by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC
Make good use of stuctured settlements and build enduring
guaranteed income streams
Build income streams for a fixed period or for life, or to address a number of different needs. Structured settlements can be designed with more than one payment stream. The diverse payment streams can also be diversified across different annuity issuers or product types.
So what does 5% tax-free mean?
Taxable Equivalent Yields at Different Hypothetical Tax Rates
15% 5.88%
18% 6.09%
28% 6.94%
31% 7.25%
33% 7.46%
40% 8.33%
50% 10%
See expanded taxable equivalent yield chart
Note tax rates depend on a variety of factors.
What about investing in the Stock Market?
Well you’re not going to put all your eggs in one basket are you? But let’s say you did and if you had the instestinal fortitude to ride the ups and downs and stay in the S&P 500 from January 3, 2005 to December 29, 2024 you would have averaged 10.4%.
However, if you missed just the 20 biggest trading days in the S&P 500 from January 3, 2005 to December 31, 2024, you would have averaged only 3.5%. If you missed the 30 biggest trading days the average would’ve only been 1.3% (and it goes downhill from there), according to the J.P. Morgan Asset Management 2025 Retirement Guide published March 2025 p40.
Read Structured Settlement Rate of Return Compared to Alternative Investments (4structures.com) for more details.
Note: Structured settlement rates vary by insurance company and other factors such as duration. Read more about structured settlement quotes
Last updated April 15, 2025