I got an e-mail the other day from a reader named Josh asking ‘Can I sell my annuity?’
Josh wrote in part, “I just have a lot of bills and things to pay off, my long term annuity isn’t covering my bills and I just want to get out, how can I sell my annuity, or find someone to buy my annuity?”
Josh’s question and problem are not all that uncommon, a lot of readers ask in one form or another – ‘how can I sell my annuity?’ The answer to that is pretty simple, kind of.
If you want to sell annuity payments to a third party company you will need first organize your paperwork and determine how many years of the annuity payments you wish to sell. Organizing the paperwork should be pretty simple, the important peices of information you need will be name and location of the insurer who is funding the annuity and the account numbers. You should also familiarize yourself with the annuity selling system that will be used on you.
If you are thinking, ‘Selling my annuity will be hard and too confusing.’ You are right, it can be hard and confusing, but if you find the right company to work with – it can be a lot easier. There are a lot of structured settlement companies that will offer you a lump sum payment in exchange for future annuity payments.
So now you need to know your options. You can only sell certain periods of the annuity investments if you choose. Say you have a 25 year annuity but you want to sell years 10 through 20 for a lump sum. This would enable you to receive annuity settlement payments from the sale of years 1 through 10 and then 20 through 25, whiles still getting a lump sum for the years 10 through 20.
So now you need to know who is going to be in the market for your annuity payments. Selling annuities successfully is more about finding the right company than you being entirely prepared. So if you are looking to sell my annuity you need to contact several different structured settlement companies and get annuity quotes. Doing this will help you get the most cash for annuity payments.
Some things to be aware of before you sell annuities, first, not all states allow you to sell structured annuity payments and you will find this out real quick when you contact your first company for a settlement quote so you know your annuity settlement options. Second, you should only exchange long term guaranteed income for a short term settlement if you are really in need of it. If you are losing a lot of money in interest as the result of credit card or other debt a lump sum may be a good idea. If you are looking to get into a home and the market is really good, and you can get a low APR %, then go for it. If you have limited earning power and those monthly annuity payments are providing a major source of income for you, then hold onto them. Settlement cash structured for flow is not always the best for you long term.
So, ‘Can I sell my annuity?’ YES.
Are there companies that are interested in me ‘selling my annuity’? YES.
Do the companies selling annuities offer quotes for me to consider with no obligation? YES.
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