Sell annuity payments online

Understanding annuities. Think of annuities as a type of debt that is owed to you. However, instead of receiving the payment in one lump sum after a period of time, that debt is paid to you in small increments over an extended period, usually several years or even decades. The most common incurrence of such debts would be in the case of liabilities owned due to civil damages against your person (a.k.a. structured settlements), or if you purchased a particular type of insurance / pension plan option in which in return for a one-time payment, you receive several payments over a period of time. Let us call the latter an “investment annuity,” and it is this type of annuity that we will focus on for the rest of this article. 

Variable annuity. One type of investment annuity is variable annuity, a scheme in which you can choose where to put your hard-earned money for investment, instead of receiving a fixed payment. You can invest in mutual funds, stocks, money markets, and other financial ventures. Thus the payment that you receive from the company will be dependent on the performance of your investment.

Get Cash immediately

The need for cash. While most investors enter into annuities to plan for long term investment, occasions do arise when cash is immediately needed. Such instances are pressing debt, immediate and attractive investment opportunities, or perhaps unforeseen and pressing expenses. In such cases, you may want to sell your annuities for cash. Is this option readily available? The short and simple answer is ‘yes, you can get cash for your variable annuities.’ In fact companies today offer flexible terms such that you can choose to dispose of either the entire value of your annuity or just a portion of that annuity

Reputable buyers. There are many firms that are online and offer to purchase your annuities. Examples of such firms are MetLife, JGWentWorth, Genex Capital, and so on. These firms offer fast turn-around of transactions such that you may get cash for your annuity in six to eight weeks time.  Each firm will have their own type of process to assess your annuity – with most firms offering step by step guidance on how to proceed to sell your annuity. 

Going online to sell your annuity. A typical process would be for you to first input your particulars online. Depending on where you are they will then assign an agent to you who will then get in touch with you. To avoid unnecessary complications, look for companies that already do business in your locality. While several transactions can be made electronically such as cash payments, there would probably be need for personal contact particularly when assessing your papers, signing the transfer contracts in the presence of an attorney, etc.

Exercise caution. Definitely look for a professional asset manager when deciding on whether or not to sell your annuities. Buyers of debt know that for all the reasons that you would sell your debt, that you can not help but have to give them a bigger discount. As such they will try to get your annuity for all its worth at your expense. Have the asset manage professionally asses your obligations, income, assets, and risk threshold and then have him give you options. Ask your asset manager to provide an unbiased assessment of your annuity, as well as to evaluate the firms that you should approach. 

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