You may be charged for other transactions including special requests such as wire transfers, express mail, duplicate contracts, preparing checks, third-party transfers or exchanges; or when you transfer between investment options in excess a certain number.

 

For additional information about transaction charges see “Charges that the Company deducts” in “Charges and expenses” in the Prospectus.

Expressed as an annual percentage of the applicable benefit base.

We may, at any time, exercise our rights to limit or terminate your contributions, allocations and transfers to any of the variable investment options (including the Protected Benefit account variable investment options) and to limit the number of variable investment options which you may select. Such rights include, among others, removing or substituting the Portfolios, combining any two or more variable investment options and transferring account value from any variable investment option to another variable investment option.

 

There are restrictions regarding investment options if Guaranteed benefits are elected, limits on contributions and transfers into and out of the guaranteed interest option, restrictions or limits with Special DCA programs. See “Allocating your contributions” in “Purchasing the Contract” and “Transfering your account value” in “Transferring your money among investment options” in the Prospectus for more information.

 

For more information see “About The Separate Account” in “More information” in the Prospectus.

 

Currently, we do not charge for transfers among investment options under the contract. However, we reserve the right to charge for any transfers in excess of 12 per contract year. We will provide you with advance notice if we decide to assess the transfer charge, which will never exceed $35 per transfer.

 

Contributions and transfers into and out of the guaranteed interest option are limited.

 

For additional information about restrictions on the investment options, see “Transfer charge” in “Charges and expenses”, and “Portfolio of the Trusts” and “Guaranteed Interest Option” in “Purchasing the Contract” and “Transferring your money among investment options” in the Prospectus.

You should consult with a tax professional to determine the tax implications of an investment in, and payments received under, the contract. There is no additional tax benefit to you if the contract is purchased through a plan or individual retirement account (IRA). Withdrawals will be subject to ordinary income tax and may be subject to tax penalties. Generally, you are not taxed until you make a withdrawal from the contract.

 

For additional information about tax implications see “Tax information” in the Prospectus.

Some financial professionals may have a financial incentive to offer a new contract in place of the one you already own. You should only exchange your contract if you determine, after comparing the features, fees, and risks of both contracts, as well as any fees or penalties to terminate your existing contract, that it is preferable to purchase the new contract rather than continue to own your existing contract.

 

For additional information about exchanges see “Charge for third-party transfer or exchange” in “Charges and expenses” in the Prospectus.

Fee table

 

 

 

The following tables describe the fees and expenses that you will pay when buying, owning, surrendering the contract. Each of the charges and expenses is more fully described in “Charges and expenses”. Please refer to your contract specifications page for more information about the specific fees you will pay each year based on the options you have elected.

 

The first table describes fees and expenses that you will pay at the time that you buy the contract, surrender the contract, or transfer account value between investment options. Charges designed to approximate certain taxes that may be imposed on us, such as premium taxes in your state, may also apply.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next item shows the minimum and maximum total operating expenses charged by the underlying Portfolios that you may pay periodically during the time that you own the contract. Expenses shown may change over time and may be higher or lower in the future. A complete list of Portfolios available under the contract, including their annual expenses, may be found at the back of this document. See Appendix “Investment options available under the contract.”

 

 

 

Example

 

These Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the variable investment options with the cost of investing in other annuity contracts that offer variable investment options. These costs include transaction expenses, annual contract expenses, and annual Portfolio expenses.

 

The Example assumes all account value is allocated to the variable investment options. Your costs could differ from those shown below if you invest in the fixed investment options.

 

These Examples assume that you invest $100,000 in the variable investment options for the time periods indicated. The Examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year and assumes the most expensive combination of annual Portfolio expenses, as well as the Highest Anniversary Value death benefit and GMIB (both at their maximum charge).

 

Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next item shows the minimum and maximum total operating expenses charged by the underlying Portfolios that you may pay periodically during the time that you own the contract. Expenses shown may change over time and may be higher or lower in the future. A complete list of Portfolios available under the contract, including their annual expenses, may be found at the back of this document. See Appendix “Investment options available under the contract.”

 

 

Example

 

These Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the variable investment options with the cost of investing in other annuity contracts that offer variable investment options. These costs include transaction expenses, annual contract expenses, and annual Portfolio expenses.

 

The Example assumes all account value is allocated to the variable investment options. Your costs could differ from those shown below if you invest in the fixed investment options.

 

These Examples assume that you invest $100,000 in the variable investment options for the time periods indicated. The Examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year and assumes the most expensive combination of annual Portfolio expenses, as well as the Highest Anniversary Value death benefit and GMIB (both at their maximum charge).

 

Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

 

Example

 

These Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the variable investment options with the cost of investing in other annuity contracts that offer variable investment options. These costs include transaction expenses, annual contract expenses, and annual Portfolio expenses.

 

The Example assumes all account value is allocated to the variable investment options. Your costs could differ from those shown below if you invest in the fixed investment options.

 

These Examples assume that you invest $100,000 in the variable investment options for the time periods indicated. The Examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year and assumes the most expensive combination of annual Portfolio expenses, as well as the Highest Anniversary Value death benefit and GMIB (both at their maximum charge).

 

Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

 

Principal Risks of Investing in the Contract

 

 

 

The risks identified below are the principal risks of investing in the contract. The contract may be subject to additional risks other than those identified and described in this Prospectus.

 

Risks Associated with Variable Investment Options

 

You take all the investment risk for amounts allocated to one or more of the subaccounts, which invest in Portfolios. If the subaccounts you select increase in value, then your Total account value goes up; if they decrease in value, your Total account value goes down. How much your Total account value goes up or down depends on the performance of the Portfolios in which your subaccounts invest. We do not guarantee the investment results of any Portfolio. An investment in the contract 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.

 

Insurance Company Risk

 

No company other than the Company has any legal responsibility to pay amounts that we owe under the contract including amounts allocated to the guaranteed interest option. The general obligations and any Guaranteed benefits under the contract are supported by our general account and are subject to our claims-paying ability. You should look solely to our financial strength for our claims-paying ability.

 

Possible Fees on Access to Total Account Value

 

We may apply fees if you access your Total account value during the accumulation period or surrender your contract. For example, in addition to possible tax consequences, you may incur fees for accessing your Total account value such as a transfer fee, third party transfer or exchange fee, annual administrative expense, base contract expense, and/or a charge for any optional benefits.

 

Possible Adverse Tax Consequences

 

The tax considerations associated with the contract vary and can be complicated. The applicable tax rules can differ, depending on the type of contract, whether NQ, traditional IRA, Roth IRA or QP. The tax consequences discussed in this Prospectus are general in nature and describe only federal income tax law (not state, local, foreign or other federal tax laws). Moreover, the tax aspects that apply to a particular person’s contract may vary depending on the facts applicable to that person. Tax rules may change without notice. We cannot predict whether, when, or how these rules could change. Any change could affect contracts purchased before the change. Congress may also consider further proposals to comprehensively reform or overhaul the United States tax and retirement systems, which if enacted, could affect the tax benefits of a contract. We cannot predict what, if any, legislation will actually be proposed or enacted. Before making contributions to your contract or taking other action related to

your contract, you should consult with a tax professional to determine the tax implications of an investment in, and payments received under, the contract.

 

Withdrawals are generally subject to income tax, and may be subject to tax penalties if taken before age 59⁄.

 

Not a Short-Term Investment

 

The contract is not a short-term investment and is not appropriate for an investor who needs ready access to cash because the contract is designed to provide for the accumulation of retirement savings and income on a long-term basis. As such, you should not use the contract as a shortterm investment or savings vehicle and you should consider whether investing in the contract is consistent with the purpose for which the investment is being considered.

 

Risk of Loss

 

All investments have risks to ome 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.

 

Optional Benefits

 

Investment options are limited if Guaranteed benefits are elected. Guaranteed benefits are funded through the Protected Benefit account variable investment options and once a withdrawal is taken from the Protected Benefit account, you cannot make additional contributions to the Protected Benefit account. We may limit or stop accepting contributions and transfers to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options which means you may no longer be able to increase your Protected Benefit account value and the benefit bases associated with your Guaranteed benefits through contributions and transfers. Excess withdrawals may terminate or significantly reduce the value of your optional benefits.

 

Contract Changes Risk

 

We may, at any time, exercise our rights to limit or terminate your contributions, allocations and transfers to any of the variable investment options (including the Protected Benefit account variable investment options). We reserve the right, subject to compliance with laws that apply, to remove variable investment options from the Separate Account, to combine any two or more variable investment options, to restrict or eliminate any voting rights as to the Separate Account, to limit or terminate contributions or transfers into any of the variable investment options, and to limit the number of variable investment options you may select.

 

You should evaluate whether our ability to make the changes described above, and your ability to react to such

 

changes, are appropriate based on your investment goals. When such changes occur, you should also evaluate whether those changes are appropriate based on your investment goals and, if not, you should evaluate your options under the Contract, which may be limited and may have negative consequences associated with them, as described in this section.

 

Limitations on access to cash value through withdrawals

 

Withdrawals may be subject to income taxes and tax penalties. The minimum partial withdrawal amount is $300. Withdrawals will reduce your Total account value and optional benefit bases and the amount of the reduction may be greater than the dollar amount of the withdrawal. Excess withdrawals may terminate or significantly reduce the value of your optional benefits. Certain withdrawals may also terminate your contract. If you take a withdrawal from the Protected benefit account, you cannot make additional contributions to the Protected benefit account.

