Akademik

n.

An insurance settlement paid to an "investor" who holds a life insurance policy purchased at a discount from a dying policyholder.

"In a Wall Street response to the Aids epidemic, American investors have in recent years been buying Aids patients' discounted life insurance policies, taking over the premium payments and netting the policies' full face value when the sellers die. Since the financial return of the investor is inversely related to the longevity of the seller, these deals, known as viatical settlements, are inherently ghoulish."

— Stephen Rae, "Die, damn you - I've got money on it," The Independent (London)