Each series of the contract provides for different withdrawal charge periods and percentages.

 

— If you surrender your contract, apply your cash value to a non-life contingent annuity payment option, or withdraw money from Accumulator of the contract within 7 years following your last contribution, you will be assessed a withdrawal charge of up to 7% of contributions withdrawn. For example, if you make a withdrawal in the first year, you could pay a withdrawal charge of up to $7,000 on a $100,000 investment. This loss will be greater if you have to pay taxes or tax penalties.

 

— If you surrender your contract, apply your cash value to a non-life contingent annuity payment option, or withdraw money from Accumulator Plus of the contract within 9 years following your last contribution, you will be assessed a withdrawal charge of up to 8% of contributions withdrawn. For example, if you make a withdrawal in the first year, you could pay a withdrawal charge of up to $8,000 on a $100,000 investment. This loss will be greater if you have to pay taxes or tax penalties.

 

— If you surrender your contract, apply your cash value to a non-life contingent annuity payment option, or withdraw money from Accumulator Elite of the contract within 4 years following your last contribution, you will be assessed a withdrawal charge of up to 8% of contributions withdrawn. For example, if you make a withdrawal in the first year, you could pay a withdrawal charge of up to $8,000 on a $100,000 investment. This loss will be greater if you have to pay taxes or tax penalties.

 

— No withdrawal charge.

 

For additional information about charges for surrenders and early withdrawals see “Withdrawal charge” in “Charges and expenses” in the Prospectus.

 

 

We may, at any time, exercise our rights to limit or terminate your contributions, allocations and transfers to any of the variable investment options and to limit the number of variable investment options which you may select. Such rights include, among others, removing or substituting the Portfolios, combining any two or more variable investment options and transferring account value from any variable investment option to another variable investment option.

 

Credits under Accumulator Plus contracts may be recaptured upon free look, annuitization, and death.

 

There are restrictions regarding investment options if Guaranteed benefits are elected, limits on contributions and transfers into and out of the guaranteed interest option, and restrictions or limitations with Special DCA programs. See “Allocating your contributions” in “Purchasing the Contract” and “Transferring your account value” in “Transferring your money among investment options” in the Prospectus for more information.

 

For more information see “About the Separate Account” in “More information” in the Prospectus.

 

Contributions and transfers into and out of the guaranteed interest option are limited.

 

For additional information about restrictions on the investment options, see “Transfer charge” in “Charges and expenses”, “Portfolios of the Trust” and “Guaranteed investment option” in “Purchasing the Contract” and “Transferring your money among investment options” in the Prospectus.

You should consult with a tax professional to determine the tax implications of an investment in, and payments received under, the contract. There is no additional tax benefit to you if the contract is purchased through a plan or individual retirement account (IRA). Withdrawals will be subject to ordinary income tax and may be subject to tax penalties. Generally, you are not taxed until you make a withdrawal from the contract.

 

For additional information about tax implications see “Tax information” in the Prospectus.

Some financial professionals may have a financial incentive to offer a new contract in place of the one you already own. You should only exchange your contract if you determine, after comparing the features, fees, and risks of both contracts, as well as any fees or penalties to terminate your existing contract, that it is preferable to purchase the new contract rather than continue to own your existing contract.

 

For additional information about exchanges see “Charge for third-party transfer or exchange” in “Charges and expenses” in the Prospectus.

Fee Table

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Example

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12b-1

Example

 

 

 

 

 

Example

 

 

 

 

 

Principal risks of investing in the contract

 

 

 

The risks identified below are the principal risks of investing in the contract. The contract may be subject to additional risks other than those identified and described in this Prospectus.

 

Risks associated with variable investment options

 

 

Insurance company risk

 

No company other than us has any legal responsibility to pay amounts that we owe under the contract including amounts allocated to the guaranteed interest option. The general obligations and any Guaranteed benefits under the contract are supported by our general account and are subject to our claims-paying ability. You should look solely to our financial strength for our claims-paying ability.

 

 

 

Possible adverse tax consequences

 

The tax considerations associated with the contract vary and can be complicated. The applicable tax rules can differ, depending on the type of contract, whether NQ, traditional IRA, Roth IRA or QP. The tax consequences discussed in this Prospectus are general in nature and describe only federal income tax law (not state, local, foreign or other federal tax laws). Moreover, the tax aspects that apply to a particular person’s contract may vary depending on the facts applicable to that person. Tax rules may change without notice. We cannot predict whether, when, or how these rules could change. Any change could affect contracts purchased

before the change. Congress may also consider further proposals to comprehensively reform or overhaul the United States tax and retirement systems, which if enacted, could affect the tax benefits of a contract. We cannot predict what, if any, legislation will actually be proposed or enacted. Before making contributions to your contract or taking other action related to your contract, you should consult with a tax professional to determine the tax implications of an investment in, and payments received under, the contract.

 

Withdrawals are generally subject to income tax, and may be subject to tax penalties if taken before age 59⁄.

 

Not a short-term investment

 

The contract is not a short-term investment and is not appropriate for an investor who needs ready access to cash because the contract is designed to provide for the accumulation of retirement savings and income on a long-term basis. As such, you should not use the contract as a short-term investment or savings vehicle and you should consider whether investing in the contract is consistent with the purpose for which the investment is being considered.

 

Risk of loss

 

All investments have risks to some degree and it is possible that you could lose money by investing in the contract. An investment in the contract is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

 

Optional Benefits

 

Investment options are limited if Guaranteed benefits are elected. We may limit or stop accepting contributions and transfers to the variable investment options which means that you may no longer increase your account value and the benefit bases associated with your Guaranteed benefits through contributions and transfers. Excess withdrawals may terminate or significantly reduce the value of your optional benefits.

 

Contract changes risk

 

We may, at any time, exercise our rights to limit or terminate your contributions, allocations and transfers to any of the variable investment options. We reserve the right, subject to compliance with laws that apply, to remove variable investment options from the Separate Account, to combine any two or more variable investment options, to restrict or eliminate any voting rights as to the Separate Account, to limit or terminate contributions or transfers into any of the variable investment options, and to limit the number of variable investment options you may select.

 

You should evaluate whether our ability to make the changes described above, and your ability to react to such changes, are appropriate based on your investment goals. When such changes occur, you should also evaluate whether those changes are appropriate based on your investment goals and, if not, you should evaluate your options under the contract, which may be limited and may have negative consequences associated with them, as described in this section.

 

Accumulator Plus Contracts

 

The fees and charges for Accumulator Plus contracts are higher than for Accumulator contracts and the amount of the credit may be more than offset by these higher fees and charges. Credits may be recaptured upon free look, annuitization and death. Withdrawals may limit credits for subsequent contributions.

 

Limitations on access to cash value through withdrawals

 

 

Availability by financial intermediary

 

 

Business disruption, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies risks

 

We rely heavily on technology, including interconnected computer systems and data storage networks and digital communications, to conduct our business. Because our business is highly dependent upon the effective operation of our computer systems and those of our service providers and other business partners, our business is vulnerable to disruptions from utility outages, and susceptible to operational and information security risks resulting from

information systems failure (e.g., hardware and software malfunctions), and cyberattacks. Cyber attacks may be systemic (e.g., affecting the internet, cloud services, or other infrastructure) or targeted (e.g., failures in or breach of our systems or those of third parties on whom we rely, including ransomware and malware attacks). Cybersecurity risks include, among other things, the loss, theft, misuse, corruption and destruction of data maintained online or digitally, interference with or denial of service, attacks on our websites (or the websites of third parties on whom we rely), other operational disruption and unauthorized release, use or abuse of confidential customer information. The risk of cyber attacks may be higher during periods of geopolitical turmoil. Due to the increasing sophistication of cyber attacks, a cybersecurity breach could occur and persist for an extended period of time without detection. Systems failures and cyberattacks, as well as, any other catastrophic event, including natural and manmade disasters, public health emergencies, pandemic diseases, terrorist attacks, floods or severe storms affecting us, any third-party administrator, the underlying funds, intermediaries and other affiliated or third-party service providers may adversely affect us, our business operations and your account value and interfere with our ability to process contract transactions and calculate account values. Systems failures and cyberattacks may also interfere with our processing of contract transactions, including the processing of orders from our website or with the underlying funds, impact our ability to calculate account values and unit values and/or the underlying funds to be unable to calculate share values, cause the release or possible destruction of confidential customer and/or business information, impede order processing or cause other operational issues, subject us and/or our service providers and intermediaries to regulatory fines, litigation and financial losses and/or cause reputational damage. Cybersecurity risks may also impact the issuers of securities in which the underlying funds invest, which may cause the underlying funds to lose value. The preventative actions we take to reduce the frequency and severity of cybersecurity incidents and protect our computer systems may be insufficient to prevent a cybersecurity breach from impacting our operations or your contract value. There can be no assurance that we or the underlying funds or our service providers and intermediaries will be able to avoid cybersecurity breaches affecting your contract.

 

The development and deployment of AI tools and technologies, including generative AI, and its use and anticipated use by us or by third parties on whom we rely, may increase our existing operational risks or create new operational risks that we are not currently anticipating. AI and generative AI may be misused by us or by third parties upon which we rely, and that risk is increased by the relative newness of the technology, the speed at which it is being adopted, and the uncertain and evolving policy and regulatory landscape governing its use. Such misuse could expose us to legal or regulatory risk. Because the generative AI technology is so new, many of the potential risks of generative AI are currently unknowable.

 

In addition, we are also exposed to risks related to natural and man-made disasters, including, but not limited to, the occurrence of any storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, public health crises, malicious acts, and terrorist acts or any other event, which could adversely affect our ability to conduct business. A natural or man-made disaster, including a pandemic such as COVID-19, could result in our workforce, and/or employees of service providers and/or third-party administrators, being compromised and unable or unwilling to fully perform their responsibilities, which could likewise result in interruptions in our service. This could interfere with our processing of contract transactions, including processing orders from owners and orders with the underlying funds, impact our ability to calculate contract value, or have other adverse impacts on our operations. These events may also negatively affect the our service providers and intermediaries, the underlying funds and issuers of securities in which the underlying funds invest, which may cause the funds underlying your contract to lose value. There can be no assurance that we or the underlying funds or our service providers and intermediaries will be able to avoid negative impacts associated with natural and man-made disasters.