 

Availability by Financial Intermediary

 

 

Business disruption, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies risks

 

We rely heavily on technology, including interconnected computer systems and data storage networks and digital communications, to conduct our business. Because our business is highly dependent upon the effective operation of our computer systems and those of our service providers and other business partners, our business is vulnerable to disruptions from utility outages, and susceptible to operational and information security risks resulting from information systems failure (e.g., hardware and software malfunctions), and cyberattacks. Cyberattacks may be systemic (e.g., affecting the internet, cloud services, or other infrastructure) or targeted (e.g., failures in or breach of our systems or those of third parties on whom we rely, including ransomware and malware attacks). Cybersecurity risks include, among other things, the loss, theft, misuse, corruption and destruction of data maintained online or digitally, interference with or denial of service, attacks on our websites (or the websites of third parties on whom we rely), other operational disruption and unauthorized release, use or abuse of confidential customer information. The risk of cyberattacks may be higher during periods of geopolitical turmoil. Due to the increasing sophistication of

cyberattacks, a cybersecurity breach could occur and persist for an extended period of time without detection. Systems failures and cyberattacks, as well as, any other catastrophic event, including natural and manmade disasters, public health emergencies, pandemic diseases, terrorist attacks, floods or severe storms affecting us, any third-party administrator, the underlying funds, intermediaries and other affiliated or third-party service providers may adversely affect us, our business operations and your account value and interfere with our ability to process contract transactions and calculate account values. Systems failures and cyberattacks may also interfere with our processing of contract transactions, including the processing of orders from our website or with the underlying funds, impact our ability to calculate account values and unit values and/or the underlying funds to be unable to calculate share values, cause the release or possible destruction of confidential customer and/or business information, impede order processing or cause other operational issues, subject us and/or our service providers and intermediaries to regulatory fines, litigation and financial losses and/or cause reputational damage. Cybersecurity risks may also impact the issuers of securities in which the underlying funds invest, which may cause the underlying funds to lose value. The preventative actions we take to reduce the frequency and severity of cybersecurity incidents and protect our computer systems may be insufficient to prevent a cybersecurity breach from impacting our operations or your contract value. There can be no assurance that we or the underlying funds or our service providers and intermediaries will be able to avoid cybersecurity breaches affecting your contract.

 

The development and deployment of AI tools and technologies, including generative AI, and its use and anticipated use by us or by third parties on whom we rely, may increase our existing operational risks or create new operational risks that we are not currently anticipating. AI and generative AI may be misused by us or by third parties upon which we rely, and that risk is increased by the relative newness of the technology, the speed at which it is being adopted, and the uncertain and evolving policy and regulatory landscape governing its use. Such misuse could expose us to legal or regulatory risk. Because the generative AI technology is so new, many of the potential risks of generative AI are currently unknowable.

 

In addition, we are also exposed to risks related to natural and man-made disasters, including, but not limited to, the occurrence of any storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, public health crises, malicious acts, and terrorist acts or any other event, which could adversely affect our ability to conduct business. A natural or man-made disaster, including a pandemic such as COVID-19, could result in our workforce, and/or employees of service providers and/or third-party administrators, being compromised and unable or unwilling to fully perform their responsibilities, which could likewise result in interruptions in our service. This could interfere with our processing of contract transactions, including processing orders from owners and orders with the underlying funds, impact our ability to calculate contract value, or have other adverse impacts on our operations. These events may also negatively affect the our service providers and intermediaries, the underlying funds and issuers of securities in which the underlying funds invest, which may cause the funds underlying your contract to lose value. There can be no assurance that we or the underlying funds or our service providers and intermediaries will be able to avoid negative impacts associated with natural and man-made disasters.

Benefits available under the contract

 

 

 

Summary of Benefits

 

The following tables summarize important information about the benefits available under the contract.

 

 

These death benefits are available during the accumulation phase:

 

 

 

 

This living benefit is available during the accumulation phase:

 

 

 

 

These other benefits are available during the accumulation phase:

 

 

 

There are no restrictions on which investment options you can invest in for the death benefits. The variable investment options may be conservative in nature and you may receive a higher rate of return from other investment options. If you are seeking more aggressive investment options the allowable investments may not be appropriate for you.

 

Death Benefits

 

 

For the purposes of determining the death benefit under your Retirement Cornerstone Series E contract, we treat your Investment account and any Guaranteed minimum death benefit funded by your Protected Benefit account differently.

 

The death benefit in connection with your Investment account is equal to your Investment account value as of the date we receive satisfactory proof of death, any required instructions for the method of payment, and any required information and forms necessary to effect payment. The death benefit payable in connection with your Protected Benefit account will be based on the greater of (i) your Protected Benefit account value, and (ii) the benefit base of your Guaranteed minimum death benefit.

 

The total death benefit under your Retirement Cornerstone Series E contract will depend on your values in either one or both sides of the contract. If you selected a Guaranteed minimum death benefit but never funded your Protected Benefit account, your death benefit will be based on your Investment account value only. Likewise, if you funded your Guaranteed minimum death benefit through allocations to the Protected Benefit account and had no Investment account value, your death benefit would be based strictly on the Guaranteed minimum death benefit you selected. Also, it is possible that upon your death, you have value in both your Investment account and a Guaranteed minimum death benefit that has been funded through allocations to the Protected Benefit account. In that case, your beneficiaries would receive the Investment account value, plus the value of your Guaranteed minimum death benefit.

 

Guaranteed minimum death benefits

 

At issue, you may elect one of our optional Guaranteed minimum death benefit options (GMDBs) in connection with your Protected Benefit account as follows:

 

 

The RMD Wealth Guard death benefit cannot be elected in combination with the GMIB. You can elect the Highest Anniversary Value death benefit with or without the GMIB. The Highest Anniversary Value death benefit and the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit are available at an additional charge. There is no additional charge for the Return of Principal death benefit. If you elect the GMIB, but do not elect a Guaranteed minimum death benefit, the Return of Principal death benefit will also be issued with your contract. If you elect a GMDB, the period during which you can make subsequent contributions may be significantly shorter than if you did not elect a GMDB. Please refer to Appendix “Rules regarding contributions to your contract”.

 

Once a withdrawal is taken from the Protected Benefit account, additional contributions may not be made to the Protected Benefit account. Please refer to “Accessing your money”. Transfers to and from the Protected Benefit account may be restricted. Please refer to “Transferring your money among investment options”.

 

Any GMDB you elect will automatically terminate upon annuitization, which will occur no later than the contract maturity date.

 

When you have a GMDB, you can allocate your contributions to any of the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your death benefit in connection with your Protected Benefit account is equal to one of the following — whichever provides a higher amount:

 

 

 

 

The Return of Principal death benefit, like all of the guaranteed minimum death benefits, only applies to amounts you allocate to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options and not to the contract as a whole. There is no additional charge for this benefit. The Return of Principal death benefit can only be elected in combination with the GMIB. Your Return of Principal Guaranteed minimum death benefit is equal to your Return of Principal death benefit base. This benefit base is not an account value or cash value. It is equal to:

 

 

 

 

 

Please see Appendix “Guaranteed benefit base examples” for an example of how the Return of Principal benefit base is calculated.

 

 

Your Highest Anniversary Value Guaranteed minimum death benefit is equal to your Highest Anniversary Value benefit base. The current charge for this benefit is reflected on the Rate Sheet Supplement and is subject to the Rate lock-in period. Please see, “Rate lock-in period” in “Benefits available under the contract”. This benefit base is not an account value or cash value. The calculation of your Highest Anniversary Value benefit base will depend on whether you have taken a withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account.

If you have not taken a withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account, your Highest Anniversary Value benefit base is equal to one of the following — whichever provides a higher amount:

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you take a withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account and you elected the GMIB, your Highest Anniversary Value benefit base will be reduced on a dollar-for-dollar basis by withdrawals up to the Annual withdrawal amount, and on a pro rata basis by Excess withdrawals. (Special rules apply if you enroll in our Automatic RMD service.) If you take a withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account and you did not elect the GMIB, your Highest Anniversary Value benefit base will be reduced on a pro rata basis. Reduction on a pro rata basis means that we calculate the percentage of your Protected Benefit account value that is being withdrawn and we reduce your Highest Anniversary Value benefit base by the same percentage. See “How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefits”.

 

At any time after a withdrawal, your Highest Anniversary Value benefit base is equal to one of the following — whichever provides a higher amount:

 

 

 

 

 

Please see Appendix “Guaranteed benefit base examples” for an example of how the Highest Anniversary Value benefit base is calculated.

 

 

 

The RMD Wealth Guard death benefit is an optional guaranteed minimum death benefit. The current charge for this benefit is reflected on the Rate Sheet Supplement and is subject to the Rate lock-in period. Please see, “Rate lock-in period” in “Benefits available under the contract”. Your initial RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base is valued based on your initial contributions and any transfers to the Protected Benefit account. This benefit base is not an account value or cash value. Thereafter RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base is increased by any allocations and transfers to the Protected Benefit account, which is described below. Withdrawals from the Protected Benefit account other than Excess RMD withdrawals, will not reduce your RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base. This death benefit also provides a refund feature in the event the Protected Benefit account falls to zero before the owner reaches age 95. There is an additional charge for this death benefit under the contract. The RMD Wealth Guard death benefit is not available if you elected the GMIB.

 

 

 

 

The RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base is not an account value or cash value. It is equal to:

 

 

 

 

The RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base will be recalculated on each transaction date upon the occurrence of each contribution, transfer or deduction.

 

Excess RMD withdrawals will reduce your RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base on a pro rata basis. Reduction on a pro rata basis means that we calculate the percentage of your Protected Benefit account value that is being withdrawn and we reduce your RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base by the same percentage.

 

 

 

Your RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal amount will be determined using the RMD rules and life expectancy and distribution tables in effect on December 31, 2014. In the event that tax reform measures change those RMD requirements, unless we agree otherwise, we will not allow your RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal amount to be greater than the RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal amount calculated using the IRS RMD rules that were in effect on December 31, 2014. As a result of us reserving this right, in the event that future IRS rule changes require you to take RMD withdrawals that are greater than the RMD amount calculated using the IRS RMD rules that were in effect on December 31, 2014 and we do not agree to this change, you would have to satisfy your RMD requirements from other retirement sources or, if you do not have other retirement sources, you would have to take an additional

 

RMD withdrawal amount from this contract, which would be treated an Excess RMD withdrawal. That Excess RMD withdrawal would reduce your RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base on a pro rata basis. Please refer to the section “How withdrawals effect your Guaranteed benefits”.

 

Please note that your RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal amount will be zero:

 

 

 

 

Withdrawals from the Protected Benefit account:

 

 

 

will not stop your RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base from resetting.

 

As discussed in “Resets”, the last reset of the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base will be the earlier of the contract date anniversary following your first RMD withdrawal from the Protected Benefit account or the contract date anniversary following your 85th birthday.

 

benefit base on a pro rata basis.

 

Please note that any withdrawals from your Protected Benefit account, including withdrawals taken up to the RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal amount, will reduce your Protected Benefit account value.

