Index credits are based on the average of the monthly values of the S&P 500® Index for the contract year compared to the index value at the beginning of the contract year. The date of each monthly index value used is the date of your contract anniversary. If the average index value is greater than the beginning value, you are credited with the percentage increase, multiplied by a participation rate.
The participation rate may be reset at the beginning of each contract year at the discretion of EquiTrust but can never be less than the guaranteed minimum participation rate.
Index credits for any credited period can only be positive, or zero. Once added to your accumulation value, index credits are locked in. If the average index value is less than the beginning index value, the credited amount is zero. If index values decline in later years, any index credits previously added cannot be lost.
The “S&P Multi-Asset Risk Control 5% Excess Return Index” and “S&P 500®” Indices (“Indices”) are products of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates (“SPDJI”) and have been licensed for use by EquiTrust Life Insurance Company (“the Company”). Standard & Poor’s® and S&P® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”); and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by the Company. The products are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, or their respective affiliates and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the Indices.
Index annuities are not stock-market investments and do not directly participate in any equity investments. The market index does not include dividends paid on underlying stocks, and therefore does not reflect the total return of underlying stocks. Purchases of an index annuity are not direct investments in the S&P 500® Index. Withdrawals from an index annuity may be subject to surrender charges.