Benefits available under the contract

 

 

 

Summary of Benefits

 

The following tables summarize important information about the benefits available under the contract.

 

 

These death benefits are available during the accumulation phase:

 

 

 

 

These living benefits are available during the accumulation phase:

 

 

 

 

These other benefits are available during the accumulation phase:

 

 

 

Guaranteed minimum death benefit and Guaranteed minimum income benefit base

 

The Guaranteed minimum death benefit base and Guaranteed minimum income benefit base (hereinafter, in this section called your “benefit base”) are used to calculate the Guaranteed minimum income benefit and the death benefits, as described in this section. The benefit base for a Guaranteed minimum income benefit and a Guaranteed minimum death benefit will be calculated as described below in this section whether these options are elected individually or in combination. Your benefit base is not an account value or a cash value. See also “Guaranteed minimum income benefit” and “Guaranteed minimum death benefit”.

 

If you add a Guaranteed minimum income benefit to your contract after issue, we will calculate each of the benefit bases described in this section using your account value on the contract date anniversary the Guaranteed minimum income benefit becomes effective under your contract (the “GMIB effective date”) rather than your initial contribution, for purposes of determining the Guaranteed minimum income benefit. See “Adding the Guaranteed minimum income benefit after issue”. When we describe withdrawals and additional contributions in this section, we mean withdrawals and additional contributions made after the GMIB effective date.

 

As discussed immediately below, when calculating your Guaranteed minimum income benefit and Guaranteed minimum death benefit, one of your benefit bases may apply: (1) the Standard death benefit is based on the Standard death benefit benefit base; (2) the Annual Ratchet to age 80 enhanced death benefit is based on the Annual Ratchet to age 80 benefit base; (3) Greater of 5% to age 80 or Annual Ratchet to age 80 for the “Greater of” GMDB I enhanced death benefit AND GMIB I — Asset Allocation are based on the 5% to age 80 benefit base and the Annual Ratchet to age 80 benefit base; or (4) Greater of 5% to age 80 or the Annual Ratchet to age 80 for the “Greater of” GMDB II enhanced death benefit AND GMIB II — Custom Selection are based on the 5% to age 80 benefit base and the Annual Ratchet to age 80 benefit base. The Guaranteed minimum death benefits under options 3 and 4 are collectively referred to as the “Greater of” enhanced death benefits.

 

 

Your benefit base is equal to:

 

 

 

Your benefit base is equal to:

 

 

 

 

The effective annual rate credited to this benefit base is:

 

 

 

Each daily is included in the benefit base for purposes of calculating the daily the next day, so the benefit base compounds daily at the effective annual rate noted above.

 

The benefit base stops rolling up on the contract date anniversary following the owner’s (or older joint owner’s, if applicable) 80th birthday. However, even after the 5% Roll-Up to age 80 benefit base stops rolling up, any associated enhanced death benefit will remain in effect, and we will continue to deduct the charge for the benefit. If the contract owner subsequently dies while the contract is still in effect, we will pay a death benefit equal to the higher of the account value and the applicable benefit base amount.

 

See Appendix “Enhanced death benefit example” for an example of the relationship between the benefit base calculated based on the 5% to age 80 and a hypothetical account value.

 

Please see “Our administrative procedures for calculating your benefit base following a transfer” for more

 

information about how we calculate your benefit base when you transfer account values between investment options with a 5% rate and investment options with a 2% roll up rate.

 

 

If you have not taken a withdrawal from your contract, your benefit base is equal to the greater of either:

 

 

or

 

 

If you have taken a withdrawal from your contract, your benefit base will be reduced from the amount described above. See “How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed minimum income benefit and Guaranteed minimum death benefit” in “Accessing your money”. The amount of any withdrawal charge is described under “Withdrawal charge” in “Charges and expenses”. Please note that withdrawal charges do not apply to Accumulator Select contracts. At any time after a withdrawal, your benefit base is equal to the greater of either:

 

 

or

 

 

Your Annual Ratchet to age 80 benefit base is no longer eligible to increase after the contract date anniversary following your 80th birthday. However, any associated enhanced death benefit will remain in effect, and we will continue to deduct the charge for the benefit. If the contract owner subsequently dies while the contract is still in effect, we will pay a death benefit equal to the higher of the account value and the applicable benefit base amount.

 

See Appendix “Enhanced death benefit example” for an example of the relationship between the benefit base calculated based on the Annual Ratchet to age 80 and a hypothetical account value.

 

 

Your benefit base is equal to the greater of the benefit base computed for the 5% to age 80 or the benefit base

computed for the Annual Ratchet to age 80, as described immediately above. For the Guaranteed minimum income benefit, the benefit base is reduced by any applicable withdrawal charge remaining when the option is exercised prior to the contract date anniversary following age 80. Please note that withdrawal charges do not apply to Accumulator Select contracts. For more information, see “Withdrawal charge” in “Charges and expenses”.

 

 

As described in this section, you will be eligible to reset your Guaranteed minimum income benefit benefit base on certain contract date anniversaries. The reset amount will equal the account value as of the contract date anniversary on which you reset your benefit base. The continues to age 80 on any reset benefit base. After the contract date anniversary following your 80th birthday, the “Greater of” GMDB and its associated charge will remain in effect but the associated Roll-up benefit base will no longer be eligible for resets.

 

If you elect GMIB I — Asset Allocation with or without the “Greater of” GMDB I enhanced death benefit, you are eligible to reset the benefit base for these guaranteed benefits to equal the account value on any contract date anniversary starting with your first contract date anniversary and ending with the contract date anniversary following your 80th birthday.

 

If you elect GMIB II — Custom Selection with or without the “Greater of” GMDB II enhanced death benefit, you are eligible to reset the benefit base for these guaranteed benefits to equal the account value on any contract date anniversary starting with your first contract date anniversary and ending with the contract date anniversary following your 80th birthday.

 

If you elect both a “Greater of” enhanced death benefit and a Guaranteed minimum income benefit, the benefit bases for both are reset simultaneously when you request a benefit base reset. You cannot elect a benefit base reset for one benefit and not the other.

 

We will notify you, generally in your annual account statement that we issue each year following your contract date anniversary, if the benefit base is eligible to be reset. If eligible, you will have 30 days from your contract date anniversary to request a reset. At any time, you may choose one of the three available reset methods: reset option, automatic annual reset program or automatic customized reset program.

 

 

 

 

If your request to reset your benefit base is received at our processing office more than 30 days after your contract

 

date anniversary, your benefit base will reset on the next contract date anniversary if you are eligible for a reset.

 

reset requests will be processed as follows:

 

 

 

Once your reset request is terminated, you must submit a new request in order to reset your benefit base.

 

If you wish to cancel your elected reset program, your request must be received by our processing office at least one business day prior to your contract date anniversary to terminate your reset program for such contract date anniversary. Cancellation requests received after this deadline will be applied the following year. A reset cannot be cancelled after it has occurred. For more information, see “How to reach us”. If you die before the contract date anniversary following age 80 and your spouse continues the contract, the benefit base will be eligible to be reset on each contract date anniversary until the contract date anniversary following the spouse’s age 80 as described above.

 

If you elect to reset your benefit bases on or after April 1, 2013, we will increase the charge for the Guaranteed minimum income benefit and the “Greater of” enhanced death benefit to the maximum charge permitted under the contract. There is no charge increase for the Annual Ratchet to age 80 enhanced death benefit. See both “Guaranteed minimum death benefit charge” and “Guaranteed minimum income benefit charge” in “Charges and expenses” for more information.

 

It is important to note that once you have reset your benefit base, a new waiting period to exercise the Guaranteed minimum income benefit will apply from the date of the reset. See “Exercise rules” under “Guaranteed minimum income benefit” and “How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed minimum income benefit and Guaranteed minimum death benefit” under “Accessing your money” for more information. Please note that in most cases, resetting your benefit base will lengthen the exercise waiting period. Also, even when there is no additional charge when you reset your benefit base, the total dollar amount charged on future contract date anniversaries may increase as a result of the reset since the charges may be applied to a higher benefit base than would have been otherwise applied. See “Charges and expenses”.

 

If you are a traditional IRA or QP contract owner, before you reset your benefit base, please consider the effect of the waiting period on your requirement to take lifetime required minimum distributions with respect to the contract. If you convert from a QP contract to an IRA, your waiting

period for the reset under the IRA contract will include any time that you were a participant under the QP contract. If you must begin taking lifetime required minimum distributions during the waiting period, you may want to consider taking the annual lifetime required minimum distribution calculated for the contract from another permissible contract or funding vehicle that you maintain. See “Lifetime required minimum distribution withdrawals” and “How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed minimum income benefit and Guaranteed minimum death benefit” in “Accessing your money.” Also, see “Required minimum distributions” under “Individual retirement arrangements (IRAs)” in “Tax information” and Appendix “Purchase considerations for QP Contracts”.

 

Death Benefits

 

Guaranteed minimum death benefit

 

Your contract provides a Standard death benefit. There is no additional charge for this benefit. If you do not elect one of the enhanced death benefits described below when your contract is issued, the death benefit is equal to your account value as of the date we receive satisfactory proof of death, any required instructions for the method of payment, information and forms necessary to effect payment, OR the Standard death benefit, whichever provides the higher amount. The Standard death benefit is equal to your total contributions, adjusted for withdrawals (and any associated withdrawal charges, if applicable under your Accumulator Series contract). The Standard death benefit is available to all owners.

