Structured Settlements: A Guide For Prospective Sellers

By Structured Settlement Quotes

If you are considering the sale of a structured settlement annuity, it's important to stay informed and up to date in order to find the right buyer and get the best value for your settlement. The experts at Structured Settlement Quotes will guide you through the entire process, including:

- Understanding Your Settlement and the Settlement Market
- How Settlements are Valued
- Your Rights as a Seller
- Required Documents and Disclosures
- Going to Court: What to Expect
- Building Your Personal Financial Health

This guide is presented by the team at Structured Settlement Quotes, a leader in the settlement industry with a history of service including over 30,000 annuitants since 2006.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Structured Settlement Quotes
• Release date: Jul 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463850855

Book preview

Structured Settlements:

A Guide For Prospective Sellers

Presented by:

Structured Settlement Quotes

Copyright © 2018 by Structured Settlement Quotes

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Marshmallow Experiment: A Parable

The Purpose of This Guide

About The Authors

Chapter 1: Understanding Your Settlement

The Circumstances: Why Settlements Are Awarded

What is a Structured Settlement?

The Terms of Your Settlement and What They Mean

Tax Rules for Settlements

Settlements and Bankruptcy

A Note on Workers’ Compensation

Chapter 2: The Decision to Sell

Motivating Factors: The Best (and Worst) Reasons to Sell

Understanding the Settlement Market: The Buyers, The Sellers and You

Interest Rates, Yields and Valuations

Your Rights as a Seller

Finding the Right Buyer

Chapter 3: The Sale Process

Getting Your Quote

Required Documents and Due Diligence

Identification, Personal Documents and Information Security

Timelines and the Cash Now Myth

The Contract

Chapter 4: Going To Court

Why Do Settlement Sellers Need To Go To Court?

When Will I Receive My Court Date?

The Court Date: Responsibilities and What To Expect

Possible Reasons For Dismissal

The Verdict: Next Steps

Chapter 5: Conclusions and Moving Forward

The Windfall Factor

What To Do If A Settlement Sale Is Denied

The Importance of Financial Literacy and Planning

Building Wealth and Avoiding Debt

A Note on Bank Loans

Conclusion

Introduction

Marshmallows, Money and a Parable

In the 1960s, Stanford psychology professors Walter Mischell and Ebbe Ebbesen conducted a famous experiment investigating the long term psychological effects of tolerance for delayed gratification in small children. Each child was given the choice to either eat a marshmallow they were offered right away, or wait a short while and receive an additional reward of more marshmallows. The research, and studies following it, found that children willing to wait longer for rewards tended toward better life outcomes as measured by a variety of fundamental tests such as SAT scores. Unwittingly, Mischell and Ebbesen may have also created a valuable analogy with which to understand a fundamental aspect of the insurance industry.

The Purpose of this Guide

If someone is injured in an accident, is it better to pay them a large sum right away, or to divide that sum into a long stream of smaller payments lasting many years or even decades? Most modern insurers have become accustomed to the latter practice, which is commonly referred to as a structured settlement.

The goal of a structured settlement is to make it easier for accident victims to manage their finances in the long term as they recover and return to normal life. However, a great many people need to put their immediate financial needs first.

This is why you’re here: you may be considering the sale of part of a structured settlement in exchange for an immediate payment. You may have lots of questions, and that’s perfectly normal. In this guide, you will