 

Please note that due to a change in federal law effective January 1, 2023, depending on your birth date, your RMD age may be older than 70½. However, for purposes of RMD Wealth Guard, we treat all withdrawals after age 70½ from your Protected Benefit account as RMD Wealth Guard withdrawals. For example, if your RMD age is 73 and you take your first withdrawal from the Protected Benefit account when you are 71, we will treat that withdrawal as a RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal. Assuming that withdrawal is not an RMD Wealth Guard excess withdrawal, it will count towards your RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal amount, make your contract no longer eligible for market resets, and lock in the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base.

 

If you elect the RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service, you can elect to take RMD withdrawals from your Protected Benefit account value and Investment account value. If you elect to use our RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service or our Automatic RMD withdrawal service, you will receive the required amount of RMD payments calculated for your contract for that calendar year. At the time you elect to receive RMD withdrawals, any prior RMD payments due for that calendar year will be paid as a catch-up payment. The catch-up payment is made immediately when the RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service enrollment is processed. Thereafter, RMD payments will begin on the date and at the frequency you elect.

 

For example, in the calendar year that you turn age 70½, if you enroll in our RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service in July of that year and requested to receive monthly RMD payments, you would receive the catch-up payment due for January through June in a lump sum on the date the enrollment is processed and the July RMD monthly payment on the date that you specified on the RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service Form. If you take additional withdrawals from the Protected Benefit account while you are currently taking RMD payments under our RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service, those RMD payments from the Protected Benefit account will be reduced by those withdrawals. If you delay your first RMD withdrawal until after the calendar year you turn age 70½, but no later than April 1st of the following calendar year, we will pay you a catch-up payment at the time you elected to receive RMD withdrawals, which will include any prior RMD payments due for that calendar year plus the entire RMD amount due from the prior year. The catch-up payment is made immediately when the RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service enrollment is processed. Thereafter, RMD payments will begin on the date and at the frequency you elect. In that event, your RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base would not reset after your first RMD withdrawal.

 

For more information about the RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service, please refer to “RMDs for Traditional IRA contracts with the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit” in “Accessing your money”.

 

If you take withdrawals from your Protected Benefit account during a calendar year in which you are receiving RMD payments under our Automatic RMD service or our RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service, once the total amount of your withdrawals in that calendar year reach your RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal amount, your RMD Wealth Guard withdrawals will be suspended until the next calendar year. Additional withdrawals from the Investment account value will not suspend RMD Wealth Guard withdrawals under our Automatic RMD service or our RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service.

 

For additional examples of how withdrawals affect your RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base, see Appendix “Examples of how withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefit bases”. For information on how RMD payments affect your RMD Wealth Guard death benefit, see “RMDs for Traditional IRA contracts with the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit” in “Accessing your money”.

 

The RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service is not available under QPDC contracts. If you elect the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit for a QPDC contract, all withdrawals from your Protected Benefit account will reduce the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base on a pro rata basis until the QPDC contract is converted to an IRA. After you convert the QPDC contract to an IRA contract you can elect the RMD Wealth Guard withdrawal service. A qualified plan participant, upon separation from service, may directly roll-over an eligible rollover distribution from the plan by converting the QPDC contract into an otherwise identical IRA contract which retains the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit. In that case, the RMDs can be taken without reducing the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base. You should not elect the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit under a QPDC contract unless you intend to convert to an IRA prior to taking RMDs. See Appendix “Purchase considerations for QP contracts”.

 

RMDs are not required to be withdrawn from a Roth IRA during your lifetime. Therefore, if you are considering converting your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, prior to converting your IRA to a Roth IRA, you must drop the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit. For information on dropping this benefit, see “Dropping or changing your Guaranteed benefits” in “Benefits available under the contract”, and under Appendix “Dropping or changing your Guaranteed benefits”.

 

The RMD Wealth Guard death benefit is only available for traditional IRA and QPDC contracts.

 

 

If you elected the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit and your Protected Benefit account value falls to zero before the owner’s death, your RMD Wealth Guard death benefit terminates and we will refund 10% of the total of (a) minus (b), where

 

 

For example, assume that at the time your Protected Benefit account value fell to zero, your total contributions and transfers to the Protected Benefit account were $100,000 and you had taken a total of $10,000 in Excess RMD withdrawals. You will receive a refund equal to 10% of $90,000 ($100,000 - $10,000), or $9,000.

 

We will pay you the amount of any RMD Wealth Guard Refund as a lump sum. In certain circumstances, you may be able to roll over this payment into another IRA. Please consult your tax adviser. Also, please see “Withdrawals, payments and transfers of funds out of traditional IRAs” in the “Tax Information” section of this Prospectus for more information about possible tax consequences of any distribution from your contract.

 

If your Protected Benefit account falls to zero, your contract will also terminate unless you have amounts allocated to the Investment account. In this case, you will receive the RMD Wealth Guard Refund as a lump sum, your contract will continue and any remaining RMD payments will continue uninterrupted from your Investment account, beginning in the calendar year in which your Protected Benefit account falls to zero.

 

If you change ownership of the contract, generally the Guaranteed minimum death benefit will automatically terminate, except under certain circumstances. See “Transfers of ownership, collateral assignments, loans and borrowing” in “More information” for more information.

 

The Guaranteed minimum death benefits are subject to state availability and your age at contract issue. For a description of all material variations of this contract, see Appendix “State contract availability and/or variations of certain features and benefits”.

 

For contracts with owners, the available death benefits are based on the annuitant’s age.

 

Please see both “Effect of your account values falling to zero” in “Determining your contract’s value” and “How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefits” and the section entitled “Charges and expenses” for more information on these Guaranteed benefits.

 

See Appendix “Guaranteed benefit base examples” for examples of how the benefit bases for the Guaranteed minimum death benefits work.

 

Payment of Death Benefit

 

Your beneficiary and payment of benefit

 

You designate your beneficiary when you apply for your contract. You may change your beneficiary at any time while you are alive and the contract is in force. The change will be effective as of the date the written request is executed, whether or not you are living on the date the change is received in our processing office. We are not responsible for any beneficiary change request that we do not receive. We will send you a written confirmation when we receive your request.

 

Under jointly owned contracts, the surviving owner is considered the beneficiary, and will take the place of any other beneficiary. Under a contract with a owner that has joint annuitants who continue to be spouses at the time of death, the surviving annuitant is considered the beneficiary, and will take the place of any other beneficiary. In a QP contract, the beneficiary must be the plan trust. Where an NQ contract is owned for the benefit of a minor pursuant to the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act or the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, the beneficiary must be the estate of the minor. Where an IRA contract is owned in a custodial individual retirement account, the custodian must be the beneficiary.

 

The death benefit in connection with your Investment account is equal to your Investment account value as of the date we receive satisfactory proof of the owner’s (or older joint owner’s, if applicable) death, any required instructions for the method of payment, forms necessary to effect payment and any other information we may require.

 

The death benefit in connection with any amount in your Protected Benefit account is equal to your Protected Benefit account value or, if greater, the applicable Guaranteed minimum death benefit. We determine the amount of the death benefit (other than the applicable Guaranteed minimum death benefit), as of the date we receive satisfactory proof of the owner’s (or older joint owner’s, if applicable) death, any required instructions for the method of payment, forms necessary to effect payment and any other information we may require (date of claim). However, this is not the case if the beneficiary of your contract is your spouse and he or she decides to roll over the death benefit to another contract issued by us. See “Effect of the owner’s death”. The amount of the applicable Guaranteed minimum death benefit will be such Guaranteed minimum death benefit as of the date of the owner’s (or older joint owner’s, if applicable) death adjusted for any subsequent withdrawals. If you elected the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit, the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base will be reduced on a dollar-for-dollar basis by any withdrawals taken between December 31 of the calendar year of the date of death and the date of claim. Payment of the death benefit terminates the contract.

 

 

 

 

Subject to applicable laws and regulations, you may impose restrictions on the timing and manner of the payment of the death benefit to your beneficiary. For example, your beneficiary designation may specify the form of death benefit payout (such as a life annuity), provided the payout you elect is one that we offer both at the time of designation and when the death benefit is payable. In general, the beneficiary will have no right to change the election. However, you should be aware that (i) in accordance with current federal income tax rules, we apply a predetermined death benefit annuity payout election only if payment of the death benefit amount begins within one year following the date of death, which payment may not occur if the beneficiary has failed to provide all required information before the end of that period, (ii) we will not apply the predetermined death benefit payout election if doing so would violate any federal income tax rules or any other applicable law, and (iii) a beneficiary or a successor owner who continues the contract under one of the continuation options described below will have the right to change your annuity payout election.

In general, if the annuitant dies, the owner (or older joint owner, if applicable) will become the annuitant, and the death benefit is not payable. If the contract had joint annuitants, it will become a single annuitant contract.

 

 

 

 

In general, if the owner dies while the contract is in force, the contract terminates and the applicable death benefit is paid. If the contract is jointly owned, the death benefit is payable upon the death of the older owner. If the contract has a owner, the death benefit is payable upon the death of the annuitant.

 

There are various circumstances, however, in which the contract can be continued by a successor owner or under a Beneficiary continuation option (“BCO”). For contracts with spouses who are joint owners, the surviving spouse will automatically be able to continue the contract under the “Spousal continuation” feature or under our Beneficiary continuation option, as discussed below. For contracts with joint owners, the joint owner will be able to continue the contract as a successor owner subject to the limitations discussed under “Non-spousal joint owner contract continuation.”

 

If you are the sole owner, your surviving spouse may have the option to:

 

 

 

 

 

If you elected the GMIB, and your surviving spouse is age 85 or older at the time of your death and wishes to exercise the GMIB, we must receive the exercise election within twelve months of your date of death. The annuity purchase factors that apply in calculating the GMIB payments to your surviving spouse differ from the annuity purchase factors that we generally use to calculate GMIB payments.

 

If your surviving spouse rolls over the death benefit proceeds into a contract issued by us, the amount of the death benefit will be calculated as of the date we receive all requirements necessary to issue your spouse’s new contract. Any death proceeds will remain invested in this contract until your spouse’s new contract is issued. The amount of the death benefit will be calculated to equal the greater of the account value (as of the date your spouse’s new contract is issued) and the applicable Guaranteed minimum death benefit (as of the date of your death). This means that the death benefit proceeds could vary up or down, based on investment performance, until your spouse’s new contract is issued.

