The National Association for Variable Annuities said Tuesday that variable annuity investor beneficiaries received death benefits of $2.8 billion more than the value of the annuities from 2001 to 2003 when the market value of the underlying investments was generally in decline.
Processing Content
The basic death benefit insures that an investor's beneficiaries receive the greater of either the purchase payment or the market value of the annuity at the time of death. Most variable annuities today, however, offer enhanced death benefit guarantees that let investors periodically lock in market gains, thus insuring against future market declines.
