John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 19, 2024

Registration No. 333-164145
811-02143

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-4

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 16

and/or

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940
AMENDMENT NO. 77

John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W

(formerly, John Hancock Variable Annuity Account U)

(Exact name of Registrant)

John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.)

(formerly, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.))

(Name of Depositor)

38500 Woodward Avenue

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48304

(Address of Depositor’s Principal Executive Offices)

(617) 663-3000

(Depositor’s Telephone Number Including Area Code)

Sophia Pattas, Esquire

John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.)

197 Clarendon Street

Boston, MA 02116

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

Approximate Date of Proposed Public Offering:

Title of Securities Being Registered: Variable Annuity Insurance Contracts

Approximate Date of Proposed Public Offering: As soon as practicable after effectiveness of this amendment.

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):

[ ] immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)

[X] on April 29, 2024, pursuant to paragraph (b)

[ ] 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)

[ ] on _____ pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of rule 485 under the Securities Act.

If appropriate, check the following box:

[ ] this post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.

Independence Preferred Variable Annuity
Independence 2000 Variable Annuity
Independence Variable Annuity

Previously Issued Contracts

April 29, 2024

This Prospectus describes interests in the flexible Purchase Payment deferred combination fixed and variable individual and group annuity Contracts listed below that were previously issued by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (“JHLICO”) or John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company (“JHVLICO”) and subsequently assumed by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) (“John Hancock USA”). These Contracts are no longer offered for sale; however, you may make Additional Purchase Payments as permitted under your Contract. In this Prospectus, “we,” “us,” “our,” or “the Company” refers to John Hancock USA. You, the Contract Owner, should refer to the first page of your Contract to determine which Contract you purchased.

This Prospectus describes the variable portion of the Contracts to which you may allocate Additional Purchase Payments, to the extent permitted by your Contract. If you do, your Contract Value (other than amounts allocated to a Fixed Investment Option) and Variable Annuity payments will vary according to the investment performance of the applicable Subaccounts of one of the following Separate Accounts, depending on which Contract you purchased:

John Hancock Life
Insurance Company (U.S.A.)
Separate Account W

Independence
(originally issued by JHLICO)

John Hancock Life
Insurance Company (U.S.A.)
Separate Account R

Independence 2000
(originally issued by JHVLICO)

Independence Preferred
(originally issued by JHVLICO)

John Hancock Life
Insurance Company (U.S.A.)
Separate Account X

Independence 2000
(originally issued by JHLICO)

Independence Preferred
(originally issued by JHLICO)

We refer to John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account R, and John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account X singly as a “Separate Account” and collectively as the “Separate Accounts.” Each Subaccount invests in a Portfolio of John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust that corresponds to a Variable Investment Option that we make available on the date of this Prospectus. Certain Variable Investment Options may not be available under a Contract.

Contracts are not deposits or obligations of, or insured, guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency. Please read this Prospectus carefully and keep it for future reference. It contains information about the Separate Accounts and Variable Investment Options that you should know before investing. The Contracts have not been approved or disapproved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Neither the SEC nor any state has determined whether this Prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. Additional information about certain investment products, including variable annuities, has been prepared by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s staff and is available at Investor.gov.

0524:INDPRO

Independence Suite 2023

I. Glossary

The following terms as used in this Prospectus have the indicated meanings. We also define other terms in specific sections of this Prospectus.

1940 Act: The Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

Accumulation Period: The period between the issue date of the Contract and its Maturity Date.

Additional Purchase Payment: Any Purchase Payment made after the initial Purchase Payment.

Annuitant: Any natural person or persons to whom annuity payments are made and whose life is used to determine the duration of annuity payments involving life contingencies. If the Contract Owner names more than one person as an Annuitant, the second person named is referred to as “co-Annuitant.” The Annuitant and co-Annuitant are referred to collectively as “Annuitant.” The Annuitant is as designated on the Contract specification page or in the application.

Annuities Service Center: The mailing address of our service office is listed on the back cover of this Prospectus. You can send overnight mail to 372 University Ave – Suite 55445, Westwood, MA 02090.

Annuity Option: The method selected by the Contract Owner (or as specified in the Contract if no selection is made) for annuity payments made by us.

Annuity Period: The period when we make annuity payments to you following the Maturity Date.

Annuity Unit: A unit of measure that is used after the election of an Annuity Option to calculate Variable Annuity payments.

Beneficiary: The person, persons or entity entitled to the death benefit under the Contract upon the death of a Contract Owner. The Beneficiary is as specified in the application, unless changed.

Business Day: Any day on which the New York Stock Exchange is open for business. The end of a Business Day is the close of daytime trading of the New York Stock Exchange, which generally is 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Code: The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

Company: John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.).

Contract: The Variable Annuity contract described by this Prospectus.

Contract Anniversary: The day in each calendar year after the Contract Date that is the same month and day as the Contract Date.

Contract Date: The date of issue of the Contract.

Contract Value: The total of the Investment Account values attributable to the Contract.

Contract Year: A period of twelve consecutive months beginning on the date as of which the Contract was issued, or any anniversary of that date.

Fixed Annuity: An Annuity Option with payments for a set dollar amount that we guarantee.

Fixed Investment Option: An Investment Option in which a Company guarantees the principal value and the rate of interest credited to the Investment Account for the term of any guarantee period.

General Account: All of the Company’s assets other than assets in its Separate Accounts or any other separate accounts that it may maintain.

Good Order: The standard that we apply when we determine whether an instruction is satisfactory. An instruction will be considered in Good Order if it is received at our Annuities Service Center: (a) in a manner that is satisfactory to us such that it is sufficiently complete and clear that we do not need to exercise any discretion to follow such instruction and it complies with all relevant laws and regulations and Company requirements; (b) on specific forms, or by other means we then permit (such as via telephone or electronic submission); and/or (c) with any signatures and dates we may require. We will notify you if an instruction is not in Good Order.

Investment Account: An account we established for you which represents your interests in an Investment Option during the Accumulation Period.

Investment Options: The investment choices available to Contract Owners. We refer to the Variable Investment Options and the Fixed Investment Option together as Investment Options.

JHLICO: John Hancock Life Insurance Company.

JHVLICO: John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company.

John Hancock USA: John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.).

Maturity Date: The date on which we begin to make annuity payments to the Annuitant. The Maturity Date is the date specified on the Contract specifications page, unless changed with our consent.

Nonqualified Contract: A Contract which was not issued under a Qualified Plan.

Owner or Contract Owner (“you”): The person, persons, co-Owners or entity entitled to all of the ownership rights under the Contract. The Owner has the legal right to make all changes in contractual designations where specifically permitted by the Contract. The Owner is as specified in the application, unless changed. We may refer to the Owner in this Prospectus as “you.”

Portfolio: A series of a registered open-end management investment company which corresponds to a Variable Investment Option.

Prospectus: This prospectus that describes interests in a Contract.

Purchase Payment: An amount you pay to us for the benefits provided by a Contract.

Qualified Contract: A Contract issued under a Qualified Plan.

Qualified Plan: A retirement plan that receives favorable tax treatment under section 401, 403, 408 (IRAs), 408A (Roth IRAs) or 457 of the Code.

Separate Account: John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account R, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W, or John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account X, as applicable. Each Separate Account is a segregated asset account of a Company that is not commingled with the general assets and obligations of the Company.

Spouse: Any person recognized as a “spouse” in the state where the couple was legally married. The term does not include a party to a registered domestic partnership, civil union, or other similar formal relationship recognized under state law that is not denominated as a marriage under that state’s law.

Subaccount: A separate division of the applicable Separate Account.

Surrender Value: The total value of a Contract, minus the annual Contract fee and any applicable premium tax and any withdrawal charges (if applicable). We will determine the amount surrendered or withdrawn as of the date we receive your request in proper form at the Annuities Service Center.

Unpaid Loan: The unpaid amount (including any accrued interest) of loans a Qualified Contract Owner may have taken from us, using certain Contract Value as collateral.

Variable Annuity: An Annuity Option with payments which: (1) are not predetermined or guaranteed as to dollar amount; and (2) vary in relation to the investment experience of one or more specified Subaccounts.

Variable Investment Option: An Investment Option corresponding to a Subaccount of a Separate Account that invests in shares of a specific Portfolio.

Withdrawal Amount: The total amount taken from your Contract Value, including any applicable withdrawal charge, tax and proportional share of administrative fee, to process a withdrawal.

II. Key Information

Important Information You Should Consider About the Contract

FEES AND EXPENSES
Charges for Early Withdrawals (or surrender charges, if applicable)	There are withdrawal charges that you pay at the time you withdraw Contract Values or surrender the Contract on a first-in, first-out basis, measured from the date of each Purchase Payment. The maximum withdrawal charge is: •8% of the Purchase Payment in the first, second and third years, reducing to 7% in the fourth and fifth years, 6% in the sixth and seventh years, and 0% thereafter (for Independence and Independence Preferred Contracts); or •7% of the Purchase Payment in the first year, reducing to 1% in the seventh year and 0% thereafter (for Independence 2000 Contracts). For example, assuming a $100,000 investment, the highest possible surrender charge would be $8,000 (for Independence and Independence Preferred Contracts) and $7,000 (for Independence 2000 Contracts). For more information on charges for early withdrawals, please refer to “IV. Fee Tables – Transaction Expenses.”
Transaction Charges	In addition to surrender charges (if applicable), you may also be charged for the following transactions: State premium taxes, which currently range from 0.04% to 4.00% of each Purchase Payment (see “IV. Basic Information - What fees and charges are deducted from my Contract”) may also apply to your Contract. We reserve the right to impose a charge in the future for transfers in excess of 12 per year. The amount of this fee will not exceed the lesser of $25 or 2% of the amount transferred. For more information on transaction charges and transfer fees, please refer to “IV. Fee Tables –Transaction Expenses” and “VI. Basic Information.”
Ongoing Fees and Expenses (annual charges)	The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay each year, depending on the options you choose. Please refer to your Contract specifications page for information about the specific fees you will pay each year based on the options you have elected.
	Annual Fee	Minimum	Maximum
	Base Contract1	1.40%	1.50%
	Investment Options (Portfolio Company fees and expenses)2	0.25%	1.08%
	1Charge based on average daily assets allocated to the Subaccounts.
	2 Charge based as a percentage of the Portfolio’s average net assets.
	Because your Contract is customizable, the choices you make affect how much you will pay. To help you understand the cost of owning your Contract, the following table shows the lowest and highest cost you could pay each year, based on current charges. This estimate assumes that you do not take withdrawals from the Contract, which could add charges for early withdrawals or surrender charges that substantially increase costs.

	Lowest Annual Cost $1,488.15	Highest Annual Cost $2,224.78
	Assumes: •Investment of $100,000 •5% annual appreciation •Least expensive combination of Contract Classes and Portfolio Company fees and expenses •No optional benefits •No sales charges •No additional purchase payments, transfers or withdrawals	Assumes: •Investment of $100,000 •5% annual appreciation •Most expensive combination of Contract Classes and Portfolio Company fees and expenses •No optional benefits •No sales charges •No additional purchase payments, transfers or withdrawals
	For more information on ongoing fees and expenses, please refer to “IV. Fee Tables – Periodic Fees and Expenses Other Than Portfolio Expenses.”
RISKS
Risk of Loss	You can lose money by investing in this Contract. You bear the investment risk of any Portfolio you choose as a Variable Investment Option for your Contract. For more information on risk of loss, please refer to “V. Principal Risks of Investing in the Contract.”
Not a Short-Term Investment	This Contract is not a short-term investment and is not appropriate for an investor who needs ready access to cash. The Contract is unsuitable as a short-term savings vehicle because of the substantial Contract-level charges, including the surrender charge, as well as potential adverse tax consequences from such short-term use. For more information on the short-term investment risks, please refer to “V. Principal Risks of Investing in the Contract.”
Risks Associated with Investment Options	An investment in this Contract is subject to the risk of poor performance and can vary depending on the performance of the Investment Options available under the Contract (e.g., Portfolio Companies). Each such option (including any fixed account investment option) will have its own unique risks, and you should review these Investment Options before making an investment decision. For more information on the risks associated with Investment Options, please refer to “V. Principal Risks of Investing in the Contract.”
Insurance Company Risks	Your investment in the Contract is subject to risks related to John Hancock USA or John Hancock New York, including that the obligations (including under the fixed account investment option), guarantees, or benefits are subject to the claims-paying ability of John Hancock USA or John Hancock New York. Information about John Hancock USA and John Hancock New York, including their financial strength ratings, are available upon request from your John Hancock representative. Our current financial strength ratings can also be obtained by contacting the Service Office at 1-800-344-1029. For more information on insurance company risks, please refer to “V. Principal Risks of Investing in the Contract.”

Cybersecurity Risks	Our business and operations are highly dependent upon the effective operation of our computer systems and those of our third-party business partners. As a result, there are potential operational and information security risks associated with attack, damage, or unauthorized access to the technologies and systems on which our business depends. These risks include, among other things, the unauthorized access, theft, loss, misuse, corruption, and destruction of data maintained online or digitally, denial of service on websites and other operational disruption, and unauthorized release of confidential customer information. Cyber- attacks affecting us, any third-party administrator, the underlying portfolios, intermediaries, and other affiliated or third-party service providers may adversely affect us and your Contract Value. For instance, cyber-attacks may interfere with the processing of actions taken on your Contract, including the processing of transactions and orders from our website or with the underlying portfolios, impact our ability to calculate unit values or an underlying portfolio to calculate a net asset value, or cause the release and possible destruction of confidential customer or business information. Cybersecurity risks may also impact the issuers of securities in which the underlying portfolios invest, which may cause the portfolios underlying your policy to lose value. While measures have been implemented that are designed to reduce cybersecurity risks, there can be no guarantee or assurance that we, the underlying portfolios, or our service providers will not suffer losses affecting your Contract due to cyber-attacks or information security breaches in the future.
RESTRICTIONS
Investments	There are restrictions that may limit the variable Investment Options and general account option that you may choose, as well as limitations on the transfer of Contract Value among those options. These restrictions may include a monthly limit on the number of transfers you may make. We may also impose additional restrictions to discourage market timing and disruptive trading activity. Among other things, the Contract allows us to eliminate the shares of a Portfolio or substitute shares of another new or existing Portfolio, subject to applicable legal requirements. For more information on investment and transfer restrictions, please refer to “VI. Basic Information.”
TAXES
Tax Implications	You should consult with a tax professional to determine the tax implications of an investment in and Purchase Payments received under the Contract. There is no additional tax benefit to you if the Contract was purchased through a tax-qualified plan or an individual retirement account (IRA). If we pay out any amount of your Contract Value upon surrender or partial withdrawal, all or part of that distribution would generally be treated as a return of the Purchase Payments paid, with any portion not treated as a return of your Purchase Payments subject to ordinary income tax, and may be subject to tax penalties. For more information on tax implications, please refer to “XI. Federal Tax Matters.”
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Investment Professional Compensation	Some investment professionals may have received compensation for selling the Contract by means of various commissions and revenue sharing arrangements. The investment professional may have had a financial incentive to offer or recommend this Contract over another investment. For more information on investment professional compensation, please refer to “VII. General Information about Us, the Separate Accounts and the Portfolios.”

III. Overview

This overview tells you some key points you should know about the Contract. Because this is an overview, it does not contain all the information that may be important to you. You should read carefully this entire Prospectus, including its Appendices and the Statements of Additional Information (the “SAIs”) for more detailed information.

We disclose all material features and benefits of the Contracts in this Prospectus. Insurance laws and regulations apply to us in every state in which our Contracts were sold. As a result, some terms and conditions of your Contract may vary from the terms and conditions described in this Prospectus, depending upon where you purchased a Contract. These variations will be reflected in your Contract or in a Rider attached to your Contract. We disclose all material variations in this Prospectus.

The Contracts described in this Prospectus are no longer offered for sale; however, you may make Additional Purchase Payments as permitted under your Contract. Although your Contract allows us to offer both Fixed and Variable Investment Options, we currently offer only Variable Investment Options for Additional Purchase Payments.

Prospectuses for Contracts often undergo certain changes in their terms from year to year to reflect changes in the Contracts. The changes include such things as the liberalization of benefits, the exercise of rights reserved under the Contract, the alteration of administrative procedures and changes in the Investment Options available. Any such change may or may not apply to Contracts issued prior to the effective date of the change. This Prospectus reflects the status of the product as of the date of this Prospectus. Therefore, this Prospectus may contain information that is inapplicable to your Contract. Please consult your Contract to verify whether any particular provision applies to you.

The Variable Investment Options shown in “Appendix: Portfolios Available Under the Contract” are those available as of the date of this Prospectus. There may be Variable Investment Options that are not available to you. We may add, modify or delete Variable Investment Options in the future.

When you select one or more of these Variable Investment Options, we invest your money in NAV shares of a corresponding Portfolio of John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust”). The Trust is a so-called “series” type mutual fund registered with the SEC. The investment results of each Variable Investment Option you select will depend on those of the corresponding Portfolio of the Trust. Each of the Portfolios is separately managed and has its own investment objective and strategies. The Trust prospectus contains detailed information about each available Portfolio. Be sure to read that prospectus before selecting any of the Variable Investment Options.

Additional information about the Portfolios is provided in “Appendix: Portfolios Available Under the Contract.”

For amounts you don’t wish to invest in a Variable Investment Option, you may be able to allocate these amounts to a Fixed Investment Option if permitted in your local jurisdiction. We invest the assets allocated to the Fixed Investment Option in our General Account and they earn interest at a fixed rate, declared by us, subject to a 3% minimum.

Under the Contract, you make one or more Purchase Payments to the Company for a period of time, known as the Accumulation Period. During the Accumulation Period, your Purchase Payments are allocated to Investment Options. You may transfer among the Investment Options and take withdrawals. Later, beginning on the Annuity Commencement Date, the Company makes one or more annuity payments under the Contract for a period of time, known as the Pay-out Period. During this phase you cannot make withdrawals and the death benefit and any living benefit will have terminated. Your Contract Value during the Accumulation Period is variable and the amounts of annuity payments during the Pay-out Period may either be variable or fixed, depending upon your choice.

In addition to the transfer restrictions that we impose, the John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust also has adopted policies under Rule 22c-2 of the 1940 Act to detect and deter abusive short term trading. Accordingly, a Portfolio may require us to impose trading restrictions if it discovers violations of its frequent short-term trading policy. We will provide tax identification numbers and other Contract Owner transaction information to the John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust upon request, which it may use to identify any pattern or frequency of activity that violates its short-term trading policy.

We refer to the Variable Investment Options and the Fixed Investment Option together as Investment Options.

Section 403(b) Plans. If you purchased this Contract for use in a retirement plan intended to qualify under section 403(b) of the Code (a “Section 403(b) Plan” or a “403(b) Plan”), we may restrict your ability to make Additional Purchase Payments unless: (i) we receive the Additional Purchase Payment for the Contract directly from the Section 403(b) Plan through your employer, the 403(b)Plan’s administrator, the 403(b) Plan’s sponsor or in the form of a transfer acceptable to us; (ii) we have entered into an agreement with your Section 403(b) Plan concerning the sharing of information related to your Contract (an

IV. Fee Tables

The following tables describe the fees and expenses applicable to buying, owning and surrendering or making withdrawals from an Independence, Independence Preferred or Independence 2000 Variable Annuity Contract. Please refer to your Contract specifications page for the specific fees you will pay each year based on the options you have elected. The first table describes the fees and expenses that you paid at the time that you bought the Contract as well as information about the fees and expenses you pay when you make Additional Purchase Payments under the Contract, surrender the Contract, or transfer Contract Value between Investment Options.

State premium taxes, which currently range from 0.04% to 4.00% of each Purchase Payment (see “VIII. Charges and Deductions – Premium Taxes”), may also apply to your Contract.

Transaction Expenses

	John Hancock USA and John Hancock New York Contracts
Withdrawal Charge (as percentage of Purchase Payments)1	8%2
Transfer Fee3	$25

The charge is taken upon withdrawal or surrender on a first-in, first-out basis within the specified period of years measured from the date of each Purchase Payment. We calculate the amount of the withdrawal charge by multiplying the amount of the Purchase Payment being liquidated by the applicable withdrawal charge percentage shown above. The total withdrawal charge will be the sum of the withdrawal charges for the Purchase Payments being liquidated.

This charge for Independence and Independence Preferred Contracts is 8% of each premium paid in the first, second and third years, 7% in the fourth and fifth years, 6% in the sixth and seventh years, and 0% thereafter. This charge for Independence 2000 Contracts is 7% of each premium paid in the first year, 6% in the second year, 5% in the third year, 4% in the fourth year, 3% in the fifth year, 2% in the sixth year, 1% in the seventh year and 0% thereafter.

This fee is not currently assessed against transfers. We reserve the right to impose a charge in the future for transfers in excess of 12 per year. The amount of this fee will not exceed the lesser of $25 or 2% of the amount transferred.

The next table describes the fees and expenses that you pay each year during the time you own the Contract. This table does not include fees and expenses paid at the Portfolio level.

Annual Contract Expenses

	Independence Variable Annuity	Independence Preferred Variable Annuity	Independence 2000 Variable Annuity
Maximum Administrative Expenses1	$50	$50	$50
Current Administrative Expenses2	$30	$30	$30
Base Contract Expenses3,4(as a percentage of Separate Account value)	1.40%	1.50%	1.40%

This charge is not currently imposed.

This charge applies only to Contracts of less than $10,000 during the Accumulation Period. It is taken at the end of each Contract Year but, if you surrender a Contract before then, it will be taken at the time of surrender.

This charge applies to all Accommodator Variable Annuity Contracts. We deduct from each of the Subaccounts a daily charge at an annual effective percentage of the Contract Value in the Variable Investment Options.

This charge is assessed on all active Contracts, including Contracts continued by a Beneficiary upon the death of the Contract Owner.

The next table describes the minimum and maximum total operating expenses charged by the Portfolios that you may pay periodically during the time that you own the Contract. A complete list of the Portfolios available under the Contract, including their annual expenses, maybe found in “Appendix: Portfolios Available Under the Contract” at the back of this document.

Annual Portfolio Company Expenses	Minimum	Maximum
(expenses that are deducted from Portfolio Company assets, including management fees, distribution and/or service (Rule 12b-1 fees) and other expenses)	0.39%	1.09%

Examples

The following two examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in an Independence Variable Annuity, Independence Preferred Variable Annuity, or Independence 2000 Variable Annuity Contract with the cost of investing in other variable annuity contracts. These costs include transaction expenses, annual Contract expenses, and Annual Portfolio Expenses.

The first example assumes that you invest $100,000 in a Contract and that your investment has a 5% return each year. This example assumes the most expensive combination of Annual Portfolio Company Expenses and optional benefits available for an additional charge. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

Maximum Portfolio Level Total Operating Expenses
Independence Variable Annuity	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
If you surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$9,805	$15,166	$19,900	$29,082
If you annuitize, or do not surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$2,605	$8,005	$13,670	$29,082

Independence Preferred Variable Annuity	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
If you surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$9,888	$15,416	$20,316	$29,897
If you annuitize, or do not surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$2,688	$8,254	$14,084	$29,897

Independence 2000 Variable Annuity	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
If you surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$8,938	$12,580	$16,506	$29,409
If you annuitize, or do not surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$2,638	$8,104	$13,836	$29,409

The next example also assumes that you invest $100,000 in a Contract and that your investment has a 5% return each year. This example assumes the minimum fees and expenses of any of the Portfolios and represents the least expensive way to purchase the Contract. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

Minimum Portfolio Level Total Operating Expenses
Independence Variable Annuity	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
If you surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$9,069	$12,935	$16,162	$21,585
If you annuitize, or do not surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$1,869	$5,786	$9,955	$21,585

Independence Preferred Variable Annuity	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
If you surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$9,160	$13,211	$16,628	$22,537
If you annuitize, or do not surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$1,960	$6,061	$10,418	$22,537

Independence 2000 Variable Annuity	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
If you surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$8,189	$10,316	$12,719	$21,798
If you annuitize, or do not surrender the Contract at the end of the applicable time period:	$1,889	$5,847	$10,058	$21,798

V. Principal Risks of Investing in the Contract

Risks Associated with Variable Investment Options. The investment performance of any variable Investment Account may be good or bad, and you may lose money on amounts you invest in a Contract. You take all the investment risk for amounts allocated to one or more of the Subaccounts, which invest in Portfolios. Your Contract Value will increase or decrease based on the investment performance of the variable Investment Accounts you have chosen. The variable Investment Accounts cover a broad spectrum of investment styles and strategies, some variable Investment Accounts are riskier than others. These risks (and potential rewards) are discussed in detail in the prospectuses of the Portfolios. The death benefit may also increase or decrease with investment experience.