 

If the surviving joint owner is not the surviving spouse, or, for single owner contracts, if the beneficiary is not the surviving spouse, federal income tax rules generally require payments of amounts under the contract to be made within five years of an owner’s death (the rule”). In certain cases, an individual beneficiary or surviving joint owner may opt to receive payments over his/her life (or over a period not in excess of his/her life expectancy) if payments commence within one year of the owner’s death. Any such election must be made in accordance with our rules at the time of death. If the beneficiary of a contract with one owner or a younger joint owner continues the contract under the rule, in general, all Guaranteed benefits and their charges will end. For more information on joint owner contract continuation, see the section immediately below.

 

joint owner contract continuation

 

Upon the death of either owner, the surviving joint owner becomes the sole owner.

 

Any death benefit (if the older owner dies first) or cash value (if the younger owner dies first) must be fully paid to the surviving joint owner within five years. The surviving owner may instead elect to receive a life annuity, provided payments begin within one year of the deceased owner’s death. If the life annuity is elected, the contract and all benefits terminate.

 

If the older owner dies first, we will increase the account value to equal the Guaranteed minimum death benefit, if higher. The surviving owner can elect to (1) take a lump sum payment; (2) annuitize within one year; (3) continue the contract for up to five years and any GMIB and charge will be terminated; or (4) continue the contract under the Beneficiary continuation option.

 

If the contract continues, any Guaranteed minimum death benefit and associated charge will be discontinued. No subsequent contributions will be permitted.

 

If the younger owner dies first, the surviving owner can elect to (1) take a lump sum payment; (2) annuitize within one year; (3) continue the contract for up to five years; or (4) continue the contract under the Beneficiary continuation option. If the contract continues under the rule”, the death benefit is not payable and the Guaranteed minimum death benefit, if applicable, will continue without change. In general, the GMIB and charge will be discontinued. No subsequent contributions will be permitted.

Spousal continuation

 

For jointly owned NQ contracts, if the younger spouse dies first no death benefit is paid, and the contract continues as follows:

 

 

 

If you are the contract owner and your spouse is the sole primary beneficiary or you jointly own the contract with your younger spouse, your spouse may elect to continue the contract as successor owner upon your death. Spousal beneficiaries (who are not also joint owners) must be 85 or younger as of the date of the deceased spouse’s death in order to continue the contract under Spousal continuation. The determination of spousal status is made under applicable state law. However, in the event of a conflict between federal and state law, we follow federal rules.

 

Upon your death, the younger spouse joint owner (for NQ contracts only) or the spouse beneficiary (under a Single owner contract), may elect to receive the death benefit, continue the contract under our Beneficiary continuation option (as discussed in this section) or continue the contract as sole owner, as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For single owner contracts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where an NQ contract is owned by a Living Trust, as defined in the contract, and at the time of the annuitant’s death the annuitant’s spouse is the sole beneficiary of the Living Trust, the Trustee, as owner of the contract, may request that the spouse be substituted as annuitant as of the date of the annuitant’s death. No further change of annuitant will be permitted.

 

Where an IRA contract is owned in a custodial individual retirement account, and your spouse is the sole beneficiary of the account, the custodian may request that the spouse be substituted as annuitant after your death.

 

Spousal beneficiaries of a single owned contract who are 86 or older as of the date of the deceased spouse’s death are not permitted to continue the contract under Spousal continuation. However, they may have a one-time opportunity to exercise the GMIB. See “GMIB exercise rules” in “Benefits available under the contract” for more information. If you divorce, Spousal continuation does not apply.

 

Beneficiary continuation option

 

 

 

 

For deaths after December 31, 2019, only specified individuals who are “eligible designated beneficiaries” or “EDBs” may stretch post-death payments over the beneficiary’s life expectancy. See “required minimum distributions after your death” under “Tax Information.”

 

 

Under the Beneficiary continuation option for IRA and Roth IRA contracts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Generally, payments will be made once a year to the beneficiary over the beneficiary’s life expectancy, determined on a term certain basis and in the year payments start. These payments must begin no later than one year after the date of your death and are referred to as “scheduled payments.” The beneficiary may choose the rule” instead of scheduled payments over life expectancy. If the beneficiary chooses the rule, there will be no scheduled payments. Under the rule, the beneficiary may take withdrawals as desired, but the entire account value must be fully withdrawn by the fifth anniversary of your death.

 

Under the Beneficiary continuation option for NQ contracts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A surviving spouse should speak to his or her tax professional about whether Spousal continuation or the Beneficiary continuation option is appropriate for him or her. Factors to consider include, but are not limited to, the surviving spouse’s age, need for immediate income and a desire to continue any Guaranteed benefits under the contract.

 

Living Benefits

 

Guaranteed minimum income benefit

 

This section describes the Guaranteed minimum income benefit, or “GMIB”. The current charge for this benefit is reflected on the Rate Sheet Supplement and is subject to the Rate lock-in period. Please see, “Rate lock-in period” in “Benefits available under the contract”. The GMIB is automatically added to your contract at issue, unless you specifically indicate on your application that you do not wish to elect it.

 

The GMIB guarantees, subject to certain restrictions, annual lifetime payments (“Lifetime GMIB payments”) that are calculated by applying your GMIB benefit base to the guaranteed GMIB annuity purchase factors specified in Appendix “GMIB Annuity purchase factors”. You choose whether you want the option to be paid on a single or joint life basis at the time the GMIB is exercised.

 

Funding of the GMIB is only permitted starting at the Funding Age, which is reflected on the Rate Sheet Supplement. If you are less than 7 years younger than the Funding Age at the time your contract is issued, the Initial Roll-up rates (described below) will only apply after you attain the Funding Age for the amount of time then remaining in your first seven contract years. Instead, the Renewal rates (described below) will apply for the duration of your contract.

 

Lifetime GMIB payments will begin at the earliest of:

 

 

 

 

We reserve the right to change the annuity option or make other forms of payout options available at any time. For a description of payout options, see “Your annuity payout options” in “Accessing your money”.

 

When you exercise the GMIB, the annual lifetime income that you will receive will be the greater of (i) your GMIB which is calculated by applying your GMIB benefit base to GMIB guaranteed annuity purchase factors, or (ii) the income provided by applying your Protected Benefit account value to our then current annuity purchase factors specified in Appendix “GMIB Annuity purchase factors”, or base contract guaranteed annuity purchase factors. The GMIB benefit base is applied only to the guaranteed annuity purchase factors under the GMIB in your contract and not to any other guaranteed or current annuity purchase rates. Your Total account value is never applied to the guaranteed GMIB annuity purchase factors. The amount of income you actually receive will be determined when we receive your request to exercise the benefit.

 

If there is no Investment account value remaining when you elect to exercise the GMIB, your contract (including its

death benefit and any account or cash values) will terminate and you will receive a new contract for the annuity payout option. For a discussion of when your payments will begin and end, see “Exercise of GMIB”.

 

We will make this comparison for you upon request.

 

Surrendering your contract will terminate your GMIB. Please see “Surrendering your contract to receive its cash value” in “Accessing your money”.

 

The GMIB also allows you to take certain withdrawals (your “Annual withdrawal amount”) prior to the beginning of your Lifetime GMIB payments without reducing your GMIB benefit base. Your Annual withdrawal amount for the next contract year is calculated each contract date anniversary by applying a percentage (“the Annual rate”) to your GMIB benefit base on that date. Lifetime GMIB payments and your Annual withdrawal amount are described in this section. With respect to your GMIB, it is important to note the following:

 

 

 

In order to fund your Guaranteed minimum income benefit, you must make contributions or transfers to the Protected Benefit account. .

 

The GMIB can be elected by owners age 20-80 with all contract types. If the contract is jointly owned, the GMIB can only be elected and funded if both owners are between the ages of the Funding Age and age 80. The GMIB, which is automatically added to your contract at issue unless you specifically indicate on your application that you do not wish to elect it, cannot be added to your contract at a later date.

 

You can drop your GMIB at any time prior to funding your Protected Benefit account. If you fund your Protected Benefit account at issue, which is only permitted if you are at least the

 

Funding Age, you can drop your GMIB if your contract has been in force for at least four contract years. If you fund your Protected Benefit account after issue, you cannot drop the GMIB until the later of (i) the contract date anniversary following the date the Protected Benefit account is funded and (ii) four years from contract issue.

 

It is important to note that if you decide to drop your GMIB, either before or after funding your Protected Benefit account, your Guaranteed minimum death benefit may be affected. Please see Appendix “Dropping or changing your Guaranteed benefits” for more information.

 

When you purchase a contract with the GMIB, you can combine it with one of our Guaranteed minimum death benefits: (i) the Return of Principal death benefit, or (ii) the Highest Anniversary Value death benefit. The GMIB cannot be combined with the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit.

 

There is an additional charge for the GMIB which is described under “Guaranteed minimum income benefit charge” in “Charges and expenses”.

 

If you elected the GMIB and change ownership of the contract, this benefit will automatically terminate, except under certain circumstances. See “Transfers of ownership, collateral assignments, loans and borrowing” in “More information”.

 

 

 

 

 

Your GMIB has a benefit base that determines your Annual withdrawal amount and your Lifetime GMIB payments. We apply a Roll-up rate to your GMIB benefit base. At contract issue, an initial Annual Roll-up rate and Deferral Roll-up rate, will apply during your first seven contract years. See “Annual Roll-up rate”, “Deferral Roll-up rate”, “Initial Roll-up rates” and “Renewal rates” for more information. Please note that the initial Annual Roll-up rate and initial Deferral Roll-up rate may be the same.

 

 

 

 

Your GMIB benefit base is not an account value or cash value. The GMIB benefit base is used to calculate your Lifetime GMIB payments, your Annual withdrawal amount and the charge for the benefit. Your GMIB benefit base is equal to:

 

 

 

 

 

After the end of the GMIB Roll-up period, the dollar amount of any withdrawals up to the Annual withdrawal amount will not reduce your GMIB benefit base. A withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account that exceeds the Annual withdrawal amount, including RMD withdrawals, is an Excess withdrawal. (Special rules apply to RMDs, however, if you enroll in our Automatic RMD service. See “RMDs for contracts with GMIB” in “Accessing your money”.) An Excess withdrawal will reduce your GMIB benefit base on a pro rata basis.

