Not when invested properly. Using easy examples, if you win a million dollars and take it over 30 years, say you're taxed 20%, you get $800k. You choose to take a lump sum and they only give you 30% of the value, you get $300k. Investing that $300k at 5% over 30 years, you've got an additional $55k over what you would have gotten over the same time period. Now, the average market return rate is closer to 3-5% higher than that, so that 5% return is a conservative estimate of what you have after fees and pulling some out for yourself (3% is a recommendation I've heard), putting you well above what you'd get from the annuity.