NoStructured settlements and annuities are financial products that you are probably happy about. In the first case, you probably received your structured settlement after going to court. The defendant knew that the case was lost, so rather than go through the motions of a court case that couldn’t be won, they opted to settle with you out of court.
Because a settlement is a lot of money to pay all at once, many times the defendant’s lawyers will offer you a structured settlement. They may even push it on you. In most cases, a lump sum should be available to you from the start, but a lot of plaintiffs feel that they received their structured settlement as the only available option, even if the monthly payments would not be sufficient to cover their monthly lifestyle needs.
Annuities are not quite the same thing. Unlike a settlement, you plan for an annuity well in advance. It is meant to cover your lifestyle expenses during your retirement, actually, or some similar time period. You, or a caring loved one, has been putting money away for a long time to fill up the annuity.