 

 

 

 

Beginning in the contract year in which you fund your Protected Benefit account until the end of the GMIB Roll-up period, if your Lifetime GMIB payments have not begun, withdrawals up to your Annual withdrawal amount will not reduce your GMIB benefit base. However, those same withdrawals will reduce on a dollar-for-dollar basis the Annual amount that would otherwise be applied to the GMIB benefit base at the end of the contract year. Remember that the amount applicable under your contract does not become part of your GMIB benefit base until the end of the contract year. See “Annual withdrawal amount”. If you are required to take RMD distributions and elect our Automatic RMD service, any Lifetime RMD payment we make to you up to the greater of your Lifetime RMD payment or Annual withdrawal amount each year will count towards your Annual withdrawal amount but (a) during the GMIB Roll-up period, will not offset the Annual Roll-up amount by more than the Annual withdrawal amount and (b) after the GMIB Roll-up period ends, will not reduce your GMIB benefit base. If you do not enroll in our Automatic RMD service and you take withdrawals in order to satisfy your RMD obligations, the amount by which your total withdrawals exceed your Annual withdrawal amount will be treated as an Excess withdrawal that reduces your GMIB benefit base on a

pro rata basis. See “RMDs for contracts with GMIB” in the “Accessing your money” section of this Prospectus.

 

After the GMIB Roll-up period end date, any withdrawals you take up to the Annual withdrawal amount each year will not reduce your benefit base. Any withdrawals you take in excess of the Annual withdrawal amount will reduce your benefit base on a pro rata basis. Special rules apply if you are required to take RMD withdrawals and enroll in our Automatic RMD service. Unless you decline or elect a different annual reset option, you will be enrolled in the automatic annual reset program and your GMIB benefit base will automatically “reset” to equal the Protected Benefit account value, if higher, on every contract date anniversary from your contract date, up to the contract maturity date. See “Annual reset options”.

 

Only amounts you allocate to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options and amounts in the Special DCA program designated for the Protected Benefit account variable investment options will fund your GMIB. These amounts will be included in your GMIB benefit base and will become part of your Protected Benefit account value. See “Allocating your contributions” for more information.

 

For example:

 

You purchase a Retirement Cornerstone — Series E contract with an initial contribution of $100,000 and allocate $60,000 to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options and $40,000 to the Investment account variable investment options. Your initial GMIB benefit base will be $60,000.

 

You can fund your GMIB benefit by allocating money to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options (either directly or through the special DCA program) immediately or at some later date. Allocations to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options also fund your Guaranteed minimum death benefit.

 

 

The Annual rate is used to calculate your Annual withdrawal amount. It is also used to calculate amounts credited to your GMIB benefit base for the contract year in which the first withdrawal is made from your Protected Benefit account and all subsequent contract years. The Deferral rate is used to calculate amounts credited to your GMIB benefit base in the contract years prior to the first withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account. The Deferral rate is described below.

 

The initial Annual Roll-up rate is the Annual Roll-up rate that applies during the first seven years of your contract. The initial Annual Roll-up rate is specified in the Rate Sheet Supplement and will not be less than the guaranteed Roll-up floor. Thereafter, the renewal Annual Roll-up rate applies. The renewal Annual rate is variable and is tied to the Treasuries Formula Rate described below, but the minimum rate will be the greater of the guaranteed Roll-up floor and the Ten-Year Treasuries Formula Rate (which is the same calculation used for the minimum renewal Deferral Roll-up rate), but never greater than 10.0%. The renewal Annual

rate will be set at our discretion, subject to the above stated minimum. We reserve the right, however, to declare a renewal Annual rate that is greater than 10.0%.

 

 

The “Ten-Year Treasuries Formula Rate” used with the renewal Annual Roll-up rate is identical to the “Deferral Ten-Year Treasuries Formula Rate” used with the renewal Deferral Roll-up rate.

 

 

The Deferral rate is only used to calculate amounts credited to your GMIB benefit base through the end of the contract year that precedes the contract year in which the first withdrawal is made from your Protected Benefit account. The Deferral rate is never used to calculate your Annual withdrawal amount under the GMIB.

 

Beginning with the first contract year in which you fund your Protected Benefit account, the amount credited to your GMIB benefit base at the end of the contract year (the “Deferral amount”) will be calculated using the Deferral rate. Once you take a withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account, the Deferral amount will not be credited at the end of the contract year in which the withdrawal was taken and the Deferral Roll-up rate will no longer apply to your contract. Instead, the Annual amount will be credited.

 

The Deferral Roll-up rate, if higher than the Annual Roll-up rate, may provide an incentive to defer taking your first withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account. If the Deferral Roll-up rate and the Annual Roll-up rate are the same, this incentive for deferring withdrawals is not applicable.

 

The initial Deferral Roll-up rate is the Deferral Roll-up rate that applies during the first seven years of your contract. The initial Deferral Roll-up rate is specified in the Rate Sheet Supplement and will not be less than the guaranteed Roll-up floor. Thereafter, the renewal Deferral Roll-up rate applies. The renewal Deferral rate is variable and is tied to the Deferral Treasuries Formula Rate described below. The minimum renewal Deferral rate will be the greater of the guaranteed Roll-up floor and the Ten-Year Treasuries Formula Rate (which is the same calculation used for the minimum renewal Annual Roll-up rate), but never greater than 10.0%. The renewal Deferral rate will be set at our discretion, subject to the above stated minimum.

 

We reserve the right, however, to declare a renewal Deferral rate that is greater than 10.0%.

 

 

As described above, both the renewal Annual rate and renewal Deferral rate will never be less than the guaranteed Roll-up floor or greater than 10.0% and both use the exact same Ten-Year Treasuries Formula Rate.

 

It is important to note that on each contract date anniversary, we will apply either the Annual rate or the Deferral rate to your GMIB benefit base based on whether you have ever taken a withdrawal from the Protected Benefit account. In statements we provide you, we will show you the amounts under both rate scenarios. Once you take a withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account, the Deferral rate will no longer be shown on your statements.

 

 

 

 

 

Once a contract is issued with the Initial Roll-up rates that are in effect, those rates will be applicable for the first seven contract years. Any transfers or contributions to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options, either directly or through the Special DCA program that are designated for future transfers to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options during the first seven

contract years will get the Initial Roll-up rates described above. The initial Roll-up rates are no longer applicable starting in the eighth year of your contract, regardless of when you fund the Protected Benefit account. See “Renewal rates” for the Roll-up rates that apply once the Initial Roll-up rates expire.

 

 

 

These Renewal rates may be more than or less than, or equal to, your initial Annual rate and Deferral rate. We also reserve the right to set new initial rates that are higher than Renewal rates.

 

Any transfers or contributions to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options, either directly or through the Special DCA program and any contribution amounts in the Special DCA program that are designated for future transfers to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options, after the first day of any contract year will get the Annual rate and Deferral rate in effect as of the most recent contract date anniversary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your GMIB benefit base starts increasing, or rolling up, on the date you first fund your Protected Benefit account and stops rolling up on the date that is the earlier of (a) the 20th contract date anniversary that occurs after the date you first fund the Protected Benefit account and (b) the contract maturity date.

 

 

 

 

The GMIB Roll-up period can be a full 20 years. However, because the GMIB Roll-up period always ends on a contract date anniversary, your GMIB Roll-up period may be less than 20 years if you first fund the Protected Benefit account on a date other than your contract date anniversary.

 

See “Annual Roll-up amount and annual GMIB benefit base adjustment” and “Deferral Roll-up amount and annual GMIB benefit base adjustment” for information on how your benefit base rolls up during the GMIB Roll-up period.

 

During the GMIB Roll-up period, additional contributions or transfers to the Protected Benefit account are added to your GMIB benefit base on the date they are made and included in the applicable roll-up calculation. However, these amounts are not assigned a separate GMIB Roll-up period and will stop rolling up on the end date of the GMIB Roll-up period that was determined when you first funded the Protected Benefit account.

 

After the GMIB Roll-up period ends, your GMIB benefit base will no longer roll up but can still increase by the amount of any additional contributions to the Protected Benefit account, if permitted, and through operation of the reset feature. See “GMIB benefit base reset” for more information.

 

For single-owned contracts, the contract maturity date (the point at which Lifetime GMIB payments must begin) triggers the last possible end date of the GMIB Roll-up period. For jointly-owned contracts, the contract maturity date is based on the older owner’s age.

 

For contracts with owners, the end date of the GMIB Roll-up period will be based on the annuitant’s (or older joint annuitant’s) age.

 

The amount of the deduction for an “Excess withdrawal” and the deduction for the Annual withdrawal amount are described under “How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefits”.

 

As discussed in this section, your GMIB benefit base is not an account value or cash value. As a result, the GMIB benefit base cannot be split or divided in any proportion in connection with a divorce. See “How divorce may affect your contract and Guaranteed benefits” in “More information.”

 

Please see Appendix “Guaranteed benefit base examples” for an example of how the GMIB benefit base is calculated.

 

Beginning with the contract year in which you fund your Protected Benefit account until the end of the GMIB Roll-up period, if your Lifetime GMIB payments have not begun, withdrawals up to your Annual withdrawal amount will not reduce your GMIB benefit base. The portion of a withdrawal in excess of your Annual withdrawal amount will reduce your GMIB benefit base on a pro rata basis. See “Annual withdrawal amount”. If you are required to take RMD distributions and elect our Automatic RMD service, any Lifetime RMD payment we make to you up to the greater of your Lifetime RMD payment or Annual withdrawal amount each year will count towards your Annual withdrawal amount but (a) during the GMIB Roll-up period, will not offset the Annual Roll-up amount by more than the Annual withdrawal amount and (b) after the GMIB Roll-up period ends, will not reduce your GMIB benefit base. If you do not enroll in our Automatic RMD service and you take withdrawals in order to satisfy your RMD obligations, the amount by which your total withdrawals exceed your Annual withdrawal amount will be treated as an Excess withdrawal that reduces your GMIB benefit base on a pro rata basis. See “RMDs for contracts with GMIB” in the “Accessing your money” section of this Prospectus.

 

 

Unless you decline or elect a different annual reset option, you will be enrolled in the automatic annual reset program and your GMIB benefit base will automatically “reset” to equal the Protected Benefit account value, if higher, on every contract date anniversary from the date you first fund your Protected Benefit account, up to the contract maturity date. You must notify us in writing that you want to opt out of any automatic reset program. You can send us a written request to opt back in to an automatic reset program at a later date. We reserve the right to change or discontinue our reset programs at any time.

