THE AIM LIFETIME PLUS(SM) VARIABLE ANNUITY
Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York Prospectus dated May 1, 1999
P.O. Box 94038, Palatine, IL 60094-4038
Telephone Number: 1-800-692-4682
Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York ("Allstate New York") is offering
the AIM Lifetime Plus(SM) Variable Annuity, a group flexible premium deferred
variable annuity contract ("Contract"). This prospectus contains information
about the Contract that you should know before investing. Please keep it for
future reference.
The Contract currently offers 10 investment alternatives ("investment
alternatives"). The investment alternatives include the fixed account ("Fixed
Account") and 9 variable sub-accounts ("Variable Sub-Accounts") of the Allstate
Life of New York Variable Account A ("Variable Account"). Each Variable
Sub-Account invests exclusively in shares of one of the following funds
("Funds") of AIM Variable Insurance Funds, Inc.:
AIM V.I. Capital Appreciation Fund
AIM V.I. Diversified Income Fund
AIM V.I. Global Utilities Fund
AIM V.I. Government Securities Fund
AIM V.I. Growth Fund
AIM V.I. Growth and Income Fund
AIM V.I. International Equity Fund
AIM V.I. Money Market Fund
AIM V.I. Value Fund
We (Allstate New York) have filed a Statement of Additional Information, dated
May 1, 1999, with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). It contains
more information about the Contract and is incorporated herein by reference,
which means it is legally a part of this prospectus. Its table of contents
appears on page C-1 of this prospectus. For a free copy, please write or call us
at the address or telephone number above, or go to the SEC's Web site
(http://www.sec.gov) You can find other information and documents about us,
including documents that are legally part of this prospectus, at the SEC's Web
site.
IMPORTANT
NOTICES
The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or
disapproved the securities described in this prospectus, nor has
it passed on the accuracy or the adequacy of this prospectus.
Anyone who tells you otherwise is committing a federal crime.
The Contracts may be distributed through broker-dealers that have
relationships with banks or other financial institutions or by
employees of such banks. However, the Contracts are not deposits,
or obligations of, or guaranteed by such institutions or any
federal regulatory agency. Investment in the Contracts involves
investment risks, including possible loss of principal.
The Contracts are not FDIC insured.
The Contracts are only available in New York.
<PAGE>
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Page
<S> <C> <C>
Important Terms........................................... 3
Overview The Contract at a Glance.................................. 4
How the Contract Works.................................... 6
Expense Table............................................. 7
Financial Information.....................................10
The Contract..............................................11
Purchases.................................................13
Contract Value............................................14
Investment Alternatives:
The Variable Sub-Accounts........................15
The Fixed Account ...............................16
Transfers........................................19
Contract Features Expenses..................................................21
Access To Your Money......................................24
Income Payments...........................................26
Death Benefits............................................29
More Information:
Allstate New York................................31
The Variable Account.............................31
The Funds........................................31
Other Information The Contract ....................................32
Qualified Plans .................................33
Legal Matters....................................33
Year 2000........................................34
Taxes.....................................................35
Annual Reports and Other Documents........................39
Performance Information...................................40
Experts...................................................41
Appendix A - Accumulation Unit Values.....................A-1
Appendix B - Market Value Adjustment .....................B-1
Statement of Additional Information Table of Contents....C-1
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
IMPORTANT TERMS
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This prospectus uses a number of important terms that you may not be familiar
with. The index below identifies the page that describes each term. The first
use of each term in this prospectus appears in highlights.
Page
Accumulation Phase......................................... 6
Accumulation Unit ......................................... 10,14
Accumulation Unit Value ................................... 10,14
Allstate New York ("We")................................... 1,31
Anniversary Values......................................... 29
Annuitant.................................................. 11
Automatic Additions Program ............................... 13
Automatic Fund Rebalancing Program......................... 20
Beneficiary ............................................... 11
Cancellation Period ....................................... 4
*Contract .................................................1,6,11
Contract Anniversary....................................... 5
Contract Owner ("You") .................................... 6
Contract Value ............................................ 14
Contract Year............................................. 5
Death Benefit Anniversary ................................. 29
Dollar Cost Averaging Program.............................. 20
Due Proof of Death......................................... 29
Fixed Account.............................................. 16-18
Funds ..................................................... 1,15
Guarantee Periods ........................................ 16
Income Plan ............................................... 26
Investment Alternatives ................................... 1
Issue Date ................................................ 6
Market Value Adjustment ................................... 18
Payout Phase............................................... 6
Payout Start Date.......................................... 26
Preferred Withdrawal Amount................................ 22
Qualified Contracts ....................................... 4
Right to Cancel ........................................... 4,13
SEC........................................................ 1
Settlement Value ......................................... 29
Systematic Withdrawal Program ............................. 24
Treasury Rate ............................................. 18
Valuation Date............................................. 13
Variable Account .......................................... 1,31
Variable Sub-Account ...................................... 1,15
* The AIM Lifetime Plus(sm) Variable Annuity is a group contract. We issue you a
certificate that represents your ownership and that summarizes the provisions of
the group Contract. References to "Contract" in this prospectus include
certificates, unless the context requires otherwise.
<PAGE>
THE CONTRACT AT A GLANCE
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The following is a snapshot of the Contract. Please read the remainder of this
prospectus for more information.
--------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
Flexible Payments
You can purchase a Contract with as
little as $5,000 ($2,000 for
"Qualified Contracts," which are
Contracts issued with qualified
plans). You can add to your Contract
as often and as much as you like, but
each payment must be at least $500
($100 for automatic purchase payments
to the variable investment options).
You must maintain a minimum account
size of $1,000.
--------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
Right to Cancel You may cancel your Contract
within 10 days after receipt
("Cancellation Period"). Upon
cancellation we will return your
purchase payments adjusted to reflect
the investment experience of any
amounts allocated to the Variable
Account.
--------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
Expenses You will bear the following expenses:
o Total Variable Account annual fees
equal to 1.45% of average daily net
assets
o Annual contract maintenance charge
of $35 (with certain exceptions)
o Withdrawal charges ranging from 0%
to 7% of payment withdrawn
(with certain exceptions)
o Transfer fee of $10 after 12th
transfer in any Contract Year
(fee currently waived)
o State premium tax (New York
currently does not impose one).
In addition, each Fund pays expenses
that you will bear indirectly if you
invest in a Variable Sub-Account.
--------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
Investment
Alternatives The Contract offers 10 investment
alternatives including:
o the Fixed Account (which credits
interest at rates we guarantee),and
o 9 Variable Sub-Accounts investing
in Funds offering professional
money management by A I M Advisors,
Inc.
To find out current rates being paid
on the Fixed Account, or to find out
how the Variable Sub-Accounts have
performed, please call us at
1-800-692-4682.
--------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
<PAGE>
----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Special Services For your convenience, we offer these
special services:
o Automatic Fund Rebalancing Program
o Automatic Additions Program
o Dollar Cost Averaging Program
o Systematic Withdrawal Program
----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Income Payments You can choose fixed income
payments, variable income payments,
or a combination of the two. You can
receive your income payments in one
of the following ways:
o life income with guaranteed
payments
o a joint and survivor life income
with guaranteed payments
o guaranteed payments for a
specified period (5 to 30 years)
----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Death Benefits If you die before the Payout Start
Date, we will pay the death benefit
described in the Contract.
----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Transfers Before the Payout Start Date, you
may transfer your Contract value
("Contract Value") among the
investment alternatives, with
certain restrictions. Transfers to
the Fixed Account must be at least
$500.
We do not currently impose a fee
upon transfers. However, we reserve
the right to charge $10 per
transfer after the 12th transfer
in each "Contract Year," which we
measure from the date we issue your
contract or a Contract anniversary
("Contract Anniversary").
----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Withdrawals You may withdraw some or all of
your Contract Value at anytime
during the Accumulation Phase. In
general, you must withdraw at least
$50 at a time. A 10% federal tax
penalty may apply if you withdraw
before you are 59-1/2 years old.
A withdrawal charge and Market
Value Adjustment also may apply.
----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
<PAGE>
HOW THE CONTRACT WORKS
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Contract basically works in two ways.
First, the Contract can help you (we assume you are the Contract owner)
save for retirement because you can invest in up to 10 investment alternatives
and pay no federal income taxes on any earnings until you withdraw them. You do
this during what we call the "Accumulation Phase" of the Contract. The
Accumulation Phase begins on the date we issue your Contract (we call that date
the "Issue Date") and continues until the Payout Start Date, which is the date
we apply your money to provide income payments. During the Accumulation Phase,
you may allocate your purchase payments to any combination of the Variable
Sub-Accounts and/or the Fixed Account. If you invest in the Fixed Account, you
will earn a fixed rate of interest that we declare periodically. If you invest
in any of the Variable Sub-Accounts, your investment return will vary up or down
depending on the performance of the corresponding Funds.
Second, the Contract can help you plan for retirement because you can use
it to receive retirement income for life and/or for a pre-set number of years,
by selecting one of the income payment options (we call these "Income Plans")
described on page 26. You receive income payments during what we call the
"Payout Phase" of the Contract, which begins on the Payout Start Date and
continues until we make the last payment required by the Income Plan you select.
During the Payout Phase, if you select a fixed income payment option, we
guarantee the amount of your payments, which will remain fixed. If you select a
variable income payment option, based on one or more of the Variable
Sub-Accounts, the amount of your payments will vary up or down depending on the
performance of the corresponding Funds. The amount of money you accumulate under
your Contract during the Accumulation Phase and apply to an Income Plan will
determine the amount of your income payments during the Payout Phase.
The timeline below illustrates how you might use your Contract.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Effective Payout Start
Date Accumulation Phase Date Payout Phase
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You save for retirement
| | | ?
You buy You elect to receive income You can receive Or you can receive
a Contract payments or receive a lump income payments income payments for
sum payment for a set period life
</TABLE>
As the Contract owner, you exercise all of the rights and privileges
provided by the Contract. If you die, any surviving Contract owner, or if there
is none, the Beneficiary will exercise the rights and privileges provided by the
Contract. See "The Contract." In addition, if you die before the Payout Start
Date, we will pay a death benefit to any surviving Contract owner or, if none,
to your Beneficiary. See "Death Benefits."
Please call us at 1-800-692-4682 if you have any questions about how the
Contract works.
<PAGE>
EXPENSE TABLE
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The table below lists the expenses that you will bear directly or indirectly
when you buy a Contract. The table and the examples that follow do not reflect
premium taxes because New York currently does not impose premium taxes on
annuities. For more information about Variable Account expenses, see "Expenses,"
below. For more information about Fund expenses, please refer to the
accompanying prospectus for the Funds.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTRACT OWNER TRANSACTION EXPENSES
Withdrawal Charge (as a percentage of purchase payments)*
Number of Complete Years
Since We Received the Purchase
Payment Being Withdrawn: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7+
Applicable Charge: 7% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% 0%
Annual Contract Maintenance Charge.................................$35.00**
Transfer Fee.......................................................$10.00***
-------------------
* Each Contract Year, you may withdraw up to 10% of purchase payments
without incurring a withdrawal charge or a Market Value Adjustment.
