Glossary

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. Why it matters The free look period is the structural opportunity for an individual to review the actual contract — not the marketing materials or summary disclosure — after issue and to decide whether to k

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. Why it matters The free withdrawal provision is the structural carve-out that softens the conditional liquidity profile of a deferred annuity during the surrender period. It is the mechanism by which a contract that

A frictionless pool is a theoretical mortality pool that delivers the maximum lifetime income pooling could produce, used as the benchmark against which real lifetime income products are measured. Why it matters Without a benchmark, there is no way to tell whether a lifetime income product is a good deal or a bad one — every quote is just a number. The frictionless pool is the benchmark that sits outside any specific product's pricing, which is what makes honest comparison possibl