First, it is important to define what a structured settlement is. Thankfully, the concept is not hard to understand. A structured settlement is simply a financial agreement that is made to settle a personal injury claim, and it involves the plaintiff receiving periodic payments for a fixed amount of time. Before structured settlements came about, people were paid all the money up front, in what is known as a lump sum. With a structured settlement, the payments are spread out, instead of being given to you all at once. This usually makes things easier on the person who is paying out the money.

Since the dawn of structured settlements, financial firms have figured out ways to profit from them. Since people rarely get paid lump sums anymore, businesses like JG Wentworth have offered to convert your structured settlement into a lump sum. That is, you transfer the settlement to them, and they pay you a lot of money at once. Sounds pretty good, right?

It is important to remember that you never get something for nothing, and it is clear that if you just took the structured settlement as is, you would make more money in the end. You will ultimately lose a lot of money by taking a lump sum, so it is advised that you do not sell off your structured settlement. However, that is not to say you should not even consider it, as there are special circumstances when it would be in your interest to get a lump sum.

In this economy, many people are burdened by bills and debt. If you are at risk of losing your possessions, including your car or home, then you may need the lump sum to cover those payments. In this case, it is perfectly okay to take this route.