** We will waive this charge in certain cases. See "Expenses."
***Applies solely to the thirteenth and subsequent transfers within a
Contract Year excluding transfers due to dollar cost averaging or
automatic fund rebalancing. We are currently waiving the transfer fee.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VARIABLE ACCOUNT ANNUAL EXPENSES
(as a percentage of average daily net assets deducted from each
Variable Sub-Account)
Mortality and Expense Risk Charge.....................................1.35%
Administrative Expense Charge.........................................0.10%
Total Variable Account Annual Expenses.................1.45%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
<PAGE>
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FUND ANNUAL EXPENSES
(as a percentage of Fund average daily net assets)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Total
Annual
Management Other Fund
Fund Fee Expenses Expenses
<S> <C> <C> <C>
AIM V.I. Capital Appreciation Fund.............0.62% 0.05% 0.67%
AIM V.I. Diversified Income Fund...............0.60% 0.17% 0.77%
AIM V.I. Global Utilities Fund.................0.65% 0.46% 1.11%
AIM V.I. Government Securities Fund............0.50% 0.26% 0.76%
AIM V.I. Growth Fund...........................0.64% 0.08% 0.72%
AIM V.I. Growth and Income Fund................0.61% 0.04% 0.65%
AIM V.I. International Equity Fund.............0.75% 0.16% 0.91%
AIM V.I. Money Market Fund.....................0.40% 0.18% 0.58%
AIM V.I. Value Fund............................0.61% 0.05% 0.66%
</TABLE>
EXAMPLE 1
The example below shows the dollar amount of expenses that you would bear
directly or indirectly if you:
o invested $1,000 in a Variable Sub-Account,
o earned a 5% annual return on your investment, and
o surrendered your Contract, or began receiving income payments for a
specified period of less than 120 months, at the end of each time period.
The example does not include any taxes you may be required to pay if you
surrender your Contract. The example does not include deductions for premium
taxes because New York does not charge premium taxes on annuities.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SUB-ACCOUNT 1 YEAR 3 YEARS 5 YEARS 10 YEARS
- ----------- ------ ------- ------- --------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
AIM V.I. Capital Appreciation $76 $114 $154 $253
AIM V.I. Diversified Income $77 $117 $159 $263
AIM V.I. Global Utilities $81 $127 $176 $298
AIM V.I. Government Securities $77 $117 $158 $262
AIM V.I. Growth $77 $115 $156 $258
AIM V.I. Growth and Income $76 $113 $153 $250
AIM V.I. International Equity $79 $121 $166 $277
AIM V.I. Money Market $75 $111 $149 $243
AIM V.I. Value $76 $114 $153 $251
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
EXAMPLE 2
Same assumptions as Example 1 above, except that you decided not to surrender
your Contract, or you began receiving income payments (for at least 120 months
if under an Income Plan with a specified period), at the end of each period.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SUB-ACCOUNT 1 YEAR 3 YEARS 5 YEARS 10 YEARS
- ----------- ------ ------- ------- --------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
AIM V.I. Capital Appreciation $22 $69 $118 $253
AIM V.I. Diversified Income $23 $72 $123 $263
AIM V.I. Global Utilities $27 $82 $140 $298
AIM V.I. Government Securities $23 $72 $122 $262
AIM V.I. Growth $23 $70 $120 $258
AIM V.I. Growth and Income $22 $68 $117 $250
AIM V.I. International Equity $25 $76 $130 $277
AIM V.I. Money Market $21 $66 $113 $243
AIM V.I. Value $22 $69 $117 $251
</TABLE>
Please remember that you are looking at examples and not a representation of
past or future expenses. Your actual expenses may be lower or greater than those
shown above. Similarly, your rate of return may be lower or greater than 5%,
which is not guaranteed. To reflect the contract maintenance charge in the
examples, we estimated an equivalent percentage charge, based on an assumed
average Contract size of $57,476.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To measure the value of your investment in the Variable Sub-Accounts during the
Accumulation Phase, we use a unit of measure we call the "Accumulation Unit."
Each Variable Sub-Account has a separate value for its Accumulation Units we
call "Accumulation Unit Value." Accumulation Unit Value is analogous to, but not
the same as, the share price of a mutual fund.
Attached as Appendix A to this prospectus are tables showing the Accumulation
Unit Values of each Variable Sub-Account since its inception. To obtain a fuller
picture of each Variable Sub-Account's finances, please refer to the Variable
Account's financial statements contained in the Statement of Additional
Information. The financial statements of Allstate New York also appear in the
Statement of Additional Information.
<PAGE>
THE CONTRACT
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTRACT OWNER
The AIM Lifetime Plus(sm) Variable Annuity is a contract between you, the
Contract owner, and Allstate New York, a life insurance company. As the Contract
owner, you may exercise all of the rights and privileges provided to you by the
Contract. That means it is up to you to select or change (to the extent
permitted):
o the investment alternatives during the Accumulation and Payout Phases,
o the amount and timing of your purchase payments and withdrawals,
o the programs you want to use to invest or withdraw money,
o the income payment plan you want to use to receive retirement income,
o the Annuitant (either yourself or someone else) on whose life the income
payments will be based,
o the Beneficiary or Beneficiaries who will receive the benefits that the
Contract provides when you die, and
o any other rights that the Contract provides.
If you die, any surviving Contract owner or, if none, the Beneficiary may
exercise the rights and privileges provided to them by the Contract.
The Contract cannot be jointly owned by both a non-natural person and a natural
person.
You can use the Contract with or without a qualified plan. A qualified plan is a
personal retirement savings plan, such as an IRA or tax-sheltered annuity, that
meets the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code. Qualified plans may limit
or modify your rights and privileges under the Contract. We use the term
"Qualified Contract" to refer to a Contract issued with a qualified plan. See
"Qualified Plans" on page 33.
ANNUITANT
The Annuitant is the individual whose life determines the amount and duration of
income payments (other than under Income Plans with guaranteed payments for a
specified period). You initially designate an Annuitant in your application. If
the Contract owner is a natural person you may change the Annuitant prior to the
Payout Start Date. In our discretion , we may permit you to designate a joint
Annuitant, who is a second person on whose life income payments depend, on or
after the Payout Start Date.
If the Annuitant dies prior to the Payout Start Date, the new Annuitant will be:
o the youngest Contract owner if living, otherwise
o the youngest Beneficiary.
BENEFICIARY
The Beneficiary is the person who may elect to receive the death benefit or
become the new Contract owner if the sole surviving Contract owner dies before
the Payout Start Date. If the sole surviving Contract owner dies after the
Payout Start Date, the Beneficiary will receive any guaranteed income payments
scheduled to continue.
You may name one or more Beneficiaries when you apply for a Contract. You may
change or add Beneficiaries at any time by writing to us, unless you have
designated an irrevocable Beneficiary. We will provide a change of Beneficiary
form to be signed and filed with us. Any change will be effective at the time
you sign the written notice, whether or not the Annuitant is living when we
receive the notice. Until we receive your written notice to change a
Beneficiary, we are entitled to rely on the most recent Beneficiary information
in our files. We will not be liable as to any payment or settlement made prior
to receiving the written notice. Accordingly, if you wish to change your
Beneficiary, you should deliver your written notice to us promptly.
If you did not name a Beneficiary or if the named Beneficiary is no longer
living and there are no other surviving Beneficiaries, the new Beneficiary will
be:
o your spouse or, if he or she is no longer alive,
o your surviving children equally, or if you have no surviving children,
o your estate.
If more than one Beneficiary survives you (or the Annuitant if the Contract
owner is not a natural person), we will divide the death benefit among your
Beneficiaries according to your most recent written instructions. If you have
not given us written instructions, we will pay the death benefit in equal
amounts to the surviving Beneficiaries.
MODIFICATION OF THE CONTRACT
Only an Allstate New York officer may approve a change in or waive any provision
of the Contract. Any change or waiver must be in writing. None of our agents has
the authority to change or waive the provisions of the Contract. We may not
change the terms of the Contract without your consent, except to conform the
Contract to applicable law or changes in the law. If a provision of the Contract
is inconsistent with state law, we will follow state law.
ASSIGNMENT
We will not honor an assignment of an interest in a Contract as collateral or
security for a loan. However, you may assign periodic income payments under the
Contract prior to the Payout Start Date. No Beneficiary may assign benefits
under the Contract until they are due. We will not be bound by any assignment
until you sign it and file it with us. We are not responsible for the validity
of any assignment. Federal law prohibits or restricts the assignment of benefits
under many types of retirement plans and the terms of such plans may themselves
contain restrictions on assignments. An assignment may also result in taxes or
tax penalties. You should consult with an attorney before trying to assign your
Contract.
<PAGE>
PURCHASES
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MINIMUM PURCHASE PAYMENTS
Your initial purchase payment must be at least $5,000 ($2,000 for a Qualified
Contract). All subsequent purchase payments must be $500 or more. You may make
purchase payments at any time prior to the Payout Start Date. We reserve the
right to limit the maximum amount of purchase payments we will accept. We
reserve the right to reject any application.
AUTOMATIC ADDITIONS PROGRAM
You may make subsequent purchase payments of at least $100 ($500 for allocation
to the Fixed Account) by automatically transferring amounts from your bank
account. Please consult with your sales representative for detailed information.
ALLOCATION OF PURCHASE PAYMENTS
At the time you apply for a Contract, you must decide how to allocate your
purchase payments among the investment alternatives. The allocation you specify
on your application will be effective immediately. All allocations must be in
whole percents that total 100% or in whole dollars. You can change your
allocations by notifying us in writing.
We will allocate your purchase payments to the investment alternatives according
to your most recent instructions on file with us. Unless you notify us in
writing otherwise, we will allocate subsequent purchase payments according to
the allocation for the previous purchase payment. We will effect any change in
allocation instructions at the time we receive written notice of the change in
good order.
We will credit the initial purchase payment that accompanies your completed
application to your Contract within 2 business days after we receive the payment
at our servicing center. If your application is incomplete, we will ask you to
complete your application within 5 business days. If you do so, we will credit
your initial purchase payment to your Contract within that 5 business day
period. If you do not, we will return your purchase payment at the end of the 5
business day period unless you expressly allow us to hold it until you complete
the application. We will credit subsequent purchase payments to the Contract at
the close of the business day on which we receive the purchase payment at our
service center located at P.O. Box 94038, Palatine, Illinois, 60094.
We are open for business each day Monday through Friday that the New York Stock
Exchange is open for business. We also refer to these days as "Valuation Dates."
Our business day closes when the New York Stock Exchange closes, usually 4 p.m.
Eastern Time (3 p.m. Central Time). If we receive your purchase payment after 3
p.m. Central Time on any Valuation Date, we will credit your purchase payment
using the Accumulation Unit Values computed on the next Valuation Date.
RIGHT TO CANCEL
You may cancel the Contract by returning it to us within the Cancellation
Period, which is the 10 day period after you receive the Contract. You may
return it by delivering it or mailing it to us. If you exercise this "Right to
Cancel," the Contract terminates and we will pay you the full amount of your
purchase payments allocated to the Fixed Account. We will return your purchase
payments allocated to the Variable Account after an adjustment to the extent
state law permits to reflect investment gain or loss that occurred from the date
of allocation through the date of cancellation. Some states may require us to
return a greater amount to you.