 

If a reset is not applicable on your contract date anniversary, the GMIB benefit base will not be eligible to be reset again until the next contract date anniversary. For jointly-owned contracts, eligibility to reset the GMIB benefit base is based on the age of the older owner. For owned contracts, eligibility is based on the age of the annuitant or older joint annuitant.

 

 

not enrolled in either the automatic annual reset program or the automatic customized reset program you will have 30 days from your contract date anniversary to request a reset. At any time, you may choose one of the three available reset methods: one-time reset option, automatic annual reset program or automatic customized reset program.

 

 

 

 

One-time reset requests will be processed as follows:

 

 

 

Once your one-time reset request is terminated, you must submit a new request in order to reset your benefit base.

 

If you wish to cancel your elected reset program, your request must be received by our processing office at least one business day prior to your contract date anniversary to terminate your reset program for such contract date anniversary. Cancellation requests received after this window will be applied the following year. A reset cannot be cancelled after it has occurred. For more information, see ‘‘How to reach us’’.

 

anniversaries may increase as a result of the reset since the charges may be applied to a higher benefit base than would have been otherwise applied. See ‘‘Charges and expenses’’.

 

Owners of traditional IRA or QP contracts should consider the effect of the waiting period on the requirement to take lifetime required minimum distributions before resetting the GMIB benefit base. If a QP contract is converted to an IRA, in a direct rollover, the waiting period for the reset under the IRA contract will include any time that the QP contract was a funding vehicle under the plan. If a traditional IRA contract owner or a plan participant must begin taking lifetime required minimum distributions during the 10-year waiting period, the individual may want to consider taking the annual lifetime required minimum distribution calculated for the contract from another permissible contract or funding vehicle. See ‘‘How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefits’’ and ‘‘Lifetime required minimum distribution withdrawals’’ in ‘‘Accessing your money.’’ Also, see ‘‘Required minimum distributions’’ under ‘‘Individual retirement arrangements (IRAs)’’ in ‘‘Tax information’’ and Appendix ‘‘Purchase considerations for QP Contracts’’.

 

 

The Annual amount is an amount credited to your GMIB benefit base on each contract date anniversary if there has ever been a withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account. The Annual amount adjustment to your GMIB benefit base is a primary way to increase the value of your GMIB benefit base. This amount is calculated by taking into account your GMIB benefit base from the preceding contract date anniversary, the Annual rate under your contract (which may be the same rate as the applicable Deferral Roll-up rate), contributions and transfers to the Protected Benefit account during the contract year and any withdrawals up to the Annual withdrawal amount during the contract year.

 

Your initial Annual Roll-up amount for the contract year in which you first funded the Protected Benefit account is calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Annual amount at the end of each subsequent contract year is calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A amount is based on the number of days remaining in the contract year after the contribution or transfer.

 

. Excess withdrawals will not reduce your Annual Roll-up amount or Annual withdrawal amount to less than zero. However, . See “How withdrawals affect your guaranteed benefit base” for more information. Special rules apply if you are required to take RMD withdrawals and enroll in our Automatic RMD service. See “Lifetime required minimum distribution withdrawals” in “Accessing your money”.

 

 

The Deferral amount is an amount credited to your GMIB benefit base on each contract date anniversary provided you have never taken a withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account. The amount is calculated by taking into account your GMIB benefit base from the preceding contract date anniversary, the applicable Deferral rate under your contract (which may be the same rate as the applicable Annual Roll-up rate) and contributions and transfers to the Protected Benefit account during the contract year. The Deferral amount adjustment to your GMIB benefit base is a primary way to increase the value of your GMIB benefit base.

Your Deferral Roll-up amount for the contract year in which you first funded the Protected Benefit account is calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Deferral Roll-up amount at the end of each subsequent contract year is calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Deferral amount is based on the number of days remaining in the contract year after the contribution or transfer.

 

Thereafter, your GMIB benefit base is frozen,which means:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Annual withdrawal amount for the contract year in which you first fund the Protected Benefit account (the “initial Annual withdrawal amount”) is calculated on the date you first fund the Protected Benefit account, and is equal to:

 

 

 

If you first funded the Protected Benefit account on a date other than your contract date anniversary, your initial Annual withdrawal amount is pro-rated based on the number of days remaining before your next contract date anniversary. If you subsequently make additional contributions or transfers to the Protected Benefit account prior to the next contract date anniversary, your initial Annual withdrawal amount will increase on the date of such contribution or transfer by a pro-rated amount based on the number of days remaining before your next contract date anniversary. Your initial Annual withdrawal amount will be reduced by the amount of any withdrawals you make before your next contract date anniversary on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

 

For example, assume that you first fund your Protected Benefit account on first day of the contract year by making a contribution of $10,000 to your Protected Benefit account variable investment options. On that date, your GMIB benefit base will be $10,000. Your initial Annual withdrawal amount is equal to $500, calculated as follows:

 

 

 

Further assume that on the 146th day of that contract year you make an additional contribution to the Protected Benefit account of $5,000. Your initial Annual withdrawal amount increases by $151 (the pro-rated Roll-up amount for the contribution), calculated as:

 

 

 

 

Your Annual withdrawal amount for the each subsequent contract year is calculated on each contract date anniversary beginning with the contract year that follows the contract year in which the Protected Benefit account is first funded, and is equal to:

 

 

 

If you make additional contributions or transfers to the Protected Benefit account prior to the next contract date anniversary, including amounts transferred from a special DCA program, your Annual withdrawal amount will increase on the date of such contribution or transfer by a pro-rated amount based on the number of days remaining before your next contract date anniversary.

 

Beginning with the contract year in which you fund your Protected Benefit account, if your Lifetime GMIB payments have not begun, you may withdraw up to your Annual withdrawal amount without reducing our GMIB benefit base and adversely affecting your Lifetime GMIB payments.

 

Beginning with the contract year in which your Protected Benefit account was first funded, the portion of a withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account in excess of your Annual withdrawal amount, and all subsequent withdrawals from your Protected Benefit account in that contract year, will always reduce your GMIB benefit base on a pro rata basis. (See “RMDs for contracts with GMIB” in “Accessing your money” for special rules that apply if you enroll in our Automatic RMD service.) This is referred to as an “Excess withdrawal”. The reduction of your GMIB benefit base on a pro rata basis means that we calculate the percentage of your current Protected Benefit account value that is being withdrawn and we reduce your current GMIB benefit base by the same percentage. A pro rata withdrawal will have a significant adverse effect on your benefit base in cases where the Protected Benefit account value is less than the benefit base. For an example of how a pro rata reduction works, see “How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefits”and, for examples of how withdrawals affect your Annual withdrawal amount, see Appendix “Examples of how withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefit bases”

 

Your Annual withdrawal amount is always calculated using the Annual rate in effect for your contract at the beginning of the contract year. The Deferral rate, described above, is never used for the purposes of calculating the Annual withdrawal amount. Your Annual withdrawal amounts are not cumulative. If you withdraw less than your Annual withdrawal

amount in any contract year, you may not add the remainder to your Annual withdrawal amount in any subsequent year.

 

Your Annual withdrawal amount may be more than or less than your Lifetime GMIB payments. Please refer to the beginning of this “Guaranteed minimum income benefit” section and “Lifetime GMIB payments” for more information about Lifetime GMIB payments.

 

 

 Assume you make a contribution of $200,000 and allocate $100,000 to your Protected Benefit account variable investment options and $100,000 to your Investment account variable investment options at issue. At the beginning of contract year three, assume you transfer $5,000 to your Protected Benefit account variable investment options. Also assume that your Annual Roll-up rate is 5% and your Deferral rate is 5% in each contract year. Accordingly, your GMIB benefit base on your third contract date anniversary is $121,013.

 

The GMIB benefit base of $121,013 is calculated as follows:

 

You start with $100,000 allocated to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options. This amount is your initial GMIB benefit base.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Annual withdrawal amount as of the beginning of contract year four is equal to $6,051, calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

Please note that your Annual Roll-up rate is used to calculate your Annual withdrawal amount. The Deferral Roll-up rate is never used to calculate your Annual withdrawal amount.

 

tribution of $10,000 to your Protected Benefit account variable investment options, making your current GMIB benefit base after the contribution $131,013. Also assume that you withdraw your full Annual withdrawal amount of $6,051 during contract year four.

 

On your fourth contract date anniversary, your Annual Roll-up amount is equal to $300, calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please note that the withdrawal in contract year four terminated the Deferral Roll-up rate. Therefore on the fourth contract date anniversary, the Annual Roll-up rate was used to calculate the Annual Roll-up amount.

 

Your adjusted GMIB benefit base is $131,313 ($131,013 + $300).

 

 

 

 

 

On your fourth contract date anniversary, your adjusted GMIB benefit base is $127,383, calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

Please note that the Excess withdrawal in contract year four terminated the GMIB no-lapse guarantee. Please see the following section for more information about the no-lapse guarantee.

 

See Appendix “Examples of how withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefit bases” for more examples of how withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefit bases and Annual withdrawal amount.

 

 

In general, if your Protected Benefit account value falls to zero (except as discussed below), the GMIB will be exercised automatically, based on the owner’s (or older joint owner’s, if applicable) current age and GMIB benefit base as follows:

 

 

 

Poor investment performance of the Protected Benefit account variable investment options or payment of applicable charges may contribute to your Protected Benefit account value falling to zero but will not cause the no-lapse guarantee to terminate.

 

The no-lapse guarantee will terminate under the following circumstances:

 

 

 

The no-lapse guarantee will not be voided by (a) any withdrawals from your Protected Benefit account in the contract year in which you first fund your Protected Benefit account or (b) by RMDs that exceed your Annual withdrawal amount if taken through our Automatic RMD service.

 

If you were enrolled in the Maximum Payment Plan or Customized Payment Plan, the frequency of your Lifetime GMIB payments will be the same based on the payment frequency you elected. Your Lifetime GMIB payment amount may be less than your Annual withdrawal amount in the prior contract year.

 

If you were not enrolled in the Maximum Payment Plan or Customized Payment Plan, you will begin receiving your Lifetime GMIB payments annually one calendar year after the date that the Protected Benefit account value fell to zero. Your Lifetime GMIB payment amount may be less than your Annual withdrawal amount in the prior contract year.

