WHAT CHARGES MAY BE SUBTRACTED FROM MY FIXED DEFERRED ANNUITY?
Most annuities have charges related to the cost of selling or servicing it. These charges may be subtracted directly from the contract value. Ask your agent or the company to describe the charges that apply to your annuity. Some examples of charges, fees, and taxes are:
Surrender or Withdrawal Charges
If you need access to your money, you may be able to take all or part of the value out of your annuity at any time during the accumulation period. If you take out part of the value, you may pay a withdrawal charge. If you take out all of the value and surrender, or terminate, the annuity, you may pay a surrender charge. In either case, the company may figure the charge as a percentage of the value of the contract, of the premiums you've paid or of the amount you're withdrawing. The company may reduce or even eliminate the surrender charge after you've had the contract for a stated number of years. A company may waive the surrender charge when it pays a death benefit.
Some annuities have stated terms. When the term is up, the contract may automatically expire or renew. You've usually given a short period of time, called a window, to decide if you want to renew or surrender the annuity. If you surrender during the window, you won't have to pay surrender charges. If you renew, the surrender or withdrawal charges may start over.
In some annuities, there is no charge if you surrender your contract when the company's current interest rate falls below a certain level. This may be called a bail-out option.
In a multiple-premium annuity, the surrender charge may apply to each premium paid for a certain period of time. This may be called a rolling surrender or withdrawal charge.
Some annuity contracts have a market value adjustment feature. If interest rates are different when you surrender your annuity than when you bought it, a market value adjustment may make the cash surrender value higher or lower. Since you and the insurance company share this risk, an annuity with an MVA feature may credit a higher rate than an annuity without that feature.
Be sure to read the Tax Treatment section and ask your tax advisor for information about possible tax penalties on withdrawals.