<PAGE>
CONTRACT VALUE
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your Contract Value at any time during the Accumulation Phase is equal to the
sum of the value of your Accumulation Units in the Variable Sub-Accounts you
have selected, plus the value of your interest in the Fixed Account.
ACCUMULATION UNITS
To determine the number of Accumulation Units of each Variable Sub-Account to
credit to your Contract, we divide (i) the amount of the purchase payment you
have allocated to a Variable Sub-Account by (ii) the Accumulation Unit Value of
that Variable Sub-Account next computed after we receive your payment. For
example, if we receive a $10,000 purchase payment allocated to a Variable
Sub-Account when the Accumulation Unit Value for the Sub-Account is $10, we
would credit 1,000 Accumulation Units of that Variable Sub-Account to your
Contract.
ACCUMULATION UNIT VALUE
As a general matter, the Accumulation Unit Value for each Variable Sub-Account
will rise or fall to reflect:
o changes in the share price of the Fund in which the Variable Sub-Account
invests, and
o the deduction of amounts reflecting the mortality and expense risk charge,
administrative expense charge, and any provision for taxes that have
accrued since we last calculated the Accumulation Unit Value.
We determine contract maintenance charges, withdrawal charges, and transfer fees
(currently waived) separately for each Contract. They do not affect Accumulation
Unit Value. Instead, we obtain payment of those charges and fees by redeeming
Accumulation Units. For details on how we calculate Accumulation Unit Value,
please refer to the Statement of Additional Information.
We determine a separate Accumulation Unit Value for each Variable Sub-Account on
each Valuation Date.
You should refer to the prospectus for the Funds that accompanies this
prospectus for a description of how the assets of each Fund are valued, since
that determination directly bears on the Accumulation Unit Value of the
corresponding Variable Sub-Account and, therefore, your Contract Value.
<PAGE>
INVESTMENT ALTERNATIVES: The Variable Sub-Accounts
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may allocate your purchase payments to up to 9 Variable Sub-Accounts. Each
Variable Sub-Account invests in the shares of a corresponding Fund. Each Fund
has its own investment objective(s) and policies. We briefly describe the Funds
below.
For more complete information about each Fund, including expenses and risks
associated with the Fund, please refer to the accompanying prospectus for the
Fund. You should carefully review the Fund prospectus before allocating amounts
to the Variable Sub-Accounts. A I M Advisors, Inc. serves as the investment
advisor to each Fund.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
- ------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------
<S> <C>
Fund: Each Fund Seeks:
- ------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
AIM V.I. Capital Appreciation Fund Growth of capital
- ------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
AIM V.I. Diversified Income Fund High level of current income
- ------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
AIM V.I. Global Utilities Fund High level of current income and a secondary
objective of growth of capital
- ------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
AIM V.I. Government Securities Fund High level of current income consistent with
reasonable concern for safety of principal
- ------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
AIM V.I. Growth Fund Growth of capital
- ------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
AIM V.I. Growth and Income Fund Growth of capital with a secondary objective
of current income
- ------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
AIM V.I. International Equity Fund Long-term growth of capital
- ------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
AIM V.I. Money Market Fund As high a level of current income as is consistent
with the preservation of capital and liquidity
- ------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
AIM V.I. Value Fund Long-term growth of capital
- ------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>
Amounts you allocate to Variable Sub-Accounts may grow in value, decline in
value, or grow less than you expect, depending on the investment performance of
the Funds in which those Variable Sub-Accounts invest. You bear the investment
risk that the Funds might not meet their investment objectives. Shares of the
Funds are not deposits, or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by any bank
and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal
Reserve Board or any other agency.
<PAGE>
INVESTMENT ALTERNATIVES : The Fixed Account
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may allocate all or a portion of your purchase payments to the Fixed
Account. The Fixed Account supports our insurance and annuity obligations. The
Fixed Account consists of our general assets other than those in segregated
asset accounts. We have sole discretion to invest the assets of the Fixed
Account, subject to applicable law. Any money you allocate to the Fixed Account
does not entitle you to share in the investment experience of the Fixed Account.
GUARANTEE PERIODS
Each payment or transfer allocated to the Fixed Account earns interest at a
specified rate that we guarantee for a period of years we call a Guarantee
Period. Guarantee Periods may range from 1 to 10 years. We are currently
offering Guarantee Periods of 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 years in length. In the future
we may offer Guarantee Periods of different lengths or stop offering some
Guarantee Periods. You select one or more Guarantee Periods for each purchase
payment or transfer. If you do not select the Guarantee Period for a purchase
payment or transfer, we will assign the shortest Guarantee Period available
under the Contract for such payment or transfer.
Each payment or transfer allocated to a Guarantee Period must be at least $500.
We reserve the right to limit the number of additional purchase payments that
you may allocate to the Fixed Account. Please consult with your sales
representative for more information.
INTEREST RATES
We will tell you what interest rates and Guarantee Periods we are offering at a
particular time. We may declare different interest rates for Guarantee Periods
of the same length that begin at different times. We will not change the
interest rate that we credit to a particular allocation until the end of the
relevant Guarantee Period.
We have no specific formula for determining the rate of interest that we will
declare initially or in the future. We will set those interest rates based on
investment returns available at the time of the determination. In addition, we
may consider various other factors in determining interest rates including
regulatory and tax requirements, our sales commission and administrative
expenses, general economic trends, and competitive factors. We determine the
interest rates to be declared in our sole discretion. We can neither predict nor
guarantee what those rates will be in the future. For current interest rate
information, please contact your sales representative or Allstate New York at
1-800-692-4682. The interest rate will never be less than the minimum guaranteed
amount stated in the Contract.
HOW WE CREDIT INTEREST
We will credit interest daily to each amount allocated to a Guarantee Period at
a rate that compounds to the effective annual interest rate that we declared at
the beginning of the applicable Guarantee Period. The following example
illustrates how a purchase payment allocated to the Fixed Account would grow,
given an assumed Guarantee Period and effective annual interest rate:
Purchase Payment.......................................$10,000
Guarantee Period.......................................5 years
Annual Interest Rate.................................... 4.50%
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
END OF CONTRACT YEAR
YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4 YEAR 5
------ ------ ------ ------ ------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Beginning Contract Value $10,000.00
X (1 + Annual Interest Rate) X 1.045
$10,450.00
Contract Value at end of Contract Year $10,450.00
X (1 + Annual Interest Rate) X 1.045
$10,920.25
Contract Value at end of Contract Year $10,920.25
X (1 + Annual Interest Rate) X 1.045
$11,411.66
Contract Value at end of Contract Year $11,411.66
X (1 + Annual Interest Rate) X 1.045
$11,925.19
Contract Value at end of Contract Year $11,925.19
X (1 + Annual Interest Rate) X 1.045
$12,461.82
Total Interest Credited During Guarantee Period = $2,461.82 ($12,461.82 -$10,000)
</TABLE>
This example assumes no withdrawals during the entire 5 year Guarantee Period.
If you were to make a partial withdrawal, you may be required to pay a
withdrawal charge. In addition, the amount withdrawn may be increased or
decreased by a Market Value Adjustment that reflects changes in interest rates
since the time you invested the amount withdrawn. The hypothetical interest rate
is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to predict future interest
rates to be declared under the Contract. Actual interest rates declared for any
given Guarantee Period may be more or less than shown above but will never be
less than the guaranteed minimum rate stated in the Contract.
RENEWALS
Prior to the end of each Guarantee Period, we will mail you a notice asking you
what to do with your money, including the accrued interest. During the 30-day
period after the end of the Guarantee Period, you may:
1) take no action. We will automatically apply your money to a new Guarantee
Period of the shortest duration available. The new Guarantee Period will
begin on the day the previous Guarantee Period ends. The new interest rate
will be our then current declared rate for a Guarantee Period of that
length; or
2) instruct us to apply your money to one or more new Guarantee Periods of
your choice. The new Guarantee Period(s) will begin on the day the previous
Guarantee Period ends. The new interest rate will be our then current
declared rate for those Guarantee Periods; or
3) instruct us to transfer all or a portion of your money to one or more
Variable Sub-Accounts. We will effect the transfer on the day we receive
your instructions. We will not adjust the amount transferred to include a
Market Value Adjustment; or
4) withdraw all or a portion of your money. You may be required to pay a
withdrawal charge, but we will not adjust the amount withdrawn to include a
Market Value Adjustment. You may also be required to pay premium taxes and
withholding (if applicable). The amount withdrawn will be deemed to have
been withdrawn on the day the previous Guarantee Period ends. Unless you
specify otherwise, amounts not withdrawn will be applied to a new Guarantee
Period of the shortest duration available. The new Guarantee Period will
begin on the day the previous Guarantee Period ends.
Under our Automatic Laddering Program, you may choose, in advance, to use
Guarantee Periods of the same length for all renewals. You can select this
Program at any time during the Accumulation Phase, including on the Issue Date.
We will apply renewals to Guarantee Periods of the selected length until you
direct us in writing to stop. We may stop offering this Program at any time. For
additional information on the Automatic Laddering Program, please call our
Customer Service unit at 1-800-692-4682.
MARKET VALUE ADJUSTMENT
All withdrawals in excess of the Preferred Withdrawal Amount, and transfers from
a Guarantee Period, other than those taken during the 30 day period after such
Guarantee Period expires, are subject to a Market Value Adjustment. A Market
Value Adjustment also applies when you apply amounts currently invested in a
Guarantee Period to an Income Plan (unless paid or applied during the 30 day
period after such Guarantee Period expires). We will not apply a Market Value
Adjustment to a withdrawal you make:
o within the Preferred Withdrawal Amount as described on page 22, or
o to satisfy the IRS minimum distribution rules.
We apply the Market Value Adjustment to reflect changes in interest rates from
the time you first allocate money to a Guarantee Period to the time it is
removed from that Guarantee Period. We calculate the Market Value Adjustment by
comparing the Treasury Rate for a period equal to the Guarantee Period at its
inception to the Treasury Rate for a period equal to the time remaining in the
Guarantee Period when you remove your money. "Treasury Rate" means the U.S.
Treasury Note Constant Maturity Yield as reported in Federal Reserve Bulletin
Release H.15.
The Market Value Adjustment may be positive or negative, depending on changes in
interest rates. As such, you bear the investment risk associated with changes in
interest rates. If interest rates increase significantly, the Market Value
Adjustment and any withdrawal charge, premium taxes, and income tax withholding
(if applicable) could reduce the amount you receive upon full withdrawal of your
Contract Value to an amount that is less than the purchase payment plus interest
at the minimum guaranteed interest rate under the Contract.
Generally, if the Treasury Rate at the time you allocate money to a Guarantee
Period is higher than the applicable current Treasury Rate for a period equal to
the time remaining in the Guarantee Period, then the Market Value Adjustment
will result in a higher amount payable to you or transferred. Conversely, if the
Treasury Rate at the time you allocate money to a Guarantee Period is lower than
the applicable Treasury Rate for a period equal to the time remaining in the
Guarantee Period, then the Market Value Adjustment will result in a lower amount
payable to you or transferred.
