News and Tips on structured settlement transfers.

Posts Tagged: cash for structured settlement

22
Mar 11

Structured Settlement Sales – Is Bigger Better?

If you’ve got a structured settlement and are considering selling it, you have hopefully used a site like www.quotemeaprice.com to get bids for the portions of your structured settlement that you are considering to sell.

Still, once you get those bids, how do you know which to choose? Do you take a slightly lower offer from one of the big players in the structured settlement market, or do you take a chance selling your settlement to a company that is not as well-known?

It all boils down to “due diligence.” Essentially, that means you have to do your homework to make sure a company bidding to buy your structured settlement is reputable, and whether you trust that company enough to give them your business.

Once you get a short list of companies bidding on your settlement, an easy way to begin checking them out is with a simple Internet search. Are there lots of articles about them? Lots of complaints? If there is absolutely no information at all, it could mean that the buyer is a brand new company; not necessarily a bad thing, but you have no history to go on. This is all starting information, and you need to go further.

Your next stop should be the Better Business Bureau. There, you can review complaints that have been made against prospective structured settlement buyers. Most companies will have some complaints against them, so the content of the complaints should be your focus here. Do the companies change the deal after the fact? Did they fail to pay up on their settlements? Did they sneak in hidden fees? This will tell you what red flags to watch for when you begin the sales process.

Another added check might be the state attorney, or some other regulatory that handles consumer complaints, to see if your prospective buyers have encountered problems in your state.

Even once you’ve selected a vendor, be it a major player or a start-up, you can’t drop your guard. Review carefully every contract and document given to you as part of your structured settlement sale. Talk to an independent attorney who’s had experience with structured settlement sales, and talking to a financial advisor is a good idea, too. Make sure this is a good deal for you, or at least the best deal you can get. And don’t forget – you have the “cooling off” period right after the deal is done where you can pull the plug on the whole thing, if you want to.

If you need help selling your structured settlement, annuity or lottery payments,
contact us today. We are here to answer your questions and help you obtain the
highest possible price for your payments.

19
Mar 11

Structured Settlement – Your Best Bet

You were injured and filed a lawsuit, or you won a lottery, or some other settlement, yet your benefits are being paid to you as a structured settlement. Why do you have to wait for your money? Why can’t you get it now?

Structured settlements actually got their start in Canada. They’ve become a favorite in personal injury lawsuits for a number of reasons. First, the plaintiff can pay a settlement to an insurance company that is less than the actual total lump sum settlement stipulated in court. How? Because the plaintiff puts a set amount of money aside with an insurance company, who then invests that money into a conservative investment whose rate of return generates the stream of payments that constitute your annuity. The time needed to grow that lump sum into your annuity is one reason why you have to “wait” for your money.

Another reason is your benefit. Structured settlements are intended to cover your living expenses for a period of months or years. Most people don’t have the discipline or investment skill to manage such a large amount of money on their own. So, the annuity lets someone else (the insurance company) manage the money, and the annuitant (that’s you) gets it – and spends it – only as needed. No matter what a “financial advisor” may tell you, you won’t beat the interest earnings on your investing without some special skill…or divine intervention.

Tax-free treatment is another big reason that structured settlements are so popular. As long as your damages come from your actual injuries, and not from compensatory or punitive damages, your annuity payments are tax-free. So, take that into consideration if you believe that your investment can overcome the return on your structured settlement. Anything you earn must beat both the insurance company and your tax rate.

If you truly don’t need this money, great – why not play with investing it elsewhere? But if you got it as a result of a personal injury settlement, and can’t replace that income elsewhere, selling should be your last resort.

Should you decide to sell, a site like www.quotemeaprice.com allows you to seek out bets from interested buyers quickly and easily. Buyers will tell you the amount they are willing to pay for all or part of your structured settlement. This allows you to get the best deal. True, you won’t get anything close to the amount you would have received over time, but if you are desperate for cash, you will be able to get more than if you called only one buyer.

18
Mar 11

Structured Settlement – Cash It Out?

The late-night ads beckon, promising a big lump sum settlement if you cash out your structured settlement. You’ll get cash now, or so they promise. Consider a few things before you sell.

How Will You Spend the Money? You may think that you have a serious emergency on your hands that justifies selling your settlement, but do you really? If you’re paying bills, can they wait? Or can they be negotiated? If you’re paying for repairs, is there any other way to take care of it? If you’re giving the money to friends or family, can’t they get the money anywhere else? Sometimes, with enough hard thought, you’ll find that money “emergencies” really aren’t.