 

If you elect one of the enhanced death benefits, the death benefit is equal to your account value as of the date we receive satisfactory proof of the owner’s (or older joint owner’s, if applicable) death, any required instructions for the method of payment, information and forms necessary to effect payment, or your elected enhanced death benefit on the date of the owner’s (or older joint owner’s, if applicable) death, adjusted for any subsequent withdrawals (and associated withdrawal charges, if applicable under your Accumulator Series contract), whichever provides the higher amount. Once your contract is issued, you may not change or voluntarily terminate your death benefit. However, dropping a Guaranteed minimum income benefit can cause a “Greater of” enhanced death benefit to also be dropped. Please see “Benefits available under the contract” for more information.

 

You may choose from three enhanced death benefit options:

 

 

 

 

These enhanced death benefits, together with the standard death benefit, comprise the Guaranteed minimum death benefits available under the contracts.

 

The Annual Ratchet to age 80 enhanced death benefit can be elected by itself. Each “Greater of” enhanced death benefit is available only with the corresponding Guaranteed minimum income benefit. Therefore, the “Greater of” GMDB I enhanced death benefit can only be elected if you also elect the Guaranteed minimum income benefit I — Asset Allocation. The “Greater of” GMDB II enhanced death benefit can only be elected if you also elect the Guaranteed minimum income benefit II — Custom Selection. Each enhanced death benefit has an additional charge. There is no additional charge for the Standard death benefit.

 

If you elect to drop the Guaranteed minimum income benefit before the contract date anniversary following age 80, the “Greater of” enhanced death benefit will be dropped automatically.

 

If the Guaranteed minimum income benefit is dropped without converting to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life within 30 days of the contract date anniversary following age 80, then the “Greater of” enhanced death benefit will be retained, along with the associated charges and withdrawal treatment. If a benefit has been dropped, you will receive a letter confirming that the drop has occurred. See “Dropping the Guaranteed minimum income benefit after issue” for more information.

 

If the “Greater of” enhanced death benefit is dropped, your death benefit value will be what the value of the Standard Death Benefit would have been if the Standard Death Benefit were elected at issue. If the “Greater of” enhanced death benefit is dropped on a contract anniversary, the charges will be taken, but will not be taken on future contract date anniversaries. If the “Greater of” enhanced death benefit is not dropped on a contract anniversary, then the pro rata portion of the fees will be charged before future charges become See “Charges and expenses” for more information. The Annual Ratchet to age 80 and the “Greater of” enhanced death benefits have an additional charge. There is no charge for the Standard death benefit. Although the amount of your enhanced death benefit will no longer increase after age 80, we will continue to deduct this charge as long as your enhanced death benefit is in effect. See “Guaranteed minimum death benefit charge”.

 

If you elect one of the enhanced death benefit options described above and change ownership of the contract, generally the benefit will automatically terminate, except under certain circumstances. If this occurs, any enhanced death benefit elected will be replaced automatically with the Standard death benefit. See “Transfers of ownership, collateral assignments, loans and borrowing” in “More information” for more information.

 

Subject to state availability (see Appendix “State contract availability and/or variations of certain features and benefits” for state availability of these benefits), your age at contract issue, and your contract type, you may elect one of the enhanced death benefits described above.

If your contract terminates for any reason, your Guaranteed minimum death benefit will also terminate. See “Termination of your contract” in “Determining your contract’s value” for information about the circumstances under which your contract will terminate.

 

For contracts with owners, the available death benefits are based on the annuitant’s age.

 

Each Guaranteed minimum death benefit is equal to its corresponding benefit base described in “Guaranteed minimum death benefit and Guaranteed minimum income benefit base.” Once you have made your enhanced death benefit election, you may not change it.

 

If you purchase a “Greater of” enhanced death benefit with a Guaranteed minimum income benefit, you will be eligible to reset your benefit base. See benefit base reset”.

 

For information about the effect of withdrawals on your Guaranteed minimum death benefit, please see ‘‘How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed minimum income benefit and Guaranteed minimum death benefit’’ in ‘‘Accessing your money.”

 

If you are using your Accumulator or Accumulator Elite contract to fund a charitable remainder trust, you will have to take certain distribution amounts. You should consider split-funding so that those distributions do not adversely impact your enhanced death benefit. See “Owner and annuitant requirements”.

 

See Appendix “Enhanced death benefit example” for an example of how we calculate an enhanced death benefit.

 

From time to time, we may offer you some form of payment or incentive in return for terminating or modifying certain guaranteed benefits. See “Guaranteed benefit offers” for more information.

 

If you previously accepted an offer to terminate a guaranteed benefit, you no longer have an enhanced or the standard death benefit. Please refer to the terms of your offer for information about your remaining death benefit.

 

 

Subject to state and contract availability (see Appendix “State contract availability and/or variations of certain features and benefits” for state availability of these benefits), if you are purchasing a contract under which the Earnings enhancement benefit is available, you may elect the Earnings enhancement benefit at the time you purchase your contract. The current charge for this benefit is 0.35%. The Earnings enhancement benefit provides an additional death benefit as described below. See the appropriate part of “Tax information” for the potential tax consequences of electing to purchase the Earnings enhancement benefit in an NQ or IRA contract. Once you purchase the Earnings enhancement benefit you may not voluntarily terminate this feature. If you elect the Earnings enhancement benefit at issue, and your Guaranteed minimum income benefit then converts to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life, the Earnings enhancement benefit will continue

 

in force after conversion, although it may be adversely affected by withdrawals under the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life. See “Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life (“GWBL”)”.

 

If you elect the Earnings enhancement benefit described below and change ownership of the contract, generally this benefit will automatically terminate, except under certain circumstances. See “Transfers of ownership, collateral assignments, loans and borrowing” in “More information,” for more information. This benefit will also terminate if your contract terminates for any reason. See “Termination of your contract” in “Determining your contract’s value”.

 

The additional death benefit will be 40% of:

 

the

 

 

 

 

 

For purposes of calculating your Earnings enhancement benefit, the following applies: (i) “Net contributions” are the total contributions made (or if applicable, the total amount that would otherwise have been paid as a death benefit had the spouse beneficiary or younger spouse joint owner not continued the contract plus any subsequent contributions) adjusted for each withdrawal that exceeds your Earnings enhancement benefit earnings. “Net contributions” are reduced by the amount of that excess. Earnings enhancement benefit earnings are equal to (a) minus (b) where (a) is the greater of the account value and the death benefit immediately prior to the withdrawal, and (b) is the net contributions as adjusted by any prior withdrawals (for Accumulator Plus contracts, credit amounts are not included in “net contributions”); and (ii) “Death benefit” is equal to the of the account value as of the date we receive satisfactory proof of death any applicable Guaranteed minimum death benefit as of the date of death.

 

For Accumulator Plus contracts, for purposes of calculating your Earnings enhancement benefit, if any contributions are made in the period prior to death of the owner (or older joint owner, if applicable), the account value will not include any credits applied in the period prior to death.

 

If the owner (or older joint owner, if applicable) is age 71 through 75 when we issue your contract (or if the spouse beneficiary or younger spouse joint owner is between the ages of 71 and 75 when he or she becomes the successor owner and the Earnings enhancement benefit had been elected at issue), the additional death benefit will be 25% of:

 

the

 

 

 

 

The value of the Earnings enhancement benefit is frozen on the first contract date anniversary after the owner (or older joint owner, if applicable) turns age 80, except that the benefit will be reduced for withdrawals on a pro rata basis. Reduction on a pro rata basis means that we calculate the percentage of the current account value that is being withdrawn and we reduce the benefit by that percentage. For example, if the account value is $30,000 and you withdraw $12,000, you have withdrawn 40% of your account value. If the benefit is $40,000 before the withdrawal, it would be reduced by $16,000 ($40,000 x .40) and the benefit after the withdrawal would be $24,000 ($40,000 – $16,000).

 

For an example of how the Earnings enhancement benefit is calculated, please see Appendix “Earnings enhancement benefit example”.

 

Although the value of your Earnings enhancement benefit will no longer increase after age 80, we will continue to deduct the charge for this benefit as long as it remains in effect.

 

For contracts continued under Spousal continuation, upon the death of the spouse (or older spouse, in the case of jointly owned contracts), the account value will be increased by the value of the Earnings enhancement benefit as of the date we receive due proof of death. Your spouse beneficiary or younger spouse joint owner must be 75 or younger when he or she becomes the successor owner for the Earnings enhancement benefit that had been elected at issue to continue after your death. The benefit will then be based on the age of the surviving spouse as of the date of the deceased spouse’s death for the remainder of the contract. If the surviving spouse is age 76 or older, the benefit will terminate and the charge will no longer be in effect. The spouse may also take the death benefit (increased by the Earnings enhancement benefit) in a lump sum. See “Spousal continuation” in “Benefits available under the contract” for more information.

 

The Earnings enhancement benefit must be elected when the contract is first issued: neither the owner nor the successor owner can add it after the contract has been issued. Ask your financial professional or see Appendix “State contract availability and/or variations of certain features and benefits” to see if this feature is available in your state.

 

From time to time, we may offer you some form of payment or incentive in return for terminating or modifying certain guaranteed benefits. See “Guaranteed benefit offers” for more information.

 

If you previously accepted an offer to terminate a guaranteed benefit, you no longer have an enhanced or the standard death benefit. Please refer to the terms of your offer for information about your remaining death benefit.

 

Payment of death benefit

 

Your beneficiary and payment of benefit

 

You designate your beneficiary when you apply for your contract. You may change your beneficiary at any time while you are alive and the contract is in force. The change will be effective as of the date the written request is executed, whether or not you are living on the date the change is

 

received in our processing office. We are not responsible for any beneficiary change request that we do not receive. We will send you a written confirmation when we receive your request.

 

Under jointly owned contracts, the surviving owner is considered the beneficiary, and will take the place of any other beneficiary. Under a contract with a owner that has joint annuitants, the surviving annuitant is considered the beneficiary, and will take the place of any other beneficiary. In a QP contract, the beneficiary must be the plan trust. Where an NQ contract is owned for the benefit of a minor pursuant to the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act or the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, the beneficiary must be the estate of the minor. Where an IRA contract is owned in a custodial individual retirement account, the custodian must be the beneficiary.