For example, assume that you purchase a Contract and you select an initial
Guarantee Period of 5 years and the 5 year Treasury Rate for that duration is
4.50%. Assume that at the end of 3 years, you make a partial withdrawal. If, at
that later time, the current 2 year Treasury Rate is 4.20%, then the Market
Value Adjustment will be positive, which will result in an increase in the
amount payable to you. Conversely, if the current 2 year Treasury Rate is 4.80%,
then the Market Value Adjustment will be negative, which will result in a
decrease in the amount payable to you.
The formula for calculating Market Value Adjustments is set forth in Appendix B
to this prospectus, which also contains additional examples of the application
of the Market Value Adjustment.
<PAGE>
INVESTMENT ALTERNATIVES: Transfers
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSFERS DURING THE ACCUMULATION PHASE
During the Accumulation Phase, you may transfer Contract Value among
the investment alternatives at any time. The minimum amount that you
may transfer into a Guarantee Period is $500. You may request
transfers in writing on a form that we provide or by telephone
according to the procedure described below. We currently do not
assess, but reserve the right to assess, a $10 charge on each transfer
in excess of 12 per Contract Year. We treat transfers to or from more
than one Fund on the same day as one transfer.
We will process transfer requests that we receive before 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time
on any Valuation Date using the Accumulation Unit Values for that Date. We will
process requests completed after 4:00 p.m. on any Valuation Date using the
Accumulation Unit Values for the next Valuation Date. The Contract permits us to
defer transfers from the Fixed Account for up to 6 months from the date we
receive your request. If we decide to postpone transfers from the Fixed Account
for 10 days or more, we will pay interest as required by applicable law. Any
interest would be payable from the date we receive the transfer request to the
date we make the transfer.
If you transfer an amount from a Guarantee Period other than during the 30 day
period after such Guarantee Period expires, we will increase or decrease the
amount by a Market Value Adjustment. If any transfer reduces your value in such
Guarantee Period to less than $500, we will treat the request as a transfer of
the entire value in such Guarantee Period.
We reserve the right to waive any transfer restrictions.
TRANSFERS DURING THE PAYOUT PHASE
During the Payout Phase, you may make transfers among the Variable Sub-Accounts
to change the relative weighting of the Variable Sub-Accounts on which your
variable income payments will be based. In addition, you will have a limited
ability to make transfers from the Variable Sub-Accounts to increase the
proportion of your income payments consisting of fixed income payments. You may
not, however, convert any portion of your right to receive fixed income payments
into variable income payments.
You may not make any transfers for the first 6 months after the Payout Start
Date. Thereafter, you may make transfers among the Variable Sub-Accounts or make
transfers from the Variable Sub-Accounts to increase the proportion of your
income payments consisting of fixed income payments. Your transfers must be at
least 6 months apart.
TELEPHONE TRANSFERS
You may make transfers by telephone by calling 1-800-692-4682, if you first send
us a completed authorization form. The cut off time for telephone transfer
requests is 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. In the event that the New York Stock
Exchange closes early, i.e., before 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, or in the event that
the Exchange closes early for a period of time but then reopens for trading on
the same day, we will process telephone transfer requests as of the close of the
Exchange on that particular day. We will not accept telephone requests received
at any telephone number other than the number that appears in this paragraph or
received after the close of trading on the Exchange.
We may suspend, modify or terminate the telephone transfer privilege at any time
without notice.
We use procedures that we believe provide reasonable assurance that the
telephone transfers are genuine. For example, we tape telephone conversations
with persons purporting to authorize transfers and request identifying
information. Accordingly, we disclaim any liability for losses resulting from
allegedly unauthorized telephone transfers. However, if we do not take
reasonable steps to help ensure that a telephone authorization is valid, we may
be liable for such losses.
DOLLAR COST AVERAGING PROGRAM
Through the Dollar Cost Averaging Program, you may automatically transfer a set
amount at regular intervals during the Accumulation Phase from any Variable
Sub-Account, or the 1 year Guarantee Period of the Fixed Account, to any other
Variable Sub-Account. The interval between transfers may be monthly, quarterly,
semi-annually, or annually. Transfers made through dollar cost averaging must be
$50 or more. You may not use dollar cost averaging to transfer amounts to the
Fixed Account.
We will not charge a transfer fee for transfers made under this Program, nor
will such transfers count against the 12 transfers you can make each Contract
Year without paying a transfer fee. In addition, we will not apply the Market
Value Adjustment to these transfers.
The theory of dollar cost averaging is that if purchases of equal dollar amounts
are made at fluctuating prices, the aggregate average cost per unit will be less
than the average of the unit prices on the same purchase dates. However,
participation in this program does not assure you of a greater profit from your
purchases under the Program nor will it prevent or necessarily reduce losses in
a declining market.
Call or write us for instructions on how to enroll.
AUTOMATIC FUND REBALANCING PROGRAM
Once you have allocated your money among the Variable Sub-Accounts, the
performance of each Sub-Account may cause a shift in the percentage you
allocated to each Sub-Account. If you select our Automatic Fund Rebalancing
Program, we will automatically rebalance the Contract Value in each Variable
Sub-Account and return it to the desired percentage allocations.
We will rebalance your account each quarter according to your instructions. We
will transfer amounts among the Variable Sub-Accounts to achieve the percentage
allocations you specify. You can change your allocations at any time by
contacting us in writing or by telephone. The new allocation will be effective
with the first rebalancing that occurs after we receive your request. We are not
responsible for rebalancing that occurs prior to receipt of your request.
Example:
Assume that you want your initial purchase payment split among 2
Variable Sub-Accounts. You want 40% to be in the AIM V.I. Diversified
Income Variable Sub-Account and 60% to be in the AIM V.I. Growth
Variable Sub-Account. Over the next 2 months the bond market does very
well while the stock market performs poorly. At the end of the first
quarter, the AIM V.I. Diversified Income Variable Sub-Account now
represents 50% of your holdings because of its increase in value. If
you choose to have your holdings rebalanced quarterly, on the first
day of the next quarter we would sell some of your units in the AIM
V.I. Diversified Income Variable Sub-Account and use the money to buy
more units in the AIM V.I. Growth Variable Sub-Account so that the
percentage allocations would again be 40% and 60% respectively.
The Automatic Fund Rebalancing Program is available only during the Accumulation
Phase. The transfers made under the Program do not count towards the 12
transfers you can make without paying a transfer fee, and are not subject to a
transfer fee.
Fund rebalancing is consistent with maintaining your allocation of investments
among market segments, although it is accomplished by reducing your Contract
Value allocated to the better performing segments.
<PAGE>
EXPENSES
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a Contract owner, you will bear, directly or indirectly, the charges and
expenses described below.
CONTRACT MAINTENANCE CHARGE
During the Accumulation Phase, on each Contract Anniversary, we will deduct a
$35 contract maintenance charge from your Contract Value invested in each
Variable Sub-Account in proportion to the amount invested. We also will deduct a
full contract maintenance charge if you withdraw your entire Contract Value,
unless your Contract qualifies for a waiver, described below. During the Payout
Phase, we will deduct the charge proportionately from each income payment.
The charge is for the cost of maintaining each Contract and the Variable
Account. Maintenance costs include expenses we incur in billing and collecting
purchase payments; keeping records; processing death claims, cash withdrawals,
and policy changes; proxy statements; calculating Accumulation Unit Values and
income payments; and issuing reports to Contract owners and regulatory agencies.
We cannot increase the charge. We will waive this charge if:
o total purchase payments equal $50,000 or more, or
o all of your money is allocated to the Fixed Account on a Contract
Anniversary.
MORTALITY AND EXPENSE RISK CHARGE
We deduct a mortality and expense risk charge daily at an annual rate of 1.35%
of the daily net assets you have invested in the Variable Sub-Accounts. The
mortality and expense risk charge is for all the insurance benefits available
with your Contract (including our guarantee of annuity rates and the death
benefits), for certain expenses of the Contract, and for assuming the risk
(expense risk) that the current charges will be sufficient in the future to
cover the cost of administering the Contract. If the charges under the Contract
are not sufficient, then we will bear the loss.
We guarantee the mortality and expense risk charge and we cannot increase it. We
assess the mortality and expense risk charge during both the Accumulation Phase
and the Payout Phase.
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE CHARGE
We deduct an administrative expense charge daily at an annual rate of 0.10% of
the average daily net assets you have invested in the Variable Sub-Accounts. We
intend this charge to cover actual administrative expenses that exceed the
revenues from the contract maintenance charge. There is no necessary
relationship between the amount of administrative charge imposed on a given
Contract and the amount of expenses that may be attributed to that Contract. We
assess this charge each day during the Accumulation Phase and the Payout Phase.
We guarantee that we will not raise this charge.
TRANSFER FEE
We do not currently impose a fee upon transfers among the investment
alternatives. However, we reserve the right to charge $10 per transfer after the
12th transfer in each Contract Year. We will not charge a transfer fee on
transfers that are part of a Dollar Cost Averaging Program or Automatic Fund
Rebalancing Program.
WITHDRAWAL CHARGE
We may assess a withdrawal charge of up to 7% of the purchase payment(s) you
withdraw in excess of the Preferred Withdrawal Amount, adjusted by a Market
Value Adjustment. The charge declines annually to 0% after 7 complete years from
the day we receive the purchase payment being withdrawn. A schedule showing how
the charge declines appears on page 7. During each Contract Year, you can
withdraw up to 10% of purchase payments without paying the charge. Unused
portions of this 10% "Preferred Withdrawal Amount" are not carried forward to
future Contract Years.
We determine the withdrawal charge by:
o multiplying the percentage corresponding to the number of complete years
since we received the purchase payment being withdrawn by
o the part of each purchase payment withdrawal that is in excess of the
Preferred Withdrawal Amount, adjusted by a Market Value Adjustment.
We will deduct withdrawal charges, if applicable, from the amount paid. For
purposes of the withdrawal charge, we will treat withdrawals as coming from the
oldest purchase payments first. However, for federal income tax purposes, please
note that withdrawals are considered to have come first from earnings in the
Contract. Thus, for tax purposes, earnings are considered to come out first,
which means you pay taxes on the earnings portion of your withdrawal.
We do not apply a withdrawal charge in the following situations:
o on the Payout Start Date (a withdrawal charge may apply if you elect to
receive income payments for a specified period of less than 120 months);
o withdrawals taken to satisfy IRS minimum distribution rules for the
Contract; or
o withdrawals made after all purchase payments have been withdrawn.
We use the amounts obtained from the withdrawal charge to pay sales commissions
and other promotional or distribution expenses associated with marketing the
Contracts. To the extent that the withdrawal charge does not cover all sales
commissions and other promotional or distribution expenses, we may use any of
our corporate assets, including potential profit which may arise from the
mortality and expense risk charge or any other charges or fee described above,
to make up any difference.
Withdrawals may be subject to tax penalties or income tax and a Market Value
Adjustment. You should consult your own tax counsel or other tax advisers
regarding any withdrawals.
We reserve the right to waive the withdrawal charge with respect to Contracts
issued to employees and registered representatives of any broker-dealer that has
entered into a sales agreement with Allstate Life Financial Services, Inc.
