Structured Settlements 4Real®Blog 2026
Structured settlements expert John Darer reviews the latest structured settlements and settlement planning information and news, and provides expert opinion and highly regarded commentary. that is spicy, Informative, irreverent and effective for over 20 years.
recent posts
- 🔥Founder and Former CEO of 777 Partners, Joshua Wander, Pleads Guilty⚖️ to $500 Million Fraud Scheme — DOJ Confirms Double‑Pledging, Misappropriation of Structured‑Settlement Funds, and Falsified Bank Statements
- The Steering Problem Needs a Wake‑Up Call
- Companies Still Using the Incorrect Term “Secondary Market Annuity”
- Canonical: Non‑Qualified Assignment (NQA)
- ⭐ THE 18–25 GUIDE TO STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS
about
Category: Structured Settlements 101
A clear, foundational introduction to structured settlements — what they are, how they work, why they exist, and how they fit into the broader ecosystem of settlement planning, annuity funding, financial security, and claimant protection. This category distills essential concepts for attorneys, claimants, adjusters, and financial professionals, combining straight‑facts education with the watchdog‑style clarity and humor your readers expect.
It covers:
What structured settlements are and how they provide long‑term financial security for injury victims and litigants.
How structured settlements work, including diagrams, flow charts, and explanations of the process from settlement negotiation to annuity funding.
Types of structured settlement payments, rate lock‑ins, IRR comparisons, taxable‑equivalent yield charts, and other financial literacy tools.
The role of annuity companies, including financial ratings, issuer lists, and market performance data from major carriers such as MetLife, Prudential, New York Life, Pacific Life, Symetra, and others.
Industry best practices, regulatory considerations, advertising ethics, and common pitfalls — including improper credentials, misleading marketing, and compliance issues.
Historical and market context, including production data, insurer rankings, and long‑term financial stability indicators.
This category serves as the definitive starting point for anyone seeking a reliable, fact‑checked, and professionally grounded understanding of structured settlements — without the misinformation, hype, or “cash‑now” noise that pollutes the web.
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John Griffiths was the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against Aviva and Athene. Athene agreed to provide annuitants a CMA. Some annuitants received a modest financial recovery. A needless, unfortunate episode for the insurers, underscoring the need to be vigilant when insurers transition, or runoff their product lines.
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I’m sure I’m stating the obvious, but a joint annuity IS NOT a lifetime flow of “reefer”, even though one “rumor” circulating out West is that the financial security annuitants get from payments On Time Every Time® gives them a ‘Rocky Mountain high”.
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A lifetime annuity turns part of your settlement recovery, or savings, into stable guaranteed income you can’t outlive. With a structured settlement, stable guaraneted income can begin right away (one month from fudning) or it can be deferred or you can have more than payment stream and do both.
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What is a structured settlement broker and what can a structured settlement broker can do for you?.
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Cognitive dissonance, the theory of human motivation that asserts that it is psychologically uncomfortable to hold contradictory cognitions, is at play in the advertising approach of buyers of structured settlement payment rights and its use of the term structured settlement quotes.
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An Annuitant, Measuring Life, Payee and Beneficiary Walk into a Bar…And They Each Ordered a Beer. The question is how many beers does the bartender pour? The solution to this vexing problem is no different than that for someone seeking a solution to incontinence. Depends…
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What is a Uniform Qualified Assignment? The Uniform Qualified Assignment is part of a series of model documents to effect a transfer of structured settlement payment obligors at the time a structured settlement is created. John Darer reviews uniform qualified assignments
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An asset/liability mismatch caused by adverse taxation of annuities owned by non natural persons highlights one of the reasons why defendants and insurers and their settlement consultants must be certain that a qualified assignment meets each of the requirements of IRC 130(c)
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John Darer Reviews insurance company ratings. You’ve just been told that the insurance company you are considering for your structured settlement or retirement annuity is rated A+. What exactly does that mean? Are all A+ ratings the same?
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What are structured settlement annuities? Who are the structured settlement annuity companies, the companies that issue structured settlement annuities in the USA.