The terrible suicide of a 20-year-old young man who invested in options on the Robinhood website is an extreme example of what could happen when someone feels overwhelmed by the pressures associated with high stakes investing. When it comes to money, we humans have a natural desire to take risks if it means a potential big payout. Unfortunately, too often, inexperience and emotions end up costing us everything.
The same can be said when it comes to investing the proceeds of a personal injury settlement. An injured party receives a lump sum payout and decides to invest most of it in the financial markets—something he knows almost nothing about. To be sure, he’ll get plenty of advice from (mostly) well-meaning friends and relatives. Or, he’ll invest in a company touted on TV or radio. In most cases, because the injured party doesn’t have an understanding of the economy or market cycles, the investments don’t end well. Before he knows it, he’s lost a big chunk (if not all) of the settlement proceeds that were supposed to last the rest of his life.
Financial Security. To avoid this all-too-common scenario, the courts offer personal injury and workers’ comp clients another alternative: structured settlement annuities. Annuities provide clients guaranteed, tax-free income spread over a specified period, often for the lifetime of the client. No stock market, real estate or corporate bond investment can make the same guaranteed claim.
Best of all, the stress created because of market uncertainty is eliminated. For injured clients who have health and other issues to contend with, eliminating investment worry can offer much-needed peace of mind.
For questions about structuring options, please feel free to give me a call.
–Pat
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