What is the ASL PREMIER SERIES Fixed Annuity?

Let’s take a good close look at the American Savings Life PREMIER SERIES Fixed Deferred Annuity . (Yeah, that’s a mouthful, but those just may be eight of the most important words your retirement portfolio ever heard!):

• American Savings Life: A 55+ year old Arizona life insurer with exceptional financial strength securing your investment.
• PREMIER: These annuities offered by American Savings Life Ins Co boast features that truly make it worthy of the title “premier.”
• SERIES: There are three variations of the PREMIER SERIES Annuity, each with a different interest rate and surrender charge duration.
• FIXED: It is a “Fixed Annuity” because it offers fixed interest rates that are not dependent on the performance of the stock market or any other market.
• DEFERRED: It is a “Deferred Annuity” because you have the ability to defer (delay or postpone) the time when you begin to take out regular payments for life (“annuitize”). This allows you to benefit from tax-deferred growth and only pay taxes on your gains when you actually receive them.
• ANNUITY: A contract issued by a life insurance company that guarantees regular payments for life or a specified number of years.

WHY CHOOSE THE ASL PREMIER SERIES ANNUITY?

Some of the key differentiators that make the American Savings Life PREMIER SERIES Annuity an attractive, compelling retirement accumulation vehicle include:

“Bailout” Interest Rate:

Every year, 30 days prior to your contract anniversary, the Company will notify you of the guaranteed interest rate for the next year. If this interest rate is ever below your contract’s “Bailout” Interest Rate, you will have a two month period (30 days before and 30 days after your contract anniversary) to notify the Company if you want to withdraw part of or all of your annuity balance without any surrender charges.

• As of Friday, January 15, 2010 , the “Bailout” Interest Rate for the PREMIER SERIES 7 is5.00% per annum.
• Therefore, you can have the peace of mind that if your PREMIER SERIES 7 annuity ever pays less than 5.00% , you can withdraw your funds free of any Company penalty (there may be a 10% IRS penalty on withdrawals made prior to age 59 ½).

High Minimum Guaranteed Interest Rate:

You are guaranteed to earn at least 3.00% for as long as you keep your annuity. This is one of the highest guaranteed interest rates in the industry.

Many ways to access your annuity funds:

We understand that “life happens” and there are sometimes unexpected cash needs. The ASL PREMIER SERIES Annuity offers these ways to access your annuity funds

• Receive regular interest payments: At any time you may select to have the interest paid to you monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually (minimum check amounts of $200).
• Withdraw up to 10% of the annuity value: Each year after the first year you may request to withdraw up to 10% of the beginning of the year annuity value without any surrender charge. (Each contract year you may only select one of these options: regular interest payments or withdrawing up to 10%.)
• Early Surrender Charges never more than first year’s interest: If you end up needing more than 10% of your annuity value in any given year, you may be assured that any surrender charges that may be charged will never be more than the first year’s interest earned. The surrender charges also decrease over time, while both the “Bailout” and Guaranteed Minimum Interest Rates remain constant for as long as you keep the annuity.
• Death Benefit: If the Annuity Owner dies while the annuity is still in the accumulation (growth) phase, the entire annuity value becomes available for the chosen Beneficiary with no surrender charges. This can help avoid costly probate delays. (There may be IRS tax implications upon the Owner’s death. Please consult your tax advisor.)
• Annuitization: If you “annuitize” (elect to begin receiving regular payments for life or a set number of years) your annuity during the surrender charge period, no surrender charges will be assessed provided the annuity payment option is for the life of the Owner or for at least ten years. (To avoid a 10% IRS tax penalty, annuitization is only recommended after age 59 ½.)
• Additional Premiums during first year: Additional premiums of at least $5,000 may be made any time during the first contract year. Additional premiums will earn the first year interest rate guaranteed in your annuity until the end of the annuity’s first year. Total additional premiums may not exceed an amount equal to the initial premium paid when you open the annuity. Total premiums may not exceed the maximum total premium per owner of $350,000.
• Backed by an exceptionally strong insurer: Although annuities are not FDIC insured or guaranteed by the federal government, the ASL PREMIER SERIES Annuity is backed by the full financial strength of American Savings Life Insurance Company. See how ASL compares to the largest most well-known life insurers. ASL policyholders have a tremendous amount of security provided by the extraordinary amount of stockholder surplus guaranteeing the policy reserves.
• What this means: Before any ASL policyholder can lose a dime of value in their policy or annuity, ASL shareholders have to lose every penny of equity. With the stockholders of ASL having such a high surplus ratio, they have a lot more “skin in the game” than most other life insurance companies compared to the amount of funds required to have for our policyholders.
   
• 30 Day “Free Look”: You have a full 30 days after you receive your annuity contract to change your mind for any reason and request to cancel your annuity, in which case you will be returned your entire annuity premium paid.
   
• Is the ASL PREMIER SERIES Annuity a suitable retirement vehicle for you?: When selecting the most appropriate retirement vehicle for you, keep in mind your investment objective, risk tolerance and investment time horizon. If tax-deferred growth and a fixed rate of return are important to you, the ASL PREMIER SERIES Annuity may fit your needs.