Defined terms for the annuity market and lifetime income landscape.
A declared rate is the interest rate that an insurer specifies will be credited to a fixed annuity contract or to the fixed account within an indexed or variable annuity for a defined period.
A deferred annuity is any annuity contract in which income payments commence at a future date rather than at issue, encompassing fixed deferred annuities, multi-year guaranteed annuities, fixed indexed annuities, registered index-linked annuities, and deferred income annuities.
A deferred fixed annuity is a fixed annuity contract structured with an accumulation phase during which the contract value grows at a declared crediting rate set by the carrier, followed by an optional distribution phase in which the value can be annuitized, surrendered, or held.
A deferred income annuity (DIA) is a lifetime income arrangement in which the contract owner pays a premium to an insurer in exchange for periodic income payments that begin at a specified future date and continue for the contract owner's lifetime or another specified payout structure.
The distribution phase is the period of an annuity contract during which the contract pays income to the contract owner under the elected payout structure, beginning at annuitization or at the contract's specified income commencement date and continuing until payment obligations terminate.
