New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation Makes Its Variable and Fixed Annuities Available to Fund Simple IRA Plans

May 11, 2006; 08:26 AM

NEW YORK - New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation (NYLIAC) today announced that its LifeStages(R) variable and fixed annuities(1) can now be used to fund Savings Incentive Match Plan Individual Retirement Accounts (SIMPLE IRAs) for employees. Designed to address the needs of small businesses with 100 or fewer employees, SIMPLE IRA plans allow employers to offer a competitive employee benefit while providing employees with the strong foundation they need to successfully plan and save for retirement.

"SIMPLE IRAs are attractive to small business owners because there is minimal start up and administrative costs. That's one advantage over many other employer-sponsored retirement plans," said Fred Lizzi, corporate vice president, New York Life. "In addition, employees benefit because they can make pre-tax contributions through the convenience of payroll deductions. By funding their plan with NYLIAC's annuities, which are long term investment products designed for retirement savings, employees can choose a fixed interest rate product offering competitive guaranteed rates or a variable product that gives them the flexibility of adjusting their investment choices according to their needs."

To help build their own nest egg, employees in 2006 can voluntarily invest up to $10,000 a year. For employees age 50 and over, there is a special catch up provision allowing them to contribute an additional $2,500 a year. Employers can also provide a contribution to encourage their employees to participate.

"An attractive feature of our annuities that small business owners will like is that if an employee dies, our products allow the policy's beneficiaries to receive the SIMPLE IRA assets they inherit over their own life expectancies, which may help ease the tax burden and enable them to enjoy the benefits of tax deferral," added Mr. Lizzi.

Variable annuities are sold by prospectus only. To obtain a copy of the prospectus, please call 1-800-598-2019. Investors are asked to consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the investment carefully before investing. Both the product and the underlying fund prospectuses contain this and other information about the product and underlying investment options. Investors should read the prospectuses carefully before investing.

New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation is a wholly -owned subsidiary of New York Life. New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and one of the largest life insurers in the world. Headquartered in New York City, New York Life's family of companies offers life insurance, annuities and long-term care insurance. New York Life Investment Management LLC provides institutional asset management and retirement plan services. Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services, as well as institutional and retail mutual funds.

LifeStages Variable Annuities are issued by NYLIAC, distributed by NYLIFE Distributors LLC (member NASD/SIPC) and offered through NYLIFE Securities Inc. (member NASD/SIPC), wholly owned subsidiaries of New York Life Insurance Company.

Please visit New York Life's Web site at www.newyorklife.com for more information.

(1) Annuities are long-term investment products designed for
retirement savings. Tax-qualified plans (like IRAs, TSAs, SEPs, and
SIMPLE IRAs) already provide tax deferral under the Internal Revenue
Code, so the tax deferral of an annuity does not provide any
additional benefits. There also may be higher fees and expenses
associated with variable annuities than with other investments.