We do not guarantee the investment results of any Portfolio. An investment in the Annuity is subject to the risk of poor investment performance, and the value of your investment can vary depending on the performance of the selected Portfolio(s), each of which has its own unique risks. You should review the Portfolios before making an investment decision.

Risks Associated with Managed Volatility Portfolios. During rising markets, the strategies employed to manage volatility could result in your Contract Value rising less than would have been the case if you had been invested in a Portfolio without the managed volatility strategy. The managed volatility strategy may also suppress the value of the guaranteed Rider benefits. On the other hand, the managed volatility strategy seeks to manage the volatility of returns and limit the magnitude of Portfolio losses during declining markets with high volatility, although there is no guarantee that it will do so. For more information see “VI. General Information About Us, the Separate Accounts and the Portfolios.”

Transfer Risk. There is a risk that you will not be able to transfer your Contract’s value from one variable Investment Account to another because of limitations on the dollar amount or frequency of transfers you can make. The limitations on transfers out of the Fixed Investment Option are more restrictive than those that apply to transfers out of variable Investment Accounts. If you purchased certain supplementary benefit Riders you will be subject to special transfer restrictions.

To discourage market timing and disruptive trading activity, we impose restrictions on transfers and reserve the right to change, suspend or terminate telephone, facsimile and internet transaction privileges. We apply these restrictions uniformly to each class of Contracts. While we seek to identify and prevent disruptive trading activity, it may not always be possible to do so. Therefore, no assurance can be given that the restrictions we impose will be successful in preventing all disruptive trading and avoiding harm to long term investors.

Possible Adverse Tax Consequences. The tax considerations associated with the Contract vary and can be quite complex. The tax considerations discussed in this prospectus are general in nature and describe only federal income tax law (not state, local, foreign or other federal tax laws). Before making a Purchase Payment or taking other action related to your Contract, please consult with a qualified tax professional with regard to the application of the law to your circumstances. For example, distributions from your Contract are generally subject to ordinary income taxation on the amount of any investment gain unless the distribution qualifies as a non-taxable exchange or transfer. In addition, if you take a distribution prior to the taxpayer’s age 59½, you may be subject to a 10% additional tax in addition to ordinary income taxes on any gain.

Early Surrender or Withdrawal Risk/Not a Short-Term Investment. The Contract is unsuitable as a short-term savings vehicle because of the substantial Contract-level charges, including the surrender charge, as well as potential adverse tax consequences from such short-term use. Therefore it is not an appropriate investment for an investor who needs ready access to cash. The Contract is designed to provide benefits on a long-term basis. There are surrender charges assessed if you surrender your Contract before the Maturity Date. Depending on the Contract Value at the time you are considering a surrender, there may be little or no Contract Value payable to you.

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.

Insurance Company Risks. Your investment in the Contract is subject to risks related to John Hancock USA or John Hancock New York, including that the obligations (including under the fixed account investment option), guarantees, or benefits are subject to the claims-paying ability of John Hancock USA or John Hancock New York. Information about John Hancock USA and John Hancock New York, including their financial strength ratings, are available upon request from your John Hancock representative. Our current financial strength ratings can also be obtained by contacting the Service Office at 1-800-344-1029.

VI. Basic Information

What is the Contract?

The Contract is a deferred payment Variable Annuity Contract. An “annuity contract” provides a person (known as the “Annuitant” or “payee”) with a series of periodic payments. Because this Contract is also a “deferred payment” Contract, the annuity payments will begin on a future date, called the Contract’s “Maturity Date.” Under a “Variable Annuity” Contract, the amount you have invested can increase or decrease in value daily based upon the value of the Variable Investment Options chosen.

We measure the years and anniversaries of your Contract from its date of issue. We use the term Contract Year to refer to each period of time between anniversaries of your Contract’s date of issue.

Who issued my Contract?

Your Contract was issued either by JHLICO or JHVLICO. Please refer to your Contract for the name of the Company that issued your Contract. JHVLICO was not authorized to sell life insurance products in the State of New York.

Who owns the Contract?

Unless the Contract provides otherwise, the Owner of the Contract is the person who can exercise the rights under the Contract, such as the right to choose the Investment Options or the right to surrender the Contract. In many cases, the person who bought the Contract is the Owner. However, you are free to name another person or entity (such as a trust) as Owner. In writing this Prospectus, we’ve assumed that you, the reader, are the person or persons entitled to exercise the rights and obligations under discussion. If a Contract has joint Owners, both must join in any written notice or request.

Is the Owner also the Annuitant?

In many cases, the same person is both the Annuitant and the Owner of a Contract. The Annuitant is the person whose lifetime is used to measure the period of time when we make various forms of annuity payments. Also, the Annuitant receives payments from us under any Annuity Option that commences during the Annuitant’s lifetime. We may have permitted you to name another person as Annuitant if that person met our underwriting standards.

How can I invest money in a Contract?

Purchase Payments

The Contracts described in this Prospectus are no longer available for sale, however, the minimum initial Purchase Payment requirements for the Contracts is outlined in the table below. The minimum Additional Purchase Payment into the Contracts is $50. Currently, we do not enforce this minimum Additional Purchase Payment amount, but we may do so in the future.

	Independence:	Independence Preferred:	Independence 2000
Minimum Initial Purchase Payment (Nonqualified):	$1,000	$5,000	$5,000
Minimum Initial Purchase Payment (IRA):	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000
Minimum Initial Purchase Payment (other Qualified):	$1,000	$1,000	$50
Minimum Initial Annuity Direct Deposit Program:	N/A	N/A	$500
Minimum Additional Purchase Payments:	$50	$50	$50

Initial Purchase Payment

When we received your initial Purchase Payment and all necessary information at the Annuities Service Center we issued your Contract and invested your initial Purchase Payment. If the information was not in Good Order, we contacted you to get the necessary information. If for some reason, we were unable to complete this process within five Business Days, we either sent back your money or received your permission to keep it until we received all of the necessary information.

Limits on Additional Purchase Payments

You can make Additional Purchase Payments of up to $500,000 ($1,000,000 for Independence 2000 Contracts) in any one Contract Year ($100,000 into the Fixed Investment Option, after the initial Purchase Payment which could have been as much as $500,000). The total of all new Purchase Payments and transfers that you allocate to any one Variable Investment Option in any one Contract Year may not exceed $1 million (except in the case of Independence Variable Annuity Contracts where the maximum amount you may transfer is $500,000). While the Annuitant is alive and the Contract is in force, you can make Purchase Payments at any time before the Annuitant’s 85th birthday (age 85½ for Independence Variable Annuity Contracts). We may waive any of these limits on Purchase Payments.

Ways to Make Additional Purchase Payments

Additional Purchase Payments made by check must be:

• drawn on a U.S. bank;

• drawn in U.S. dollars; and

• made payable to “John Hancock” and sent to the Annuities Service Center.

We credit any Additional Purchase Payments to your Contract received by mail or wire transfer at the close of the Business Day in which we receive them in Good Order at the Annuities Service Center. Each Business Day ends at the close of daytime trading for the day on the New York Stock Exchange (usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time). If we receive an Additional Purchase Payment after the close of a Business Day, we credit it to your Contract on the next Business Day. We will promptly return any Additional Purchase Payment not in Good Order.

We will not accept credit card checks or money orders. Nor will we accept starter or third party checks that fail to meet our administrative requirements. Additional Purchase Payments should be sent to the Annuities Service Center at the address shown on the back cover of this Prospectus. You can find information about other methods of making Purchase Payments by contacting us.

Additional Purchase Payments by Wire

You may transmit Additional Purchase Payments by wire through your bank to our bank, as long as you provide appropriate instructions with the transmittal to identify your Contract, and the selected Investment Options (unless you have provided us with standing allocation instructions). Information about our bank, our account number, and the ABA routing number may be obtained from the Annuities Service Center. Banks may charge a fee for wire services.

If your wire order is complete, we will invest the Additional Purchase Payment in your selected Investment Options as of the day we received the wire order. If the wire order is incomplete for an identified Contract, we will immediately return it.

How will the value of my investment in the Contract change over time?

Variable Investment Options

You may invest in any of the Variable Investment Options (subject to any restrictions). Each Variable Investment Option is a Subaccount of a Separate Account that invests in a corresponding Portfolio. The Portfolio prospectus contains a full description of a Portfolio. The amount you’ve invested in any Variable Investment Option will increase or decrease based upon the investment performance of the corresponding Portfolio (reduced by certain charges we deduct - see “IV. Fee Tables”). Your Contract Value during the Accumulation Period and the amounts of annuity payments will depend upon the investment performance of the underlying Portfolios of the Variable Investment Options you select and/or upon the interest we credit on each Fixed Investment Option you select.

You bear the investment risk that your Contract Value will increase or decrease to reflect the investment results of the Contract’s investment Portfolios. Although a Portfolio may invest in other underlying portfolios, you will not have the ability to make those investment decisions. If you would prefer a broader range of investment options, please consider the features of other variable annuity contracts offered by us or by other life insurance companies, before submitting an Additional Purchase Payment.

also are not permitted. If you currently have Contract Value in the Money Market Investment Option, you may continue to keep that Contract Value in Money Market, but any transfer or withdrawal from the Money Market cannot be replaced.

Fixed Investment Options

Each Purchase Payment you allocate to the Fixed Investment Option will earn interest (calculated on a compounded basis) at our declared rate in effect at the time of the deposit into the Fixed Investment Option. From time to time, we declare new rates, subject to a 3% minimum. For purposes of crediting interest, transfers from a Variable Investment Option will be treated as a Purchase Payment.

Under current practice, we credit interest to amounts allocated to the Fixed Investment Option based on the size of the initial Purchase Payment. We credit a higher rate for initial Purchase Payments of $10,000 or more (and those over $10,000 or $25,000 or more for Independence 2000 only). The rate of interest credited on each amount varies based upon when that amount was allocated to the Fixed Investment Option. The obligations under the Contract that are funded by each Company’s General Account (e.g., as any Fixed Investment Option, the Lifetime Income Amount and the death benefit), are subject to the Company’s claims-paying ability and financial strength.

What annuity benefits does a Contract provide?

If your Contract is still in effect on its Maturity Date, it enters what is called the Annuity Period. During the Annuity Period, we make a series of fixed or variable payments to you as provided under one of our several Annuity Options. The form in which we will make the annuity payments, and the proportion of such payments that will be on a fixed basis and on a variable basis, depend on the elections that you have in effect on the Maturity Date. Therefore, please exercise care in selecting your choices that are in effect on the Maturity Date.

You should carefully review the discussion under “X. The Annuity Period” for information about all of these choices you can make.

To what extent can John Hancock USA vary the terms and conditions of the Contracts?

State Insurance Law Requirements

Insurance laws and regulations apply to us in every state in which our Contracts were sold. As a result, a Contract purchased in one state may have terms and conditions that vary from the terms and conditions of a Contract purchased in a different jurisdiction. We disclose all material features and benefits of the Contracts in this Prospectus.

Variations in Charges or Rates

We may vary the charges, durations of Fixed Investment Options, and other terms of our Contracts where special circumstances resulted in sales or administrative expenses, mortality risks or other risks that were different from those normally associated with the Contracts. These include the types of variations discussed under the “Variations in Charges or Rates for Eligible Classes” section of this Prospectus.

What are the tax consequences of owning a Contract?

In most cases, no income tax will have to be paid on amounts you earn under a Contract until these earnings are paid out. All or part of the following distributions from a Contract may constitute a taxable payout of earnings:

• withdrawals (including surrenders and systematic withdrawals);

• payment of any death benefit proceeds;

• periodic payments under one of our annuity payment options;

• certain ownership changes; and

• any loan, assignment or pledge of the Contract as collateral.

How much you will be taxed on a distribution is based upon complex tax rules and depends on matters such as:

• the type of the distribution;

• when the distribution is made;

• the nature of any Qualified Plan for which the Contract is being used, if any; and

• the circumstances under which the payments are made.

If your Contract was issued in connection with a Qualified Plan, all or part of your Purchase Payments may be tax-deductible or excludible from income.

A 10% penalty tax applies in many cases to the taxable portion of any distributions taken from a Contract before you reach age 59½. Also, most Qualified Plans require that minimum distributions from a Contract commence and/or be completed within a certain period of time. This effectively limits the period of time during which you can continue to derive tax deferral benefits from any tax- deductible or tax-deferred Purchase Payments you paid or on any earnings under the Contract.

A Contract purchased as an investment vehicle for a Qualified Plan, including an IRA, does not provide any additional tax-deferral benefits beyond the treatment provided by the Qualified Plan. The favorable tax-deferral benefits available for Qualified Plans that invest in annuity contracts are also generally available if the Qualified Plans purchase other types of investments, such as mutual funds, equities and debt instruments. However, the Contract offers features and benefits that other investments may not offer, including the Investment Options and protection through living guarantees, death benefits and other benefits.

We provide additional information on taxes in the Federal Tax Matters section of this Prospectus. We make no attempt to provide more than general information about use of the Contract with the various types of retirement plans.

How can I change my Contract’s Investment Options?

Allocation of Purchase Payments

When you applied for your Contract, you specified the Variable Investment Options or Fixed Investment Options (together, your Investment Options) into which your Purchase Payments were allocated. You may change this investment allocation for future Investment Options to which your Purchase Payments will be allocated at any time. Any change in allocation will be effective as of the receipt of your request at the Annuities Service Center.

Except as noted below, we do not impose a limit on the number of Investment Options to which you may allocate Purchase Payments at any one time during the Accumulation Period. For limits imposed during the Annuity Period, please see “Choosing Fixed or Variable Annuity Payments” in “X. The Annuity Period.”

Restrictions on the Money Market Investment Option. You are not permitted to make new investments in the Money Market Investment Option. Transfers of amounts from other Investment Options into the Money Market Investment Option also are not permitted. If you currently have Contract Value in the Money Market Investment Option, you may continue to keep that Contract Value in Money Market, but any transfer or withdrawal from the Money Market cannot be replaced. However, if you are enrolled in an Asset Rebalancing Program that includes scheduled transfers of Contract Value into the Money Market Investment Option, then the program will continue to make those transfers (see “Special Transfer Services − Asset Rebalancing Program” in this section, below).

Transfers Among Investment Options

During the Accumulation Period, you may transfer amounts among the Investment Options, subject to the restrictions set forth below. To make a transfer, you must tell us how much to transfer, either as a whole number percentage or as a specific dollar amount. A confirmation of each transfer will be sent to you.

You may make a transfer by providing written notice to us, by telephone or by other electronic means that we may provide through the internet (see “Telephone and Electronic Transactions,” below). We will cancel accumulation units from the Investment Account from which you transfer amounts and we will credit accumulation units to the Investment Account to which you transfer amounts. Your Contract Value on the date of the transfer will not be affected by a transfer. Although your Contract may impose restrictions on the maximum dollar amount that may be transferred among Variable Investment Options, we currently do not enforce these restrictions.

We do not impose a charge for transfer requests under your Contract.

Frequent Transfer Restrictions. Variable investment options in variable annuity and variable life insurance products can be a target for abusive transfer activity. To discourage disruptive frequent trading activity, we have adopted a policy for each

Separate Account to restrict transfers you make to two per month per Contract, with certain exceptions, and have established procedures to count the number of transfers made under a Contract.

Under the current procedures of the Separate Accounts, we count all transfers made during each Business Day as a single transfer. We do not count: (a) scheduled transfers made pursuant to our dollar-cost averaging program or our Asset Rebalancing program, (b) transfers from a Fixed Investment Option at the end of its fixed investment period, (c) transfers made within a prescribed period before and after a substitution of underlying Portfolios and (d) transfers made during the Annuity Period (these transfers are subject to a 30- day notice requirement, however, as described below). Under each Separate Account’s policy and procedures, a Contract Owner may transfer Contract Value to the Ultra Short Term Bond Investment Option even if the Contract Owner reaches the two-transfer-per- month limit, as long as 100% of the Contract Value in all Variable Investment Options is transferred to the Ultra Short Term Bond Investment Option. If such a transfer to the Ultra Short Term Bond Investment Option is made, for a 30-day period after such transfer a Contract Owner may not make any subsequent transfers from the Ultra Short Term Bond Investment Option to another Variable Investment Option. We apply each Separate Account’s policy and procedures uniformly to all Contract Owners.

We reserve the right to take other actions to restrict trading, including, but not limited to:

• restricting the number of transfers made during a defined period;

• restricting the dollar amount of transfers;

• restricting the method used to submit transfers (e.g., requiring transfer requests to be submitted in writing via U.S. mail); and

• restricting transfers into and out of certain Subaccount(s).

In addition, we reserve the right to defer a transfer at any time we are unable to purchase or redeem shares of the Portfolios. We also reserve the right to modify or terminate the transfer privilege at any time (to the extent permitted by applicable law), and to prohibit a transfer less than 30 days prior to the Contract’s Maturity Date, and to reimpose the annual limit of 12 transfers as stated in your Contract.

While we seek to identify and prevent disruptive frequent trading activity, it is not always possible to do so. Therefore, we cannot provide assurance that the restrictions we impose will be successful in restricting disruptive frequent trading activity and avoiding harm to long-term investors.

During the Annuity Period, you may not make any transfer that would result in more than four Investment Options being used at once. You must submit your transfer request to our Annuities Service Center at least 30 days before the due date of the first annuity payment to which your transfer will apply.

We impose additional restrictions that apply specifically to transfers involving the Fixed Investment Option. You may not:

• transfer assets to or from the Fixed Investment Option during the Annuity Period;

• transfer assets into the Fixed Investment Option on or within 30 days prior to your Contract’s Maturity Date;

• transfer or deposit (exclusive of the initial Purchase Payment) more than $100,000 into the Fixed Investment Option during a Contract Year;

• make any transfers into the Fixed Investment Option within six months of a transfer out of the Fixed Investment Option; or

• transfer out of the Fixed Investment Option more than once during a Contract Year and only within 10 days before or after the anniversary of your Contract’s issuance (“Contract Anniversary”).

In addition to the transfer restrictions that we impose, the John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust also has adopted policies under Rule 22c-2 of the 1940 Act to detect and deter abusive short-term trading. Accordingly, a Portfolio may require us to impose trading restrictions if it discovers violations of its frequent short-term trading policy. We will provide tax identification numbers and other Contract Owner transaction information to John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust upon request, which it may use to identify any pattern or frequency of activity that violates its short-term trading policy.

Procedure for Transfers Among Investment Options

You may request a transfer in writing or, if you have authorized telephone transfers, by telephone. All transfer requests should be directed to the Annuities Service Center at the address shown on the back cover of this Prospectus. Your request should include:

• your name;

• daytime telephone number;

• Contract number;

• the names of the Investment Options to and from which assets are being transferred;

• the amount of each transfer;

• your signature and date of the request.

Your request becomes effective at the close of the Business Day in which we receive it, in proper form at the Annuities Service Center. Each Business Day ends at the close of daytime trading for the day on the New York Stock Exchange (usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time). If we receive a transfer request, in proper form, after the close of a Business Day, it will become effective at the end of the next Business Day.

Telephone and Electronic Transactions

If you complete a special authorization form, we will permit you to request transfers and withdrawals by telephone. We additionally encourage you to access information about your Contract, request transfers and perform some transactions electronically through the internet. If you have not done so, we encourage you to register for electronic delivery of your transaction confirmations. Please contact the John Hancock Annuities Service Center at the applicable telephone number or internet address shown on the back cover of this Prospectus for more information on electronic transactions.

To access information and perform electronic transactions through our website, we require you to create an account with a username and password, and to maintain a valid e-mail address. You may also authorize other people to make certain transaction requests by telephone by sending us instructions in a form acceptable to us. If you register for electronic delivery, we keep your personal information confidential and secure, and we do not share this information with outside marketing agencies.

We will not be liable for following instructions communicated by telephone or electronically that we reasonably believe to be genuine. We employ reasonable procedures to confirm that instructions we receive are genuine. Our procedures require you to provide information to verify your identity when you call us and we record all conversations with you. When someone contacts us by telephone and follows our procedures, we assume that you are authorizing us to act upon those instructions. For electronic transactions through the internet, you will need to provide your username and password. You are responsible for keeping your password confidential and must notify us of:

• any loss or theft of your password; or

• any unauthorized use of your password.

We may be liable for any losses due to unauthorized or fraudulent instructions only where we fail to employ our procedures properly.

All transaction instructions we receive by telephone or electronically will be followed by either a hardcopy or electronic delivery of a transaction confirmation. Transaction instructions we receive by telephone or electronically before the close of any Business Day are usually effective at the end of that day. Your ability to access or transact business electronically may be limited due to circumstances beyond our control, such as system outages, or during periods when our telephone lines or our website may be busy. We may, for example, experience unusual volume during periods of substantial market change.

We may suspend, modify or terminate our telephone or electronic transaction procedures at any time. We may, for example, impose limits on the maximum Withdrawal Amount available to you through a telephone transaction. Also, as stated earlier in this Prospectus, we have imposed restrictions on transfers and reserve the right to take other actions to restrict trading, including the right to restrict the method used to submit transfers (e.g., by requiring transfer requests to be submitted in writing via U.S. mail). We also reserve the right to suspend or terminate the transfer privilege altogether with respect to anyone who we feel is abusing the privilege to the detriment of others.

Standard Benefits

See the “Benefits Available Under the Contract” table below for a summary of information about the Contract’s benefits.

Dollar-Cost Averaging Program

You may elect, at no cost, to automatically transfer assets from any Variable Investment Option to one or more other Variable Investment Options on a monthly, quarterly, semiannual, or annual basis before annuity payments start. The following conditions apply to the dollar-cost averaging program (offered in all states):

• you may change your Variable Investment Option allocation instructions at any time in writing or, if you have authorized telephone transfers, by telephone;

• you may discontinue the program at any time;

• the program automatically terminates when the Variable Investment Option from which we are taking the transfers has been exhausted;

• Automatic transfers to or from the Fixed Investment Option are not permitted;

• the program will automatically terminate after the Maturity Date when payments from one of our Annuity Options begin.

We reserve the right to suspend, modify or terminate the program at any time.

The dollar-cost averaging program allows investments to be made in equal installments over time in an effort to reduce the risk posed by market fluctuations. Therefore, you may achieve a lower purchase price over the long-term by purchasing more accumulation units of a particular Subaccount when the unit value is low, and less when the unit value is high. However, the dollar-cost averaging program does not guarantee profits or prevent losses in a declining market and requires regular investment regardless of fluctuating price levels. In addition, the dollar-cost averaging program does not protect you from market fluctuations in the Variable Investment Option from which we are taking the transfers. If you are interested in the dollar-cost averaging program, you may obtain an authorization form and full information concerning the program and its restrictions from your financial representative or our Annuities Service Center. You may elect out of the dollar-cost averaging program at any time.

Please consult with your financial representative to assist you in determining whether the dollar-cost averaging program is

suited for your financial needs and investment risk tolerance.

Special Transfer Services – Asset Rebalancing Program

We administer an Asset Rebalancing program which enables you to specify the allocation percentage levels you would like to maintain in particular Investment Options. We automatically rebalance your Contract Value pursuant to the schedule described below to maintain the indicated percentages by transfers among the Variable Investment Options. (Fixed Investment Options are not eligible for participation in the Asset Rebalancing program.) You must include all Contract Value in your Variable Investment Options in the Asset Rebalancing program. Other investment programs, such as the dollar-cost averaging program, or other transfers or withdrawals may not work in concert with the Asset Rebalancing program. Therefore, you need to monitor your use of these other programs and any other transfers or withdrawals while the Asset Rebalancing program is being used. If you are interested in the Asset Rebalancing program, you may obtain a separate authorization form and full information concerning the program and its restrictions from your financial representative or our Annuities Service Center. There is no charge for participation in the Asset Rebalancing program, which was offered in all states.

We permit asset rebalancing only on the following time schedules:

• quarterly on the 25th day of the last month of the calendar quarter (or the next Business Day if the 25th is not a Business Day);

• semi-annually on June 25th and December 26th (or the next Business Day if these dates are not Business Days); or

• annually on December 26th (or the next Business Day if December 26th is not a Business Day).

What fees and charges are deducted from my Contract?

We assess charges and deductions under the Contract against Purchase Payments, Contract Values or withdrawals. Currently, there are no deductions made from Purchase Payments. In addition, there are deductions from and expenses paid out of the assets of the Portfolios that are described in the Portfolios’ prospectuses. See “Asset-Based Charges” below.

