VARIABLE ANNUITIES in Software

Drawing Denso QR Bar Code in Software VARIABLE ANNUITIES

Variable annuities offer a number of different investment choices inside of the annuity, known as subaccounts When establishing the variable annuity, owners can choose where they want their premiums to be invested each time They can then change around the subaccount allocation whenever they want The owner may also move money between the different subaccounts, both with no cost to the owner and with no tax consequences The different types of investment subaccounts, or separate accounts, are not part of the insurance company s general assets These subaccounts and their investment results stand on their own The performance of the annuity contract as a whole depends upon the performance of the separate subaccounts, most of which are tied directly to the stock market Therefore, the investment risk lies with the annuity owner, not the insurance company Since the subaccounts aren t part of the company s general assets, should the company become insolvent, the variable annuity owners would not become general creditors of the company, as fixed annuity owners do

The available subaccounts are generally managed by or for the insurance company However, there are companies that offer variable annuities that have a number of nonproprietary funds from other mutual fund companies, such as Oppenheimer or Janus The availability of these separate accounts typically varies between the different types of variable annuities offered, but annuity owners usually have a wide variety of choices The term variable annuity also applies when the annuity s payout varies from period to period Under the general terms of an annuity contract, the owner may stipulate to have the contract pay out a fixed amount of money per period, or he or she may choose to have a fixed amount of units (or annuity units) to be distributed each period If the owner chooses to have a set amount of units as the payout, each payout will vary because the dollar amount is based upon the underlying subaccounts and their current prices per share Thus, if the owner elects to receive 100 units per month, one month he or she may receive $550, while the next month he or she may receive $700 Generally, unless otherwise specified, when the payout comes out of the annuity, it will come proportionately from each of the subaccounts that have value

Most individual annuities give the annuity owner the option of investing a portion of the premiums in both fixed and variable subaccounts This way, the owner will realize some stability by earning a specified interest rate, while also being able to take advantage of current market conditions

Equity indexed annuities, or EIAs, are a relatively new form of fixeddollar annuities They blend minimum insurance company guarantees with linking the annuity s interest earnings to a stock market index, such as the S&P 500 While there are many different designs of EIAs being sold, we use just one as an example

Let s say you invest $50,000 as a single-premium deferred EIA The particular policy you purchase will guarantee a minimum value of 85 percent, or $42,500, of your principal amount The value of the EIA will not fall below the minimum guaranteed value, which is $42,500 in this example Plus, if it is higher, the EIA will pay a percentage of the increase in an equity index over a specified time period The percentage paid will vary among the different insurers, and even the different EIAs offered by the same insurer For this example, we ll use 80 percent We ll also use the S&P 500 as our stock index and 10 years as our time frame The percentage of the index increase is called the participation rate Therefore, if the increase in the S&P 500 Index over the 10 years were 60 percent, the interest credited for this increase would be $24,000 Therefore, the accumulated value of the EIA would be $74,000, which is greater than the minimum The annuity could then continue to earn interest in this manner If the S&P 500, or another unmanaged index, were to decline, the EIA wouldn t fall below its guaranteed minimum of $42,500

Participation rate = 80% S&P 500 increase = 60% Initial premium = $50,000 Interest = 80% 60% $50,000 Interest = $24,000 Contract value = $74,000 (All amounts are hypothetical)

The returns on EIAs may be subject to certain limitations For instance, there may be a cap on the amount of interest the annuity can be credited with Plus, there are features that will also limit the return, such as which index is used, the participation rate, how the interest based on the index is calculated, the guaranteed minimum account value, and any possible account charges Not only are there a number of different stock indices used, there are different participation rates (which may range anywhere from 50 to more than 100 percent) and different methods of calculating the interest EIAs are considered to be equity investments because they are tied to stock market indices However, their returns will perhaps not be as great as other equity investments, such as stocks or mutual