Monday, December 8, 2008

Structured Settlement Annuity: The Real Deal

Structured Settlement Annuities have been shown to provide a valuable, safe and guaranteed source of lifetime income to parties in personal injury or other cases. Today we look at situations where these special annuities would be helpful.

Personal injury.
This is obvious to most, but let's take a closer look at situations that might warrant such settlements.

Temporary or permanent disability.
A structured settlement can help here by making sure the cost, if any, of rehabilitation is covered.

Guardianship of minors or persons with diminished mental capacity.
We've seen before how dangerous mismanagement of a lump sum settlement for a child can seriously impact the future care of the child. Guaranteeing that care for the injured child will be covered will add greatly to the overall quality of life for the caretaker and the child.

Wrongful death, particularly when the surviving spouse and / or children need steady income.
When tragedy strikes the main money earner of a household loss to a family is felt in many ways. In some cases this can cause financial ruin to a family. A structured settlement can help replace the monthly income lost and provide a family piece of mind that the rent, bills etc will be paid for.

Severe injuries, especially those that result in shortened life expectancy.
Once again, protecting the financial future of the family or caregivers to make sure that specialized care is covered and monthly expenses are paid.

Cases where future needs can be determined today.
This is a bit more risky as it can be difficult to predict expenses in the future. However, certain costs may be fixed or are more easily anticipated like mortgages, tuition, and monthly bills.

If someone finds themselves in any of these situations, it's important to take these factors into consideration:

1-Significant, ongoing medical expenses
2-Rehabilitation or permanent care facility expenses
3-College tuition, retirement income, the down payment on a home or a mortgage payment
4-Replacement of monthly income, annual income or supplemental income<

Though some of these may seem too far in the future to think about, ignoring these will cause more hardship than necessary.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Annuities are a great way to plan for the future. The only issue is that because they tend to be made so far in advanced, sometimes plans change, or an emergency happens. When this happens, you need cash now and can get it by liquidating your annuity.
-Jeff