Summary: Structured Settlements offer protection during unpredictable market turbulence.
On Friday August 21, the lead story on all the networks was the plummeting US Stock Market. The Dow Jones industrials were down 531 points on concerns that China’s economy is slowing down, the Fed is sending mixed signals on raising interest rates this fall, and oil prices had dropped below the key $40 level for the first time since 2009.
There was some significant panic on Wall Street and Main Street, as both financial professionals and everyday investors scrambled to make sense of it all. What does this mean for my bonus and my job security? How will this affect my 401K? Should I take my money out of stocks and put it somewhere safer? But where should I go to make sure my money is safe… bonds, gold, mutual funds, bank CD’s… under the mattress?
There were, of course, the voices of reason on all the talk shows, saying that this was a simple market correction that they had seen coming for weeks. (Where was their money? Did they move it on Thursday knowing this would happen?). Others saw this as the beginning of a series of market fluctuations in response to world events, politics, and other issues beyond everyone’s controls.
No worries. The market goes up, and the market goes down. I can’t constantly keep track of this, it’s only my money after all. Investments are for the long term. Volatility and doomsday reporting are to be expected. Thank goodness, I feel much better.
The following Monday, I remember waking up to my daily dose of “Morning Joe” on MSNBC. Still talking about the plunging Dow on Friday. Come on guys, it’s a simple market correction, relax. The Dow then plunged over 1,000 points to open the day, and finished down another 588 points.
But… wait a minute… here we are almost two weeks later and things have settled down as predicted by the voices of reason, right? September will be better right? Not exactly. Yesterday brought another 400 point drop in the Dow Jones, on more domestic and global economic fears.
This seemingly consistent volatility news would rattle just about anyone who has any money out there invested in the marketplace. However, there is an expanding group of people who are completely unaffected: Structured Settlement annuity recipients. They are all sleeping like babies.
Why does market volatility leave structured settlement recipients calm? Stay tuned for our next post that will reveal the tax-free safety and security of these unique investments, available only to personal injury victims. Oh, and in the meantime, turn off the TV and put your iPhone somewhere where you can’t hear it constantly buzzing with more bad news.
