My Personal Finance Blog

As 2010 draws to a close and the dawn of a new year beckons, those in the life settlement industry look forward with renewed optimism. By most accounts, the life settlement industry’s bottom is behind us and the secondary life insurance market is now in the process of recovering. How much and how fast is still to be determined. However, below are the Top 10 Predictions For Life Settlements in 2011.

1) Secondary Market To See Increased Buying. As everyone knows, capital has been slowly reentering the market but it is still off the highs experienced prior to the Great Recession. Much of the activity in 2010 was focused on tertiary trades and investors looking for distressed policies or portfolios. As those opportunities become less available in 2011, capital will be redirected to secondary market activities and policy origination.

2) Private Equity Will Arrive: As the investment banks and other types of investors left the market in 2009 and 2010, everyone has been anxious to identify the next big player. Much attention has been paid to Private Equity and in 2011 it will arrive. Rumors have been swirling that PEG’s have been looking for acquisitions of established market players and have recently started funding some providers.

3) Small investors will make a splash: Many have been waiting for institutional investors to flood the life settlement market with capital, while forgetting that high net worth individuals and family offices in aggregate have the potential to play a serious role. With an eye towards diversification and predictable returns, expect accredited investors and family offices to be active buyers, as never before, in 2011.

4) Higher Life Settlement Broker Utilization In the past, it has been relatively easy for producers to act as de facto life settlement brokers. However, new industry best practices suggest life settlement brokers are preferred as intermediaries for policy owners interested in selling their policy. Not only are brokers more able to source small pockets of capital, but more stringent licensing, regulatory and compliance requirements make it difficult for anyone but brokers to effectively navigate the landscape. 2011 will see producers more likely to refer cases to brokers than try to handle them autonomously as they may have in the past.

5) Continued Push Towards Regulation While approximately 20% of the states remain unregulated, the writing is on the wall that change is imminent. Some of the key unregulated states already have legislation in the works and consumer protection is a hot button issue that resonates with legislators. Expect the trend of consumer friendly life settlement regulation to continue in 2011.

6) Agents and Advisors Will Have To Address Life Settlements Like Never Before In 2011 expect numerous states to adopt the new NCOIL model act requiring carriers to notify consumers of the life settlement option when policies are to be surrendered or allowed to lapse. Agents and financial advisors that previously didn’t consider settlements in their practices will now be forced to address the issue as carriers drive policy holders with questions and inquiries to those on the insurance front lines.

7) Greater Focus On Information Security For too long, sensitive insured and policy owner information has been transmitted between agents, brokers and providers using insecure methods such as email. In 2011, as industry best practices demand secure data transfer, expect much higher utilization of specialized life settlement software such as Settlewerx and others.

Smaller Providers While the big players aren’t going anywhere, expect the trend of boutique providers serving smaller pockets of money and niche investors to continue into 2011.

9) Asian Investment US and European investors are the stalwarts of US life settlement investments. In 2011, expect to see more capital coming from Asia and the Middle East, which are relatively untapped sources of investment capital. Newly established offices and initiatives in that part of the world should begin to produce new funding sources in the coming year.

10) Broader Buying Parameters While cherry picking great policies at a discount was the name of the game in 2010, expect 2011 to bring a broader approach to buying. With increasing competition for policies, buyers will have to consider cases that might not have otherwise received bids in 2010.

With the broader economy improving and capital returning to the markets, 2011 promises to be an improved life settlement environment. For those that were able to survive the past two tumultuous years, they will hopefully be rewarded with a fruitful 2011.

Did you notice that S&P has threatened to downgrade our credit rating on the international scene. If that does happen and the dollar drops, there’s an inevitable conclusion. Suddenly everything we import is going to be that much more expensive. Our recovery from the recession has been slow enough. If everything imported goes up in price, families will not be able to cope. Worse, if the world thinks the US might default on its debt, the country will have to pay more interest on the money it borrows. That will force the banks to raise the interest rates for us. Mortgages and loans will go up. Of course, this is all a horror story and it will never happen because the Democrats and Republicans will agree on how to cut the deficit. . .

Meanwhile that leaves us struggling to make ends meet and trying to find every possible dollar of saving there is to be found. When it comes to insurance, there’s an interesting balancing act going on. The number of people driving uninsured has been rising steadily. In some states, it’s as high as 20% of drivers on the road. Mainly this is forced by the high rates although some ignore the law anyway. The irony of this is the more drivers without insurance, the more the rest of us have to pay. That’s either directly as premiums or indirectly because we take out additional cover against uninsured or underinsured drivers crashing into us. All this is putting the profits of the insurers under pressure. If they keep increasing the premiums, this is a vicious cycle and more people stop buying. So the insurers are now playing games with us. They increase the premiums and then offer us discounts or bonuses. The idea is to keep as many people as possible paying about the same total.

So you have to play the game and shop around to find all the discounts and then check out whether you qualify. Let’s see how it works. Any driver passing into their 50s is one of the safest on the road – statistics never lie. So insurers could lower the premiums automatically, or offer a loyalty bonus if you renew, or offer discounts. Most offer discounts to “mature” drivers. To qualify you usually have to go through a defensive driving course. The AARP’s website has a locator tool telling you where the nearest course is being run. This can give you up to 10% saving. At the other end of the scale, young and inexperienced drivers also qualify for a discount if they go on a safety course approved by their insurer. To qualify, ask your insurer which courses are accepted in your area.

