Last Updated on Feb 18, 2020 by James W
There are some cases when a person may be awarded with a large sum of money, including personal injuries, medical or legal malpractice, work related issues and some others. In any of these circumstances a plaintiff settles a tort suit with the insurance company that provides a settlement agreement. Generally, the amount of money assigned to a plaintiff is paid through a series of periodic tax-free installments over several years rather than in a single lump sum. This type of a financial agreement is called a ‘structured settlement’.
Annuities are somehow similar to structured settlements since they are also distributed in the form of periodic payments (monthly, quarterly or yearly). However, here a settlement is built up by money that a person pays to an insurance company during a certain period of time. When reaching a retirement age or at a predefined term an annuitant can reclaim his/her money. Some other popular samples of annuity settlements are lottery and casino winnings.
As you can see, such financial agreements ensure a steady income source with money coming on a regular basis, which is especially viable for unemployed settlement holders or those who suffer from temporary or permanent disability. With such a sound benefit of owning an annuity or structured settlement, haven’t you ever wondered why then so many people opt to sell their future payments in return for a lump sum of cash now? Actually, they prefer to get their legal money at hand today rather than waiting for it to come during months and even years. Let me clean the air on some of the most popular selling reasons.
Urgent Financial Necessities
There are some points in our lives when we all face a dire need of cash. Financial circumstances may change suddenly making us suffer from this rather stressful situation. This may include unforeseen medical expenses, urgent surgeries, uncovered bank loans and credits, tuition fees and some other related concerns requiring an immediate financial assistance. In any of these cases you may need a considerably larger amount of money than your small settlement payments may provide. Cashing out your structured settlement is definitely an ideal way out.
Long-Awaited Large Purchases
How long have you been dreaming about buying a new more spacious home for your large family? Or perhaps you want to make some renovations and improvements in your existing house and get it equipped with modern electronics, but you have to delay your plans because of insufficiency or lack of funds? Are you eager to get a brand new car? What about purchasing a car for your child who is a college graduate already? Now just imagine you and your family going together on the vacation to some tropical paradise or taking a tour to countries your have always wanted to visit. All this you can easily accomplish with a lump sum of cash payout.
Business or Investment Opportunities
When any new financial opportunities appear, you may also require a large amount of cash to enter them. Actually, there are numerous high-profit financial and investment opportunities you can take advantage of with decent cash at hand. Haven’t you thought about starting up your own business? Or probably you want some extra funds to invest into your further business growth? There is also a large variety of powerful investment instruments – from bank deposits to mutual and hedge funds – yielding considerably high profits. Moreover, by cashing out a portion of your original settlement plan to start a business or make an investment, you can eventually have two robust and reliable sources of long-term income.
Inflation
Rather often settlement recipients disregard or simply forget about such an inevitable financial phenomenon as inflation that relentlessly decreases their money value. Just think about the fact that the money you have today is obviously of more value than the same amount of money later in several years. If compared to historical inflation, the interest you will have to give a funding company for the opportunity to get a cash advance on your settlement today is much less. Therefore, selling your annuity or structured settlement for a lump sum may become a very effective hedge against the depreciating impact of inflation.
Financial Independence
We all deserve to be financially independent and live the life on our own terms, free from debts, unpaid bills and other associated financial burdens. While staying single or having a large family with several children, every conscious person needs to be confident of having a strong financial position in order not to be caught off balance by bankruptcy, financial crisis or any other life ‘what-ifs’. Getting a cash advance for your future payments will allow you to gain ultimate control over your legal money today, when you need it most.
To sum up, by releasing your future payouts you can enjoy absolute peace of mind knowing that you have a strong financial basis to meet any emergencies in a timely manner as well as make an important step forward to realizing your long-awaited financial dreams and ensuring a hassle-free financial future.
Have you been awarded with a structured settlement or annuity? Do you have a personal experience of selling future installments in exchange for a lump sum of cash now? Feel free to share your thoughts and experience in the comments below.
Author’s Bio
Post by Derek Wrend – a community manager at Ozark Funding, a structured settlement company specializing in purchasing future settlement and annuity payments.
