As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 20, 2022

File Nos. 333-200239
811-03365

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-4

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Pre-Effective Amendment No.	□
Post-Effective Amendment No. 15	☒
and
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940
Amendment No. 762	☒

The Variable Annuity Contract

Brighthouse Growth and Income

issued by

BRIGHTHOUSE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

and

BRIGHTHOUSE SEPARATE ACCOUNT A

This prospectus describes the single premium deferred variable annuity contract offered by Brighthouse Life Insurance Company (“BLIC”, the “Company”, or “we” or “us”). The contract is offered for individuals and some tax-qualified and non tax-qualified retirement plans. Currently the contract is not available for new sales. Currently, the contract includes three Investment Options, but only one of those Investment Options is available to you depending on when your contract was issued.

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 contracts:

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or determined if this prospectus is accurate or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

We have used certain words or terms in this prospectus which may need an explanation. We have identified the following as some of these words or terms. The page that is indicated here is where you will find the best explanation for the word or term. These words and terms are in italics on the indicated page.

Page

Accumulation Phase...................................................................11
Accumulation Unit.......................................................................13
Adjusted Purchase Payment.......................................................17
Annuitant.....................................................................................40
Annuity Date................................................................................17
Annuity Income Options..............................................................17
Annuity Payments........................................................................17
Beneficiary..................................................................................40
Business Day..............................................................................12
Contract Value.............................................................................13
Free Look Period.........................................................................12
Good Order.................................................................................39
GWB Amount..............................................................................22
GWB Value..................................................................................24
Income Phase.............................................................................11
Investment Option (or “Portfolio Company”) .................................6
Money Market Portfolio...............................................................15
Owner..........................................................................................40
Purchase Payment......................................................................12
Variable Account ........................................................................37
Withdrawal Percentage...............................................................23

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The Income Phase occurs when you or a designated payee begin receiving regular Annuity Payments from your Contract. All benefits, including the death benefit, terminate without value at the start of the Income Phase. In addition, once the Income Phase begins you generally may no longer take withdrawals from the contract. Depending on the Annuity Option you elect, any remaining guarantee may be paid to your Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries).

Contract Features. The following is a brief description of the contract’s primary features.

Accessing your Money. Before you annuitize, 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 ½.

Tax Treatment. Earnings (if any) on your investments are generally tax-deferred. You are only subject to tax upon: (1) making a withdrawal; (2) receiving a payment from us; or (3) payment of a death benefit.

Death Benefit. The contract includes, at no additional cost, a standard death benefit that will pay a death benefit to your Beneficiary(ies) if you die during the Accumulation Phase.

Living Benefit. The contract includes, at no additional cost, a living benefit that offers protection against market risk (the risk that your investments may decline in value or underperform your expectations) and may guarantee a minimum lifetime income.

Additional Services.

The following tables describe the fees and expenses that you will pay when buying, owning, and surrendering, or making withdrawals from the contract. Please refer to your contract specifications page for information about the specific fees you will pay each year.

The first table describes the fees and expenses that you will pay at the time that you buy the contract, surrender the contract, make withdrawals from the contract, or transfer Contract Value between Investment Options. State premium taxes of 0% to 3.5% may also be deducted.

Note 1. If any amount is withdrawn during the first 5 Contract Years, a surrender charge may be assessed. Surrender charges are calculated in accordance with the following. (See “Expenses – Surrender Charge.”)

The next tables describe the fees and expenses that you will pay each year during the time that you own the contract, not including Investment Option fees and expenses.

Note 1. We call these the “Variable Account Product Charge” in your contract as well as in other places in the prospectus. See “Expenses” section of the prospectus, under the sub-heading “Base Contract Charge” for more information.

The next table shows the minimum and maximum total operating expenses charged by the Investment Options that you may pay periodically during the time that you own the contract. A complete list of Investment Options available under the contract, including their annual expenses, may be found in Appendix A.

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the contract with the cost of investing in other variable annuity contracts. These costs include Transaction Expenses, Annual Contract Expenses, and Annual Investment Option Expenses.

The Example assumes that you invest $100,000 in the contract for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and assumes the most expensive combination of Annual Contract Expenses and Annual Investment Option Expenses available.

Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be the following:

Unsuitable as Short-Term Savings Vehicle. The contract is intended for retirement savings or other long-term investment purposes. The benefits of tax deferral and living benefit protection also mean the contract is more beneficial to investors with a long-time horizon. It is not suitable as a short-term savings vehicle. This means if you plan to withdraw money or surrender the contract for short-term needs, it may not be the right contract for you. A charge may be assessed on withdrawals and surrenders, and it could be substantial. Please discuss your insurance needs and financial objectives with your financial representative.

Investment Risk. You bear the risk of any decline in the Contract Value of your contract resulting from the performance of the Investment Option. The Contract Value could decline very significantly, and there is a risk of loss of the entire amount invested. This risk varies with each Investment Option. This risk could have a significant negative impact on certain benefits and guarantees under the contract. The investment risks are described in the prospectuses for the Investment Options.

Tax Consequences. Withdrawals are generally taxable (to the extent of any earnings in the contract), and prior to age 59 ½ a tax penalty may apply. In addition, even if the contract is held for years before any withdrawal is made, the withdrawals are taxable as ordinary income rather than capital gains.

COVID-19 and Market Conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic has at times resulted in or contributed to significant financial market volatility, travel restrictions and disruptions, quarantines, an uncertain interest rate environment, elevated inflation, global business, supply chain, and employment disruptions affecting companies across various industries, government and central bank interventions, wide-ranging changes in consumer behavior, as well as general concern and uncertainty that has negatively affected the economic environment. At this time, it continues to not be possible to estimate (i) the severity or duration of the pandemic, including the severity, duration and frequency of any additional

Significant market volatility and negative investment returns in the financial markets resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and market conditions could have a negative impact on returns of the Investment Options in which the Variable Account invests. Depending on market conditions and your individual circumstances (e.g., the timing of withdrawals), you may experience (perhaps significant) negative returns under the contract. You should consult with your financial representative about how the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent market conditions may impact your future investment decisions related to the contract, based on your individual circumstances.

This prospectus describes the variable annuity contract offered by us.

The variable annuity contract is a contract between you as the Owner, and us, the insurance company, where we promise to pay an income to you, in the form of Annuity Payments, beginning on a designated date that you select. Until you begin receiving Annuity Payments, your annuity is in the Accumulation Phase. Once you begin receiving Annuity Payments, your contract switches to the Income Phase.

The contract benefits from tax deferral. Tax deferral means that you are not taxed on earnings or appreciation on the assets in your contract until you take money out of your contract. For any tax qualified account (e.g. an IRA), the tax deferred accrual feature is provided by the tax qualified retirement plan. Therefore, there should be reasons other than tax deferral for acquiring the contract within a qualified plan. (See “Federal Income Tax Status.”)

The contract is called a variable annuity because, depending upon market conditions, you can make or lose money in the Investment Option offered. The amount of money you are able to accumulate in your contract during the Accumulation Phase depends upon the investment performance of the Investment Option. You bear the full investment risk for all amounts allocated to the Variable Account.

Fixed Annuity Payments are made from our general account assets. Our general account consists of all assets owned by us other than those in the Variable Account and our other separate accounts. We have sole discretion over the investment of assets in the general account. All guarantees as to fixed Annuity Payments are subject to our financial strength and claims-paying ability.

The amount of the Annuity Payments you receive during the Income Phase from a fixed Annuity Payment option of the contract generally will remain level for the entire Income Phase. (Please see “Annuity Payments (The Income Phase)” for more information.)

As Owner of the contract, you exercise all interests and rights under the contract. You cannot change the Owner (unless an Owner is removed by court order), except that a contract owned by a revocable grantor trust may be exchanged to the grantor or to another revocable grantor trust where the grantor is the same individual. The contract may be owned by joint Owners (generally limited to two natural persons who must be spouses). We provide more information on this under “Other Information—Ownership.”

For contracts owned by a grantor trust, in order for the spousal Beneficiary or joint Annuitant to be able to continue the contract after the first Annuitant’s death, federal income tax law requires that the designated Beneficiary must be the Annuitant’s spouse on the date of the Annuitant’s death. This may impact certain estate planning considerations which depend on the grantor trust being treated as the designated Beneficiary and should be taken into account prior to the purchase of the contract.

All contract provisions will be interpreted and administered in accordance with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and all related laws and regulations, which are in effect during the term of the contract (“Code”). Any Code reference to “spouses” includes those persons who enter into lawful marriages under state law, regardless of sex.

A Purchase Payment is the money you give us to invest in the contract. The Purchase Payment is due on the date the contract is issued. You may not make additional Purchase Payments.

The minimum Purchase Payment we will accept is $50,000.

Generally, you may purchase a tax-qualified contract (“qualified contract”) only with money transferred from a plan qualified under section 401(a) of the Code, a 403(b) mutual fund account or a 403(b) tax sheltered annuity, a governmental 457(b) plan or an IRA governed under Section 408. You may purchase a non-qualified contract with after-tax money from any source.

If you want to make a Purchase Payment of more than $1 million, you will need our prior approval.

We reserve the right to refuse Purchase Payments made via a personal check in excess of $100,000. Purchase Payments over $100,000 may be accepted in other forms, including, but not limited to, EFT/wire transfers, certified checks and corporate checks. The form in which we receive a Purchase Payment may determine how soon subsequent disbursement requests may be fulfilled. (See “Access to Your Money.”)

We also reserve the right to reject a Purchase Payment made with cash-like instruments including, but not limited to money orders, cashier’s checks, bank drafts, and traveler’s checks.

We reserve the right to reject any application or Purchase Payment. If you are exchanging more than one annuity contract or life insurance policy for this contract, or if your Purchase Payment will be paid from different sources (e.g. personal check and proceeds from a brokerage account), we will allow the proceeds to be used as the Purchase Payment for this contract, provided they are received within 90 days of the date the contract is issued. When you are purchasing a contract by exchanging another annuity contract or life insurance policy, or if your Purchase Payment will be paid from different sources, your contract will be issued on the day we first receive proceeds from your existing annuity contract or life insurance policy, or from any other source.

We reserve the right to revoke the contract if proceeds from all of the exchanged annuity contracts or life insurance policies or other different sources do not equal $50,000 in aggregate. We also reserve the right to not accept any proceeds received more than 90 days after the contract is issued. If the contract is revoked, we will return the Contract Value without the application of any surrender charges.

Once we receive your Purchase Payment and the necessary information, we will issue your contract and allocate your first Purchase Payment within two (2) Business Days. A Business Day is each day that the New York Stock Exchange is open for business. A Business Day closes at the close of normal trading on the New York Stock Exchange, usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. If you do not give us all of the information we need, we will contact you to get it before we make any allocation. If for some reason we are unable to complete this process within five (5) Business Days, we will either send back your money or get your permission to keep it until we get all of the necessary information. (See “Other Information —Requests and Elections.”).

We reserve the right to make certain changes to the Investment Options. (See “Investment Options—Substitution of Investment Options”). In addition, see Appendix A to this prospectus for more information about the available Investment Options.