Asset-Based Charges

We deduct asset-based charges daily to compensate us primarily for our administrative and distribution expenses, and for the mortality and expense risks that we assume under the Contracts, as follows:

Separate Account Annual Expenses (as a percentage of average account value)
	Independence Variable Annuity	Independence Preferred Variable Annuity	Independence 2000 Variable Annuity
Mortality and Expense Risk Charge	0.90%	1.15%	1.10%
Administrative Services Charge	0.50%	0.35%	0.30%
Total Separate Account Annual Expenses	1.40%	1.50%	1.40%

These charges do not apply to assets you have in our Fixed Investment Options. We take the deduction proportionally from each Variable Investment Option you are then using.

In return for the mortality risk charge, we assume the risk that Annuitants as a class will live longer than expected, requiring us to pay a greater number of annuity payments. In return for the expense risk charge, we assume the risk that our expenses relating to the Contracts may be higher than we expected when we set the level of the Contracts’ other fees and charges, or that our revenues from such other sources will be less than expected. We deduct the asset-based administrative services charge daily for administrative and clerical services that the Contracts require us to provide. The rate of the mortality and expense risks charge cannot be increased. The charge is assessed on all active Contracts, including Contracts continued by a Beneficiary upon the death of the Contract Owner or continued under any Annuity Option payable on a variable basis. If the charge is insufficient to cover the actual cost of the mortality and expense risks assumed, we will bear the loss. Conversely, if the charge proves more than sufficient, the excess will be profit to us and will be available for any proper corporate purpose including, among other things, payment of distribution expenses. In cases where no death proceeds are payable (e.g., for Contracts continued by a Beneficiary upon the death of the Owner), or under the Period Certain Only Annuity Option, if you elect benefits payable on a variable basis, we continue to assess the Contractual mortality and expense risks charge, although we bear only the expense risk and not any mortality risk.

Annual Contract Fee

We currently deduct a $30 annual Contract fee at the end of each Contract Year if the Contract has a total value of less than $10,000. We also deduct the annual Contract fee if you surrender your Contract before then. We take the deduction proportionally from each Investment Option you are then using. We will not deduct, however, any portion of the annual Contract fee from the Fixed Investment Option if such deduction would result in an accumulation of amounts allocated to the Fixed Investment Option at less than the guaranteed minimum rate of 3%. In such case, we will deduct that portion of the Contract fee proportionately from the other Investment Options you are using. We reserve the right to increase the annual Contract fee to $50.

Premium Taxes

We make deductions for any applicable premium or similar taxes. Currently, certain jurisdictions assess a tax of up to 4% of each Purchase Payment.

In most cases, and subject to applicable state law, we deduct a charge in the amount of the tax from the total value of the Contract only at the time of annuitization, death, surrender, or withdrawal. We reserve the right, however, to deduct the charge

from each Purchase Payment at the time it is made. We compute the amount of the charge by multiplying the applicable premium tax percentage by the amount subject to tax under the applicable state law.

	Premium Tax Rate1
State or Territory	Qualified Contracts	Nonqualified Contracts
CA	0.50%	2.35%
CO	0.00%	2.00%
GUAM	4.00%	4.00%
ME2	0.00%	2.00%
NV	0.00%	3.50%
PR	1.00%	1.00%
SD2	0.00%	1.25%3
TX4	0.04%	0.04%
WY	0.00%	1.00%

Based on the state of residence at the time the tax is assessed.

We pay premium tax upon receipt of Purchase Payment.

0.08% on Purchase Payments in excess of $500,000.

Referred to as a “maintenance fee.”

Withdrawal Charge

If you withdraw some of your Purchase Payments from your Contract prior to the Maturity Date or if you surrender (turn in) your Contract, in its entirety, for cash prior to the Maturity Date, we may assess a withdrawal charge. We use this charge to help defray expenses relating to the sales of the Contracts, including commissions paid and other distribution costs.

Here’s how we determine the charge: In any Contract Year, you may withdraw up to 10% of the total value of your Contract (computed as of the beginning of the Contract Year) without the assessment of any withdrawal charge. We refer to this amount as the free Withdrawal Amount. However, if the amount you withdraw or surrender totals more than the free Withdrawal Amount during the Contract Year, we will assess a withdrawal charge on any amount of the excess that we attribute to Purchase Payments you made within seven years of the date of the withdrawal or surrender.

The withdrawal charge percentage depends upon the type of Contract you purchased and the number of years that have elapsed from the date you paid the Purchase Payment to the date of its withdrawal, as follows:

Withdrawal Charge1 (as % of amount withdrawn or surrendered)
	Independence Variable Annuity	Independence Preferred Variable Annuity	Independence 2000 Variable Annuity
1st year	8%	8%	7%
2nd year	8%	8%	6%
3rd year	8%	8%	5%
4th year	7%	7%	4%
5th year	7%	7%	3%
6th year	6%	6%	2%
7th year	6%	6%	1%
Thereafter	0%	0%	0%

This charge is taken upon withdrawal or surrender within the specified period of years measured from the date of Purchase Payment. We calculate the amount of the withdrawal charge by multiplying the amount of the Purchase Payment being liquidated by the applicable withdrawal charge percentage shown above. The total withdrawal charge will be the sum of the withdrawal charges for the Purchase Payments being liquidated.

Solely for purposes of determining the amount of the withdrawal charge, we assume that each withdrawal (together with any associated withdrawal charge) is a withdrawal first from the earliest Purchase Payment, and then from the next earliest Purchase Payment, and so forth until all payments have been exhausted. Once a Purchase Payment has been considered to have been “withdrawn” under these procedures, that Purchase Payment will not enter into any future withdrawal charge calculations. For this purpose, we also consider any amounts that we deduct for the annual Contract charge to have been

withdrawals of Purchase Payments (which means that no withdrawal charge will ever be paid on those amounts). The amount of any withdrawal that exceeds any remaining Purchase Payments that have not already been considered as withdrawn will not be subject to any withdrawal charge.

Here’s how we deduct the withdrawal charge: We deduct the withdrawal charge proportionally from each Investment Option being reduced by the surrender or withdrawal. For example, if 60% of the Withdrawal Amount comes from Investment Option “A” and 40% from Investment Option “B,” then we deduct 60% of the withdrawal charge from Investment Option “A” and 40% from Investment Option “B.” If any such option has insufficient remaining value to cover the charge, we deduct any shortfall pro rata from all of your other Investment Options, based on the value in each. If your Contract as a whole has insufficient Surrender Value to pay the entire charge, we pay you no more than the Surrender Value.

You will find examples of how we compute the withdrawal charge in Appendix A to this Prospectus.

When withdrawal charges don’t apply: We don’t assess a withdrawal charge in the following situations:

• on amounts applied to an Annuity Option at the Contract’s Maturity Date or to pay a death benefit;

• on certain withdrawals if you meet the requirement of the nursing home waiver rider (only available on Independence 2000 Variable Annuity Contracts); or

• on amounts withdrawn to satisfy the minimum distribution requirements for Qualified Plans. (Amounts withdrawn in excess of the minimum distribution requirements for your Contract are subject to any applicable withdrawal charge, however.)

How can I withdraw money from my Contract?

Surrenders and Withdrawals

Prior to your Contract’s Maturity Date, if the Annuitant is living, you may:

• surrender your Contract for a cash payment of its “Surrender Value”; or

• make a withdrawal of a portion of your Surrender Value.

The Surrender Value of a Contract is the Contract Value minus the annual Contract fee and any applicable premium tax and withdrawal charges. We will determine the amount surrendered or withdrawn as of the date we receive your request in Good Order at the Annuities Service Center.

Certain surrenders and withdrawals may result in taxable income to you or other tax consequences as described under “XI. Federal Tax Matters.” Among other things, if you make a full surrender or withdrawal from your Contract before you reach age 59½, a 10% penalty tax (in addition to any income tax due) generally applies to any taxable portion of the withdrawal.

We deduct any withdrawal proportionally from each of your Investment Options based on the value in each, unless you direct otherwise. When you take a withdrawal, we deduct any applicable withdrawal charge as a percentage of the total amount withdrawn. We take any applicable withdrawal charge from the amount remaining in a Contract after we process the amount you request.

Without our prior approval, you may not make a withdrawal:

• for an amount less than $100 ($250 for Independence Variable Annuity Contracts); or

• if your remaining Contract Value would be less than $1,000.

A withdrawal is not a loan and cannot be repaid. We reserve the right to terminate your Contract if the value of your Contract becomes zero.

Your request to surrender your Contract or to make a withdrawal becomes effective at the close of the Business Day in which we receive it, in Good Order at the Annuities Service Center. Each Business Day ends at the close of daytime trading for the day on the New York Stock Exchange (usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time). If we receive a request, in Good Order, after the close of a Business Day, it will become effective at the end of the next Business Day.

You generally may not make any surrenders or withdrawals once we begin making payments under an Annuity Option.

We do not permit you to apply any amount less than your entire Contract Value to the Annuity Options available under your Contract. If you want to use a part of your Contract Value to purchase an immediate annuity contract, you must make a withdrawal request, which will be subject to any applicable withdrawal charge. Such a withdrawal may also have tax consequences.

When we receive a withdrawal request in Good Order at our Annuities Service Center, we will pay the amount of the withdrawal from the Variable Investment Options promptly, and in any event within seven days of receipt of the request. We reserve the right to defer the right of withdrawal or postpone payments for any period when:

• the New York Stock Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings);

• trading on the New York Stock Exchange is restricted;

• an emergency exists as determined by the SEC, as a result of which disposal of securities held in the Separate Accounts is not reasonably practicable or it is not reasonably practicable to determine the value of the Separate Accounts’ net assets;

• pursuant to SEC rules, the Money Market Subaccount suspends payment of redemption proceeds in connection with a liquidation of the underlying Portfolio; or

• the SEC, by order, so permits for the protection of security holders.

Applicable rules and regulations of the SEC shall govern as to whether trading is restricted or an emergency exists.

Impact of Divorce. In the event that you and your Spouse become divorced, we will treat any request to reduce or divide benefits under a Contract as a request for a withdrawal of Contract Value. The transaction may be subject to any applicable tax or withdrawal charge. We will permit you to continue the existing Rider under the existing Contract, subject to any Rider restrictions on changes of Owner or Annuitant.

Tax Considerations. Withdrawals from the Contract may be subject to income tax and a 10% penalty tax (see “XI. Federal Tax Matters”). Withdrawals are permitted from Contracts issued in connection with Section 403(b) Plans only under limited circumstances (see “XI. Federal Tax Matters – Other Qualified Plans”).

Signature Guarantee Requirements for Surrenders and Withdrawals

(Not applicable to Contracts issued in New Jersey*)

We may require that you provide a signature guarantee on a surrender or withdrawal request in the following circumstances:

• you are requesting that we mail the amount withdrawn to an alternate address; or

• you have changed your address within 15 days of the withdrawal or surrender request; or

• you have changed the ownership within 15 days of the withdrawal or surrender request; or

• you are requesting a withdrawal in the amount of $250,000 or greater.

We must receive the original signature guarantee on your withdrawal or surrender request. We do not accept copies or faxes of a signature guarantee. You may obtain a signature guarantee at most banks, financial institutions or credit unions. A notarized signature is not the same as a signature guarantee and does not satisfy this requirement. There may be circumstances, of which we are not presently aware, in which we would not impose a signature guarantee on a surrender or withdrawal as described above.

For New Jersey residents, we do not require a signature guarantee to process a withdrawal and send to the address of record, but we will not send the withdrawal payment via EFT unless we receive a signature guarantee.

Nursing Home Waiver of Withdrawal Charge Rider

(Available on Independence 2000 Variable Annuity Contracts only)

If you own an Independence 2000 Contract and if permitted by your state, you may have a nursing home waiver of withdrawal charge benefit. Under this benefit, we will waive the withdrawal charges on any withdrawals, provided all the following conditions apply:

• you become confined to a nursing home beginning at least 90 days after we issue your Contract and prior to the Contract’s Maturity Date;

• you remain in the nursing home for at least 90 consecutive days and receive skilled nursing care;

• we receive your request for a withdrawal and adequate proof of confinement no later than 90 days after discharge from the facility; and

• your confinement is prescribed by a doctor and medically necessary.

This benefit was not available at application if:

• you were older than 74 years at application; or

• if you were confined to a nursing home within the past two years.

For a more complete description of the terms and conditions of this benefit, please refer directly to your Contract.

Systematic Withdrawal Plan

Our optional systematic withdrawal plan enables you to preauthorize periodic withdrawals. If you elect this plan, we withdraw a percentage or dollar amount from your Contract on a monthly, quarterly, semiannual, or annual basis, based upon your instructions. Unless otherwise directed, we deduct the requested amount from each applicable Investment Option in the ratio that the value of each bears to the Contract Value. Each systematic withdrawal is subject to any withdrawal charge that would apply to an otherwise comparable non-systematic withdrawal. See “How Will the Value of my Investment in the Contract Change over Time?” and “What Fees and Charges are Deducted from my Contract?” The same tax consequences that apply to other withdrawals also generally apply.

You may cancel the systematic withdrawal plan at any time.

We reserve the right to modify the terms or conditions of the plan at any time without prior notice.

Telephone Withdrawals

If you complete a separate authorization form, you may make requests to withdraw a portion of your Contract Value by telephone. We reserve the right to impose a maximum Withdrawal Amount and procedural requirements regarding this privilege. For additional information regarding telephone procedures, see “VI. Basic Information – Telephone and Electronic Transactions.”

Benefits Available Under the Contract

The following table summarizes information about the benefits available under the Contract.

Name of Benefit	Purpose	Is Benefit Standard or Optional?	Maximum Fee	Brief Description of Restrictions/Limitations
Dollar Cost Averaging (“DCA”)	Under the DCA program, you designate an amount that is transferred monthly from one variable or fixed investment account into any other variable investment account.	Standard	No charge	•DCA Fixed Investment Options may not always be available. You may elect out of the DCA program at any time. •Offered in all states.
Asset Rebalancing Program	Under the asset allocation rebalancing program, you designate a percentage allocation of Contract Value among variable investment accounts. We automatically transfer amounts among the variable investment accounts at intervals you select (annually, semi- annually, quarterly, or monthly) to reestablish your chosen allocation.	Standard	No charge	•We reserve the right to cease this program after written notice to you. •Offered in all states.

Name of Benefit	Purpose	Is Benefit Standard or Optional?	Maximum Fee	Brief Description of Restrictions/Limitations
Waiver of Applicable Withdrawal Charge – Confinement to Eligible Nursing Home	Any applicable withdrawal charge will be waived on a total withdrawal prior to the Maturity Date if confined to an Eligible Nursing Home.	Optional	No charge	•For Contracts issued on or after May 1, 2002. •Not offered in MA and NY.
Standard Death Benefit	If the Owner dies before the Annuity Commencement Date, the Death Benefit will be the greater of the Contract Value or the Minimum Death Benefit, less any Debt. If the Annuitant dies during the Pay- out Period after an Annuity Option has been selected, and, we make the remaining guaranteed payments to the Beneficiary.	Standard	No charge	We do not make any payments to a Beneficiary if the last surviving Covered Person dies while we are making payments under an Annuity Option providing only for payments for life.

What happens if the Annuitant dies before my Contract’s Maturity Date?

Guaranteed Minimum Death Benefit

Independence Variable Annuity Contracts. If the Annuitant dies before your Contract’s Maturity Date, we will pay a death benefit. If the death occurs before the Contract Anniversary nearest the Annuitant’s 75th birthday, we will pay the greater of:

• the Contract Value; or

• the total amount of Purchase Payments made, minus any withdrawals and related withdrawal charges.

If the death occurs on or after the Contract Anniversary nearest the Annuitant’s 75th birthday, we will pay an amount equal to the total value of your Contract.

Independence Preferred Variable Annuity Contracts. If the Annuitant dies before your Contract’s Maturity Date, we will pay a death benefit that is the greatest of:

• the Contract Value; or

• the total amount of Purchase Payments made, minus any withdrawals and related withdrawal charges; or

• in states where permitted by law, the “highest total value” of your Contract as of any third interval anniversary of your Contract to date (preceding the anniversary nearest the Annuitant’s 81st birthday), plus any Purchase Payments you have made since that anniversary, minus any withdrawals you have taken (and any related withdrawal charges) since that anniversary.

We calculate the “highest total value” as follows: On the third anniversary of your Contract (and every third anniversary thereafter until the anniversary closest to the Annuitant’s 81st birthday), we compute the total value of your Contract adjusting for Purchase Payments and withdrawals since that anniversary. We compare that amount to the amounts described in the first two bullets. The greatest of these three amounts forms a minimum that may increase on subsequent third interval anniversaries with favorable investment performance and Additional Purchase Payments but will never decrease unless withdrawals are taken.

Independence 2000 Variable Annuity Contracts. If the Annuitant dies before your Contract’s Maturity Date, we will pay a death benefit, that is the greatest of:

• the Contract Value; or

• the total amount of Purchase Payments made, minus any withdrawals and related withdrawal charges; or

• in states where permitted, the highest total value of your Contract as of any “fifth interval anniversary” of your Contract to date, plus any Purchase Payments you have made since that anniversary, minus any withdrawals you have taken (and any related withdrawal charges) since that anniversary.

We calculate the “highest total value” as follows: On each “fifth interval anniversary” of your Contract, we compute the total value of your Contract adjusting for Purchase Payments and withdrawals since that anniversary. We compare that amount to the amounts described in the first two bullets. The greatest of these three amounts forms a minimum which may increase on subsequent fifth interval anniversaries with favorable investment performance and Additional Purchase Payments but will never decrease unless withdrawals are taken.

To determine any “fifth interval anniversary” of your Contract, we count only those anniversaries that occur:

• before we receive proof of the Annuitant’s death; and

• before the Annuitant turns age 81.

The initial “fifth interval anniversary” is the fifth anniversary of your Contract if the Annuitant is less than age 81 at that time. We calculate the death benefit as of the day we receive, at the Annuities Service Center:

• proof of the Annuitant’s death; and

• the required instructions as to method of settlement.

All Contracts. Unless you have elected an optional method of settlement, we will pay the death benefit in a single sum to the Beneficiary you chose prior to the Annuitant’s death. If you have not elected an optional method of settlement, the Beneficiary may do so. However, if the death benefit is less than $5,000, we will pay it in a lump sum, regardless of any election.

Distribution Requirements Following Death of Owner

If you did not purchase your Contract under a Qualified Plan, the Code requires that the following distribution provisions apply if you die. We summarize these provisions below (if your Contract has joint Owners, these provisions apply upon the death of the first to die).

In most cases, these provisions do not cause a problem if you are also the Annuitant under your Contract. If you have designated someone other than yourself as the Annuitant, however, your Beneficiary(ies) will have less discretion than you would have had in determining when and how the Contract Value would be paid out.

The Code imposes very similar distribution requirements on Contracts used to fund Qualified Plans. We provide the required provisions for Qualified Plans in separate disclosures and endorsements.

If you die before annuity payments have begun:

• if the Contract’s designated Beneficiary is your surviving Spouse, your Spouse may continue the Contract as the new Owner without triggering adverse federal tax consequences;

• if the Beneficiary is not your surviving Spouse or if the Beneficiary is your surviving Spouse but chooses not to continue the Contract, the “entire interest” (as discussed below) in the Contract on the date of your death must be:

• paid out in full within five years of your death; or

• where the Beneficiary is an individual, applied in full towards the purchase of a life annuity on the Beneficiary with payments commencing within one year of your death.

If you are the last surviving Annuitant, as well as the Owner, the entire interest in the Contract on the date of your death equals the death benefit that then becomes payable. If you are the Owner but not the last surviving Annuitant, the entire interest equals:

• the Surrender Value if paid out in full within five years of your death; or

• where the Beneficiary is an individual, your Contract Value applied in full towards the purchase of a life annuity on the Beneficiary with payments commencing within one year of your death.

If you die on or after annuity payments have begun, any remaining amount that we owe must be paid out at least as rapidly as under the method of making annuity payments that is then in use.

We continue to assess the asset-based charges during this period, even though we bear only the expense risk and not any mortality risk (see “VI. Basic Information – What fees and charges are deducted from my Contract? – Asset-Based Charges”).

Notice of the death of an Owner or Annuitant should be furnished promptly to the John Hancock Annuities Service Center.

We will pay the death benefit within seven calendar days of the date that we determine the amount of the death benefit, subject to postponement under the same circumstances for which payment of withdrawals may be postponed (see “VI. Basic Information – How can I withdraw money from my Contract?”). Beneficiaries who opt for a lump sum payout of their portion of the death benefit may choose to receive the funds either in a single check or wire transfer or in a John Hancock Safe Access Account (“JHSAA”). Similar to a checking account, the JHSAA provides the Beneficiary access to the payout funds via a checkbook, and account funds earn interest at a variable interest rate. Any interest paid may be taxable. The Beneficiary can obtain the remaining death benefit proceeds in a single sum at any time by cashing one check for the entire amount. Note, however, that a JHSAA is not a true checking account, but is solely a means of distributing the death benefit. The Beneficiary can make only withdrawals, and not deposits. The JHSAA is part of our General Account; it is not a bank account and it is not insured by the FDIC or any other government agency. As part of our General Account, it is subject to the claims of our creditors. We receive a benefit from all amounts left in the JHSAA.

You can find more information about optional methods of settlement under “Annuity Options.”

Do I receive Transaction Confirmations?

We will send you a confirmation statement for certain transactions in your Investment Accounts. You should carefully review these transaction confirmations to verify their accuracy. Please report any mistakes immediately to our Annuities Service Center (at the address or phone number shown on the back cover of this Prospectus). If you fail to notify our Annuities Service Center of any mistake within 60 days of the delivery of the transaction confirmation, you will be deemed to have ratified the transaction. Please contact the John Hancock Annuities Service Center at the applicable telephone number or internet address shown on the back cover of this Prospectus for more information on electronic transactions.

VII. General Information about Us, the Separate Accounts and the Portfolios

The Company

We are a stock life insurance company originally organized under the laws of Maine on August 20, 1955 by a special act of the Maine legislature. We redomesticated under the laws of Michigan on December 30, 1992. We are authorized to transact life insurance and annuity business in all states (except New York), the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Our principal office is located at 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116. We also have an Annuities Service Center – its mailing address is PO Box 55444, Boston, MA 02205-5444, and its overnight mail address is 372 University Ave – Suite 55444, Westwood, MA 02090.

Our ultimate parent is Manulife Financial Corporation, a publicly traded company, based in Toronto, Canada. Manulife Financial Corporation is the holding company of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, collectively known as Manulife. The Company changed its name to John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) on January 1, 2005 following Manulife Financial Corporation’s acquisition of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc.

The Company incurs obligations under the Contract to guarantee certain amounts, and investors must depend on the financial strength of the Company for satisfaction of the Company’s obligations such as the death benefit and fixed Annuity Options. You should be aware that, unlike the Separate Accounts, the Company’s General Account is not segregated or insulated from the claims of the Company’s creditors. The General Account consists of securities and other investments that may decline in value during periods of adverse market conditions. The Company’s financial statements contained in the SAI include a further discussion of risks inherent within the Company’s General Account investments.

The Separate Accounts

Effective December 31, 2009, we entered into a merger agreement with John Hancock Life Insurance Company (“JHLICO”) and John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company (“JHVLICO”) and assumed legal ownership of all of the assets of JHLICO and JHVLICO, including those assets related to the separate account that currently funds your Contract: John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W (formerly John Hancock Variable Annuity Account U), John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account R (formerly John Hancock Variable Annuity Account I) or John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account X (formerly John Hancock Variable Annuity Account V). Effective at the time of the merger, we became the depositor of John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account R and John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account X.

Except for the succession of John Hancock USA as the depositor for the Separate Accounts and to the liabilities and obligations arising under the Contracts, the merger did not affect the Separate Accounts or any provisions of, any rights and obligations under, or any of your allocations among Investment Options under, the Contracts. We will continue to administer and service inforce Contracts of JHLICO and JHVLICO in all jurisdictions where issued and will assume the direct responsibility for the payment of all claims and benefits and other obligations under these Contracts.

You do not invest directly in the Portfolios made available under the Contracts. When you direct or transfer money to a Variable Investment Option, we will purchase shares of a corresponding Portfolio through one of the following Separate Accounts, depending on the Contract you purchased: John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account R, or John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account X. Please refer to your Contract. We hold the Portfolio’s shares in a “Subaccount” (usually with a name similar to that of the corresponding Portfolio).

The Company established John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Accounts under Massachusetts law. Each Separate Account’s assets, including the Portfolios’ shares, belong to John Hancock USA. Each Contract provides that amounts held in its Separate Account pursuant to the Contract cannot be reached by any other persons who may have claims against the Company.

