A one-time payment for the total or partial value of an asset. A lump-sum payment is usually taken in lieu of recurring payments that would otherwise be received over a period of time. The value of a lump-sum payment is generally less than the sum of all payments that the party would otherwise receive, since the party paying the lump-sum payment is being asked to provide more funds up front than it otherwise would have been required to.

Lump-sum payments are often used in structured products that typically provide payouts over a series of times, such as annuities or other retirement vehicles. This type of payment is also used in structured settlements, and in some corporate retirement packages, in which the company will incentivize employees to retire early by providing all retirement funds up front.