 

The death benefit is equal to your account value or, if greater, the applicable Guaranteed minimum death benefit. In either case, the death benefit is increased by any amount applicable under the Earnings enhancement benefit. We determine the amount of the death benefit (other than the applicable Guaranteed minimum death benefit) and any amount applicable under the Earnings enhancement benefit, as of the date we receive satisfactory proof of the owner’s (or older joint owner’s, if applicable) death, any required instructions for the method of payment, forms necessary to effect payment and any other information we may require. However, this is not the case if the sole primary beneficiary of your contract is your spouse and he or she decides to roll over the death benefit to another contract issued by us. See “Effect of the owner’s death”. For Accumulator Plus contracts, the account value used to determine the death benefit and the Earnings enhancement benefit will first be reduced by the amount of any credits applied in the period prior to the owner’s (or older joint owner’s, if applicable) death. The amount of the applicable Guaranteed minimum death benefit will be such Guaranteed minimum death benefit as of the date of the owner’s (or older joint owner’s, if applicable) death adjusted for any subsequent withdrawals. Payment of the death benefit terminates the contract.

 

If the age of any person upon whose life an optional Guaranteed minimum death benefit depends has been misstated, any benefits will be those which would have been purchased at the correct age. If the age of any person upon whose life an optional Guaranteed minimum death benefit depends has been misstated, and if an optional Guaranteed minimum death benefit rider would not have been issued based on the correct age: (i) the optional Guaranteed minimum death benefit rider will be revoked; (ii) the applicable charge for the benefit will be refunded and applied to the annuity account value of the contract, and (iii) the standard death benefit will apply.

 

 

 

 

Subject to applicable laws and regulations, you may impose restrictions on the timing and manner of the payment of the death benefit to your beneficiary. For example, your beneficiary designation may specify the form of death benefit payout (such as a life annuity), provided the payout you elect is one that we offer both at the time of designation and when the death benefit is payable. In general, the beneficiary will have no right to change the election.

 

You should be aware that (i) in accordance with current federal income tax rules, we apply a predetermined death benefit annuity payout election only if payment of the death benefit amount begins within one year following the date of death, which payment may not occur if the beneficiary has failed to provide all required information before the end of that period, (ii) we will not apply the predetermined death benefit payout election if doing so would violate any federal income tax rules or any other applicable law, and (iii) a beneficiary or a successor owner who continues the contract under one of the continuation options described below will have the right to change your annuity payout election.

 

In general, if the annuitant dies, the owner (or older joint owner, if applicable) will become the annuitant, and the death benefit is not payable. If the contract had joint annuitants, it will become a single annuitant contract.

 

 

 

 

In general, if the owner dies while the contract is in force, the contract terminates and the applicable death benefit is paid. If the contract is jointly owned, the death benefit is payable

 

upon the death of the older owner. For Joint life contracts with GWBL, the death benefit is paid to the beneficiary at the death of the second to die of the owner and successor owner. No death benefit will be payable upon or after the contract’s Annuity maturity date, which is generally the contract date anniversary following your 95th birthday.

 

There are various circumstances, however, in which the contract can be continued by a successor owner or under a Beneficiary continuation option (“BCO”). For contracts with spouses who are joint owners, the surviving spouse will automatically be able to continue the contract under the “Spousal continuation” feature or under our Beneficiary continuation option, as discussed below. For contracts with joint owners, the joint owner will be able to continue the contract as a successor owner subject to the limitations discussed below under “Non-spousal joint owner contract continuation.”

 

If you are the sole owner, your surviving spouse may have the option to:

 

 

 

 

If your surviving spouse rolls over the death benefit proceeds into a contract issued by us, the amount of the death benefit will be calculated as of the date we receive all requirements necessary to issue your spouse’s new contract. Any death proceeds will remain invested in this contract until your spouse’s new contract is issued. The amount of the death benefit will be calculated to equal the greater of the account value (as of the date your spouse’s new contract is issued) and the applicable guaranteed minimum death benefit (as of the date of your death). This means that the death benefit proceeds could vary up or down, based on investment performance, until your spouse’s new contract is issued.

 

If the surviving joint owner is not the surviving spouse, or, for single owner contracts, if the beneficiary is not the surviving spouse, federal income tax rules generally require payments of amounts under the contract to be made within five years of an owner’s death (the rule”). In certain cases, an individual beneficiary or surviving joint owner may opt to receive payments over his/her life (or over a period not in excess of his/her life expectancy) if payments commence within one year of the owner’s death. Any such election must be made in accordance with our rules at the time of death. If the beneficiary of a contract with one owner or a younger joint owner continues the contract under the rule, in general, all guaranteed benefits and their charges will end. For more information on joint owner contract continuation, see the section immediately below.

 

joint owner contract continuation

 

Upon the death of either owner, the surviving joint owner becomes the sole owner.

Any death benefit (if the older owner dies first) or cash value (if the younger owner dies first) must be fully paid to the surviving joint owner within five years. The surviving owner may instead elect to receive a life annuity, provided payments begin within one year of the deceased owner’s death. If the life annuity is elected, the contract and all benefits terminate.

 

If the older owner dies first, we will increase the account value to equal the Guaranteed minimum death benefit, if higher, and by the value of the Earnings enhancement benefit. The surviving owner can elect to (1) take a lump sum payment; (2) annuitize within one year; (3) continue the contract for up to five years; or (4) continue the contract under the Beneficiary continuation option. For Accumulator Plus contracts, if any contributions are made during the period prior to the owner’s death, the account value will first be reduced by any credits applied to any such contributions.

 

If the contract continues, the Guaranteed minimum death benefit and charge and the Guaranteed minimum income benefit and charge will then be discontinued. Withdrawal charges, if applicable under your Accumulator Series contract, will no longer apply, and no additional contributions will be permitted.

 

If the younger owner dies first, the surviving owner can elect to (1) take a lump sum payment; (2) annuitize within one year; (3) continue the contract for up to five years; or (4) continue the contract under the Beneficiary continuation option. If the contract continues, the death benefit is not payable, and the Guaranteed minimum death benefit and the Earnings enhancement benefit, if applicable, will continue without change. If the Guaranteed minimum income benefit cannot be exercised within the period required by federal tax laws, the benefit and charge will terminate as of the date we receive proof of death. Withdrawal charges, if applicable under your Accumulator Series contract, will continue to apply and no additional contributions will be permitted. If the Guaranteed minimum income benefit converts to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life, the provisions described in this paragraph will apply at the death of the younger owner, even though the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life is calculated using the age of the surviving older owner.

 

Spousal continuation

 

If you are the contract owner and your spouse is the sole primary beneficiary or you jointly own the contract with your younger spouse, or if the contract owner is a person and you and your younger spouse are joint annuitants, your spouse may elect to continue the contract as successor owner upon your death. Spousal beneficiaries (who are not also joint owners) must be 85 or younger as of the date of the deceased spouse’s death in order to continue the contract under Spousal continuation. The determination of spousal status is made under applicable state law. However, in the event of a conflict between federal and state law, we follow federal rules.

 

Upon your death, the younger spouse joint owner (for NQ contracts only) or the spouse beneficiary (under a Single owner contract) may elect to receive the death benefit, continue the contract under our Beneficiary continuation option (as discussed below in this section) or continue the contract, as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where an NQ contract is owned by a Living Trust, as defined in the contract, and at the time of the annuitant’s death the annuitant’s spouse is the sole beneficiary of the Living Trust, the Trustee, as owner of the contract, may request that the spouse be substituted as annuitant as of the date of the annuitant’s death. No further change of annuitant will be permitted.

 

Where an IRA contract is owned in a custodial individual retirement account, and your spouse is the sole beneficiary of the account, the custodian may request that the spouse be substituted as annuitant after your death.

 

For jointly owned NQ contracts, if the younger spouse dies first no death benefit is paid, and the contract continues as follows:

 

 

 

 

If you divorce, Spousal continuation does not apply.

 

Beneficiary continuation option

 

 

Where an IRA contract is owned in a custodial individual retirement account, the custodian may reinvest the death benefit in an individual retirement annuity contract, using the account beneficiary as the annuitant. Please speak with your financial professional for further information. For Joint life contracts with GWBL, the beneficiary continuation option is only available after the death of the second owner.

 

 

 

Under the beneficiary continuation option for IRA and Roth IRA contracts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Generally, payments will be made once a year to the beneficiary over the beneficiary’s life expectancy, determined on a term certain basis and in the year payments start. These payments must begin no later than one year after the date of your death and are referred to as “scheduled payments.” The beneficiary may choose the rule” instead of scheduled payments over life expectancy. If the beneficiary chooses the rule, there will be no scheduled payments. Under the rule, the beneficiary may take withdrawals as desired, but the entire account value must be fully withdrawn by the fifth anniversary of your death.

 

Under the beneficiary continuation option for NQ contracts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A surviving spouse should speak to his or her tax professional about whether Spousal continuation or the Beneficiary continuation option is appropriate for him or her. Factors to consider include but are not limited to the surviving spouse’s age, need for immediate income and a desire to continue any Guaranteed benefits under the contract.

Living benefits

 

Guaranteed minimum income benefit

 

This section describes the Guaranteed minimum income benefit (“GMIB”) if you elect it at issue. If you add the benefit to your contract after issue, certain additional requirements apply, and the way the benefit is calculated may differ from how it is calculated if you elect it at issue. See “Adding the Guaranteed minimum income benefit after issue”.

 

The Guaranteed minimum income benefit is available to owners ages 20 – 75 (ages 20 – 70 for Accumulator Plus contracts).

 

You may elect one of the following:

 

 

 

Both options include the ability to reset your Guaranteed minimum income benefit base. See benefit base reset”. Under GMIB I — Asset Allocation, you are restricted to the investment options available under Option A — Asset Allocation. Under GMIB II — Custom Selection, you can choose either Option A — Asset Allocation or Option B — Custom Selection. You should not elect GMIB II—Custom Selection and invest your account value in Option A if you plan to never switch to Option B, since GMIB I—Asset Allocation’s optional benefit charge is lower and offers Option A.