The income, gains and losses, whether or not realized, from assets of each Separate Account are credited to or charged against that Separate Account without regard to our other income, gains, or losses. Nevertheless, all obligations arising under the

Contracts are general corporate obligations of the Company. Assets of our Separate Accounts may not be charged with liabilities arising out of any of our other business. The Company is obligated to pay all amounts promised to investors under the Contracts.

We reserve the right, subject to compliance with applicable law: to add other Subaccounts; to eliminate existing Subaccounts; or to combine Subaccounts or transfer assets in one Subaccount to another Subaccount that we, or an affiliated company, may establish. We will not eliminate existing Subaccounts or combine Subaccounts without the prior approval of the appropriate state and/or federal regulatory authorities.

The Portfolios

When you select a Variable Investment Option, we invest your money in a Subaccount of our Separate Account and it invests in NAV shares of a corresponding Portfolio of John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust.

The Portfolios are NOT publicly traded mutual funds. The Portfolios are available to you only as Investment Options in the Contracts or, in some cases, through other variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies issued by us or by other life insurance companies. In some cases, the Portfolios also may be available through participation in certain tax-qualified pension, retirement or college savings plans.

Investment Management

The Portfolios’ investment advisers and managers may manage publicly traded mutual funds with similar names and investment objectives. However, the Portfolios are NOT directly related to any publicly traded mutual fund. You should not compare the performance of any Portfolio described in this Prospectus with the performance of a publicly traded mutual fund. The performance of any publicly traded mutual fund could differ substantially from that of any of the Portfolios held in our Separate Account.

Our Managed Volatility Portfolio

In selecting the Portfolios that are available as Investment Options under the Contract, we may establish requirements that are intended, among other things, to mitigate market price and interest rate risk for compatibility with our obligations to pay guarantees and benefits under the Contract. We seek to make available an Investment Option that uses strategies that are intended to lower potential volatility of returns and limit the magnitude of Portfolio losses. These include, but are not limited to, strategies that: encourage diversification in asset classes and style; combine equity exposure with exposure to fixed income securities; and allow us to effectively and efficiently manage our exposure under the Contracts. The requirements we impose are intended to protect us from loss. They may increase a Portfolio’s transaction costs, and may otherwise lower the performance and reduce the availability of Investment Options under the Contract.

During rising markets, the strategies employed to manage volatility could result in your Contract Value rising less than would have been the case if you had been invested in a Portfolio without the managed volatility strategy. The managed volatility strategy may also suppress the value of the guaranteed Rider benefits. On the other hand, the managed volatility strategy seeks to manage the volatility of returns and limit the magnitude of Portfolio losses during declining markets with high volatility, although there is no guarantee that it will do so.

The Managed Volatility Portfolio offered under the Contract has the following objective and strategies:

Managed Volatility Balanced Portfolio. Seeks growth of capital and current income while seeking to both manage the volatility of return and limit the magnitude of Portfolio losses. The Portfolio seeks to limit the volatility of returns to a range of 8.25% to 10.25%. The Portfolio is a fund of funds and invests primarily in underlying portfolios that invest primarily in equity securities and underlying portfolios that invest primarily in fixed-income securities. The Portfolio’s risk management strategy may cause the Portfolio’s economic exposure to equity securities, fixed-income securities and cash and cash equivalents to fluctuate and during extreme market volatility, the Portfolio’s economic exposure to either equity securities or fixed-income securities could be reduced to 0% and its economic exposure to cash and cash equivalents could increase to 100%. The subadvisor normally will seek to limit the Portfolio’s exposure to equity securities (either directly or through investment in underlying portfolios or derivatives) to no more than 55% and normally will seek to reduce any equity exposure in excess of this amount as soon as practicable. However, the subadvisor may determine in light of market or economic conditions that the limit should be exceeded to achieve the Portfolio’s investment objective.

You can find a full description of the Managed Volatility Balanced Portfolio, including the investment objective, policies and restrictions of, and the risks relating to, investment in the Portfolio in the prospectus for that Portfolio.

The John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust is a so-called “series” type mutual fund and is registered under the 1940 Act as an open-end management investment company. John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC (“JHVTA LLC”) provides investment advisory services to the John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust and receives investment management fees for doing so. JHVTA LLC pays a portion of its investment management fees to other firms that manage the John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust’s Portfolios (i.e., subadvisers). JHVTA LLC is our affiliate and we indirectly benefit from any investment management fees JHVTA LLC retains.

The John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust has obtained an order from the SEC permitting JHVTA LLC, subject to approval by the Board of Trustees, to change a subadviser for a Portfolio or the fees paid to subadvisers and to enter into new subadvisory agreements from time to time without the expense and delay associated with obtaining shareholder approval of the change. This order does not, however, permit JHVTA LLC to appoint a subadviser that is an affiliate of JHVTA LLC or the John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust (other than by reason of serving as subadviser to a Portfolio) (an “Affiliated Subadviser”) or to change a subadvisory fee of an Affiliated Subadviser without the approval of shareholders.

If shares of a Portfolio are no longer available for investment or in our judgment investment in a Portfolio becomes inappropriate, we may eliminate the shares of a Portfolio and substitute shares of another Portfolio, or of another open-end registered investment company. A substitution may be made with respect to both existing investments and the investment of future Purchase Payments. However, we will make no such substitution without first notifying you and obtaining approval of the SEC (to the extent required by the 1940 Act).

Portfolio Expenses

Fees and expenses of the Portfolios include investment management fees and other operating expenses. The fees and expenses are not fixed or specified under the terms of the Contracts and may vary from year to year. These fees and expenses differ for each Portfolio and reduce the investment return of each Portfolio. Therefore, they also indirectly reduce the return you might earn on any Separate Account Investment Options.

All of the Portfolios are NAV class shares that are not subject to Rule 12b-1 fees. These NAV class shares commenced operations on April 29, 2005. The NAV class shares of a Portfolio are based upon the expense ratios of the Portfolio’s Series I shares for the year ended December 31, 2023, adjusted to reflect the absence of any Rule 12b-1 fee.

The Portfolios pay us or certain of our affiliates compensation for some of the distribution, administrative, shareholder support, marketing and other services we or our affiliates provide to the Portfolios. The amount of this compensation is based on a percentage of the assets of the Portfolios attributable to the variable insurance products that we and our affiliates issue. These percentages may differ from Portfolio to Portfolio and among classes of shares within a Portfolio. Compensation payments may be made by a Portfolio’s investment adviser or its affiliates. None of these compensation payments results in any additional charge to you.

Funds of Funds

Each of the John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust’s Lifestyle Balanced Portfolio, Lifestyle Growth Portfolio and Managed Volatility Balanced Portfolio (“JHVIT Funds of Funds”) is a “fund of funds” that invests in other underlying mutual funds. Expenses for a fund of funds may be higher than those for other Portfolios because a fund of funds bears its own expenses and indirectly bears its proportionate share of expenses of the underlying portfolios in which it invests. The prospectus for each of these JHVIT Funds of Funds contains a description of the underlying portfolios for that Portfolio, including expenses of the portfolios, associated investment risks, and deductions from and expenses paid out of the assets of the Portfolio.

Portfolio Investment Objectives

You bear the investment risk of any Portfolio you choose as a Variable Investment Option for your Contract. Information regarding each Portfolio Company, including its name, a brief statement concerning its investment objectives, its investment adviser and any sub-investment adviser, current expenses, and performance is available in “Appendix: Portfolios Available Under the Contract.”

VIII. Information About the Fixed Investment Option

In General

All of John Hancock USA’s general assets support its obligations under the Fixed Investment Option (as well as all of its other obligations and liabilities). We invest the assets of the Fixed Investment Option in our General Account. You have no interest in or preferential claim on any of the assets held in our General Account. The investments we purchase with amounts you allocate to the Fixed Investment Option belong to us and we bear all the investment risk on that money as long as it is in this option. You will earn interest at the applicable ownership rate of return even if we experience an investment loss on the assets allocated to this option; any favorable investment performance on these assets, however, belongs to us.

Because of exemptive and exclusionary provisions, interests in the Fixed Investment Option have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933. We have been advised that the SEC staff has not reviewed the disclosure in this Prospectus relating to the Fixed Investment Option. Disclosure regarding the Fixed Investment Option is, however, subject to certain generally-applicable provisions of the federal securities laws relating to accuracy and completeness of statements made in prospectuses.

How the Fixed Investment Option Works

Under current practice, we credit interest to amounts allocated to the Fixed Investment Option based on the size of the initial Purchase Payment. We credit a higher rate for initial Purchase Payments of $10,000 or more. The rate of interest credited on each amount varies based upon when that amount was allocated to the Fixed Investment Option.

IX. The Accumulation Period

Your Value in our Variable Investment Options

Each Purchase Payment or transfer that you allocate to a Variable Investment Option purchases accumulation units of that Variable Investment Option. Similarly, each withdrawal or transfer that you take from a Variable Investment Option (as well as certain charges that may be allocated to that option) results in a cancellation of such accumulation units.

Valuation of Accumulation Units

To determine the number of accumulation units that a specific transaction will purchase or cancel, we use the following formula:

dollar amount of transaction

divided by

value of one accumulation unit for the

applicable Variable Investment Option

at the time of such transaction

The value of each accumulation unit will change daily depending upon the investment performance of the Portfolio that corresponds to that Variable Investment Option and certain charges we deduct from such Investment Option (see “Variable Investment Option Valuation Procedures”).

Therefore, at any time prior to the Maturity Date, the portion of the Contract Value in any Variable Investment Option can be computed according to the following formula:

number of accumulation units in the

applicable Variable Investment Option

multiplied by

value of one accumulation unit for the

Variable Investment Option at that time

Variable Investment Option Valuation Procedures

We compute the net investment return and accumulation unit values for each Variable Investment Option as of the end of each Business Day. On any date other than a Business Day, the accumulation unit value will be the same as the value at the close of the next following Business Day.

Your Value in the Fixed Investment Option

On any date, the total value of your Contract in the Fixed Investment Option equals:

• the amount of Purchase Payments or transferred amounts allocated to the Fixed Investment Option; minus

• the amount of any withdrawals or transfers paid out of the Fixed Investment Option; plus

• interest compounded daily on any amounts in the Fixed Investment Option at the effective annual rate of interest we have declared; minus

• the amount of any charges and fees deducted from the Fixed Investment Option.

X. The Annuity Period

Maturity Date

Your Contract specifies the Maturity Date, when payments from one of our Annuity Options are scheduled to begin. You initially chose a Maturity Date when you completed your application for a Contract. Unless we otherwise permit, the Maturity Date must be:

• at least 6 months after the date the first Purchase Payment is applied to your Contract; and

• no later than the maximum age specified in your Contract.

Subject always to these requirements, you may subsequently select an earlier Maturity Date or a later date, so long as it is not more than 5 years after the original Maturity Date. Maturity Dates which occur when the Annuitant is at an advanced age, e.g., past age 90, may have adverse income tax consequences. Also, if you are selecting or changing your Maturity Date for a Contract issued under a Qualified Plan, special limits apply (see “XI. Federal Tax Matters”). The Annuities Service Center must receive your new selection at least 31 days prior to the new Maturity Date. In the case of Independence Variable Annuity Contracts, if you purchased your Contract in Washington, you cannot change the Maturity Date.

Notice of Maturity Date. Under our current administrative procedures, we will send you one or more notices at least 30 days before your scheduled Maturity Date and request that you verify information we currently have on file. If you fail to verify this information, or if you do not choose an Annuity Option, do not make a total withdrawal of the Surrender Value, or do not ask us to change the Maturity Date to a later date, we will provide as a default Annuity Option A – a life annuity with monthly payments guaranteed for ten years, as described in “Annuity Options” below.

Choosing Fixed or Variable Annuity Payments

During the annuity period, the total value of your Contract must be allocated to no more than four Investment Options. During the annuity period, we offer annuity payments on a fixed basis as one Investment Option, and annuity payments on a variable basis for each Variable Investment Option.

We generally apply (1) amounts allocated to the Fixed Investment Options as of the Maturity Date to provide annuity payments on a fixed basis and (2) amounts allocated to Variable Investment Options to provide annuity payments on a variable basis. If you are using more than four Investment Options on the Maturity Date, we divide your Contract Value pro rata among the four Investment Options with the largest values, based on the amount of the total value of your Contract that you have in each.

Once annuity payments commence, you may not make transfers from fixed to variable or from variable to fixed.

Selecting an Annuity Option

Each Contract provides, at the time of its issuance, for annuity payments to commence on the Maturity Date pursuant to Option A: “Life Annuity with Payments for a Guaranteed Period” for a 10 year period (discussed under “Annuity Options”).

Prior to the Maturity Date, you may select a different Annuity Option. However, if your Contract Value on the Maturity Date is less than $5,000, Option A: “Life Annuity with Payments for a Guaranteed Period” for the 10 year period will apply, regardless of any other election that you have made. You may not change the form of Annuity Option once payments commence.

If the initial monthly payment under an Annuity Option would be less than $50, we may make a single sum payment equal to the total Surrender Value of your Contract on the date the initial payment would be payable. Such single payment would replace all other benefits. Alternatively, if you agree, we will make payments at quarterly, semi-annual, or annual intervals in place of monthly payments.

Subject to that $50 minimum limitation, your Beneficiary may elect an Annuity Option if:

• you have not made an election prior to the Annuitant’s death;

• the Beneficiary is entitled to payment of a death benefit of at least $5,000 in a single sum; and

• the Beneficiary notifies us of the election prior to the date the proceeds become payable.

If the Contract Value, at death or surrender, is less than $5,000, no Annuity Option will be available.

Variable Monthly Annuity Payments

During the Annuity Period, the Contract Value must be allocated to no more than four Investment Options. During the Annuity Period, we offer annuity payments on a variable basis for each Variable Investment Option. If you are using more than four Investment Options on the Maturity Date, under a deferred Contract, we will divide your Contract Value (after deducting any premium tax charge that was not deducted from Purchase Payments) among the four Investment Options with the largest values, pro rata based on the amount of the Contract Value that you have in each.

We determine the amount of the first variable monthly payment under any Variable Investment Option by using the applicable annuity purchase rate for the Annuity Option under which the payment will be made. The Contract sets forth these annuity purchase rates. In most cases they vary by the age and gender of the Annuitant or other payee.

The amount of each subsequent Variable Annuity payment under that Variable Investment Option depends upon the investment performance of that Variable Investment Option.

Here’s how it works:

• We calculate the actual net investment return of the Variable Investment Option (after deducting all charges) during the period between the dates for determining the current and immediately previous monthly payments;

• If that actual net investment return exceeds the “assumed investment rate” (explained below), the current monthly payment will be larger than the previous one;

• If the actual net investment return is less than the assumed investment rate, the current monthly payment will be smaller than the previous one.

Variable Investment Option Valuation Procedures

We compute the net investment return and Annuity Unit values for each Variable Investment Option as of the end of each Business Day. On any date other than a Business Day, the Annuity Unit value will be the same as the value at the close of the next following Business Day.

Assumed Investment Rate

The assumed investment rate for any variable portion of your annuity payments will be 3½% per year, except as follows.

You may elect an assumed investment rate of 5% or 6%, provided such a rate is available in your state. If you elect a higher assumed investment rate, your initial Variable Annuity payment will also be higher. Eventually, however, the monthly Variable Annuity payments may be smaller than if you had elected a lower assumed investment rate.

Fixed Monthly Annuity Payments

The dollar amount of each fixed monthly annuity payment is specified during the entire period of annuity payments, according to the provisions of the Annuity Option selected. To determine such dollar amount we first, in accordance with the procedures described above, calculate the amount to be applied to the Fixed Annuity Option as of the Maturity Date. We then subtract any applicable premium tax charge and divide the difference by $1,000. We then multiply the result by the greater of:

• the applicable Fixed Annuity purchase rate shown in the appropriate table in the Contract; or

• the rate we currently offer at the time of annuitization. (This current rate may be based on the sex of the Annuitant, unless prohibited by law.)

Annuity Options

Here are some of the Annuity Options that are available, subject to the terms and conditions described above. We reserve the right to make available optional methods of payment in addition to those Annuity Options listed here and in your Contract. Periodic payment amounts will differ based on the Annuity Option selected. Generally, the longer the possible payment period, the lower the payment amount.

Two basic Annuity Options are available:

Option A: Life Annuity with Payments for a Guaranteed Period. We will make monthly payments for a guaranteed period of 5, 10, or 20 years, as selected by you or your Beneficiary, and after such period for as long as the payee lives. If the payee dies prior to the end of such guaranteed period, we will continue payments for the remainder of the Fixed Investment Option to a contingent payee, subject to the terms of any supplemental agreement issued.

Federal income tax requirements currently applicable to contracts used with Qualified Plans, including IRAs, provide that the period of years guaranteed under Option A cannot be any greater than the joint life expectancies of the payee and his or her designated Beneficiary.

Option B: Life Annuity without Further Payment on Death of Payee. We will make monthly payments to the payee as long as he or she lives. We guarantee no minimum number of payments.

For Independence Preferred Variable Annuity and Independence 2000 Variable Annuity Contracts:

If the payee is more than 85 years old on the Maturity Date, the following two options are not available:

• Option A: “Life Annuity with Payments for a Guaranteed Period” for the 5 year period; and

• Option B: “Life Annuity without Further Payment on the Death of Payee.”

XI. Federal Tax Matters

Introduction

The following discussion of the federal income tax treatment of the Contract is not exhaustive, does not purport to cover all situations, and is not intended as tax advice. The federal income tax treatment of a Contract is quite complex; please consult a qualified tax professional with regard to the application of the law to your circumstances. This discussion is based on the Code, Treasury Department regulations, and Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) rulings and interpretations existing on the date of this Prospectus. These authorities, however, are subject to change by Congress, the Treasury Department and judicial decisions.

This discussion does not address state or local tax consequences associated with a Contract. Further, this discussion also does not address the potential tax and withholding rules that might apply to a Contract held by, or distributions paid to, any foreign person, including any foreign financial institution, other entity or individual. Please consult with your tax professional if there is a possibility that a Contract might be held by, or payable to, a foreign person. In addition, we make no guarantee regarding any tax treatment – federal, state, or local – of any Contract or of any transaction involving a Contract.

Our Tax Status

We are taxed as a life insurance company. Under current tax law rules, we include the investment income (exclusive of capital gains) of a Separate Account in our taxable income and take deductions for investment income credited to our “policyholder reserves.” We are also required to capitalize and amortize certain costs instead of deducting those costs when they are incurred. We do not currently charge a Separate Account for any resulting income tax costs. We also claim certain tax credits or deductions relating to foreign taxes paid and dividends received by the Portfolios. These benefits can be material. We do not pass these benefits through to a Separate Account, principally because: (i) the deductions and credits are allowed to the Company and not the Contract Owners under applicable tax law; and (ii) the deductions and credits do not represent investment return on Separate Account assets that is passed through to Contract Owners.

The Contracts permit us to deduct a charge for any taxes we incur that are attributable to the operation or existence of the Contracts or a Separate Account. Currently, we do not anticipate making a charge for such taxes. If the level of the current taxes increases, however, or is expected to increase in the future, we reserve the right to make a charge in the future. (Please note that this discussion applies to federal income tax but not to any state and local taxes.)

What are the tax consequences of owning a Contract?

• withdrawals (including any surrenders and systematic withdrawals);

• payment of any death benefit proceeds;

• periodic payments under one of our annuity payment options;

• certain ownership changes; and

• any loan, assignment or pledge of the Contract as collateral.

How much you will be taxed on distribution is based upon complex tax rules and depends on matters such as:

• the type of the distribution;

• when the distribution is made;

• the nature of any Qualified Plan for which the Contract is being used; and

• the circumstances under which the payments are made.

If your Contract was issued in connection with a Qualified Plan, all of part of your Purchase Payments may be tax-deductible or excludible from income.

A 10% penalty tax applies in many cases to the taxable portion of any distributions from a Contract before you reach age 59½. Also, most Qualified Plans require that minimum distributions from a Contract commence and/or be completed within a

certain period of time. This effectively limits the period of time during which you can continue to derive tax deferral benefits from any tax-deductible or tax-deferred Purchase Payments you made or on any earnings under the Contract.

A Contract purchased as an investment vehicle for a Qualified Plan, including an IRA, does not provide any additional tax-deferral benefits beyond the treatment provided by the Qualified Plan. The favorable tax benefits available for Qualified Plans that invest in annuity contracts are also generally available if the Qualified Plan purchases other types of investments, such as mutual funds, equities and debt investments. However, the Contract offers features and benefits that other investments may not offer, including the Investment Options and protection through living guarantees, death benefits and other benefits. Please note that federal tax law changes limit certain annuitization and beneficiary payout options for contracts held as part of a Qualified Plan, including an IRA. Purchasers of Contracts for use with any retirement plan should consult with a qualified tax professional.

We make no attempt to provide more than general information about use of the Contract with the various types of retirement plans.

General Information Regarding Nonqualified Contracts

(Contracts Not Purchased to Fund an IRA or Other Qualified Plan)

Tax Deferral During Accumulation Period

Except where the Owner is not an individual, we expect our Contracts to be considered annuity contracts under section 72 of the Code. This means that, ordinarily, federal income tax on any gains in your Contract will be deferred until we actually make a distribution to you or you assign or pledge an interest in your Contract.

However, a Contract held by an Owner other than a natural person (for example, a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust, or other such entity) does not generally qualify as an annuity contract for tax purposes. Any increase in value therefore would constitute ordinary taxable income to such an Owner in the year earned. Notwithstanding this general rule, a Contract will ordinarily be treated as held by a natural person if the nominal Owner is a trust or other entity which holds the Contract as an agent for a natural person. This exception does not apply in the case of any employer which is the nominal owner of an annuity contract under a nonqualified deferred compensation arrangement for its employees.

In addition to the foregoing, if the Contract’s Maturity Date occurs, or is scheduled to occur, at a time when the Annuitant is at an advanced age, such as over age 95, it is possible that the Owner will be taxed currently on the annual increase in the Contract Value.

The remainder of this discussion assumes that the Contract will constitute an annuity for federal tax purposes.

Aggregation of Contracts

In certain circumstances, the IRS may determine the portion of a withdrawal from a contract that is includible in income by combining some or all of the annuity contracts owned by an individual which are not issued in connection with a Qualified Plan.

For example, if you purchase two or more deferred annuity contracts from the same insurance company (or its affiliates) during any calendar year, all such contracts will be treated as one contract for purposes of determining whether any payment not received as an annuity (including withdrawals prior to the Maturity Date) is includible in income. Thus, if during a calendar year you bought two or more of the Contracts offered by this Prospectus (which might be done, for example, in order to purchase different guarantees and/or benefits under different contracts), all of such Contracts would be treated as one Contract in determining whether withdrawals from any of such Contracts are includible in income. The IRS may also require aggregation in other circumstances. Please consult a qualified tax professional if you own or intend to purchase more than one annuity contract.

The effects of such aggregation are not always clear and depend on the circumstances. However, aggregation could affect the amount of a withdrawal that is taxable and the amount that might be subject to the 10% penalty tax described below.

Exchanges of Annuity Contracts

We may have issued the Contract in exchange for all or part of another annuity contract that you owned. Such an exchange would be tax free if certain requirements were satisfied. If you satisfied these requirements, your investment in the Contract immediately after the exchange is generally the same as that of the annuity contract you exchanged, increased by any

Additional Purchase Payment you made as part of the exchange. Your investment in the Contract may be more, less or the same as the Contract Value immediately after the exchange. If your Contract Value exceeds your investment in the Contract, that excess represents gain in the Contract. You have to include that gain in your gross income if you subsequently take a withdrawal or distribution from the Contract (e.g., as a partial surrender, full surrender, annuity payment, or death benefit), or are deemed to receive a distribution (e.g., through a collateral assignment) from the Contract.

In Revenue Procedure 2011-38, the IRS amended the tax rules applicable to the partial exchange of an annuity contract for another annuity contract. If you exchange part of an existing Contract, and within 180 days of the exchange you receive a payment (e.g., you make a withdrawal) from either contract, all or a portion of the amount received could be includible in your income and also subject to a 10% penalty tax. The IRS has announced that it will apply general tax principles to determine the consequences of receiving such a payment. For example, the IRS could treat the payment as taxable only to the extent of the gain in the particular contract from which the payment was received. Alternatively, the IRS could determine that the payment was an integrated part of the exchange. In that case, the payment would be taxable to the extent of all the gain accumulated in the original Contract at the time of the partial exchange, regardless of whether the payment came from the existing Contract or from the contract received in the exchange. Application of general tax principles is dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. However, amounts received as an annuity during the 180-day period are not subject to the new rules, provided that the annuity payments will be made for a period of at least 10 years or for a life or joint lives.

