Sammons Financial Group issued the following announcement on July 18.

Sammons Retirement Solutions®, which creates simple, innovative and straightforward solutions to help individual investors live well in retirement has launched the LiveWell® Freedom Variable Annuity (VA) which features a first-of-its-kind Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit (GLWB) feature. The innovative VA is the first that provides investors with greater freedom in retirement on their “Freedom Date,” a specific date determined at issue.

On the Freedom Date, the contract will start/continue lifetime payments from the GLWB while investors have complete access to their full accumulation value. In addition, the lifetime payments do not come from the accumulation value, and there are no additional charges for the GLWB rider1. This is believed to be the first GLWB where lifetime payments are made by the contract even if the investor has not run the accumulation value to zero.

“The LiveWell® Freedom VA provides financial professionals with an offering that helps clients with a new tool for their retirement strategies – income now and freedom later,” said William Lowe, president of Sammons Institutional GroupSM, Inc. (SIG). “The VA industry has been experiencing challenging sales, and there has been very little product innovation. We are excited to introduce the new LiveWell Freedom Variable Annuity with a first-of-its-kind feature that provides financial professionals with a new, much-needed way to help their clients with the increasing complexity of retirement planning in a way that provides income, accumulation potential and more financial freedom later in retirement.”

The LiveWell® Freedom Variable Annuity helps financial professionals provide their clients with:

• Accumulation potential: A stream-lined portfolio of bond and equity investment options from some of the nation’s most respected money managers. An equity allocation between 60% and 80% is intended to help take advantage of long-term growth potential.

• Upside potential for lifetime income: Automatically includes a GLWB with a 2% roll up and 75% share in any index gains experienced with the S&P 500® Index. When the stock market goes down, the GLWB value will still experience 2% growth every year. When the stock market performs well, 75% of the gains associated with the corresponding index +2% are added to the GLWB value2. The gains in the GLWB value will continue until the value has doubled, the client makes a withdrawal or the Freedom Date has been reached.

• Flexible access: The Freedom Date feature helps provide income in the first stage of retirement and more financial freedom later in retirement. A Freedom Date is assigned upon contract issue. For investors under age 60 at issue, the Freedom Date is the 25th contract anniversary. For those age 60 or older at issue, the Freedom Date is the 20th contract anniversary. When the Freedom Date is reached, full access to the accumulation value is available with no impact to the lifetime payment amounts (LPAs). The accumulation value will no longer be deducted for LPAs (LPAs are made by the contract), and there are no more GLWB charges.

The LiveWell Freedom VA is distributed by Sammons Retirement Solutions and issued by Midland National® Life Insurance Company. LiveWell Freedom VA guarantees are based on the financial strength of Midland National, rated A+ (Superior) Rating from A.M. Best, A+ (Strong) Rating from S&P Global Ratings and A+ (Stable) from Fitch Ratings.

The above ratings apply to Midland National's financial strength and claims-paying ability. These ratings do not apply to the safety or performance of the variable accounts, which will fluctuate in value.

Original source: https://www.sammonsfinancialgroup.com/about-us/newsroom/2018/07/18/sammons-retirement-solutions-launches-livewellfreedom-variable-annuity