 

If you elect the Guaranteed minimum income benefit I — Asset Allocation, you may elect the Standard death benefit, Annual Ratchet to age 80 enhanced death benefit, or the “Greater of” GMDB I enhanced death benefit. You may not elect the “Greater of” GMDB II enhanced death benefit.

 

If you elect the Guaranteed minimum income benefit II — Custom Selection, you may elect the Standard death benefit, Annual Ratchet to age 80 enhanced death benefit, or the “Greater of” GMDB II enhanced death benefit. You may not elect the “Greater of” GMDB I enhanced death benefit.

 

If the contract is jointly owned, the guaranteed minimum income benefit will be calculated on the basis of the older owner’s age. There is an additional charge for the Guaranteed minimum income benefit which is described under “Guaranteed minimum income benefit charge” in “Charges and expenses”.

 

This feature is not available for an Inherited IRA. If you are using the contract to fund a charitable remainder trust (for Accumulator and Accumulator Elite contracts only), you will have to take certain distribution amounts. You should consider split-funding so that those distributions do not adversely impact your guaranteed minimum income benefit. See “Owner and annuitant requirements”. If the owner was

 

older than age 60 at the time an IRA or QP contract was issued or the Guaranteed minimum income benefit was added to the contract, the Guaranteed minimum income benefit may not be an appropriate feature because the minimum distributions required by tax law generally must begin before the Guaranteed minimum income benefit can be exercised. See “How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed minimum income benefit and Guaranteed minimum death benefit” in “Accessing your money”.

 

If you elect the Guaranteed minimum income benefit option and change ownership of the contract, this benefit will automatically terminate, except under certain circumstances. See “Transfers of ownership, collateral assignments, loans and borrowing” in “More information,” for more information. This benefit provides a minimum guarantee that may never come into effect.

 

The Guaranteed minimum income benefit guarantees you a minimum amount of fixed income under your choice of a life annuity fixed option or a life with a period certain payout option. You choose which of these payout options you want and whether you want the option to be paid on a single or joint life basis at the time you exercise your Guaranteed minimum income benefit. The maximum period certain available under the life with a period certain payout option is 10 years.

 

We may also make other forms of payout options available. For a description of payout options, see “Your annuity payout options” in “Accessing your money”.

 

 

 

 

When you exercise the Guaranteed minimum income benefit, the annual lifetime income that you will receive will be the greater of (i) your Guaranteed minimum income benefit which is calculated by applying your Guaranteed minimum income benefit base, less any applicable withdrawal charge remaining (if applicable under your Accumulator Series contract) (if exercised prior to age 80), to GMIB guaranteed annuity purchase factors, or (ii) the income provided by applying your account value to our then current annuity purchase factors or base contract guaranteed annuity purchase factors. The benefit base is applied only to the guaranteed annuity purchase factors under the Guaranteed minimum income benefit in your contract and not to any other guaranteed or current annuity purchase rates. Your account value is never applied to the guaranteed annuity purchase factors under GMIB. The amount of income you actually receive will be determined when we receive your request to exercise the benefit.

 

When you elect to receive annual lifetime income, your contract (including its death benefit and any account or cash values) will terminate and you will receive a new contract for the annuity payout option. For a discussion of when your payments will begin and end, see “Exercise of Guaranteed minimum income benefit”.

Before you elect the Guaranteed minimum income benefit, you should consider the fact that it provides a form of insurance and is based on conservative actuarial factors. Therefore, even if your account value is less than your benefit base, you may generate more income by applying your account value to current annuity purchase factors. We will make this comparison for you when the need arises.

 

 

 

 

The no lapse guarantee will terminate under the following circumstances:

 

 

 

If your no lapse guarantee is no longer in effect and your account value subsequently falls to zero, your contract will terminate without value, and you will lose the Guaranteed minimum income benefit, Guaranteed minimum death benefit (if elected) and any other guaranteed benefits.

 

Please note that if you participate in our Automatic RMD service, an automatic withdrawal under that program will not cause the no lapse guarantee to terminate even if a withdrawal causes your total contract year withdrawals to exceed 5% of your benefit base at the beginning of the contract year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You must return your contract to us, along with all required information within 30 days following your contract date anniversary, in order to exercise this benefit. Upon exercising the GMIB, any Guaranteed minimum death benefit you elected will terminate without value. Also, upon exercise of the Guaranteed minimum income benefit, the owner (or older joint owner, if applicable) will become the annuitant, and the contract will be annuitized on the basis of the annuitant’s life. You will begin receiving annual payments one year after the annuity payout contract is issued. If you choose monthly or quarterly payments, you will receive your payment one month or one quarter after the annuity payout contract is issued. Under monthly or quarterly payments, the aggregate payments you receive in a contract year will be less than what you would have received if you had elected an annual payment, as monthly and quarterly payments reflect the time value of money with regard to both interest and mortality. You may choose to take a withdrawal prior to exercising the Guaranteed minimum income benefit, which will reduce your payments. You may not partially exercise this benefit. See “Accessing your money” under “Withdrawing your account value”. Payments end with the last payment before the annuitant’s (or joint annuitant’s, if applicable) death or, if later, the end of the period certain (where the payout option chosen includes a period certain).

 

 

 

 

 

To exercise the Guaranteed minimum income benefit:

 

 

 

Please note:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See “Effect of the owner’s death” under “Benefits available under the contract” for more information.

 

If your account value is insufficient to pay applicable charges when due, your contract will terminate, which could cause you to lose your Guaranteed minimum income benefit. For more information, please see ‘‘Effect of your account value falling to zero’’ in ‘‘Determining your contract’s value” and the section entitled ‘‘Charges and expenses’’.

 

For information about the impact of withdrawals on the Guaranteed minimum income benefit and any other

guaranteed benefits you may have elected, please see ‘‘How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed minimum income benefit and Guaranteed minimum death benefit’’ in ‘‘Accessing your money.”

 

From time to time, we may offer you some form of payment or incentive in return for terminating or modifying certain guaranteed benefits. See “Guaranteed benefit offers” for more information.

 

If you previously accepted an offer to terminate a guaranteed benefit, you no longer have an enhanced or the standard death benefit. Please refer to the terms of your offer for information about your remaining death benefit.

 

 

 

You may be eligible to add the Guaranteed minimum income benefit to your contract after issue (subject to the requirements described below) so long as: (i) no more than three months have elapsed since your contract was issued, or (ii) we continue to offer the Guaranteed minimum income benefit in the form described in this section, including the maximum charge and the rate, in the state in which your contract was issued. Check with your financial professional to see whether we are still offering this version of the Guaranteed minimum income benefit in your state.

 

If you add the Guaranteed minimum income benefit after issue, it will function as described in this section, under “Guaranteed minimum income benefit”, with certain exceptions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may drop the Guaranteed minimum income benefit from your contract after issue, subject to the following restrictions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If a benefit has been dropped, you will receive a letter confirming that the benefit has been dropped. If you drop the Guaranteed minimum income benefit you will not be permitted to add the Guaranteed minimum income benefit to your contract again and you will continue to be restricted to Option A for your investment options. See “Guaranteed minimum death benefit” for more information regarding how dropping the Guaranteed minimum income benefit will affect the Guaranteed minimum death benefit.

 

Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life (“GWBL”)

 

For an additional charge, the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life (“GWBL”) guarantees that you can take withdrawals up to a maximum amount per year (your “Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount”). The current charge for this benefit is 0.90% for Conversion GMIB I and 1.10% for Conversion GMIB II. The GWBL is available only by converting from the Guaranteed minimum income benefit during the 30 days after the contract date anniversary following your 80th birthday.

 

 

 

 

 

A benefit base reset for the Guaranteed minimum income benefit does not extend the waiting period during which you can convert.

 

If you have neither exercised the Guaranteed minimum income benefit nor dropped it from your contract as of the contract date anniversary following age 80 (“last exercise date“), you will have up to 30 days after that contract date anniversary to choose what you want to do with your Guaranteed minimum income benefit. You will have three choices available to you:

 

 

 

 

You will receive a confirmation notice after the automatic conversion occurs.

 

If you exercise the Guaranteed minimum income benefit, it will function as described under “Guaranteed minimum income benefit“. If you elect to terminate the Guaranteed minimum income benefit without converting to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life, your contract will continue in force, without either benefit. If you take no action, or affirmatively convert the Guaranteed minimum income benefit, your Guaranteed minimum income benefit will be converted to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life, retroactive to the Conversion effective date. Please note that if you exercise the Guaranteed minimum income benefit prior to the Conversion effective date, you will not have the option to convert the Guaranteed minimum income benefit to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life.

 

The charge for the GWBL benefit will be deducted from your account value on each contract date anniversary. Please see “Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life charge“ for a description of the charge.

 

You should not convert the Guaranteed minimum income benefit to this benefit (or permit the benefit to convert) if:

 

 

 

 

For traditional IRAs and QP contracts, you may take your lifetime required minimum distributions (“RMDs”) without losing the value of the GWBL benefit, provided you comply with the conditions described under “Lifetime required minimum distribution withdrawals” in “Accessing your money”, including utilizing our Automatic RMD service. The Automatic RMD service is not available under defined benefit QP contracts. If you do not expect to comply with these conditions, this benefit may have limited usefulness for you and you should consider whether it is appropriate. Please consult your tax adviser.

 

From time to time, we may offer you some form of payment or incentive in return for terminating or modifying certain guaranteed benefits. See “Guaranteed benefit offers” for more information.

 

If you previously accepted an offer to terminate a guaranteed benefit, you no longer have an enhanced or the standard death benefit. Please refer to the terms of your offer for information about your remaining death benefit.

 

Converting the Guaranteed minimum income benefit to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life may alter the ownership of your contract. The options you may choose depend on the original ownership of your contract. You may only choose among the ownership options below if you affirmatively choose to convert the Guaranteed minimum income benefit to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life. If your benefit is converted automatically, your contract will be structured as a Single life contract. Your ability to add a Joint life is limited by the age and timing requirements described under “Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount”.

