In the annuity industry, it’s extremely important to keep up with the latest and greatest as the market is continuously changing. Here’s a look at a few of the new annuity products available, as reported in the article, “3 Annuities to Watch: Sammons, Athene, Manulife,” from ThinkAdvisor.
The new LiveWell Freedom Variable Annuity, from Sammons Retirement Solutions, automatically includes a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit rider (GLWB) with a 2% minimum gain, and a 75% share of S&P 500 Index gains. The maximum total GLWB value gain is 100% of the original value, and an annual charge will amount to 1.45% of the GLWB value. The value will continue to increase until the total GLWB value doubles, the client makes a withdrawal, or the client reaches the contract “freedom date.”
Sammons will stop collecting charges for the GLWB rider when the annuity holder reaches the freedom date, at which point the annuity holder will have full access to the accumulation value. The GLWB rider will pay out insurance company money from the contract itself, even if the annuity holder has accumulation value money stored up. Sammons claims that the LiveWell Freedom GLWB is the first of its kind, where the lifetime benefits come from the contract, even if the accumulation value is greater than zero.
Sammons Retirement Solutions is based out of West Des Moines, Iowa and is issuing the annuity through its Midland National Life Insurance Company unit.
Another West Des Moines, Iowa based company, Athene Holding Ltd., has just introduced the Athene Agility indexed annuity contract, which includes a built-in income and death benefit rider. The contract includes access to eight indexed credited strategies, including two that are only available from Athene. The contract has a benefit base which grows by 175% of any interest credits that are added to the annuity’s accumulated value. Any interest earned is subject to an annual spread, a cap rate and a participation rate. The minimum interest rate is zero.
Finally, Manulife Hong Kong, a unit of Manulife Financial Corp., has just launched the ManuDelight Annuity Plan in Hong Kong. Purchasers in Hong Kong get extra protection against severe stroke, kidney failure or Parkinson’s disease. Annuity holders who suffer one of these conditions can get up to twice the guaranteed monthly income. While the company offers annuity products aimed at younger workers, workers closer to retirement and workers who are already retired, this new contract is being marketed towards relatively young pre-retirees.
Hong Kong is a model retirement services market with about 49% of residents ages 30-54 having already started saving money for retirement. Those people have allocated an average of 24% of their monthly income for retirement savings, according to Manulife Hong Kong.
If you have any questions regarding these, or any, annuity products, please do not hesitate to contact us. As always, it is highly recommended that you speak with a trusted financial advisor before making any changes to your retirement savings portfolio.
Written by Rachel Summit
