Author: David Novak | Last verified against sources: November 5, 2026
Educational information for licensed agents, not legal or tax advice and not a recommendation of any product. Hypothetical examples are not real contracts and are not projections.
Short answer. A guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) income rider lets the owner withdraw a set yearly amount for life. This holds even after the account value reaches zero, as long as withdrawals stay within the allowed amount [1]. The amount is the benefit base times a payout percentage set by age and the number of covered lives [2]. Hypothetical: $312,000 base x 5.0% = $15,600 a year. The promise is only as strong as the insurer's ability to pay claims [3].
Five numbers decide the check: the benefit base at income start, the roll-up that built it, the payout percentage at the starting age, the fee and its base, and the events that break the promise. A brochure's roll-up rate touches only the base.
Formula card: the four formulas used in this guide
- Yearly check = benefit base x payout percentage [2].
- Simple roll-up: base x (1 + rate x years). Compound roll-up: base x (1 + rate)^years.
- Fee in dollars = fee rate x the base the contract names, taken out of the account value [4].
- Proportional cut after an excess withdrawal = base x excess withdrawal / account value just before it [4]; every form A to E except C takes that value after the allowed amount is paid [1] [12] [13] [14].
Key takeaways
- Which of two riders pays more can change with the start age: on single life, hypothetical contract Y pays more at 67 ($16,097 against $15,600) and contract X at 70 ($20,160 against $19,710).
- A 1.00% fee charged on a growing base, not the account value, leaves the account value $9,676 lower after ten years with nothing credited and $5,650 lower with 4% credited.
- An excess withdrawal can cut the base by more than the excess dollars [4] [1].
The example in five lines (hypothetical numbers, not real contracts, shown in full in the section "Bigger base, smaller check: the worked math"):
- Contracts P and Q use a $200,000 premium, no bonus, and single-life income at 70 after 10 years of roll-up.
- Contract P rolls up 10% simple to a $400,000 benefit base; a 4.5% payout percentage makes the yearly check $18,000.
- Contract Q rolls up 5% compound to a $325,779 benefit base; a 6.0% payout percentage makes the yearly check $19,547.
- P's benefit base is $74,221 (22.8%) higher, yet its yearly check is $1,547 (7.9%) lower.
- Because the payout percentage is a separate number, a larger benefit base does not mean a larger check.
Who this guide is for, and where the quotes come from
This guide is for you if you are an insurance-licensed agent. It also fits life, health or Medicare sellers who are adding income annuities. Its 13 terms are on a separate Rider Decoder page, and a two-page PDF holds the decoder and a worksheet.
Licenses. Selling a variable annuity takes a registration with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on top of a state insurance license: Rule 1210 requires registration for each person in a member's securities business, and Rule 1220 lists a category for variable contracts other than those exempt under Section 3(a)(8) [9]. An insurance license alone does not carry that registration [9]. This guide uses registered-product riders to show how clauses are built, not to train anyone to sell them. RILA offerings are registered on Form N-4, the form most variable annuity separate accounts use [6], so ask the issuer which registrations a seller needs.
Medicare sellers. The marketing rules of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) list "Market non-health related products, such as annuities" among the things a plan may not do in a personal marketing appointment [10] [11]. Ask the plan how to keep the two apart. The license line and the CMS rule are worked through in the guide for life, health or Medicare agents adding annuities.
Where the quotes come from
Every rider quote here comes from a form on the EDGAR filing database of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): a variable annuity, a registered index-linked annuity (RILA) [5] [6] or, for form F, a flexible premium deferred indexed annuity registered on Form S-1 in 2009 [7]. Annuity contracts issued under a state insurance commissioner's supervision are exempt from SEC registration [8]. Riders for fixed indexed annuities that are not SEC-registered could not be opened and may use different words and numbers: see "What changes in a fixed indexed rider?"
The five numbers: where each sits and what to ask
Rider forms A to F are the six SEC-filed forms used in this guide: A [1], B [12], C [2], D [13], E [14], F [7]. The Sources list gives the form type, filing date and accession number of each.
| Number | Where to find it | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Benefit base at income start | The rider specifications page (Rider Schedule, Rider Data Page and similar names) | What is in it: premium, later payments, a bonus on the base, roll-up, step-ups? Form A starts it at the purchase payment [1] |
| Roll-up | Specifications: rate, period, end date | Simple or compound? How long? What stops it? Form B credits simple interest for a set period [12]; form A pays only if no withdrawal occurred in the prior contract year [1] |
| Payout percentage | Specifications, by age band and by single or joint life | Which age sets it? In form A, the youngest covered person at the first-withdrawal date, and it can rise later but never fall [1]; in form D the joint percentage follows the younger covered person [13] |
| Fee | Specifications: rate, maximum rate, fee base | Which base does the rate apply to? The dollar fee comes out of the account value [4] |
| What breaks the promise | The excess-withdrawal and zero-value clauses; the death and termination terms | See "What can stop the check?" |
Credit on the base versus on the percentage. Form C adds an Annual Increase Percentage to the payout percentage [2]. Form E adds a deferral credit that stops at the first withdrawal [14]. A hypothetical 7% roll-up on the base and a hypothetical 0.3 points a year added to the percentage are not comparable as rates. Compare the check.
