Structured Settlements – Should You Sell Yours?Written by Charles Essmeier
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to pay you a lump sum, in cash, in exchange for you signing over your future annuity payments to them. Be aware that any party that offers to buy your annuity is interested in doing so for investment purposes. They wish to make money on transaction, and for them, that profit will be spread over long time that it takes to receive all of payments that constitute settlement. Once you combine factors of time, interest, inflation, and buying party’s profit, you will find that offer made to you will seem quite small. The amount you receive will be an amount equal to present day value of settlement, minus whatever sum investors require for their profit on transaction.
You should also know that some states prohibit sale of structured settlements, that some insurance companies who handle annuities prohibit sales to a third party, and that you will probably need to go to court to arrange sale. In addition, there may be tax considerations involved in sale, and taxes due on large sums of money are not insignificant. If you are interested in selling your structured settlement, you will definitely want to discuss sale with an attorney and a tax advisor beforehand.
While structured settlements are designed to benefit those who receive them, there are times when it may be desirable or necessary to sell them. If you are considering selling your settlement, make sure that you weigh all of your options carefully. Once you agree to sell, you cannot get it back.
©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including StructuredSettlementHelp.com, a site devoted to structured settlements and HomeEquityHelp.net, a site devoted to home equity loan information.
| | Mutual Fund Expense LiesWritten by Al Thomas
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computers and other favors. Been to Hampton’s or Hawaii for that all-expense weekend seminar? Course not. The SEC does not require that this commission cost be disclosed as an expense. Why? Their answer is pure government hokum, “We exclude brokerage costs because we have always excluded brokerage costs”. This is SEC that is supposed to be watchdog for investor. Leaving out this important fact will hide another .25 to .50 cents or more in some cases in expenses that you are paying for. When you call fund to ask if their brokerage commissions are included person to whom you are speaking probably won’t understand and will give you standard answer that number shown in Prospectus is correct. Getting a true answer is like pulling an impacted wisdom tooth. If you can get one. Brokerage commissions are known to penny and could easily be included in prospectus, but these “soft dollars” as they are known are not made public to investors seem to disappear. Fund managers say these costs are insignificant and that investors should look at fund’s performance. If they did that and really understood what they were looking at they probably wouldn’t buy 90% of domestic stock funds. This is just another example of how investor has wool pulled over his eyes and another reason I find prospectuses worthless.
Al Thomas' best selling book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter and receive his market letter for 3 months at www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know. Copyright 2005
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