("ALFS") to sell the Contracts and all wholesalers and their employees that are
under agreement with ALFS to wholesale the Contract. The withdrawal charge will
also be waived on withdrawals taken to satisfy IRS required minimum distribution
rules for this Contract.
PREMIUM TAXES
Some states and other governmental entities (e.g., municipalities) charge
premium taxes or similar taxes. In those states, we are responsible for paying
these taxes and deduct them from the Contract Value. Our current practice is not
to charge anyone for these taxes until income payments begin or when a total
withdrawal occurs including payment upon death. We may discontinue this practice
sometime in the future and deduct premium taxes from the purchase payments. At
the Payout Start Date, we deduct the charge for premium taxes from each
investment alternative in the proportion that the Contract owner's value in the
investment alternative bears to the total Contract Value.
Currently, we do not make deductions for premium taxes under the Contract
because New York does not charge premium taxes on annuities.
DEDUCTION FOR VARIABLE ACCOUNT INCOME TAXES
We are not currently maintaining a provision for taxes. In the future, however,
we may establish a provision for taxes if we determine, in our sole discretion,
that we will incur a tax as a result of the operation of the Variable Account.
We will deduct for any taxes we incur as a result of the operation of the
Variable Account, whether or not we previously made a provision for taxes and
whether or not it was sufficient. Our status under the Internal Revenue Code is
briefly described in the Statement of Additional Information.
OTHER EXPENSES
Each Fund deducts advisory fees and other expenses from its assets. You
indirectly bear the charges and expenses of the Funds whose shares are held by
the Variable Sub-Accounts. These fees and expenses are described in the
accompanying prospectus for the Funds. For a summary of these charges and
expenses, see pages 8-9 above. We may receive compensation from A I M Advisors,
Inc., for administrative services we provide to the Funds.
<PAGE>
ACCESS TO YOUR MONEY
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can withdraw some or all of your Contract Value at any time prior to the
Payout Start Date. Withdrawals also are available under limited circumstances on
or after the Payout Start Date. See "Income Plans" on page 26.
The amount payable upon withdrawal is the Contract Value next computed after we
receive the request for a withdrawal at our service center, adjusted by any
Market Value Adjustment, less any withdrawal charges, contract maintenance
charges, income tax withholding, penalty tax, and any premium taxes. We will pay
withdrawals from the Variable Account within 7 days of receipt of the request,
subject to postponement in certain circumstances.
You can withdraw money from the Variable Account or the Fixed Account. To
complete a partial withdrawal from the Variable Account, we will cancel
Accumulation Units in an amount equal to the withdrawal and any applicable
withdrawal charge and premium taxes.
You must name the investment alternative from which you are taking the
withdrawal. If none is named, then the withdrawal request is incomplete and
cannot be honored.
In general, you must withdraw at least $50 at a time. You also may withdraw a
lesser amount if you are withdrawing your entire interest in a Variable
Sub-Account.
If you request a total withdrawal, you must return your Contract to us.
POSTPONEMENT OF PAYMENTS
We may postpone the payment of any amounts due from the Variable Account under
the Contract if:
1) The New York Stock Exchange is closed for other than usual weekends or
holidays, or trading on the Exchange is otherwise restricted;
2) An emergency exists as defined by the SEC; or
3) The SEC permits delay for your protection.
In addition, we may delay payments or transfers from the Fixed Account for up to
6 months or shorter period if required by law. If we delay payment or transfer
for 10 days or more, we will pay interest as required by law. Any interest would
be payable from the date we receive the withdrawal request to the date we make
the payment or transfer.
SYSTEMATIC WITHDRAWAL PROGRAM
You may choose to receive systematic withdrawal payments on a monthly,
quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis at any time prior to the Payout Start
Date. The minimum amount of each systematic withdrawal is $50. At our
discretion, systematic withdrawals may not be offered in conjunction with the
Dollar Cost Averaging or the Automatic Fund Rebalancing Programs.
Depending on fluctuations in the value of the Variable Sub-Accounts and the
value of the Fixed Account, systematic withdrawals may reduce or even exhaust
the Contract Value. Income taxes may apply to systematic withdrawals. Please
consult your tax advisor before taking any withdrawal.
We will make systematic withdrawal payments to you or your designated payee. We
may modify or suspend the Systematic Withdrawal Program and charge a processing
fee for the service. If we modify or suspend the Systematic Withdrawal Program,
existing systematic withdrawal payments will not be affected.
MINIMUM CONTRACT VALUE
If your request for a partial withdrawal would reduce the amount in any
Guarantee Period to less than $500, we will treat it as a request to withdraw
the entire amount invested in such Guarantee Period. In addition, if your
request for a partial withdrawal would reduce the Contract Value to less than
$1,000, we may treat it as a request to withdraw your entire Contract Value.
Your Contract will terminate if you withdraw all of your Contract Value. We
will, however, ask you to confirm your withdrawal request before terminating
your Contract. If we terminate your Contract, we will distribute to you its
Contract Value, adjusted by any applicable Market Value Adjustment, less
withdrawal and other charges, including premium taxes.
<PAGE>
INCOME PAYMENTS
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAYOUT START DATE
You select the Payout Start Date in your application. The Payout Start
Date is the day that we apply your money to an Income Plan. The Payout
Start Date must be no later than the Annuitant's 90th birthday.
You may change the Payout Start Date at any time by notifying us in writing of
the change at least 30 days before the scheduled Payout Start Date. Absent a
change, we will use the Payout Start Date stated in your Contract.
INCOME PLANS
An "Income Plan" is a series of payments on a scheduled basis to you or to
another person designated by you. You may choose and change your choice of
Income Plan until 30 days before the Payout Start Date. If you do not select an
Income Plan, we will make income payments in accordance with Income Plan 1 with
guaranteed payments for 10 years.
Three Income Plans are available under the Contract. Each is available to
provide:
o fixed income payments;
o variable income payments; or
o a combination of the two.
The three Income Plans are:
Income Plan 1 -- Life Income with Guaranteed Payments. Under this
plan, we make periodic income payments for at least as long as the
Annuitant lives. If the Annuitant dies before we have made all of the
guaranteed income payments, we will continue to pay the remainder of
the guaranteed income payments as required by the Contract.
Income Plan 2 -- Joint and Survivor Life Income with Guaranteed
Payments. Under this plan, we make periodic income payments for at
least as long as either the Annuitant or the joint Annuitant is
alive. If both the Annuitant and the joint Annuitant die before we
have made all of the guaranteed income payments, we will continue to
pay the remainder of the guaranteed income payments as required by
the Contract.
Income Plan 3 -- Guaranteed Payments for a Specified Period (5 Years
to 30 Years). Under this plan, we make periodic income payments for
the period you have chosen. These payments do not depend on the
Annuitant's life. Income payments for less than 120 months may be
subject to a withdrawal charge. We will deduct the mortality and
expense risk charge from variable income payments even though we may
not bear any mortality risk.
The length of any guaranteed payment period under your selected Income Plan
generally will affect the dollar amounts of each income payment. As a general
rule, longer guarantee periods result in lower income payments, all other things
being equal. For example, if you choose an Income Plan with payments that depend
on the life of the Annuitant but with no minimum specified period for guaranteed
payments, the income payments generally will be greater than the income payments
made under the same Income Plan with a minimum specified period for guaranteed
payments.
If you choose Income Plan 1 or 2, or, if available, another Income Plan with
payments that continue for the life of the Annuitant or joint Annuitant, we may
require proof of age and sex of the Annuitant or joint Annuitant before starting
income payments, and proof that the Annuitant or joint Annuitant is alive before
we make each payment. Please note that under such Income Plans, if you elect to
take no minimum guaranteed payments, it is possible that the payee could receive
only 1 income payment if the Annuitant and any joint Annuitant both die before
the second income payment, or only 2 income payments if they die before the
third income payment, and so on.
Generally, you may not make withdrawals after the Payout Start Date. One
exception to this rule applies if you are receiving variable income payments
that do not depend on the life of the Annuitant (such as under Income Plan 3).
In that case you may terminate the Variable Account portion of the income
payments at any time and receive a lump sum equal to the present value of the
remaining variable payments due. A withdrawal charge may apply. We assess
applicable premium taxes against all income payments.
We may make other Income Plans available. You may obtain information about them
by writing or calling us.
You must apply at least the Contract Value in the Fixed Account on the Payout
Start Date to fixed income payments. If you wish to apply any portion of your
Fixed Account balance to provide variable income payments, you should plan ahead
and transfer that amount to the Variable Sub-Accounts prior to the Payout Start
Date. If you do not tell us how to allocate your Contract Value among fixed and
variable income payments, we will apply your Contract Value in the Variable
Account to variable income payments and your Contract Value in the Fixed Account
to fixed income payments.
We will apply your Contract Value, adjusted by a Market Value Adjustment, less
applicable taxes to your Income Plan on the Payout Start Date. If the amount
available to apply under an Income Plan is less than $2,000 or not enough to
provide an initial payment of at least $20, and state law permits, we may:
o pay you the Contract Value, adjusted by any Market Value Adjustment and
less any applicable taxes, in a lump sum instead of the periodic payments
you have chosen, or
o reduce the frequency of your payments so that each payment will be at least
$20.
VARIABLE INCOME PAYMENTS
The amount of your variable income payments depends upon the investment results
of the Variable Sub-Accounts you select, the premium taxes you pay, the age and
sex of the Annuitant, and the Income Plan you choose. We guarantee that the
payments will not be affected by (a) actual mortality experience and (b) the
amount of our administration expenses.
We cannot predict the total amount of your variable income payments. Your
variable income payments may be more or less than your total purchase payments
because (a) variable income payments vary with the investment results of the
underlying Funds and (b) the Annuitant could live longer or shorter than we
expect based on the tables we use.
In calculating the amount of the periodic payments in the annuity tables in the
Contract, we assumed an annual investment rate of 3%. If the actual net
investment return of the Variable Sub-Accounts you choose is less than this
assumed investment rate, then the dollar amount of your variable income payments
will decrease. The dollar amount of your variable income payments will increase,
however, if the actual net investment return exceeds the assumed investment
rate. The dollar amount of the variable income payments stays level if the net
investment return equals the assumed investment rate. Please refer to the
Statement of Additional Information for more detailed information as to how we
determine variable income payments.
FIXED INCOME PAYMENTS
We guarantee income payment amounts derived from the Fixed Account for the
duration of the Income Plan. We calculate the fixed income payments by:
1) adjusting the portion of the Contract Value in the Fixed Account on the
Payout Start Date by any applicable Market Value Adjustment;
2) deducting any applicable premium tax; and
3) applying the resulting amount to the greater of (a) the appropriate value
from the income payment table in your Contract or (b) such other value as
we are offering at that time.
We may defer making fixed income payments for a period of up to 6 months or such
shorter time as state law may require. If we defer payments for 10 business days
or more, we will pay interest as required by law from the date we receive the
withdrawal request to the date we make payment.