Same parts, different names. GLWB, GMWB (guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit), GLB (guaranteed living benefit) and "income rider" describe overlapping products. The Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission (IIPRC) says its defined terms need not appear in a contract [4]. The Rider Decoder lists the names the forms use. "Income rider," "income base" and "payout factor" are marketing terms, not defined in those texts.
What is a benefit base, and why is it not cash?
The benefit base is the number the payout percentage is applied to. It is not cash, not a death benefit and not the surrender value. Where it applies, the IIPRC standard asks rider forms to say in prominent print that the base cannot be withdrawn in a lump sum and is not payable as a death benefit [4].
Two scenarios. The no-credit case credits nothing to the account value: a stress case, not an expectation. The 4% case credits 4.0% at the end of each year, a hypothetical.
Hypothetical, contract X at age 67. Premium $200,000, a 1.00% fee on the base each year, no withdrawals, surrender charge period over. The $312,000 base is $200,000 with 8% simple roll-up for 7 years (the math is under "How does the start age change the check?").
| Value at age 67 | No-credit case | 4% case | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benefit base | $312,000 | $312,000 | Sizes the check: 5.0% of $312,000 is $15,600 a year |
| Account value | $181,520 | $242,533 | Pays fees and withdrawals |
| Cash surrender value | $181,520 | $242,533 | Lump sum if surrendered (no surrender charge assumed) |
| Death benefit before income | $181,520 | $242,533 | Assumed equal to the account value. Read the clause |
A bonus on the base does not offset a surrender charge. Hypothetical contract Y, day one: $200,000 premium and a 10% bonus on the benefit base only, so the base is $220,000. With a 9% first-year surrender charge of $18,000, the surrender value is $182,000. The $20,000 of bonus adds nothing to it: the surrender value is the lump sum after surrender charges and bonus forfeitures [5], and form B says the base and percentages are "not used to calculate the cash Surrender Value" [12].
What the base cannot do. It does not set taxable gain. For a non-qualified contract, an amount received before the annuity starting date is income first, to the extent cash value, determined without regard to any surrender charge, exceeds the investment in the contract [15]. The text of section 72 [15] does not contain the words "benefit base". How a rider guarantee enters the cash value is a question for the owner's tax advisor.
Disclosure. The Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (#275) of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), where a state adopted it, lists "potential charges for and features of riders or other options of the annuity" among the items a producer (the model's word for the agent) needs a reasonable basis to believe the client was told [16].
Bigger base, smaller check: the worked math
Contracts P and Q show a large base gap with a smaller check. Like contracts X and Y in the next section, they are hypothetical; the percentages were chosen to show a mechanism and are not market data.
Contracts P and Q. Premium $200,000, no bonus, income at 70 after 10 years of roll-up, single life.
| Contract P (roll-up-heavy) | Contract Q (payout-heavy) | |
|---|---|---|
| Roll-up | 10% simple, 10 years | 5% compound, 10 years |
| Benefit base at 70 | $200,000 x (1 + 0.10 x 10) = $400,000 | $200,000 x 1.05^10 = $200,000 x 1.628895 = $325,779 |
| Single-life payout percentage at 70 | 4.5% | 6.0% |
| Yearly check | $400,000 x 4.5% = $18,000 | $325,779 x 6.0% = $19,547 |
| Check as a share of premium | 9.00% | 9.77% |
P's base is $74,221 (22.8%) higher and its check is $1,547 (7.9%) lower. The check as a share of premium compares contracts without knowing how each base was built.
How does the start age change the check?
Waiting raises the check through two levers: a larger base while the roll-up runs and a higher percentage at an older age. In these hypothetical contracts the base stops growing after 10 years, so waiting past that point adds only the percentage step.