The law of the state in which your contract is issued or delivered provides you with the right to cancel the purchase of your contract for a limited period of time. The period varies by state, but is never less than ten days from the day you receive your contract. We assume it will take five days from the day we mail the contract until you receive it.

In some states the length of the Free Look Period may be different depending on the source of funds, the age of the purchaser, or for some other reason. Together with your contract, we will notify you of the date on which your Free Look Period ends.

To cancel the purchase of your contract, return the contract to our Annuity Service Center before the end of the Free Look Period, together with a written cancellation request. You may not do this by telephone, fax or through the Internet. Depending on applicable law, we will promptly pay you either your Contract Value or your Purchase Payment. Where we are required by state or federal law to return at least the amount of your Purchase Payment, we will pay you the greater of your Contract Value or your Purchase Payment.

Your Contract Value will go up or down depending upon the investment performance of the Investment Options. In order to keep track of your Contract Value, we use a unit of measure we call an Accumulation Unit. (An Accumulation Unit works like a share of a mutual fund.) In addition to the investment performance of the Investment Portfolio, the deduction of Variable Account Annual Expenses also affects an Investment Portfolio’s Accumulation Unit value, as explained below.

Every Business Day, as of the close of the New York Stock Exchange (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time), we determine the value of an Accumulation Unit for the Investment Option by multiplying the Accumulation Unit value for the immediately preceding Business Day by a factor for the current Business Day. The factor is determined by:

The value of an Accumulation Unit may go up or down from day to day.

When we receive any portion of the Purchase Payment, we credit your contract with Accumulation Units. The number of Accumulation Units credited is determined by dividing the amount of the Purchase Payment allocated to the Investment Option by the value of the Accumulation Unit for the Investment Option.

A Purchase Payment is credited to a contract on the basis of the Accumulation Unit value next determined after receipt. A Purchase Payment received before the close of the New York Stock Exchange will be credited to your contract that day, after the New York Stock Exchange closes. A Purchase Payment received after the close of the New York Stock Exchange, or on a day when the New York Stock Exchange is closed, will be treated as received on the next day the New York Stock Exchange is open (the next Business Day).

Contract Value is equal to the sum of your interests in the Investment Options. Your interest in each Investment Option is determined by multiplying the number of Accumulation Units for that Investment Option by the value of the Accumulation Unit.

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For contracts issued based on applications signed and dated prior to July 21, 2012, the Fidelity VIP FundsManager 60% Portfolio is available. For contracts issued based on applications signed on or after July 21, 2012, the Fidelity VIP FundsManager 50% is available.

Information regarding each Investment Option, including its name, its type (e.g. money market fund, bond fund, balanced fund, etc.) or a brief statement concerning its investment objective, its investment adviser and any subadviser, current expenses and performance is available in Appendix A to this prospectus. Each Investment Option has issued a prospectus that contains more detailed information about the Investment Option.

The investment objectives and policies of certain of the Investment Options may be similar to the investment objectives and policies of other mutual funds that certain of the portfolios’ investment advisers manage. Although the objectives and policies may be similar, the investment results of the Investment Options may be higher or lower than the results of such other mutual funds. The investment advisers cannot guarantee, and make no representation, that the investment results of similar funds will be comparable even though the funds may have the same investment advisers.

Shares of the Investment Options may be offered to insurance company separate accounts of both variable annuity and variable life insurance contracts and to qualified plans. Due to differences in tax treatment and other considerations, the interests of various owners participating in, and the interests of qualified plans investing in the Investment Options may conflict. The Investment Options will monitor events in order to identify the existence of any material irreconcilable conflicts and determine what action, if any, should be taken in response to any such conflict.

Certain payments we receive from an investment adviser or its affiliates. An investment adviser or subadviser of the Investment Options, or its affiliates, may make payments to us and/or certain of our affiliates. These payments may be used for a variety of purposes, including payment of expenses for certain administrative, marketing, and support services with respect to certain other variable insurance products we offer, and, in our role as an intermediary, with respect to the Investment Options in those products. We and our affiliates may profit from these payments. The amount of the payments we receive may be significant and is based on a percentage of assets of the Investment Options attributable to those other variable insurance products we and our affiliates issue.

Additionally, an investment adviser or subadviser of the Investment Options, or its affiliates, may provide us with wholesaling services that assist in the distribution of certain other variable insurance products we or our affiliates offer and may pay us and/or certain of our affiliates amounts to participate in sales meetings. These amounts may be significant and may provide the adviser or subadviser (or its affiliate) with increased access to persons involved in the distribution of those variable insurance products.

Selection of Investment Options. We select the Investment Options offered through this contract based on a number of criteria, including asset class coverage, the strength of the adviser’s or subadviser's reputation and tenure, brand recognition, performance, and the capability and qualification of each investment firm. Another factor we may consider is the risk of investment losses that could require us to use our own assets to make payments in connection with the guarantees under the GWB.

We review the Investment Options periodically and may remove an Investment Option or limit its availability to new Purchase Payments and/or exchanges of contract value if we determine that the Investment Option no longer meets one or more of the selection criteria, and/or if the Investment Option has not attracted significant allocations from contract owners. In some cases, we have included Investment Options based on recommendations made by selling firms. These selling firms may receive payments from the Investment Options they recommend and may benefit accordingly from the allocation of Contract Value to such Investment Options.

We do not provide any investment advice and do not recommend or endorse any particular Investment Option. You bear the risk of any decline in the Contract Value of your contract resulting from the performance of the Investment Options.

Contract Value may have been allocated to the Money Market Portfolio during the Free Look Period under certain circumstances, but currently this Investment Option is no longer available for investment. You may not choose to allocate or exchange Contract Value to the Money Market Portfolio.

We are the legal owner of the Investment Option shares. However, we believe that when an Investment Option solicits proxies in conjunction with a vote of shareholders, we are required to obtain from you and other affected Owners instructions as to how to vote those shares. When we receive those instructions, we will vote all of the shares we own in proportion to those instructions. This will also include any shares that we own on our own behalf. The effect of this proportional voting is that a small number of contract owners may control the outcome of a vote. Should we determine that we are no longer required to comply with the above, we will vote the shares in our own right.

If investment in the Investment Options or a particular Investment Option is no longer possible, in our judgment becomes inappropriate for purposes of the contract, or for any other reason in our sole discretion, we may substitute another Investment Option or Investment Options without your consent. The substituted Investment Option may have different fees and expenses. However, we will not make such substitution without any necessary approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission and applicable state insurance departments. Furthermore, we may close Investment Options to allocation of Purchase Payments or Contract Value, or both, at any time in our sole discretion. There will always be at least one Investment Option offered under the contract.

There are charges and other expenses associated with the contract that reduce the return on your investment in the contract.These charges and expenses are:

Variable Account Product Charge. Each day, we make a deduction for our Variable Account Product Charge (which consists only of the mortality and expense charge). We do this as part of our calculation of the value of the Accumulation Units. The Variable Account Product Charge will no longer apply if you begin to receive Annuity Payments (see "Annuity Options (The Income Phase)") or after the conversion of the GWB Amount to Annuity Payments (see "Guaranteed Withdrawal Benefit for Life - Conversion of GWB Amount to Annuity Payments").

We assess a daily mortality and expense charge that is equal, on an annual basis, to 1.90% (for a single Annuitant) or 2.05% (for joint Annuitants) of the average daily net asset value of each Investment Option.

This charge compensates us generally for mortality risks we assume for the lifetime withdrawal, Annuity Payment and death benefit guarantees made under the contract. These guarantees include allowing lifetime withdrawals and making Annuity Payments that will not change based on our actual mortality experience, and providing a guaranteed minimum death benefit under the contract. The charge also compensates us generally for expense risks we assume to cover contract maintenance expenses. These expenses may include issuing contracts, maintaining records, making and maintaining subaccounts available under the contract and performing accounting, regulatory compliance, and reporting functions. This charge also compensates us generally for costs associated with the establishment and administration of the contract. If the mortality and expense charge is inadequate to cover the actual expenses of mortality, maintenance, and administration, we will bear the loss. If the charge exceeds the actual expenses, we will add the excess to our profit and it may be used to finance distribution expenses or for any other purpose.

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We impose a surrender charge to reimburse us generally for contract sales expenses, including commissions and other distribution, promotion, and acquisition expenses. During the Accumulation Phase, you can make a withdrawal from your contract (either a partial or a complete withdrawal). A surrender charge is assessed against any amount withdrawn during the first five Contract Years, except as described below. A withdrawal made pursuant to a divorce or separation instrument is subject to the same surrender charge provisions described above, if permissible under tax law.

The surrender charge is calculated at the time of each withdrawal in accordance with the following:

For a partial withdrawal, you may elect to have the surrender charge deducted either from the remaining Contract Value, if sufficient, or from the amount withdrawn. If the remaining Contract Value is not sufficient, the surrender charge is deducted from the amount withdrawn.

We do not assess the surrender charge on any amounts paid out as Annuity Payments or as death benefits. Also, no surrender charge will apply to withdrawals under the GWB feature that are less than or equal to the GWB Amount. However, a surrender charge will be assessed on withdrawals prior to the youngest Annuitant reaching age 59½ or, thereafter, on any withdrawals in excess of the GWB Amount (see “Guaranteed Withdrawal Benefit for Life” for more information). In addition, we will not assess the surrender charge on required distributions from qualified contracts in order to satisfy federal income tax rules or to avoid federal income tax penalties. This exception applies only to amounts required to be distributed from this contract. Such withdrawals must be made through the Systematic Withdrawal Program, with certain exceptions. (See “Access To Your Money—Systematic Withdrawal Program” for more information.)

We reserve the right to deduct from the Purchase Payment, Contract Value, withdrawals, death benefits or Annuity Payments any taxes relating to the contracts (including, but not limited to, premium taxes) paid by us to any government entity. Examples of these taxes include, but are not limited to, premium tax, generation-skipping transfer tax or a similar excise tax under federal or state tax law which is imposed on payments we make to certain persons and income tax withholdings on withdrawals and income payments to the extent required by law. Premium taxes generally range from 0 to 3.5%, depending on the state. We will, at our sole discretion, determine when taxes relate to the contracts. We may, at our sole discretion, pay taxes when due and deduct that amount from the account balance at a later date. Payment at an earlier date does not waive any right we may have to deduct amounts at a later date. It is our current practice not to charge premium taxes until Annuity Payments begin.

Currently, the contract includes three Investment Options, but only one of those Investment Options is available to you depending on when your contract was issued. In the future, we may make additional Investment Options available, in which case you may be able to exchange Contract Value between Investment Options. We have reserved the right to limit the number of exchanges to a maximum of 12 per year without charge and to charge an exchange fee of $25 for each exchange greater than 12 in any year. The exchange fee compensates us generally for the costs of processing exchanges. The exchange fee is deducted from the Investment Option from which the exchange is made. However, if the entire interest in an Investment Option is being exchanged, the exchange fee will be deducted from the amount which is exchanged.

We reserve the right to deduct from the contract for any income taxes which we incur because of the contract. In general, we believe under current federal income tax law, we are entitled to hold reserves with respect to the contract that offset Variable Account income. If this should change, it is possible we could incur income tax with respect to the contract, and in that event we may deduct such tax from the contract. At the present time, however, we are not incurring any such income tax or making any such deductions.