I Can Beat that Interest Rate. Your structured settlement is likely being managed and paid by an insurance company, who received a lump sum (perhaps from a defendant in a lawsuit) and is investing it in conservative investments so that you will receive guaranteed payments over several months or years. These investments are likely very conservative and not earning a high rate of return, and you may have had financial “consultants” tell you that you can do better. The truth is, however, that you probably can’t, at least not without taking on a huge amount of risk. Also consider that your structured settlement is tax-free. If you sell it, and invest the proceeds, any money you make won’t be tax-exempt.

How Long Are You Planning to Live? Structured settlements are typically intended to provide the annuitant (that’s you) with a stream of income to meet your living expenses for a period of months or years. If you sell your settlement, that income will be gone. How do you plan to take care of yourself, especially if you don’t have a spouse to do it for you, or if you can’t work.

How Disciplined Are You? Selling your structured settlement will result in a lump sum of cash at your disposal. This isn’t necessarily a good thing. Even the most disciplined person would have difficulty resisting the temptation to spend a large amount of cash right away. Even if you’re disciplined, there’s sure to be a family member or friend with some “urgent” need that can be met with a “loan.” If you don’t have control over the money – that is, if it’s still locked into an annuity – you don’t have to worry about saying “no” to a seemingly legitimate need.

16
Mar 11

What Happens to a Structured Settlement if I Die?

It’s not a pleasant thought, but if you have a structured settlement, you may have wondered what would become of those payments if you should head to the Great Beyond.

The short answer is, it depends on how your settlement was designed.

If your settlement is set up so that it pays only while you, the annuitant, is still alive, then there will be nothing for your beneficiaries if you should make an early exit. Not surprisingly, this would be the structure of choice for defendants in a personal injury lawsuit, because it ends their liability if the annuitant dies. However, as you might expect, plaintiffs usually want more flexibility than this.

Another option for a structured settlement is to have the payment stream be fixed over a certain period of time or a certain number of payments. This may be called a “guaranteed period” or “period certain” because, even if the annuitant should die, the payments continue until the specified period comes to an end. If the annuitant is no longer alive, the remaining payments go to his/her beneficiary, or his/her estate if no beneficiary has been specified.

Yet another possibility is to structure the settlement to pay a “joint and survivor benefit.” In this case, the payments go to the annuitant, but, in the event s/he dies, the remaining payments go to a specified “survivor.” This would usually be someone like a spouse or child. Like the guaranteed period, it ensures that the structured settlement will be paid in full, even if the annuitant does not live that long.

Finally, your structured settlement may contain a “commutation rider” which provides for a designated beneficiary to receive a discounted lump sum payment in lieu of the remaining payments if you should die. Typically, the commutation rider will call for the beneficiary(ies) to get 90% of the remaining settlement if the annuitant dies; this is more than the beneficiary would likely get if s/he sold the payment stream to a structured settlement buyer.

So, should you sell your structured settlement now in order to make more money for your beneficiaries? Well, hopefully you and your lawyer had a long conversation about your anticipated needs before you even agreed to the settlement. But, even so, selling it is a major decision. If you should die, remaining payments made to your beneficiaries are generally tax-free. It’s difficult to discipline yourself from spending the entire lump sum if you sell, and any interest you earn on the investment of the funds is taxable – not tax-free, like your structured settlement.

Hopefully, you will enjoy a nice long life with your structured settlement payments. But take a look at your settlement agreement so that you understand what will happen if you’re no longer around.

13
Mar 11

Structured Settlements and Kids

Unfortunately, bad things don’t just always happen to adults. When a child suffers a terrible injury and a lawsuit follows, the end result might be a structured settlement.

When the plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit is a child, the court usually will put part of the settlement into a blocked bank account designed to pay current and future expenses. This bank account will remain restricted until the child reaches the age of majority (usually 18). Lawyers’ fees and other expenses will also be paid from the settlement. If Medicaid was used to pay some of the child’s medical expenses, they may also have a claim to part of the settlement (check with your lawyer about this). The remainder is placed into a structured settlement. Since a minor child cannot legally enter into a contract, the process of making the settlement binding is called confirmation, court approval, guardianship, or minor’s compromise proceeding.

Just like for adults, a structured settlement is typically a lump sum that is placed in an annuity that will invest the money then make a stream of payments to the annuitant (in this case, the child) over time. The idea of the structured settlement is to ensure that the child has a stream of income to meet his needs for months or years. This might be a lifetime if the child is permanently and totally disabled. Parents and attorneys for the child should review any proposed structured settlement carefully to determine if the amount of the settlement will be sufficient for the child.

But what if circumstances change and you need cash sooner than the annuity will provide it? It is possible to sell a child’s structured settlement, but it’s more difficult than selling one that an adult controls.

Structured settlements for minor children will often have a no-sale provision designed to prohibit its sale in a factoring transaction. Even with a no-sale provision, however, a court can approve a structured settlement sale if it can be demonstrated that there is a great an immediate need for the cash, and that the child’s needs are better met by selling the settlement than waiting for the next payment. You can expect, however, that the court will scrutinize a claim like this very carefully.