Contracts X and Y. A client is 60 with a $200,000 single premium and no withdrawals before income starts.
| Contract X | Contract Y | |
|---|---|---|
| Initial benefit base | $200,000 (premium) | $220,000 (premium plus a 10% bonus on the base only) |
| Roll-up | 8% simple, up to 10 years | 5% compound, up to 10 years |
| Single-life percentage, income at 62 / 65 / 67 / 70 / 72 | 4.0% / 4.6% / 5.0% / 5.6% / 5.9% | 4.2% / 4.8% / 5.2% / 5.5% / 5.7% |
| Joint life | Single percentage minus 0.5 point | Single percentage minus 0.3 point |
| Step-up | None | None |
The math at 67 and 70
Conventions: roll-up is added yearly until income starts: simple on the initial base, compound on the base so far. The base is rounded to the nearest dollar, multiplied by the percentage, and the check rounded likewise.
- Income at 67, single life. Contract X: base = $200,000 x (1 + 0.08 x 7) = $200,000 x 1.56 = $312,000; check = $312,000 x 5.0% = $15,600. Contract Y: base = $220,000 x 1.05^7 = $220,000 x 1.407100 = $309,562; check = $309,562 x 5.2% = $16,097.
- Income at 70, single life. Contract X: $200,000 x (1 + 0.08 x 10) = $360,000; check = $360,000 x 5.6% = $20,160. Contract Y: $220,000 x 1.05^10 = $220,000 x 1.628895 = $358,357; check = $358,357 x 5.5% = $19,710.
Hypothetical checks by start age (premium $200,000, client 60 at purchase).
| Start age | X base | X check (% of premium) | Y base | Y check (% of premium) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | $232,000 | $9,280 (4.64%) | $242,550 | $10,187 (5.09%) |
| 65 | $280,000 | $12,880 (6.44%) | $280,782 | $13,478 (6.74%) |
| 67 | $312,000 | $15,600 (7.80%) | $309,562 | $16,097 (8.05%) |
| 70 | $360,000 | $20,160 (10.08%) | $358,357 | $19,710 (9.86%) |
| 72 | $360,000 | $21,240 (10.62%) | $358,357 | $20,426 (10.21%) |
At 67, X's base is $2,438 higher and its check is $497 lower. At 70, X is higher on both, because X's percentage climbs 0.6 point between 67 and 70 and Y's climbs 0.3. On joint life at 70, Y pays more ($18,635 against $18,360). A ranking holds for one start age and one life option only. Y's $20,000 bonus keeps its base ahead through year 5; from year 6 X's base is higher, because X adds a fixed $16,000 a year.
Percentage needed to match the higher check. To equal Y's $16,097 at 67, X would need a payout percentage of 5.16% ($16,097 / $312,000) instead of 5.0%.
- Where the roll-up stops. A registered form reads: "There are no further increases to the Roll-Up Value after the Roll-Up Period End Date" [1].
- What a wait costs. Contract X pays $15,600 at 67 and $20,160 at 70, which is $4,560 more a year (29.2%). Waiting three years gives up $46,800 of checks. The larger check recovers that in 10.3 years, around age 80, ignoring interest and taxes.
- How joint life is set. The covered persons' ages set the percentage [4]. Form D bases the joint percentage on the younger person's age [13].
Taxes and required distributions at the start age
- Before age 59½. A 10% additional tax applies to the taxable part of an amount received from a non-qualified annuity contract, with exceptions that include a series of substantially equal periodic payments for life [15]; section 72(t) is the parallel rule for qualified retirement plans. The NAIC Buyer's Guide describes the same rule [17]. Whether rider withdrawals fit an exception is for the owner's tax advisor.
- Required distributions. Required withdrawals from traditional IRAs and workplace plans generally start at 73 [18], and at 75 for people who reach 74 after 2032 [19], which includes a client who is 60 today. Form C counts a required withdrawal before income starts as an excess withdrawal [2]; form A exempts one only under the four conditions its text lists [1]; form D sets the allowed amount at the greater of the required-distribution amount and percentage times base [13].
To compare two riders from their own specifications pages, type their numbers into the Start-Age Ladder below. It starts with contracts X and Y, holds no rates and, by its own code, sends nothing you type to a server.
Why does the account value fall in year one?
In the no-credit case, the account value of hypothetical contract X falls in year one from $200,000 to $197,840 with nothing withdrawn: the 1.00% fee is charged on the $216,000 benefit base, and the $2,160 comes out of the account value. By year 10, still with nothing credited, the same fee equals 2.06% of the account value it came from. The check is unchanged; what changes is the account value left for surrender, a 1035 exchange or heirs.
A rider fee is a rate times a base, and the contract names the base: account value, benefit base, remaining benefit amount or a mix [4]. The fee comes out of the account value in the IIPRC definition [4] and in each excerpted form [1] [12] [2] [13] [14] [7]. Charged on a base that grows, the same rate takes more dollars each year.
