In the mid 2000s, money managers piled into life settlements for their high returns and independence from a volatile stock market.

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There's no Roth IRA conversion tax advantage from buying leveraged life settlements that couldn't be gained simply by paying the conversion tax out of other assets or by taking out a loan just for the tax bill.

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Born in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, Wolk is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School who worked as a commercial lawyer in the New York area for years and, more recently, as a general counsel in the life settlements business.

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Off-world settlements will provide fuel and life support materials for space missions and planetary operations, and for return of goods to Earth.

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For them, even a few million in settlements or licensing fees could mean life-or-death.

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Many of these former settlements are in much better condition than Pripyat and offer a unique peek into Soviet rural life.

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Starting in the late eighties, the religious Zionists in the settlements and beyond embarked on a new strategy, one that took them from the fringes of political life to its center.

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