Oil and Gas lease bonus payments can be structured for tax savings using allstate program

In this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements we look at one of the more innovative programs in the non-qualified market and that is the structuring of oil and gas lease bonus payments through the use of a structured settlement annuity device.

As many people in the structured settlement profession know, Allstate Financial has been a consistent innovator in the area of structured taxable damage awards, as well as structuring the sales of appreciated real estate through their structured sales program. They continue their progressive ways with the announced ability to now structure oil and gas lease bonus payments, allowing people who are leasing their land for oil and gas drilling to defer bonus payments into future years tax returns.

Oil and Gas lease bonus payments, how to structure them for tax savings

The reason this is so important and valuable is that the bonus payment is on top of the annual or quarterly lease payments and is typically a one time bonus up front. By being able to move those dollars into future years, you are able to spread the tax hit over time, earn interest on the funds while deferring, guarantee payments on a fixed schedule and ideally receive them when you are in a lower tax bracket or have other off setting deductions. Of course, on top of the tax benefits, many people just find the idea of being able to secure future payments with the bonus funds to simply be prudent financial planning and want to take advantage of that option now.

To learn more about the Allstate Financial Oil and Gas leasing bonus program, you can go to my firms website at www.wahlstromandassociates.com.

Structured sales and farm property, the boom in farm land revives a great planning tool for farmers

In this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements, I look at the renewed interest by my farmers in using structured sales to spread out the tax hit and guarantee cash flow on the sale of their farm land. I also look at the recent surge of farmers who are leasing land to oil companies due to the discovery of shale under their property and the ability to collect oil and gas leasing bonus payments that can be structured as well.

The use of the structured sale has been on the back burner for several years now, largely as a result of the collapse of the real estate market and financing options for both buyers and sellers. It was a product originally conceived and used successfully for several years when people who own highly appreciated, low cost basis real estate, want to cash out and sell, but don’t want to write huge tax checks to the state and federal government on the capital gain. While we can all agree it makes a lot more sense to use 100% of your net sale proceeds and spread the money out over years, many people are still wondering what a structured sale is, and why it makes sense for those selling farm property.

In almost every case that has been referred to my office over the last year in which farm land is being sold or is under consideration for sale, it is a family owned farm that has almost no cost basis and close to 100% of the sale is going to be subject to capital gains tax. While the tax is a big issue, what is a larger problem is that with the sale of the farm, most farmers or their families are also losing their source of annual income, something they need to sustain through the investment income on the sale proceeds.

The structured sale allows them to design guaranteed payments, on a schedule that makes sense for their situation, paid monthly, annually and for years if not decades into the future. Combined with spreading out the tax hit, putting 100% of the net proceeds to work and creating a guaranteed cash flow and payment stream that provides income to the family, you can see why this is becoming increasingly popular during these uncertain market conditions.

If you want to learn more about structured sales and it’s use when selling farm property, contact my office through our web site at www.wahlstromandassociates.com and we will be happy to assist you.

What is the impact of the S&P downgrade from AAA to AA for the structured settlement profession?

In what we can assume will be the first of several down grades for major life insurance companies in the structured settlement markets, S&P quickly down graded five premier life insurance companies yesterday from AAA to AA+.  The companies who were impacted by this are:

New York Life was dropped to a AA+

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance was dropped to a AA+

USAA was dropped to a AA+.

Knights of Columbus was dropped to a AA+.

Teachers Insurance and Annuity. TIAA, was dropped to a AA+.

So what exactly does this mean and what are the implications for the life insurance industry and structured settlements in general? I address some of the concerns in this weeks video broadcast of Speaking of Settlements but in short the impact should be minimal other than to the pride of the companies listed above.

It is a sickening process in that each of those five firms went to great lengths over the last three years to do the things needed to retain a coveted AAA rating and in some cases make it a key element of their marketing campaigns, only to suffer this immediate down grade as a result of the fact that they hold a large portion of US government obligations precisely because they are so conservative and careful.

As I have been saying for years, our industry uses these ratings at our peril as the rating firms really could care less about the impact of their down grades on companies marketing and reputations and the idea of using S&P as a rating agency for life markets has been a bad idea for decades. I have always preferred AM Best as the best source of information on insurance company standards and solvency and they are not as reactive as the other firms.

Enjoy today’s video on the S&P down grade and it’s impact on the insurance and structured settlement profession, but it would be wise to stop using rating agency rankings as some sort of validation of safety and instead do your own research on markets and firm to match the right company to the right risk.

Allstate rolls out structured sales on oil & Gas Lease bonus.

In yet another innovative move by Allstate Financial and their structured settlement division, it was announced this week that Allstate would be rolling out yet another “non-qualified” annuity funding vehicle that would allow for the structuring of oil and gas lease bonus payments.

While seemingly obscure to those who do not have land upon which they lease oil or gas rights to drilling or production companies, this market has substantial potential given the wide number of privately held or closely held businesses, as well as individuals, who might be interested in spreading the bonus payments they get in some years over a several year period. The fact is in an era of rising oil and gas prices, these lease bonus payments can be substantial and many owners of the leases would prefer to spread those big bonus years where oil and gas prices spike, over several years if possible, or even defer it far into the future when the oil or gas lease might be played out or sold. This is going to be a really solid planning tool in this niche market.

This particular product has one key feature in that there is a revenue ruling, RR 68-606, which specifically addresses the tax treatment of this technique, something that has inhibited the use of structured sales and income deferral strategies in the areas such as celebrity endorsements and divorce settlements.

Learn more about this announcement by viewing this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements, where Mark Wahlstrom discusses some of the basic issues and for whom this product or strategy might be suitable. 

Mark Wahlstrom on Allstate Oil and Gas lease Bonus, structured settlement program

You can learn more about how the new Allstate Structured Settlement product for Oil and Gas Lease Bonus payments works by contacting Mark Wahlstrom at Wahlstrom & Associates in Scottsdale, AZ

The rat in the settlement industry, someone is selling names to factoring companies and it’s about to get messy

Sure it’s a long title, but how else do you get the attention and focus of people in the structured settlement profession that there is growing evidence of a rat in our profession, and possibly more than one. As Jack Nickelson says in “The Departed”” I hate a rat “and I think in this case most of the responsible brokers in our profession are in full  agreement with that sentiment.

As this video discusses, it is apparent that there are brokers who have succumbed to the temptation and financial incentives offered by unethical settlement factoring firms to sell the names and contact information of annuitants who have structured settlements through their firm. This first came to light when I was contact by an attorney who had a structured fee with my office and who was solicited multiple times by the same firm to sell her fee structure. As there was no possible way that the information was public knowledge as the cases were settled privately and her structured legal fee wasn’t part of the court record, the information only could have come from brokers who split the case with my office.

This is a huge breech of privacy and I believe not only violates professional ethics, but possibly privacy laws regarding the safe guarding of a clients financial information. It is a huge black eye on our profession and I fully expect that there will be more of it, not less of it as structured settlement professionals who are struggling with the recent down turn in our business look for ways to stay afloat financially by being part of these questionable deals.

Be sure of one thing, this is being noticed by the life markets and structured settlement brokers and the people who are involved in this will be exposed and I would not be shocked if they lose life company selling agreements as a result.

In short this is serious business and those involved need to stop immediately or risk the loss of their professional viability going forward.