Symetra Life Insurance Company

Symetra Life Insurance Company was founded in 1957 as Symetra Financial Corporation. The company currently has its headquarters in Bellevue, Washington.

In 2016, Symetra was acquired by Sumitomo Life Insurance Company, the largest life insurance company in Japan. Following the acquisition, Symetra Financial Corporation’s name was changed to Symetra Life Insurance Company.

The company’s offerings include annuities and life insurance for consumers as well as benefits products for businesses like stop loss, group life and disability insurance. Together with their parent company Sumitomo Life, Symetra controls over $350 billion in assets.

Symetra is guided by the principles of value, transparency and sustainability. The annuity provider supports nonprofit organizations aimed at addressing homelessness and helping women and at-risk youth.

An annuity provider receives credit ratings based on their overall financial stability. These ratings are issued by independent agencies that estimate how likely an annuity company is to be able to meet their ongoing obligations to customers. The higher the rating, the more confident you can feel that the annuity company will be able to honor their contract with you.

Symetra Life Insurance Company has received strong credit ratings from three of the “big four” credit rating agencies: AM Best, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.

Symetra Life Insurance Company offers four types of annuities for consumers. The annuity provider sells fixed indexed, fixed deferred, index-linked and income annuities.

Symetra’s fixed indexed annuities strike a balance between the risk and reward of other annuity types like fixed deferred or variable annuities. With a fixed indexed annuity, your premium earns interest based on a fixed rate or a rate tied to the performance of an equity market index.

When you purchase a fixed indexed annuity from Symetra, you’ll be able to choose how you want your annuity to earn interest. You can choose to accrue interest with a fixed rate, an indexed rate, or both.

Symetra provides two fixed indexed annuity products: Symetra Edge Plus® and Symetra Income Edge. The Edge Plus® annuity comes in five-year or seven-year terms, while the Income Edge annuity includes a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB).

Fixed deferred annuities are considered to be one of the safest types of annuities. These products earn a fixed rate of interest throughout the term of the contract, so you can predict exactly how much your annuity will grow over time.

Symetra’s fixed deferred annuities come with a unique level of flexibility. The provider allows fixed annuity holders to withdraw up to 10% of their annuity’s value each year of the annuity’s term without penalty. Any withdrawals over 10% during the term may result in surrender charges.

Another type of annuity Symetra provides is index-linked annuities, also known as registered index-linked annuities or RILAs. These are a relatively new type of annuity that combines characteristics of fixed indexed and variable annuities.

The index-linked annuities’ growth potential is based on the performance of an index. Like most annuity providers, Symetra places a cap on how much value the annuity can earn but offers options to protect against market losses. An index-linked annuity is best suited for someone who wants greater growth potential and is willing to accept potential losses if the market takes a downturn.

Symetra’s Trek® Plus is an index-linked annuity with three interest term lengths to choose from. Annuity holders can also choose up to five market indexes to grow their annuity’s value.

The fourth type of annuity Symetra offers is an income annuity. Unlike the other products Symetra offers, an income annuity does not have an interest term during which the premium grows in value.

Symetra’s income annuities convert a lump sum premium into a steady stream of income payments. When purchasing an income annuity, you can choose to receive payments for a certain number of years or over your lifetime.

The amount of money you’ll receive from an income annuity depends on several factors. Symetra considers details like your gender and age, your premium amount, and how long you want your income payments to last.

Income annuity holders can also choose a beneficiary for their annuity. Under this type of contract, the loved one the annuity holder chooses will receive income payments after the annuity holder passes away.

Symetra offers a wealth of personal finance resources for consumers. The provider’s website features a “Learn” section where people can read about retirement and insurance topics. The “Learn” section also contains a glossary of annuity and life insurance terms and several interactive calculators.

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