Thinking About Selling Your Structured Settlement? Read This First!


 

Lump sum lottery winnings

What’s the big deal with structured settlements anyway, and why are so many people interested in selling a structured settlement or annuity settlement? The answer here is complicated simply because there are so many reasons why people chose to sell settlement payments — and if you want to sell your structured settlement payments, you definitely have plenty of your own reasons.

The most important first step here is to take a look at what a structured settlement entails before you make the decision to sell your payments, so let’s take a quick look at some of pros and cons of structured settlements today:

Pros:

  • With some settlements, you can add designated beneficiaries in case you pass away prematurely before you receive all of your payments.

  • Structured settlements are often part of personal injury lawsuits and they’re intended to help victims cover extra costs for things like medical treatment and lost wages.

  • While they typically aren’t considered to be great investments, settlements aren’t subject to fluctuations in the stock market like other investment options are.

Cons:

  • Even though it’s technically your money, you don’t have access to the funds that are still tied up for future payments. This can be a bit of a downer for anyone who won the lottery but is receiving lottery payments too small to spend on something fun.

  • It’s also important to remember that taxes are going to decrease the amount of money you receive each month; many people forget to factor this in when calculating their income.

  • If you choose to withdraw the money prematurely, you’ll have to pay very high early withdrawal fees.

Luckily, it’s not too difficult to sell your structured settlement when you’re working with a legitimate company.

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