As an eager nation waits to see how Congress plans to detail it’s economic rescue plan, many individuals and small business owners have drawn down their credit lines afraid it will soon be unavailable. Recipients of structured settlements, annuities, and long term lottery payments are also making sure their money is safe. Spooked by the failure of Insurance giant AIG, individuals have decided they do not want to feel the anxiety of having to wait twenty to thirty years for their money and are selling their payments for top dollar today.
President Bush urges our executive and legislative branches to act now before global repercussion defeats attempts to thwart crippling cash crisis here in the U.S. Today’s news is overwhelmingly reminiscent of a darker age over half a century ago. People are emptying their bank accounts afraid that their banking institution will be the next to fold, gathering guns and arming themselves out of excessive fear there will be social chaos. The Federal Deposit Insurance Company hopes that raising cap amounts will encourage depositors to allow banks to manage their money rather than deplete vaults.
Economic paralysis has not yet taken place, but for many Americans watching the media, reading their newspapers, and not understanding wholly what has taken place in our country’s economy is enough to ring the bells of panic. Some of the largest settlement purchasing and factoring companies are seeing record highs numbers of people coming to them for help to simply, get their money now. Companies that buy structured settlement and annuity payments offer a large lump sum of cash now when sold rather than having to wait months or even years. Credit is even harder to come by and for many selling their settlement, lotery, or annuity payments is their only option.
Several States are wondering how to continue operating without Federal aid, and many more American businesses large and small, are pleading for help they may not get, to continue funding their payrolls without further cutting jobs.
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) — California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking for an emergency federal loan for his state of as much as $7 billion, a Treasury spokeswoman said. Schwarzenegger e-mailed the letter last night, Treasury spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarelli said. She declined to give further details.
California may need the loan within weeks as the state is having increasing difficulty funding day-to-day operations and accessing short-term loans, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier, citing a copy of the letter. – John Brinsley
An except from the Bloomberg Report cited:
“Service industries, which include banks, insurance companies, restaurants and retailers, subtracted 82,000 workers after eliminating 16,000 in the previous month. Retail payrolls slid by 40,100 after a 25,400 drop. Government payrolls increased by 9,000, the smallest gain since January. In the past month, Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s largest personal-computer maker, announced it will cut 24,600 jobs, and auto-parts maker Federal-Mogul Corp. said it would eliminate 4,000 positions globally.”
The Labor Department today in Washington said payrolls fell by 159,000 more than projected after the 73,000 decline earlier this year in August. With a dampening labor market, borrowing costs rising, and the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression, the world’s largest economy, the U.S., may suffer even bigger job losses ahead as consumers and companies retrench.
“The financial panic is a body blow to business confidence, and companies are now battening down the hatches,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report. “We’re in store for very sizable job losses across many industries. A rate cut by the Fed could come before the next meeting.”
It is not surprising to see why so many people are choosing to make sure their money is in the safest place possible:their own hands. Unsure of how much longer their job will last, if they will be able to pay for things like mortgages, tuition, household and medical expenses, thousands are turning to companies who will buy their future and long term payments from settlements, annuities, or lotteries for top dollar, and getting the cash they need now.
Scott Schwartz, Vice President od Sales for one of the largest and oldest purchasers of structured settlements, lottery and annuity payments, Woodbridge Investments, was asked about the record high sales the company reported earlier this month.
“People just don’t know what to expect, and they have a need to make sure that they have some sure footing financially. We are here to help our customers and Americans nationwide, get their money now from settlement, annuity, and lottery payments. Too many unfortunate circumstances and unprecedented hardships have befallen too many people, we see it in our numbers, and until another form of economic relief comes forth, we will continue to provide individuals with the help they want and ask for to get their money now. Waiting ten, twenty, or even thirty years for long term payments is just too scary for some people, and for others it is not an option.”
-Scott Schwartz,Woodbridge Investments LLC.
In the days, and weeks ahead Americans will wait and watch to see which Presidential hopeful wins their trust and proves to have answers and action to improve our economic future, but until significant change is seen, many more will continue to fear leaving their money in someone or something else’s hands.
All I know is that if I were not able to get some of that money now that I would ordinarily have had to wait for, my home would be gone. What no one else could do to help me, Woodbridge did. Thank you ! Tara Bilins
It’s amazing how my money can be invested and grow by insurance companies and banks to pay my small payments, AIG fell, who is to say the insurance company I get my payments from isn’t going to be next? I’d rather take what I can now, use it to get my son’s school paid, and stick the rest under a mattress then wait to see where it will be lost in the future.