There are deductions from and expenses paid out of the assets of each Investment Option, which are described in the fee table in this prospectus and the Investment Option prospectuses. These deductions and expenses are not charges under the terms of the contract, but are represented in the share values of each Investment Option.

Under the contract you can receive regular monthly income payments (referred to as Annuity Payments). You can choose the month and year in which those payments begin. We call that date the Annuity Date. Your Annuity Date must be at least 30 days after we issue the contract. Annuity Payments must begin by the first day of the calendar month on or after the contract anniversary on or after the oldest Owner’s (or, for contracts owned by certain trusts, the oldest Annuitant’s) 95th birthday.

When you purchase the contract, the Annuity Date will be the first day of the calendar month on or after the contract anniversary on or after the oldest Owner’s (or, for contracts owned by certain trusts, the oldest Annuitant’s) 95th birthday. You can change the Annuity Date at any time before the Annuity Date with 30 days prior notice to us (subject to restrictions imposed by our selling firm and our current established administrative procedures).

You can choose among income plans. We call those Annuity Income Options. We ask you to choose an Annuity Income Option when you purchase the contract. You can change it at any time before the Annuity Date with 30 days notice to us.

You will receive the Annuity Payments during the Income Phase. The Annuitant is the natural person(s) whose life we look to in the determination of Annuity Payments. The dollar amount of each Annuity Payment generally will not change.

The contract offers two Annuity Income Options. Unless you elect another Annuity Income Option prior to the Annuity Date or you elect an earlier Annuity Date, the contract will default to Annuity Income Option (1).

A. Withdrawals Prior to Age 59½. If you make withdrawals before the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½, the Adjusted Purchase Payment will be reduced for each such withdrawal as follows:

Annuity Income Option (1) is only available on the latest possible Annuity Date unless the GWB Amount is converted to an Annuity Payment as described in “Guaranteed Withdrawal Benefit for Life—Conversion of GWB Amount To Annuity Payments.” The latest possible Annuity Date is the first day of the calendar month on or after the contract anniversary on or after the oldest Owner’s (or, for contracts owned by certain trusts, the oldest Annuitant’s) 95th birthday.

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If your Annuity Payments would be or become less than $20 a month, we have the right to change the frequency of payments so that your Annuity Payments are at least $20.

We may require proof of age or sex of an Annuitant before making any Annuity Payments under the contract that are measured by the Annuitant’s life. If an Annuitant's age or sex has been misstated, we will adjust the amount of monthly annuity income to the amount that would have been provided at the correct age or sex. Once annuity income has begun, any overpayments or underpayments, with interest at 6% per annum, will be, as appropriate, deducted from or added to the payment or payments made after the adjustment.

In the event that you purchased the contract as a qualified contract, you must take distribution of the Contract Value in accordance with the required minimum distribution (“RMD”) rules set forth in applicable tax law under the Code. RMD is also referred to herein as “minimum required distribution” or “MRD”. Under certain circumstances, you may satisfy those requirements by electing an annuity option. Upon your death, if Annuity Payments have already begun, any remaining payments under the contract also must be made in accordance with he applicable RMD rules. In some cases, those rules may require that the remaining payments be made over a shorter period than originally elected or otherwise adjusted to comply with the tax law requirements of the Code. (See “Federal Income Tax Status” and the Statement of Additional Information for more details.)

You can have access to the money in your contract by making a withdrawal (either a partial or a complete withdrawal) or by electing to receive Annuity Payments. Your Beneficiary can have access to the money in the contract when a death benefit is paid or as applicable to the Annuity Options described under “Annuity Payments (The Income Phase)—Annuity Options” which provide for continuing annuity payments or a cash refund during the Annuity Period upon death of the last surviving Annuitant.

Under most circumstances, withdrawals can only be made during the Accumulation Phase. Partial withdrawals before the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½ or withdrawals that exceed the Guaranteed Withdrawal Benefit Amount allowed under the Guaranteed Withdrawal Benefit For Life feature may significantly impact the Guaranteed Withdrawal Benefit Amount by proportionally reducing the GWB Value upon which the benefit is determined. These reductions in the GWB Value and GWB Amount may be significant particularly when the Contract Value is lower than the GWB Value. (See “Guaranteed Withdrawal Benefit for Life” for more information.)

When you make a complete withdrawal, you will receive the withdrawal value of the contract. The withdrawal value of the contract is the Contract Value of the contract at the end of the Business Day when we receive a written request for a withdrawal, less any applicable surrender charge.

Currently the contract includes three Investment Options, but only one of those Investment Options is available to you depending on when your contract was issued. If we make additional Investment Options available in the future, any partial withdrawal will be made pro rata from the Investment Option(s) you selected unless you instruct us otherwise. Under most circumstances the amount of any partial withdrawal must be for at least $50. You may request partial withdrawals by sending a letter to the Annuity Service Center or calling us there. Withdrawals by telephone or internet

(where otherwise available) are limited as follows: (1) no withdrawal may be for more than $100,000; (2) total telephone withdrawals in a seven day period cannot total more than $100,000; and (3) if we have recorded an address change for an Owner during the past 10 days, the limits in (1) and (2) become $10,000. We reserve the right to change telephone and internet withdrawal requirements or limitations.

We will pay the amount of any withdrawal from the Variable Account within seven days of when we receive the request in Good Order unless the suspension of payments or exchanges provision is in effect.

We may withhold payment of withdrawal proceeds if any portion of those proceeds would be derived from a contract Owner’s check that has not yet cleared (i.e., that could still be dishonored by the contract Owner’s banking institution). We may use telephone, fax, Internet or other means of communication to verify that payment from the contract Owner’s check has been or will be collected. We will not delay payment longer than necessary for us to verify that payment has been or will be collected. Contract Owners may avoid the possibility of delay in the disbursement of proceeds coming from a check that has not yet cleared by providing us with a certified check.

In order to withdraw all or part of your Contract Value, you must submit a request to our Annuity Service Center. (See “Other Information—Requests and Elections.”). We have to receive your withdrawal request in our Annuity Service Center prior to the Annuity Date or last Owner's death. You may submit a written withdrawal request any time prior to the Annuity Date that indicates that the withdrawal should be processed as of the Annuity Date. Solely for purpose of calculating and processing such a withdrawal request, the request will be deemed to have been received on, and the withdrawal amount will be priced according to the Accumulation Unit value calculated as of, the Annuity Date. Your request must be received at our the Annuity Service Center on or before the Annuity Date. If we are presented in Good Order with notification of the death of the last surviving Annuitant before any requested transaction is completed (including transactions under Systematic Withdrawal Programs), we will cancel the request.

There are limits to the amount you can withdraw from certain qualified contracts. (See “Federal Income Tax Status.”)

Income taxes, tax penalties and certain restrictions may apply to any withdrawal you make.

You may use the Systematic Withdrawal Program to make withdrawals in an amount up to your eligible GWB Amount on a periodic basis. Systematic withdrawals must be at least $50 on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis. For example, if your GWB Amount for a Contract Year is $600, you may elect to have $50 withdrawn from your Contract Value automatically every month and we will send it to you either by mail or directly into a bank account on file. If you make an additional withdrawal that is not part of a Systematic Withdrawal Program, we will terminate the program for the remainder of the Contract Year, and you must re-enroll to start a new Systematic Withdrawal Program.

Your Systematic Withdrawal Program transactions will take place on the first day of the month for the period you selected. If the New York Stock Exchange is closed on the scheduled day in a particular month, the withdrawal will take place on the next Business Day.

If your contract is a qualified contract and you are subject to required minimum distributions (“MRD”) under the Code, you must agree to receive your MRD through our Systematic Withdrawal Program so that we do not treat that part of your MRD that exceeds the GWB Amount as an excess withdrawal. (See “Guaranteed Withdrawal Benefit for Life—Withdrawals in Excess of Annual GWB Amount” for more information.)

In order to receive the greater of your eligible GWB Amount or MRD, you must agree to the following conditions:

We reserve the right to limit or modify this Systematic Withdrawal Program if we determine that the program will cause us to distribute during any Contract Year an amount more than the greater of the GWB Amount or the MRD for any calendar year.

Each Systematic Withdrawal may be subject to federal income taxes, including any penalty tax that may apply. We reserve the right to modify or discontinue the Systematic Withdrawal Program except as necessary to meet MRD withdrawals as described above. (For a discussion of the surrender charge, see “Expenses” above.)

We may be required to suspend or postpone payments for withdrawals or exchanges for any period when:

Federal laws designed to counter terrorism and prevent money laundering might, in certain circumstances, require us to block an Owner's ability to make certain transactions and thereby refuse to accept any requests for exchanges, withdrawals, surrenders, or death benefits until instructions are received from the appropriate regulator. We may also be required to provide additional information about you and your contract to government regulators.

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The following table summarizes information about the benefits under the contract.

The GWB Amount is determined each Contract Year by multiplying the Guaranteed Withdrawal Benefit Value (“GWB Value”), described below, by the Withdrawal Percentage, also described below. The GWB Value does not establish or guarantee any contract value or minimum return for any Investment Option and cannot be taken as a lump sum. Income taxes and penalties may apply to your withdrawals.

No benefit is payable until the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½. Withdrawals prior to the youngest Annuitant reaching 59½ will decrease the GWB Value as described below in “Withdrawals Before Youngest Annuitant Reaches Age 59½”. The Annuitant(s) will be listed on the contract and may not be changed after the contract date (except by court order).

You should carefully consider when to begin taking withdrawals. If you begin taking withdrawals too soon, you may limit the value of the GWB feature. For example, taking your first withdrawal at a younger age may result in a lower Withdrawal Percentage. However, if you delay taking withdrawals for too long, you may limit the number of years available for you to take withdrawals in the future (due to life expectancy).

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At any time during the Accumulation Phase, you can elect to annuitize under current annuity rates. This may provide higher income amounts if the current annuity option rates applied to the Contract Value on the Annuity Date exceed the GWB Amount payments. Also, after-tax annuity income payment amounts provided by annuitizing under current annuity rates may be higher due to different tax treatment of this income compared to the tax treatment of the payments received under the GWB feature. (See “Federal Income Tax Status”)

Tax Treatment. The tax treatment of withdrawals under the GWB feature is uncertain. It is conceivable that the amount of potential gain could be determined based on the GWB Value at the time of the withdrawal, if the GWB Value is greater than the Contract Value (prior to surrender charges, if applicable). This could result in a greater amount of taxable income reported under a withdrawal and conceivably a limited ability to recover any remaining basis if there is a loss on surrender of the contract. Consult your tax advisor prior to purchase.

Managing Your Withdrawals. It is important that you carefully manage your annual withdrawals. To retain the full guarantees of this feature, your annual withdrawals cannot exceed the GWB Amount each Contract Year. In other words, you should not take excess withdrawals. If you do take an excess withdrawal, we will reduce the GWB Value proportionately (as described below) and reduce the GWB Amount to the new GWB Value multiplied by the applicable Withdrawal Percentage. These reductions in the GWB Value and GWB Amount may be significant particularly when the Contract Value is lower than the GWB Value (see “Withdrawals in Excess of Annual GWB Amount” below). You are still eligible to receive lifetime payments so long as the withdrawal that exceeded the GWB Amount did not cause your Contract Value to decline to zero. If the Contract Value is reduced to zero because you make a full withdrawal and total withdrawals in that Contract Year (including the withdrawal that reduces the Contract Value to zero) exceed the GWB Amount, your contract will be terminated and you will not receive lifetime payments. It is your responsibility to manage withdrawals, and you will not be notified if you submit a withdrawal request that causes an excess withdrawal, including an excess withdrawal that reduces the Contract Value to zero and terminates the contract.

