Particularly with the lack of confidence that people may feel in Wall Street recently, finding new investments can be tough. There are plenty of investments out there that have been touted at various times as sure things. They include everything from real estate to precious metals and, as is quite often the case, these investments proved to be something less than completely reliable in hindsight.

What if there was a type of investment that paid off a fixed payment schedule over a fixed term? What if, in exchange for taking payments over time, you could stand to make a premium profit and be investing in something that comes with backing of some of the most trusted annuity issuers in the world? There is such an investment: Assured Annuities. Here’s how they work.

Making the Investment

On the previously owned in force annuity market, people put up annuities that they have been awarded for various reasons in exchange for a lump sum in payment. They may, for example, have an annuity for $150,000 in total and, in exchange for the convenience of a lump sum, take a payment $100,000 and give up their right for the regular payments.

This part of the transaction is governed by State Law. Companies such as Assured Annuities take care of the legal elements of these transactions so that buyers can concentrate on actually making the investment that they are interested in.

The Buyer, upon closing, becomes the designated assignee of the payments receivable, either directly or through a third party servicing agent–your choice. Once the transaction is completed, the design is for the Buyer to receive the payments either by check or direct deposit into their bank account of choice.

These payments can be added to a regular portfolio or they can be added to an investment account intended for retirement.

What’s Different?

Secondary market structured settlement investments are among the very few investments that are scheduled to pay a fixed payment schedule over a fixed period of time. These are generally considered lower risk investments. Because the annuity issuers that are behind them generally come with such high credit ratings from Standard & Poor’s, Buyers can put their money into these investments with more?confidence than some other investment options.

Looking for new investment is always tough. It’s difficult to separate the hype from the reality and, given that so much of what’s written about investments is simply marketing, sometimes it takes research to look into whether a number of claims made about a given investment are true. Assured Annuity payments are great investments because, in fact, they are lower risk and pay a specified amount of blended interest and principal over a fixed payment term.