 

 

 

On each contract date anniversary that you are eligible to exercise the GMIB, we will send you an eligibility notice illustrating how much income could be provided as of the contract date anniversary. You must notify us within 30 days following the contract date anniversary if you want to exercise the GMIB. You must return your contract to us, along with all required information within 30 days following your contract date anniversary, in order to exercise this benefit. Upon exercise of the GMIB, the owner (or older joint owner, if applicable) will become the annuitant, and the contract will be annuitized on the basis of the annuitant’s life. You will begin receiving annual payments one year after the annuity payout contract is issued. If you choose monthly or quarterly payments, you will receive your payment one month or one quarter after the annuity payout contract is issued. You may choose to take a withdrawal prior to exercising the GMIB, which will reduce your payments. You may not partially exercise this benefit. See ‘‘Withdrawing your account value’’ in ‘‘Accessing your money’’. Payments end with the last payment before the annuitant’s(or joint annuitant’s, if applicable) death.

 

Please see “Exercise of the GMIB in the event of a GMIB fee increase” under “Charges and expenses” for more information on exercising your GMIB upon notice of a change to the GMIB fee.

 

 

The earliest date on which you are eligible to exercise the GMIB is calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

If you exercise the GMIB and then take a withdrawal from the Protected Benefit account within the 30 days between the applicable contract date anniversary and the date on which the GMIB exercise takes effect, your GMIB benefit base will be reduced on a dollar-for-dollar basis by the amount of the withdrawal (or on a pro-rata basis if the withdrawal was an Excess withdrawal).

 

The GMIB guarantees annual lifetime payments (“Lifetime GMIB payments”), which will begin at the earliest of:

 

 

 

 

Your Lifetime GMIB payments will be calculated as described below in this section. Whether your Lifetime GMIB payments are triggered by age 95, the no-lapse guarantee, or your election to exercise the GMIB, we use the same calculation to determine the amount of the payments.

 

For single owner contracts, the payout can be either based on a single life (the owner’s life) or joint lives. For IRA contracts, the joint life must be the spouse of the owner. For jointly owned contracts, payments can be based on a single life (the life of the older owner) or joint lives. For non-natural owners, payments are based on the annuitant or joint annuitant’s life. In the cases of (a) a joint-owned contract that is continued as a single-owned contract by the younger spouse after the death of the older spouse and (b) a single-owned contract that is continued by the spousal beneficiary followed by the death of the owner, we will always apply joint life annuity purchase rates when calculating GMIB periodic payments, even if the single life payout option had been elected.

 

 

frequency of payments, the form of annuity benefit, and the owner’s (and any joint owner’s) age and sex in certain instances. We may provide more favorable current annuity purchase factors for the annuity payout options than those specified in your contract.

 

 

 

Assume your Protected Benefit account value goes to zero after six months of the 10th contract year and that the Annual Roll-up rate is 5%. Assume further that at the beginning of the 10th contract year, your GMIB benefit base was $100,000 and that you made no contributions or transfers to the Protected Benefit account or any withdrawals during that contract year.

 

The GMIB benefit base on the day your Protected Benefit account value was reduced to zero would be $102,500, calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

If your Protected Benefit account value is reduced to zero on your contract date anniversary as the result of the deduction of charges under the contract, we will add any remaining Annual Roll-up amount, or if applicable, your Deferral Roll-up amount, to your GMIB benefit base.

 

If the GMIB is exercised under any of the three events as described above, and you have no Investment account value, the following applies:

 

 

 

If the GMIB is exercised under any of the three events as described above, and you have Investment account value, the following applies:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

: Assume that the current annuitization factors are greater than the guaranteed annuitization factors. A male contract owner who is age 95 and has a $100,000 GMIB benefit base and $50,000 in Protected Benefit account value and no Investment account value would receive the greater of the following:

 

 

 

In this example, the contract owner’s annual payment would be $8,832.

 

 

See Appendix “GMIB Annuity purchase factors” for the GMIB annuity purchase factors that apply to your contract.

 

Please note:

 

 

 

For example, assume that a male contract owner who is age 80 and has a $100,000 GMIB benefit base, and his Protected Benefit account value falls to zero through systematic withdrawals of the Annual withdrawal amount (e.g., $5,000 as of the most recent contract date anniversary) and poor investment performance. Further assume that the no-lapse guarantee is in effect and the GMIB is automatically exercised.

 

The contract owner’s annual Lifetime GMIB payment would be $4,315, which is calculated by applying the GMIB annuity purchase factor for his age of 80 (in this example, it would be 4.315%) to his $100,000 GMIB benefit base. In this case, the annual Lifetime GMIB payment is $685 less than the most recent Annual withdrawal amount.

 

Any remaining Investment account value will be annuitized under a separate contract based on one of the annuity payout options discussed under “Your annuity payout options” in “Accessing your money”.

 

Upon issuing your supplementary contract, your Guaranteed minimum death benefit and your death benefit in connection with your Investment account value will be terminated.

 

If you elected the GMIB and your Protected Benefit account value falls to zero due to an Excess withdrawal, we will terminate your GMIB and you will receive no payment or supplementary life annuity contract, even if your GMIB benefit base is greater than zero. Please see Appendix “Hypothetical illustrations” for an example of how Lifetime GMIB payments are calculated when: (i) a hypothetical Protected Benefit account value falls to zero, and (ii) the annuitant reaches age 95.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From time to time, we may offer you some form of payment or incentive in return for terminating or modifying certain guaranteed benefits. See “Guaranteed benefit offers” for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefits

 

Except as otherwise described in this section, withdrawals from your Protected Benefit account will reduce your Guaranteed benefit bases on a pro rata basis. Reduction on a pro rata basis means that we calculate the percentage of your current Protected Benefit account value that is being withdrawn and we reduce your current Guaranteed benefit bases by the same percentage.

 

For example, if your Protected Benefit account value is $30,000 and you withdraw $12,000, you have withdrawn 40% of your Protected Benefit account value. If your Guaranteed benefit base was $40,000 before the withdrawal, it would be reduced by $16,000 ($40,000 X 0.40) and your new Guaranteed benefit base after the withdrawal would be $24,000 ($40,000 – $16,000).

 

If your Protected Benefit account value is greater than your Guaranteed benefit base, an Excess withdrawal will result in a reduction of your Guaranteed benefit base that will be less than the withdrawal. For example, if your Protected Benefit account value is $30,000 and you withdraw $12,000, you have withdrawn 40% of your Protected Benefit account value. If your Guaranteed benefit base was $20,000 before the withdrawal, it would be reduced by $8,000 ($20,000 X 0.40) and your new Guaranteed benefit base after the withdrawal would be $12,000 ($20,000 – $8,000).

 

A pro rata deduction means that if you take a withdrawal that reduces your Guaranteed benefit bases on a pro rata basis and your Protected Benefit account value is less than your Guaranteed benefit base, the amount of the Guaranteed benefit base reduction will exceed the amount of the withdrawal.

 

If you elected the GMIB with the Highest Anniversary Value death benefit and you take a withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account, your Highest Anniversary Value benefit base will be reduced on a dollar-for-dollar basis by withdrawals up to the Annual withdrawal amount, and on a pro rata basis by Excess withdrawals. If you take a withdrawal from your Protected Benefit account and you did not elect the GMIB with the Highest Anniversary Value death benefit, your Highest Anniversary Value benefit base will be reduced on a pro rata basis.

 

Withdrawals affect your GMIB benefit base, as follows:

 

 

 

Withdrawals affect your RMD Wealth Guard death benefit base, as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

Please see Appendix “Examples of how withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefit bases” for examples of how withdrawals affect your Guaranteed benefit bases. For information on how RMD payments affect your Guaranteed benefits, including the special rules that apply if you enroll in our RMD withdrawal service, see “Lifetime required minimum distribution withdrawals” in “Accessing your money”. For information on how RMD payments affect your RMD Wealth Guard death benefit, see “RMDs for Traditional IRA contracts with the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit” in

 

“Accessing your money”. For information about the RMD Wealth Guard death benefit, see “RMD Wealth Guard death benefit”.

 

Dropping or changing your Guaranteed benefits

 

You can drop or change your Guaranteed benefits, subject to our rules. Your ability to do so depends on whether you have funded your Protected Benefit account. If you have not funded your Protected Benefit account, we call this a “pre-funding” drop or change. If you have funded your Protected Benefit account, we call this a “post-funding” drop. Also, in order to make a change to your Guaranteed minimum death benefit, you must meet the eligibility requirements for the new benefit. If you drop a Guaranteed benefit, you will not be permitted to add it back to your contract.

 

 

Prior to funding your Protected Benefit account, you can drop your GMIB, Guaranteed minimum death benefit, or change your Guaranteed minimum death benefit. The Return of Principal death benefit cannot be dropped prior to funding your Protected Benefit account. For contracts with the GMIB, the Guaranteed minimum death benefit generally cannot be changed without first dropping the GMIB. In Appendix “Dropping or changing your Guaranteed benefits”, we provide a chart that lists the possible Guaranteed benefit combinations under the Retirement Cornerstone Series E contract and our rules for dropping and changing benefits prior to funding your Protected Benefit account.

 

 

If you funded your Protected Benefit account at issue and your contract has been in force for at least four years, you have the option to drop both your GMIB and Guaranteed minimum death benefit. Also, in some cases, you can drop your GMIB and retain your Guaranteed minimum death benefit. If you funded your Protected Benefit account after issue, you generally cannot drop your Guaranteed benefit(s) until the later of: (i) the contract date anniversary following the date the Protected Benefit account was funded and (ii) four years from contract issue.

 

If you decide to drop all Guaranteed benefits post-funding, we require that you complete the administrative form we provide for this purpose. You must either take a full withdrawal of your Protected Benefit account or make a transfer to the Investment account variable investment options and guaranteed interest option. The Guaranteed benefits and any applicable charges will be terminated as of the business day we receive the properly completed administrative form at our processing office. Please note that when a Guaranteed benefit (other than the Return of Principal death benefit) is dropped on any date other than a contract date anniversary, we will deduct a pro rata portion of the charge for that year.

 

For contracts with the GMIB, the Guaranteed minimum death benefit cannot be dropped without first dropping the GMIB. In Appendix “Dropping or changing your Guaranteed

benefits”, we provide a chart that lists the possible Guaranteed benefit combinations under the Retirement Cornerstone Series E contract and our rules for dropping and changing benefits if you have already funded your Protected Benefit account.

