“Every year in America, 3.3 million people suffer from a workplace injury from which they may never recover.” (US Dept. of Labor. Secretary of Labor Hilda Soils. 2011.)
Maybe you were one of these people and now you’d like to sell a portion or all of your payments to pay some serious debt. Or maybe you are one of the Insurance Companies that underwrote the structured settlement that one of these 3.3 million people are receiving today and you are interested in participating in the transfer of payments of some of these annuities. Whatever the case, it is safe to say that the primary market for structured settlements is doing very well and is growing and the secondary market for structured settlements is a necessary evil and is not going anywhere. But how safe is it to transfer payments in our economy today?
How well could any market do in today’s economy? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is cautioning us of a global recession and is stating we will hit a “soft patch” of growth for 2012. The growth for the U.S. alone, they forecast 2012 as having a cut in growth by 0.2%. (www.imf.org.2011)
The German ZEW’s economic think-tank sentiment index fell to -43.3 in September, which is the lowest reading in three years. (www.zew.de/en/. 2011.) The transportation strike is going strong in Athens and Japan’s exports are falling as we speak. (www.af.reuters.com).
Despite the grim global outlook, the U.S. economy is showing signs of strength and growth.
1. Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits just last week
2. Our Banks have almost $1 trillion in capital and only $54 billion in exposure to the weakest
Euro Zone countries. Even if the Euro Zone does completely default, our largest banks won’t
go under with them.
3. Our revenues and earnings are up! The S&P 500 rose 11% this October and it broke above its
200-day average on October 27.
There are more reasons why the U.S. economy is looking brighter: mergers and acquisitions are still happening, new business are suddenly sprouting up, credit card delinquency is down since 2008 and the housing market is showing signs of some recovery.
In addition to these reasons, specific to the structured settlement industry, major insurance providers are vying to get back in the annuities market – primary and secondary. So get with a good lawyer who is sensitive to our U.S. and the global economies, like Eugene Ahtirski.