You are not required to withdraw the full GWB Amount each year. However, if you choose to receive only a part of your GWB Amount in any given Contract Year, your GWB Amount is not cumulative and your GWB Value and GWB Amount will not increase as a result of taking a smaller withdrawal. For example, if your Withdrawal Percentage is 5%, you cannot withdraw 3% of the GWB Value in one year and then withdraw 7% of the GWB Value the next year without making an excess withdrawal in the second year.

Required Minimum Distributions. For IRAs and other contracts subject to Section 401(a)(9) of the Code, you may be required to take withdrawals to fulfill MRD generally beginning at age 72 (age 70½, if you were born on or before June 30, 1949). These required distributions may be larger than your GWB Amount. If you enroll in the Systematic Withdrawal Program (see “Access to Your Money—Systematic Withdrawal Program”), we will not treat that part of your MRD that exceeds the GWB Amount as an excess withdrawal. You must be enrolled in the Systematic Withdrawal Program to qualify for this exception. The calculation of required distributions is based only on information relating to this contract only. To enroll in the Systematic Withdrawal Program, please contact our Annuity Service Center.

Before the youngest Annuitant reaches the age of 59½, the GWB Amount is zero.

Once the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½, your first withdrawal will establish a Withdrawal Percentage as shown in the table below. Once established, your Withdrawal Percentage will never change.

If the contract has two Annuitants on the contract date and one Annuitant dies before a Withdrawal Percentage is determined, the age of the surviving Annuitant will be used to determine the applicable Withdrawal Percentage from the table below. If you never take a withdrawal before the latest possible Annuity Date, the Withdrawal Percentage for age 76 and older indicated in the table below will be used to establish your eligible GWB Amount on the latest possible Annuity Date.

For contracts issued based on applications received on or after November 17, 2014:

Age at 1st Withdrawal	Withdrawal Percentage – Single Annuitant (Annuitant’s Age)	Withdrawal Percentage – Joint Annuitants (Youngest Annuitant’s Age)
59½ – 64	4%	4%
65 – 75	5%	4.75%
76 and older	5.50%	5.00%

Youngest Annuitant’s Age at 1st Withdrawal	Withdrawal Percentage
59½ – 64	4%
65 – 75	5%
76 and older	6%

Generally, your new GWB Amount will be equal to or greater than the first GWB Amount established following the first withdrawal after the youngest Annuitant reached 59½ as long as total withdrawals in any Contract Year do not exceed the GWB Amount for that same Contract Year.

Each time you make a withdrawal, your Contract Value will be reduced by the amount of the withdrawal. However, if total withdrawals in any Contract Year exceed the GWB Amount for that same Contract Year, there will be a proportionate reduction in your GWB Value as described below which may result in a lower GWB Amount in future Contract Years.

See Appendix C for examples of how your GWB Amount is calculated.

The GWB Value is a value that is used to determine the GWB Amount each Contract Year once you make your first withdrawal after the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½. Your contract will also have a GWB Value prior to the date the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½, and during that time the GWB Value may increase or decrease as described below.

The GWB Value on the contract date is equal to the Purchase Payment. If you make withdrawals before the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½ the GWB Value will be reduced proportionately. (See “Withdrawals Before Youngest Annuitant Reaches Age 59½” below). Similarly, if you make withdrawals after the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½ and the total withdrawals in a Contract Year are greater than the GWB Amount for that Contract Year, then the GWB Value will be reduced proportionately. (See “Withdrawals in Excess of Annual GWB Amount” below.)

If the Contract Value is lower than the GWB Value, the GWB Value will not change.

If the Contract Value is greater than the GWB Value, the GWB Value will be automatically increased to equal the Contract Value. If you make a withdrawal on the contract anniversary, the withdrawal will be deducted from the Contract Value after it is compared to the GWB Value.

If a contract anniversary is not on a Business Day, the GWB Value is compared to the Contract Value determined on the next Business Day.

Any new GWB Value will be used to determine the GWB Amount for the rest of that Contract Year, provided the youngest Annuitant has reached age 59½ and a Withdrawal Percentage has been established by your first withdrawal of a GWB Amount.

You are not eligible to withdraw any part of the GWB Amount until the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½. If you make a withdrawal before the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½, the GWB Value is reduced by a percentage determined by dividing the withdrawal amount by the Contract Value at time of the withdrawal. We calculate the new GWB Value as follows.

For example, assume your contract has one Annuitant who is age 55 and you made a $25,000 Purchase Payment (the example does not reflect the deduction of income taxes or tax penalties, or fees and charges other than the surrender charge):

If you withdraw more than the GWB Amount in any Contract Year on or after the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½, the GWB Value is reduced by an amount equal to the percentage determined by dividing the portion of a withdrawal that is in excess of the GWB Amount for that Contract Year (“excess withdrawal”) by the Contract Value at time of the excess withdrawal, as described below. The new GWB Value following an excess withdrawal is calculated as follows:

For example, assume your contract is in its sixth Contract Year, has one Annuitant who is age 60, a Contract Value of $30,000 and a GWB Value of $25,000 (the example does not reflect the deduction of income taxes or tax penalties or fees and charges; surrender charges do not apply after the fifth Contract Year):

If the contract is a qualified contract and you elect to receive your MRD under the Code through our Systematic Withdrawal Program, the references to GWB Amount in (1) and (2) above shall mean “the greater of the GWB Amount or any minimum required distribution under the Code determined exclusively by us from the Contract Value.” If you take a withdrawal to satisfy your minimum required distribution in a way other than through our Systematic Withdrawal Program and your MRD is in excess of your GWB Amount, the withdrawal may result in surrender charges (if applicable) and a reduction in your GWB Value.

Any premium tax amount that we deduct from your Contract Value will not be treated as an excess withdrawal.

See Appendix C for additional examples of GWB Value increases and decreases.

If the Contract Value is reduced to zero because you make a full withdrawal and total withdrawals in that Contract Year (including the withdrawal that reduces the Contract Value to zero) do not exceed the GWB Amount, we will convert the GWB Amount to Annuity Payments. If that happens, we will pay you the difference between your GWB Amount for that Contract Year (less prior withdrawals in that Contract Year) and the Contract Value prior to that withdrawal, and then, on the first day of the calendar month on or after your next contract anniversary, the contract will convert to an annuity option that will pay you an annual amount equal to your GWB Amount for so long as any Annuitant is still alive. The first payment will be equal to any remaining portion of the GWB Amount for the Contract Year at the time of conversion. Once a conversion occurs under this provision, the contract will no longer have a Contract Value.

If the Contract Value is reduced to zero because you make a full withdrawal and total withdrawals in that Contract Year (including the withdrawal that reduces the Contract Value to zero) exceed the GWB Amount, your contract will be terminated and you will not receive any Annuity Payments.

If you are receiving GWB Amount payments through our Systematic Withdrawal Program and a withdrawal under the Systematic Withdrawal Program causes this provision to apply, we will continue to pay your GWB Amount as an Annuity Payment on the same day of the month for the period you selected under the Systematic Withdrawal Program.

The resulting GWB Amount for future Contract Years will be paid in monthly Annuity Payments as long as each monthly Annuity Payment is at least $20. We reserve the right to pay the GWB Amount as an annual Annuity Payment or in any other payment method that is mutually agreeable to you and us.

Death Benefit After Conversion of GWB Amount to Annuity Payments. On the death of the last surviving Annuitant, payments will continue to your Beneficiary until the Beneficiary has received the Return of Purchase Payment death benefit described below under “Death Benefit During the Accumulation Phase.” Once Annuity Payments begin, the Return of Purchase Payment death benefit will be reduced by the amount of each Annuity Payment. These payments will be equal in amount, except for the last payment, which will be in an amount necessary to reduce the Return of Purchase Payment death benefit described below to zero.

If an Annuitant's age has been misstated, we will adjust the GWB Amount to reflect the actual age. If we have previously overpaid GWB Amounts and the GWB Amount has been converted to Annuity Payments as described in the Conversion of GWB Amount to Annuity Payments provision of this contract, we will withhold and apply any future GWB Amounts to the overpayment until we have recovered the amount of the overpayment. If the contract has terminated, we reserve the right to recover the amount of any overpayment from your estate. If we have previously underpaid GWB Amounts and

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the GWB Amount has been converted to Annuity Payments as described in the Conversion to Annuity Income of GWB Amount Payments provision of this Contract, we will make a lump sum payment equal to the amount previously underpaid plus interest at 6% per annum, compounded annually.

For contracts not owned by a trust, Owner(s) must be Annuitant(s). Because the Internal Revenue Code requires certain distributions following the death of an Owner, we generally limit joint ownership to spouses only. In order to continue the contract and the GWB after the first Annuitant’s death, the designated joint Annuitant must be the first Annuitant’s spouse on the date of death.

For contracts owned by a grantor trust, in order for the joint Annuitant to be able to continue the contract after the first Annuitant’s death, federal income tax law requires that the designated Beneficiary (in this case, the joint Annuitant) must be the Annuitant’s spouse on the date of the Annuitant’s death. This may impact certain estate planning considerations which depend on the grantor trust being treated as the designated Beneficiary and should be taken into account prior to the purchase of the contract.

We reserve the right to accelerate any payment, in a lump sum, that is less than $500 or to comply with requirements under the Code (including minimum distribution requirements for IRAs and other contracts subject to Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code and non-qualified contracts subject to Section 72(s)).

If you die during the Accumulation Phase, we will pay a death benefit to your Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries).

Where there are multiple Beneficiaries, the death benefit for each Beneficiary will be determined as of the time that Beneficiary submits the necessary documentation in Good Order. If we are presented in Good Order with notification of the death of the last surviving Annuitant before any requested transaction is completed (including transactions under automated investment strategies and automated withdrawal programs), we will cancel the request.

If you have a joint Annuitant, the death benefit will not be paid when the first Annuitant dies (subject to the requirements of the Code and except for certain qualified contracts with a joint Annuitant who is age 95 or older at the death of the first Annuitant—see “Spousal Continuation” below). Upon the death of either Annuitant, the surviving joint Annuitant will be the primary Beneficiary. Any other Beneficiary designation will be treated as a contingent Beneficiary, unless instructed otherwise.

If a non-natural person owns the contract, the Annuitant will be deemed to be the Owner in determining the death benefit.

The death benefit will be payable to your Beneficiaries upon the last surviving Annuitant’s death. The Beneficiaries must elect the death benefit to be paid under one of the two options below. Subject to our administrative procedures, we will pay a death benefit equal to the Contract Value death benefit if the Contract Value death benefit is greater than the sum of payments to be received under the Return of Purchase Payment death benefit. Until we are directed to pay those proceeds in a lump sum or under any other option we make available, the death benefit amount will remain in the Variable Account for up to five years from the date of death.

