Why consider the Allianz Benefit Control annuity?
As you prepare for retirement, you want control over how you create sources of guaranteed income – and the flexibility to adapt if your needs change. The Allianz Benefit Control Annuity offers you more control in three key ways:
- Enjoy the flexibility to BEGIN INCOME ANYTIME
- Adjust how aggressively you PURSUE YOUR INCOME AND ACCUMULATION GOALS
- Establish a game plan that can help ADDRESS CHANGES IN THE COST OF LIVING
DISCOVER THE BENEFITS OF A FIXED INDEX ANNUITY
A fixed index annuity – or FIA – is simply a contract between you and an insurance company.
FIAs offer valuable benefits, including the opportunity to earn interest based on a market index, tax-deferred growth potential, income options, and even death benefit options for your beneficiaries.
They also offer principal protection from market downturns.
This is why an FIA may be a good choice if you want the opportunity to earn interest, but don’t want to risk losing money in the market.
An overview of Allianz Benefit Control
As you’ve just read, fixed index annuities are designed to help you accumulate for retirement – and also provide guaranteed retirement income. Now let’s look at the features and benefits of Allianz Benefit Control Annuity.
WHILE YOU’RE SAVING FOR RETIREMENT, ALLIANZ BENEFIT CONTROL CAN GIVE YOU:
- several options to grow your annuity’s values,
- the option to lock in index performance at any time,
- control over how aggressively you pursue your income savings goals, and
- access to a portion of your money without penalty, should you need it.
AND WHEN YOU START TAKING INCOME THROUGH GUARANTEED LIFETIME WITHDRAWALS:
- you have the potential to receive income increases,
- you can continue to lock in index performance at any time, and
- you can double your withdrawals with the Allianz Income Multiplier benefit
10 things to know about Allianz Benefit Control annuity
1. ALLIANZ BENEFIT CONTROL ANNUITY IS AN INSURANCE PRODUCT.
Like all fixed index annuities, it’s designed to help you save money for retirement and provide a steady stream of income after you retire.
But if you need to access your money sooner, you can take out a portion through free withdrawals – or even start income withdrawals right away (must be at least 50 years old).
2. IT PROTECTS YOUR MONEY FROM MARKET RISK.
The money – or “premium” – you place in the annuity is not invested in the stock market, so you won’t lose anything during a market downturn. (Fees and charges may still reduce your contract value, though.)
3. ALLIANZ BENEFIT CONTROL GIVES YOU A PREMIUM BONUS.
Anytime you put money into your contract in the first 18 months, you’ll get a premium bonus equal to 10% of your premium.
We’ll credit this bonus to your protected income value, giving you an immediate increase in the value of your lifetime withdrawals.
4. ALLIANZ BENEFIT CONTROL GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO EARN INDEXED INTEREST.
You can “allocate” the money in your contract to one or more external indexes, such as the S&P 500.
We track the performance of these indexes – and when the index goes up, your contract earns indexed interest (up to certain limits). But remember that we’re just tracking the index for you. You’re not actually buying stocks or shares in any index, so you won’t lose money if the stock market drops.
5. YOU THEN GET A SECOND BONUS ON ANY INDEXED INTEREST YOU EARN.
Anytime your contract receives indexed interest, we’ll also credit your protected income value with an interest bonus. And through a feature we call the Bonus Control benefit, you can control how interest is credited between your accumulation value and the protected income value.
6. YOU HAVE OPTIONS FOR ACCESSING YOUR MONEY.
In the contract year after your most recent premium payment, you can take up to 10% of your contract’s paid premium in one or more withdrawals without having to pay penalties (such as withdrawal charges or market value adjustments).
7. YOU’LL ENJOY GUARANTEED INCOME FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
You can start income through guaranteed lifetime withdrawals from your protected income value anytime, even in the middle of a year. And once you start lifetime withdrawals, they’re guaranteed to continue for as long as you live.
In other words: Your lifetime withdrawals will continue even if you use up all the money you placed in the annuity.
8. YOUR INCOME COULD GO UP, BASED ON YOUR CHOSEN INDEX(ES).
Remember how you can earn indexed interest based on positive changes in an external index? The same idea applies to your lifetime withdrawals:
- Every time your chosen allocations earn interest, we increase your lifetime withdrawal amount.
- This may help you address the rising cost of living over a long retirement.
9. AND EACH TIME YOUR INCOME GOES UP, IT’S LOCKED IN.
If your lifetime withdrawal amount increases, that higher amount becomes your new baseline. (Remember that your lifetime withdrawal amount can’t drop; it can only stay steady or increase.)
10. YOUR INCOME CAN EVEN DOUBLE IF YOU MEET CERTAIN CRITERIA.
If you have an extended hospital stay – or if you can’t perform specific daily activities – the Income Multiplier benefit can double your income withdrawals until you get back on your feet.
You can earn interest in two ways.
Allianz Benefit Control Annuity offers you the potential to earn interest based on your choice of several external indexes.
CHOOSE AN INDEXED INTEREST, FIXED INTEREST, OR A COMBINATION OF BOTH.
Because it’s a fixed index annuity, Allianz Benefit Control gives you the potential to earn indexed interest based on changes in your choice of several indexes and crediting methods.
Crediting methods determine how much interest your annuity earns, based on the changes in an external market index.
Or, if you prefer, Allianz Benefit Control lets you receive fixed interest instead.
Allianz calculates and credits fixed interest daily, based on the rate we establish at the beginning of each contract year.
You can also choose to receive a combination of fixed and potential indexed interest.
But regardless of how you choose to receive interest, the money in your annuity – including any bonuses – is never at risk due to market index volatility.
That’s because, although external market indexes may affect your contract values, the contract does not directly participate in any stock, bond, or investments.
You are not buying any bonds, shares of stocks, or shares of an index.
Keep in mind that if you surrender your contract before your 10th contract anniversary, we will apply a withdrawal charge and a market value adjustment (MVA).
These charges may result in a loss of some or all of your previously credited fixed/indexed interest (including any bonuses) and a partial loss of principal.
CAPTURE POTENTIAL INTEREST WITH THE INDEX LOCK
Allianz Benefit Control includes a feature called the “index lock,” which lets you lock in an index value on an indexed interest allocation at any point during the crediting period.
By locking in your index value, you have assured a positive index credit, no matter what happens in the market during the remainder of the crediting period.
Index lock is available with select allocation options.
Here’s how it works:
- Once during each crediting period, you can request an index lock on your selected indexed interest allocation.
- The index value will remain locked until the end of the crediting period.
- Depending on market fluctuation, you may receive more or less indexed interest than you would have received had you not elected the index lock.