 

 

 

 

If the contract has a owner and joint annuitants, and the owner converts to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life with the Single life option, there will be no change to the ownership of the contract, unless the owner requests that the younger annuitant be dropped from the

 

contract. If the owner converts to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life on a Joint life basis, there will be no change to the ownership of your contract. We will use the age of the younger spouse in determining the Applicable percentage on a Joint life basis.

 

 

Upon conversion of the Guaranteed minimum income benefit to GWBL, your GWBL benefit base is equal to either your account value or the applicable Guaranteed minimum income benefit base, as described under “Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount”. It will increase or decrease, as follows:

 

 

 

 

The Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount may be withdrawn at any time during the contract year that begins on the Conversion effective date, or any subsequent contract year. You may elect one of our automated payment plans or you may take partial withdrawals. The initial Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount is calculated as of the Conversion effective date. All withdrawals reduce your account value and Guaranteed minimum death benefit. Any withdrawals taken during the 30 days after the Conversion effective date will be counted toward the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount, even if the withdrawal occurs before the Conversion transaction date.

 

We will recalculate the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount on each contract date anniversary and as of the date of any Excess withdrawal, as described under “Effect of Excess withdrawals”. The withdrawal amount is guaranteed never to decrease as long as there are no Excess withdrawals.

 

Your Guaranteed annual withdrawals are not cumulative. If you withdraw less than the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount in any contract year, you may not add the remainder to your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount in any subsequent year.

 

The withdrawal charge, if applicable under your Accumulator Series contract, is waived for withdrawals up to the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount, but all withdrawals are counted toward your free withdrawal amount. See “Withdrawal charge” in “Charges and expenses”.

 

Your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount is calculated based on whether the benefit is based on a Single Life or Joint Life as described below:

 

In calculating the relevant Applicable percentage, we consider your account value and Guaranteed minimum income benefit base on the Conversion effective date. Your initial GWBL benefit base and Applicable percentage will be determined by whichever combination of benefit base and percentage set forth in the table below results in a higher Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount.

 

 

For example, if on the Conversion effective date your GMIB I — Asset Allocation or GMIB II — Custom Selection benefit base is $115,000, and your account value is $100,000, the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount would be $6,000. This is because $115,000 (the Guaranteed minimum income benefit base) multiplied by 5.0% (the percentage in Column B) equals only $5,750, while $100,000 (the account value) multiplied by 6.0% (the percentage in Column A) equals $6,000. Under this example, your initial GWBL benefit base would be $100,000, and your Applicable percentage would be 6.0%.

 

On the other hand, if on the Conversion effective date your GMIB I —Asset Allocation or GMIB II — Custom Selection benefit base is $200,000, and your account value is $100,000, the initial Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount would be $10,000. This is because $100,000 (the account value) multiplied by 6.0% (the percentage in Column A) equals only $6,000, while $200,000 (the Guaranteed minimum income benefit base) multiplied by 5.0% (the percentage in Column B) equals $10,000. Under this example, your initial GWBL benefit base would be $200,000, and your Applicable percentage would be 5.0%.

 

The initial GWBL benefit base can be increased by an Annual Ratchet on each subsequent contract date anniversary to equal the account value on that date if it is greater than the GWBL benefit base on that date. If the GWBL benefit base increases as the result of an Annual Ratchet, we will increase the charge at the time of the Annual Ratchet to the maximum charge permitted under the contract. See “Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life charge” in “Charges and expenses”.

 

If the initial GWBL benefit base and Applicable percentage are calculated using your Guaranteed minimum income benefit base on the Conversion effective date (Column B above), and the GWBL benefit base is increased by an Annual Ratchet, then the Applicable percentage will increase from 5.0% to 6.0%.

 

However, if the initial GWBL benefit base and Applicable percentage are calculated using your account value on the Conversion effective date (Column A above), then an Annual Ratchet will not affect the Applicable percentage.

 

If the GWBL benefit base and/or the Applicable percentage increases as the result of an Annual Ratchet, the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount will also increase.

 

If you take a withdrawal during the 30 days following the Conversion effective date, and your Guaranteed minimum income benefit is converted to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life on a Single life basis, we will calculate whether that withdrawal exceeds the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount based on your GWBL benefit base and Applicable percentage. If the withdrawal exceeds the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount on a Single life basis, the conversion will still occur, but we will inform you that there is an Excess withdrawal.

 

 

For Joint life contracts, the percentages used in determining the Applicable percentage and the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount will depend on your age or the age of your spouse, whoever is younger, as set forth in the following table.

 

 

For example, if on the Conversion effective date your account value is $100,000, your GMIB I — Asset Allocation or GMIB II — Custom Selection benefit base is $150,000, and the younger spouse is age 72, the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount would be $4,000. This is because $100,000 (the account value) multiplied by 4.0% (the percentage in Column A for the younger spouse’s age band) equals $4,000, while $150,000 (the Guaranteed minimum income benefit base) multiplied by 2.5% (the percentage in Column B for the younger spouse’s age band) equals $3,750. Under this example, your initial GWBL benefit base would be $100,000, and your Applicable percentage would be 4.0%.

The initial GWBL benefit base can be increased by an Annual Ratchet on each subsequent contract date anniversary to equal the account value on that date if it is greater than the GWBL benefit base on that date. If the GWBL benefit base increases as the result of an Annual Ratchet, we will increase the charge at the time of the Annual Ratchet to the maximum charge permitted under the contract. See “Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life charge” in “Charges and expenses”.

 

If the initial GWBL benefit base and Applicable percentage are calculated using your Guaranteed minimum income benefit base on the Conversion effective date (Column B above), and the GWBL benefit base is increased by an Annual Ratchet, then the Applicable percentage will increase to the percentage listed in Column A. In addition, if the younger spouse has entered a new age band at the time of a ratchet, the Applicable percentage will increase to the percentage listed in Column A for that age band. Similarly, if the initial GWBL benefit base and Applicable percentage are calculated using your account value on the Conversion effective date (Column A above), and the GWBL benefit base is increased by an Annual Ratchet in a year that the younger spouse has entered a new age band, the Applicable percentage will increase to the percentage listed in Column A for that age band.

 

Using the example above, if the account value is $160,000 on the contract date anniversary that the younger spouse is age 77, then the GWBL benefit base would ratchet to $160,000, the applicable percentage would increase to 4.5%, and your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount would increase to $7,200.

 

You may elect Joint life at any time before you begin taking withdrawals. If the Guaranteed minimum income benefit has already converted to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life on a Single life basis, the calculation of the initial Applicable percentage and Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount will be based on the younger spouse’s age as of the Conversion effective date, not at the time you elect Joint life, even if the younger spouse is in a different age band at that time.

 

For conversion at age 80, if you take a withdrawal during the 30 days following the Conversion effective date, you can still elect Joint life. We will recalculate your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount based on the younger spouse’s age as of the conversion effective date. If the withdrawal does not exceed the recalculated Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount, we will set up the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life on a Joint life basis. If the withdrawal exceeds the recalculated Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount, we will offer you the option of either: (i) setting up the benefit on a Joint life basis and treating your withdrawal as an Excess withdrawal, or (ii) setting up the benefit on a Single life basis.

 

Under a Joint life contract, lifetime withdrawals are guaranteed for the life of both the owner and the successor owner.

 

For Joint life IRA or NQ contracts, a successor owner may only be named before the first withdrawal is taken after the 30th day following the Conversion effective date, if your spouse is at least 70 on the Conversion effective date. (Withdrawals

 

taken during the applicable period following the Conversion effective date will not bar you from selecting a Joint life contract, but may affect your ability to elect Joint life if the withdrawals are too large as described in this section.)

 

If you and the successor owner are no longer married, you may either: (i) drop the original successor owner or (ii) replace the original successor owner with your new spouse. This can only be done before the first withdrawal is taken after the 30th day following the Conversion effective date. If the successor owner is dropped before the first withdrawal is taken after the 30th day following the Conversion effective date, the Applicable percentage will be based on the owner’s life on a Single life basis. After the first withdrawal is taken after the 30th day following the Conversion effective date, the successor owner can be dropped but cannot be replaced. If the successor owner is dropped after the first withdrawal is taken after the 30th day following the Conversion effective date, the Applicable percentage will continue to be based on the Joint life calculation described in this section. The Applicable percentage will not be adjusted to a Single life percentage.

 

For Joint life contracts owned by a owner, a joint annuitant may be named. This can only be done before the first withdrawal is taken after the 30th day following the Conversion effective date. The annuitant and joint annuitant must be spouses. If the annuitant and joint annuitant are no longer married, you may either: (i) drop the joint annuitant or (ii) replace the original joint annuitant with the annuitant’s new spouse. This can only be done before the first withdrawal is taken after the 30th day following the Conversion effective date. If the joint annuitant is dropped before the first withdrawal is taken after the 30th day following the Conversion effective date, the Applicable percentage will be based on the annuitant’s life on a Single life basis. After the first withdrawal is taken after the 30th day following the Conversion effective date, the joint annuitant may be dropped but cannot be replaced. If the joint annuitant is dropped after the first withdrawal is taken after the 30th day following the Conversion effective date, the Applicable percentage will continue to be based on the Joint life calculation described in this section.

 

Joint life QP contracts are not permitted in connection with this benefit. This benefit is not available under an Inherited IRA contract. If you are using your Accumulator or Accumulator Elite contract to fund a charitable remainder trust, you will have to take certain distribution amounts. You should consider split-funding so that those distributions do not adversely impact your guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life. See “Owner and annuitant requirements”.

 

 

For any withdrawal that causes cumulative withdrawals in a contract year to exceed your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount, the entire amount of that withdrawal and each subsequent withdrawal in that contract year are considered Excess withdrawals.

An Excess withdrawal can cause a significant reduction in both your GWBL benefit base and your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount. If you make an Excess withdrawal, we will recalculate your GWBL benefit base and the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount, as follows:

 

 

 

You should not convert your Guaranteed minimum income benefit to a Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life if you plan to take withdrawals in excess of your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount as such withdrawals may significantly reduce or eliminate the value of the GWBL benefit. If your account value is less than your GWBL benefit base (due, for example, to negative market performance), an Excess withdrawal, even one that is only slightly more than your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount, can significantly reduce your GWBL benefit base and the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount.