So when you get the first round of car insurance quotes, check which discounts you have. Then run the search again changing, say, the amount of the deductible. Each time you run the search, change a variable so you can work out what discounts are available and how much they are worth. It costs nothing to run the search. If you have more time, telephone the insurer offering what looks the best car insurance quote and ask about what additional discounts are available. The rule is, if you never ask, you cannot receive. Find out how you qualify to save money.

Debt settlement consumer protection act helps you to reap benefits. But how? This is a simple question but needs a serious explanation. This article tries to give that explanation to you. After the Federal economy was hit by recession, thousands of people were thrown out of their jobs by the employers. This created a serious financial crisis for the consumers. They failed to repay their debts and became defaulters. They eventually filed for bankruptcy and pulled down their credit score. They lost their credibility and failed to get any further credit from any creditor for the next 7-10 years that followed.

On the other hand, the creditors also took the hit of the recession. As more and more consumers filed for bankruptcy, the creditors lost their liquidity and they failed to manage their costs. They lost their financial equilibrium and reached the verge of bankruptcy. The economy suffered because of this and rolled further back into recession. The Federal govt. took steps to curb this situation. As a part of the debt settlement consumer protection act, the govt. introduced tax breaks for the creditors and also released billions of US dollars into the economy. The govt. announced that those creditors who agree for settlement deals will get a reduction in taxes and can use the stimulus money released in the market to cover up the costs and the loss that they incur.

It is because of this reason that the creditors started opening up for the debt settlement deals and wiped out a certain percentage of the debt that the consumers have. They incurred loss which is later covered by the govt. policies of tax breaks and stimulus cash. The consumers on the other hand can easily get debt relief through settlement. The only conditions that they need to fulfill is to have an overall consolidated loan of $10,000 or more. Anything less than that is not entertained for settlement. Once the consumers get a good deal, they need to repay the remaining amount of the debt to the creditor in one single payment. This is how the consumers can benefit from the debt settlement consumer protection act.

Debt settlement consumer protection act means a lot for every consumer in America who is burdened with unsecured debts. This means that if you have unsecured debts and if you are an American citizen, the debt settlement consumer protection act will make sense to you. But how? What exactly happens because of this act? Let us find out!

After the US economy went into recession, the consumers, the creditors and the economy as a whole suffered. Thousands of people lost their jobs and they found it difficult to repay their debts. As a result, they became defaulters and finally filed for bankruptcy. Once the consumers successfully filed for bankruptcy, the creditors lost their liquidity and they failed to manage their costs. It is because of this reason that the creditors lost their financial equilibrium and they will eventually reach the verge of bankruptcy. This forced the economy to roll further back into recession. This is a critical situation and to cure this ailment, the Federal govt. announced tax breaks for the creditors and alongside this, the govt. also released billions of dollars into the economy. It announced that the creditors who agree for settlement deals will enjoy a reduction in the taxes and can use the stimulus money released into the market to make up for the loss that the creditors bear.

It is because of this reason that the creditors opened up for the debt settlement deals. The loss that they bear because of the money that they lose due to settlement is covered by the govt. policies. The consumers began to benefit from this. Those who have an overall credit debt of $10,000 or more can get settlement and elimination of the debt by a certain percentage. The consumers are then required to repay the remaining amount of the money to the creditor in one single payment. Once they pay off this balance, they become debt free. This is what debt settlement consumer protection act will mean for you!

Where is the US economy headed?

No doubt, recovery expectations have risen over the past few months, mostly on the back of stimulus packages and proactive stance of the government. But this doesn’t seem to be a long term fix to the situation as debt is rising and soon it will build up as a mountain of worries. Everyone is aware of the situation but all efforts are being made to keep the economy running in the shorter term.

Is the Debt Problem Really Intense in US?

It’s really hard to say if the economy will collapse in 2011, but it’s almost certain that if the government continues to spend on temporary relief packages to stimulate the economy, the mountain of increasing debt will lead to the biggest financial disaster ever witnessed by mankind. At present US government, businesses nationwide and American consumers are all sailing on the same boat, which is headed for an iceberg. If you do not agree to what is being said here, then read on to know hard facts.

Will the Housing Market Recover in 2011?

Mortgage defaults are still appearing fresh in the market, keeping the housing prices near record lows. Defaults have been record high and still increasing since mid 2007. What if housing prices fail to show considerable recovery going into 2011? Well, many economists are of the view that housing market may not show any sign of improvement till the end of next year. Now, this could result in a second wave of foreclosures, which will make the cracks much wider and hopes of recovery will be shattered for long. Is Consumer Spend and Employment Situation still a Threat? Ideally, a recession is a temporary blip in economic activity, but this time around it has stayed much longer. This is evident from the employment situation, as the unemployment data is not improving despite so much quantitative and qualitative easing by the monetary authorities. Latest stimulus package has provided a support to the financial markets as investors believe that this money will help in creating jobs in the system, and as an end result consumer spend will once again pick up. But, so far things have not worked as they were expected by the Fed, and same could be the case yet again.

Are the Americans Broke?

There is no hiding from the fact that more and more American citizens are filing for personal bankruptcy. In such scenarios, how can authorities expect the demand to surface again, when people are high on debt?
America simply needs jobs, and it needs them at a much higher pace than anticipated. The recent recession, which is now officially over, may have been an indicator of an upcoming depression in the system, as it was much more than what a recession is. Now, if we again slip back to negative growth, which cannot be ruled out so early, then the economic chaos will spread its wings globally, and the world will spend a decade with a flat growth.

Investors and traders should remain prepared such financial turmoil anytime soon. Even saving up on brokerage costs, by opting for cheap online discount brokers, can help in maximizing returns in such uncertain times.