Defined terms for the annuity market and lifetime income landscape.
Floor-and-upside approach is a retirement income strategy that covers essential expenses through a floor of guaranteed lifetime income and funds discretionary expenses through more flexible investment-based arrangements.
The free look period is a defined window of time, typically beginning at delivery of a deferred annuity contract, during which the contract owner can return the contract for a full refund of premium without incurring any surrender charge, market value adjustment, or other cost.
A free withdrawal provision is a contractual feature of a deferred annuity that allows the contract owner to withdraw a defined amount each year during the surrender period without incurring a surrender charge, typically expressed as a percentage of the account value.
The general account is the pool of an insurer's assets that supports its non-separate-account liabilities — fixed annuities, immediate annuities, and the fixed components of variable annuities — with the contract owner holding a contractual claim against those assets rather than direct ownership.
A group annuity contract is an annuity contract issued to an employer, plan sponsor, or other group holder that provides annuity benefits to underlying individual participants under the terms of the group arrangement.