EXAMPLE: An annuity Contract had $100,000 of Contract Value, of which $56,000 was gain and $44,000 was the Owner’s investment in the Contract, or “cost basis.” After October 23, 2011, the Owner did a partial exchange of 25% of the Contract Value for a new annuity contract. Of the $25,000 transferred to the new contract, $14,000 represents gain and $11,000 represents cost basis transferred from the original Contract. Two months after the partial exchange, the Owner takes a withdrawal from the new contract in the amount of $17,000. If the IRS treats the withdrawal as a distribution from the new contract, only $14,000 will be taxable as a distribution of income ($25,000 of contract value – $11,000 of cost basis in the new contract). If instead the IRS determines that the withdrawal is part of the exchange, the entire $17,000 is taxable as income because there was $56,000 of gain in the original Contract at the time of the exchange.

Please consult with your own qualified tax professional in connection with an exchange of all or part of a Contract for another annuity contract, especially if you make a withdrawal from either contract after the exchange. The date a partial exchange occurs will be a factor in determining the tax treatment of subsequent withdrawals and other distributions from either contract.

Loss of Interest Deduction Where Contracts are Held by or for the Benefit of Certain Non-Natural Persons

In the case of Contracts issued after June 8, 1997 to a non-natural taxpayer (such as a corporation or a trust), or held for the benefit of such an entity, a portion of otherwise deductible interest may not be deductible by the entity, regardless of whether the interest relates to debt used to purchase or carry the Contract. However, this interest deduction disallowance does not affect Contracts where the income on such Contracts is treated as ordinary income that is received or accrued by the Owner during the taxable year. Entities that have purchased the Contract, or entities that will be Beneficiaries under the Contract, should consult a qualified tax professional.

Taxation of Annuity Payments

When we make payments under a Nonqualified Contract in the form of an annuity, normally a portion of each annuity payment is taxable as ordinary income. The taxable portion of an annuity payment is equal to the excess of the payment over the exclusion amount.

In the case of Variable Annuity payments, the exclusion amount is the investment in the Contract when payments begin to be made divided by the number of payments expected to be made (taking into account the Annuitant’s life expectancy and the form of annuity benefit selected). In the case of Fixed Annuity payments, the exclusion amount is based on the investment in the Contract and the total expected value of Fixed Annuity payments for the term of the Contract (determined under Treasury Department regulations). In general, your investment in the Contract equals the aggregate amount of Purchase Payments you have made over the life of the Contract, reduced by any amounts previously distributed from the Contract that were not subject to income-tax.

Once you have recovered your total investment in the Contract tax-free, further annuity payments will be fully taxable. If annuity payments cease because the Annuitant dies before all of the investment in the Contract is recovered, the unrecovered

amount generally will be allowed as a deduction on the Annuitant’s last tax return or, if there is a Beneficiary entitled to receive further payments, will be distributed to the Beneficiary as described more fully below under “Taxation of Death Benefit Proceeds.”

Section 72(a)(2) of the Code permits partial annuitization of an annuity contract and specifies that the cost basis, or investment in the contract, be allocated pro rata between the portion of the contract being annuitized and the portion of the contract remaining deferred. We do not permit you to apply any amount less than your entire Contract Value to the Annuity Options available under your Contract. Accordingly, any portion of your Contract that you withdraw to be annuitized will be reported to the IRS as a taxable distribution unless you transfer it into another contract in a partial exchange conforming to the rules of section 1035 of the Code and Rev. Proc. 2011-38. Any such withdrawal, whether carried out as a tax-deferred partial exchange or as a taxable withdrawal, will be subject to withdrawal charges.

Surrenders, Withdrawals, Transfers and Death Benefits

When we make a single sum payment consisting of the entire value of your Contract, you have ordinary taxable income to the extent the payment exceeds your investment in the Contract (discussed above). Such a single sum payment can occur, for example, if you surrender your Contract before the Maturity Date or if you or your Beneficiary do not select an extended payment option for a death benefit payment.

When you take a withdrawal from a Contract before the Maturity Date (or Annuity Commencement Date, if earlier), including a payment under a systematic withdrawal plan, all or part of the payment may constitute taxable ordinary income to you. If, on the date of withdrawal, the total value of your Contract exceeds the investment in the Contract, the excess will be considered gain and the withdrawal will be taxable as ordinary income up to the amount of such gain. If a withdrawal exceeds the gain in your Contract, the excess amount is a tax-free return of your investment in the Contract. If you have recovered your entire investment in the Contract, any additional withdrawals based upon a Rider guarantee will be subject to income tax. If you assign or pledge any part of your Contract Value, the value so pledged or assigned is taxed the same as an actual withdrawal.

For purposes of determining the amount of taxable income resulting from a single sum payment or a withdrawal, all nonqualified annuity contracts issued by us or our affiliates to the Owner within the same calendar year will be treated as if they were a single contract. Taxable withdrawals may also be subject to a penalty tax for premature withdrawals as explained below.

When an individual Owner transfers ownership of a Contract without receiving full and adequate consideration, the transfer is taxed like a surrender. The transferor must include in gross income the amount by which the cash surrender value exceeds any investment in the Contract. The amount included in income may also be subject to a penalty tax for premature withdrawals as explained below. The new Owner's investment in the Contract is increased by the amount included in the transferor's gross income as a result of the transfer. These tax issues may apply, for example, in situations where the Owner and Annuitant are not the same person, are not married to each other and ownership of the Contract transfers to the Annuitant upon annuitization. A qualified tax professional should be consulted in those situations. However, these tax rules do not apply to a transfer between Spouses or a transfer to a former Spouse incident to a divorce under Code section 1041.

Taxation of Death Benefit Proceeds

All or part of any death benefit proceeds may constitute a taxable payout of earnings. A death benefit payment generally results in taxable ordinary income to the extent of gain in the Contract.

Amounts may be distributed from a Contract because of the death of an Owner or the Annuitant. During the Accumulation Period, death benefit proceeds are includible in income as follows:

• if distributed in a single sum payment under our current administrative procedures, they are taxed in the same manner as a full withdrawal, as described above; or

• if distributed under an Annuity Option, they are taxed in the same manner as annuity payments, as described above; or

• if distributed as a series of withdrawals over the Beneficiary’s life expectancy, they are taxable to the extent there is gain in the Contract.

After a Contract matures and annuity payments begin, if the Contract guarantees payments for a stated period and the Annuitant dies before the end of that period, payments made to the Beneficiary for the remainder of that period are includible in the Beneficiary’s income as follows:

• if received in a single sum under our current administrative procedures, they are includible in income to the extent that they exceed the unrecovered investment in the Contract at that time; or

• if distributed in accordance with an existing Annuity Option other than a Period Certain Only Annuity Option, they are fully excludible from income until the remaining investment in the Contract has been recovered, and all annuity benefit payments thereafter are fully includible in income; or

• if distributed in accordance with an existing Period Certain Only Annuity Option, the payments are taxed the same as the annuity payments made before death. A portion of each annuity payment is includible in income and the remainder is excluded from income as a return of the investment in the Contract.

Penalty Tax on Premature Distributions

There is a 10% penalty tax on the taxable portion of any payment from a Nonqualified Contract. Exceptions to this penalty tax include distributions:

• received on or after the date on which the Contract Owner reaches age 59½;

• attributable to the Contract Owner becoming disabled (as defined in the tax law);

• made to a Beneficiary on or after the death of the Contract Owner or, if the Contract Owner is not an individual, on or after the death of the primary Annuitant;

• made as a series of substantially equal periodic payments (not less frequently than annually) for the life (or life expectancy) of the Contract Owner or for the joint lives (or joint life expectancies) of the Contract Owner and a designated Beneficiary;* or

• made with respect to certain annuities issued in connection with structured settlement agreements.

You may be subject to a retroactive application of the penalty tax, plus interest, if you begin taking a series of substantially equal periodic payments (Life Expectancy Distribution) and then modify the payment pattern (other than by reason of death or disability) before the later of your turning age 59½ and the passage of five years after the date of the first payment. Special rules apply when there is a partial 1035 exchange of a contract under which substantially equal periodic payments are being made. The exchange will not be treated as a modification, provided that the aggregate distributions from the two contracts continue to meet the requirements for substantially equal periodic payments as though the exchange had not taken place.

Diversification Requirements

Your Contract will not qualify for the tax benefits of an annuity contract unless the Separate Account follows certain rules requiring diversification of investments underlying the Contract. In addition, the rules require that the Contract Owner not have “investment control” over the underlying assets.

In certain circumstances, the Owner of a variable annuity contract may be considered the Owner, for federal income tax purposes, of the assets of the separate account used to support the contract. In those circumstances, income and gains from the separate account assets would be includible in the Contract Owner’s gross income. The IRS has stated in published rulings that a variable Contract Owner will be considered the owner of separate account assets if the Contract Owner possesses incidents of ownership in those assets, such as the ability to exercise investment control over the assets. A Treasury Decision issued in 1986 stated that guidance would be issued in the form of regulations or rulings on the “extent to which Policyholders may direct their investments to particular subaccounts of a separate account without being treated as owners of the underlying assets.” As of the date of this Prospectus, no comprehensive guidance on this point has been issued. In Rev. Rul. 2003-91, however, the IRS ruled that a contract holder would not be treated as the owner of assets underlying a variable annuity contract despite the owner’s ability to allocate funds among as many as twenty subaccounts.

The ownership rights under your Contract are similar to, but different in certain respects from, those described in IRS rulings in which the IRS determined that Contract Owners were not owners of separate account assets. Since you have greater flexibility in allocating premiums and Contract Value than was the case in those rulings, it is possible that you would be treated as the owner of your Contract’s proportionate share of the assets of the Separate Account.

We do not know what future Treasury Department regulations or other guidance may require. We cannot guarantee that an underlying Portfolio will be able to operate as currently described in its prospectus, or that a Portfolio will not have to change

any of its investment objectives and policies. We have reserved the right to modify your Contract if we believe doing so will prevent you from being considered the owner of your Contract’s proportionate share of the assets of the Separate Account, but we are under no obligation to do so.

Medicare Tax on Unearned Income

A Medicare tax applies to certain unearned income at a maximum rate of 3.8%. Also referred to as the Net Investment Income tax, the tax is imposed on an amount equal to the lesser of (a) “net investment income” or (b) the excess of the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income over a specified income threshold ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly, $125,000 for married couples filing separately, and $200,000 for everyone else). “Net investment income,” for these purposes, includes the excess (if any) of gross income from annuities, interest, dividends, royalties and rents, and certain net gain, over allowable deductions, as such terms are defined in the Code or as may be defined in future Treasury Regulations or IRS guidance. The term “net investment income” does not include any distribution from a plan or arrangement described in Code sections 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 408 (i.e., IRAs), 408A (i.e., Roth IRAs) or 457(b).

Please consult a qualified tax professional for further information about the impact of the additional Medicare Tax on your individual circumstances.

Puerto Rico Nonqualified Contracts

Distributions from Puerto Rico annuity contracts issued by us are subject to federal income taxation, withholding and reporting requirements as well as Puerto Rico tax laws. Both jurisdictions impose a tax on distributions. Under federal requirements, distributions are deemed to be income first. Under the Puerto Rico tax laws, however, distributions from a Contract not purchased to fund a Qualified Plan (“Nonqualified Contract”) are generally treated as a nontaxable return of principal until the principal is fully recovered. Thereafter, all distributions under a Nonqualified Contact are fully taxable. Puerto Rico does not currently impose an early withdrawal penalty tax on premature distributions from a Nonqualified Contract. The Code, however, does impose such a penalty and bases it on the amount that is taxable under federal rules.

Annuitized distributions under a Nonqualified Contract are treated as part taxable income and part non-taxable return of principal. With annuitization, the annual amount excluded from gross income under Puerto Rico tax law is equal to the amount of the distribution in excess of 3% of the total Purchase Payments paid, until an amount equal to the total Purchase Payments paid has been excluded. Thereafter, the entire distribution from a Nonqualified Contract is included in gross income. For federal income tax purposes, however, the portion of each annuity payment that is subject to tax is computed on the basis of investment in the Contract and the expected payout. Generally Puerto Rico does not require income tax to be withheld from distributions of income from Nonqualified Contracts. Although Puerto Rico allows a credit against its income tax for taxes paid to the federal government, you may not be able to use the credit fully.

General Information Regarding Qualified Contracts

(Contracts Purchased to Fund an IRA or Other Qualified Plan)

Numerous special tax rules apply to the participants in certain types of retirement plans that receive favorable treatment under the Code (“Qualified Plans”), and to the Contracts used in connection with these plans. We provide a brief description of types of Qualified Plans in this Prospectus and in the SAI, but make no attempt to provide more than general information in this Prospectus and the SAI about use of Contracts with the various types of Qualified Plans.

When we issue a Contract in connection with a Qualified Plan (“Qualified Contract”), we will amend the Contract as necessary to conform to the requirements of the Code. We have no responsibility, however, for determining whether a particular retirement plan or a particular contribution to the plan satisfies the applicable requirements of the Code, or whether a particular employee is eligible for inclusion under a plan. Your rights to any benefits under the plan may be subject to the terms and conditions of the plan itself, regardless of the terms and conditions of the Contracts.

A number of changes in the Code affect or will in the future affect Qualified Contracts, and the IRS has not yet released guidance on many of those changes. The discussion below is not intended to address all the tax rules applicable to Qualified Contracts. Please consult a qualified tax professional for specific information about the impact of tax rules and plan requirements on your particular facts and circumstances.

Additional Purchase Payments to Qualified Contracts

You may make Additional Purchase Payments to a Qualified Contract, subject to our requirements and limitations for Additional Purchase Payments (see “VI. Basic Information – How can I invest money in a Contract?” for information on our Additional Purchase Payment requirements and limitations):

• as a transfer from a traditional IRA to a Contract issued as a traditional IRA;

• as a direct or indirect rollover* from a retirement plan qualified under sections 401(a), 403(a) or 403(b) of the Code or a governmental deferred compensation plan described in section 457 of the Code to a Contract issued either as a traditional IRA or as a Roth IRA; or

• by making annual contributions to the extent permitted under the Code.

We use the term “direct rollovers” to refer to amounts that a Qualified Plan remits directly to us as an Additional Purchase Payment. We use the term “indirect rollovers” to refer to amounts that you may receive from a Qualified Plan, and then remit to us as an Additional Purchase Payment. The Code permits an indirect rollover to be tax-deferred if it is contributed to an IRA within 60 days of receipt. Note that an individual can make only one indirect rollover from his IRA(s) during any 12-month period. The tax law does not limit the number of indirect rollovers from other Qualified Plans to an IRA.

Distribution Requirements

The Code imposes requirements on Qualified Plans to comply with minimum distribution requirements. We provide general information, below, on minimum distribution requirements for traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs and certain other Qualified Plans.

Traditional IRAs

Section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) permits eligible individuals to contribute to an individual retirement program known as an Individual Retirement Annuity (“IRA”) or traditional IRA (to distinguish it from the Roth IRA discussed below). Contracts issued as traditional IRAs are subject to limits on the amounts that may be contributed, the persons who may be eligible and the time when distributions may commence. Under the tax rules, the Owner and the Annuitant may not be different individuals. If a co-Annuitant is named, all distributions made while the Annuitant is alive must be made to the Annuitant. The Contract does not qualify for use in connection with an Education IRA under section 530 of the Code.

The Contract may be issued with a death benefit or certain benefits provided by an optional Rider. The presence of such benefits may increase the amount of any required minimum distributions for IRAs and other Contracts subject to the Required Minimum Distribution (“RMD”) rules.

Under our current administrative rules, we do not permit a Beneficiary of a Contract intended for use as a traditional IRA to purchase a new optional benefit Rider if the Beneficiary elects to maintain it as an inherited IRA or an inherited Roth IRA.

Contributions to a Traditional IRA

Eligible rollover distributions from certain types of qualified retirement plans may be rolled over on a tax-deferred basis into a traditional IRA by former participants in the plans. For these purposes, eligible rollover distributions include lump sum amounts payable from the plan upon termination of employment, termination of the plan, disability or retirement. Eligible rollover distributions do not include (i) required minimum distributions as described in section 401(a)(9) of the Code, (ii) certain distributions for life, life expectancy, or for 10 years or more which are part of a “series of substantially equal periodic payments,” and (iii) if applicable, certain hardship withdrawals.

If you are the surviving Spouse and “designated beneficiary” (as defined in the tax law) of a participant in a tax-qualified retirement account, you may make a direct rollover contribution as an Additional Purchase Payment to a Contract issued as a traditional IRA to the extent permitted. See “VI. Basic Information – How can I invest money in a Contract?” for information on our Purchase Payment requirements.

Distributions from a Traditional IRA

In general, unless you rolled over non-deductible contributions from any other Qualified Plan or made non-deductible contributions to your Contract, all amounts paid out from a traditional IRA Contract (in the form of an annuity, a single sum, death benefits or partial withdrawal), are taxable as ordinary income to you or to your beneficiary for payments made after your death. You may incur an additional 10% penalty tax if you surrender the Contract or make a withdrawal before you reach

age 59½, unless certain exceptions apply as specified in section 72(t) of the Code. If any part of your direct rollover from a tax-qualified retirement plan includes after-tax contributions to the plan, or if you have made any non-deductible contributions to a Contract issued as a traditional IRA, part of any withdrawal or surrender distribution, single sum, death proceeds or annuity payment from the Contract may be excluded from taxable income when received.

You may make tax-deferred direct transfers from a Contract held as a Traditional IRA to another Traditional IRA. If instead you take a withdrawal with the intent to roll the proceeds to another IRA as an indirect rollover, you should be aware of certain limitations under the tax law. You must complete any indirect rollover within 60 days of receiving the withdrawal. Moreover, during any 12- month period, you can make only one indirect rollover, with respect to all IRAs you own including Roth IRAs. Any additional indirect rollover attempted during the 12-month period will be treated as a distribution, subject to income tax and potentially the 10% penalty tax.

A Beneficiary who is not your Spouse may make a direct transfer to an inherited IRA of the amount otherwise distributable to him or her under a Contract issued as a traditional IRA.

Required Minimum Distributions from a Traditional IRA

Treasury Department regulations prescribe required minimum distribution (“RMD”) rules governing the time at which distributions from a traditional IRA to the Owner and Beneficiary must commence and the form in which the distributions must be paid. These special rules may also require the length of any guarantee period to be limited. They also affect the restrictions that the Owner may impose on the timing and manner of payment of death benefits to a Beneficiary or the period of time over which a Beneficiary may extend payment of the death benefits under the Contract. In addition, the presence of the death benefit or a lifetime income benefit feature may affect the amount of the RMD that must be made under the Contract. Failure to comply with RMD requirements for tax years beginning after 2022 will result in the imposition of an excise tax, generally 25% of the amount by which the amount required to be distributed exceeds the actual distribution. The excise tax for tax years beginning after 2022 may be a lower 10% provided that a corrective distribution meets certain criteria.

In the case of IRAs (other than Roth IRAs), distributions of minimum amounts (as specified in the tax law) to the Owner must commence by April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the Owner turns age 70½, for those Contract Owners born before July 1, 1949. For Contract Owners born after June 30, 1949 and before January 1, 1951, distributions of minimum amounts must commence by April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the Owner turns age 72. For Contract Owners born after December 31, 1950 and before January 1, 1959, distributions of minimum amounts must begin by April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the Owner turns age 73. For Contract Owners born after 1958, the age at which minimum distributions must begin is scheduled to increase to age 75. The amount that must be distributed each year is computed on the basis of the Owner’s age, the value of the Contract (taking into account both the account balance and the actuarial present value of other benefits provided under the Contract), and the value of all other traditional IRAs owned by the taxpayer.

Distributions made from traditional IRAs (and Roth IRAs) after the Owner’s death must also comply with RMD requirements. Different rules governing the timing and the manner of payments apply, depending on whether the designated beneficiary is an individual and, if so, the Owner’s Spouse, or an individual other than the Owner’s Spouse. If you wish to impose restrictions on the timing and manner of payment of death benefits to your designated beneficiary or if your Beneficiary wishes to extend over a period of time the payment of the death benefits under your Contract, please consult your own qualified tax professional.

If you make a direct transfer of all the value from a traditional IRA to any other traditional IRA, the minimum distribution requirements (and taxes on the distributions) apply to amounts withdrawn from the other traditional IRA.

Penalty Tax on Premature Distributions from a Traditional IRA

A 10% penalty tax may be imposed on the taxable amount of any payment from a traditional IRA. The penalty tax does not apply to a payment:

• received on or after the date on which the Contract Owner reaches age 59½;

• received on or after the Contract Owner’s death or because of the Contract Owner’s disability (as defined in the tax law); or

You may be subject to a retroactive application of the penalty tax, plus interest, if you begin taking a series of substantially equal periodic payments and then modify the payment pattern (other than by reason of death or disability) before the later of your turning age 59½ and the passage of five years after the date of the first payment.

In addition, the penalty tax does not apply to certain distributions from IRAs that are used for first time home purchases or for higher education expenses, or to distributions made to certain eligible individuals called to active duty after September 11, 2001. Special conditions must be met to qualify for these three exceptions to the penalty tax. If you wish to take a distribution from a traditional IRA for these purposes, please consult with your own qualified tax professional.

Exceptions from the penalty tax also apply to certain distributions taken for qualified birth or adoption expenses and certain qualified disaster distributions. The Code also provides for the opportunity to repay such distributions to an eligible retirement plan, including an IRA. The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 created additional exceptions from the penalty tax. Please consult with your own qualified tax professional to determine whether you qualify for any of these exceptions and what tax treatment will apply to the distribution and any repayment, where the Code allows repayment of a distribution.

If you roll over a Contract issued as a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA by surrendering the Contract and purchasing a Roth IRA, you may be subject to federal income taxes, including withholding taxes. Please read “Conversion or Rollover to a Roth IRA,” below, for more information.

Roth IRAs

Section 408A of the Code permits eligible individuals to contribute to a type of IRA known as a Roth IRA. Roth IRAs are generally subject to the same rules as traditional IRAs, but they differ in certain significant ways with respect to the taxation of contributions and distributions.

Contributions to a Roth IRA

Unlike a traditional IRA, contributions to a Roth IRA are not deductible. As with a traditional IRA, eligible rollover distributions from certain types of qualified retirement plans may be directly rolled over into a Roth IRA by former participants in the plan. For these purposes, eligible rollover distributions include lump sum amounts payable from the plan upon termination of employment, termination of the plan, disability or retirement. Eligible rollover distributions do not include (i) required minimum distributions as described in section 401(a)(9) of the Code, (ii) certain distributions for life, life expectancy, or for 10 years or more which are part of a “series of substantially equal periodic payments,” and (iii) if applicable, certain hardship withdrawals.

Federal income tax will apply to direct rollovers from “non-Roth” accounts in retirement plans described in sections 401(a), 403(a), 403(b) of the Code or a governmental deferred compensation plan described in section 457(b) of the Code to Contracts issued as Roth IRAs. Please read “Rollover to a Roth IRA,” below, for more information. Under current rules, direct rollovers from “Roth” accounts in a 401(k) retirement plan to Contracts issued as Roth IRAs generally are not subject to federal income tax.

Distributions from a Roth IRA

Unlike a traditional IRA, distributions from Roth IRAs need not commence after the Owner turns age 70½, 72 or 73. Distributions must, however, begin after the Owner’s death. Distributions after the Owner’s death must comply with the minimum distribution requirements described above for traditional IRAs. Different rules governing the timing and the manner of payments apply, depending on whether the designated beneficiary is an individual and, if so, the Owner’s Spouse, or an individual other than the Owner’s Spouse.

If you wish to impose restrictions on the timing and the manner of payment of death proceeds to your designated beneficiary or if your Beneficiary wishes to extend payment of the Contract death proceeds over a period of time, please consult your own qualified tax professional. Under our current administrative rules, we do not permit a Beneficiary of a Contract intended for use as a Roth IRA to purchase a new optional benefit Rider if the Beneficiary elects to maintain it as a Roth IRA.

Qualified distributions from a Roth IRA are excluded from income. A qualified distribution for these purposes is a distribution that satisfies two requirements. First, the distribution must be made in a taxable year that is at least five years after the first taxable year for which a contribution to any Roth IRA established for the Contract Owner was made. Second, the distribution must be:

• made after the Owner turns age 59½;

• made after the Owner’s death;

• attributable to the Owner being disabled; or

• a qualified first-time homebuyer distribution within the meaning of section 72(t)(2)(F) of the Code.

