Future payments are part payouts that are a result of court proceedings. These payments are mostly received in the form of structured settlements, annuities and annuity settlements. Other types of future payments include, mortgage notes, trust deeds and lottery payments. Future payments are a form of secured long-term income or simply fixed cash income.

However, there are times when people may require large amount of cash at one time. Instead of taking a loan or selling assets, people can easily sell their future payments for cash. Future payments are mostly secured payments. Hence, funding companies provide immediate cash in exchange of these payments. However, it is important to realize that cash for future payments are always available at a discounted rate.

People mostly sell their future payments to increase cash flow at present. Cash could be needed to fund investment opportunities, expensive medical care, vacations and college tuition fees. Other reasons to obtain cash for future payments could be to pay taxes or to meet unexpected financial needs. Some people prefer immediate cash to future payments as it saves them the effort of waiting for cash every month.

While selling future payments for cash, the seller can choose from various options. It is possible to sell partial payments. This means, people can sell a part of their future payments instead of selling all of them. This is done, in order to make available a particular sum of money for a specified need. Full payments can also be sold. The seller receives a lump sum equal to the discounted value of the payments sold.

Cash for future payments is also available by selling shared payments. In such cases cash for a part of the future payments sold is received immediately. The remaining cash for future payments is received on a payable date. Cash for future payments is a matter of personal choice and may even prove to be profitable, if invested well.