 

For example, assume your GWBL benefit base (based on the Guaranteed minimum income benefit base) is $100,000 and your account value is $80,000 when you decide to begin taking withdrawals at age 86, on a Single life basis. Your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount is equal to $5,000 (5.0% of $100,000). You take an initial withdrawal of $8,000. You have withdrawn 10% of your account value. As your benefit base is $100,000 before the withdrawal, it would also be reduced by 10% or $10,000 (10% of $100,000) and your new benefit base would be $90,000 ($100,000 minus $10,000). In addition, your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount is reduced to $4,500 (5.0% of $90,000), instead of the original $5,000. See “How withdrawals affect your GWBL”.

 

Withdrawal charges, if applicable under your Accumulator Series contract, are applied to the amount of the withdrawal that exceeds the greater of (i) the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount or (ii) the 10% free withdrawal amount. A withdrawal charge would not be applied in the example above since the $8,000 withdrawal (equal to 10% of the contract’s account value as of the beginning of the contract year) falls within the 10% free withdrawal amount. Under the example above, additional withdrawals during the same contract year could result in a further reduction of the GWBL benefit base and the Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount, as well as an application of withdrawal charges, if applicable. See “Withdrawal charge” in “Charges and expenses”.

 

You should note that an Excess withdrawal that reduces your account value to zero terminates the contract, including all benefits, without value. See “Effect of your account value falling to zero”.

 

In general, if your contract is a traditional IRA and you participate in our Automatic RMD service, an automatic withdrawal under that program will not cause an Excess withdrawal, even if it exceeds your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount. For more information, see “Lifetime required minimum distribution withdrawals” in “Accessing your money”.

 

 

Your GWBL benefit base is recalculated on each contract date anniversary to equal the greater of: (i) the account value and (ii) the most recent GWBL benefit base. If your account value is greater, we will ratchet up your GWBL benefit base to equal your account value. For Joint life contracts, if your GWBL benefit base ratchets on any contract date anniversary after you begin taking withdrawals, your Applicable percentage may increase based on your spouse’s attained age at the time of the ratchet. For Single life contracts, if the initial GWBL benefit base and Applicable percentage are calculated using your Guaranteed minimum income benefit base on the Conversion effective date and the GWBL benefit base is increased by an Annual Ratchet, then the Applicable percentage will increase from 5.0% to 6.0%. For both Single life and Joint life contracts, your Guaranteed annual withdrawal amount will also be increased, if applicable, to equal your Applicable percentage times your new GWBL benefit base.

 

If your GWBL benefit base ratchets, we will increase the charge for the benefit to the maximum charge permitted under the contract. Once we increase the charge, it is increased for the life of the contract. We will permit you to opt out of the ratchet if the charge increases. If you choose to opt out, your charge will stay the same but your GWBL benefit base will no longer ratchet. Upon request, we will permit you to accept a GWBL benefit base ratchet with the charge increase on a subsequent contract date anniversary. For a description of the charge increase, see “Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life benefit charge”.

 

 

Subsequent contributions are not permitted after the Conversion transaction date.

 

 

While the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life is in effect, investment options will be restricted to Option A. If your account value is invested in any other investment options as of the Conversion transaction date, you will be required to reallocate your account value at the time you request that your Guaranteed minimum income benefit be converted to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life.

 

If the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life is dropped, the available investment options will revert to the investment options that were originally available under the contract, pursuant to the Guaranteed minimum income benefit that had been elected.

 

 

You will be able to reallocate your account value, subject to Option A limits at any time after the Conversion transaction date, just as you would if you had affirmatively elected to convert. Also, if you permit the automatic conversion to occur, the conversion will initially create a Single life contract with the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life, even if you and your spouse are joint owners of your NQ contract, and you both meet the age requirements set forth in this section. You will be able to change your contract to a Joint life contract at a later date, before the first withdrawal is taken after the Conversion transaction date, if you meet the requirements described under “Joint life”. In all other respects, the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life will function in exactly the same way after an automatic conversion as if you affirmatively elect to convert.

 

If the EQ Balanced Strategy Portfolio is not being offered as part of your contract as of the Conversion transaction date, we will automatically reallocate your account value to another designated variable investment option with a similar investment objective, which we will disclose to you before conversion. If no such variable investment option is being offered under your contract at the time of conversion, we will reallocate your account value to the guaranteed interest option.

 

Upon conversion, a recurring optional rebalancing program is not available; instead, you can rebalance your account value by submitting a request to rebalance your account value as of the date we receive your request. Any subsequent rebalancing transactions would require a subsequent rebalancing request.

 

 

Any dollar cost averaging program in place on the date of conversion will be terminated. Any money remaining in the account for special dollar cost averaging (for Accumulator and Accumulator Elite contracts) or the account for special money market dollar cost averaging (for Accumulator Plus and Accumulator Select contracts) on that date will be invested in the EQ Balanced Strategy Portfolio. If the EQ Balanced Strategy Portfolio is not being offered as part of your contract at the time of conversion, we will automatically reallocate such monies as described immediately above in “Automatic conversion.”

 

You may elect a new Investment simplifier or general dollar cost averaging program after conversion, but the special dollar cost averaging program (for Accumulator and Accumulator Elite contracts) or the special money market dollar cost averaging program (for Accumulator Plus and Accumulator Select contracts) will not be available after conversion. See “Dollar cost averaging” in “Allocating your contributions”.

 

 

If you elected the Earnings enhancement benefit, it will continue in force after conversion, although it may be adversely affected by withdrawals under the Guaranteed withdrawal

 

benefit for life as it will no longer be eligible to increase. We will continue to deduct the charge for these benefits as long they remain in effect. See “Charges and expenses” for more information.

 

 

The Guaranteed minimum death benefit that is in effect before the conversion of the Guaranteed minimum income benefit to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life will continue to be in effect after the conversion, but there will be no further Annual Ratchets or of the death benefit as of the contract date anniversary following age 80. However, we will continue to deduct the charge for these benefits as long they remain in effect. See “Guaranteed benefit charges” in “Charges and expenses” for more information. See also “How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed minimum income benefit and Guaranteed minimum death benefit” in “Accessing your money” and “Spousal continuation” in “Benefits available under the contract”.

 

If you convert your Guaranteed minimum income benefit to a Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life on a Joint life basis, the Guaranteed minimum death benefit that would otherwise have been payable at the death of the owner (or the older joint owner or the annuitant or older joint annuitant if the contract is owned by a owner) will be payable at the death of the second to die of the owner and successor owner (or both joint annuitants if the contract is owned by a owner). Under certain circumstances, and Annual Ratchets may resume after the death of the older spouse, depending on the age of the younger spouse. See “Spousal continuation” in “Benefits available under the contract”.

 

 

 

If your account value falls to zero due to an Excess withdrawal, we will terminate your contract and you will receive no further payments or benefits. If an Excess withdrawal results in a withdrawal that equals more than 90% of your cash value or reduces your cash value to less than $500, we will treat your request as a surrender of your contract even if your GWBL benefit base is greater than zero.

 

However, if your account value falls to zero, either due to a withdrawal or surrender that is not an Excess withdrawal or due to a deduction of charges, please note the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may drop the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life from your contract after conversion from the Guaranteed minimum income benefit, subject to the following restrictions:

 

 

 

 

 

After your request has been processed, you will receive a letter confirming that the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life has been dropped.

 

See “Investment options” for information regarding how dropping the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life would affect your investment options.

 

Guaranteed benefit offers

 

From time to time, we may offer you some form of payment or incentive in return for terminating or modifying certain guaranteed benefits. Previously, we made offers to groups of contract owners that provided for an increase in account value in return for terminating their guaranteed death or income benefits. In the future, we may make additional offers to these and other groups of contract owners.

 

When we make an offer, we may vary the offer amount, up or down, among the same group of contract owners based on certain criteria such as account value, the difference between account value and any applicable benefit base, investment allocations and the amount and type of withdrawals taken. For example, for guaranteed benefits that have benefit bases that can be reduced on either a pro rata or dollar-for-dollar basis, depending on the amount of withdrawals taken, we may consider whether you have taken any withdrawal that has caused a pro rata reduction in your benefit base, as opposed to a dollar-for-dollar reduction. Also, we may increase or decrease offer amounts from offer to offer. In other words, we may make an offer to a group of contract owners based on an offer amount, and, in the future, make another offer based on a higher or lower offer amount to the remaining contract owners in the same group.

 

If you accept an offer that requires you to terminate a guaranteed benefit, we will no longer charge you for it, and you will not be eligible for any future offers related to that type of guaranteed benefit, even if such future offer would have included a greater offer amount or different payment or incentive.

 

Guaranteed benefit lump sum payment option

 

The Guaranteed Benefit Lump Sum Payment option is currently available under the following limited circumstances.

 

 

or

 

 

We reserve the right to terminate the availability of this option at any time.

 

If your account value falls to zero, as described above, 1-2 business days thereafter we will send you a letter which will describe the options available to you, including the Guaranteed Benefit Lump Sum Payment option to make your election. In addition, the letter will include the following information:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will have no less than 30 days from the day your account value falls to zero to elect an option. If you elect the Guaranteed Benefit Lump Sum Payment option, you will receive the lump sum amount in a single payment.

 

If you elect the Guaranteed Benefit Lump Sum Payment, your contract and optional benefits will terminate, including any guaranteed minimum death benefit. If you do not make an election, we will automatically exercise your GMIB by issuing a supplementary annuity contract using the default

option described in your contract. In the case of the GWBL, we will issue you a supplementary life annuity contract and any of the applicable benefits will continue.

 

We will determine the Guaranteed Benefit Lump Sum Payment amount as of the day your account value fell to zero. The amount of a Guaranteed Benefit Lump Sum Payment will vary based on the factors described below.

