Holders of a new indexed annuity can peg returns to a blend of several different investment benchmarks.
Alliance Life Insurance Company of North America, Minneapolis, a unit of Allianz A.G., Munich, says the new Allianz VersaDex Annuity contract offers a choice of traditional annuitization after 5 years, full accumulation withdrawal with no surrender charges after 7 years, or 2 different "enhanced withdrawal benefit" options.
Contract holders who use the EWB options take partial withdrawals that are subject to ordinary income taxes.
One EWB option offers guaranteed access to a stream of withdrawals that is supposed to last a lifetime. The other lets a holder withdraw 10% of the EWB value during the first years of withdrawals and then start taking a stream of ordinary withdrawals.