Hypothetical, contract X's base path, premium $200,000, a 1.00% fee at the end of each year, no-credit case.
| Year | Benefit base | Fee on the base (% of account value) | Fee on the account value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $216,000 | $2,160 (1.08%) | $2,000 |
| 3 | $248,000 | $2,480 (1.27%) | $1,960 |
| 5 | $280,000 | $2,800 (1.47%) | $1,921 |
| 7 | $312,000 | $3,120 (1.69%) | $1,883 |
| 10 | $360,000 | $3,600 (2.06%) | $1,827 |
Ten-year totals, no-credit case: $28,800 of fees on the base against $19,124 on the account value, a gap of $9,676 in the account value.
4% case: fees of $28,800 against $23,801; year-10 account values of $262,091 against $267,741, a gap of $5,650.
Our guide to 1035 exchange and replacement rules for agents covers what an exchange can give up when a rider is already running. For an exchange or replacement, NAIC Model #275 asks the agent to weigh the whole transaction, including a surrender charge, a new surrender period, lost living benefits and higher rider charges [16].
Fee bases differ by form: the benefit base each quarter [1], the then-current base each anniversary [12], the average daily base [2], or the higher of the account value and a return-of-premium base before income starts [13]. A client who opts out of a charge increase under form A gives up future step-ups and roll-up [1]. Compare the check even when the contract shows no separate rider fee.
What can stop the check?
Four events can reduce or end the check: an excess withdrawal, an account value that reaches zero in a way that ends the payments, a death or change that ends the rider, and an insurer that cannot pay. The first three are written in the rider [1]; the fourth is limited by state guaranty caps and exclusions [20].
What happens after an excess withdrawal? The IIPRC requires a prominent-print warning that excess withdrawals could cost more future benefit than the excess dollars [4]. Registered forms use a proportional reduction [1], a pro rata reduction with a stated formula [13], or the greater of a dollar-for-dollar and a proportional reduction [14]. A withdrawal before the first-withdrawal date is also an excess withdrawal in forms A and C [1] [2].
Hypothetical. Contract X at 67: base $312,000, allowed yearly amount $15,600, the client takes $30,000, so the excess is $14,400. In the ratio, the account value is the one left after the allowed part is paid.
| Account value | $240,000, below the base | $340,000, above the base |
|---|---|---|
| Ratio | $14,400 / $224,400 = 6.4171% | $14,400 / $324,400 = 4.4390% |
| Dollar-for-dollar | Base $297,600; check $14,880 | Base $297,600; check $14,880 |
| Proportional | Cut $312,000 x 6.4171% = $20,021; base $291,979; check $14,599 | Cut $312,000 x 4.4390% = $13,850; base $298,150; check $14,908 |
| Greater of the two cuts | Base $291,979; check $14,599 | Base $297,600; check $14,880 |
Checks are the new base x 5.0%. Four of the five forms, A to E (all but form C), measure the account value after the allowed amount is paid [1] [12] [13] [14]. Form C [2] and the IIPRC definition [4] do not say whether the allowed amount comes out first, so read the form.
What happens when the account value hits zero? In form A the cause of the zero decides the outcome: a zero reached by an excess withdrawal ends the rider, and a zero reached by a permitted withdrawal or by charges moves the contract to a settlement phase where payments continue [1]. Form C keeps paying when an income payment empties the account [2]. In form E the percentage stays fixed once withdrawals start, except in its tiered income option, where it is recalculated when the account value reaches $0 [14].
Hypothetical depletion, contract X, no-credit case. Income starts at 67 with an account value of $181,520. Each year takes the $15,600 check plus a $3,120 fee (1.00% of the frozen $312,000 base), $18,720 in all. The account value is gone in the tenth year of income, between ages 76 and 77. From then the check rests on the insurer's promise, provided the contract keeps the same percentage. Ask what percentage applies after zero.
Death and termination. Form A ends the rider on the owner's death unless a joint version continues the contract, and a terminated rider cannot be re-elected [1]. Form D continues a joint covered person's payments to a surviving spouse [13]. In form A, once the contract is in the settlement phase no death benefit is available [1]; before that, read the death benefit clause.
If the insurer fails: guaranty limits, and the rule against selling on them
If the insurer fails. Part of a contract may be covered by a state guaranty association [20]. The National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations (NOLHGA) reports a coverage level of $250,000 in present value of annuity benefits in most states, and says associations do not cover portions of contracts that the insurer does not guarantee or where the owner bears the risk [20]. As one state example, Florida's cap for deferred annuity contracts is $250,000 in net cash surrender and net cash withdrawal values per life [21]. No source opened says how an association counts a lifetime promise once the account value is gone, so do not compute a coverage figure for a client.