A direct transfer from a Contract issued as a Roth IRA to another Roth IRA is not subject to income tax. However, during any 12-month period, you can make only one indirect rollover with respect to all IRAs you own, including Roth IRAs.

Penalty Tax on Premature Distributions from a Roth IRA

Taxable distributions before age 59½ may also be subject to a 10% penalty tax. This early distribution penalty may also apply to amounts converted to a Roth IRA that are subsequently distributed within a 5-taxable year period beginning in the year of conversion. Please read “Penalty Tax on Premature Distributions from a Traditional IRA,” above, for more information.

The state tax treatment of a Roth IRA may differ from the federal income tax treatment of a Roth IRA. Please seek independent tax advice if you intend to use the Contract in connection with a Roth IRA.

Conversion or Rollover to a Roth IRA

You can convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. You also can initiate a direct rollover distribution from a retirement plan described in sections 401(a), 403(a), or 403(b) of the Code or a governmental deferred compensation plan described in section 457(b) of the Code to a Roth IRA Contract. The Roth IRA annual contribution limit does not apply to conversion or rollover amounts, but you must satisfy our requirements for Additional Purchase Payments. See “VI. Basic Information – How can I invest money in a Contract?” for additional information.

You must pay tax on any portion of a conversion or rollover amount that would have been taxed if you had not converted or

rolled over to a Roth IRA. If you convert a Contract issued as a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, the amount deemed to be the

conversion amount for tax purposes may be higher than the Contract Value because of the deemed value of guarantees. If

you convert a Contract issued as a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, you may instruct us not to withhold any of the conversion

amount for taxes and remittance to the IRS. If you do instruct us to withhold for taxes when converting a Contract issued as

a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, we will treat any amount we withhold as a withdrawal from your Contract.

If you direct the sponsor or administrator to transfer a rollover amount from your “non-Roth” Qualified Plan to a Roth IRA Contract, there is no mandatory tax withholding that applies to the rollover amount. A direct rollover to a Roth IRA is not subject to mandatory tax withholding, even though the distribution is includible in gross income.

Current tax law no longer imposes a restriction based on adjusted gross income on a taxpayer’s ability to convert a traditional IRA or other qualified retirement accounts to a Roth IRA. Accordingly, taxpayers with more than $100,000 of adjusted gross income may now convert such assets to a Roth IRA. Generally, the amount converted to a Roth IRA is included in ordinary income for the year in which the account was converted. Given the taxation of Roth IRA conversions and the potential for an early distribution penalty tax, you should consider the resources that you have available, other than your retirement plan assets, for paying any taxes that would become due the year of any such conversion or a subsequent year. Please seek independent qualified tax advice if you intend to use the Contract in connection with a Roth IRA.

You are not subject to federal income tax on a direct rollover of distributions from a Roth account in another Qualified Plan permitted to be rolled over into a Contract issued as a Roth IRA, or from a Contract issued as a Roth IRA to another Roth IRA.

Other Qualified Plans

You may have purchased a Qualified Contract for use in connection with certain retirement plans that receive favorable treatment under the Code, but are not traditional IRAs or Roth IRAs. The other types of retirement plans (“Other Qualified Plans”) include:

Other Qualified Plan Type
SIMPLE IRA Plans	In general, under Section 408(p) of the Code a small business employer may establish a SIMPLE IRA plan if the employer employed no more than 100 employees. In general, an employee must be covered by the SIMPLE IRA, if the employee is expected to earn at least $5,000 during the current calendar year and had $5,000 of earnings during any two years preceding the current calendar year. Under a SIMPLE IRA plan both employees and the employer make deductible contributions. SIMPLE IRAs are subject to various requirements, including limits on the amounts that may be contributed, the persons who may be eligible, and the time when distributions may commence. The requirements for minimum distributions from a SIMPLE IRA plan are generally the same as those discussed above for distributions from a traditional IRA. The rules on taxation of distributions are also similar to those that apply to a traditional IRA with a few exceptions.
Simplified Employee Pensions (SEP- IRAs)	Section 408(k) of the Code allows employers to establish simplified employee pension plans for their employees, using the employees’ IRAs for such purposes, if certain criteria are met. Under these plans the employer may, within specified limits, make deductible contributions on behalf of the employees to IRAs. The requirements for minimum distributions from a SEP-IRA, and rules on taxation of distributions from a SEP-IRA, are generally the same as those discussed above for distributions from a traditional IRA.
Section 403(b) Plans or Tax- Sheltered Annuities	Section 403(b) of the Code permits public school employees and employees of certain types of tax-exempt organizations to have their employers purchase annuity contracts for them and, subject to certain limitations, to exclude the Purchase Payments from gross income for tax purposes. There also are limits on the amount of incidental benefits that may be provided under a tax-sheltered annuity. These Contracts are commonly referred to as “tax-sheltered annuities.”
Corporate and Self- Employed Pension and Profit-Sharing Plans (H.R. 10 and Keogh)	Sections 401(a) and 403(a) of the Code permit corporate employers to establish various types of tax-deferred retirement plans for employees. The Self-Employed Individuals’ Tax Retirement Act of 1962, as amended, commonly referred to as “H.R. 10” or “Keogh,” permits self-employed individuals to establish tax-favored retirement plans for themselves and their employees. Such retirement plans may permit the purchase of annuity contracts in order to provide benefits under the plans; however, there are limits on the amount of incidental benefits that may be provided under pension and profit sharing plans.
Deferred Compensation Plans of State and Local Governments and Tax- Exempt Organizations	Section 457 of the Code permits employees of state and local governments and tax- exempt organizations to defer a portion of their compensation without paying current taxes. The employees must be participants in an eligible deferred compensation plan. A Section 457 plan must satisfy several conditions, including the requirement that it must not permit distributions prior to your separation from service (except in the case of an unforeseen emergency). When we make payments under a Section 457 Contract, the payment is taxed as ordinary income.

In the case of a Contract held by the trustee of a Qualified Plan, references to the Owner in the discussion below should be read to mean the employee named as the Annuitant on the Contract.

Collecting and Using Information

Through your participation in a Qualified Plan, the Company, your employer, your Plan administrator, and your Plan sponsor collect various types of confidential information you provide in your agreements, such as your name and the name of any Beneficiary, Social Security Numbers, addresses, and occupation information. The Company, your employer, the Plan

administrator, and your Plan sponsor also collect confidential information relating to your Plan transactions, such as contract values, purchase payments, withdrawals, transfers, loans and investments. In order to comply with IRS regulations and other applicable law in servicing your Contract, the Company, your employer, the Plan administrator and the Plan sponsor may be required to share such confidential information among themselves, other current, former or future providers under your Qualified Plan, and among their employees. By maintaining a Contract for use in a Qualified Plan or by intending to make an additional purchase payment, transfer of ownership, transfer, withdrawal or loan on an existing Contract used in a Section 403(b) Plan, you consent to such sharing of confidential information. The Company will not disclose any such confidential information to anyone, except as permitted by law or in accordance with your consent.

Contributions to Other Qualified Plans

You may make Additional Purchase Payments through rollovers or conversions only from certain types of Qualified Plans or by making annual contributions to the extent permitted under the Code and by us. See “VI. Basic Information – How can I invest money in a Contract?” for information on our Purchase Payment requirements.

We have no responsibility for determining whether a particular retirement plan or a particular contribution to the plan satisfies the applicable requirements of the Code and the plan. In general, the Code imposes limitations on the amount of annual compensation that can be contributed into Other Qualified Plans and contains rules to limit the total amount you can contribute to all of your IRAs and Other Qualified Plans. Trustees and administrators of Other Qualified Plans may, however, generally invest and reinvest existing plan assets without regard to such Code imposed limitations on contributions. Certain distributions from Other Qualified Plans may be transferred directly to another plan, unless funds are added from other sources, without regard to such limitations.

Distributions from Other Qualified Plans

If permitted under your plan, you may take a withdrawal in the form of a distribution:

• from a Contract intended for use with any Qualified Plan (other than a section 457 deferred compensation plan maintained by a tax-exempt organization) and make a “tax-free rollover” to a SIMPLE IRA, but only after the 2-year period beginning on the date the individual first participated in any qualified salary reduction arrangement maintained by the individual’s employer*; or

• from a Contract intended for use with a retirement plan qualified under sections 401(a), 403(a), or 403(b) of the Code or a governmental deferred compensation plan described in section 457(b) of the Code and make a “tax-free rollover” to any such plans.

Note that if your Contract is a SIMPLE IRA, it does not accept a rollover from any Qualified Plan other than another SIMPLE IRA.

In addition, if your Spouse is your designated beneficiary and survives you, he or she is permitted to take a distribution from a Contact intended for use with your tax-qualified retirement account and make a “tax-free rollover” to another tax-qualified retirement account in which your surviving Spouse participates, to the extent permitted by your surviving Spouse’s plan. A Beneficiary who is not your surviving Spouse may, if permitted by the plan, make a direct rollover to a traditional IRA of the amount otherwise distributable to him or her upon your death under a Contract that is held as part of a retirement plan described in sections 401(a), 403(a), or 403(b) of the Code or a governmental deferred compensation plan described in section 457(b) of the Code. The IRA is treated as an inherited IRA of the non-Spouse Beneficiary. A Spouse Beneficiary may also make a direct rollover to an inherited IRA.

You may make a “tax-free rollover” to a Roth IRA from a Contract intended for use as a Roth account in a retirement plan described in section 401(a) or section 403(b) of the Code or a governmental deferred compensation plan described in section 457(b) of the Code.

In lieu of taking a distribution from your plan (including a section 457 deferred compensation plan maintained by a tax-exempt organization), your plan may permit you to make a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer of a Qualified Contract from the plan.

Current Treasury Department regulations provide a simplified method to determine the taxable portion of annuity payments under Contracts issued in connection with Other Qualified Plans. Please consult with a qualified tax professional for further information.

Required Minimum Distributions from Other Qualified Plans

Treasury Department regulations prescribe RMD rules governing the time at which distributions from Other Qualified Plans to the Owner and Beneficiary must commence and the form in which the distributions must be paid. These rules are substantially similar to the RMD rules described above for a traditional IRA, except that distributions of required minimum amounts must generally commence by the later of two dates as described below.

For a Qualified Plan participant born before July 1, 1949, required minimum distributions must generally begin by the later of:

• April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the Qualified Plan participant turns 70½; or

• April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which Qualified Plan participant (other than a 5% owner) retires from the employer that sponsored the Qualified Plan.

For a Qualified Plan participant born after June 30, 1949 and before January 1, 1951, required minimum distributions must generally begin by the later of:

• April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the Qualified Plan participant turns 72, or

• April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the Qualified Plan participant (other than a 5% owner) retires from the employer that sponsored the Qualified Plan.

For a Qualified Plan participant born after December 31, 1950 and before January 1, 1959, required minimum distributions must generally begin by the later of:

• April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the Participant turns age 73, or

• April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the Qualified Plan participant (other than a 5% owner) retires from the employer that sponsored the Qualified Plan.

For a Qualified Plan participant born after 1958, the triggering age for required minimum distributions is scheduled to increase to 75.

Penalty Tax on Premature Distributions from Other Qualified Plans

A 10% penalty tax may be imposed on the taxable amount of any payment from certain Qualified Contracts (but generally not section 457 plans). (The amount of the penalty tax is 25% of the taxable amount of any payment received from a SIMPLE retirement account during the 2-year period beginning on the date the individual first participated in any qualified salary reduction arrangement maintained by the individual’s employer.) There are exceptions to this penalty tax which vary depending on the type of Qualified Plan. In the case of distributions from certain Qualified Contracts, including a SIMPLE IRA, the penalty tax does not apply to a payment:

• received on or after the date on which the Contract Owner reaches age 59½;

• received on or after the Contract Owner’s death or because of the Contract Owner’s disability (as defined in the tax law); or

Exceptions from the penalty tax also apply to certain distributions taken for qualified birth or adoption expenses and certain qualified disaster distributions. The Code also provides for the opportunity to repay such distributions to an eligible retirement plan, including an IRA. Please consult with your own qualified tax professional to determine whether you qualify for any of these exceptions and what tax treatment will apply to the distribution and any repayment, where the Code allows repayment of a distribution.

These exceptions, as well as certain others not described herein, generally apply to taxable distributions from Other Qualified Plans (although, in the case of plans qualified under sections 401 and 403 of the Code, the exception for substantially equal periodic payments applies only if the Contract Owner has separated from service). The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 created

additional exceptions from the penalty tax not described herein. If you wish to take a distribution and rely on an exception to the penalty tax, please consult with your own qualified tax professional.

Withholding on Eligible Rollover Distributions

Eligible rollover distributions from a retirement plan that is qualified under sections 401(a), 403(a) or 403(b) of the Code, or from a governmental deferred compensation plan described in section 457(b) of the Code are subject to mandatory withholding. An eligible rollover distribution generally is any taxable distribution from such plans except (i) minimum distributions required under section 401(a)(9) of the Code, (ii) certain distributions for life, life expectancy, or for 10 years or more which are part of a “series of substantially equal periodic payments,” and (iii) if applicable, certain hardship withdrawals.

Federal income tax of 20% will generally be withheld from an eligible rollover distribution. The withholding is mandatory, and you cannot elect to have it not apply. This 20% withholding will not apply, however, if instead of receiving the eligible rollover distribution, you choose to have it directly transferred to an eligible retirement plan, including a traditional IRA, or to a Roth IRA. The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 also created limited exceptions from the 20% withholding requirement for certain types of distributions.

If we have to withhold a portion of your distribution, we will treat any amount we withhold as a withdrawal from your

Contract.

We do not need to withhold any amounts if you provide us with information, on the forms we require for this purpose, that

you wish to assign a Qualified Contract to another Qualified Plan and/or transfer amounts from that Contract directly to

another Qualified Plan. Similarly, if you wish to make Additional Purchase Payments to a Qualified Contract, you may find

it advantageous to instruct your existing retirement plan to transfer amounts directly to us, in lieu of making a distribution to

you. Please seek independent tax advice if you intend to maintain a Contract for use with a Qualified Plan.

Designated Roth Accounts within Other Qualified Plans

The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 authorizes: (1) participants in governmental deferred compensation plans described in section 457(b) to contribute deferred amounts to designated Roth accounts within their 457(b) plan; and (2) participants in 401(k), 403(b) and certain other plans to roll over qualified distributions into a designated Roth account within their plans, if allowed by their plans. The Contract, however, was not designed to separately account for any Contract Value in a single Contract that is split between Roth and non-Roth accounts, even if your 401(k) Plan, 403(b) Plan or 457 Plan allows you to split your account. If your plan allows it, and you split your Contract Value into Roth and non-Roth accounts, you or your plan administrator (in the case of 401(k) Plans) will be responsible for the accounting of your Contract Value for tax purposes: calculating withholding, income tax reporting, and verifying Required Minimum Distributions. We are not responsible for the calculations of any service provider that you may use to split Contract Value between Roth and non-Roth accounts. We will deny any request that would create such a split.

Rollover to a Roth IRA

Current tax law no longer imposes a restriction, based on adjusted gross income, on a taxpayer’s ability to initiate a direct rollover from a non-Roth account in a Qualified Plan to a Roth IRA. Accordingly, taxpayers with more than $100,000 of adjusted gross income may now initiate a direct rollover of a distribution from a retirement plan described in sections 401(a), 403(a), or 403(b) of the Code or a governmental deferred compensation plan described in section 457(b) of the Code to a Roth IRA. The Roth IRA annual contribution limit does not apply to rollover amounts.

You must, however, pay tax on any portion of the rollover amount that would have been taxed if you had not made a direct rollover to a Roth IRA. No similar limitations apply to rollovers to one Roth IRA from another Roth IRA or from a Roth account in a retirement plan described in section 401(a) or section 403(b) of the Code or a governmental deferred compensation plan described in section 457(b) of the Code. Please note that the amount deemed to be the “rollover amount” for tax purposes may be higher than the Contract Value because of the deemed value of guarantees.

A 10% penalty tax for premature distributions may apply if amounts converted to a Roth IRA are distributed within the 5-taxable year period beginning in the year the conversion is made. Generally, the amount converted to a Roth IRA is included in ordinary income for the year in which the account was converted.

If you instruct us to transfer a rollover amount from a Qualified Contract to a Roth IRA, we will assume it is permitted

under your plan and you may instruct us to not withhold any of the rollover for taxes and remittance to the IRS. A direct

rollover is not subject to mandatory tax withholding, even if the distribution is includible in gross income. If you instruct us

to withhold taxes in connection with a direct rollover from an existing Contract to a Roth IRA, we will treat any amount we

withhold as a withdrawal from your Contract.

Given the taxation of direct rollovers to a Roth IRA and the potential for an early distribution penalty tax, you should consider the resources that you have available, other than your retirement plan assets, for paying any taxes that would become due the year of any such rollover or a subsequent year. Please seek independent qualified tax advice if you intend to use the Contract in connection with a Roth IRA.

Section 403(b) Plans

Section 403(b) of the Code permits public school employees and employees of certain types of tax-exempt organizations to have their employers purchase annuity contracts for them and, subject to certain limitations, to exclude the Purchase Payments from gross income for tax purposes. If you purchased a Contract for use in a retirement plan intended to qualify under section 403(b) of the Code (a “Section 403(b) Plan” or the “Plan”), we may restrict your ability to make Additional Purchase Payments unless: (a) we receive the Additional Purchase Payment directly from the Section 403(b) Plan through your employer, the Plan’s administrator, the Plan’s sponsor or in the form of a transfer acceptable to us; (b) we have entered into an agreement with your Section 403(b) Plan concerning the sharing of information related to your Contract (an “Information Sharing Agreement”); and (c) unless contained in the Information Sharing Agreement, we have received a written determination by your employer, the Plan administrator or the Plan sponsor of your Section 403(b) Plan that the plan qualifies under section 403(b) of the Code and complies with applicable Treasury Department regulations (a “Certificate of Compliance”) (Information Sharing Agreement and Certificate of Compliance, together, the “Required Documentation”).

We may accept, reject or modify any of the terms of a proposed Information Sharing Agreement presented to us, and we make no representation that we will enter into an Information Sharing Agreement with your Section 403(b) Plan.

Additional Purchase Payments. We will not accept Additional Purchase Payments in the form of salary reduction, matching or other similar contributions in the absence of the Required Documentation. Matching or other employer contributions to Contracts issued on or after January 1, 2009, will be subject to restrictions on withdrawals specified in the Section 403(b) Plan.

We will not knowingly accept transfers, in the absence of the Required Documentation, from another existing annuity contract or other investment under a Section 403(b) Plan to a previously issued Contract used in a Section 403(b) Plan. Subject to our receipt of the Required Documentation, such transfers shall be made directly from a Plan through an employer, a Plan administrator or a Plan sponsor, or by a transfer acceptable to us.

In the event that we do not receive the Required Documentation and you nonetheless direct us to accept a Purchase Payment, the transfer may be treated as a taxable transaction.

Restrictions on Section 403(b) Plans

Tax-sheltered annuity contracts must contain restrictions on withdrawals of:

• contributions made pursuant to a salary reduction agreement in years beginning after December 31, 1988;

• earnings on those contributions; and

• earnings after 1988 on amounts attributable to salary reduction contributions (and earnings on those contributions) held as of the last day of 1988.

In addition, these amounts can be paid only if the employee has reached age 59½, separated from service, died, or become disabled (within the meaning of the tax law), or in the case of hardship (within the meaning of the tax law). Amounts permitted to be distributed in the event of hardship are limited to actual contributions for elective contributions made after 1988; earnings thereon cannot be distributed on account of hardship. Under certain circumstances, amounts may be withdrawn if the employee is a reservist who has been called to active duty (see section 72(t)(2)(G) of the Code). Amounts subject to the withdrawal restrictions applicable to section 403(b)(7) custodial accounts may be subject to more stringent restrictions.

Exercise of the withdrawal right for each withdrawal under the Contract may be subject to the terms of the Section 403(b) Plan and may require the consent of the employer, the Plan administrator or the Plan sponsor, as well as the participant’s spouse, under section 403(b) of the Code and applicable Treasury Regulations.

In the event that we do not receive the Required Documentation and you nonetheless direct us to proceed with the withdrawal, your Contract may no longer be qualified under section 403(b), which may result in additional adverse tax consequences to you. Employer consent is not required when we have received documentation in a form acceptable to us confirming that you have reached age 59½, separated from service, died or become disabled. (These limitations on withdrawals do not apply to the extent we are directed to transfer some or all of the Contract Value to the issuer of another tax-sheltered annuity or into a section 403(b)(7) custodial account.)

Loans under section 403(b) of the Code

You may be eligible for a loan of some or all of your Contract Value if:

• We issued your Contract prior to November 12, 2007,

• Your Contract is intended for use with a retirement plan qualified under section 403(b) of the Code,

• The retirement plan is not subject to Title 1 of ERISA, and

• Your retirement plan permits you to request the loan.

Loans from Qualified Contracts intended for use under retirement plans qualified under section 403(b) of the Code, where allowed, are subject to a variety of limitations, including restrictions as to the amount that may be borrowed, the duration of the loan and the manner in which the loan must be repaid.

Loans are subject to the Code, Treasury regulations, IRS rulings, and our procedures in effect at the time you apply for a loan. Because the rules governing loans under section 403(b) Contracts are complicated. Please consult your tax professional before exercising any loan privilege for which you are eligible. Failure to meet the requirements for loans may result in adverse income tax consequences to you. The loan agreement you sign will describe the restrictions and limitations applicable to the loan at the time you apply.

Federal tax law generally requires loans to be repaid within 5 years (except in cases where the loan was used to acquire the principal residence of a plan participant), with repayments made at least quarterly and in level payments over the term of the loan. Interest will be charged on your Loan Amount. Failure to make a loan repayment when due will result in adverse tax consequences to you.

We deduct the amount of any Unpaid Loans from the death benefit otherwise payable under the Contract. In addition, loans, whether or not repaid, will have a permanent effect on the Contract Value because the investment results of the Investment Accounts will apply only to the unborrowed portion of the Contract Value. The longer a loan is unpaid, the greater the effect is likely to be. The effect could be favorable or unfavorable.

If you have a loan outstanding under a Contract intended for use with a Section 403(b) Plan, any surrender or transfer of your Contract may subject you to income taxation on the amount of the loan balance.

Restrictions under the Texas Optional Retirement Program

Section 830.105 of the Texas Government Code permits participants in the Texas Optional Retirement Program (“ORP”) to withdraw their interest in a variable annuity contract issued under the ORP only upon:

• termination of employment in all Texas public institutions of higher education;

• retirement;

• death; or

• the participant’s turning age 70½.

Accordingly, before you withdraw any amounts from the Contract, you must furnish proof to us that one of these four events has occurred. For these purposes a change of company providing ORP benefits or a participant’s transfer between institutions of higher education is not a termination of employment. Consequently there is no termination of employment when a participant in the ORP transfers the Contract Value to another Contract or another qualified custodian during the period of participation in the ORP.

Puerto Rico Contracts Issued to Fund Retirement Plans

The tax laws of Puerto Rico vary significantly from the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States that are applicable to various Qualified Plans. If you purchased a Contract intended for use in connection with Puerto Rican “tax qualified” retirement plans, please note that the text of this Prospectus addresses U.S. federal tax law only and is inapplicable to the tax laws of Puerto Rico.

See Your Own Tax Professional

The foregoing description of federal income tax topics and issues is only a brief summary and is not intended as tax advice. It does not include a discussion of federal estate and gift tax or state tax consequences. The rules under the Code governing Qualified Plans are extremely complex and often difficult to understand. Changes to the tax laws may be enforced retroactively. Anything less than full compliance with the applicable rules, all of which are subject to change from time to time, can have adverse tax consequences. The taxation of an Annuitant or other payee has become so complex and confusing that great care must be taken to avoid pitfalls. For further information, please consult with your own qualified tax professional.

XII. Other Information

Assignment; Change of Owner or Beneficiary

To qualify for favorable tax treatment, certain Contracts can’t be sold, assigned, discounted, or pledged as collateral for a loan, as security for the performance of an obligation, or for any other purpose, unless the Owner is a trustee under section 401(a) of the Code.

Subject to these limits, while the Annuitant is alive, you may designate someone else as the Owner by written notice to the Annuities Service Center. Before requesting a change of ownership or making an assignment of your Contract, however, you should consider:

• A change of ownership may be treated as a distribution from the Contract and subject to tax. We consider a collateral assignment to be a distribution from the Contract, and we will report any taxable amounts as may be required.

• A change of ownership (or collateral assignment) is subject to the rights of any irrevocable Beneficiary.

• You may not change ownership or make a collateral assignment after the earlier of the Maturity Date or the Annuity Commencement Date.

