About Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company
Formerly Guggenheim Life and Annuity Company, Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company, or CSLAC, was founded in 1985 as Kansas City Variable Life Company. The Indianapolis-based corporation changed its owners and names multiple times throughout its history. The most recent name change occurred in August 2022.
It was then that Group 1001 Insurance Holdings, of which CSLAC is a subsidiary, renamed the company and also rebranded its marketing arm from GL Marketing, LLC to Clear Spring Life Marketing, LLC. Group 1001 controls $58 billion spread across several financial assets. Group 1001 says it is “on a mission for setting a new standard in the insurance industry by making insurance more useful and intuitive for everyone.”
Clear Spring Life offers several annuity products, including fixed index and multi-year guaranteed annuities.
Credit Ratings
Credit ratings evaluate the dependability of an annuity provider or insurer. A high financial strength rating typically means that the company can maintain its assets and financial obligations. It often signals to investors that a firm has a healthy balance sheet
Clear Spring Life and Annuity enjoys a solid standing with rater AM Best, which elevated the corporation’s financial strength rating to an A- (Excellent). The company also received a credit score of “A-” (Excellent).
AM Best attributes the latest rating upgrade to CSLAC’s acquisition by Group 1001 Insurance Holdings in November 2021. Before CSLAC was acquired, AM Best put its assessment for CSLAC under review.
Clear Spring Life Ratings
| Rater | Credit Rating | Financial Strength Rating |
|---|---|---|
| AM Best | a- (Excellent) | A- (Excellent) |
Annuity Products Offered by Clear Spring Life
An annuity is an agreement with an insurance company wherein you invest premiums for a guarantee of steady income for a specific period or the rest of your life. Investing in an annuity can provide peace of mind in case you’re worried about outliving your regular income or retirement savings. Most annuity products from Clear Spring Life allow you to earn tax-deferred interest at a stable rate, which can fast-track the growth of cash value. Clear Spring Life specializes in fixed index and multi-year guaranteed annuities.
Fixed Index Annuities
Fixed index annuities let investors earn interest on an amount of money at a uniform rate over time. These annuities are linked to an external market index. The accumulated earnings don’t attract taxes until their owners withdraw them and the principal investment is protected. Clear Life offers several fixed index annuities.
Highlander Fixed Index Annuity
With the Highlander fixed index annuity, tax-deferral, fixed interest and surrender/withdrawal terms apply once you make your lump sum deposit into the account.
Key features include:
- A death benefit for legacy planning
- A $5,000 minimum in qualified premiums
- A $10,000 minimum in non-qualified premiums
- A lifetime withdrawal rider for lifelong earnings
- Riders for long-term care and critical illness care
Highlander 7 Fixed Index Annuity
The Highlander 7 is a fixed index annuity that’s funded with a single premium to build cash value tax-free. Clear Spring Life designed this product to appeal to the diverse financial needs of consumers at different stages in life, ranging from college graduation to retirement. The product protects your initial cash investment while creating a potential to grow your money in tandem with market growth.
Key features include:
- Simplified allocation
- Critical illness rider
- Nursing home care rider
- Death benefit
- Penalty-free withdrawals of up to 10% annually, beginning the second year of contract
ViStar Fixed Index Annuity
With the Clear Spring ViStar annuity, you deposit a single sum of money into your account to accumulate tax-deferred interest over time, unless you make a cash withdrawal before you’re 59 years old. You may deposit additional premiums into the annuity within the first year of the contract, after which owners must reinvest into an indexed account. By linking your funds to a market index like the S&P 500, the ViStar annuity provides stable cash value growth without risking the premiums you put into it.
Key features include:
- Available to people younger than 80
- Death benefit
- Has minimum qualified premiums of $5,000
- From the second contract year, withdrawal up to 10% of account value without a penalty is possible
- Optional long-term care and critical illness riders that let you withdraw up to 100% of account value penalty-free at an additional charge
- Lifelong source of income with an optional rider
Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuities
Clear Spring Life multi-year guaranteed annuities (MYGA) have multiple terms, or periods of time, during which you can earn interest at a fixed rate (and tax-free) on a single premium payment. You’ll start receiving annuity payments after your chosen term (known as the surrender charge period). Clear Spring Life offers multiple MYGAs.
Preserve Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity
The Preserve multi-year guaranteed annuity offers up to eight guaranteed interest periods from three to 10 years. Your funds increase at a fixed rate over the guaranteed period, which you can extend 30 days before the expiration date if you want to accumulate more money before receiving the first return payment on your investment. This annuity allows you to schedule regular payouts for a specific period or your entire lifetime.
Key features include:
- A tax-deferred interest accumulation
- The ability to withdraw up to 10% of accumulated funds annually without a surrender charge after the first year of investment
- Death benefit
- An optional critical illness and nursing home care endorsements
ProOption Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity
Like the Preserve annuity, the ProOption multi-year guaranteed annuity offers multiple term options to grow cash accounts at a fixed rate while deferring any taxes. You can also personalize the payout phase to receive earnings monthly or annually.
One feature of this annuity is that you can surrender it to recover your original principal.
Key features include:
- Conversion to a lifetime income stream
- Surrender charges may apply for any withdrawals above 10% of the account value
- Death benefit
- Optional terminal illness and nursing home riders
Provider Single Premium Immediate Annuity (SPIA)
The Clear Spring Life Provider Single Premium Immediate Annuity (SPIA) lets you invest a single large premium to generate an immediate income stream, usually 30 days after activating the contract. You can leverage the SPIA to get supplemental income in your retirement years in one of several ways:
- Lifetime income: If you’re 70 years old or younger, you can choose this option to receive regular payments until you pass away.
- Income for a specific duration: This SPIA option guarantees regular payouts for five to 20 years.
- Hybrid: With this plan, you receive payments after a pre-specified date if you outlive it. Your named beneficiary will receive the rest of the payments if you die before reaching the date.
Lock In Fixed Annuity Rates as High as 6.4%
Client Resources
Clear Spring Life and Annuity provides many digital resources to help investors with annuity account management. The company has more than a dozen e-forms that investors can fill out online for purposes such as annuity withdrawal, changing a beneficiary and online premium deposits. Investors and agents receive an online account with the company.
Customers can also contact Clear Spring Life by phone or email.
Customer service number: (800) 990-7626
Customer service email: [email protected]
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