Once your child reaches adulthood and gains control of his settlement and that restricted bank account, the temptation to spend it all now will be immense, and it’s tough to expect an 18-year-old to have the maturity to know that he’ll need the money later. At this point, the best gift you can give your child is solid financial advice, maybe even the services of a financial planner, to help protect him when you aren’t around.

11
Nov 10

Five Important Steps Before You Sell Your Structured Settlement: Introduction

With so many companies promoting selling all or a portion of your structured settlement, you may find yourself considering this option. Whether your structured settlement is the result of a worker’s compensation claim, personal injury, or property loss, the option to convert your structured settlement to a lump sum could becoming increasingly more attractive as a means to meet financial demands. Unfortunately in today’s economic climate, many are resorting to options they might not otherwise have considered. Before making the decision to sell your structured settlement, it is important to arm yourself with the necessary information to allow you to make the best decision possible for your circumstances. As with most things, there are both advantages and disadvantages to structured settlements. One of the advantages is that the settlement guarantees a specific amount to be paid over a period of time. This not only protects you from rapidly depleting the settlement, but it also provides a dependable revenue stream over the course of the settlement schedule. Conversely, the disadvantages include the inflexibility of not being able to access the money when you need it and the loss of potential investment returns.

Prior to 2002 the tax benefits of a structured settlement benefited both the company making the payments and the recipient as the payments made were tax free. In order to protect the injured party, Congress granted these tax benefits to structured settlements as a means to keep the injured from prematurely depleting their recoveries. In order to prevent the factoring transactions from undermining the policy objectives of the structured settlement, Congress passed HR2884 which resulted in Internal Revenue Service 5891 requiring all structured settlement factoring transactions be approved by a state court. The Structured Settlement Protection Act imposes a 40% excise tax on the net sale of a structured settlement that does not meet the requirements of the state and federal statutes. All states with the exception of Vermont, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming have passed legislation regulating the buying and selling of structured settlements. Over the next five posts, we will be discussing five steps that are essential before you commit to sell a portion or all of your structured settlement.

Do your due diligence
Seek legal advice
Seek financial advice
Decide what you are going to sell
Seek the best offer

10
Oct 10

What to Look For in a Company When Selling a Structured Settlement

You hear the term “structured settlement” practically every day. Most often it will be in the context of selling it to certain companies.

Keep in mind that the purchaser is looking to make a profit. Your goal is to get the most money possible. Go slow in deciding when and to whom to sell. Do your research, take bids and insist that certain terms and rights be met. It is your money. You are in control. If the amount of the offer and the conditions of the deal don’t make for a fair exchange, look elsewhere.

Remember, you don’t have to sell the entire settlement. You can sell just a portion if you prefer.

Here are steps you can take to protect yourself and ensure you are getting the best deal:

1. Have an idea of what your structured settlement is worth, keeping in mind a fair discount rate. This discount is where the company’s profit comes from and why they are willing to purchase. If this doesn’t meet your expectations then maybe selling isn’t right for you at this time.

2. Make sure the company you’re considering is legitimate. As with any other business, the Better Business Bureau is an excellent place to start. You will also want to do a web search for complaints against the company. An easy way to do this is to just “google” the name of the company followed by the words “complaints” or “reviews”.

3. Don’t rely on the integrity of any one company. Get multiple quotes. Don’t share the offered amounts with the other companies who will be giving quotes. You don’t want a previous offer to be a factor in new bids. This is also a good way to weed out the not-so-good companies. If someone offers a ridiculously low offer they probably do not have your best interest in mind. Conversely, if someone offers an unreasonably high offer, this is suspicious as well. It’s fairly common to offer the highest initial bid and then do a series of stalls until the client is desperate to take a much lower offer.

4. When it is time to write the agreement, be sure it is laid out the way it was discussed.

5. Have a definite closing day. This varies by state, but eight to twelve weeks are normally sufficient. Insist that there are penalties in place such as an additional payment per day, due to you on closing, if the settlement company fails to close on time. It is possible for them to stall so they earn some extra interest on the money while they make you wait.

6. Know your rights. There are laws in place to protect your interests. Although it may seem like a nuisance, you will need to go through the court system in your state to have the settlement approved. This is for your protection.

Cashing out a structured settlement is a big financial decision so go slowly and plan carefully.

20
Aug 10

Getting the Best Price for your Annuity or Structured Settlement

Life often takes unexpected turns. Financial crises happen to most people and cash flow problems can snowball to a financial catastrophe. For example, if you’re behind on mortgage payments, it could mean losing your home. If you lose your home, you would still be required to pay rent at another residence.

