Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America launched the optional Income Focus rider on Allianz Vision, Allianz Vision New York and Allianz Connections variable annuities. The optional rider offers payment percentage increases of 1 percent every year the contract experiences positive performance, no matter the size of the increase. There is no limit on the number of income increases, up to age 91, whether the contract holder takes income today or in the future.

The Income Focus rider provides income that is not driven by how high the contract value grows, but by how many times it grows. There are no guaranteed annual increases in accumulation, so with Income Focus, if you select at issue and make no additional purchase payments, you only need to keep track of two numbers – the amount put in and the payment percentage.

The current annual cost of the Income Focus rider is 1.3 percent calculated on the purchase payments adjusted for withdrawals for both single and joint life payout, and is subject to change on each quarterly anniversary, but will never be less than the minimum charge of 0.5 percent or exceed the maximum of 2.75 percent for single or 2.95 percent for joint.