 

We first determine the contract reserves attributable to your contract using standard actuarial calculations, which is a conservative measurement of present value. In general, the contract reserve is the present value of future benefit payments. In determining your contract reserve, we take into account the following factors:

 

 

 

 

 

The Guaranteed Benefit Lump Sum Payment is calculated based on a percentage of the contract reserve based on certain factors including, but not limited to, the current interest rate environment and GMIB utilization rates. We will use the percentage that is in effect at the time of your election. The percentage will range from 50% to 90% of the contract reserve. If your account value falls to zero, as described above, we will notify you then of the current percentage when we send you the letter describing the options available to you. If you have the GMIB, your payment will be reduced, as applicable, by any annual payments made since your account value fell to zero. If you have the GWBL, your payment will be reduced, as applicable, by any GWBL withdrawals made under a Customized payment plan or Maximum payment plan since your account value fell to zero. For information on how the Guaranteed Benefit Lump Sum Payment option works under certain hypothetical circumstances, please see Appendix “Hypothetical illustrations”.

 

In the event your account falls to zero, as described above, you should evaluate this payment option carefully. When you purchased your contract you made a determination that the lifetime income stream available under the GMIB or the GWBL was important to you based on your personal circumstances. When considering this payment option, you should consider whether you still need the benefits of an ongoing lifetime income stream, given your personal and financial circumstances.

 

In addition, you should consider the following factors:

 

 

 

 

In considering the factors above, and any other factors you believe are relevant, you may wish to consult with your financial professional or other advisor.

 

We believe that offering this payment option could be mutually beneficial to both us and to contract owners whose financial circumstances may have changed since they purchased the contract. If you elect the Guaranteed Benefit Lump Sum Payment option, you would immediately receive a lump sum payment rather than a stream of future payments over your lifetime. We would gain a financial benefit because we anticipate that providing a lump sum payment to you will be less costly to us than paying you periodic cash payments during your lifetime. The lump sum payment option may not be beneficial for everyone.

 

If you elect the Guaranteed Benefit Lump Sum Payment option it will be treated as a surrender of the contract and may be taxable and subject to tax penalties. For information on tax consequences, please see the section entitled “Tax information” in the Prospectus.

 

This payment option may not be available in all states. We may, in the future, suspend or terminate this payment option, or offer this payment option on more or less favorable terms upon advance notice to you.

 

Other benefits

 

Dollar cost averaging

 

We offer a variety of dollar cost averaging programs. Under Option A or Option B, you may participate in the special dollar cost averaging program (for Accumulator and Accumulator Elite contracts) or the special money market dollar cost averaging program (for Accumulator Plus and Accumulator Select contracts). Under Option A, but not Option B, you may participate in one of two Investment simplifier programs or the general dollar cost averaging program. You may only participate in one program at a time. Each program allows you to gradually allocate amounts to available investment options by periodically transferring approximately the same dollar amount to the investment options you select. Under Option A, your dollar cost averaging transfer allocations to the guaranteed interest option cannot exceed 25% of your dollar cost averaging transfer allocations. Under Option B, dollar cost averaging

transfer allocations must also meet Custom Selection guidelines. Regular allocations to the variable investment options will cause you to purchase more units if the unit value is low and fewer units if the unit value is high. Therefore, you may get a lower average cost per unit over the long term. These plans of investing, however, do not guarantee that you will earn a profit or be protected against losses. If a transfer occurs on the same day as a rebalancing, the transfer will be processed before the rebalancing transaction. We may, at any time, exercise our right to terminate transfers to any of the variable investment options and to limit the number of variable investment options which you may elect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will transfer amounts from the account for special dollar cost averaging into the investment options over an available time period that you select. We offer time periods of 3, 6 or 12 months, during which you will receive an enhanced interest rate. We may also offer other time periods. Your financial professional can provide information on the time periods and interest rates currently available in your state, or you may contact our processing office. If the special dollar cost averaging program is selected at the time of application to purchase the Accumulator Series contract, a 60 day rate lock will apply from the date of application. Any contribution(s) received during this 60 day period will be credited with the interest rate offered on the date of application for the remainder of the time period selected at application. Any contribution(s) received after the 60 day rate lock period has ended will be

 

credited with the then current interest rate for the remainder of the time period selected at application. Contribution(s) made to a special dollar cost averaging program selected after the Accumulator Series contract has been issued will be credited with the then current interest rate on the date the contribution is received by the Company for the time period initially selected by you. Once the time period you selected has expired, you may then elect to participate in the special dollar cost averaging program for an additional time period if you are still eligible to make contributions under your contract. At that time, you may also select a different allocation for transfers to the variable investment options, or, if you wish, we will continue to use the selection that you have previously made. Currently, your account value will be transferred from the account for special dollar cost averaging into the investment options on a monthly basis. We may offer this program in the future with transfers on a different basis.

 

We will transfer all amounts out of the account for special dollar cost averaging by the end of the chosen time period. The transfer date will be the same day of the month as the contract date, but not later than the 28th day of the month. For a special dollar cost averaging program selected after application, the first transfer date and each subsequent transfer date for the time period selected will be one month from the date the first contribution is made into the special dollar cost averaging program, but not later than the 28th day of the month.

 

The only transfers that will be made from the account for special dollar cost averaging are your regularly scheduled transfers to the investment options. If you request to transfer or withdraw any other amounts from the account for special dollar averaging, we will transfer all of the value that you have remaining in the account for special dollar cost averaging to the investment options according to the allocation percentages for special dollar cost averaging we have on file for you. You may ask us to cancel your participation at any time.

 

If the Guaranteed minimum income benefit converts to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life, the special dollar cost averaging program is not available.

 

Option A or Option B, your initial allocation to the program must be at least $2,000 and you may allocate a subsequent contribution to an existing program as long as the contribution to the program is at least $250. Contributions into the program must be new contributions. In other words, you may not make transfers from amounts allocated in other investment options to initiate the program.

 

You may elect to participate in a 3, 6 or program. Each month, we will transfer your account value in the account for special money market dollar cost averaging into the other investment options you select. Once the time period you selected has expired, you may then elect to participate in the special money market dollar cost averaging program for an additional time period if you are still eligible to make contributions under your contract.

 

Currently, the monthly transfer date from the account for special money market dollar cost averaging option will be the same as your contract date, but not later than the 28th day of the month. For a program selected after application, the first transfer date and each subsequent transfer date will be one month from the date the first contribution is made into the program, but not later than the 28th day of the month. All amounts will be transferred out by the end of the time period in effect.

 

The only amounts that should be transferred from the account for special money market dollar cost averaging option are your regularly scheduled transfers to the investment options. If you request to transfer or withdraw any other amounts from the account for special money market dollar cost averaging, we will transfer all of the value you have remaining in the account to the investments according to the allocation percentages we have on file for you. You may cancel your participation in the program at any time by notifying us in writing.

 

If the Guaranteed minimum income benefit converts to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life, the special money market dollar cost averaging program is not available.

 

 

If, on any transfer date, your value in the EQ/Money Market option is equal to or less than the amount you have elected to have transferred, the entire amount will be transferred.

 

The general dollar cost averaging program will then end. You may change the transfer amount once each contract year or cancel this program at any time.

 

 

 

In order to elect the fixed-dollar option, you must have a minimum of $5,000 in the guaranteed interest option on the date we receive your election form at our processing office. The transfer date will be the same calendar day of the month as the contract date but not later than the 28th day of the month. The minimum transfer amount is $50. Unlike the account for special dollar cost averaging (available in Accumulator and Accumulator Elite contracts only), this option does not offer enhanced rates. Also, this option is subject to the guaranteed interest option transfer limitations described under “Transferring your account value” in “Transferring your money among investment options”. While the program is running, any transfer that exceeds those limitations will cause the program to end for that contract year. You will be notified. You must send in a request form to resume the program in the next or subsequent contract years.

 

If, on any transfer date, your value in the guaranteed interest option is equal to or less than the amount you have elected to have transferred, the entire amount will be transferred, and the program will end. You may change the transfer amount once each contract year or cancel this program at any time.

 

option, the first monthly transfer will occur on the last business day of the month following the month that we receive your election form at our processing office.

 

 

You may only participate in one dollar cost averaging program at a time. See “Transferring your money among investment options”. If a dollar cost averaging transfer occurs on the same day as a rebalancing, the transfer will be processed before the rebalancing. If your Guaranteed minimum income benefit converts to the Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life, that will terminate any dollar cost averaging program you have in place at the time, and may limit your ability to elect a new dollar cost averaging program after conversion. See “Guaranteed withdrawal benefit for life (“GWBL”)”. Also, for information on how the dollar cost averaging program you select may affect certain guaranteed benefits see “Guaranteed minimum death benefit and Guaranteed minimum income benefit base”.

 

We do not deduct a transfer charge for any transfer made in connection with our dollar cost averaging and Investment Simplifier programs. Not all dollar cost averaging programs are available in all states. See Appendix “State contract availability and/or variations of certain features and benefits” for more information on state availability.

 

Rebalancing your account value

 

If you elect Option A for your investment options, a recurring optional rebalancing program is not available, instead you can rebalance your account value by submitting a request to rebalance your account value as of the date we receive your request. Any subsequent rebalancing transactions would require a subsequent rebalancing request. If you elect Option B, we require an automatic quarterly rebalancing program. For more information about Options A and B and the rebalancing program under Option B, see “Allocating your contributions”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix: Investment options available under the contract

 

 

 

Variable investment options

 

The following is a list of Portfolio Companies available under the contract. More information about the Portfolio Companies is available in the prospectuses for the Portfolio Companies, which may be amended from time to time and can be found online at www.equitable.com/ICSR#EQH146638. You can request this information at no cost by calling 1-877-522-5035 or by sending an email request to Equitable Funds@dfinsolutions.com. If you elect certain Guaranteed benefits, you may only invest in the Portfolios listed in the designated table(s) below.

 

The current expenses and performance information below reflects fee and expenses of the Portfolios, but do not reflect the other fees and expenses that your Contract may charge. Expenses would be higher and performance would be lower if these other charges were included. Each Portfolio’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of future performance.