Issues and Action

ACTION ALERT

Bring Gender Equity to Retirement Benefits (S.619/H.2970)

Please contact Financial Services Committee Chairman Senator Andrea Nuciforo (617-722-1625 or Andrea.Nuciforo@state.ma.us) and ask him to give S.619/H.2970 (An Act Relative to Equitable Coverage for Annuity Policies) a Favorable Report so that women get the same retirement benefits as men. This bill has had a hearing and awaits action by the Financial Services Committee.

Why We Need This Bill:

• All private annuity plans offered in Massachusetts are sex-based. Gender-neutral policies are not available.
• Annuities sold to women do not give them the same value as those sold to men. A woman either pays a bigger premium than a man to get an equivalent monthly annuity payment or she pays the same premium as a man but gets a smaller monthly annuity.
• The insurance industry argues that women live longer than men. However, 84% of men and women have matched ages at death with 8% of men dying earlier and 8% of women dying later. Only some women live longer than men. All women, however, are penalized with a reduced standard of living.

If you have an annuity policy, it would be particularly effective to tell Senator Nuciforo exactly how much this discriminatory policy hurts you. You can find out exactly how much less your payout would be vs. a man of the same age by looking at the annuity option table in your life insurance policy or the pay-off table in your annuity contract. If you cannot find either of these, your life insurance or annuity broker should be able to provide you with the payout comparison for you vs. a man of the same age.

Thank you in advance for your action on this very important issue. You can make a difference for yourself and other women's retirement income by asking Senator Nuciforo to give S.619/H.2970 a Favorable Report.

For more detailed information, see the full position paper at www.lwvma.org/PositionPapers/annuities.shtml or contact Equal Rights Specialist Betsy Dunn at 617-523-2999.