At Last, You Can Earn 15.83% Average Annual Rate of Return Without "Wall Street" Risks

Earlier this year I wrote an article with a similar title.

One reader asked: "How can this be possible, because it sounds too good to be true."

Both the "'too-good-to-be-true" quote and the "How" question deserve answers. So, here goes.

Let's start by explaining the TIP investment.Chances are you have never heard of this investment. What is the investment? Life Settlements (LS) --- Also called Transferable Insurance Policy or TIP(s). The best way to understand how a TIP (TIPs is plural) works is by an example, which follows:

EXAMPLE: Joe, age 67, owns a life insurance policy with a 0,000 death benefit and a ,000 cash surrender value (CSV). Joe would like to stop paying premiums. Of course, he can cancel the policy and get the ,000 CSV from the insurance company. An investor (really a group of investors) buys Joe's policy for 0,000, paid in cash to Joe immediately. The investors now own the policy. The group of investors will receive the 0,000 death benefit when Joe dies. This transaction (Joe selling the policy and the investors buying it) is called LS. A TIP is a fractional interest in a LS. Let's say Rick is one of the investors. Say Rick invests 0,000. He will wind up with a diversified portfolio of TIPs (about 5 to 10). Each one of the TIPs will be a fractional interest in Joe's 0,000 policy, say 3 percent or ,000. This TIP (Joe's) will pay Rick exactly ,000 when Joe dies.

A public company (trades on the NASDAQ) invented TIPs. Twice a year the company publishes its average rate of return for the years (now 16) it has been in business.

A common question is, "What are the tax consequences of a TIP?" All taxes are deferred until the TIP is paid. In the above example, Rick would not have any taxable income. A TIP is always ordinary income. It is not payable until he receives the ,000. If Rick had invested his 0,000 from a qualified plan (401(k), profit-sharing, IRA or the like) the income would stay in the plan (like all other investments) and all income taxes deferred until funds are distributed to Rick.

First, a little background about the life insurance industry. There are basically two types of life insurance: permanent [has cash surrender value (CSV)] and term (no CSV). According to Milliman and Robertson, an international actuarial firm, 89.5% of Universal Life policies never result in a death claim. The policies are either surrendered, or worse, allowed to lapse. Note: Universal life is the most common type of permanent life insurance sold in the United States.

And what about term insurances? These facts are, although true, almost unbelievable: According to Tax Planning With Life Insurance, authored by Zaristky and Leimberger, Ten years after issue, there is only a 15 percent probability that at term policy will be in force at the insured's death. There is less than a 2 percent probability that term insurance bought twenty years before an insured's death will be in force. So, on average 93% of all life insurance policies sold never pay even in death benefits.

Amazing! Think about it, life insurance companies deposit premium dollars year after year and about 93% of the time keep all of the dollars, while the insured or his heirs get nothing in return. One exception, the policy owner terminates a policy by getting back the CSV. Long story short, LSs to the rescue. However, before the invention of TIPs, LSs were the sole profit playground of institutional investors: large companies with deep-cash pockets, like giant insurance companies (such as AIG and CNA).

Even Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway has been in the LS game for about 15 years and recently announced a 0 million loan to a new wholly owned subsidiary to invest in LSs. TIPs are the bridge that allows the little guy to get into the LS profit game.

Go back to Joe's LS/TIP example. If Joe had cashed in his policy for the ,000 CSV, the life insurance company would have been off of a 0,000 death benefit hook. It's easy to see why Joe is delighted with his 0,000 LS. Of course, the insurance company is anything but delighted and would like to keep LSs secret.

The pure economic fact is that the investor stands tall in the profit shoes of the insurance company. The investor stands to profit with a gross of 0,000 (0,000 death benefit less an acquisition cost of 0,000), reduced by future premiums (until Joe passes on). The LS side of the transaction with Joe is handled by the NASDAQ company, which then arranges for little-guy investors to purchase TIPs. The potential profit percentage calculated on each TIP investment is based on the projected life expectancy of each LS policy seller at about 16% plus.

Generally, the NASDAQ company only completes LSs where the insured's life expectancy is actuarially five years or less. The result of how a TIP transaction is structured allows the TIP investor to earn an average annual historic rate of return of 15.83%.

No worrying about "Wall Street" volatility or whether "The Market" goes up, sideways, or down.

Now you know how it's done.

You also know because of the strange economics (no death benefit are paid about 93% of the time) of the insurance industry and the ingenious way TIPs are structured that a 15.83% average annual rate of return is indeed, not too good to be true.

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11. Individuals in the Green Card queue, awaiting US immigration should play it especially straight since any audit by IRS or "Tax Garnishment" can be a red flag to US immigration authorities.

12. Green Card Holders (permanent residents), even those living abroad temporarily should file taxes as residents' though they may be eligible to file taxes as non residents. Filing taxes as non-resident may impact you during re-entry to the US

13. Permanent Residents waiting to Naturalize as US citizens should also be cautious while filing taxes and not stray from the straight line

14. Non-resident Spouse can be Treated as a Resident. Make sure you get credit for all your dependents. This is especially useful for immigrants with spouses and children awaiting immigration outside the country.

15. Foreigners living overseas, and others living in the US who are ineligible to apply for a Social Security Number (SSN) may be eligible for and Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN preparation). Dependents of US residents living abroad should apply for the ITIN and become eligible to be claimed as dependents for tax purposes

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17. A few Important Facts about Dependents and Exemptions. Some tax rules affect every person who may have to file a federal income tax return these rules include dependents and exemptions.

Exemptions reduce your taxable income. There are two types of exemptions: personal exemptions and exemptions for dependents. For each exemption you can deduct ,650 on your 2010 tax return.

Your spouse is never considered your dependent. On a joint return, you may claim one exemption for yourself and one for your spouse. If you're filing a separate return, you may claim the exemption for your spouse only if they had no gross income, are not filing a joint return, and were not the dependent of another taxpayer.

Exemptions for dependents. You generally can take an exemption for each of your dependents. A dependent is your qualifying child or qualifying relative. You must list the social security number of any dependent for whom you claim an exemption.

If someone else claims you as a dependent, you may still be required to file your own tax return. Whether you must file a return depends on several factors including the amount of your unearned, earned or gross income, your marital status, any special taxes you owe and any advance Earned Income Tax Credit payments you received.

If you are a dependent, you may not claim an exemption. If someone else such as your parent claims you as a dependent, you may not claim your personal exemption on your own tax return.

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