• Contracts issued to a Qualified Plan may be subject to restrictions on transferability. For example, Qualified Contracts generally may not be transferred except by the trustee of an exempt employees’ trust which is part of a retirement plan qualified under section 401 of the Code or as otherwise permitted by applicable Treasury Department regulations. You may not be able to sell, assign, transfer, discount or pledge (as collateral for a loan or as security for the performance of an obligation, or for any other purpose) a Qualified Contract to any person other than us.

We assume no liability for any payments made or actions taken before a change is approved or an assignment is accepted. We assume no responsibility for the validity or sufficiency of any assignment. An absolute assignment or ownership change will revoke the interest of any revocable Beneficiary.

You chose the Beneficiary in the application for the Contract. You may change the Beneficiary by written notice no later than receipt of due proof of the death of the Annuitant. Changes of Owner or Beneficiary will take effect when we receive them, whether or not you or the Annuitant is then alive. However, these changes are subject to:

• the rights of any assignees of record; and

• certain other conditions referenced in the Contract.

An assignment, pledge, or other transfer may be a taxable event. See “XI. Federal Tax Matters” above. Therefore, please consult a competent tax professional before taking any such action.

Who Purchased A Contract?

We designed these Contracts for individuals doing their own retirement planning, including purchases under plans and trusts that do not qualify for special tax treatment under the Code. We also offered the Contracts for purchase under:

• traditional individual retirement annuity plans (“traditional IRAs”) satisfying the requirements of section 408 of the Code;

• non-deductible IRA plans (“Roth IRAs”) satisfying the requirements of section 408A of the Code;

• SIMPLE IRA plans adopted under section 408(p) of the Code;

• Simplified Employee Pension plans (“SEPs”) adopted under section 408(k) of the Code; and

• annuity purchase plans adopted under section 403(b) of the Code by public school systems and certain other tax-exempt organizations.

We did not offer the Contracts to every type of Qualified Plan, and we reserved the right not to offer the Contracts for all types of Qualified Plans in the future. In certain circumstances, we may have made the Contracts available for purchase under deferred compensation plans maintained by a state or political subdivision or tax exempt organization under section 457 of the Code or by pension or profit-sharing plans qualified under section 401(a) of the Code. We provide general federal income tax information for Contracts purchased in connection with Qualified Plans in “XI. Federal Tax Matters.”

When a Contract forms part of a Qualified Plan it becomes subject to special tax law requirements, as well as the terms of the plan documents themselves, if any. Additional requirements may apply to plans that cover a “self-employed individual” or an “owner-employee.” Also, in some cases, certain requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) may apply. Requirements from any of these sources may, in effect, take precedence over (and in that sense modify) the rights and privileges that an Owner otherwise would have under a Contract. Some such requirements may also apply to certain retirement plans that are not tax-qualified.

We may include certain requirements from the above sources in endorsements to the affected Contracts. In other cases, we do not. In no event, however, do we undertake to assure a Contract’s compliance with all plan, tax law, and ERISA requirements applicable to a tax-qualified or non-tax-qualified retirement plan. Therefore, if you use or plan to use a Contract in connection with such a plan, you must consult with a competent tax professional to ensure that you know of (and comply with) all such requirements that apply in your circumstances.

To accommodate “employer-related” pension and profit-sharing plans, we provide “unisex” purchase rates. That means the annuity purchase rates are the same for males and females. Any questions you have as to whether you are participating in an “employer-related” pension or profit-sharing plan should be directed to your employer. Any questions you or your employer have about unisex rates may be directed to the Annuities Service Center.

Beneficiary

The Beneficiary is the person, persons or entity designated in the Contract specifications page (or as subsequently changed). However, if there is a surviving Contract Owner, we treat that person as the Beneficiary. You may change the Beneficiary subject to the rights of any irrevocable Beneficiary. You must make any change in writing and the change must be received at our Annuities Service Center. We must approve any change. If approved, we effect such change as of the date on which it was written. We assume no liability for any payments made or actions taken before the change is approved. If no Beneficiary is living, any designated Contingent Beneficiary becomes the Beneficiary. The interest of any Beneficiary is subject to that of any assignee. If no Beneficiary or Contingent Beneficiary is living, the Beneficiary is the estate of the deceased Contract Owner. In the case of certain Qualified Contracts, Treasury Department regulations may limit designations of Beneficiaries.

Code Section 72(s)

In order for our Nonqualified Contracts (i.e., Contracts not purchased to fund an IRA or other Qualified Plan) to be treated as annuities under the Code, we will interpret the provisions of the Contract so as to comply with the requirements of section 72(s) of the Code, which prescribes certain required provisions governing distributions after the death of the Owner.

Reports

At least annually, we will send you (1) a report showing the number and value of the accumulation units in your Contract and (2) the financial statements of the Portfolios.

Voting Privileges

We vote Portfolio shares held in a Separate Account at any Portfolio shareholder meeting in accordance with timely voting instructions received from the persons having the voting interest under the Contract. We determine the number of Portfolio shares for which voting instructions may be given not more than 90 days prior to the meeting. We arrange for voting materials to be distributed to each person having the voting interest under the Contract together with appropriate forms for giving voting instructions. If there are shares of a Portfolio held by a Subaccount for which we do not receive timely voting instructions, we will vote those shares in the same proportion as the total votes for all of our registered separate accounts for which we have received timely instructions. We will vote all Portfolio shares that we hold directly in our General Account in the same proportion as the total votes for all our registered separate accounts and those of any of our affiliates for which we have received timely instructions. One effect of this proportional voting is that a small number of Contract Owners can determine the outcome of a vote.

Changes to the Separate Accounts

We reserve the right, subject to applicable law, including any required shareholder approval:

• to transfer assets from the Separate Accounts to another Separate Account or Investment Option by withdrawing the same percentage of each investment in the Separate Accounts with proper adjustments to avoid odd lots and fractions;

• to add or delete Variable Investment Options;

• to change the underlying investment vehicles;

• to operate each Separate Account in any form permitted by law; and

• to terminate each Separate Account’s registration under the 1940 Act, if such registration should no longer be legally required.

Unless otherwise required under applicable laws and regulations, notice to or approval of Owners will not be necessary for us to make such changes.

Variations in Charges or Rates for Eligible Classes

We may have reduced or eliminated the amount of charges and deductions of some Contracts where permitted by state law. The affected Contracts involved sales to groups or classes of individuals under special circumstances that we expected to result in a reduction in our expenses associated with the sale or maintenance of the Contracts, or that we expected to result in mortality or other risks that were different from those normally associated with the Contracts.

The entitlement to such variation in charges or rates was determined by us based upon such factors as the following:

• the size of the initial Purchase Payment;

• the size of the group or class;

• the total amount of Purchase Payments expected to be received from the group or class and the manner in which the Purchase Payments were remitted;

• the nature of the group or class for which the Contracts were being purchased and the persistency expected from that group or class as well as the mortality or morbidity risks associated with that group or class;

• the purpose for which the Contracts were being purchased and whether that purpose made it likely that the costs and expenses would be reduced; or

• the level of commissions paid to selling broker-dealers or certain financial institutions with respect to Contracts within the same group or class.

We made any reduction in charges or increase in initial guarantee rates according to our rules in effect at the time an application for a Contract was approved. We reserve the right to modify, suspend or terminate any reductions or waivers of charges at any time. Any variation in charges or rates will reflect differences in costs and services and will not be unfairly discriminatory to the interests of any Owner.

Distribution of Contracts

John Hancock Distributors, LLC (“JH Distributors”), a Delaware limited liability company and an affiliate of ours, is the principal underwriter and distributor of the Contract interests offered by this Prospectus and of other annuity and life insurance products we and our affiliates offer. JH Distributors also acts as the principal underwriter of John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust, whose securities are used to fund certain Variable Investment Options under the Contract and under other annuity and life insurance products we offer.

JH Distributors’ principal address is 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116. JH Distributors is a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”) and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”).

We offered the Contract for sale through broker-dealers that entered into selling agreements for the sale of the Contracts. Broker-dealers sold the Contract through their registered representatives who were appointed by us to act as our insurance agents.

JH Distributors may continue to pay compensation to broker-dealers in connection with the promotion or servicing of the Contracts. In turn, the broker-dealers pay a portion of the compensation to their registered representatives, under their own arrangements. We may also continue to pay commissions or overrides to a limited number of broker-dealers that provided marketing support and training services to the broker-dealer firms that sold and service the Contracts.

Transaction Confirmations

We will send you confirmation statements for certain transactions in your Investment Accounts. You should carefully review these transaction confirmations to verify their accuracy. Please report any mistakes immediately to our Annuities Service Center. If you fail to notify our Annuities Service Center of any mistake within 60 days of the delivery of the transaction confirmation, we will deem you to have ratified the transaction. We encourage you to register for electronic delivery of your transaction confirmations. Please contact the John Hancock Annuities Service Center at the applicable telephone number or internet address shown on the back cover of this Prospectus for more information on electronic transactions.

Legal and Regulatory Matters

There are no legal proceedings to which we, the Separate Account or the principal underwriter is a party, or to which the assets of the Separate Account are subject, that are likely to have a material adverse effect on:

• the Separate Account; or

• the ability of the principal underwriter to perform its contract with the Separate Account; or

• on our ability to meet our obligations under the variable annuity contracts funded through the Separate Account.

Financial Statements

The Statements of Additional Information contain the Company’s financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, and its Separate Account financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 (the “Financial Statements”). Our Financial Statements provide information on our financial strength as of December 31, 2023, including information on our General Account assets that were available at that time to support our guarantees under the Contracts. The Company’s General Account consists of securities and other investments, the value of which may decline during periods of adverse market conditions.

Appendix: Portfolios Available Under the Contract

The following is a list of Portfolios available under the Contract. More information about the Portfolios is available in the prospectuses for the Portfolios, which may be amended from time to time. You can request this information at no cost by calling the phone number on the back cover of this Prospectus or by sending an email request to annuityinfo@jhancock.com.

The current expenses and performance information below reflects fees 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.

Investment Objective	Portfolio and Adviser/Subadviser	Current Expenses	Average Annual Total Returns (as of 12/31/23) (%)
Investment Objective	Portfolio and Adviser/Subadviser	Current Expenses	1-Year	5-Year	10-Year
To approximate the aggregate total return of a broad-based U.S. domestic equity market index.	500 Index Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (North America) Limited	0.25%*	25.95	15.40	11.75
To seek income and capital appreciation.	Active Bond Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC	0.66%	6.48	1.67	2.40
To provide long-term growth of capital. Current income is a secondary objective.	Blue Chip Growth Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.	0.77%*	49.59	13.58	12.39
To seek long-term capital appreciation.	Capital Appreciation Value Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.	0.89%*	18.31	12.48	10.30
To seek total return consisting of income and capital appreciation.	Core Bond Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Allspring Global Investments, LLC	0.63%*	5.89	1.11	1.74
To seek long-term growth of capital.	Disciplined Value International Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc.	0.79%*	20.05	8.47	3.10
To provide substantial dividend income and also long-term growth of capital.	Equity Income Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.	0.71%*	9.52	11.15	7.88
To seek growth of capital.	Financial Industries Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC	0.89%*	5.21	9.70	7.08

Appendix-1

App Table #6

Investment Objective	Portfolio and Adviser/Subadviser	Current Expenses	Average Annual Total Returns (as of 12/31/23) (%)
Investment Objective	Portfolio and Adviser/Subadviser	Current Expenses	1-Year	5-Year	10-Year
To seek long-term growth of capital.	Fundamental All Cap Core Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC	0.71%*	35.44	18.38	12.32
To seek long-term capital appreciation.	Health Sciences Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.	1.00%*	4.26	10.56	10.94
To realize an above-average total return over a market cycle of three to five years, consistent with reasonable risk.	High Yield Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Western Asset Management Company, LLC	0.81%*	12.87	4.95	3.58
To seek to track the performance of a broad-based equity index of foreign companies primarily in developed countries and, to a lesser extent, in emerging markets.	International Equity Index Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/SSGA Funds Management, Inc.	0.34%*	15.42	6.97	3.71
To seek a balance between a high level of current income and growth of capital, with a greater emphasis on growth of capital.	Lifestyle Balanced Portfolio - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC	0.64%	13.72	6.96	5.41
To seek long-term growth of capital. Current income is also a consideration.	Lifestyle Growth Portfolio - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC	0.62%	16.97	9.14	6.77
To seek growth of capital and current income while seeking to both manage the volatility of return and limit the magnitude of portfolio losses.	Managed Volatility Balanced Portfolio - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC	0.76%	12.00	4.67	3.86
To seek long-term growth of capital.	Mid Cap Growth Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Wellington Management Company LLP	0.90%	18.87	12.39	9.79
Seeks to approximate the aggregate total return of a mid cap U.S. domestic equity market index.	Mid Cap Index Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (North America) Limited	0.41%*	16.00	12.20	8.86
To seek long-term capital appreciation.	Mid Value Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.	0.96%*	18.65	13.09	9.35

Appendix-2

App Table #6

Investment Objective	Portfolio and Adviser/Subadviser	Current Expenses	Average Annual Total Returns (as of 12/31/23) (%)
Investment Objective	Portfolio and Adviser/Subadviser	Current Expenses	1-Year	5-Year	10-Year
To obtain maximum current income consistent with preservation of principal and liquidity.	Money Market Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC	0.28%*	4.81	1.68	1.07
To seek maximum total return, consistent with preservation of capital and prudent investment management.	Opportunistic Fixed Income Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Wellington Management Company LLP	0.88%*	8.21	2.72	2.22
To seek to achieve a combination of long- term capital appreciation and current income.	Real Estate Securities Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Wellington Management Company LLP	0.76%*	13.06	7.74	8.00
To seek a high level of current income consistent with preservation of capital. Maintaining a stable share price is a secondary goal.	Short Term Government Income Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC	0.67%*	3.87	0.51	0.66
Seeks to approximate the aggregate total return of a small cap U.S. domestic equity market index.	Small Cap Index Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (North America) Limited	0.48%*	16.52	9.60	6.85
To seek long-term capital appreciation.	Small Cap Stock Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Wellington Management Company LLP	1.08%*	16.31	11.18	7.43
To seek long-term capital appreciation.	Small Cap Value Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Wellington Management Company LLP	0.99%*	14.07	8.85	6.07
To seek to track the performance of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (the “Bloomberg Index”) (which represents the U.S. investment grade bond market).	Total Bond Market Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC	0.25%*	5.29	0.81	1.58
Seeks to approximate the aggregate total return of a broad U.S. domestic equity market index.	Total Stock Market Index Trust - Series NAV John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC/Manulife Investment Management (North America) Limited	0.53%*	25.58	14.44	10.78

Appendix-3

App Table #6

Appendix A: Example of Withdrawal Charge Calculation

Assume the Following Facts:

• On January 1, 1997, you make a $5,000 initial Purchase Payment and we issue you a Contract.

• On January 1, 1998, you make a $1,000 Purchase Payment.

• On January 1, 1999, you make a $1,000 Purchase Payment.

• On January 1, 2000, the total value of your Contract is $9,000 because of good investment earnings.

Now assume you make a withdrawal of $6,000 (no tax withholding) on January 2, 2000. In this case, assuming no prior withdrawals, we would deduct a CDSL of $399.89. We withdraw a total of $6,399.89 from your Contract.

$	6,000.00	—	withdrawal request payable to you
+	399.89	—	withdrawal charge payable to us
$	6,399.89	—	total amount withdrawn from your Contract

Here Is How We Determine the Withdrawal Charge:

(1) We first reduce your $5,000 initial Purchase Payment by the three annual $30 Contract fees we assessed on January 1, 1998, 1999, and 2000. We withdraw the remaining $4,910 from your Contract.

$	5,000.00
-	30.00	—	1998 Contract fee payable to us
-	30.00	—	1999 Contract fee payable to us
-	30.00	—	2000 Contract fee payable to us
$	4,910.00	—	amount of your initial Purchase Payment we would consider to be withdrawn

Under the free withdrawal provision, we deduct 10% of the total value of your Contract at the beginning of the Contract Year, or $900 (.10 x $9,000). We pay the $900 to you as part of your withdrawal request, and we assess a withdrawal charge on the remaining balance of $4,010. Because you made the initial Purchase Payment 3 years ago, the withdrawal charge percentage is 7%. We deduct the resulting $280.70 from your Contract to cover the withdrawal charge on your initial Purchase Payment. We pay the remainder of $3,729.30 to you as a part of your withdrawal request.

$	4,910.00
-	900.00	—	free withdrawal amount (payable to you)
$	4,010.00
x	.07
$	280.70	—	withdrawal charge on initial Purchase Payment (payable to us)
$	4,010.00
-	280.70
$	3,729.30	—	part of withdrawal request payable to you

(2) We next deem the entire amount of your 1998 Purchase Payment to be withdrawn and we assess a withdrawal charge on that $1,000 amount. Because you made this Purchase Payment 2 years ago, the withdrawal charge percentage is 8%. We deduct the resulting $80 from your Contract to cover the withdrawal charge on your 1998 Purchase Payment. We pay the remainder of $920 to you as a part of your withdrawal request.

$	1,000.00
x	.08
$	80.00	—	withdrawal charge on 1998 Purchase Payment (payable to us)
$	1,000.00
-	80.00
$	920.00	—	part of withdrawal request payable to you

A-1

(3) We next determine what additional amount we need to withdraw to provide you with the total $6,000 you requested, after the deduction of the withdrawal charge on that additional amount. We have already allocated $900 from the free Withdrawal Amount, $3,729.30 from your initial Purchase Payment, and $920 from your 1998 Purchase Payment. Therefore, $450.70 is needed to reach $6,000.

$	6,000.00	—	total Withdrawal Amount requested
-	900.00	—	free Withdrawal Amount
-	3,729.30	—	payment deemed from initial Purchase Payment
-	920.00	—	payment deemed from 1998 Purchase Payment
$	450.70	—	additional payment to you needed to reach $6,000

We know that the withdrawal charge percentage for this remaining amount is 8%, because you are already deemed to have withdrawn all Purchase Payments you paid prior to 1999. We use the following formula to determine how much more we need to withdraw:

Remainder due to you = Withdrawal needed – [applicable withdrawal charge percentage times withdrawal needed]

$	450.70	=	x – [.08x]
$	450.70	=	.92x
$	450.70/.92	=	x
$	489.89	=	x
$	489.89	—	deemed withdrawn from 1999 Purchase Payment
$	450.70	—	part of withdrawal request payable to you
$	39.19	—	withdrawal charge on 1999 Purchase Payment deemed withdrawn (payable to us)
$	280.70	—	withdrawal charge on the initial Purchase Payment
$	80.00	—	withdrawal charge on the 1998 Purchase Payment
$	39.19	—	withdrawal charge on the 1999 Purchase Payment
$	399.89	—	Total withdrawal charge

A-2

Our Statements of Additional Information provide additional information about the Contracts, including any optional benefit Riders and the Separate Accounts, including information on our history, services provided to the Separate Accounts and legal and regulatory matters. We filed the Statements of Additional Information with the SEC on the same date as this Prospectus, and incorporate them herein by reference. You may obtain a copy of the current Statements of Additional Information, request other information about the Contracts and make investor inquiries without charge upon request by contacting us at the Annuities Service Center shown below, on our website at www.johnhancock.com/annuities or by calling us at 1-800-344-1029.

We file periodic reports and other information about the Contract and the Separate Account as required under the federal securities laws. Those reports and other information about us are available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov, and copies of reports and other information may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following email address: publicinfo@sec.gov.

JOHN HANCOCK LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY (U.S.A.)
John Hancock Annuities Service Center
Mailing Address	Overnight Mail Address
PO Box 55444 Boston, MA 02205-5444 www.johnhancock.com/annuities	372 University Ave – Suite 55444 Westwood, MA 02090 1-800-344-1029

1940 Act File No. 811-02143
1933 Act File No. 333-164145
EDGAR Contract Identifier No. C000085943

Statement of Additional Information
Dated April 29, 2024

John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W

This Statement of Additional Information is not a Prospectus. This Statement of Additional Information should be read in conjunction with the Prospectuses dated the same date as this Statement of Additional Information. This Statement of Additional Information describes additional information regarding the variable portion of the deferred or immediate variable annuity contracts and the deferred combination fixed and variable annuity contracts (singly, a “Contract” and collectively, the “Contracts”) issued by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (“JHLICO”) and subsequently assumed by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) (“John Hancock USA”) in all jurisdictions as follows:

Related JHLICO-Issued Variable Annuity Prospectus
(to be read with this Statement of Additional Information)

Name of Policy (and SEC EDGAR Identifier #)

Independence, Independence Preferred, Independence 2000 Variable Annuity- JHLICO (C000085943)

Unless otherwise specified, “we”, “us”, “our”, or the “Company” refers to John Hancock USA.

You may obtain a copy of the Prospectus listed above by contacting us at the following addresses:

John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.)

John Hancock Annuities Service Center
Overnight Mail Address	Mailing Address
372 University Ave, STE 55444 Westwood, MA 02090 1-800-344-1029	PO Box 55444 Boston, MA 02205-5444 www.johnhancock.com/annuities

General Information and History

John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W (formerly known as John Hancock Variable Annuity Account U) (the “Separate Account” or the “Registrant”), is a separate investment account of John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) and was established on April 8, 1996 as a separate account of John Hancock Life Insurance Company (“JHLICO”). Your Contract was issued by JHLICO. In this Statement of Additional Information, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) is referred to as “John Hancock USA” and also referred to as “we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Company” in its role as successor to JHLICO. Effective December 31, 2009, we entered into a merger agreement with JHLICO and John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company (“JHVLICO”) and assumed legal ownership of all of the assets of JHLICO and JHVLICO, including those assets related to the separate account that currently funds your Contract: John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W (formerly John Hancock Variable Annuity Account U). Effective at the time of the merger, we became the depositor of John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W (the “Separate Account”).

Except for the succession of John Hancock USA as the depositor for the Separate Account and to the liabilities and obligations arising under the Contracts, the merger did not affect the Separate Account or any provisions of, any rights and obligations under, or any of your allocations among investment options under, the Contracts. We will continue to administer and service inforce contracts of JHLICO and JHVLICO in all jurisdictions where issued and will assume the direct responsibility for the payment of all claims and benefits and other obligations under these contracts. The Separate Account meets the definition of “separate account” under the Federal securities laws and is registered as a unit investment trust under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”). Such registration does not involve supervision by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) of the management of the Separate Account or of the Depositor.

We are a stock life insurance company and are currently licensed in the District of Columbia and all states of the United States except New York. We were incorporated in Maine on August 20, 1955 by a special act of the Maine legislature and redomesticated under the laws of Michigan on December 30, 1992. Our Michigan office is located at 201 Townsend Street, Suite 900, Lansing, Michigan 48933. Our principal office is located at 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116. John Hancock USA also has an Annuities Service Center – its mailing address is PO Box 55444, Boston, MA 02205-5444; its overnight mail address is 372 University Ave, STE 55444, Westwood, MA 02090; and its website address is www.johnhancock.com/annuities. Our ultimate parent is Manulife Financial Corporation (“MFC”), a publicly traded company based in Toronto, Canada. MFC is the holding company of John Hancock USA and its subsidiaries.

Our financial statements which are included in this Statement of Additional Information should be considered only as bearing on our ability to meet our obligations under the contracts. They should not be considered as bearing on the investment performance of the assets held in the Separate Account.

Services

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The statutory-basis financial statements of John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023 incorporated in this SAI by reference to report on Form N-VPFS filed April 8, 2024 have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting. The financial statements of John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W (File No. 811-02143) (formerly known as John Hancock Variable Annuity Account U) as of December 31 2023, and for each of the periods indicated in the Financial Statements incorporated in this SAI by reference to report on Form N-VPFS filed April 8, 2024 have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

The business address of Ernst & Young LLP is 200 Clarendon Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02116.

Servicing Agent

DXC Technology provides to us a computerized data processing recordkeeping system for variable and fixed annuity administration. DXC provides various daily, semimonthly, monthly, semiannual and annual reports including:

• daily updates on accumulation unit values, variable annuity participants and transactions, and agent production and commissions;

• weekly commission statements;

• monthly summaries of agent production and daily transaction reports;

• semiannual statements for Contract Owners; and

• annual Contract Owner tax reports.

We paid DXC $2.64 million for 2021, $3.05 million for 2022, and $3.60 million for 2023, plus certain other fees for the services provided.

Principal Underwriter

John Hancock Distributors, LLC (“JH Distributors”), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation, now serves as principal underwriter of the Contract interests described in the respective prospectuses. These Contract interests are offered on a continuous basis. The aggregate dollar amounts of underwriting commissions paid to JH Distributors in 2023, 2022, and 2021, were $127,818,295, $143,672,509, and $178,016,695, respectively. JH Distributors did not retain any of these amounts during such periods.

