Think Beyond Bankruptcy For Debt Elimination

For many bankruptcy is a four-letter word. And it should be. This option should be the absolute last considered when it comes to debt elimination. Although it can wipe debt clean and give a person or a business a clean slate from with which to work, the impacts of bankruptcy are harsh and sometimes can be avoided. Before leaping, it's a good idea to truly examine a situation and look at other avenues of redress.

If debts have gotten out of hand and a solution seems hard to find, there are some things a person can do before charging into bankruptcy. They include:

* Assess all debts versus income. Is there a way to handle the debt without filing for legal redress? If income outweighs monthly payments, bankruptcy might not be the answer. Careful handling of cash assets and payments might be the smarter route. Setting a budget and sticking with it would be in order.

* Contact creditors and try to negotiate lower interest rates. If you've made your payments on time all the time, this might be an option for helping you avoid bankruptcy and get out of debt quicker. This doesn't always work, but some credit companies will be more than happy to work with a good client.

* Create a debt management plan. If it's possible, pay off credit cards one at a time. Take a look at the smallest balance card and set a date for paying it off. Once this is done, dedicate the money that would normally go on that card to another one. Rinse and repeat until debt is erased.

* Don't add more debt while you're paying old debt down. Live within your means, reserving credit for emergencies only. This can be hard to do, but if a future without debt is desired, this practice will greatly help you in attaining that goal.

* Seek help from credit management companies. If you know you can pay off the debt without seeking bankruptcy, but you can't come up with a viable plan on your own, seek help. There are nonprofit companies dedicated to helping consumers get out of holes they've dug for themselves.

These companies look at all the debt a person has, work with creditors and negotiate settlements. Although it's true credit involved in the settlements will be unusable during the repayment periods, the bottom line presented by these settlements can be much lower and more manageable than the debt prior to the agreement. This methodical process for paying off debt has worked for thousands and thousands. Just make sure you're dealing with a reputable company.

If debt and monthly payments outweigh income, bankruptcy might be the only alternative. If it is, you're not alone. Thousands of individuals and companies file for bankruptcy every year. Bad things happen to good people; it's a fact of life. Just remember as you're going through the process to hire good legal representation, follow the laws and be certain not to dig yourself back into the same hole when the process is over.

Source : www.articlecircle.com/finance/personal-finance/think-beyond-bankruptcy-for-debt-elimination.html

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Structured Settlements - Selling your payments

Owning a structured settlement annuity gives you a lot of benefits. Structured settlement payments are advantageous in providing financial security on a long term basis for you and your family and the payments as well as interest earned are free from taxes. In case you need the money for any emergent situations or you find that you can invest this money in a better way you are entitled to do it as per law.

You can sell your structured settlement payments legally in US as per the federal law HR 2884, and this sale can be made without your paying any tax. In addition to federal laws, more than two-thirds of states in the United States allow the sell of structured settlement payments. In both cases, however, the transaction must be approved in court in order to stay tax free.

Selling Your Structured Settlement

It is fairly easy to be approved in court for the sell of all or part of your structured settlement payments, as long as you can prove that there is a need for the money. Your proof will be examined by the judge to find out whether this transaction is in the interest of you and your family.

Any adult with a sound mind can get court approval for selling his structured settlement payments as long as he can prove that he and his family will get benefitted by this transaction. In order to improve the chances of your getting court approval it is advisable for you to attend the court in person on the day of hearing. If you are not approved in court, you can still sell your structured settlement payments.

In all probability, the purchasing company with whom you have been discussing might be willing to purchase your structured settlement payments. They take the responsibility of doing the necessary legal work to ensure that the sale finalized. They will not charge you for this extra effort they have taken for this; however, in the absence of court approval, you are liable to pay taxes on the money you receive.

First, you must get quotes. Getting quotations from a number of companies is advantageous to you because it will give you a chance to select the best among them. In case you find a suitable purchasing company out of the various quotes received, you should send to the purchasing company copies of the structured settlement policy. In return, the purchasing company will send you a disclosure document for your signature. This document explains the conditions of the transaction. It must be singed and returned.

The court hearing will be the next step in this process. This process takes up to 90 days depending on your state of residence as well as your insurance company. After receipt of court approval it takes 10 days to receive your money.

Source : www.metacamp.us/1839/structured-settlements-selling-your-payments

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When a Structured Settlement is Best

This article explains a few things about Structured Settlements, and if you're interested, then this is worth reading, because you can never tell what you don't know.