 

 

Guaranteed benefit offers

 

From time to time, we may offer you some form of payment or incentive in return for terminating or modifying certain guaranteed benefits. Previously, we made offers to groups of contract owners that provided for an increase in account value in return for terminating their guaranteed death or income benefits. In the future, we may make additional offers to these and other groups of contract owners.

 

When we make an offer, we may vary the offer amount, up or down, among the same group of contract owners based on certain criteria such as account value , the difference between account value and any applicable benefit base, investment allocations and the amount and type of withdrawals taken. For example, for guaranteed benefits that have benefit bases that can be reduced on either a pro rata or dollar-for-dollar basis, depending on the amount of withdrawals taken, we may consider whether you have taken any withdrawal that has caused a pro rata reduction in your benefit base, as opposed to a dollar-for-dollar reduction. Also, we may increase or decrease offer amounts from offer to offer. In other words, we may make an offer to a group of contract owners based on an offer amount, and, in the future, make another offer based on a higher or lower offer amount to the remaining contract owners in the same group.

 

If you accept an offer that requires you to terminate a guaranteed benefit, we will no longer charge you for it, and you will not be eligible for any future offers related to that type of guaranteed benefit, even if such future offer would have included a greater offer amount or different payment or incentive.

 

Other Benefits

 

Dollar cost averaging

 

We offer a variety of dollar cost averaging programs. You may only participate in one program at a time. Each program

 

allows you to gradually allocate amounts to available investment options by periodically transferring approximately the same dollar amount to the investment options you select. Regular allocations to the variable investment options will cause you to purchase more units if the unit value is low and fewer units if the unit value is high. Therefore, you may get a lower average cost per unit over the long term.

 

All amounts in a dollar cost averaging program will be transferred at the completion of the time period you select. Currently, our Special DCA program time periods do not extend beyond 12 months. This plan of investing does not guarantee that you will earn a profit or be protected against losses.

 

 

 

 

We offer the following dollar cost averaging programs in the Retirement Cornerstone Series E contract:

 

 

 

 

The only dollar cost averaging program that is available to fund your Guaranteed benefits is the special dollar cost averaging (the “Special DCA program”). The Special DCA program allows you to gradually fund your Protected Benefit account value through systematic transfers to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options. Amounts allocated to the Special DCA program that are designated for future transfers to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options are included in the benefit bases for your Guaranteed benefits. Also, you may make systematic transfers to the Investment account variable investment options and the guaranteed interest option. Only new contributions may be allocated to the Special DCA program. For information on how the Special DCA program may affect certain Guaranteed benefits, see “Guaranteed minimum income benefit” and “Guaranteed minimum death benefits”.

 

General dollar cost averaging and Investment simplifier, on the other hand, can only be used for systematic transfers to your Investment account variable investment options. Our Investment simplifier program is available for scheduled transfers from the guaranteed interest option to the Investment account variable investment options. Our General dollar cost averaging program is available for scheduled transfers from the EQ/Money Market variable investment option to the Investment account variable investment options. Below, we provide detail regarding each of the programs.

 

Generally, you may not elect both a dollar cost averaging program and a rebalancing option. The only exception is if you elect our Investment simplifier program with Option I under our rebalancing programs, which does not rebalance amounts in the guaranteed interest option. For more information on our rebalancing programs, see “Rebalancing among your Investment account variable investment options and guaranteed interest option” in “Benefit available under the contract.”

We do not deduct a transfer charge for any transfer made in connection with our dollar cost averaging programs. We may, at any time, exercise our right to terminate transfers to any of the variable investment options and to limit the number of variable investment options which you may elect. Not all dollar cost averaging programs are available in all states. For a description of all material variations of this contract, including information on the availability of our dollar cost averaging programs in your state, see Appendix “State contract availability and/or variation of certain features and benefits”.

 

 

We will transfer amounts from the account for special dollar cost averaging into the investment options you designate over an available time period that you select. If the special dollar cost averaging program is selected at the time of the application to purchase the contract, a 60 day rate lock will apply from the date of application. Any contribution(s) received during this 60 day period will be credited with the interest rate offered on the date of application for the duration of the special dollar cost averaging time period. Any contribution(s) received after the 60 day rate lock period has ended will be credited with the then current interest rate for the duration of the time period selected. Once the time period you selected has ended, you may select another time period for future contributions. At that time, you may also select a different allocation for transfers to the investment options, or, if you wish, we will continue to use the allocation that you previously made.

 

Under the Special DCA program, the following applies:

 

 

 

 

 

 

For example, assume you enroll in a 3-month Special DCA program. On the date we receive your initial contribution (say, $60,000) to the program, your program becomes effective and the first transfer of $20,000 is made immediately in accordance with your program’s allocation instructions. The second transfer of $20,000 will be made one month after your first contribution and the third and final transfer of $20,000 will be made two months after your first contribution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If your value in the EQ/Money Market variable investment option is at least $5,000, you may choose, at any time, to have a specified dollar amount or percentage of your value transferred from that option to any of the Investment account variable investment options. For a description of all material variations of this contract, including information on the availability of our general dollar cost averaging program, see Appendix “State contract availability and/or variations of certain features and benefits”.

 

You can select to have transfers made on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. The transfer date will be the same calendar day of the month as the contract date, but not later than the 28th day of the month. You can also specify the number of transfers or instruct us to continue making the transfers until all amounts in the EQ/Money Market variable investment option have been transferred out. The minimum amount that we will transfer each time is $250. The instructions for the program may differ from your allocation instructions on file.

 

If, on any transfer date, your value in the EQ/Money Market variable investment option is equal to or less than the amount you have elected to have transferred, the entire amount will be transferred. The general dollar cost averaging program will then end. You may change the transfer amount once each contract year or cancel this program at any time.

You may not participate in our optional rebalancing programs if you elect the general dollar cost averaging program.

 

 

 

In order to elect the fixed-dollar option, you must have a minimum of $5,000 in the guaranteed interest option on the date we receive your election form at our processing office. The transfer date will be the same calendar day of the month as the contract date but not later than the 28th day of the month. The minimum transfer amount is $50. Also, this option is subject to the guaranteed interest option transfer limitations described under “Transferring your account value” in “Transferring your money among investment options”. While the program is running, any transfer that exceeds those limitations will cause the program to end for that contract year. You will be notified if this occurs. You must send in a request form to resume the program in the next or subsequent contract years.

 

If, on any transfer date, your value in the guaranteed interest option is equal to or less than the amount you have elected to have transferred, the entire amount will be transferred, provided the transfer complies with the same guaranteed interest option transfer limitations referenced above. If the transfer does not comply with the transfer limitations, the transfer will not be made and the program will end. You may change the transfer amount once each contract year or cancel this program at any time.

 

 

Rebalancing among your Investment account variable investment options and guaranteed interest option

 

We offer two rebalancing programs that you can use to automatically reallocate your Investment account value among your Investment account variable investment options and the guaranteed interest option. Option I allows you to rebalance your Investment account value among the Investment account variable investment options. Option II allows you to rebalance your Investment account value among the Investment account variable investment options and the guaranteed interest option.

 

To enroll in one of our rebalancing programs, you must notify us in writing or through the Equitable Client portal and tell us:

 

 

 

Rebalancing will occur on the same day of the month as the contract date. If a contract is established after the 28th, rebalancing will occur on the first business day of the month following the contract date. If you elect quarterly rebalancing, the rebalancing in the last quarter of the contract year will occur on the contract date anniversary.

 

Once it is available, you may elect or terminate the rebalancing program at any time. You may also change your allocations under the program at any time. Once enrolled in the rebalancing program, it will remain in effect until you instruct us in writing to terminate the program. Requesting an investment option transfer while enrolled in our rebalancing program will not automatically change your allocation instructions for rebalancing your account value. This means that upon the next scheduled rebalancing, we will transfer amounts among your investment options pursuant to the allocation instructions previously on file for your program. Changes to your allocation instructions for the rebalancing program (or termination of your enrollment in the program) must be in writing and sent to our processing office. Termination requests can be made online through the Equitable Client portal. See “How to reach us” in “The Company”. There is no charge for the rebalancing feature.

 

 

 

 

While your rebalancing program is in effect, we will transfer amounts among the applicable investment options so that the percentage of your Investment account value that you specify is invested in each option at the end of each rebalancing date.

 

If you select Option II, you will be subject to our rules regarding transfers from the guaranteed interest option to the

Investment account variable investment options. These rules are described in “Transferring your account value”. Under Option II, a transfer into or out of the guaranteed interest option to initiate the rebalancing program will not be permitted if such transfer would violate these rules. If this occurs, the rebalancing program will not go into effect.

 

You may not elect Option II if you are participating in any dollar cost averaging program. You may not elect Option I if you are participating in the general dollar cost averaging program.

 

Our optional rebalancing programs are not available for amounts allocated to the Protected Benefit account variable investment options. For information about rebalancing among the Protected Benefit account variable investment options, see the section below.

 

Rebalancing among your Protected Benefit account variable investment options

 

You can rebalance your Protected Benefit account value by submitting a request to rebalance as of the date we receive your request, however, scheduled recurring rebalancing is not available. Therefore, any subsequent rebalancing transactions would require a subsequent rebalancing request. Your rebalance request must indicate the percentage you want rebalanced in each investment option (whole percentages only). You can rebalance only to the investment options available in your Protected Benefit account.

 

When we rebalance your Protected Benefit account, we will transfer amounts among the investment options so that the percentage of your account value in each option at the end of the rebalancing date matches the most recent allocation instructions that we have on file. Rebalancing does not assure a profit or protect against loss, so you should periodically review your allocation percentages as your needs change.

 

 

Appendix: Investment options available under the coact

 

 

 

 

Variable Investment options

 

The following is a list of Portfolio Companies available under the contract. More information about the Portfolio Companies is available in the prospectuses for the Portfolio Companies, which may be amended from time to time and can be found online at www.equitable.com/ICSR#EQH159955. You can request this information at no cost by calling 1-877-522-5035 or by sending an email request to EquitableFunds@dfinsolutions.com. If you elect a Guaranteed benefit, you may only invest in the Portfolios listed in the Protected benefit account table below.

 

The current expenses and performance information below reflects fee 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.

 

Affiliated Portfolio Companies: