Upon the effective date of this Registration Statement.

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):

 

 

 

 

If appropriate, check the following box:

 

The Registrant has registered an indefinite number of its securities under the Securities Act of 1933 pursuant to Rule 24f-2 under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The notice required for such rule for the Registrant’s most recent fiscal year was filed on March 16, 2023.

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The contract is issued by The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc. (GIAC, we, us, our) through its Separate Account R (the Separate Account). The contract is an annuity contract and is a long-term investment vehicle designed for retirement purposes. The contract will also pay a death benefit if the Owner or, if applicable, the Death Benefit Covered Person, dies before Annuity Payments begin.

 

 

Any guarantees under the contract or death benefit riders that exceed the value of your interest in the Separate Account are paid from our general account (not the Separate Account). Therefore, any amounts that we may pay under the contract in excess of your interest in the Separate Account are subject to our financial strength and claims-paying ability and our long-term ability to make such payments.

 

The minimum initial premium payment is $10,000 ($5,000 if your contract is issued in connection with an individual retirement account, certain pension plans, and other qualified arrangements). Your premiums may be invested in up to 25 of the available Variable Investment Options. Additional information about certain investment products, including variable annuities, has been prepared by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s staff and is available at Investor.gov.

The period between the issue date of the contract and the Annuity Commencement Date.

 

A unit of measure used to determine the value of a contract owner’s interest in each variable investment option under the contract before Annuity Payments begin.

 

The sum of the values attributable to the variable investment options.

 

The person on whose life the Annuity Payments are based and on whose death, prior to the Annuity Commencement Date, benefits under the Contract are paid.

 

The date on which annuity payments under the Basic Contract begin.

 

Periodic payments made by GIAC to the contract owner at monthly or other periodic intervals after the Annuity Commencement Date.

 

The contract, excluding any optional benefit riders or endorsements.

 

The person(s) designated to receive any benefits under a contract upon the death of an owner or on the death of the Annuitant if there is a owner.

Each Net Premium that is subject to a surrender charge, less the amount of any withdrawal attributable to that premium on which we assessed a surrender charge. Premiums within the Contract still subject to surrender charges.

 

The annual anniversary measured from the issue date of the contract.

 

A contingent annuitant is the person you name at issue to become the annuitant if the annuitant dies before the annuity commencement date. The owner’s right to name a contingent annuitant may be restricted under the provisions of a retirement or deferred compensation plan for which the contract is issued. A contingent annuitant may be named only if permitted by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the contract is issued, and is not permitted if there is a Owner.

 

The person(s) designated to receive any benefits under a contract upon an owner’s death should there be no surviving Owner and all primary Beneficiaries predecease such Owner.

 

For telephonic communications: Customer Service Office Contact Center 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time

The person shown on the Contract data pages on whom a death benefit is payable under the contract in the event of that person’s death prior to the Annuity Commencement Date. This person cannot be changed except in accordance with the spousal continuation provision.

 

A certified death certificate, all necessary claim paperwork and such other information as we may require to process the death benefit for at least one Beneficiary.

 

The management investment companies, each corresponding to a variable investment option. The Funds are listed on the front cover of this prospectus.

 

Notice from any party authorized to initiate a transaction under this contract, received in a format satisfactory to GIAC at its Mailing Address, that contains all information required by GIAC to process that transaction. In addition, transaction requests must be received on a valuation date no later than the close of the New York Stock Exchange, generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, in order to receive that day’s accumulation unit values.

 

The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc.

Individual Markets, Annuities

P. O. Box 981592

El Paso, TX 79998-1592

The same date of each calendar month as the issue date of the basic contract, or the last day of a calendar month, if earlier.

 

A premium paid by the owner to us in accordance with the provisions of the contract, less premium taxes that we may deduct from a premium, if any.

 

You (or your); the person(s) or entity designated as the owner in the Contract.

 

A date on which Accumulation Unit Values are determined. Accumulation unit values are determined on each date on which the New York Stock Exchange or its successor is open for trading.

 

The period between two successive Valuation Dates.

 

The investment divisions of Separate Account R that are available for allocations of net premiums and Accumulation Values.

 

 

 

 

The contract is a variable annuity contract. It allows you to accumulate savings in our Variable Investment Options . The contract is intended for retirement savings or other long-term investment purposes. The contract has various optional features and benefits that may be appropriate for you based on your financial situation and objectives. The contract also offers certain death benefit features, which can be used to transfer assets to your beneficiaries. The contract is not intended for people who may need to make early or frequent withdrawals, and may not be appropriate for you if you do not have a long-term investment horizon.

 

The contract has two phases, the Accumulation Period and the annuity period. During the Accumulation Period, earnings accumulate on a basis and are taxed as income when you make a withdrawal. This contract allows you to allocate your Net Premium payments and Accumulation Value to Variable Investment Options, each of which has its own investment strategies and risks; investment adviser(s); expense ratio; and performance history.

 

On an agreed date, you will start receiving regular payments based on the Accumulation Value of your contract. This is the annuity period. The amount of the Annuity Payments will depend on earnings during the Accumulation Period, and afterward if you select a variable annuity option. Once your contract is annuitized your withdrawal rights, death benefits and living benefits under the Accumulation Period terminate.

 

Below is a brief summary of the contract’s primary features and options.

 

Before the annuity period, you can withdraw money from your contract at any time. If you take a withdrawal, you may have to pay a surrender charge and/or income taxes, including a tax penalty if you are younger than age 59 ⁄.

 

You can transfer money among investment options without tax implications, and earnings (if any) on your investments are generally You are only subject to tax upon: (1) making a withdrawal; (2) receiving a payment from us; or (3) payment of a death benefit.

 

If the Owner or, in California the Death Benefit Covered Person, should die before Annuity Payments begin, we will pay the Accumulation Value first to any surviving Owner and then to surviving Beneficiaries (in the order you have designated). You also have the option of purchasing an enhanced death benefit rider that may provide a greater death benefit.

 

Deferred Income Annuity Rider. Permits you to transfer Accumulation Value during the Accumulation Phase to fund a stream of income payments that will start at a future date.

 

 

This program allows you to systematically transfer a set amount from the fixed dollar cost averaging account over a three month period to the Variable Investment Options.

 

This programs allows you to request an from us notifying you that: (1) your Accumulation Value in a selected Variable Investment Option either changes by a specified percentage or reaches a specified dollar amount, or (2) your contract Accumulation Value reaches a certain amount or changes by a certain percentage.

 

This program directs us to automatically transfer amounts among your Variable Investment Options to return them to the designated percentages when any percentage exceeds or is less than your chosen percentages by at least 5%.

 

This program allows you to receive regular automatic withdrawals from your Contract either monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis.

 

 

 

 

 

GIAC’s executive office is located at 10 Hudson Yards, New York 10001. The mailing address for GIAC Individual Markets, Annuities, is P.O. Box 981592, EL Paso, TX 79998-1592.

 

 

 

 

If you would like to buy a contract, you must complete, sign, and forward the application form to us at the address set forth below. Alternatively, if permitted in your state, you may also initiate the purchase by using such other form or in such other manner as we find acceptable. You or your agent then must send any applicable paperwork, along with your initial premium payment, by regular U.S. mail to the following address:

 

The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc.

Individual Markets, Annuities

P. O. Box 981592

El Paso, TX 79998-1592

 

If you wish to send your application or other paperwork and payment by certified, registered or express mail, please address it to:

 

The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc.

Individual Markets, Annuities

5951 Luckett Ct, Bldg A

El Paso, TX 79932

 

Our decision to accept or reject your proposed purchase is based on administrative rules such as whether you have completed the form completely and accurately or otherwise supplied us with sufficient information for us to accept the proposed purchase. We have the right to reject any application, proposed purchase or initial premium payment for any reason. If an application is signed on or after May 1, 2017, we will not issue a contract if the Owner or the Annuitant is over 85 years of age, unless we provide prior approval.

 

If we accept your purchase as received, we will credit your Net Premium payment to your new contract within two business days. If your purchase is not complete within five business days of our receiving your application or other applicable paperwork, we will return it to you along with your payment.

 

Although we do not anticipate delays in our receipt and processing of applications, premium payments or transaction requests, we may experience such delays to the extent that the selling broker or authorized registered representative (i) fails to forward the applications, premium payments and transaction requests to our Mailing Address on a timely basis, or (ii) experiences delays in determining whether the contract is suitable for you. Any such delays will affect when your contract can be issued and your purchase payment applied.

 

If you are considering purchasing a contract with the proceeds of another annuity or life insurance contract, it may not be advantageous to replace the existing contract by purchasing this contract. A variable annuity is not a short-term investment.

 

 

We require a minimum initial premium payment of $5,000 for qualified contracts and $10,000 for contracts. Thereafter, the minimum additional payment is $100. However, if you purchase a contract through an employer payroll deduction plan, we may accept purchase payments below $100. We will not accept premium payments greater than $1,000,000 in the first contract year without prior permission from an authorized officer of GIAC. Without our consent, total flexible premium payments made in any contract year after the first may not exceed the lesser of $100,000 or the aggregate amount of premiums paid in the first contract year without prior approval. GIAC will not accept total premium payments of greater than $3,000,000 over the life of the contract. Minimum and maximum premium payments may be different if you select certain optional riders with your contract. Please refer to those rider sections in this prospectus for further information. Not withstanding the above maximum premiums, we reserve the right to refuse any premium which would cause the aggregate premiums for all in force individual deferred variable contracts issued by GIAC owned individually or jointly by an Owner of the contract who is a natural person to exceed $6,000,000.

 

 

 

After we receive your initial premium payment and issue a contract to you, we will credit subsequent Net Premiums to your contract on the same day we receive them, provided we receive them in Good Order at our Mailing Address before the close of a regular trading session of the New York Stock Exchange, generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (i.e., on a Valuation Date).

 

If the New York Stock Exchange closes before its regular closing time, we will credit a premium payment received after that close on the next Valuation Date. If required in your state or municipality, premium taxes are deducted from your payment before we credit it to your contract. This provision may vary depending on the state in which your contract is issued. You should refer to your contract for further details. We call the amount remaining after this deduction the Net Premium payment.

 

If you cancel a premium payment or your premium payment is returned for insufficient funds, we reserve the right to reverse the transaction. You may also be responsible for any losses or fees imposed by your bank and losses that may be incurred as a result of any decline in the value of the investment options you had chosen.

 

We use Net Premiums to purchase Accumulation Units in the Variable Investment Options you have chosen, according to your instructions in the application or as later changed. The prices of Accumulation Units are set daily because they change along with the share values of the underlying Funds and also include the daily portion of Separate Account Level Expenses applicable to your contract and any riders chosen. See the Separate Account Level Annual Expenses table under the section. The amount you pay for each unit will be the price calculated on the Valuation Date that we receive and accept your payment. The value of Accumulation Units will vary as the value of investments rises and falls in the Variable Investment Options.

 

You can change your investment option selections or your percentage allocations by notifying us in writing. We will apply your new instructions to subsequent Net Premium payments after we receive and accept them at our Mailing Address. Please remember that you cannot invest in more than 25 Variable Investment Options at any given time.

 

 

You may elect to participate in our automated payment program by authorizing your bank to deduct money from your checking account or savings account to make monthly purchase payments. We will debit your account on the 15th of each month or the next business day if the 15th is not a business day (or another day of the month that we choose after we notify you). You tell us the amount of the monthly purchase payment and specify the effective date on our authorization form. You may request to participate, change the amount of your purchase payments, change bank accounts or terminate the program at any time prior to the first of the month for your requested transaction to be processed for that month. For

 

IRAs, the maximum monthly purchase payment is 1/12th of your allowable annual contribution. We may modify or terminate the automated payment program at any time, at our sole discretion.

 

 

 

The Separate Account was established by GIAC on March 12, 2003. It is registered with the SEC as a unit investment trust under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940 Act) and meets the definition of a separate account under federal securities laws. Registration under the 1940 Act does not involve any supervision by the SEC of the investment management or programs of the Separate Account or GIAC. However, both GIAC and the Separate Account are subject to regulation under Delaware law. GIAC is also subject to the insurance laws and regulations of all states and jurisdictions where it is authorized to do business. We own all of the assets of the Separate Account. State insurance law provides that the assets of the Separate Account equal to its reserves and other liabilities are not chargeable with GIAC’s obligations except those under annuity contracts issued through the Separate Account. Income, gains and losses of the Separate Account are kept separate from other income, gains or losses of GIAC and other separate accounts. GIAC may also retain in the Separate Account assets that exceed the reserves and other liabilities of the Separate Account. Such assets can include GIAC’s direct contributions to the Separate Account or the investment results attributable to GIAC’s retained assets. Because such retained assets do not support contract values, GIAC may transfer them from the Separate Account to the general account. We are obligated to pay all amounts promised under the contract.

 

Each investment division is administered and accounted for as part of the general business of GIAC. Under Delaware law, the income and capital gains or capital losses of each investment division, whether realized or unrealized, are credited to or charged against the assets held in that division according to the terms of the contract, without regard to other income, capital gains or capital losses of the other investment divisions or of GIAC. Contract guarantees, such as Annuity Payments and death benefits, are guaranteed solely by the financial strength and claims-paying ability of GIAC. According to Delaware insurance law, the assets of the Separate Account are not chargeable with liabilities arising out of any other business GIAC may conduct. Please see Federal tax matters.

 

We have the right to make changes to the Separate Account, to the investment divisions within it, and to the Fund shares they hold. We may make these changes for some or all contracts. These changes must be made in a manner that is consistent with laws and regulations, and when required by law, we will obtain your approval and/or, the approval of any appropriate

 

state or federal regulatory authority. We will use this right to serve your best interests and to carry out the purposes of the contract. Possible changes to the Separate Account and the investment divisions include:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition, a Fund in which an investment division invests may terminate its agreement with us and discontinue offering its shares to that investment division.

 

 

You may choose to invest in a maximum of 25 of the available Variable Investment Options at any time. Each Fund is an management investment company, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the 1940 Act.

 

Some of these Funds are available under other separate accounts supporting variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies of GIAC and other companies. We do not anticipate any inherent conflicts with these arrangements. However, it is possible that conflicts of interest may arise in connection with the use of the same Funds under both variable life insurance policies and variable annuity contracts, or under variable contracts that are issued by different companies. While the Board of Directors of each Fund monitors activities in an effort to avoid or correct any material irreconcilable conflicts of interest arising out of this arrangement, we may also take actions to protect the interests of our Contract Owners. See the accompanying Fund prospectuses for more information about possible conflicts of interest.

 

 

Currently all investment advisors (or their affiliates), pay us compensation every year for administration or other expenses. This compensation ranges from 0.10% to 0.40% of the average daily net assets that are invested in the Variable Investment Options available through the Separate Account. We also receive fees from all Funds, except portfolios from the Rydex Variable Trust and The Merger Fund VL. Currently, the amount of fees ranges from 0.05% to 0.40%. These payments may be derived, in whole or in part, from the advisory fee or fee deducted from Fund assets. Contract Owners, through their indirect investment in the Funds, bear the costs of these administration and fees. The amount of these payments may be substantial. We may use these payments for any corporate purpose, including payment of expenses that we and/or our affiliates incur in promoting, marketing, and administering the contracts, and that we incur, in our role as an intermediary, in promoting, marketing and administering the Funds. We may profit from these payments.

 

For information about the compensation we pay for sales of the contracts, see .

 

 

The Funds offered through this product were selected by GIAC based on various factors, including but not limited to asset class coverage, the strength of the advisor’s or reputation and tenure, brand recognition, investment performance, and the capability and qualification of each investment firm. Another factor that we may consider is whether the Fund or its advisor or other service providers provide any revenue to us and the amount of any such revenue (discussed above). In addition, we may include certain Funds, such as the Guardian Variable Products Trust, because they are managed or advised by one of our affiliates. We may also consider whether and to what extent the Fund’s advisor or an affiliate distribute or provide marketing support for the contracts. We review the Funds periodically and may remove a Fund or limit its availability to new premium payments and/or incoming transfers of Accumulation Value if we determine that the Fund no longer meets one or more of the selection criteria, and/or the Fund has not attracted significant allocations from Contract Owners.

 

You are responsible for choosing your investment options and the amounts allocated to each that are appropriate for your own individual circumstances and your investment goals, financial situation, and risk tolerance. Because investment risk is borne by you, decisions regarding investment allocations should be carefully considered. Other sources such as a Fund’s website or newspapers and financial and other magazines may provide more current information, including information about any regulatory actions or investigations relating to the Funds. After you select investment options for your initial premium payment, you should monitor and periodically your allocations to determine if they are still appropriate.

 

 

We do not recommend or endorse any particular Fund and we do not provide investment advice.

 

 

We do not guarantee that each Fund will always be available for investment through the contract. We reserve the right, subject to compliance with applicable law, to add new Funds or Fund classes, close existing Funds or Fund classes, or substitute Fund shares that are held by any investment division of the Separate Account for shares of a different mutual fund. New or substitute mutual funds may have different fees and expenses and their availability may be limited to certain classes of purchasers. We will not add, delete or substitute any shares attributable to your interest in a division of the Separate Account without notice to you and prior approval of the SEC, to the extent required by the 1940 Act or other applicable law. We may also decide to purchase for the Separate Account securities from other mutual funds. We reserve the right to transfer Separate Account assets to another separate account that we determine to be associated with the class of contracts to which this contract belongs.

 

 

If you are considering a transfer or change in your allocations, be sure to look into each option carefully and make sure your decisions will help you to achieve your long-term investment goals. Transfers are subject to certain conditions, which are described below.

 

During the Accumulation Period and up to 30 days before the date Annuity Payments are scheduled to begin, you can transfer all or part of your Accumulation Value among the Variable Investment Options. These transfers are subject to the following rules:

 

 

 

 

Each transfer involving the Variable Investment Options will be based on the Accumulation Unit value that is next calculated after we have received transfer instructions from you, in Good Order, at our Mailing Address or Customer Service Office Contact Center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You should be aware that we have entered into a written agreement with each Fund or its principal underwriter that obligates us to provide the Fund, promptly upon request, certain information about the trading activity of individual Contract Owners, and to execute instructions from the Fund to restrict or prohibit further premium payments or transfers by specific Contract Owners who have been identified by the Fund as having engaged in transactions that violate the disruptive trading policies established for that Fund.

 

 

 

Frequent or unusually large transfers may dilute the value of the underlying Fund shares if the trading takes advantage of any lag between a change in

the value of an underlying Fund’s portfolio securities and the reflection of that change in the underlying Fund’s share price. This strategy, sometimes referred to as “market timing,” involves an attempt to buy shares of an underlying Fund at a price that does not reflect the current market value of the portfolio securities of the underlying Fund, and then to realize a profit when the shares are sold the next business day or thereafter. In addition, frequent transfers may increase brokerage and administrative costs of the underlying Fund, and may disrupt an underlying Fund’s portfolio management strategy, requiring it to maintain a relatively higher cash position and possibly resulting in lost opportunity costs and forced liquidations of securities held by the Fund.

GIAC endeavors to protect long-term Contract Owners by maintaining policies and procedures to discourage frequent transfers among investment options under the contracts, and has no arrangements in place to permit any Contract Owner to engage in frequent transfer activity. This contract is not designed for use by individuals or other entities that engage in “market timing” or other types of frequent trading, unusually large transfers, short-term trading, or programmed transfers. If you wish to engage in such strategies, do not purchase this contract.

 

. If we determine that you are engaging in frequent transfer activity among investment options, we may, without prior notice, limit, modify, restrict, suspend or eliminate your right to make transfers or allocation changes. We monitor for frequent transfer activity among the Variable Investment Options based upon established parameters that are applied consistently to all Contract Owners. Such parameters may include, without limitation, the length of the holding period between transfers, the number of transfers in a specified period, the dollar amount of transfers, and/or any combination of the foregoing. We do not apply our policies and procedures to discourage frequent transfers to dollar cost averaging programs or any asset rebalancing programs.

 

If transfer activity violates our established parameters, we will apply restrictions that we reasonably believe will prevent any harm to other Contract Owners and persons with material rights under a contract. This may include applying the restrictions to any contracts that we believe are related (e.g., two contracts with the same Owner or owned by spouses or by different partnerships or corporations that are under common control). We also may restrict the transfer privileges of others acting on your behalf, including your registered representative or an asset allocation or

 

investment advisory service. If you engage a third party investment advisor for asset allocation services, then you may be subject to transfer restrictions because of the actions of your investment advisor in providing those services. The restriction that we currently apply is to limit the number of transfers to not more than once every 30 days. We may change this restriction at any time and without prior notice. We will not grant waivers or make exceptions to, or enter into special arrangements with, any Contract Owners who violate these parameters. If we impose any restrictions on your transfer activity, we will notify you in writing. Restrictions that we may impose, subject to certain contract provisions that are required and approved by state insurance departments, include, without limitation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We currently do not impose redemption fees on transfers. Redemption fees and other procedures may be more or less successful than ours in deterring or preventing harmful transfer activity. In the future, some underlying Funds may begin imposing redemption fees on short-term trading (i.e., redemptions of mutual fund shares within a certain number of business days after purchase). We reserve the right to administer and collect any such redemption fees on behalf of the Funds.

 

Please note that the limits and restrictions described here are subject to GIAC’s ability to monitor transfer activity. Our ability to detect harmful transfer activity may be limited by operational and technological systems, as well as by our ability to predict strategies employed by Contract Owners (or those acting on their behalf) to avoid detection. As a result, despite our efforts to prevent frequent transfers, there is no assurance that we will be able to detect and/or to deter frequent transfers.

 

We may revise our policies and procedures in our sole discretion, at any time and without prior notice, as we deem necessary or appropriate to better detect and deter harmful trading activity, or to comply with state or federal regulatory requirements, or to impose additional or alternative restrictions on Contract Owners engaging in frequent transfers. In addition, our orders to purchase shares of the Funds are generally subject to acceptance by the Fund, and in some cases a Fund may reject or reverse our purchase order. Therefore, we reserve the right to reject any Contract Owners’ transfer request if our order to purchase shares of the Fund is not accepted by, or is reversed by, an applicable Fund.

 

. The underlying Funds may have adopted their own policies and procedures with respect to frequent purchases and redemptions of their respective shares. The prospectuses for the underlying Funds should describe any such policies and procedures. The frequent trading policies and procedures of an underlying Fund may be different, and more or less restrictive, than the frequent trading policies and procedures of other underlying Funds and the policies and procedures we have adopted to discourage frequent transfers. For instance, an underlying Fund may impose a redemption fee. Contract Owners should be aware that we may not have the contractual obligation or the operational capacity to monitor Contract Owners’ transfer requests and apply the frequent trading policies and procedures of the respective underlying Funds that would be affected by the transfers. For example, underlying Funds may implement policies and procedures for monitoring frequent trading activity that are unique to a particular Fund. Because of the number of underlying Funds that we offer under our variable annuity contracts, it may not be possible for us to implement these disparate policies and procedures. Accordingly, you should assume that the sole protection you may have against potential harm from frequent transfers is the protection, if any, provided by the policies and procedures we have adopted at the contract level to discourage frequent transfers.

 

. You should note that other insurance companies and retirement plans also invest in the underlying Funds and that those companies or plans may or may not have their own policies and procedures on frequent transfers. You should also know that the purchase and redemption orders received by the underlying Funds generally are “omnibus” orders from intermediaries such as retirement plans or separate accounts funding variable insurance contracts. The omnibus orders reflect the aggregation and netting of multiple orders from individual retirement plan participants and/or individual Owners of variable insurance and/or annuity contracts. The omnibus nature of these orders may limit the underlying Funds’ ability to apply their respective frequent trading policies and procedures. We cannot guarantee that the underlying Funds will not be harmed by transfer activity relating to the retirement plans and/or other insurance companies that invest in the underlying Funds. If the policies and procedures of other insurance companies or retirement plans fail to successfully discourage frequent transfer activity, it may affect the value of your investment in the Fund. In addition, if an underlying Fund believes that an omnibus order we submit may reflect one or more transfer requests from Contract Owners engaged in frequent transfer activity, the underlying Fund may reject the entire omnibus order and thereby interfere with GIAC’s ability to satisfy your request even if you have not made frequent transfers. For transfers into more than one investment option, we may reject or reverse the entire transfer request if any part of it is not accepted by or is reversed by an underlying Fund.

 

 

During the Accumulation Period and while all Contract Owners are living, you can redeem your contract in whole. This is known as surrendering the contract. You may also redeem part of your contract during the Accumulation Period. This is known as a withdrawal. We will not accept requests for surrenders or withdrawals after the date Annuity Payments begin.

 

DIA transfers under the Deferred Income Annuity Payout Option (DIA) rider will be treated as withdrawals under the Basic Contract except that the DIA transfers will reduce Chargeable Premium by the amount of the DIA transfer that was part of the Free Withdrawal Amount. A cancellation of a DIA transfer will cause the Chargeable Premium to increase by the amount that the Chargeable Premium was reduced by that DIA transfer. DIA transfers are not subject to surrender charges and neither federal or state income taxes are withheld; however, DIA transfers are subject to applicable premium taxes. DIA transfers will also impact the Chargeable Premium, the calculation of surrender charges, and allocation of cost basis between the Accumulation Value of the Basic Contract and the future stream of income payments under the applicable DIA payout option. Please see “”

 

The following example demonstrates the effect of a hypothetical DIA transfer on the Chargeable Premium, surrender charges, and the allocation of cost basis.

 

Assumptions:

 

 

 

 

 

Your request for surrenders and withdrawals must be received in Good Order at our Mailing Address. If you wish to surrender your contract, you must send us the contract or we will not process the request. If you have lost the contract, we will require an acceptable affidavit of loss.

 

To process a withdrawal, we will redeem enough Accumulation Units to equal the dollar value of your request. When you surrender your contract, we redeem all the units. For both transactions we use the unit value next calculated after we receive a proper request from you at our Mailing Address. We will deduct any applicable contract charges, surrender charges and premium taxes from the proceeds of a surrender. We will deduct any applicable contract charges and

 

premium taxes from the surrender amount requested or in the case of a withdrawal where you wish to receive the entire surrender amount, we will redeem additional units to cover any applicable charges based on your instruction. See . See To effect your request, we will redeem Accumulation Units attributable to the variable investment option choices; this will be done on a basis unless you instruct us differently.

 

A withdrawal will only be permitted if immediately after the withdrawal the contract surrender value is greater than zero. If the Accumulation Value is less than $2000 after the withdrawal then GIAC reserves the right to terminate the contract, subject to any applicable surrender charge for a surrender.

 

Surrenders and withdrawals are subject to tax, and may be subject to penalty taxes and mandatory federal income tax withholding. Withdrawals reduce your Accumulation Value and your death benefit, and may result in a decrease in death benefit greater than the amount of the withdrawal. Your ability to withdraw or surrender may be limited by the terms of a qualified plan.

 

. Each contract year, you are allowed to make an annual withdrawal from the contract, without paying a surrender charge, of an amount equal to 10% of total premiums the aggregate amount of all prior Free Withdrawal Amounts made during the current contract year. The Free Withdrawal Amount is not cumulative – any Free Withdrawal Amount not taken during a given contract year cannot be taken as free amounts in a subsequent contract year. The Free Withdrawal Amount is not applicable in the case of a surrender of the contract.

 

. For the purpose of calculating the surrender charge and to minimize the applicable surrender charge, we assume that any amount withdrawn during a contract year will be withdrawn in the following order:

 

 

 

 

 

. If you surrender the contract, the surrender charge is the sum of each surrender charge percentage applicable to each Chargeable Premium multiplied by that Chargeable Premium.

 

 

 

 

. You may request a schedule of systematic withdrawals. Under such a program, you may elect to receive withdrawal proceeds on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis. Redemptions from the contract will be effective the date selected. If the effective date falls on a non-business day, the withdrawal will process the following business day. Withdrawals under this program are not the same as Annuity Payments you would receive from a payout option. Your contract value will be reduced by the amount of any withdrawals, applicable contract charges, surrender charges and premium taxes. Such systematic withdrawals may be used to satisfy special tax rules related to substantially equal periodic payments or other needs you may have. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the calculations for distributed amounts or compliance with tax provisions. Please see .

 

If we receive your surrender or withdrawal request in Good Order at our Mailing Address before the end of a Valuation Date, then we will process your request based on Accumulation Unit values determined at the end of that Valuation Date. If we receive your surrender or withdrawal request in Good Order at our Mailing Address at or after the end of a Valuation Date or on a day that is not a Valuation Date, then we will process your request based on Accumulation Unit values determined at the end of the next Valuation Date. We will send you your payment within seven days of receiving a request from you in Good Order at our Mailing Address. Please see

 

If you have a question about surrenders or withdrawals, please call us toll free at our Customer Service Office Contact Center at

 

 

Notwithstanding that a DIA payout option rider has been funded and is in force, we may pay the Owner the Accumulation Value under the Basic Contract in one sum, if, before the Annuity Commencement Date:

 

 

 

 

 

The proceeds paid to an Owner may be subject to any applicable contract charges, surrender charges and premium taxes. Please see

 

If the Accumulation Value of the Basic Contract is paid out to the Contract Owner because the contract is surrendered or cancelled due to inactivity but the contract has a funded and in force DIA rider, the contract is not terminated. The DIA rider remains in effect and payments will begin on the DIA commencement date in accordance with the DIA payout option chosen by the Contract Owner. If the Accumulation Value is paid out to the Contract Owner because the contract is surrendered or cancelled due to inactivity and the contract does not have a funded and in force DIA rider, the contract is terminated.

 

Every state has “escheatment” or unclaimed property laws which generally declare contracts to be abandoned after a period of inactivity of three to five years from the contract’s Annuity Commencement Date, the DIA commencement date or the date the death benefit is due and payable. Such contracts will be surrendered and paid to the abandoned property division or unclaimed property office of the applicable state. States are obligated to pay such assets (without interest) to claimants with proper documentation. You can prevent “escheatment” by keeping your address and the name(s) and address(es) of your designated Beneficiary(ies) current.

 

 

In order to complete certain transactions under this annuity you may need to complete additional forms, including for example, the DIA transfer request form which provides you with instructions and important disclosures regarding liquidity and product choice.

 

We will send you confirmations regarding financial transactions, including premium payments and DIA transfers, and contract changes that you make. These confirmations will provide you with financial information for the current transaction and important disclosures.

 

We will also send you quarterly, annual and anniversary statements that will provide you with much of the information described above, as well as current contract values for contract benefits, including any elected optional death benefits and the DIA rider.

 

The shareholder reports for Funds available under your contract will no longer be sent by mail, effective January 1, 2021, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports from us. Instead, the reports will be made available on a website, and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and online at https://guardianlife.onlineprospectus.net/guardianlife/ProFreedomB/index.html?where=eengine.goToDocument(%22Product%20Prospectus%22).

 

You may elect to receive all future reports in paper free of charge. You can inform us that you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports by calling our Customer Service Office Contact Center at or by sending an email request to GIAC_CRU@glic.com. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all Funds available under your contract.

 

 

 

You choose the month and year in which we will begin paying annuity benefits. The first payment is made on the first day of the month. The date you choose cannot be earlier than the first contract anniversary (without GIAC’s prior consent) or later than the Contract Anniversary immediately following the Annuitant’s 100th birthday. Please note that this date may be determined by the retirement plan under which your annuity contract was issued. If your Annuity Commencement Date is on the 29th, 30th or 31st of the month, your Annuity Payments will be processed on the first business day of the following month. Once Annuity Payments begin, you may not change: the Annuitant; the payout option; the guaranteed period under the chosen payout option; or the survivor percentage in the fixed joint and survivor annuity payment option. See Option below.

 

All Annuity Payments are based on (i) the age and sex (if a Contract) of the Annuitant at the birthday nearest the Annuity Commencement Date; (ii) the Accumulation Value on the Annuity Commencement Date less any annuity taxes; (iii) the annuity payout option elected; (iv) the annuity payout frequency; and (v) the interest rate assumption. If more frequent payments are selected, the total payout amount will be slightly larger. A longer duration results in a smaller payment and a shorter duration results in a larger payment.

 

 

We use the following information to determine the annuity purchase rate when applying your Accumulation Value to an annuity payout option:

 

 

 

Certain guaranteed annuity purchase rates appear in a table in your contract. Currently, we are using annuity purchase rates that are more favorable to you than those in your contract. We may change these rates from time to time but the rate will never be less favorable to you than those guaranteed in your contract. The appropriate annuity purchase rate is then used to calculate the amount of the Annuity Payments.

 

The number and amount of your Annuity Payments will not be affected by the longevity of Annuitants as a group. Nor will they be affected by an increase in our expenses over the amount we have charged in your contract.

 

We will make Annuity Payments once a month, or on another periodic schedule acceptable to us, except as follows:

 

 

 

 

Unless you request otherwise, the payee of any Annuity Payments will be the first among the following who is living at the time the payment is to be made:

 

 

 

 

If no payees are living and a guaranteed annuity payout period has not ended, then the present value of any remaining Annuity Payments will be paid to the estate of the last remaining payee.

 

 

You can choose to have Annuity Payments made under payout options that are available under the contract; we will make Annuity Payments to you if the Annuitant is living and the contract is in force on the Annuity Commencement Date. You can make your choice of annuity payout option at any time before your Annuity Payments begin. If no election is made as of the Annuity Commencement Date payments will be made monthly under Option a life annuity with a guaranteed period of 10 years. At any time, we may discontinue any of these options or make additional options available.

 

Before the Annuity Commencement Date, the Owner(s) may elect to restrict certain rights any Beneficiary may have under the contract in the event that the contract Owner and/or Annuitant dies while there are guaranteed Annuity Payments still outstanding. If you choose this election, the Beneficiary may not:

 

 

 

 

 

We must receive written notice that you elect to apply the above restrictions. Such notice must be received at our Mailing Address , in Good Order and in a form satisfactory to us, before the Annuity Commencement Date. Once elected, only the Contract Owner on record as of the Annuity Commencement Date can revoke this election, and once it is revoked, it cannot be reinstated. Any existing elections will be canceled in the event of a change of ownership or the addition of a new Owner of a contract.

 

All annuity payout options are fixed-rate options that are payable from GIAC’s general account assets. For fixed-rate annuity payment options, each $1,000 of Accumulation Value is multiplied by the greater of: (i) the current fixed annuity rate in effect on the Annuity Commencement Date applicable to the payout option elected; or (ii) the guaranteed fixed annuity rate for the payout option elected.

 

 

We make fixed payments during the Annuitant’s lifetime, ending with the payment preceding the Annuitant’s death. This option offers the maximum fixed payment because there is neither a guaranteed minimum number of fixed payments nor a provision for a death benefit for Beneficiaries. Payments stop when the Annuitant dies. Therefore, if the Annuitant dies before the date of the second payment, then it is possible that we may make only one payment under this option.

 

We make fixed payments during the Annuitant’s lifetime, but if the Annuitant dies before the end of the guaranteed period selected by you, the remaining payments will be made to the Beneficiary. Payments are guaranteed for any period of between 1 and 30 full years. The length of any guaranteed period must be elected before the Annuity Commencement Date, and cannot exceed the life expectancy of the Annuitant. Upon the Annuitant’s death, we will pay the balance of the Annuity Payments for the remainder of the guaranteed period, or the Owner or joint Owner (if living) or the Beneficiary (if any Owner is not living) can choose to take all or part of the remaining payments in a lump sum at the present value of the current dollar amount of the remaining payments. If this payee dies while receiving the payments, the present value of the remaining number of payments will be paid in one lump sum to the payee’s estate.

 

We make fixed payments during the joint lifetimes of the Annuitant and a designated second person, the joint Annuitant; if either one dies, payments will continue during the survivor’s lifetime. There are two versions available. After the death of the Annuitant or joint Annuitant, payments will continue during the survivor’s lifetime based on a percentage (chosen by you) of the payment in effect while both Annuitants were living. Under one version of this annuity payout option, it is possible that only one annuity payment will be made if both the Annuitant and joint Annuitant die before the date of the second payment. Under a second version, payments are guaranteed for any number of full years between 1 and 30; the length of any guaranteed period must be elected before the Annuity Commencement Date, and cannot exceed the life expectancy of either Annuitant.

 

We make fixed monthly payments to you for a period of ten years. If the Annuitant dies during the ten year payment period, the remaining payments will be made to the Beneficiary or the Beneficiary can choose to take the remaining payments in a lump sum at the present value of the remaining payments. If the Beneficiary dies while receiving the payments, the balance will be paid in one sum at the present value of the remaining payments to the Beneficiary’s estate.

 

Please note that Option may have special tax consequences, including the following:

 

 

 

Contact your tax adviser for more information.

 

 

 

 

You may wish to take advantage of one of the programs we offer that may help you build a stronger annuity. These include dollar cost averaging and portfolio rebalancing.

 

There is no fee for dollar cost averaging or portfolio rebalancing. We have the right to modify or discontinue either program. We will give you written notice if we do so. Transfers under either program do not count against any free transfers permitted under the contract. You may terminate either program at any time. See for limitations on such transfers.

 

 

This approach may help lower your average dollar cost of investing over time. However, there is no guarantee that dollar cost averaging will result in profits or prevent losses. Under Fixed Dollar Cost Averaging (Fixed DCA), you may transfer set amounts of money from the Fixed Dollar Cost Averaging Account (Fixed DCA Account) over a three month period. If you wish to take advantage of Fixed DCA, you must elect it on your application and your initial Net Premium, and any subsequent Net Premiums received prior to the third Monthly Contract Anniversary, must be allocated to the Fixed DCA Account. On each of the first three Monthly Contract Anniversaries, GIAC will transfer a percentage, as shown in the chart below, of the Fixed DCA Account to the Variable Investment Options in accordance with your allocation instructions then in effect. If a Monthly Contract Anniversary is not also a Valuation Date, the transfer will occur on the next following Valuation Date.