CERTAIN EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
The Contracts offered by this prospectus contain income payment tables that
provide for different payments to men and women of the same age. However, we
reserve the right to use income payment tables that do not distinguish on the
basis of sex to the extent permitted by law. In certain employment-related
situations, employers are required by law to use the same income payment tables
for men and women. Accordingly, if the Contract is to be used in connection with
an employment-related retirement or benefit plan, you should consult with legal
counsel as to whether the purchase of a Contract is appropriate. For qualified
plans, where it is appropriate, we may use income payment tables that do not
distinguish on the basis of sex.
<PAGE>
DEATH BENEFITS
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We will pay a death benefit if, prior to the Payout Start Date:
1) any Contract owner dies or
2) the Annuitant dies, if the Contract is owned by a company or other legal
entity.
We will pay the death benefit to the new Contract owner as determined
immediately after the death. The new Contract owner would be a surviving
Contract owner or, if none, the Beneficiary.
Death Benefit Amount
Prior to the Payout Start Date, the death benefit is equal to the greatest of:
1) the Contract Value as of the date we determine the death benefit, or
2) the Settlement Value (that is, the amount payable on a full withdrawal
of Contract Value) on the date we determine the death benefit, or
3) the Contract Value on the Death Benefit Anniversary immediately
preceding the date we determine the death benefit, adjusted by any
purchase payments, partial withdrawals and charges made since that
Death Benefit Anniversary. A "Death Benefit Anniversary" is every
seventh Contract Anniversary beginning with the Issue Date. For
example, the Issue Date, 7th and 14th Contract Anniversaries are the
first three Death Benefit Anniversaries, or
4) the greatest of the Anniversary Values as of the date we determine the
death benefit. An "Anniversary Value" is equal to the Contract Value
on a Contract Anniversary, increased by purchase payments made since
that Anniversary and reduced by the amount of any partial withdrawals
since that anniversary. Anniversary Values will be calculated for each
Contract Anniversary prior to the earlier of:
(i) the date we determine the death benefit, or
(ii) the deceased's 75th birthday or 5 years after the Issue Date, if
later.
The value of the death benefit will be determined at the end of the
Valuation Date on which we receive a complete request for payment of
the death benefit, which includes Due Proof Of Death.
We will not settle any death claim until we receive Due Proof of Death. We will
accept the following documentation as Due Proof of Death:
o a certified copy of a death certificate; or
o a certified copy of a decree of a court of competent jurisdiction as to a
finding of death; or
o any other proof acceptable to us.
Death Benefit Payments
A death benefit will be paid:
1) if the Contract owner elects to receive the death benefit distributed in a
single payment within 180 days of the date of death, and
2) if the death benefit is paid as of the day the value of the death benefit
is determined.
Otherwise, the Settlement Value will be paid. We are currently waiving the 180
day limit, but we reserve the right to enforce the limitation in the future. The
Settlement Value paid will be the Settlement Value next computed on or after the
requested distribution date for payment, or on the mandatory distribution date
of 5 years after the date of death.
In any event, the entire value of the Contract must be distributed within 5
years after the date of death unless an Income Plan is elected or a surviving
spouse continues the Contract in accordance with the provisions described below.
If the Contract owner eligible to receive the death benefit is not a natural
person, the Contract owner may elect to receive the distribution upon death in
one or more distributions.
If the Contract owner is a natural person, the Contract owner may elect to
receive the death benefit either in one or more distributions, or by periodic
payments through an Income Plan. Payments from the Income Plan must begin within
one year of the date of death and must be payable throughout:
o the life of the Contract owner; or
o a period not to exceed the life expectancy of the Contract owner; or
o the life of the Contract owner with payments guaranteed to a period not to
exceed the life expectancy of the Contract owner.
If the surviving spouse of the deceased Contract owner is the new Contract
owner, then the spouse may elect one of the options listed above or may continue
the Contract in the Accumulation Phase as if the death had not occurred. The
Contract may only be continued once. If the Contract is continued in the
Accumulation Phase, the surviving spouse may make a single withdrawal of any
amount within one year of the date of death without incurring a withdrawal
charge. However, any applicable Market Value Adjustment, determined as of the
date of the withdrawal, will apply.
<PAGE>
MORE INFORMATION
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ALLSTATE NEW YORK
Allstate New York is the issuer of the Contract. Allstate New York is a stock
life insurance company organized under the laws of the State of New York.
Allstate New York was incorporated in 1967 and was known as "Financial Life
Insurance Company" from 1967 to 1978. From 1978 to 1984, Allstate New York was
known as "PM Life Insurance Company." Since 1984 the company has been known as
"Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York."
Allstate New York is currently licensed to operate in New York. Our home office
is One Allstate Drive, Farmingville, New York 11738. Our servicing center is in
Palatine, Illinois.
Allstate New York is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allstate Insurance Company, a
stock property-liability insurance company incorporated under the laws of
Illinois. With the exception of the directors qualifying shares, all of the
outstanding capital stock of Allstate Insurance Company is owned by The Allstate
Corporation.
Several independent rating agencies regularly evaluate life insurers'
claims-paying ability, quality of investments, and overall stability. A.M. Best
Company assigns Allstate New York the financial performance rating of A+(g).
Standard & Poor's Insurance Rating Services assigns an AA+ (Very Strong)
financial strength rating and Moody's assigns an Aa2 (Excellent) financial
strength rating to Allstate New York. These ratings do not reflect the
investment performance of the Variable Account. We may from time to time
advertise these ratings in our sales literature.
THE VARIABLE ACCOUNT
Allstate New York established the Allstate Life of New York Variable Account A
on December 15, 1995. We have registered the Variable Account with the SEC as a
unit investment trust. The SEC does not supervise the management of the Variable
Account or Allstate New York.
We own the assets of the Variable Account. The Variable Account is a segregated
asset account under New York law. That means we account for the Variable
Account's income, gains and losses separately from the results of our other
operations. It also means that only the assets of the Variable Account that are
in excess of the reserves and other Contract liabilities with respect to the
Variable Account are subject to liabilities relating to our other operations.
Our obligations arising under the Contracts are general corporate obligations of
Allstate New York.
The Variable Account consists of 13 Variable Sub-Accounts, 9 of which are
available through the Contracts. Each Variable Sub-Account invests in a
corresponding Fund. We may add new Variable Sub-Accounts or eliminate one or
more of them, if we believe marketing, tax, or investment conditions so warrant.
We do not guarantee the investment performance of the Variable Account, its
Sub-Accounts or the Funds. We may use the Variable Account to fund our other
annuity contracts. We will account separately for each type of annuity contract
funded by the Variable Account.
THE FUNDS
Dividends and Capital Gain Distributions. We automatically reinvest all
dividends and capital gains distributions from the Funds in shares of the
distributing Fund at their net asset value.
Voting Privileges. As a general matter, you do not have a direct right to vote
the shares of the Funds held by the Variable Sub-Accounts to which you have
allocated your Contract Value. Under current law, however, you are entitled to
give us instructions on how to vote those shares on certain matters. Based on
our present view of the law, we will vote the shares of the Funds that we hold
directly or indirectly through the Variable Account in accordance with
instructions that we receive from Contract owners entitled to give such
instructions.
As a general rule, before the Payout Start Date, the Contract owner or anyone
with a voting interest is the person entitled to give voting instructions. The
number of shares that a person has a right to instruct will be determined by
dividing the Contract Value allocated to the applicable Variable Sub-Account by
the net asset value per share of the corresponding Fund as of the record date of
the meeting. After the Payout Start Date, the person receiving income payments
has the voting interest. The payee's number of votes will be determined by
dividing the reserve for such Contract allocated to the applicable Variable
Sub-account by the net asset value per share of the corresponding Fund. The
votes decrease as income payments are made and as the reserves for the Contract
decrease.
We will vote shares attributable to Contracts for which we have not received
instructions, as well as shares attributable to us, in the same proportion as we
vote shares for which we have received instructions, unless we determine that we
may vote such shares in our own discretion. We will apply voting instructions to
abstain on any item to be voted on a pro-rata basis to reduce the votes eligible
to be cast.
We reserve the right to vote Fund shares as we see fit without regard to voting
instructions to the extent permitted by law. If we disregard voting
instructions, we will include a summary of that action and our reasons for that
action in the next semi-annual financial report we send to you.
Changes in Funds. If the shares of any of the Funds are no longer available for
investment by the Variable Account or if, in our judgment, further investment in
such shares is no longer desirable in view of the purposes of the Contract, we
may eliminate that Fund and substitute shares of another eligible investment
fund. Any substitution of securities will comply with the requirements of the
1940 Act. We also may add new Variable Sub-Accounts that invest in additional
mutual funds. We will notify you in advance of any changes.
Conflicts of Interest. Certain of the Funds sell their shares to Variable
Accounts underlying both variable life insurance and variable annuity contracts.
It is conceivable that in the future it may be unfavorable for variable life
insurance Variable Accounts and variable annuity Variable Accounts to invest in
the same Fund. The boards of directors of these Funds monitor for possible
conflicts among Variable Accounts buying shares of the Funds. Conflicts could
develop for a variety of reasons. For example, differences in treatment under
tax and other laws or the failure by a Variable Account to comply with such laws
could cause a conflict. To eliminate a conflict, a Fund's board of directors may
require a Variable Account to withdraw its participation in a Fund. A Fund's net
asset value could decrease if it had to sell investment securities to pay
redemption proceeds to a Variable Account withdrawing because of a conflict.
THE CONTRACT
Distribution. Allstate Life Financial Services, Inc. ("ALFS"), located at 3100
Sanders Road, Northbrook, Illinois 60062-7154, serves as distributor of the
Contracts. ALFS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allstate Life Insurance Company.
ALFS is a registered broker dealer under the Securities and Exchange Act of
1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"), and is a member of the National Association
of Securities Dealers, Inc.
We will pay commissions will be paid to broker-dealers who sell the Contracts.
Commissions paid may vary, but we estimate that the total commissions paid on
all Contract sales will not exceed 8% of any purchase payments. Sometimes, we
also pay the broker-dealer a persistency bonus in addition to the standard
commissions. A persistency bonus is not expected to exceed .56%, on an annual
basis, of the purchase payments considered in connection with the bonus. These
commissions are intended to cover distribution expenses. In some states,
Contracts may be sold by representatives or employees of banks which may be
acting as broker-dealers without separate registration under the Exchange Act,
pursuant to legal and regulatory exceptions.
Allstate New York does not pay ALFS a commission for distribution of the
Contracts. The underwriting agreement with ALFS provides that we will reimburse
ALFS for any liability to Contract owners arising out of services rendered or
Contracts issued.
Administration. We have primary responsibility for all administration of the
Contracts and the Variable Account. We provide the following administrative
services, among others:
o issuance of the Contracts;
o maintenance of Contract owner records;
o Contract owner services;
o calculation of unit values;
o maintenance of the Variable Account; and
o preparation of Contract owner reports.
We will send you Contract statements and transaction confirmations at least
annually. The annual statement details values and specific Contract data for
each particular Contract. You should notify us promptly in writing of any
address change. You should read your statements and confirmations carefully and
verify their accuracy. You should contact us promptly if you have a question
about a periodic statement. We will investigate all complaints and make any
necessary adjustments retroactively, but you must notify us of a potential error
within a reasonable time after the date of the questioned statement. If you wait
too long, we will make the adjustment as of the date that we receive notice of
the potential error.
