You should not cash out your annuity when it’s not in your best interest.
Here are 3 reasons it might not be in your best interest; it’s too soon, you don’t have a good enough reason, it will cost you too much. Every day someone cashes out their annuity or settlement when it might not have been in their best interest. It’s an easy mistake to make when the call of money and burden of financial stress is weighing heavily on you. But read carefully and maybe you can avoid digging the hole deeper.
If you are a minor, or the parent of a minor trying to cash out an annuity, it’s too soon. Courts will rarely approve an advance of a minors settlement except in cases of extreme need. A guardian will need to be appointed to make sure the transaction is in the best interests of the minor and not the parent. Another way it can be too soon, your payments are too far away. $100,000 due in 2025 is not going to get you $100,000 today. In fact, you won’t even get $25,000. The payout date is too far away.
Unless you have a good enough reason. If you feel secure that your $25,000 dollars will yield over the next 20 years a return equivalent to the $100,000 you would have received, than maybe it’s not such a bad idea. Plenty of courts around the country will be very interested in your reason for acceleration your settlement or annuity payments. Judges do their best to evaluate for you whether the transaction is your best option. Turning in your monthly payments to buy a new car may not be the best idea. Buying a home, attending school, averting financial disaster, keeping a home, important medical needs, all are great reasons to cash in future payments. Anything else deserves a second look and more serious consideration.
What also deserves serious consideration is the bottom line. If you have to give up 50% or more of your annuity’s value is it worth it? That’s a very expensive purchase you are making when you give up $100,000 to get $25,000. And if your $25,000 buys you a car that depreciates and breaks down in 5 years, you have so little to show for your money. I think investing in start up businesses, vacations, recreational vehicles, and entertainment items are often questionable reasons to cash in structured settlement payments.
The courts, the settlement cash out companies, your family and friends will all have their opinions as to whether you should get an advance on your future payments. But the risk and responsibility to make the best possible choice rests on your shoulders. Ask yourself if what you are getting is worth what you are giving up. There are great reasons to get your money sooner rather than later, but there are also times when cashing out is not in your best interest.
The cost of not having money.
The self-esteem factor of not having enough money is underestimated. You know what I mean don’t you? The agony of financially struggling and the ecstasy of financial abundance are dramatically different moments in a person’s life. And I for one would choose the abundance over the struggling any day.
A particular emotional challenge structured settlement and annuity recipients face is the dilemma of having money but not having access to it. You have money coming to you but it is out of reach. The annoyance of such a situation would be exacerbated by a period of financial stress. Imagine if you were going to lose your home, and you have $300,000 coming to you over the next 20 years, but you can’t access that future money to meet your immediate needs.
Financial stress can be the catalyst of a downward spiral. Depression, addiction, isolation, are just a few of the storms spawned by the weight of financial burden. Instead of being dragged down, find help, find an answer to your money concerns, find a way to get out from under the weight of money worry. Professional counseling in both the mental health and financial strategies areas of your life could get you on the healthy and happy track.
If necessary, there are ways to cash out annuities and cash in on future payments. There are settlement companies that have the means and legal experience to accelerate your payout for a lump sum of cash now. Exercise caution and seek legal and financial advice when dealing with these third party settlement companies. The cost of getting an advance on future payments can be exorbitant. But the emotional cost of not getting help when you are struggling financially can be even more costly.
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