If you have a structured settlement or other type of annuity, should you sell it? It depends on a number of factors, including other assets or sources of income, the risk you stand to lose if a financial crisis is not averted, and what you stand to gain if sold.

Fortunately, if you decide to sell your annuity, there is help available. There are some useful tips on selling your annuity.

Finding a marketplace to sell your annuity

As with any other commodity, you need to find a marketplace for your annuity. Unlike selling a car, you probably will not find many buyers through Ebay, your local newspaper or Craigslist. Most financial companies interested in purchasing it won’t be looking at those sources.

There are companies that advertise to purchase your annuity, and some may offer you a decent price. But in those cases, you are often given a take it or leave it offer. The more companies that know you are selling an annuity the better, and the more offers you receive, the higher price you will be offered.

QuoteMeAPrice.com provides a marketplace for your annuity or structured settlement. It brings ready, willing and able buyers together with those who need to sell, and are ready to offer cash for either a full settlement or partial settlement. QuotemeaPrice.com does the legwork of finding these buyers for you.

Knowing the worth of your annuity

If you decided to sell your car, you wouldn’t attempt to put a price on it without obtaining a blue book value. Though the selling price of the car may or may not be equal to the blue book value, you at least obtain an informed price as to the marketplace. Understanding what your annuity is potentially worth will allow you to make an informed decision on whether to sell, and if so, the offer you are willing to accept.

With an annuity, the price you receive is not simply a matter of adding up all remaining payments. This is because the remaining payments will be paid out over a number of years. Companies willing to purchase annuities will apply a discount factor against the price of the annuity, taking into consideration the interest they would be earning if their money was invested elsewhere.

There are annuity calculators available for getting an estimate of the present value of your annuity. If you need assistance in determining the value, consider contacting your attorney, accountant, or tax preparer. Or better yet, contact Quotemeaprice.com to get an idea of the present value of your annuity.

Require full disclosure of the sale terms from any buyer

Most states have enacted the Model State Structured Settlement Protection Act in one form or another. First and foremost, the Structured Settlement Protection Act requires full disclosure of all terms of the proposed sale, including the number of payments, the discount rate used by the company and any charges applied for breach of the agreement.

In some cases, independent legal or financial advice is required. Insist that any buyer comply with the Structured Settlement Protection Act

Selling your annuity or structured settlement may be able to protect other assets of yours and may be able to stop a financial crisis before it begins. Knowing your rights as a seller and obtaining the most bidders available through Quotemeaprice.com are invaluable tools to insure the best price in the marketplace is obtained.

3
Aug 10

Getting Cash for your Structured Settlement Payments

Structured settlement laws in the United States have made the business of receiving a payment from a court settlement or a lottery win very difficult. It is almost impossible to receive the full amount in cash when it is awarded, and most parties who have to pay a settlement will much rather opt for a monthly or quarterly payment to ease the financial burden. But where does this leave you? You are entitled to your cash, but by law the party responsible for paying it doesn’t have to release it at more than a trickle. But, did you know that you can get Cash For Structured Settlement payment agreements by selling them?

That’s right, you can get Cash For Structured Settlement payment agreements by selling them off to larger investors or institutions who will buy them at a slight discount in return for giving you all of the cash up front. There are a lot of companies who will offer to buy your structured settlement agreement, but the percentage of your lump sum they will charge will differ greatly. A general guideline is that companies can charge between 7-12% to take your payments off your hands and give you the cash instead. With interest on the payments calculated you get almost the entire remaining amount, even after the company takes its discount!

Unfortunately, finding a company who will give you Cash For Structured Settlement payment plans is not as easy as it sounds. Many of the larger companies can offer you more cash, but they also have higher overheads, which stops them from being able to offer you as much as they could. Smaller companies may also offer you a large amount of cash because they do not have these overheads, but they might also be trying to grow and will charge you more for their services.

So what do you do if you want to get Cash For Structured Settlement payment agreements right now? At QuoteMeAPrice.com you can put up your payment agreement on our board, and let hundreds of investing companies make a bid. Then you select the bidder who offers you the best deal! Now you can find the company who will offer you the largest lump sum, without having to call up dozens of different investment firms! This is by far the best way to sell your structured settlement and get the highest amount of money possible for it.

Why go in search of a company who will offer you a decent amount of cash when you can post your structured settlement and let them come to you! You can get all of your cash right now to put into your home, grow your business or take a dream vacation! Don’t settle for tiny monthly payments that make no real impact on your financial situation. Come to QuoteMeAPrice.com and get Cash For Structured Settlement payment agreements today!

Let Companies Compete to Buy your Structured Settlement!

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News and Tips on structured settlement transfers.

Posts Tagged: cash for structured settlement

Let Companies Compete to Buy your Structured Settlement!

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