We also will provide you with additional periodic and other reports, information
and prospectuses as may be required by federal securities laws.
QUALIFIED PLANS
If you use the Contract with a qualified plan, the plan may impose different or
additional conditions or limitations on withdrawals, waivers of withdrawal
charges, death benefits, Payout Start Dates, income payments, and other Contract
features. In addition, adverse tax consequences may result if qualified plan
limits on distributions and other conditions are not met. Please consult your
qualified plan administrator for more information.
LEGAL MATTERS
Freedman, Levy, Kroll & Simonds, Washington, D.C., has advised Allstate New York
on certain federal securities law matters. All matters of New York law
pertaining to the Contracts, including the validity of the Contracts and
Allstate New York's right to issue such Contracts under New York insurance law,
have been passed upon by Michael J. Velotta, General Counsel of Allstate New
York.
YEAR 2000
Allstate New York is heavily dependent upon complex computer systems for all
phases of its operations, including customer service, risk management and policy
and contract administration. Since many of Allstate New York's older computer
software programs recognize only the last two digits of the year in any date,
some software may fail to operate properly in or after the year 1999, if the
software is not reprogrammed or replaced ("Year 2000 Issue"). Allstate New York
believes that many of its counterparties and suppliers also have Year 2000
Issues which could affect Allstate New York. In 1995, Allstate Insurance Company
commenced a plan intended to mitigate and/or prevent the adverse effects of Year
2000 Issues. These strategies include normal development and enhancement of new
and existing systems, upgrades to operating systems already covered by
maintenance agreements and modifications to existing systems to make them Year
2000 compliant. The plan also includes Allstate New York actively working with
its major external counterparties and suppliers to assess their compliance
efforts and Allstate New York's exposure to them. Allstate New York presently
believes that it will resolve the Year 2000 Issue in a timely manner, and the
financial impact will not materially affect its results of operations, liquidity
or financial position. Year 2000 costs are and will be expensed as incurred.
<PAGE>
TAXES
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The following discussion is general and is not intended as tax advice. Allstate
New York makes no guarantee regarding the tax treatment of any Contract or
transaction involving a Contract.
Federal, state, local and other tax consequences of ownership or receipt of
distributions under an annuity contract depend on your individual circumstances.
If you are concerned about any tax consequences with regard to your individual
circumstances, you should consult a competent tax adviser.
Taxation of Annuities in General
Tax Deferral. Generally, you are not taxed on increases in the Contract Value
until a distribution occurs. This rule applies only where:
1) the Contract owner is a natural person,
2) the investments of the Variable Account are "adequately diversified"
according to Treasury Department regulations, and
3) Allstate New York is considered the owner of the Variable Account
assets for federal income tax purposes.
Non-natural Owners. As a general rule, annuity contracts owned by non-natural
persons such as corporations, trusts, or other entities are not treated as
annuity contracts for federal income tax purposes. The income on such contracts
is taxed as ordinary income received or accrued by the owner during the taxable
year. Please see the Statement of Additional Information for a discussion of
several exceptions to the general rule for Contracts owned by non-natural
persons.
Diversification Requirements. For a Contract to be treated as an annuity for
federal income tax purposes, the investments in the Variable Account must be
"adequately diversified" consistent with standards under Treasury Department
regulations. If the investments in the Variable Account are not adequately
diversified, the contract will not be treated as an annuity contract for federal
income tax purposes. As a result, the income on the Contract will be taxed as
ordinary income received or accrued by the owner during the taxable year.
Although Allstate New York does not have control over the Funds or their
investments, we expect the Funds to meet the diversification requirements.
Ownership Treatment. The IRS has stated that you will be considered the owner of
Variable Account assets if you possess incidents of ownership in those assets,
such as the ability to exercise investment control over the assets. At the time
the diversification regulations were issued, the Treasury Department announced
that the regulations do not provide guidance concerning circumstances in which
investor control of the Variable Account investments may cause an investor to be
treated as the owner of the Variable Account. The Treasury Department also
stated that future guidance would be issued regarding the extent that owners
could direct sub-account investments without being treated as owners of the
underlying assets of the Variable Account.
Your rights under the Contract are different than those described by the IRS in
rulings in which it found that contract owners were not owners of Variable
Account assets. For example, you have the choice to allocate premiums and
Contract Values among more investment alternatives. Also, you may be able to
transfer among investment alternatives more frequently than in such rulings.
These differences could result in you being treated as the owner of the Variable
Account. If this occurs, income and gain from the Variable Account assets would
be includible in your gross income. Allstate New York does not know what
standards will be set forth in any regulations or rulings which the Treasury
Department may issue. It is possible that future standards announced by the
Treasury Department could adversely affect the tax treatment of your Contract.
We reserve the right to modify the Contract as necessary to attempt to prevent
you from being considered the federal tax owner of the assets of the Variable
Account. However, we make no guarantee that such modification to the Contract
will be successful.
Taxation of Partial and Full Withdrawals. If you make a partial withdrawal under
a non-Qualified Contract, amounts received are taxable to the extent the
Contract Value, without regard to surrender charges, exceeds the investment in
the Contract. The investment in the Contract is the gross premium paid for the
Contract minus any amounts previously received from the Contract if such amounts
were properly excluded from your gross income. If you make a partial withdrawal
under a Qualified Contract, the portion of the payment that bears the same ratio
to the total payment that the investment in the Contract (i.e., nondeductible
IRA contributions, after tax contributions to qualified plans) bears to the
contract value, is excluded from your income. If you make a full withdrawal
under a non-Qualified Contract or a Qualified Contract, the amount received will
be taxable only to the extent it exceeds the investment in the contract.
"Nonqualified distributions" from Roth IRAs are treated as made from
contributions first and are included in gross income only to the extent that
distributions exceed contributions. "Qualified distributions" from Roth IRAs are
not included in gross income. "Qualified distributions" are any distributions
made more than 5 taxable years after the taxable year of the first contribution
to any Roth IRA and which are:
o made on or after the date the individual attains age 59 1/2,
o made to a beneficiary after the Contract owner's death,
o attributable to the Contract owner being disabled, or
o for a first time home purchase (first time home purchases are subject
to a lifetime limit of $10,000).
If you transfer a non-Qualified Contract without full and adequate consideration
to a person other than your spouse (or to a former spouse incident to a
divorce), you will be taxed on the difference between the Contract Value and the
investment in the Contract at the time of transfer. Except for certain Qualified
Contracts, any amount you receive as a loan under a Contract, and any assignment
or pledge (or agreement to assign or pledge) of the Contract Value is treated as
a withdrawal of such amount or portion.
Taxation of Annuity Payments. Generally, the rule for income taxation of annuity
payments received from a non-Qualified Contract provides for the return of your
investment in the Contract in equal tax-free amounts over the payment period.
The balance of each payment received is taxable. For fixed annuity payments, the
amount excluded from income is determined by multiplying the payment by the
ratio of the investment in the Contract (adjusted for any refund feature or
period certain) to the total expected value of annuity payments for the term of
the contract. If you elect variable annuity payments, the amount excluded from
taxable income is determined by dividing the investment in the Contract by the
total number of expected payments. The annuity payments will be fully taxable
after the total amount of the investment in the Contract is excluded using these
ratios. If you die, and annuity payments cease before the total amount of the
investment in the Contract is recovered, the unrecovered amount will be allowed
as a deduction for your last taxable year.
Taxation of Annuity Death Benefits. Death of a Contract owner, or death of the
Annuitant if the Contract is owned by a non-natural person, will cause a
distribution of death benefits from a Contract. Generally, such amounts are
included in income as follows:
1) if distributed in a lump sum, the amounts are taxed in the same manner
as a full withdrawal, or
2) if distributed under an annuity option, the amounts are taxed in the
same manner as an annuity payment. Please see the Statement of
Additional Information for more detail on distribution at death
requirements.
Penalty Tax on Premature Distributions. A 10% penalty tax applies to the taxable
amount of any premature distribution from a non-Qualified Contract. The penalty
tax generally applies to any distribution made prior to the date you attain age
59 1/2. However, no penalty tax is incurred on distributions:
1) made on or after the date the Contract owner attains age 59 1/2;
2) made as a result of the Contract owner's death or disability;
3) made in substantially equal periodic payments over the owner's life or
life expectancy;
4) made under an immediate annuity; or
5) attributable to investment in the contract before August 14, 1982.
You should consult a competent tax advisor to determine if any other exceptions
to the penalty apply to your situation. Similar exceptions may apply to
distributions from Qualified Contracts.
Aggregation of Annuity Contracts. All non-qualified deferred annuity contracts
issued by Allstate New York (or its affiliates) to the same Contract owner
during any calendar year will be aggregated and treated as one annuity contract
for purposes of determining the taxable amount of a distribution.
TAX QUALIFIED CONTRACTS
Contracts may be used as investments with certain qualified plans such as:
o Individual Retirement Annuities or Accounts (IRAs) under Section 408
of the Code;
o Roth IRAs under Section 408A of the Code;
o Simplified Employee Pension Plans under Section 408(k) of the Code;
o Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees (SIMPLE) Plans under
Section 408(p) of the Code;
o Tax Sheltered Annuities under Section 403(b) of the Code;
o Corporate and Self Employed Pension and Profit Sharing Plans; and
o State and Local Government and Tax-Exempt Organization Deferred
Compensation Plans.
In the case of certain qualified plans, the terms of the plans may govern the
right to benefits, regardless of the terms of the Contract.
Restrictions Under Section 403(b) Plans. Section 403(b) of the Tax Code provides
tax-deferred retirement savings plans for employees of certain non-profit and
educational organizations. Under Section 403(b), any Contract used for a 403(b)
plan must provide that distributions attributable to salary reduction
contributions made after December 31, 1998, and all earnings on salary reduction
contributions, may be made only:
1) on or after the date the employee
o attains age 59 1/2,
o separates from service,
o dies,
o becomes disabled, or
2) on account of hardship (earnings on salary reduction contributions
may not be distributed on account of hardship).
These limitations do not apply to withdrawals where Allstate New York is
directed to transfer some or all of the Contract Value to another 403(b) plan.
INCOME TAX WITHHOLDING
Allstate New York is required to withhold federal income tax at a rate of 20% on
all "eligible rollover distributions" unless you elect to make a "direct
rollover" of such amounts to an IRA or eligible retirement plan. Eligible
rollover distributions generally include all distributions from Qualified
Contracts, excluding IRAs, with the exception of:
1) required minimum distributions, or
2) a series of substantially equal periodic payments made over a period
of at least 10 years, or
3) over the life (joint lives) of the participant (and beneficiary).
Allstate New York may be required to withhold federal and state income taxes on
any distributions from non-Qualified Contracts or Qualified Contracts that are
not eligible rollover distributions, unless you notify us of your election to
not have taxes withheld.
<PAGE>
ANNUAL REPORTS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS
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Allstate New York's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
1998 is incorporated herein by reference, which means that it is legally a part
of this prospectus.
After the date of this prospectus and before we terminate the offering of the
securities under this prospectus, all documents or reports we file with the SEC
under the Exchange Act are also incorporated herein by reference, which means
that they also legally become a part of this prospectus.