1) Contract Value

The first option is a death benefit equal to the Contract Value as determined as of the end of the Business Day on which we receive due proof of death and an election for the payment method. This death benefit amount remains in the Investment Options until each of the Beneficiaries submits the necessary documentation in Good Order to claim his/her death benefit. (See “General Death Benefit Provisions” below.) Any death benefit amounts held in the Variable Account on behalf of the remaining Beneficiaries are subject to investment risk.

2) Return of Purchase Payment Death Benefit

The second option is a Return of Purchase Payment death benefit. At issue the Return of Purchase Payment death benefit is equal to the Purchase Payment. The Return of Purchase Payment death benefit is reduced by each withdrawal as described below.

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A. Withdrawals Prior to Age 59½.

If you make withdrawals before the youngest Annuitant reaches age 59½, the Return of Purchase Payment death benefit will be reduced for each such withdrawal as follows:

B. Withdrawals On or After Age 59½.

If the last Annuitant dies before a Withdrawal Percentage has been determined, the Withdrawal Percentage will be based on the age of last Annuitant at time of death. If the last Annuitant had not reached age 59½ at the time of their death, the Withdrawal Percentage will be 4%.

The Return of Purchase Payment death benefit will be paid to your Beneficiary in monthly payments or at any frequency acceptable to your Beneficiary and us (but not less than annually). Such installment payments shall be equal in amount, except for the last payment, which will be in an amount necessary to reduce the Return of Purchase Payment death benefit to zero. Except to the extent required under federal income tax law, the total annual payment will not exceed the GWB Amount. If your Beneficiary dies while such payments are made, the payments will continue to the Beneficiary’s estate unless such other designee has been agreed to by us in writing.

See Appendix B for examples of the death benefit.

Any death benefit will be paid in accordance with applicable law or regulations governing death benefit payments, including the applicable requirements of the Code. The death benefit amount remains in the Variable Account until distribution begins. From the time the death benefit is determined until complete distribution is made, any amount in the Variable Account will continue to be subject to investment risk. This risk is borne by the Beneficiary.

After the death of all the Owners and Annuitants, each Beneficiary has the right to receive their share of the death benefit. Before we make a payment to any Beneficiary, we must receive at our Annuity Service Center due proof of death (generally a death certificate, see Proof of Death, below) for each Owner and Annuitant, an election for the payment method and any required tax withholding and other forms. We may seek to obtain a death certificate directly from the appropriate governmental body if we believe that any Owner may have died.

Once we have received due proof of death, we will, upon notice to us, pay any Beneficiary who has provided us with required tax withholding and other forms. We will then have no further obligations to that Beneficiary. If a Beneficiary has been designated to receive a specified fraction of the death benefit, we will pay that fraction as determined on the date of payment.

Proof of Death. We will require due proof of death before any death benefit is paid. Due proof of death will be:

If the Beneficiary under a qualified contract is the Annuitant's spouse, the tax law generally allows distributions to begin by the year in which the Annuitant would have reached 72 (which may be more or less than five years after the Annuitant's death).

A Beneficiary must elect the death benefit to be paid under one of the payment options. The entire death benefit must be paid within five years of the date of death unless, to the extent allowed under the Code, the Beneficiary elects to have the death benefit payable under an annuity option. The death benefit payable under an annuity option must be paid over the Beneficiary's lifetime or for a period not extending beyond the Beneficiary's life expectancy. For non-qualified contracts, payment must begin within one year of the date of death. For qualified contracts, payment must begin no later than the end of the calendar year immediately following the year of death. Any option elected by a Beneficiary must comply with the applicable federal income tax rules under the Code. The tax rules are complex and differ for non-qualified contracts and qualified contracts. As a general matter under the Code, the entire death benefit must be paid within five years (or in some cases 10 years for qualified contracts) of the Owner’s date of death unless an exception applies. You should consult your tax adviser about the tax rules applicable to your situation.

Upon the death of your Beneficiary, the death benefit would be required to be distributed in accordance with applicable tax law requirements under the Code. In some cases, this will require that the proceeds be distributed more rapidly than the method of distribution in effect at the time of your Beneficiary’s death.

If a lump sum payment is elected and all the necessary requirements are met, the payment will be made within seven days. Payment to the Beneficiary under an annuity option may only be elected during the 60-day period beginning with the date we receive due proof of death.

When the primary Beneficiary is the spouse of the Annuitant and is a joint Annuitant, upon the first Annuitant's death, the spouse will be deemed to have elected to continue the contract in his or her own name. If the contract is a tax-qualified contract and the surviving Annuitant is age 95 or older on the day we receive due proof death, the contract may not be continued. In this case, the surviving Annuitant may elect a death benefit as set forth above or may elect to receive lifetime Annuity Payments as set forth under Annuity Income Option (1) (see “Annuity Payments (The Income Phase)--Annuity Income Options”).

Spousal continuation will not satisfy minimum required distribution rules for qualified contracts other than IRAs (see “Federal Income Tax Status”). For contracts owned by a grantor trust, in order for the spouse to be able to continue the contract after the first Annuitant’s death, federal income tax law requires that the joint Annuitant must be the Annuitant’s spouse on the date of the Annuitant’s death.

Under the Code, spousal continuation and certain distribution options are available only to a person who is defined as a “spouse” under applicable federal law. All contract provisions will be interpreted and administered in accordance with the requirements of the Code. Any Code reference to “spouses” includes those persons who enter into lawful marriages under state law, regardless of sex.

We do not intend the following discussion to be tax advice. For tax advice you should consult a tax adviser. Although the following discussion is based on our understanding of federal income tax laws as currently interpreted, there is no guarantee that those laws or interpretations will not change.

This discussion does not address federal gift tax, state or local income tax, or other considerations which may be involved in the purchase, operation, or exercise of any rights or options under the contract. Also, this discussion does not address estate tax issues that might arise due to the death of an Owner or Annuitant. The particular situation of each Owner, Annuitant, and Beneficiary will determine the federal estate taxes and the state and local estate, inheritance and other taxes due. You should seek competent tax advice on such matters pertaining to you.

In addition, we make no guarantee regarding any tax treatment – federal, state, or local – of any contract or of any transaction involving a contract.

For federal tax purposes, the term “spouse” refers to the person to whom you are lawfully married, regardless of sex. The term “spouse” generally will not include individuals who are in a registered domestic partnership or civil union not denominated as marriage under state or other applicable law.

Under existing provisions of the Code, any increase in an Owner’s Contract Value is generally not taxable to the Owner until received, either in the form of annuity income payments or in some other form of distribution. However, as discussed below, this rule applies only if:

In certain circumstances, variable annuity contract owners may be considered the owners, for federal income tax purposes of the assets of a segregated asset account, such as the Variable Account, used to support their contracts. In those circumstances, income and gains from the segregated asset account would be includible in the contract owners’ gross income. The Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) has stated in published rulings that a variable contract owner will be considered the owner of the assets of a segregated asset account if the owner possesses incidents of ownership in those assets, such as the ability to exercise investment control over the assets. As of the date of this prospectus, no comprehensive guidance has been issued by the IRS clarifying the circumstances when such investment control by a variable contract owner would exist. As a result, your right to make exchanges among the Investment Options may cause you to be considered the owner of the assets of the Variable Account. We therefore reserve the right to modify the contract as necessary to attempt to prevent contract Owners from being considered the owners of the assets of the Variable Account. However, there is no assurance such efforts would be successful.

It is conceivable that certain benefits or the charges for certain benefits such as the guaranteed withdrawal benefit, could be considered to be taxable each year as deemed distributions from the contract to pay for non-annuity benefits. We currently treat these charges and benefits as an intrinsic part of the annuity contract and do not tax report these as taxable income until distributions are actually made. However, it is possible that this may change in the future if we determine that this is required by the IRS. If so, the charges or benefits could also be subject to a 10% penalty tax if the taxpayer is under age 59½.

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On the contract date, the Annuity Date is automatically set to be the first day of the calendar month on or after the contract anniversary that falls on or after the oldest Owner’s 95th birthday. Federal income tax rules do not expressly identify a particular age by which annuity payments must begin. However, if the contract’s Annuity Date occurs (or is scheduled to occur) at too advanced an age, it is conceivable that the Internal Revenue Service could take the position that the contract is not an annuity for federal income tax purposes. In that event, the income and gains under the contract could be currently includible in the Owner’s income.

The following discussion assumes that the contract will be treated as an annuity contract for federal income tax purposes.

In addition, to qualify as an annuity for federal tax purposes, the contract must satisfy certain requirements for distributions in the event of the death of the Owner of the contract. The contract contains such required distribution provisions. For further information on these requirements see the Statement of Additional Information.

You may use the contract as an Individual Retirement Annuity. The IRA contract has not yet been approved by the IRS as to the form of the IRA. Under Section 408(b) of the Code, eligible individuals may contribute to an Individual Retirement Annuity (“IRA”). The Code permits certain “rollover” contributions to be made to an IRA. In particular, certain qualifying distributions from a 401(a) plan, a tax sheltered annuity, a 403(b) plan, a Governmental 457(b) plan, or an IRA, may be received tax-free if rolled over to an IRA within 60 days of receipt. Because the contract’s minimum initial payment of $50,000 is greater than the maximum annual contribution permitted to an IRA, a qualified contract may be purchased only in connection with a “rollover” of the proceeds from a qualified plan, tax sheltered annuity, or IRA.

In order to qualify as an IRA under Section 408(b) of the Code, a contract must contain certain provisions:

Contracts issued on a qualified basis will conform to the requirements for an IRA and will be amended to conform to any future changes in the requirements for an IRA.

Special rules apply in the case of an IRA where the Beneficiary is the surviving spouse which allow the spouse to assume the contract as Owner. Alternative rules permit a spousal Beneficiary under a qualified contract, including an IRA, to defer the minimum distribution requirements until the end of the year in which the deceased spouse would have attained age 72 (age 70 ½ if the deceased was born on or before June 30, 1949), or to roll over the death proceeds to his or her own IRA or to another eligible retirement plan in which he or she participates.

The following information describes changes in federal tax law affecting the required minimum distributions (“MRDs”) that you must take from a qualified annuity contract during your life and that your beneficiary must take following your death.

If you are receiving or intend to receive your minimum distributions in the form of annuity payments under an Annuity Income Option payable over the joint lives of you and a Beneficiary, or over a guaranteed duration of more than 10 years, be advised that the federal tax law may require that after your death, any remaining payments be made over a shorter period or be reduced to satisfy the RMD rules and avoid the 50% excise tax. Other complex rules also apply to RMDs taken in the form of Annuity Payments.

You should consult with your tax adviser regarding these changes.

Under current law, you will not be taxed on increases in the value of your contract until a distribution occurs.

A distribution may occur in the form of a withdrawal, payments following the death of an Owner and payments under an Annuity Income Option.

The assignment or pledge of any portion of the value of a contract may also be treated as a distribution. In the case of a qualified contract, you may not receive or make any such pledge. Any such pledge will result in disqualification of the contract as an IRA and inclusion of the value of the entire contract in income.

