Principal Financial Group Announces New Individual Disability Insurance Riders
August 25, 2003 (Des Moines, Iowa) - The Principal Financial Group,® the nation's 401(k) leader and premier provider of employee benefits, announces the availability of two new riders to the individual disability insurance product portfolio (offered by Principal Life Insurance Company) - the Catastrophic Disability Benefit rider and the Automatic Increase Option rider. Both riders can enhance the value of clients' disability coverage by increasing potential benefits.
According to Principal Financial Group Distribution Vice President Brian Lauber, "We are committed to providing flexible options to help clients better prepare for their futures through greater income protection."
The Catastrophic Disability Benefit (CDB) rider provides benefits in addition to base monthly disability income insurance benefits should the insured incur a catastrophic disability, such as an event that prevents him/her from performing two or more activities of daily living, causes cognitive impairment or a presumptive disability. Typically, these types of disabilities incur additional expenses - such as home health care costs - that could strain the financial limits of a household budget. The CDB rider, coupled with base disability income insurance benefits, could replace up to 100 percent of monthly income.
The company is also offering the Automatic Increase Option (AIO) rider, which allows policyowners to increase their benefits from 4% to 10% annually based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). For no additional premium, the AIO rider is available on all standard policies and renewable every six years.
Both the CDB and AIO riders can be combined with the already competitive Principal "no-cap" Benefit Update (BU) rider that increases benefits up to maximum issue and participation limits every three years without medical underwriting. Like the AIO rider, the BU rider is available for no additional premium.
"The ability to combine the Catastrophic Disability Benefit rider and the Automatic Increase Option rider with the no-cost, no-cap Benefit Update rider offers a significant competitive advantage that sets The Principal apart in the individual disability insurance industry," said Lauber.
About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal ®)1 is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance and mortgage banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. More employers choose the Principal Financial Group for their 401(k) plans than any other bank, mutual fund, or insurance company in the United States2. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $128.0 billion in assets under management3 and serves clients worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.
1 "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered trademarks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
2 CFO Magazine, April/May 2003 based on total plans served in 2002 by insurance companies, banks and investment firms.
3 As of June 30, 2003.
