Advantages of Viatical Investment:

For the Viator:

1. The Viator has fast access to over 50% of the face value of the insurance policy while they are still alive.  The viator benefits from the money when it is required the most during their life.
2. The Viator does not have to pay any premiums once he sells his insurance policy to a Viatical Settlement Company or an investor, thus saving on his future investments.
3. By engaging in such an agreement, the Viator does not have to pay any sort of tax for selling his life insurance policy.

For the Investor:

1. In most places, there is no levied tax on the settlement.  The investor is also exempt from making any additional payments besides the principal amount on the policy.
2. Almost 99% of the life insurance policies are eligible for a Viatical Settlement.
3. Once the viator dies, the investor no longer has to pay any sorts of premiums to the life insurance company.  Besides the death benefit the investor receives from the insurance company he does not have to pay any more monthly premiums to any company.

Disadvantages of Viatical Investment:

For the viator:

1. The Viator receives more than 50% of the face value of the insurance policy, but once the policy is transferred to the investor, he no longer has any right in it.
2. In case the life insurance policy has a cash value attached with it, once the beneficiary is changed to investor or the Viatical Settlement Company, then the Viator no longer has any kind of control over the cash value.

For Investor:

1. The investor may have to pay extra fees or state taxes. Please check with your state laws in order to be clear.
2. The Investor will have to pay the policy premiums until the time the viator dies. If in case the viator does not die within the time for which the investment has been made then further premiums will have to be paid in order to keep the policy alive.
3. The annual return on the Viatical Settlement can never be predicted because it becomes next to impossible to rightly predict the life span of the viator, however a rough estimate can be made.
4. Once the investor has invested in the Viatical Settlements, he cannot have access to his invested funds. It is not like a liquid investment. Investor can only have access to funds after the death of the insured person.