Additionally, a transfer of non-qualified contract for less than full and adequate consideration will result in a deemed distribution, unless the transfer is to your spouse (or to a former spouse pursuant to divorce decree).

The taxable portion of a distribution is taxed as ordinary income. Under current federal income tax law, the taxable portion of distributions under variable annuity contracts and qualified plans (including IRAs) is not eligible for the reduced tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains and qualifying dividends.

If you fully surrender your contract before annuity income payments commence, you will be taxed on the portion of the distribution that exceeds your cost basis in your contract. In addition, amounts received as the result of the death of the Owner or Annuitant that are in excess of your cost basis will also be taxed.

For non-qualified contracts, the cost basis is generally the amount of your Purchase Payments (your after-tax investment in the contract), and the taxable portion of the proceeds is the amount which exceeds your return of cost basis. Taxable amounts are generally taxed as ordinary income, and may be subject to a 10% penalty tax (see “10% Penalty Tax on Early Withdrawals” section in this prospectus.) A full surrender of a non-qualified contract may also be subject to a 3.8% Net Investment Income tax (see “3.8% Net Investment Income” section in this prospectus.)

For qualified contracts, we will generally tax report the entire amount of the surrender payment to the IRS in accordance with applicable IRS instructions. You may want to discuss with your tax adviser whether you may want to file an IRS Form 8606 each year for any part of your Purchase Payment relating to after-tax, non-deductible traditional IRA contributions.

Withdrawals of the GWB Amount and withdrawals received under the Systematic Withdrawal Program are treated as partial withdrawals.

Partial withdrawals under a non-qualified contract are generally treated for tax purposes as first being taxable withdrawals of investment income, rather than as return of your cost basis, until all investment income has been withdrawn. You will be taxed on the amount withdrawn to the extent that your Contract Value at that time exceeds your cost basis. In the event of your GWB Amount in a Contract Year exceeds your Contract Value, you will be taxed on the amount withdrawn to the extent that your GWB Amount exceeds your cost basis. Withdrawals may also be subject to a 3.8% Net Investment Income tax (see “3.8% Net Investment Income” section in this prospectus.)

For qualified contracts, we will generally tax report the entire amount of the surrender payment to the IRS in accordance with applicable IRS instructions. You are responsible for working with your tax adviser to determine what amounts to include on your tax return. You may want to discuss with your tax adviser whether you may want to file an IRS Form 8606 each year for any part of your Purchase Payment relating to after-tax, non-deductible traditional IRA contributions.

Partial and complete withdrawals may be subject to a 10% penalty tax (see “10% Penalty Tax on Early Withdrawals”). Partial and complete withdrawals also may be subject to federal income tax withholding requirements.

In the case of a qualified contract, the tax law requires for all post-1986 contributions and distributions that all individual retirement accounts and annuities be treated as one contract.

Although the tax consequences may vary depending on the form of annuity selected under the contract, the recipient of Annuity Income payments under the contract generally is taxed on the portion of such income payments that exceed the cost basis in the contract. In the case of fixed income payments, like the annuity Income payments provided under the contract, the exclusion amount is determined by multiplying (1) the annuity income payment by (2) the ratio of the investment in the contract, adjusted for any period certain or refund feature, to the total expected amount of annuity income payments for the term of the contract (as determined under Treasury Department regulations). Once the total amount of the investment in the contract is excluded, Annuity Payments will be fully taxable. If annuity income payments cease because of the death of the Annuitant and before the total amount of the investment in the contract is recovered, the unrecovered amount generally will be allowed as a deduction.

For qualified contracts, we will generally tax report the entire amount of the surrender payment to the IRS in accordance with applicable IRS instructions. You are responsible for working with your tax adviser to determine what amounts to include on your tax return. You may want to discuss with your tax adviser whether you may want to file an IRS Form 8606 each year for any part of your Purchase Payment relating to after-tax, non-deductible traditional IRA contributions.

Federal tax law imposes a 3.8% Net Investment Income tax on the lesser of

“Net investment income” in item 1 does not include distributions from tax-qualified plans (i.e., IRAs, Roth IRAs, or arrangements described in Code Sections 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 408, 408A, or 457(b)) but such income will increase “modified adjusted gross income” in item 2.

Other exceptions may be applicable under certain circumstances and special rules apply or may become applicable in connection with the exceptions enumerated above. You should consult your tax adviser to confirm whether an exception applies and the requirements to meet any applicable exception.

We believe that systematic withdrawals under the Systematic Withdrawal Program would not satisfy the exception to the 10-percent penalty tax described in (4) above. You should consult your tax adviser before electing to take systematic withdrawals commencing prior to age 59½.

If you receive systematic withdrawals or any other payments that you intend to qualify for the exception described in (4) above, you should consult your tax adviser to ensure that you meet and continue to meet the requirements under applicable tax law, including Code Section 72 and applicable IRS guidance. Any modifications (except due to death or disability) to such payments before age 59 ½ or within five years after beginning these payments, whichever is later, may result in the retroactive imposition of the 10% federal income tax penalty with interest. Such modifications may include but are not limited to additional Purchase Payments to the contract (including tax-free transfers or rollovers) and additional withdrawals from the contract.

In the case of a qualified contract, a 50% excise tax is imposed on the amount by which required MRD exceeds actual distributions.

We will withhold and remit to the U.S. Government a part of the taxable portion of each distribution made under the contract, unless the Owner or Beneficiary files a written election prior to the distribution stating that he or she chooses not to have any amounts withheld. Such an election will not relieve you of the obligation to pay income taxes on the taxable portion of any distribution.

We may issue the contract in exchange for all or part of another annuity or life insurance contract that you own. Such an exchange will be tax free if certain requirements are satisfied. An exchange in whole of an annuity contract for another annuity contract or for a qualified long-term care insurance policy will generally be a tax-free transaction under Section 1035 of the Code. If the exchange is tax free, your investment in the contract immediately after the exchange will generally be the same as that of the contract exchanged. Your Contract Value immediately after the exchange may exceed your investment in the contract. That excess may be includable in income should amounts subsequently be withdrawn or distributed from the contract (e.g. as a partial surrender, full surrender, annuity income payment or death benefit). If you exchange part of an existing contract of a contract, the IRS might treat the two as one annuity contract in certain circumstances. See “Aggregation of Contracts” above.

In addition, before the Annuity Date, if we agree, you may exchange all (but not part) of your Contract Value for any immediate annuity contract we then offer. Such an exchange will be tax free if certain requirements are satisfied.

Some of the ramifications of a partial exchange remain unclear. You should consult your tax adviser concerning potential tax consequences prior to any partial exchange or split of annuity contracts.

While no attempt is being made to discuss the federal estate tax implications of the contract, you should keep in mind that the value of an annuity contract owned by a decedent and payable to a beneficiary by virtue of surviving the decedent is included in the decedent's gross estate. Depending on the terms of the annuity contract, the value of the annuity included in the gross estate may be the value of the lump sum payment payable to the designated beneficiary or the actuarial value of the payments to be received by the beneficiary. Consult an estate planning adviser for more information.

Under certain circumstances, the Code may impose a “generation-skipping transfer tax” when all or part of an annuity contract is transferred to, or a death benefit is paid to, an individual two or more generations younger than the contract owner. Regulations issued under the Code may require us to deduct the tax from your contract, or from any applicable payment, and pay it directly to the IRS.

The discussion above provides general information regarding U.S. federal income tax consequences to annuity purchasers that are U.S. citizens or residents. Purchasers that are not U.S. citizens or residents will generally be subject to the U.S. federal withholding tax on taxable distributions from annuity contracts at a 30% rate, unless a lower treaty rate applies. In addition, purchasers may be subject to state and/or municipal taxes and taxes that may be imposed by the purchaser's country of citizenship or residence. Prospective purchasers are advised to consult with a qualified tax adviser regarding U.S., state, and foreign taxation with respect to an annuity contract purchase.

The Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 2011 (the “2011 PR Code”) taxes distributions from non-qualified annuity contracts differently than in the U.S. Distributions that are not in the form of an annuity (including partial surrenders and period certain payments) are treated under the 2011 PR Code first as a return of investment. Therefore, a substantial portion of the amounts distributed generally will be excluded from gross income for Puerto Rico tax purposes until the cumulative amount paid exceeds your tax basis. The amount of income on annuity distributions (payable over your lifetime) is calculated differently under the 2011 PR Code. Since the U.S. source income generated by a Puerto Rico bona fide resident is subject to U.S. income tax and the Internal Revenue Service issued guidance in 2004 which indicated that the income from an annuity contract issued by a U.S. life insurer would be considered U.S. source income, the timing of recognition of income from an annuity contract could vary between the two jurisdictions. Although the 2011 PR Code provides a credit against the Puerto Rico income tax for U.S. income taxes paid, an individual may not get full credit because of the timing differences. You should consult with a personal tax adviser regarding the tax consequences of purchasing an annuity contract and/or any proposed distribution, particularly a partial distribution or election to annuitize.

Special provisions related to damage from a Declared Disaster. Upon the occurrence of a “Declared Disaster”, like a hurricane, Retirement Plans are allowed to make Eligible Distributions to a participant resident of Puerto Rico who requests the same. The Eligible Distribution may not exceed $100,000, be made during a period of time to be identified by the Puerto Rico Treasury through administrative guidance and be used to cover damages or losses suffered, and extraordinary expenses incurred by the individual as a result of the Declared Disaster. The first $10,000 will be exempted from income taxation, including the alternative basic tax, and amounts exceeding $10,000 will be subject to a 10% income tax to be withheld at the source, in lieu of any other income tax, including the alternate basic tax.

We may be entitled to certain tax benefits related to the assets of the Variable Account. These tax benefits, which may include foreign tax credits and corporate dividends received deductions, are not passed back to the Variable Account or to contract Owners because we are the owner of the assets from which the tax benefits are derived.

Although the likelihood of legislative changes is uncertain, there is always the possibility that the tax treatment of the contract could change by legislation or otherwise. We will notify you of any changes to your contract. Consult a tax adviser with respect to legislative developments and their effect on the contract.

We have the right to modify the contract in response to legislative changes that could otherwise diminish the favorable tax treatment that annuity contract owners currently receive. We make no guarantee regarding the tax status of the contract and do not intend the above discussion as tax advice.

The Company is taxed as a life insurance company under the Code. The earnings of the Variable Account are taxed as part of our operations, and thus the Variable Account is not separately taxed as a “regulated investment company” under the Code. Under the existing federal income tax laws, investment income and capital gains of the Variable Account are not taxed to the extent they are applied under a contract. Therefore, we do not expect to incur federal income taxes on earnings of the Variable Account to the extent the earnings are credited under the contracts. Based on this, no charge is being made currently to the Variable Account for our federal income taxes. We will periodically review the need for a charge to the Variable Account for company federal income taxes. If the Company is taxed on investment income or capital gains of the Variable Account, then the company may impose a charge against the Variable Account in order to provide for such taxes.

Under current laws we may incur state and local taxes (in addition to premium taxes) in several states. At present, these taxes are not significant and are not charged against the contracts or the Variable Account. If the amount of these taxes changes substantially, we may make charges for such taxes against the Variable Account.