Structured settlements are structured cash payments through an annuity system that is established to compensate injury victims for their losses. Structured settlements are the other alternative payment system to a lump sum cash settlement and are set up to provide payments to you over time.

Structured settlements received special legislative treatment by the U.S. Congress in 1982, as a way to make large settlements more agreeable to parties and provide certain protection to victims. As a result, many people now choose a structured settlement agreement over a lump sum distribution, and courts often award them in civil actions where there will be long-term costs of living and the necessity for obtaining cash payments at some point in the future.

Under a structured settlement, the victim will receive compensation over an extended period of time (often a lifetime) instead of a large single payment. The structured settlement is a way of protecting the victim from economic loss and hardship, while also making the payout more palatable to the defendant.

Structured settlements are obviously not appropriate in every case. A simple accident where the injured party is and will be fully capable, cases where the term of the treatment or care is not spread out over a long period of time, and where the kind of injuries are not severe would probably not have a structured settlement agreement.

Structured settlements are designed for many other types of cases though including:

1. Severe injury where there is long-term treatment requirements, where future medical costs will necessarily be incurred, and to meet living and family expenses.
2. Worker?s compensation cases where the injured party may not be able to work or at least work to the earning capacity that they would otherwise have enjoyed.
3. Permanent or temporary disabilities that will take extensive recovery time.
4. Wrongful death cases where a surviving family will need a regular income to replace that of the lost spouse/parent.
5. Guardianship cases where there are minor children or another person who is judged to be incompetent such as a person with psychological, emotional, or mental handicaps.

If your Structured Settlement facts are out-of-date, how will that affect your actions and decisions? Make certain you don't let important Structured Settlement information slip by you. That's how things stand right now. Keep in mind that any subject can change over time, so be sure you keep up with the latest news.

Source : www.articlecircle.com/finance/structured-settlements/when-a-structured-settlement-is-best.html

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Understanding Debt Settlement

If you are in serious debt crisis right now and you are at a lost of what to do, have you considered hiring a third party to settle your debts for you? A debt settlement company is recommended for those who wish to have their original debts possibly lowered to as much as 30 to 60 percent markdown.

Moreover, if pressuring tactics from your creditor has taken a toll on your well being, then negotiations may be better off in the hands of someone else other than that of yours.

If this is the first time that you have entertained the thought of allowing a third party to settle your debt, pay attention to facts about debt settlement, which will be discussed below.

Factors included in debt settlements include the following:

1. Principal debt amount: This refers to the original amount that you owe your creditor. This amount can be negotiated by your debt settlement company, and you may end up with a significantly lowered amount to pay for.
2. Late fee charges: These are fees associated with overdue payments. Your agent may be able to waive this off for you and save you a huge amount.
3. Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is the actual cost of borrowing money from your creditor. This involves the interest rate for the money you borrowed along with other charges that come with it. Your agent may be able to negotiate for a lowered APR with your creditor.
4. Monthly settlements refers to monthly payments that you make through your debt settlement company, which will eventually forward the money to your creditor in due time.
5. Annual timeframe: This involves the deadlines for which payments are expected to be received. Even this can be negotiated by your agent where extensions may be made to allow you to pay off the debt at a longer period of time.

The choice of hiring a debt settlement company to do the dirty work for you also has its disadvantages. For one, it will reflect badly on your credit history and will remain there for a period of seven to 10 years. On the other hand, this may still be the better option compared to bankruptcy. Also, hiring a third party has its costs. At an average, it will charge up to 8 to 15 percent of your total debt as fee for their services. And despite the presence of a third party, some creditors still continue to harass the debtor.

Ultimately, weighing the pros and the cons will help you come up with a decision on how you plan to do your debt settlement. Regardless of your decision, the objective of paying back the money that you owe must always be kept in mind.

Source : www.articlecircle.com/finance/credit/understanding-debt-settlement.html

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When To Consider Selling Your Life Insurance Policy? II

Business:

1. Business owned policies those are performing below expectations.
2. Key person insurance policy is no longer required due to retirement or change in business structure.
3. A policy purchased to finance a buy/ sell agreement is no longer needed after the business has been sold.
4. Bankruptcy of business has caused liquidation of assets.
5. Deferred compensation programs in business have changed or not required.
6. If you are a corporation, selling corporate owned life insurance lets you regain back premiums paid on no longer needed policies.

