You always hear people talking about the latest investment vehicle they're using. It's water cooler talk, dinner table talk, phone talk, it's everywhere talk. People are always looking for a way to invest their money that might be a little 'different' from what others are doing. Buying a structured settlement is one of those options.

A structured settlement is where one party is awarded an amount of money that is to be paid out over a certain period of time. It is commonly the result of an insurance settlement or a life settlement where the insurance company is required by a judge to pay the victims an amount of money over time. The person who is awarded the settlement then knows they can count on $X.XX per month over the next Y years.

However, often people who are awarded structured settlements don't want to receive the money over Y period of time. They want the money NOW. And why not? Often they can make better use of the money now than they could over 30 years, or sometimes they could better their personal finances right now and forever if they had a lump sum of cash right now for their structured settlement payments.

In comes the investor. As an investor, an alternative vehicle would be to buy someones structured settlement payments. That's right, pay cash for structured settlement payments. For example, Joe is awarded a $500,000 settlement from the insurance company for an auto accident he was involved in. The company is going to pay the $500,000 over the next 10 years, $50,000 each year. However, Joe would be better off if he could just get $150,000 now and let someone else receive the payments over the next 10 years. As an investor, you could do this. Of course, in this case you would have to have $150,000 in cash to buy the payments, but then over the next 10 years you would make 333% return on your initial investment of $150,000. Not bad!

I'm not saying it is an easy process to buy someone's structured settlement payments. The process involves lawyers, insurance companies, and judges, three things people tend to dislike. However, there are companies that can help you. They'll help you find all the resources you need to make a successful investment.

Good Luck