by Structured Settlement Watchdog
“The Ritch is Back”
Live from an an undisclosed casino location comes this head spinning statement of misinformation from an Annuity.org staff writer:
“A lucky night at a casino comes with a number of financial decisions, including deciding whether to receive winnings as a lump sum or structured settlement. Both payout options are subject to inflation and can be cashed in for immediate money”. Alanna Ritchie, Annuity.org website retrieved February 25, 2022.
What’s Wrong Wit Dat?
11 Talking Points
- If the shard of glass you swallowed while savoring a Wagyu burger with a glass of wine at a casino eating establishment caused injury to your esophagus, and you subsequently sued the casino for damages, and THEN accepted their offer of periodic payments to settle the lawsuit, you would indeed be the recipient of a structured settlement to pay for your damages.
- An annuity is not a structured settlement.
- A 70-year-old who completes and signs an application and pays $500,000 to a life insurance company for a contract that guarantees monthly income for life, is buying an annuity contract.
- Weighing in on the subject, JG Wentworth, cash now’s 800 lb gorilla says, “when you win, you may have a choice between a long-term payment plan and a one-time payout for your winnings. If you chose a long-term payment plan in the form of an annuity and it isn’t working for you anymore, we may be able to help you sell your lottery or casino payments for an immediate lump sum of cash”. JG Wentworth knows what they’re talking about in making that statement.
- For that matter a structured settlement is not an annuity. A structured settlement may be funded with an annuity.
- Taking a payment plan for casino winnings is not a structured settlement
- According to Ms. Ritchie, having stated you can receive your winnings as a lump sum or structured settlement (sic) states, a lump sum is subject to inflation and may be cashed out. Holy circular logic!
- In the same blog, Ritchie later explains inflation as follows: “Inflation can affect the buying power of payments in a negative way if the dollar substantially drops. The amount you receive this year from the annuity will not be able to buy the same amount of goods years from now”. Is she implying you should take a lump sum and buy as many “stuff” as you can? The Ritch’s answer “Having cash now enables you to make purchases today, rather than waiting until years down the road” removes all doubt.
- A lucky night at the casino involves, a show, dinner, free drinks while you’re playing at the tables and the like.
- Ms. Ritchie’s authored a similar article “Lottery Payout Options” in 2015. in which the casino long term payment plan was not referred to as a structured settlement [Source: Muck Rack]. Looks to me that the current article is a key word stuffing exercise. Ritchie lacks the credentials of a structured settlement expert.
- Ms. Ritchie cited 6 articles and her work was purportedly edited by a colleague and financially reviewed by a CPA before publishing.
Annuity.org is a long-time shill for CBC Settlement Funding in Conshohocken, PA
It doesn’t take much to publish accurate information. Research to support the dissemination of accurate information is easy to find.
By continuing to publish inaccurate information, while claiming “editorial standards” and claiming that it was edited and financially reviewed suggests that there is a lack of comprehension throughout the Annuity.org organization.
It’s a real problem with Annuity.org when it comes to structured settlements. After 5 or 6 years of this nonsense Annuty.org has no excuses.