Estate Planning:

1. A single life insurance policy is no longer appropriate- a survivorship policy meets the estate planning requirement and 1035 exchange is avoided.
2. If you are managing an estate, selling your current life insurance policy will help manage changes in estate size, eliminate premiums, and liquidate policies that are no longer needed.
3. A policy needs to be removed from an estate. The three year rule can be avoided by using the life settlement sales proceeds to repurchase a new policy out side the estate.
4. There is a significant reduction in size of estate due to loss of net worth and less insurance coverage is needed to fund the projected estate tax liability.

Charitable Organizations:

1. If charities can no more continue to pay premiums on gifted policies.
2. Proceeds of a Life insurance settlement could result in a larger gift to the charity organization than the policy itself.

Non-Profit Organizations:

If you are a non profit organization, selling a gifted life insurance policy provides funds that can be used now and also eliminates premiums.

Once a policy owner has absolutely determined that it no longer makes sense to continue holding a policy, Life insurance settlement or Life settlement may be economically advantageous relative to surrendering or letting the policy lapsed.

This innovative wealth and estate planning tool removes the burden of expensive insurance premium payments in addition to providing the lump sum cash settlement. This allows policy holders to get cash out of their life insurance policy, in an amount in excess of the cash value of policy(if any), while they are still alive. To get the highest life settlements is to improve the quality of life during your retirement years.

Source : www.articlecircle.com/finance/insurance/when-to-consider-selling-your-life-insurance-policy.html

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When To Consider Selling Your Life Insurance Policy? I

A Life Insurance Policy is a personal property, like a house, car, antiques, old painting or stocks and bonds. You can sell your life insurance policy like you sell your other personal property items. Life insurance may now be viewed as a traditional asset that can be purchased or sold. Sale of Life insurance policy is called as Life insurance settlement, Life settlement or Senior settlement.

Millions of seniors are unaware of the flexible and liquefiable insurance policy, they can sell for cash. The flexibility of a Senior settlement or Life settlement permits policy owners to sell all or a portion of their life insurance policies.

When the life insurance policy owner sells own life insurance policy, he or she transfers all rights and obligations to a new owner. The purchaser of the policy will then become the new owner and the new beneficiary of the policy and is then responsible for making all of the future premium payments. The new owner now collects the full amount of the death benefit when the insured dies.

Life insurance settlements present a unique opportunity to the policy holder to extract the maximum possible value from an existing life insurance policy and repurpose those funds for whatever financial needs may exist. Many people choose this option because the cash value of a life settlement generally exceeds the surrender value that would have been paid by the life insurance policy.

Policies are sold for many different personal or business reasons. Below are some of possible reasons for considering a Life Insurance Settlement:

Personal:

1. The original purpose or need for the policy has changed or has diminished totally.
2. The Beneficiary of the policy is deceased.
3. Policy holder is chronically ill, selling current policy provides needed funds to cover financial burdens caused by illness. A Viatical settlement gives the ability to regain needed financial security.
4. Policy has not met the original illustrated values and premiums need to be increased to keep policy in force.
5. If policy holder is over the age of sixty-five, a Life settlement or Senior settlement maximizes the current assets by eliminating premiums and getting required funds that can be used today.
6. Insured person wishes to distribute the funds/ liquid assets as per his or her desire while living.
7. To make funds available for other investments like real-estate, stocks, bonds or to start a new business.
8. Divorce settlement has altered the need for life insurance.
9. Personal financial situation has gone bad and making premium payments is unaffordable.
10. Sale proceeds from Life settlements are needed to pay down loans or outstanding debt.
11. The policy owners current asset mix is weighed too heavily in life insurance.
12. A client wishes to invest in a more appropriate product, such as a lower cost survivor policy, single premium annuity for supplemental income, long term care insurance, long term care insurance or other asset protection tools.
13. A family trust has eliminated the need for personal life coverage.
14. Policy holder need to fund an alternative healthcare that present insurance does not cover.
15. Insured person has left an employer, so he or she needs to sell old group policy.
16. Policy was purchased to ensure the availability of funds to pay off a mortgage and the mortgage has been paid.
17. To take a long awaited vacation or to buy a luxury item that was never affordable.
18. When a policy is in danger of getting lapsed the policy holder can turn it into cash.
19. You can use life settlements to donate to your favorite charity or cause and feel much better about yourself knowing that you have done your part to make the world a brighter place.

Source : www.articlecircle.com/finance/insurance/when-to-consider-selling-your-life-insurance-policy.html

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