Brighthouse Life Insurance Company (BLIC) is a stock life insurance company originally chartered in Connecticut in 1863 and currently subject to the laws of the State of Delaware. Prior March 6, 2017, BLIC was known as MetLife Insurance Company USA. BLIC is licensed to conduct business in all states of the United States, except New York, and in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. BLIC is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of, and ultimately controlled by, Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (“BHF”), a publicly traded company. BHF, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the largest providers of annuity and life insurance products in the U.S. BLIC’s executive offices are located at 11225 North Community House Road, Charlotte, NC 28277.

We have established a separate account, Brighthouse Separate Account A (the Variable Account), to hold the assets that underlie the contracts. The Board of Directors of our predecessor, MetLife Investors USA Insurance Company (MetLife Investors), adopted a resolution to establish the Variable Account under Delaware insurance law on May 29, 1980. We have registered the Variable Account with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a unit investment trust under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The Variable Account is divided into subaccounts.

The Variable Account’s assets are solely for the benefit of those who invest in the Variable Account and no one else, including our creditors. The assets of the Variable Account are held in our name on behalf of the Variable Account and legally belong to us. All the income, gains and losses (realized and unrealized) resulting from these assets are credited to or charged against the contracts issued from this Variable Account without regard to our other business.

We reserve the right to transfer assets of the Variable Account to another account, and to modify the structure or operation of the Variable Account, subject to necessary regulatory approvals. If we do so, we will notify you of any such changes and we guarantee that the modification will not affect your Contract Value.

We are obligated to pay all money we owe under the contracts—such as death benefits and income payments—even if that amount exceeds the assets in the Variable Account. Any such amount that exceeds the assets in the Variable Account is paid from our general account. Any such amount under the GWB that exceeds the assets in the Variable Account is also paid from our general account. Benefit amounts paid from the general account are subject to our financial strength and claims-paying ability and our long-term ability to make such payments. We issue other annuity contracts and life insurance policies where we pay all money we owe under those contracts and policies from our general account. BLIC is regulated as an insurance company under state law, which includes limits on the amount and type of investments in its general account. However, there is no guarantee that we will be able to meet our claims-paying obligations; there are risks to purchasing any insurance product.

The investment adviser to certain of the investment options offered with the contracts or with other variable annuity contracts issued through the Variable Account may be regulated as commodity pool operators. While it does not concede that the Variable Account is a commodity pool, BLIC has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the Commodities Exchange Act (“CEA”), and is not subject to registration or regulation as a pool operator under the CEA.

We have entered into a distribution agreement with our affiliate, Brighthouse Securities, LLC (Distributor), 11225 North Community House Road, Charlotte, NC 28277, for the distribution of the contracts. Both the Company and the Distributor are indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of BHF. Distributor is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA provides background information about broker-dealers and their registered representatives through FINRA BrokerCheck. You may contact the FINRA BrokerCheck Hotline at 1-800-289-9999, or log onto www.finra.org. An investor brochure that includes information describing FINRA BrokerCheck is available through the Hotline or on-line.

Distributor and we have entered into selling agreements with a selling firm for the sale of contracts. We pay compensation to Distributor for sales of the contracts by the selling firm. We also pay amounts to Distributor that may be used for its operating and other expenses, including sales distribution.

As noted above, Distributor, and in certain cases, we, have entered into selling agreements with unaffiliated selling firms for the sale of the contracts. All selling firms receive commissions, and they may also receive some form of non-cash compensation. Certain selected selling firms may also receive additional compensation (described below under “Additional Compensation for Selected Selling Firms”). These commissions and other incentives or payments are not charged directly to contract Owners or the Variable Account. We intend to recoup commissions and other sales expenses through fees and charges deducted under the contract or from our general account. A portion of the payments made to selling firms may be passed on to their sales representatives in accordance with a selling firm’s internal compensation programs. Those programs may also include other types of cash and non-cash compensation and other benefits. Financial representatives of the selling firms may also receive non-cash compensation, pursuant to their firm’s guidelines, directly from us or Distributor.

We and Distributor have entered into selling agreements with selling firms that have an affiliate that acts as investment adviser and/or subadviser to one or more Investment Options under the contract. These investment advisory firms include Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, FMR UK, FMR HK, and FMR Japan.

Ask your financial representative for further information about what payments your financial representative and the selling firm for which he or she works may receive in connection with your purchase of a contract.

Compensation Paid to Selling Firms. Distributor pays compensation to all selling firms in the form of commissions and may also provide certain types of non-cash compensation. The maximum commission payable for sales of this contract by a selling firm is 2.5% of the Purchase Payment, along with annual trail commissions up to 0.05% of Contract Value for so long as the contract remains in effect or as agreed in the selling agreement.

Distributor may also pay commissions when a contract Owner elects to begin receiving regular Annuity Payments (see “Annuity Payments (The Income Phase).”) Distributor may also provide non-cash compensation items that we may provide jointly with Distributor. Non-cash items include expenses for conference or seminar trips and certain gifts, prizes and awards.

Ask your financial representative for further information about what payments your financial representative and the selling firm for which he or she works may receive in connection with your purchase of a contract.

Additional Compensation for Selected Selling Firms. Distributor has entered into distribution arrangements with certain selected unaffiliated selling firms. Under these arrangements, Distributor may pay additional compensation to selected selling firms, including marketing allowances, introduction fees, persistency payments, preferred status fees and industry conference fees. Marketing allowances are periodic payments to selling firms based on cumulative periodic (usually quarterly) sales of our insurance contracts (including the contracts offered by this prospectus) and may also depend on meeting thresholds in the sale of certain of our insurance contracts (other than the contracts offered by this prospectus). They may also include payments we make to cover the cost of marketing or other support services provided for or by financial representatives who may sell our products. Introduction fees are payments to a selling firm in connection with the addition of our products to the selling firm’s line of investment products, including expenses relating to establishing the data communications systems necessary for the selling firm to offer, sell and administer our products. Persistency payments are periodic payments based on contract values of our variable insurance contracts (including Contract Values of the contracts) or other persistency standards. Preferred status fees are paid to obtain preferred treatment of the contracts in a selling firm’s marketing programs, which may include marketing services, participation in marketing meetings, listings in data resources and increased access to their financial representatives. Industry conference fees are amounts paid to cover in part the costs associated with sales conferences and educational seminars for selling firms' financial representatives. See the Statement of Additional Information for more information.

The additional types of compensation discussed above are not offered to all selling firms. The terms of any particular agreement governing compensation may vary among selling firms and the amounts may be significant. The prospect of receiving, or the receipt of, additional compensation as described above may provide a selling firm and/or its sales representatives with an incentive to favor sales of the contracts over other annuity contracts (or other investments) with respect to which a selling firm does not receive additional compensation, or lower levels of additional compensation. You may wish to take such payment arrangements into account when considering and evaluating any recommendation relating to the contracts. For more information about any such additional compensation arrangements, ask your financial representative. (See the Statement of Additional Information—“Distribution” for a list of selling firms that received compensation during 2021, as well as the range of additional compensation paid.)

We will treat your request for a contract transaction, or your submission of a Purchase Payment, as received by us if we receive a request conforming to our administrative procedures or a payment at our Annuity Service Center before the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange on that day (generally 4:00PM Eastern Time). We will treat your submission of a Purchase Payment as received by us if we receive a payment at our Annuity Service Center (or a designee receives a payment in accordance with the designee’s administrative procedures) before the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange on that day. If we receive the request, or if we (or our designee) receive the payment, after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on that day, or if the New York Stock Exchange is not open that day, then the request or payment will be treated as received on the next day when the New York Stock Exchange is open. Our Annuity Service Center is located at P.O. Box 770001, Cincinnati, OH 45277-0050. If you send your Purchase Payments or transaction requests to an address other than the one we have designated for receipt of such Purchase Payments or requests, we may return the Purchase Payment to you, or there may be a delay in applying the Purchase Payment or transaction to your contract.

Requests for service may be made:

We will use reasonable procedures such as requiring certain identifying information, tape recording the telephone instructions, and providing written confirmation of the transaction, in order to confirm that instructions communicated by telephone, fax, Internet or other means are genuine. Any telephone, fax or Internet instructions reasonably believed by us to be genuine will be your responsibility, including losses arising from any errors in the communication of instructions. As a result of this policy, you will bear the risk of loss. If we do not employ reasonable procedures to confirm that instructions communicated by telephone, fax or Internet are genuine, we may be liable for any losses due to unauthorized or fraudulent transactions. All other requests and elections under your contract must be in writing signed by the proper party, must include any necessary documentation and must be received at our Annuity Service Center to be effective. If acceptable to us, requests or elections relating to beneficiaries and ownership will take effect as of the date signed unless we have already acted in reliance on the prior status. We are not responsible for the validity of any written request or action.

We are not a fiduciary and do not give advice or make recommendations regarding insurance or investment products. Ask your financial representative for guidance regarding any requests or elections and for information about your particular investment needs. Please bear in mind that your financial representative, or any financial firm or financial professional you consult to provide advice, is not acting on our behalf. We do not recommend and are not responsible for any securities transactions or investment strategies involving securities (including account recommendations).

Telephone and Computer Systems. Telephone and computer systems may not always be available. Any telephone or computer system, whether it is yours, your service provider’s, your agent’s, or ours, can experience outages or slowdowns for a variety of reasons. These outages or slowdowns may delay or prevent our processing of your request. Although we have taken precautions to help our systems handle heavy use, we cannot promise complete reliability under all circumstances. If you experience technical difficulties or problems, you should make your transaction request in writing to our Annuity Service Center.

Confirming Transactions. We will send out confirmations that a transaction was recently completed. Unless you inform us of any errors within 15 days of receipt, we will consider these communications to be accurate and complete.

Owner. You, as the Owner of the contract, have all the interest and rights under the contract.

These rights include the right to:

The Owner is as designated at the time the contract is issued. The Owner may not be changed (unless removed pursuant to court order).

Joint Owner. The contract can be owned by joint Owners, generally limited to two natural persons who must be spouses. Upon the death of either Owner, the surviving Owner will be the primary Beneficiary. Any other Beneficiary designation will be treated as a contingent Beneficiary unless otherwise indicated.

Beneficiary. The Beneficiary is the person(s) or entity you name to receive any death benefit. The Beneficiary is named at the time the contract is issued unless changed at a later date. Unless an irrevocable Beneficiary has been named, you can change the Beneficiary at any time before you die. If joint Owners are named, unless you tell us otherwise, the surviving joint Owner will be the primary Beneficiary. Any other Beneficiary designation will be treated as a contingent Beneficiary (unless you tell us otherwise).

Abandoned Property Requirements. Every state has unclaimed property laws which generally declare non-ERISA annuity contracts to be abandoned after a period of inactivity of three to five years from the contract’s maturity date (the latest day on which annuity payments may begin under the contract) or the date the death benefit is due and payable. For example, if the payment of a death benefit has been triggered, but, if after a thorough search, we are still unable to locate the Beneficiary of the death benefit, or the Beneficiary does not come forward to claim the death benefit in a timely manner, the death benefit will be paid to the abandoned property division or unclaimed property office of the state in which the Beneficiary or the Owner last resided, as shown on our books and records, or to our state of domicile. (Escheatment is the formal, legal name for this process.) However, the state is obligated to pay the death benefit (without interest) if your Beneficiary steps forward to claim it with the proper documentation. To prevent your contract's proceeds from being paid to the state's abandoned or unclaimed property office, it is important that you update your Beneficiary designations, including addresses, if and as they change. Please call (800) 634-9361 to make such changes.