Compensation

The Contracts are primarily sold through selected firms. The Contracts’ principal distributor, JH Distributors, and its affiliates (collectively, “JHD”) pay compensation to broker-dealers (firms) for the promotion, sale and servicing of the Contracts. The compensation JHD pays may vary depending on each firm’s selling agreement and the specific Contract(s) distributed by the firm, but compensation (inclusive of wholesaler overrides and expense allowances) paid to the firms for sale of the Contracts and ongoing services to Contract Owners is not expected to exceed the standard compensation amounts referenced in the Prospectus for the applicable Contract. The amount and timing of this compensation may differ among firms.

The financial advisor through whom your Contract is sold is a registered representative of a broker-dealer, and as such will be compensated pursuant to that registered representative’s own arrangement with his or her broker-dealer. The registered representative and the firm may have multiple options on how they wish to allocate their commissions and/or compensation. We are not involved in determining your financial advisor’s compensation. You are encouraged to ask your financial advisor about the basis upon which he or she will be personally compensated for the advice or recommendations provided in connection with the sale of your Contract.

Compensation to firms for the promotion, sale and servicing of the Contracts is not paid directly by Contract Owners, but we expect to recoup it through the fees and charges imposed under the Contract.

Calculation of Annuity Payments

Calculation of Annuity Units

We use a measuring device called an “annuity unit” to help us compute the amount of each monthly payment that is based on a Variable Investment Option. Each Variable Investment Option has its own annuity unit with its own annuity unit value.

The number of the Contract’s annuity units for each Variable Investment Option normally doesn’t change while the payee continues to receive payments, unless the payee makes a transfer from one Variable Investment Option to another. The amount of each monthly annuity payment based on a Variable Investment Option equals the number of the Contract’s annuity units in that option times the value of one such unit as of the tenth day preceding the payment’s due date.

To compute the amount of the first annuity payment that is based on any Variable Investment Option, we first determine the amount of your Contract Value that we will apply to that Variable Investment Option. We do this as of 10 calendar days

prior to the date the initial monthly annuity payment is due, in the manner described in the prospectus under “The annuity period – choosing fixed or variable annuity payments.”

For each Variable Investment Option, we then divide:

the resulting value

(minus any premium tax charge)

$1,000

and multiply the result by

the applicable annuity purchase rate set

forth in the Contract and reflecting

(1) the age and, possibly, sex of the

payee and

(2) the assumed investment rate

(discussed below)

This computation determines the amount of the initial monthly variable annuity payment to the annuitant from each Variable Investment Option.

We then determine the number of annuity units to be credited to the Contract from each of such Variable Investment Options by dividing:

the amount of the initial monthly

variable annuity payment from that

Variable Annuity Option

the annuity unit value of that Variable

Investment Option as of 10 calendar

days prior to the date the initial

payment is due

For example, assume that 10 days before the date of maturity, a Contract has credited to it 4000.000 accumulation units, each having a value of $12.000000. Assume, further, that the appropriate annuity purchase rate in the Contract for an assumed investment rate of 3½% is $5.47 per $1000 of proceeds for the Annuity Option elected. The initial monthly annuity payment would be $262.56.

4000.000 x 12.000000 x 5.47
1,000

If the value of an annuity unit 10 days before the date of maturity was $1.4000000, the number of annuity units represented by the first and subsequent payments would be 187.543 ($262.56/$1.4000000). If the annuity unit value 10 days before the due date of the second monthly payment was $1.405000, the amount of the second payment would be $263.50 (187.543 x $1.405000).

Annuity Unit Values

The value of the annuity units varies from day to day, depending on the investment performance of the Variable Investment Option, the deductions made against the Variable Investment Option, and the assumed investment rate used in computing annuity unit values. Thus, the variable monthly annuity payments vary in amount from month to month.

We calculate annuity unit value separately for each Variable Investment Option. As of the close of each Business Day, we calculate the value of one annuity unit by

(1) multiplying the immediately preceding annuity unit value by the sum of one plus the applicable net investment rate for the period subsequent to such preceding value and then

(2) multiplying this product by an adjustment factor to neutralize the assumed investment rate used in determining the amounts of annuity payable. If your Contract has an assumed investment rate of 3½% per year, the adjustment factor for a valuation period of one day would be 0.999905754. We neutralize the assumed investment rate by applying the adjustment factor so that the variable annuity payments will increase only if the actual net investment rate of the Variable Investment Option exceeds 3½% per year and will decrease only if it is less than 3½% per year.

The amount of the initial variable monthly payment is determined on the assumption that the actual net investment rate of each Variable Investment Option used in calculating the “net investment factor” (described below) will be equal on an annual basis to the “assumed investment rate” (described under “VIII. The Annuity Period – Variable Monthly Annuity Payments” in the Prospectus). If the actual net investment rate between the dates for determining two monthly annuity payments is greater than the assumed investment rate, the latter monthly payment will be larger in amount than the former. On the other hand, if the actual net investment rate between the dates for determining two monthly annuity payments is less than the assumed investment rate, the latter monthly payment will be smaller in amount than the former.

Mortality Tables

The mortality tables used as a basis for both variable and fixed annuity purchase rates are the 1983a Mortality Tables, with projections of mortality improvements and with certain age adjustments based on the contract year of annuitization. The mortality table used in a Contract purchased in connection with certain employer-related plans and used in all contracts issued in Montana will be the Female Annuity Table of the 1983a Mortality Tables. The impact of this change will be lower benefits (5% to 15%) from a male’s viewpoint than would otherwise be the case.

Additional Information about Determining Unit Values

The general manner in which we compute annuity unit values is discussed above. Like annuity unit values, we calculate accumulation unit values separately for each Variable Investment Option. As of the close of each Business Day, we calculate the value of one accumulation unit of a Variable Investment Option by multiplying the immediately preceding accumulation unit value by the sum of one plus the applicable “net investment rate” for the period subsequent to such preceding value. See “Net Investment Rate” below.

Net Investment Rate

For any period, the net investment rate for a Variable Investment Option equals

(1) the percentage total investment return of the corresponding Portfolio for that period (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and other distributions from the Portfolio), less

(2) for each calendar day in the period, a deduction of 0.002740% (the charges for mortality and expense risks and administrative services) of the value of the variable investment option at the beginning of the period, and less

(3) a further adjustment in an appropriate amount if we ever elect to impose a charge for our income taxes.

Adjustment of Units and Values

We reserve the right to change the number and value of the accumulation units and/or annuity units credited to your Contract, without notice, provided that strict equity is preserved and the change does not otherwise affect the benefits, provisions, or investment return of your Contract.

Hypothetical Examples Illustrating the Calculation of Accumulation Unit Values and Annuity Unit Values

Assume at the beginning of the period being considered, the value of a particular variable investment option was $4,000,000. Investment income during the period totaled $2000, while capital gains were $3000 and capital losses were $1000. Assume also that we are not imposing any tax charge. Charges against the beginning value of the variable investment option amount to $109.60 assuming a one day period. The $109.60 was computed by multiplying the beginning value of $4,000,000 by the factor 0.00002740. By substituting in the first formula above, the net investment rate is equal to $3890.40 ($2000 + $3000 - $1000 - $109.60) divided by $4,000,000 or 0.0009726.

Assume further that each accumulation unit had a value of $11.250000 on the previous business day, and the value of an annuity unit on such previous date was $1.0850000. Based upon the experience of the variable investment option during the period, the value of an accumulation unit at the end of the period would be [$11.250000 x (1 + .0009726)] or $11.260942. The value of an annuity unit at the end of the period would be [$1.0850000 x (1 + .00096726) x .99990575] or $1.0859529. The final figure, .99990575, neutralizes the effect of a 3½% assumed investment rate so that the annuity unit’s change in value reflects only the actual investment experience of the variable investment option.

Purchases and Redemptions of Portfolio Shares

The Company purchases and redeems Portfolio shares for the Account at their net asset value without any sales or redemption charges. Each available Portfolio issues its own separate series of Portfolio shares. Each such series represents an interest in one of the Portfolios of the Trusts, which corresponds to one of our Variable Investment Options. Any dividend or capital gains distributions received by the Account will be reinvested in shares of that same Portfolio at their net asset value as of the dates paid.

On each Business Day, the Separate Account purchases and redeems shares of each Portfolio for each Variable Investment Option based on, among other things, the amount of Purchase Payments allocated to that option, dividends reinvested, and transfers to, from and among Investment Options, all to be effected as of that date. Such purchases and redemptions are effective at the net asset value per Trust share for each Portfolio determined on that same date.

The Separate Account

In addition to the assets attributable to Contracts, the Separate Account may include amounts contributed by John Hancock USA or its predecessor, JHLICO, to commence operations of a Variable Investment Option or an underlying Portfolio. From time to time these additional amounts may be transferred in cash by us to our General Account. Before any such transfer, we will consider any possible adverse impact the transfer might have on any Variable Investment Option. The assets of one Variable Investment Option are not necessarily legally insulated from liabilities associated with another Variable Investment Option.

Liability for Telephone Transfers

If you authorize telephone transfers, you will be liable for any loss, expense or cost arising out of any unauthorized or fraudulent telephone or fax instructions which we reasonably believe to be genuine, unless such loss, expense or cost is the result of our mistake or negligence. We employ procedures which provide safeguards against unauthorized transactions, and which are reasonably designed to confirm that instructions received by telephone are genuine. These procedures include:

• requiring personal identification,

• tape recording calls, and

• providing written confirmation to the Owner.

If we do not employ reasonable procedures to confirm that instructions communicated by telephone are genuine, we may be liable for any loss due to unauthorized or fraudulent instructions.

Voting Privileges

Here’s the formula we use to determine the number of Portfolio shares as to which you may give instructions:

the total value of your accumulation

units in a Variable Investment Option

divided by

the net asset value of 1 share of the

corresponding class of the Portfolio

At a shareholders’ meeting, you may give instructions regarding:

(1) the election of a Board of Trustees,

(2) the ratification of the selection of independent auditors,

(3) the approval of a Series Portfolio’s investment management agreements, and

(4) other matters requiring a vote under the 1940 Act.

The annuitant or other payee will also be entitled to give voting instructions with respect to the Portfolio shares corresponding to any Variable Investment Option under which variable annuity payments are then being made. We determine the number of Portfolio shares for which the payee can give instructions by dividing the actuarially determined present value of the payee’s annuity units that correspond to that Portfolio by the net asset value of one share of that Portfolio.

We will furnish you information and forms so that you may give voting instructions.

We may own Portfolio shares that we do not hold in any separate account whose participants are entitled to give voting instructions. We will vote such shares in proportion to the instructions we receive from all variable annuity contract and variable life insurance policy owners who give us instructions for that Portfolio’s shares (including owners who participate in separate accounts other than the Separate Account). The effect of this proportional voting is that a small number of Contract Owners can determine the outcome of a vote.

We have designed your voting privileges based upon our understanding of the requirements of the federal securities laws. If the applicable laws, regulations, or interpretations change to eliminate or restrict the need for such voting privileges, we reserve the right to proceed in accordance with any such revised requirements.

Item 28. Directors and Officers of the Depositor

Officers and Directors of John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.):

Name and Principal Business Address	Position with Depositor
Brooks Tingle 200 Berkeley Street Boston, MA 02116	Chair, Director, President & Chief Executive Officer
Nora Newton Crouch 804 Pepper Avenue Richmond, VA 23226	Director
Thomas Edward Hampton 1900 K Street NW Washington, DC 20006	Director
J. Stephanie Nam 1 West 72nd Street, Apt. 35 New York NY 10023	Director
Ken Ross 200 Berkeley St. Boston, MA 02116	Director, Vice President
Shamus Weiland 200 Bloor Street E. Toronto, ON M4W 1E5	Director
Henry H. Wong 200 Berkeley Street Boston, MA 02116	Director, Vice President
Executive Vice Presidents
Andrew G. Arnott**	Global Head of Retail, GWAM
Christopher Paul Conkey**	Global Head of Public Markets
Scott S. Hartz**	Chief Investment Officer – U.S. Investments
Senior Vice Presidents
John Addeo**	Global Fixed Income Chief Investment Officer
John C.S. Anderson**	Global Head of Corporate Finance
Kevin J. Cloherty**	Deputy General Counsel, Global Markets
Mike Dallas**	Global Head of Employee Experience
Aimee DeCamillo*	Global Head of Retirement
Peter DeFrancesco*	Head of Digital – Direct to Consumer
Michael F Dommermuth***	Head of Wealth & Asset Management
Kristie Feinberg*	Head of MIM US and Europe
Maryscott Greenwood**	Global Head of Regulatory & Public Affairs
Len van Greuning*	Chief Information Officer MIM
Anne Hammer*	Global Chief Communications Officer
John B Maynard**	Deputy General Counsel, Legacy, Reinsurance & Tax
Steven E. Medina**	Global Equity Chief Investment Officer
Joelle Metzman**	GWAM Chief Risk Officer
Sinead O’Connor*	Head of Actuarial Policy
Wayne Park*	Head of US Retirement
Gerald Peterson**	Global Head of Operations, GWAM
Nicole Rafferty***	Global Head of Contact Centers
Susan Roberts*	Head of LTC Customer Care Transformation
Ian Roke**	Global Head of Asset & Liability Management
Thomas Samoluk**	US General Counsel and US Government Relations
Anthony Teta*	US Head of Inforce Management
Nathan Thooft**	Global MAST Chief Investment Officer
Anne Valentine-Andrews***	Global Head of Private Markets
Blake Witherington**	US Chief Credit Officer

Name and Principal Business Address	Position with Depositor
Vice Presidents
Lynda Abend*
Mark Akerson*
Kenneth D’Amato**
Jay Aronowitz**
Kevin Askew**
William Auger*
Jack Barry*
P.J. Beltramini*
Zahir Bhanji***
Jon Bourgault**
Paul Boyne**
Ian B. Brodie**
Ted Bruntrager*	CCO & Chief Risk Officer
Grant Buchanan***
Ginger Burns**
Brendan Campbell*
Yan Rong Cao*
Rick A. Carlson**
Patricia Rosch Carrington**
Alex Catterick****
Ken K. Cha*
Diana Chan***	Head of Treasury Operations
Christopher M. Chapman**
Sheila Chernicki*
Teresa H. Chuang**
Eileen Cloherty*
Maggie Coleman***
Catherine Z. Collins**
Meredith Comtois*
Thomas D. Crohan**
Susan Curry**
Kenneth Dai***	Treasury
Michelle M. Dauphinais*
Frederick D Deminico**
Susan P Dikramanjian**
William D Droege**
Jeffrey Duckworth**
Marc Feliciano**
Katie M. Firth**
Carolyn Flanagan**
Lauren Marx Fleming**
Philip J. Fontana**
Laura Foster***
Matthew Gabriel*
Paul Gallagher**
Melissa Gamble**
Scott B. Garfield**
Marco Giacomelli***
Jeffrey N. Given**
Thomas C. Goggins**
Dara Gough*
Howard C. Greene**
Erik Gustafson**
Neal Halder*
Jeffrey Hammer***
Lindsay L. Hanson*
Richard Harris***	Appointed Actuary

Name and Principal Business Address	Position with Depositor
Jessica Harrison***
John Hatch*	Chief Operations Officer – US Segment
Justin Helferich***
Michael Hession*
Philip Huvos*
Sesh Iyengar**
Tasneem Kanji**
Geoffrey Grant Kelley**
Recep C. Kendircioglu**
Neal P. Kerins*
Michael P King***
Heidi Knapp**
Hung Ko***
Robert Krempus***
Diane R. Landers**
Michael Landolfi**
Tracy Lannigan**	Corporate Secretary
Jessica Lee***
Scott Lively**
David Loh***
Jeffrey H. Long**
Jennifer Lundmark*
Edward P. Macdonald**
Patrick MacDonnell**
Shawn McCarthy**
Andrew J. McFetridge**
Jonathan McGee**
Katie L. McKay**
Eric S. Menzer**
Stella Mink***
Michelle Morey*
Scott Morin*
Catherine Murphy*	Deputy Appointed Actuary
Richard Myrus**
Lisa Natalicchio*
Jeffrey H. Nataupsky**
Scott Navin**
Jeffrey Packard**
Pragya Pandit*
Onay Payne***
Gary M. Pelletier**
David Pemstein**
Jessica Portelance***
Jason M. Pratt**
Ed Rapp**
Todd Renneker**
Chet Ritchie*
Charles A. Rizzo**
Emily Roland**
Josephine M. Rollka*
Barbara H. Rosen-Campbell**
Caryn Rothman**
Devon Russell*
Paul Sanabria**
Emory W. Sanders*
Jeffrey R. Santerre**
Marcia Schow**
Christopher L. Sechler**

Name and Principal Business Address	Position with Depositor
Garima Vijay Sharma***
Estelle Shaw-Latimer***
Thomas Shea**
Lisa Shepard**
Alex Silva*	Chief Financial Officer - US Insurance
Susan Simi**
Darren Smith**
Jayanthi Srinivasan***
Brittany Straughn*
Katherine Sullivan**
Trevor Swanberg**
Robert E. Sykes, Jr.**
Wilfred Talbot*
Gary Tankersley*	Head of US Retirement Distribution
Michelle Taylor-Jones*
Brian E. Torrisi**
Simonetta Vendittelli*	Chief Financial Officer and Controller
Gina Goldych Walters**
Adam Weigold**
Jonathan T. White**
Bryan Wilhelm*
Karin Wilsey**
Adam Wise**
Jeffrey Wolfe**
Thomas Zakian**
Michael Zargaj*

*Principal Business Office is 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116

**Principal Business Office is 197 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116

***Principal Business Office is 200 Bloor Street, Toronto, Canada M4W1E5

****Principal Business Office is 250 Bloor Street, Toronto, Canada M4W1E5

Item 29. Persons Controlled by or Under Common Control with the Depositor or the Registrant

Registrant is a separate account of John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) (the “Company”), operated as a unit investment trust. Registrant supports benefits payable under the Company’s variable annuity contracts by investing assets allocated to various investment options in shares of John Hancock Trust (the “Trust”), which is a “series” type of mutual fund registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Act”) as an open-end management investment company. The purchasers of variable annuity and variable life insurance contracts, in connection with which the Trust is used, will have the opportunity to instruct the Company with respect to the voting of the shares of the Series Fund held by Registrant as to certain matters. Subject to the voting instructions, the Company directly controls Registrant.

On the effective date of this Amendment to the Registration Statement, the Company and its affiliates are controlled by Manulife Financial Corporation (“MFC”). A list of other persons controlled by MFC as of December 31, 2023, appears below:

Item 30. Indemnification

Article XIV of the Restated Articles of Redomestication of the Company provides as follows:

No director of this Corporation shall be personally liable to the Corporation or its shareholders or policyholders for monetary damages for breach of the director’s fiduciary duty, provided that the foregoing shall not eliminate or limit the liability of a director for any of the following:

i) a breach of the director’s duty or loyalty to the Corporation or its shareholders or policyholders;

ii) acts or omissions not in good faith or that involve intentional misconduct or knowing violation of law;

iii) a violation of Sections 5036, 5276 or 5280 of the Michigan Insurance Code, being MCLA 500.5036, 500.5276 and 500.5280;

iv) a transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit; or

v) an act or omission occurring on or before the date of filing of these Articles of Incorporation.

If the Michigan Insurance Code is hereafter amended to authorize the further elimination or limitation of the liability of directors. then the liability of a director of the Corporation, in addition to the limitation on personal liability contained herein, shall be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by the Michigan Insurance Code as so amended. No amendment or repeal of this Article XIV shall apply to or have any effect on the liability or alleged liability of any director of the Corporation for or with respect to any acts or omissions of such director occurring prior to the effective date of any such amendment or repeal.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, Registrant hereby makes the following undertaking pursuant to Rule 484 under the Securities Act of 1933:

Insofar as indemnification for liability arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

Item 31. Principal Underwriters

(a) Set forth below is information concerning other investment companies for which John Hancock Distributors, LLC (“JHD LLC”), the principal underwriter of the contracts, acts as investment adviser or principal underwriter.

Name of Investment Company	Capacity in Which Acting
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account H	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account A	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account N	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account I	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account L	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account M	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York Separate Account A	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York Separate Account B	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account Q	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account X	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Variable Life Account UV	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account R	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account T	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Variable Life Account S	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Variable Life Account U	Principal Underwriter
John Hancock Variable Life Account V	Principal Underwriter

(b) John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) is the sole member of JHD LLC and the following comprise the Board of Managers and Officers of JHD LLC.

Name	Title
Gary Tankersley*	Director, President and Chief Executive Officer
Alex Silva*	Director
Christopher Walker***	Director, Vice President, Investments
Tracy Lannigan**	Vice President and Corporate Secretary
Rick Carlson**	Vice President, US Taxation
Jeffrey H. Long**	Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Financial Operations Principal
Edward P. Macdonald**	Vice President and General Counsel

*Principal Business Office is 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116

**Principal Business Office is 197 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116

***Principal Business Office is 200 Bloor Street, Toronto, Canada M4W1E5

Item 32. Location of Accounts and Records

The information required by this item is included in the most recent Form N-CEN filed with the SEC by the Separate Account.

Item 33. Management Services

Not applicable.

Item 34. Fee Representation

(a) Representation of Insurer Pursuant to Section 26 of the Investment Company Act of 1940

John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) (the “Company”) hereby represents that the fees and charges deducted under the contracts issued pursuant to this registration statement, in the aggregate, are reasonable in relation to the services rendered, the expenses expected to be incurred, and the risks assumed by the Company.

(b) Representation of Registrant Pursuant to Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended

Registrant is relying on a no-action letter issued in connection with funding vehicles for retirement plans meeting the requirements of Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, on November 28, 1988, SEC Reference No. IP-6-88, and is complying with the provisions of paragraphs 1-4 of such no action letter.

John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) Separate Account W (Registrant)
By:	John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) (Depositor)
By:	* Brooks Tingle Chair and President
John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.)
By:	* Brooks Tingle Chair and President

/s/ Sophia Pattas Sophia Pattas, as Attorney-In-Fact Pursuant to Power of Attorney

Signature	Title
* Brooks Tingle	Chair and President (Chief Executive Officer)
* Simonetta Vendittelli	Chief Financial Officer, Vice President and Controller (Chief Accounting Officer)
* Nora Newton Crouch	Director
* Thomas Edward Hampton	Director
* J. Stephanie Nam	Director
* Ken Ross	Director
* Shamus Weiland	Director
* Henry H. Wong	Director
/s/ Sophia Pattas Sophia Pattas, as Attorney-In-Fact Pursuant to Power of Attorney

	Page No.
I. Glossary	1
II. Key Information	3
III. Overview	7
IV. Fee Tables	9
Examples	10
V. Principal Risks of Investing in the Contract	11
VI. Basic Information	12
What is the Contract?	12
Who issued my Contract?	12
Who owns the Contract?	12
Is the Owner also the Annuitant?	12
How can I invest money in a Contract?	12
Purchase Payments	12
Initial Purchase Payment	12
Limits on Additional Purchase Payments	13
Ways to Make Additional Purchase Payments	13
Additional Purchase Payments by Wire	13
How will the value of my investment in the Contract change over time?	13
Variable Investment Options	13
Fixed Investment Options	14
What annuity benefits does a Contract provide?	14
To what extent can John Hancock USA vary the terms and conditions of the Contracts?	14
State Insurance Law Requirements	14
Variations in Charges or Rates	14
What are the tax consequences of owning a Contract?	14
How can I change my Contract’s Investment Options?	15
Allocation of Purchase Payments	15
Transfers Among Investment Options	15
Procedure for Transfers Among Investment Options	17
Telephone and Electronic Transactions	17
Standard Benefits	18
Dollar-Cost Averaging Program	18
Special Transfer Services – Asset Rebalancing Program	18
What fees and charges are deducted from my Contract?	19
Asset-Based Charges	19
Annual Contract Fee	19
Premium Taxes	19
Withdrawal Charge	20
Surrenders and Withdrawals	21
Signature Guarantee Requirements for Surrenders and Withdrawals	22
Nursing Home Waiver of Withdrawal Charge Rider	22
Systematic Withdrawal Plan	23
Telephone Withdrawals	23
Benefits Available Under the Contract	23
What happens if the Annuitant dies before my Contract’s Maturity Date?	24
Guaranteed Minimum Death Benefit	24
Distribution Requirements Following Death of Owner	25
Do I receive Transaction Confirmations?	26
VII. General Information about Us, the Separate Accounts and the Portfolios	27
The Company	27
The Separate Accounts	27
The Portfolios	28
Investment Management	28