Variable Dollar Annuity

Definition of "Variable dollar annuity"

Irene Poole real estate agent

Written by

Irene Pooleelite badge icon

RE/MAX Select

Annuity in which premium payments are used to purchase accumulation units, their number depending on the value of each unit. The value of a unit is determined by the value of the portfolio of stocks in which the insurance company invests the premiums. At the time of the payment of benefits to the annuitant, the accumulation units are converted to a monthly fixed number of units. The variable element is the dollar value of each unit. For example, assume that the annuitant pays a monthly premium of $100. If the accumulation unit value during one month is $50, two units are purchased. In another month, if the value of the accumulation unit is $25, four units are purchased. In a third month, the value of the unit is $10, resulting in the purchase of 10 units. This allows the market use of the investment strategy of dollar cost averaging. Accumulation units are credited to the annuitant's account, a procedure that is similar to purchasing shares in a mutual fund.
When income benefits are scheduled to begin, total accumulation units are converted to assume 100 income benefit units per month. The value of the income unit will vary according to the company's stock investments; in one month the annuitant's income might be $1000, in another month $500, in another month $1200. Changes in the investment experience by the insurance company are passed on to the annuitant, but the company absorbs fluctuations in expenses and mortality experience.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

Liability insurance coverage for claims arising from acts that occurred before the beginning of the policy period. Policies written on a claims made basis, such as malpractice liability ...

Rule for accounting for contingencies that has application for the accounting of liabilities under the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980 ...

Cost of replacing damaged or destroyed property with comparable new property, minus depreciation and obsolescence. For example, a 10-year-old living room sofa will not be replaced at ...

Since a mobile home can literally be both mobile and a house, it obviously requires its own kind of insurance. A mobile home insurance policy is sort of a hybrid between auto insurance and ...

Range of administrative and risk management services that can be purchased by an insured. Increasingly, insurance can be purchased unbundled so that policy-holders may pay for straight ...

Treaty adopted by most major countries to determine adjustment for general average in ocean marine insurance. ...

Classification at death of all pension plans, profit-sharing plans, individual retirement accounts (IRAS), annuities, and installment payments to the extent to which the deceased was ...

Coverage for less than one year in duration. ...

Describing the process of developing the ultimate losses and then adjusting them to the cost levels projected for the period of time to be forecasted. ...

Popular Insurance Questions