Plain Rules for the Guidance of Persons Desiring to Insure their Lives or to Purchase Government Annuities.

The Government Annuities Commissioner is empowered under the Act of the New Zealand Assembly, entitled "The Government Annuities Act, 1869," to Insure the Lives of persons of either sex between the ages of 16 and 60. He is also empowered to grant Annuities Immediate or Deferred on the lives of persons of either sex, of the age of 10 years and upwards.

The various forms of Insurance and Annuities and the modes of payment, will be found set out in the tables prepared for the purpose.

Persons whose lives are insured, or to whom Annuities are granted, will have Government Security for the payment of all moneys due to them. It was the object and intention of the Legislature by affording this security, to leave no excuse to persons for failing to make provision for the future. As profit is not the object of the Government, the tables are framed with the view of simply making a fair charge for the risks undertaken. The Government are able to undertake such risks lower than private associations, because—

1.	They have their own Government Securities in which to invest from time to time the accumulations.
2.	Without leaving idle an undue amount of accumulations, they have always ample funds to satisfy all payments due.page 2
3.	They will save the charges of agents to which private associations are subjected.
4.	They require neither an extra staff, nor costly buildings, and in short, all the expenses are less.

Great stress should be laid on these circumstances by persons proposing to assure their lives or purchase annuities. The State is much interested in encouraging amongst the people provident habits; to persons making such provision the Government have provided a scheme affording absolute security, at a minimum rate of charge. Private institutions can neither offer such security, nor can they in safety be content with so low a rate of charge. The very exceptional nature of the traneaction exonerates the Government from undue interference with private enterprise. A person who contracts for an Insurance on his life, or for a deferred annuity, enters into an undertaking to make a series of payments for a more or le s prolonged period. Alter investing his savings for ten, twenty, thirty, or even fifty years, he should be protected from all risk of loss.

2. Certain post offices, the names of which may be obtained at any post office, have been opened for the receipt of proposals for the Insurance of Lives, and the purchase of Annuities, and forms of proposal with full instructions for filling up and delivering these forms may be obtained at these post offices.

3. Tables of the various premiums to be charged may be seen and procured at the post offices which have been opened for the receipt of proposals, or they will be sent post free on written application. The following pages contain the principal tables exclusive of the deferred annuities, but it may be mentioned that a more extensive set of tables is in course of preparation, and will shortly be published.

4 The premiums to be charged for the Insurance of Lives vary with the age of the persons whoso lives are to be insured, and with the mode in which they are to be paid.

5. If, after having duly made his payments for a period of five years, the insured person shall be unable to continue, or shall desire to discontinue, such payments, a portion of the premiums paid by him, will be returned to him.

6. The sums to be charged for the purchase of Deferred Annuities, will vary with the age and sex of the person on whose life the Annuity is to depend; and with the length of the term for which the Annuity is deferred, (or, in other words, with the number of years which are to pass before the commencement of the Annuity), and with the conditions of the contract as to the mode of purchase, mode of payment, and return or non return of purchase money. When the condition of the contract is to be that, in the event of the death of the person on whose life the Annuity is to depend before the commencement of the Annuity, the purchase money is to be returned to his representatives, and that if the purchaser at any time before the commencement of the Annuity is unable to continue, or wishes to discontinue, the purchase, the purchase money shall be returned to him; the price charged will be higher than when no such condition is made.

7. Persons contracting for the Insurance of their Lives, or for the purchase of Annuities, will be allowed to pay their periodical premiums or instalments of purchase money at such of the Post Offices, which have been or may hereafter be opened for the purpose, as will suit them best.

8. Persons proposing to effect Insurances on their Lives, must provide at, their cost such certificates of birth, or other evidence of age, as shall be required of them, but will not be required to pay any fee for page 4 medical examination, or to pay the cost of any inquiry which the Commissioner may think fit to make with regard to their health, habits, age, and occupation, or to pay any fee for the issue of any contracts which may be made in accordance with their proposals, or to pay any postage for the transmission of their proposals, or for the transmission of any correspondence arising out of such proposals between them and the Commissioner, inasmuch as a provision for all such costs and charges is included in the premiums which they will, be required to pay, in accordance with the Tables framed for the purpose for the Insurance of their Lives.

9. Persons proposing to purchase Immediate or Deferred Annuities, must provide at their own cost such certificates of birth or baptism, or other evidence of age as shall be required of them; and, inasmuch as the premiums fixed by the Tables framed for the grant of such Annuities do not include any provision for costs and charges, must pay, at the time of purchase, a fee of 1s. for every £1 of Annuity purchased.

Table I.

Yearly, Half-Yearly, and Quarterly Payments for the Whole of Life, for an Assurance of £100.

Age.	Annual Premium.			Half-Yearly Premium.			Quarterly Premium.
	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.
16	1	7	6	0	13	11	0	7	0
17	1	8	2	0	14	3	0	7	2
18	1	8	10	0	14	7	0	7	4
19	1	9	7	0	15	0	0	7	7
20	1	10	4	0	15	5	0	7	9
21	1	11	1	0	15	8	0	7	11
22	1	11	11	0	16	2	0	8	2
23	1	12	10	0	16	8	0	8	5
24	1	13	10	0	17	2	0	8	8
25	1	14	11	0	17	8	0	8	11
26	1	16	0	0	18	3	0	9	2
27	1	17	1	0	18	10	0	9	5
28	1	18	2	0	19	5	0	9	9
29	1	19	4	0	19	11	0	10	0
30	2	0	6	1	0	6	0	10	4
31	2	1	8	1	1	0	0	10	8
32	2	2	10	1	1	7	0	11	0
33	2	4	0	1	2	3	0	11	3
34	2	5	2	1	2	11	0	11	7
35	2	6	6	1	3	7	0	11	11
36	2	8	0	1	4	5	0	12	3
37	2	9	6	1	5	2	0	12	8
38	2	11	2	1	6	0	0	13	1
39	2	12	11	1	6	11	0	13	7
40	2	14	8	1	7	10	0	14	0
41	2	16	5	1	8	8	0	14	5
42	2	18	2	1	9	6	0	14	11
43	2	19	11	1	10	5	0	15	5
44	3	1	10	1	11	5	0	15	11
45	3	3	10	1	12	6	0	16	5
46	3	6	0	1	13	8	0	17	0
47	3	8	5	1	14	10	0	17	7
48	3	11	0	1	16	2	0	18	3
49	3	14	0	1	17	9	0	19	0
50	3	17	4	1	19	5	0	19	11page 6
51	4	1	1	2	1	4	1	0	10
52	4	5	0	2	3	5	1	1	11
53	4	9	3	2	5	7	1	3	0
54	4	13	6	2	7	9	1	4	1
55	4	18	0	2	10	1	1	5	4
56	5	2	9	2	12	7	1	6	7
57	5	7	0	2	14	9	1	7	9
58	5	11	8	2	17	2	1	8	11
59	5	16	7	2	19	9	1	10	3
60	6	1	7	3	2	4	1	11	6