What is a Variable Annuity?
What is a variable annuity? It's a long-term investment designed for retirement
purposes. Your money is allocated to professionally managed investment portfolios
that you select, where it accumulates tax-deferred. When you retire, your savings
can be used to generate a stream of regular income payments that are guaranteed
for as long as you live. In addition, variable annuities provide a guaranteed death
benefit for your beneficiaries. Variable annuities offered by Prudential companies
are available at an annual cost of 0.55 basis points to 1.95 basis points for mortality
expense and administration fees, with an additional fee related to the professional
investment options. The fees will vary depending on the underlying annuity and investment
options selected. Variable annuities also offer optional benefits, such as HD Lifetime
Income, which, for an additional annual fee of 1.00% based on the greater of the
Account Value and Protected Withdrawal Value, can help you avoid the risk of outliving
your retirement income. Account value is not guaranteed, is subject to market fluctuations,
and may lose value. The Protected Withdrawal Value is separate from the account
value, and not available as a lump sum.
Investment returns and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate so
that an investor's units, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original
investment. Withdrawals or surrenders may be subject to contingent deferred sales
charges. Withdrawals and distributions of taxable amounts are subject to ordinary
income tax and, if made prior to age 59½, may be subject to an additional 10% federal
income tax penalty. Withdrawals, other than from IRAs or employer retirement plans,
are deemed to be gains out first for tax purposes. Withdrawals reduce the account
value and the living and death benefits. A financial professional can determine
if a variable annuity is suitable for his or her client. For more details, see the
product prospectus.
Withdrawals in excess of the Annual Income Amount impact the value of your client’s
benefit and can also affect the certainty of their income. An excess withdrawal
occurs when your client’s cumulative Lifetime Withdrawals exceed the Annual Income
Amount in any annuity year. If an excess withdrawal is taken, only the portion of
the Lifetime Withdrawal that exceeds the remaining Annual Income Amount will proportionally
and permanently reduce your client’s Protected Withdrawal Value and your client’s
Annual Income Amount for future years. If an excess withdrawal reduces the account
value to zero, no further amount would be payable and the contract terminates. Asset
allocation does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss.
Optional living and death benefits may not be available in every state and may not
be elected in conjunction with certain optional benefits. Optional benefits have
certain investment, holding period, liquidity, and withdrawal limitations and restrictions.
The benefit fees are in addition to fees and charges associated with the basic annuity.
Please see the prospectus for more information.
All references to income certainty and guarantees, including the benefit payment
obligations arising under the annuity contract guarantees, rider guarantees, benefits,
or annuity payout rates are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance
company. Those payments and the responsibility to make them are not the obligations
of the third party broker/dealer from which this annuity is purchased or any of
its affiliates. They are also not obligations of any affiliates of the issuing insurance
company. None of them guarantees the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance
company. All guarantees, including benefits, do not apply to the underlying investment
options. The Highest Daily Lifetime Income suite of benefits uses a predetermined
mathematical formula to help us manage your guarantee through all market cycles.
Each business day, the formula determines if any portion of your account value needs
to be transferred into or out of the ASTTM Investment Grade Bond Portfolio (the
"Bond Portfolio"). Amounts transferred by the formula depend on a number of factors
unique to your individual annuity and include:
- The difference between the account value and the Protected Withdrawal Value;
- How long you have owned the benefit;
- The amount invested in, and the performance of, the permitted subaccounts;
- The amount invested in, and the performance of, the Bond Portfolio; and
- The impact of additional purchase payments made to and withdrawals taken from the
annuity.
Therefore, at any given time, some, most, or none of the account value may be allocated
to the Bond Portfolio. Transfers to and from the Bond Portfolio do not impact any
income guarantees that have already been locked in. The Protected Withdrawal Value
is only used to calculate the guaranteed lifetime income and the benefit fee. It
is separate from the account value and is not available as a lump sum withdrawal.
The account value is not guaranteed, can fluctuate, and may lose value.
Any amounts invested in the Bond Portfolio will affect your ability to participate
in a subsequent market recovery within the permitted subaccounts. Conversely, the
account value may be higher at the beginning of the market recovery; e.g., more
of the account value may have been protected from decline and volatility than it
otherwise would have been had the benefit not been elected. Please note: We are
not providing investment advice through the formula. You may not allocate purchase
payments or transfer account value into or out of the Bond Portfolio. See the prospectus
for complete details.
All references to account value assume no investment in any available Market Value
Adjustment Options.
Fixed income investments are subject to risk, including credit and interest rate
risk. Because of these risks, a subaccount's share value may fluctuate. If interest
rates rise, bond prices usually decline. If interest rates decline, bond prices
usually increase.
An investment in an exchange-traded fund involves risks similar to those of investing
in a broadly based portfolio of equity or debt securities traded on exchange in
the relevant securities market. The investment return and principal value of ETF
investments will fluctuate over time. ETFs that offer leverage or that are designed
to perform inversely to the index or benchmark they track (or both) are highly complex
financial instruments that are typically designed to achieve their objectives on
a daily basis. Due to the effects of compounding, their performance over longer
periods of time can differ significantly from the performance (or inverse of the
performance) of the underlying index or benchmark during the same period of time.
Issued on riders: P-RID-HD(2/13), P-RID-HD(2/13)NY, P-RID-HD-LIA(2/13), P-RID-HD-HDB
(2/13)
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Prudential Financial, Inc. of the United States is not affiliated with Prudential
plc. which is headquartered in the United Kingdom.
Investors should consider the contract and the underlying portfolios' investment
objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. This and other
important information is contained in the prospectus, which can be obtained from
your financial professional. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.
Annuity contracts contain exclusions, limitations, reductions of benefits and terms
for keeping them in force. Your licensed financial professional can provide you
with complete details.
Variable annuities are issued by Pruco Life Insurance Company (in New York, by Pruco
Life Insurance Company of New Jersey), Newark, NJ and distributed by Prudential
Annuities Distributors, Inc., Shelton, CT. All are Prudential Financial companies
and each is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations.
Prudential Annuities is a business of Prudential Financial, Inc.
© 2013 Prudential Annuities, Prudential, the Prudential logo, the Rock symbol
and The Retirement Red Zone are service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc. and
its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.
0239217-00007-00 Ed. 5/2013