Do not sell on it. These limits are background for the agent's file, not a reason to buy. NAIC Model #520 Section 19, where a state adopted it, bars agents and insurers from using the existence of a state guaranty association "for the purpose of sales, solicitation or inducement to purchase" [22], and Florida has the same bar in section 631.735 while allowing the association's own written summary on request [23]. If a client asks, hand over the association's written summary, and check the rule of the client's state.
Step-ups and multipliers
A step-up resets the benefit base to a stated comparison value, usually the account value, when that value is higher; the test is usually on an anniversary [1] [12] [2] [13] [14] [7]. In form A the base becomes the greatest of the prior base, the step-up value and the roll-up value [1].
Form A has two step-up variants, and the owner elects one at issue: the highest anniversary value (the account value on the last day of the contract year, after that day's transactions) or the highest quarterly value (the highest quarterly account value within the prior contract year) [1].
The example below uses the anniversary variant. Contracts X and Y have no step-up, so it is a separate hypothetical, modeled on registered-product riders: premium $100,000, a roll-up value of 4% simple a year, a 1.00% fee on the base in force at the start of the year, a step-up tested on the account value after the fee, and a 5.0% payout percentage.
| Year (credited) | Account value before the fee, then after | Roll-up value | Base after the anniversary | Check at 5.0% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (+10.0%) | $110,000, then $109,000 | $104,000 | $109,000 (steps up) | $5,450 |
| 2 (+0.5%) | $109,545, then $108,455 | $108,000 | $109,000 (no step-up) | $5,450 |
In year 1 the account value ($109,000) beats the roll-up value ($104,000), so the base steps up and the check is $5,450, not $5,200. In year 2 the account value is $109,545 before the fee, above the $109,000 base, and $108,455 after it, below: no step-up. Whether the test uses the account value before or after the fee is a contract term. The IIPRC standard for fixed annuity riders requires the form to say how any step-up works and any limits on it [24], so ask whether the rider has a step-up. As in form A, the example keeps the roll-up value on the original $100,000: form A's roll-up base starts at the purchase payment and changes with later purchase payments and excess withdrawals, so a step-up raises the benefit base but not the roll-up base [1]. Ask whether the rider's roll-up restarts from the stepped-up base.
Multipliers. Rider form D includes a health-activated multiplier that comes with the rider and replaces the regular amount instead of adding to it. The triggers (inability to perform a stated number of activities of daily living for a stated number of days, a waiting period, a physician's notice, repeat proof each contract year) are in the Rider Decoder. The filed form shows their numbers as bracketed placeholders, and the multiplier may be elected during the settlement phase [13]. The IIPRC standard for fixed annuity riders caps a qualifying-event increase at twice the benefit amount otherwise payable [24].
What changes in a fixed indexed rider?
The state filing system (SERFF Filing Access) and two carrier specimen files for fixed indexed riders could not be opened. The closest form found is rider form F, a 2009 specimen for an indexed annuity that carries a market value adjustment and was registered on Form S-1 [7]. It is one design filed in 2009 [7], not a survey of the market. Against forms A to E it differs in these ways:
- The fee base is the account value. The rider charge is the rider fee times the contract value on each anniversary [7]. Forms A to E charge on a benefit base [1] [12] [2] [13] [14], except that form D, before income starts, charges on whichever is higher, the account value or a return-of-premium base [13]. Ask which base the rider in front of you uses.
- A growing base, then a percentage fixed by age. The income account value grows at a stated rate until the end of a stated period or the date payments begin. The percentage depends on the age at election, is locked in for life, and a step-up can raise the amount [7]. In form A the percentage is set at the first-withdrawal date and can rise later [1].
- Zero value. If the contract value reaches zero solely because of the payments, they continue for life, and excess withdrawals that take it to zero end the rider [7]. The NAIC Buyer's Guide says the same for fixed annuities [17], and the IIPRC standard requires the form to say what happens at zero [24].
Ask whether the payment is level or can rise after income starts, and whether any rise follows index credits.
Form F's other terms, from starting payments to ending the rider
- Starting and stopping. The owner may start and stop payments at any time and take them monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually [7].
- Withdrawals. Before payments begin, a withdrawal cuts the income account value pro rata; once payments begin, the payments themselves cut it dollar for dollar. After payments begin, an extra withdrawal cuts future payments by the same percentage it cut the contract value. A required distribution above the payment is not an excess withdrawal. Amounts above the 10% penalty-free withdrawal bear surrender charges and the market value adjustment [7].
- Ending the rider. It ends at the owner's death unless the surviving spouse steps in, and the owner can cancel but cannot restart [7]. The IIPRC standard lists the termination conditions a form may include [24].
