will serve me well going forward.”

Such dangerous thinking can backfire, though, as traditional investing carries the risk of loss since financial markets always fluctuate.

Annuities, on the other hand, overcome this risk and can provide steady guaranteed payments ensuring you’ll have money to spend when you need it. Life annuities keep paying for as long as you live – a claim no other financial option can make.

Granted, retirement planning isn’t a whole lot of fun and many allow the fear of making the wrong decision prevent them from making any decision.

But investing a few minutes to see why annuities are such an attractive option can go a long way toward helping you secure your financial future.

September 4, 2013 – Sales of deferred-income annuities, the exchange of a lump sum today for a future guaranteed fixed cash flow at some point in the future, have increased 151% in the first six months of 2013 versus the same period a year earlier.

The total deferred premium sales ($930 million) is still less than 3.0% of the total premium of fixed annuity sales ($34.5 billion) during the same period but the increase has prompted one life market, Lincoln National, to jump into this re-growth area according to an InvestmentNews report.

Most fixed annuities are still “immediate annuities” which require guaranteed cash flows to commence within 13 months of date of purchase.

If you think about it, the reemergence of deferred annuities makes sense:

Baby boomers are coming to the end of their normal work life

But many of them had their retirement plans permanently altered by The Great Recession

Now many of them need to work longer before retiring

For those lucky enough to have seen their retirement balances rebound, they sure don’t want to risk losing it again.

There is (or should be) a distinct different between how you approach money during your retirement accumulation phase and when you’ll actually start using it to live on

Add to this the numerous studies showing how people like the safety and security of receiving guaranteed cash flows they can never outlive and the increasing popularity of deferred annuities is not surprising.

We have a variety of retirement options for those seeking to convert their retirement savings to guaranteed lifetime income.

Let us help you sleep better at night by securing your future with guaranteed income you can never outlive.  Call anytime we can help.

From our August 19, 2013 Newsletter:

 We’re Published Again

“Taxable damage awards and the use of structured settlements”

appears in the August, 2013 issue of:

“The magazine for Northern California Plaintiffs’ Attorneys”

Click [HERE] to read the article online

In 2013, our firm has been exceptionally focused on the the topic of structuring taxable settlements, verdicts and attorney fees for one very simple reason:  Recent changes to top end tax brackets, particularly in California and other high income tax states, have elevated the importance of this subject to unprecedented levels. Another way to look at it:

Taxable $ x (^ Tax %) = < $ 4 u

To better serve you, we have researched the subject extensively and developed some proprietary analytical tools designed to specifically help address the impact of Proposition 30 and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.

We invite you to contact us anytime for a complimentary and confidential demonstration so we can help you make more informed decisions about these taxable matters in advance of settling any of your pending cases.

BONUS: Schedule Your MCLE Session TODAY

As a service to the California legal community, we even created a FREE seminar/webinar based on this timely topic which has been APPROVED by the State Bar of California for 0.50 hours Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) credit.  If your law firm, bar association or other attorney group wants to learn more, just let us know.  Designed to conveniently fit into a “lunch-n-learn” session to accommodate your busy schedules.  Or, the perfect complement to a lawyers’ convention agenda!

I hope you enjoy the article and find it helpful in your practice.

Thank you for the opportunity to be of service and best wishes for continued success!

Dan Finn

August 16, 2013 – Remember our blog post from January when we cheered the fact that the 10-Year Treasury closed above 2.0% for the first time in almost six months?

Dramatic Interlude:  That’s OK, that’s what we’re here for.  Here you go: 10-Year Treasury Closes Above 2%

Back then, we gave you three reasons why we saw that particular benchmark as important.  It’s gratifying to look back now and see that we were spot on with every observation we made.

Well that, as the Monkees-minus-Mike-and-Davy once sang, was then and this is now.

Now, things are even BETTER!

Today’s close of the 10-Year, often a benchmark for the direction of structured settlement rates, at 2.83% is meaningful for a few reasons:

Treasuries are yielding nearly TWICE what they were at their nadir of 1.43% in August of 2012.

2.83% is within a gnat’s eyelash of 3.0%.  We’re almost to the next big hurdle folks!

Ergo, most structured settlement payouts are better than they’ve been in quite some time.

Choose Your Stations Wisely

While many financial and money “experts” may groan about this being bad news, keep in mind these folks will be viewing bonds as investments.

But for those receiving structured settlement offers from casualty companies TODAY or anyone choosing a structured attorney fee or fixed annuity product TODAY, they need not worry because they are not investors.

They are people looking to convert a given lump sum into the best possible tax-advantaged future cash flow option possible.

For those listening to that station, today’s close is outstanding news.

Where To Next?

While we’d like to think that a year from now or sooner, structured settlement and annuity rates will be double what they are now, we’re not convinced that will happen.

Our crystal ball works about as well as everyone else’s.

Could it happen?  Absolutely.  Will it?  Nobody knows.

For our part, we won’t be surprised if it’s a very long time, possibly a decade or more, before rates approach or exceed 4.0%.

So for now we’re celebrating the fact that our clients lately have been the beneficiaries of this very positive market upswing.  We’re always happy to be of service and especially thankful when we can pass along some good news as we’ve just done.

August 12, 2013 – If you were hosting a party and wanted to make sure your guests left your house with great memories of fun times and plenty of belly laughs, the American Academy of Actuaries likely wouldn’t top your list of potential entertainers.

Real or imagined, this group has the reputation of being nothing more than a collection of boring, bean counting duds.

If, on the other hand, you were hosting an event designed to provide your guests with reliable, factual data about their probable life expectancy and some advanced statistical models and projections designed to help them make the smartest possible choices about their retirement and injury settlement options, these guys would be your first choice.

And thanks to a public policy discussion paper published in June by the Lifetime Income Risk Joint Task Force of said American Academy of Actuaries, you don’t even need to host such a party.

Just point your friends, relatives, associates and clients here:

“Risky Business: Living Longer Without Income for Life”

The paper itself is a call to action regarding the challenges, both individual and societal, created by lack of sufficient lifetime income for those heading toward or already into retirement.

 “Lifetime income risk, or the risk of running out of income due to living longer than a retiree initially planned, is not just a personal financial issue but a societal one as well since public safety-net programs can be strained if expected to cover large numbers of individuals who have not addressed their lifetime income risk.”

The problem is compounded when individuals receive money for the settlement of a personal injury claim and the settlement is designed to to supplement their income for a lifetime.

Fortunately, Congress continues to support the tax laws that make structured settlements desirable for those who face the dual challenges of diminished retirement income options at the same time their ability to earn a living may be compromised.

We have been focused on the issue of longevity risk for years.  Check out some of our earlier blog posts and newsletters on the topic:

Live Longer . . . Buy Annuities

Annuities are the New Black

Why You Should Consider a “Personal Pension”

Retirement Goggles

Pension Choices

We’ll continue to beat the retirement security longevity risk drum and serve as your trusted source of information to secure your financial future.  So check back often and please call anytime we can help.