The American Equity Advantage Gold annuity uses common indexes such as S&P, and the 10-Year U.S. Treasury Bond. Although the value of this annuity may be affected by such external indexes, your annuity does not directly participate in stocks or equity investments. Since your funds are covered by American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company, one of the leading providers in the market, this annuity can be said to be safe and secure.
Advantage Gold Pros
- Guaranteed income – with Advantage Gold, American Equity offers guaranteed income. You can choose from various options, including the number of years through which you want to receive income.
- Income taxes – premium and interest grows tax-deferred.
- Liquidity – American Equity Advantage Gold allows withdrawal of funds at any time, subject to applicable surrender charges. However, you can make penalty-free withdrawals of up to 10 percent just provided it’s after the first Contract Anniversary. Just like with their Bonus Gold and other fixed annuity programs, American Equity offers riders to increase liquidity in the case of diagnosis with a terminal ailment, or confinement to a nursing home. Such riders are not available in all the states!
- Withdrawal penalty – if you withdraw your annuity contract before reaching the age of 59.5 years, you’ll be subjected to a 10% federal penalty.
Note: Advantage Gold fixed annuity from American Equity is a tax-deferred annuity. Nonetheless, there are many different factors that can trigger a taxable effect. It’s thus important that you consult your own personal advisor or tax professional to get accurate tax information based on your specific circumstances.
Annuity Cancellation
You can cancel and return your annuity and still get a full refund within a number of days after delivery of the contract.
5% Premium Bonus
American Equity offers a guaranteed 5% premium bonus for annuitants aged 18 – 80 years. This gives you a little jump start to a secure retirement. Even better, the bonus has no waiting periods, vesting schedules or payout requirements to keep this bonus.
Nursing Care Rider (NCR-100)
This is a rider that’s automatically included in the contract at no cost to all buyers below 75 years old. The rider allows annuitants to make a 100% penalty-free withdrawal if at all they are confined to a nursing care home for at least 90 consecutive days after the end of the 3rd contract year.
Terminal Illness Rider (TIR-100)
This is another automatic, zero cost rider that’s included in the contract for all policy buyers below the age of 75. This allows annuitants to make a 100% penalty-free withdrawal if a diagnosis for terminal illness is made in which the person is expected to die within a year.