The IIPRC standard for fixed annuity riders covers guaranteed living benefits built into or added by rider to deferred non-variable annuities, including index-linked annuities. It uses the same defined parts as the registered forms, sets the base at issue equal to the initial premium and lets it rise by bonus credits, step-ups, percentage increases or roll-up amounts [24]. A bonus on the base is therefore a possible design for fixed riders, though no form opened here credits one.
Income rider or income annuity?
An income annuity, immediate (SPIA) or deferred (DIA), turns a premium into payments, and in general the owner cannot withdraw from the account once payments begin [3]. A deferred rider keeps an account value and charges a fee for the promise. The check comes from the benefit base times the payout percentage; for an income annuity it comes from the payout option, usually a lifetime, the longer of two lifetimes or a set period [17]. For a non-qualified contract, rider withdrawals before the annuity starting date are income first, while amounts received as an annuity use an exclusion ratio [15]. Qualified plans and IRAs follow other rules; the owner's tax advisor can say how rider payments are treated.
How do you read the guaranteed column?
NAIC's Annuity Disclosure Model Regulation (#245) says guaranteed elements must be shown before non-guaranteed ones, an illustration may not state or imply that a non-guaranteed amount is guaranteed, and rider charges must be reflected in the illustrated values [5]. It reaches an illustration only where a state adopted it, and registered products follow SEC and FINRA rules instead [5].
- Which columns are guaranteed? Equally prominent comparisons are required for non-guaranteed annuity income rates [5]. Ask whether the carrier treats rider percentages the same way.
- Which age is income shown from? Ages in the tabular detail must be issue age plus the years the contract is assumed to be in force, and the assumed dates of premium receipt and benefit payout must be clearly identified [5]. When the start age on the page differs from the one entered, read the line that identifies the assumed dates.
- Is the fee in the illustrated values? Rider charges against the account value "shall be recognized in the illustrated values" [5]. Find the fee base itself on the rider specifications page.
- How is a hypothetical figure worded? Fixed indexed illustrations use three historical scenarios (the latest ten years, and the worst and best ten-year stretches in the last twenty) and must say values are not guaranteed, assumptions can change and results may be higher or lower [5].
- Does the income equal base times percentage? Rebuild it. If not, ask the carrier in writing which rule produced the number.
After the sale: protect the check
This routine is our own, built from the clauses above; it is not a regulatory checklist.
- Calendar the first-withdrawal date; the initial percentage depends on the age at that date [1]. Ask how the first year is counted if income starts mid-year.
- Write down the allowed amount for the first year and when it resets. Forms A and E let an unused amount lapse [1] [14]; form B carries it into the next calendar year only [12].
- Note any required distribution and how the form counts it, and how income payments sit beside the free withdrawal amount: form C counts them toward it [2], and form A applies no surrender charge to the lifetime amount [1].
- Choose the payment frequency: form C lets the owner choose monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual payments [2].
- Before any withdrawal that is not the standing payment, ask the carrier whether it triggers excess withdrawal treatment, and keep the answer. The IIPRC standard asks a fixed annuity form to state, if applicable, that when the owner asks for a withdrawal by telephone the company will say whether it triggers excess withdrawal treatment [24].
- Compare the annual report with your own math: the IIPRC standard requires it to show the benefit base and the lifetime withdrawal amount for the earliest possible start date, or an option to ask the company [24].
File-note wording: what the client will receive
The lines below are wording for your own file note. They describe the contract; they are not a closing script or carrier-approved material. Use your carrier's approved materials with clients, and check your carrier's and your own compliance rules before using any of this wording.
- Income starts at [age]: the contract pays [$check] a year for as long as [the client / either of them] lives, while its terms are met. The promise is the insurer's and depends on its ability to pay claims. (Base x percentage at that age.)
- The [$base] sizes the check. It cannot be withdrawn or left to heirs. The fee is [rate] of the [base] and comes out of the account value, about [$fee] this year. (Base, account value and cash value side by side; fee rate x fee base.)
- A withdrawal above [$allowed] in a year can cut the check by more than the extra taken. If the account value reaches zero, the contract pays [the same / a lower] percentage of the base, under the rider's terms. (The excess-withdrawal and zero-value clauses.)
These lines leave the guaranty association out on purpose (see "What can stop the check?"). For the whole file that records why a product was recommended, and where each state's rules differ, see NAIC Model #275 by state. A plain-language companion for clients is Annuities Explained: Key Income Features.
Worksheet and downloads
The two-page PDF has the Rider Decoder terms on page 1 and, on page 2, the comparison worksheet with the five guaranteed-column questions from this guide and three mistakes to avoid (ranking riders at different start ages or life options, skipping the fee base, skipping the zero-value clause). The spreadsheet takes your own inputs. To compare up to three riders side by side, see the rider calculator page [26]. Check each figure against the carrier's current materials [27].
