Overall, the Guardian Investor variable annuity seems like a pretty standard,...
Guardian Life
Founded in 1860, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, NY (Guardian) is one of the largest mutual life insurance companies in the United States. Guardian and its subsidiaries had $41.3 billion in assets. Guardian provides services in insurance, retirement, investing, education funding, estate planning, and employee benefits. Description of company products below:
1) 529 Plans: 529 Plans combine features of prepaid tuition programs, custodial accounts, and other tax deferred savings programs. Contributions for each beneficiary can be significant depending upon the state's state plan. Clients can contribute $55,000 ($110,000 for married couples) in one year without having to pay gift taxes, as long as no other gifts are made to those children over the next five years.
2) Fixed Annuity: A fixed annuity provides defined growth of principal and interest, free from taxes until money is withdrawn. Fixed annuities generally guarantee a fixed amount of interest for several years; others guarantee rates from one to three years, and renew at the option of the insurance company.
3) Variable Annuity: Variable annuities are designed for people willing to take more risk with their money in exchange for greater growth potential. While there is more risk associated with a variable annuity, many variable annuities offer guarantees of principal and downside protection at an additional cost (depending on contract rider availability).
4) Critical Illness Coverage: Guardian offers comprehensive coverage: lump-sum benefits for six serious illnesses and events and per-diem benefits for hospitals stays for all other medical conditions.
5) Dental Insurance: Guardian offers plan designs including administrative services only (ASO), preferred provider organization (PPO), and pre-paid along with innovative features, such as Maximum Rollover and coverage for dental implants.
6) Life insurance: Plans include term life, accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D), and group universal life with value added options available such as LifeAssist, waiver of premium, and retained asset accounts.
7) Disability Insurance: Guardian offers plans for both short-term and long-term disability with benefit options, such as telephonic claims submission and pension contribution protection.
8) IRAs: Traditional and Roth provided.
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| General Information | |
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| Website | http://www.guardianlife.com |
| Type | Insurance Company |
| Founded | 1860 |
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| Country | USA |
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| Address | New York, NY 10004 |
| Phone | 212-598-8000 |
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Information & Articles about Guardian Life
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Good question. With respect to "direct," I am assuming that you are referring to directly from the insurance company with no agent or financial advisor involved. There are relatively little direct distribution in the annuity business when compared with other lines of insurance. The universe is narrowed further when throwing-in the A++ AM Best rating. Let's start with listing some companies that fall under the strong financial rating: I think it would make sense to inquire with the following companies regarding direct distribution:
You can also take a look at the Vanguard annuity platform for what might be some lower cost purchase options. Hope this helps.
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The U.S. longevity insurance market has been developing for almost a decade, and yet there are still only a handful of insurance companies providing retail longevity annuities. This is somewhat surprising given demographics, longevity trends, capital market conditions and recent regulatory guidance that should provide a boost to longevity annuities. That said, current environment interest rate environment is challenging for providers of fixed annuities--particularly those companies that need to respond to the shorter-term demands of shareholders. MetLife was an early leader in the market for longevity insurance with a product for the defined contribution market. The focus here, though, is the retail market. In other words, the focus is on products that are provided directly to individuals (retail offerings) rather than longevity annuities that are offered through 401(k) plans. The following is a list (in alphabetical order) of the companies that currently provide retail longevity insurance. We will attempt to keep this list current and comprehensive over time, and we welcome input from readers regarding products not on this list that are either available or in development. 1) MassMutual MassMutual just came to market with its longevity annuity called RetireEase Choice deferred income annuity. 2) MetLife Again, MetLife was a leader with a longevity insurance offering for the 401(k) market almost a decade ago. MetLife’s current retail offering is the Longevity Income Guarantee. New York Life has had quite a bit of success with its longevity annuity. Initial sales exceeded expectations and totaled almost $250 million in the first six months. New York Life’s longevity annuity is called the Guaranteed Future Income Annuity New York Life also released a variable annuity with lifetime income features that is called the Income Plus Variable Annuity. 4) Nortwestern Mutual Northwestern Mutual recently came to market with their longevity annuity. Northwester Mutual’s longevity annuity is the Select Portfolio Deferred Income Annuity 5) Symetra Symetra’s longevity annuity offering is the Freedom Income Annuity 6) The Hartford The Hartford recently sold its annuity operations to Forethought Fianncial Group. In the past, The Hartford had a couple of longevity insurance products. The products that were available were The Hartford Income Security and The Hartford Income Annuity. Guardian Life's longevity insurance product is the SecureFuture Income Annuity.
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