Statements in this prospectus, or in documents that we file later with the SEC
and that legally become a part of this prospectus, may change or supersede
statements in other documents that are legally part of this prospectus.
Accordingly, only the statement that is changed or replaced will legally be a
part of this prospectus.
We file our Exchange Act documents and reports, including our annual and
quarterly reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q electronically on the SEC's "EDGAR"
system using the identifying number CIK No. 0000948255. The SEC maintains a Web
site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other
information regarding registrants that file electronically with the SEC. The
address of the site is http://www.sec.gov. You also can view these materials at
the SEC's Public Reference Room at 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.
20549. For more information on the operations of SEC's Public Reference Room,
call 1-800-SEC-0330.
If you have received a copy of this prospectus, and would like a free copy of
any document incorporated herein by reference (other than exhibits not
specifically incorporated by reference into the text of such documents), please
write or call us at Customer Service, P.O. Box 94038, Palatine, Illinois
60094-4038 (telephone: 1-800-692-4682).
<PAGE>
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
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We may advertise the performance of the Variable Sub-Accounts, including yield
and total return information. Yield refers to the income generated by an
investment in a Variable Sub-Account over a specified period. Total return
represents the change, over a specified period of time, in the value of an
investment in a Variable Sub-Account after reinvesting all income distributions.
All performance advertisements will include, as applicable, standardized yield
and total return figures that reflect the deduction of insurance charges, the
contract maintenance charge, and withdrawal charge. Performance advertisements
also may include total return figures that reflect the deduction of insurance
charges, but not the contract maintenance or withdrawal charges. The deduction
of such charges would reduce the performance shown. In addition, performance
advertisements may include aggregate, average, year-by-year, or other types of
total return figures.
Performance information for periods prior to the inception date of the Variable
Sub-Accounts will be based on the historical performance of the corresponding
Funds for the periods beginning with the inception dates of the Funds and
adjusted to reflect current Contract expenses. You should not interpret these
figures to reflect actual historical performance of the Variable Account.
We may include in advertising and sales materials tax deferred compounding
charts and other hypothetical illustrations that compare currently taxable and
tax deferred investment programs based on selected tax brackets. Our
advertisements also may compare the performance of our Variable Sub-Accounts
with: (a) certain unmanaged market indices, including but not limited to the Dow
Jones Industrial Average, the Standard & Poor's 500, and the Shearson Lehman
Bond Index; and/or (b) other management investment companies with investment
objectives similar to the underlying funds being compared. In addition, our
advertisements may include the performance ranking assigned by various
publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Money,
Barron's, Business Week, USA Today, and statistical services, including Lipper
Analytical Services Mutual Fund Survey, Lipper Annuity and Closed End Survey,
the Variable Annuity Research Data Survey, and SEI.
EXPERTS
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The financial statements and the related financial statement schedules
incorporated in this prospectus by reference from Allstate New York's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 have been audited by
Deloitte & Touche LLP, independent auditors, as stated in their report, which is
incorporated herein by reference, and have been so incorporated in reliance upon
the report of such firm given upon their authority as experts in accounting and
auditing.
<PAGE>
APPENDIX A
Accumulation Unit Value and Number of Accumulation Units
Outstanding for Each Variable Sub-Account Since Inception*
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
For the Period January 1* through December 31 1996 1997 1998
---- ---- ----
<S> <C> <C> <C>
AIM V.I. CAPITAL APPRECIATION SUB-ACCOUNT
Accumulation Unit Value, Beginning of Period $9.855 $11.387 $12.739
Accumulation Unit Value, End of Period $11.387 $12.739 $14.979
Number of Units Outstanding, End of Period 7,681 161,013 287,336
AIM V.I. DIVERSIFIED INCOME SUB-ACCOUNT
Accumulation Unit Value, Beginning of Period $10.086 $10.934 $11.789
Accumulation Unit Value, End of Period $10.934 $11.789 $12.035
Number of Units Outstanding, End of Period 4,618 58,958 146,644
AIM V.I. GLOBAL UTILITIES SUB-ACCOUNT
Accumulation Unit Value, Beginning of Period $10.252 $11.276 $13.518
Accumulation Unit Value, End of Period $11.276 $13.518 $15.521
Number of Units Outstanding, End of Period 0 8,276 25,418
AIM V.I. GOVERNMENT SECURITIES SUB-ACCOUNT
Accumulation Unit Value, Beginning of Period $10.080 $10.164 $10.834
Accumulation Unit Value, End of Period $10.164 $10.834 $11.829
Number of Units Outstanding, End of Period 0 39,009 301,983
AIM V.I. GROWTH SUB-ACCOUNT
Accumulation Unit Value, Beginning of Period $9.892 $11.466 $14.338
Accumulation Unit Value, End of Period $11.466 $14.338 $18.954
Number of Units Outstanding, End of Period 2,384 97,039 220,831
AIM V.I. GROWTH AND INCOME SUB-ACCOUNT
Accumulation Unit Value, Beginning of Period $9.926 $11.699 $14.496
Accumulation Unit Value, End of Period $11.699 $14.496 $18.243
Number of Units Outstanding, End of Period 5,371 167,625 361,890
AIM V.I. INTERNATIONAL EQUITY SUB-ACCOUNT
Accumulation Unit Value, Beginning of Period $10.168 $11.953 $12.598
Accumulation Unit Value, End of Period $11.953 $12.598 $14.340
Number of Units Outstanding, End of Period 5,404 85,934 136,898
AIM V.I. MONEY MARKET SUB-ACCOUNT
Accumulation Unit Value, Beginning of Period $10.023 $10.369 $10.745
Accumulation Unit Value, End of Period $10.369 $10.745 $11.126
Number of Units Outstanding, End of Period 4,373 42,128 87,010
AIM V.I. VALUE SUB-ACCOUNT
Accumulation Unit Value, Beginning of Period $9.800 $11.090 $13.520
Accumulation Unit Value, End of Period $11.090 $13.520 $17.644
Number of Units Outstanding, End of Period 5,921 180,440 405,246
</TABLE>
*All Variable Sub-Accounts commenced operations on October 1, 1996. The
Accumulation Unit Values in this table reflect a mortality and expense risk
charge of 1.35% and an administrative expense charge of 0.10%.
[back cover]
<PAGE>
APPENDIX B
MARKET VALUE ADJUSTMENT
The Market Value Adjustment is based on the following:
I = the Treasury Rate for a maturity equal to the applicable Guarantee
Period for the week preceding the establishment of the Guarantee
Period.
N = the number of whole and partial years from the date we receive the
withdrawal, transfer or death benefit request, or from the Payout
Start Date to the end of the Guarantee Period.
J = the Treasury Rate for a maturity of length N for the week
preceding the receipt of the withdrawal, transfer, death benefit, or
income payment request. If a note with a maturity of length N is not
available, a weighted average will be used. If N is one year or less,
J will be the 1-year Treasury Rate.
Treasury Rate means the U.S. Treasury Note Constant Maturity yield as
reported in Federal Reserve Bulletin Release H.15.
The Market Value Adjustment factor is determined from the following formula:
.9 X (I - J) X N
To determine the Market Value Adjustment, we will multiply the Market Value
Adjustment factor by the amount transferred, withdrawn (in excess of the
Preferred Withdrawal Amount), paid as a death benefit, or applied to an Income
Plan, from a Guarantee Period at any time other than during the 30 day period
after such Guarantee Period expires.
<PAGE>
EXAMPLES OF MARKET VALUE ADJUSTMENT
Purchase Payment: $10,000 allocated to a Guarantee
Period
Guarantee Period: 5 years
Guaranteed Interest Rate: 4.50%
5 Year Treasury Rate at the time the
Guarantee Period is established: 4.50%
Full Surrender: End of Contract Year 3
NOTE: These examples assume that premium taxes are not applicable.
EXAMPLE 1: (Assumes declining interest rates)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
<S> <C>
Step 1. Calculate Contract Value at End of Contract Year 3: 10,000.00 X (1.0450)3 = $11,411.66
Step 2. Calculate the Preferred Withdrawal Amount: .10 X 10,000.00 = $1,000.00
Step 3. Calculate the Market Value Adjustment: I = 4.5%
J = 4.2%
730 Days
N = 365 days = 2
Market Value Adjustment Factor: .9 X (I-J) X N
= .9 X (.045 - .042) X (730/365) = .0054
Market Value Adjustment =
Market Value Adjustment Factor
X Amount Subject to Market Value Adjustment:
= .0054 X 11,411.66-1,000.00 = $56.22
Step 4. Calculate the Withdrawal Charge: .05 X (10,000.00 - 1,000.00 + 56.22 )=452.81
Step 5. Calculate the amount received by Customers as a
result of full withdrawal at the end of Contract Year 3: 11,411.66 - 452.81 + 56.22 = $11,015.07
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
EXAMPLE 2: (Assumes rising interest rates)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
<S> <C>
Step 1. Calculate Contract Value at End of Contract Year 3: 10,000.00 X (1.045)3 = $11,411.66
Step 2. Calculate the Preferred Withdrawal Amount: .10 X (10,000.00) = $1,000.00
Step 3. Calculate the Market Value Adjustment: I = 4.5%
J = 4.8%
730 days
N = 365 days = 2
Market Value Adjustment Factor: .9 X (I-J) X N
= .9 X (.045 - .048) X (730/365) = -.0054
Market Value Adjustment = Market Value Adjustment
Factor X Amount Subject to Market Value Adjustment
-.0054 X (11,411.66 - 1,000) = - $56.22
Step 4. Calculate the Withdrawal Charge: -.05 X (10,000.00 - 56.22) = $447.19
Step 5. Calculate the amount received by customers as a
result of full withdrawal at the end of Contract Year 3: 11,411.66 - 447.19 - 56.22 = $10,908.25
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Description
Additions, Deletions or Substitutions of Investments.....................
The Contract.............................................................
Purchase of Contracts.............................................
Tax-free Exchanges (1035 Exchanges, Rollovers and Transfers)......
Performance Information..................................................
Standardizd Total Returns.........................................
Non-standardized Total Returns....................................
Adjusted Historical Total Returns.................................
Calculation of Accumulation Unit Values..................................
Net Investment Factor.............................................
Calculation of Variable Income Payments..................................
Calculation of Annuity Unit Values................................
General Matters..........................................................
Incontestability..................................................
Settlements.......................................................
Safekeeping of the Variable Account's Assets......................
Premium Taxes.....................................................
Tax Reserves......................................................
Federal Tax Matters......................................................
Taxation of Glenbrook Life Annuity Company........................
Exceptions to the Non-Natural Owner Rule..........................
IRS Required Distribution at Death Rules..........................
Qualified Plans..........................................................
Individual Retirement Annuities...................................
Roth Individual Retirement Annuities..............................
Simplified Employee Pension Plans.................................
Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees (Simple Plans)........
State and Local Government and Tax-Exempt Organization
Deferred Compensation Plans.....................................
Experts..................................................................
Financial Statements.....................................................
-----------------------------------------------
This prospectus does not constitute an offering in any jurisdiction in which
such offering may not lawfully be made. We do not authorize anyone to provide
any information or representations regarding the offering described in this
prospectus other than as contained in this prospectus.
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