Where Annuities Genius fits
In Annuities Genius, the Deferral Snapshot shows projected income at several deferral lengths. It lists the benefit base, the withdrawal percentage, the guaranteed annual income and the income-to-premium ratio [25]. The detailed report compares up to three riders [26]. The help center says to compare guaranteed annual income at the client's intended retirement age, and not to rely on the advertised roll-up percentage alone [27]. It also says to verify product-specific figures using current carrier-approved materials [27]. Background: the earlier post on rider calculators and income rider versus growth analyzer.
FAQ
What is a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit? A rider that lets the owner take a yearly amount for life. The amount is the benefit base times the payout percentage. It is subject to the contract's terms and to the insurer's ability to pay claims [2] [3].
Is a GMWB the same as a GLWB? Not always: the IIPRC defines a lifetime withdrawal amount and a period withdrawal amount separately, so check whether payments last for life [4].
What is the difference between the benefit base and the account value? The account value pays fees and withdrawals; the benefit base only sizes the check and cannot be taken as a lump sum or paid as a death benefit [4].
What happens when the account value reaches zero? It depends on the cause and the form: in form A an excess withdrawal ends the rider, but a permitted withdrawal or a charge moves the contract to a settlement phase with payments [1].
Is the promise covered if the insurer fails? The insurer's financial strength backs the guarantee [3]. A state guaranty association may cover part of a contract up to a state limit. In most states that limit is $250,000 of present value of annuity benefits, as of June 1, 2025 [20]. Where the state follows NAIC Model #520, agents may not use that coverage to sell or to induce a purchase [22].
Facts that expire
| Fact | Source | Next check |
|---|---|---|
| Required-distribution ages 73 and 75 | IRS required-distribution FAQs, reviewed 29 Jan 2026 [18]; the statute [19] | 2027-05-05, or on a law change |
| Guaranty limits ($250,000 in most states and in Florida) | NOLHGA, "as of June 1, 2025" [20]; Fla. Stat. 631.717 [21] | 2027-05-05, or when NOLHGA updates its table |
| Model texts #245 (Summer 2021), #275 (Spring 2020), #520 (2018) | NAIC [5] [16] [22] | 2027-05-05 |
| IIPRC standards: variable 3/12/2024 (redline), fixed annuity riders 6/29/2016 | IIPRC [4] [24] | 2027-05-05; confirm member states |
| Rider forms A to F, as filed (form F dates from 2009); CMS rule text as amended 6 Apr 2026; Annuities Genius help articles | EDGAR; eCFR [10] [11]; help center [25] [26] [27] | At each review |
All opened 2026-11-05.
Sources and how this was made
How this was made. The guide uses public text from regulators, the SEC and statutes. It also uses NOLHGA for coverage levels and three Annuities Genius help-center pages for the product lines. All were opened on 2026-11-05. Each number is tied to a cited source or labeled hypothetical, and hypothetical figures show their inputs. A script computed the hypothetical math. Other scripts, and separate AI checking agents (not people), recomputed it, and every figure matched. No Annuities Genius account data, other internal data or carrier rate table is used.
What this guide could not confirm
- No rider form for a fixed indexed annuity exempt from SEC registration was opened, so every quoted rider excerpt is from a registered-product form and contract Y's bonus design is hypothetical. The state filing system and the carrier specimen files could not be opened. Rider form F dates from 2009, and a current form for the same product may differ.
- Guaranty association texts were not opened for Texas, Ohio, Illinois, California or Pennsylvania; check the state's own text. The state-by-state best-interest sources and their limits are on the state matrix.
- The IIPRC member list was not opened. The variable annuity standard is a redline dated 3/12/2024. Only unmarked text is quoted, and adoption of its 2024 changes is not confirmed.
- None of the guaranty sources opened for this guide ([20], [21], [22]) says how a guaranty association treats lifetime income after the account value is exhausted.
- No source on the tax treatment of rider payments after the account value reaches zero, or on how an issuer values a rider guarantee for an IRA required distribution, was found among the tax sources opened for this guide ([15], [18], [19]).
- Values in square brackets in the rider forms are placeholders. No current percentage, roll-up rate or fee from a form is printed.
Sources, all opened 2026-11-05.
