Variable Dollar Annuity
Definition of "Variable dollar annuity"
Annuity in which premium payments are used to purchase accumulation units, their number depending on the value of each unit. The value of a unit is determined by the value of the portfolio of stocks in which the insurance company invests the premiums. At the time of the payment of benefits to the annuitant, the accumulation units are converted to a monthly fixed number of units. The variable element is the dollar value of each unit. For example, assume that the annuitant pays a monthly premium of $100. If the accumulation unit value during one month is $50, two units are purchased. In another month, if the value of the accumulation unit is $25, four units are purchased. In a third month, the value of the unit is $10, resulting in the purchase of 10 units. This allows the market use of the investment strategy of dollar cost averaging. Accumulation units are credited to the annuitant's account, a procedure that is similar to purchasing shares in a mutual fund.
When income benefits are scheduled to begin, total accumulation units are converted to assume 100 income benefit units per month. The value of the income unit will vary according to the company's stock investments; in one month the annuitant's income might be $1000, in another month $500, in another month $1200. Changes in the investment experience by the insurance company are passed on to the annuitant, but the company absorbs fluctuations in expenses and mortality experience.
Popular Insurance Terms
Model state statute that governs terms for surrender of individual deferred annuities and cash value life insurance. This model, adopted by most states in the late 1970s and early 1980s, ...
Provision in a life insurance policy that protects its proceeds from the beneficiary's creditors. On payment, the beneficiary loses the protection of the spendthrift trust clause and the ...
Rule that prohibits the introduction into a court of law of any oral or written agreement that contradicts the final written agreement. For example, an insurance contract containing clauses ...
Several insurance companies under common ownership and, often, common management. ...
Risk management control device used to minimize accidents and injuries to employees resulting from an unsafe working environment. For example, potential cumulative trauma disorders losses ...
Defined contribution pension plan in which employer contributions are set under a collective bargaining agreement. It usually covers the employees of a number of firms and is administered ...
Legal right of a passenger in an automobile involved in an accident to bring a liability suit against the driver. It is deemed that a special standard of care is owed by an automobile ...
Application of conventional terms and conditions to the reinsurance of a risk. Contrast with non-traditional REINSURANCE. ...
Coverage in the event of a marine loss. Marine loss is damage or destruction of a ship's hull and the ship's cargo (freight) as the result of the occurrence of an insured peril. Perils ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.