- Rider form A: Form 485BPOS, filed 2025-12-18, accession 0001133228-25-013602, exhibit EX-99.(D)VIII, form ICC25-GLWB-RC (edition 10-25). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1052766/000113322825013602/0001133228-25-013602-index.htm
- Rider form C: Form N-4, filed 2025-06-17, accession 0001562577-25-000211, exhibit EX-99.(D)(4), form ICC25-ILVA-GLWB-RDR-A. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1562577/000156257725000211/0001562577-25-000211-index.htm
- SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Variable Annuities (Investor.gov; the page shows no date). https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/investment-products/annuities/variable-annuities
- IIPRC standard for guaranteed living benefits on variable and index-linked variable annuities (redline dated 3/12/2024). https://www.insurancecompact.org/sites/default/files/2024-04/240425-variable-glb.pdf
- NAIC Annuity Disclosure Model Regulation (#245), Summer 2021 edition. https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/model-law-245.pdf
- SEC Release No. 33-11294, Registration for Index-Linked Annuities and Registered Market Value Adjustment Annuities; Amendments to Form N-4 (adopted July 1, 2024). https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/final/2024/33-11294.pdf
- Rider form F: Form S-1, filed 2009-06-30, accession 0001047469-09-006588, exhibit EX-4.(v), Lifetime Income Benefit Rider for a flexible premium deferred indexed annuity (specimen). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1466802/000104746909006588/0001047469-09-006588-index.htm
- 15 U.S.C. 77c, Classes of securities under this subchapter, paragraph (a)(8) (Cornell LII). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/77c
- FINRA Rule 1210 (Registration Requirements) and Rule 1220 (Registration Categories). https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/rulebooks/finra-rules/1210 and https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/rulebooks/finra-rules/1220
- 42 CFR 422.2264(c)(3)(iii)(C) (Medicare Advantage marketing: personal marketing appointments), eCFR. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/part-422/section-422.2264
- 42 CFR 423.2264(c)(3)(iii)(C) (Part D marketing: personal marketing appointments), eCFR. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/part-423/section-423.2264
- Rider form B: Form N-4/A, filed 2023-10-11, accession 0001193125-23-253979, exhibit EX-99.27(D)(1), form VARR-0139NY (11/2023), a New York form. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/914603/000119312523253979/0001193125-23-253979-index.htm
- Rider form D: Form 485BPOS, filed 2024-04-19, accession 0000906564-24-000023, exhibit EX-1.27(D)(2), form AR424A. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/906564/000090656424000023/0000906564-24-000023-index.htm
- Rider form E: Form N-4/A, filed 2024-05-06, accession 0001104659-24-057241, exhibit EX-4.(II), form SF 1055. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/9713/000110465924057241/0001104659-24-057241-index.htm
- 26 U.S.C. 72, Annuities; certain proceeds of endowment and life insurance contracts (Cornell LII). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/72
- NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (#275), Spring 2020 edition. https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/model-law-275.pdf
- NAIC, Buyer's Guide for Fixed Deferred Annuities (2022 edition, reprinted). https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/publication-anb-lp-consumer-annuities-fixed.pdf
- IRS, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs (page last reviewed 29-Jan-2026). https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plan-and-ira-required-minimum-distributions-faqs
- 26 U.S.C. 401(a)(9)(C)(v), Applicable age (Cornell LII). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/401
- NOLHGA, Product coverage FAQs, and How You're Protected (state table based on information available as of June 1, 2025). https://nolhga.com/policyholders/faqs-product-coverage/ and https://nolhga.com/policyholders/how-youre-protected/
- Florida Statutes 631.717(12), Powers and duties of the association (2026 edition, Online Sunshine). http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0600-0699/0631/Sections/0631.717.html
- NAIC Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association Model Act (#520), 1st Quarter 2018 edition. https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/model-law-520.pdf
- Florida Statutes 631.735, Prohibited advertisement of Florida Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association Act in sale of insurance (2026 edition, Online Sunshine). http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0600-0699/0631/Sections/0631.735.html
- IIPRC standard IIPRC-AB-02-I-GLB for guaranteed living benefits on non-variable annuities, adopted June 29, 2016, effective October 17, 2016. https://www.insurancecompact.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/1016_glbnv.pdf
- Annuities Genius help center, How to use the Deferral Snapshot in the Income Rider Calculator (last updated October 22, 2026). https://help.annuitiesgenius.com/article/46-how-to-use-the-deferral-snapshot-in-the-income-rider-calculator
- Annuities Genius help center, Income Rider Calculator Detailed Report: What are you looking at? (last updated January 26, 2026). https://help.annuitiesgenius.com/article/50-income-rider-calc
- Annuities Genius help center, How to Choose the Right Annuity: Accumulation, Lifetime Income or Death Benefit (last updated October 28, 2026). https://help.annuitiesgenius.com/article/139-how-to-choose-the-right-annuity-accumulation-lifetime-income-or-death-benefit
Educational information, not legal or tax advice. Rules vary by state and carrier.
See the guaranteed annual income at several deferral lengths in Annuities Genius.