Annuitant. The Annuitant is the natural person(s) on whose life we base Annuity Payments. You cannot change the Annuitant after the contract has been issued (unless removed pursuant to court order). Any reference to Annuitant includes any joint Annuitant under an annuity option. The Owner(s) and the Annuitant(s) must be the same person except for qualified contracts, which can have only one Owner but may have joint Annuitants, or where the contract is owned by certain trusts, but there may be joint Annuitants.

If the contract is issued pursuant to a qualified plan, there may be limitations on your ability to assign the contract.

In the ordinary course of business, the Company, similar to other life insurance companies, is involved in lawsuits (including class action lawsuits), arbitrations and other legal proceedings. Also, from time to time, state and federal regulators or other officials conduct formal and informal examinations or undertake other actions dealing with various aspects of the financial services and insurance industries. In some legal proceedings involving insurers, substantial damages have been sought and/or material settlement payments have been made.

It is not possible to predict with certainty the ultimate outcome of any pending legal proceeding or regulatory action. However, the Company does not believe any such action or proceeding will have a material adverse effect upon the Variable Account or upon the ability of Distributor to perform its contract with the Variable Account or of the Company to meet its obligations under the contracts.

Our financial statements and the financial statements of the Variable Account have been included in the SAI.

The current expenses and performance information below reflects fees and expenses of the Investment Option, but do not reflect the other fees and expenses that your contract may charge. Expenses would be higher and performance would be lower if these other charges were included. Each Investment Option’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of future performance.

A-1

The investment results shown in the examples below are hypothetical and are not representative of past or future performance. Actual investment results may be more or less than those shown and will depend upon a number of factors, including the investment allocation made by a contract Owner and the investment experience of the Investment Options. The examples below do not reflect the deduction of fees and expenses, surrender charges or income taxes and tax penalties. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Assume your contract has one Annuitant who is age 65 and you made a $100,000 Purchase Payment on the contract date. The initial Return of Purchase Payment death benefit is $100,000. You take a withdrawal in the first Contract Year equal to your GWB Amount of $5,000 ($100,000 * 5% = $5,000). The Return of Purchase Payment death benefit gets reduced to $95,000. Later in that same Contract Year, you take an additional withdrawal of $4,500 when your Contract Value is $90,000. The Return of Purchase Payment death benefit is reduced to $90,250 ($95,000 – $95,000 * ($4,500 / $90,000)).

Assume your contract has one Annuitant who is age 65 and you made a $100,000 Purchase Payment on the contract date. The initial Return of Purchase Payment death benefit is $100,000. You take a withdrawal of $6,000 when your Contract Value is $98,000. Your GWB Amount for the first Contract Year is $5,000 ($100,000 * 5% = $5,000), so $1,000 of your withdrawal is considered an excess withdrawal. The Return of Purchase Payment death benefit first reduces by the GWB Amount to $95,000 ($100,000 – $5,000). Then the Return of Purchase Payment death benefit is further reduced for the excess withdrawal to $93,978 ($95,000 – $95,000*($1,000 / $93,000)).

Assume your contract has one Annuitant who is age 72 and you made a $100,000 Purchase Payment on the contract date. The initial Return of Purchase Payment death benefit is $100,000. You elect to take the greater of your GWB amount or your MRD amount through the Systematic Withdrawal Program. During the first Contract Year, you take out your $5,000 GWB Amount and your Return of Purchase Payment death benefit goes to $95,000. In your second Contract Year, your MRD amount is $5,500, so you take that amount out of your contract. Since you are signed up to take your MRD through the Systematic Withdrawal Program, this withdrawal is not considered an excess withdrawal, and your Return of Purchase Payment death benefit is reduced by the amount of the withdrawal to $89,500.

B-1

The purpose of these examples is to illustrate the operation of the GWB feature. The investment results shown are hypothetical and are not representative of past or future performance. Actual investment results may be more or less than those shown and will depend upon a number of factors, including investment allocations and the investment experience of the Investment Options. The examples do not reflect the deduction of fees and charges (other than applicable surrender charges) or income taxes and tax penalties. The GWB does not establish or guarantee a Contract Value or minimum return for any Investment Option. The GWB Value cannot be taken as a lump sum.

Assume your contract has one Annuitant who is age 64 and you made a $25,000 Purchase Payment on the contract date. Assume you make one withdrawal in the first Contract Year equal to your eligible GWB Amount ($1,000 = 4% Withdrawal Percentage multiplied by the $25,000 GWB Value). Your GWB Value would be $25,000 for the entire first Contract Year. If your Contract Value is $30,000 at time of the first contract anniversary, your GWB Value will be increased to $30,000 and your GWB Amount for the second Contract Year would be increased to $1,200 to reflect the increased GWB Value.

In the same example, if the Contract Value was $20,000 at time of the first contract anniversary, the GWB Value would be unchanged on the contract anniversary and would remain at $25,000. Similarly, the GWB Amount would also be unchanged and remain $1,000.

Assume your contract has one Annuitant who is age 64 and you made a $100,000 Purchase Payment on the contract date. If you make no withdrawals during the first Contract Year your GWB Value would be $100,000 for the whole Contract Year. Further assume that you make a $3,000 withdrawal during the first Contract Year. This withdrawal will establish the Withdrawal Percentage as 4% and the GWB Amount as $4,000. Because the withdrawal does not exceed your eligible GWB Amount, there are no surrender charges applicable to this withdrawal and there is no reduction to the GWB Value. Your Contract Value will be reduced by $3,000, the amount of the withdrawal.

Further assume that later in that first Contract Year, you make a second withdrawal, this time for $10,000. At the time of this $10,000 withdrawal, the GWB Amount is $4,000 and the sum of all prior withdrawals in this Contract Year is $3,000. Therefore, $1,000 of the withdrawal is treated as a withdrawal of your GWB Amount and the remainder of the withdrawal ($9,000) is treated as an excess withdrawal. Assume your Contract Value would have been $104,000 at the end of the valuation period had you not taken the withdrawal. Your GWB Value will be reduced by 8.74%. The 8.74% reduction is determined by dividing the $9,000 excess withdrawal by $103,000 ($104,000 – $1,000 determined above) resulting in a new GWB Value of $91,260 ($100,000 GWB Value minus [100,000 multiplied by .0874]). Additionally, a $180 surrender charge is due on the $10,000 withdrawal (2% of the $9,000 excess withdrawal).

Further assume that you make a third withdrawal in the first Contract Year, this time for $5,000. At the time of this $5,000 withdrawal, the GWB Amount is $4,000 and the sum of all prior withdrawals in this Contract Year is $13,000. Therefore, all $5,000 of the withdrawal is treated as an excess withdrawal. If your Contract Value would have been $90,000 at the end of the valuation period had you not taken the withdrawal, your GWB Value will reduce by 5.56% ($5,000 excess withdrawal divided by $90,000) resulting in a new GWB Value of $86,185.94 ($91,260 GWB Value minus [91,260 multiplied by .0556]). A $100 surrender charge is due on the $5,000 withdrawal (2% of the $5,000 excess withdrawal).

Assume your contract date is five years in the past and your contract has one Annuitant who is age 75. Also assume that your GWB Value is $100,000, your GWB Amount is $5,000 and your minimum required distribution, as computed exclusively by us, is $5,300 for the current calendar year. Assume further that you have not yet made any withdrawals from your contract in the current Contract Year, nor have you made any withdrawals in the current calendar year. Also, assume that your next contract anniversary will occur in the following calendar year and that your GWB Value did not increase on your contract anniversary in the current calendar year.

To satisfy your MRD, you request a $5,300 withdrawal outside of our Systematic Withdrawal Program. At the time of this $5,300 withdrawal, the GWB Amount is $5,000 and the sum of all prior withdrawals in this Contract Year is $0. Therefore, $5,000 of the withdrawal is treated as a withdrawal of your GWB Amount and the remainder of the withdrawal ($300) is treated as an excess withdrawal. A reduction in your GWB Value will occur because you did not participate in the Systematic Withdrawal Program to receive this withdrawal and you did not meet all of the other criteria as stated on pages 22-23 of this prospectus to receive the greater of your GWB Amount and your MRD. To demonstrate the reduction, assume your contract value would have been $103,000 at the end of the valuation period had you not taken the withdrawal. After your withdrawal is processed, your Contract Value will be $97,700 and your GWB Value will be reduced by 0.31%. The 0.31% reduction is determined by dividing the $300 excess withdrawal by $98,000 ($103,000 – $5,000 determined above) resulting in a new GWB Value of $99,690 ($100,000 GWB Value minus [100,000 multiplied by .0031]).

Alternatively, assume that at the beginning of the year, you had been signed up for a monthly systematic withdrawal of your GWB Amount. Each month we will pay an amount so that we will have paid the greater of your GWB Amount or MRD, in this case $5,300, by the end of the calendar year. Since the withdrawal to cover your MRD was taken through our SWP program, your GWB Value will still be $100,000. We have assumed that all of the conditions for receiving the greater of your GWB Amount and your MRD as shown on pages 22-23 of this prospectus have been met.

Assume instead that you sign up for a systematic withdrawal of your GWB Amount in September. In order to meet your MRD requirements, you would need to elect an annual payment frequency from the Systematic Withdrawal Program so that we are able to pay a full year’s worth of payments on a systematic basis prior to the end of the calendar year. Note that any frequency of payment other than annual in this case will not allow you to meet your MRD. After the withdrawal of $5,300, your GWB Value will still be $100,000 since the withdrawal to cover your MRD was taken through our Systematic Withdrawal Program. We have assumed that all of the conditions for receiving an MRD exception as shown on pages 22-23 of the prospectus have been met.

Reports and other information about the Variable Account are available on the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov/, and copies of this information may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following email address: publicinfo@sec.gov.

The following are the Officers and Directors who are engaged directly or indirectly in activities relating to the Registrant or the variable annuity contracts offered by the Registrant and the executive officers of the Company:

The Registrant is a separate account of Brighthouse Life Insurance Company (“BLIC” or the “Company”) under Delaware insurance law. BLIC is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Brighthouse Financial, Inc., a publicly-traded company. The following outline indicates those entities that are controlled by Brighthouse Financial, Inc. or are under the common control of Brighthouse Financial, Inc.

No person is controlled by the Registrant, and none of the entities listed below files financial statements that are consolidated with the Registrant's financial statements. The Registrant does not have any subsidiaries.    

The following is a list of subsidiaries of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. as of December 31, 2021.

That entity which is listed at the left margin (labeled with a capital letter) is a direct subsidiary of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (DE)

Each entity which is indented under another entity is a subsidiary of that other entity and, therefore, an indirect subsidiary of Brighthouse Financial, Inc.

The voting securities of the subsidiaries listed are 100% owned by their respective parent corporations. The jurisdiction of domicile of each subsidiary listed is set forth in the parenthetical following such subsidiary. All of the entities listed below are included in the consolidated financial statements of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. Each of the entities listed under Section 2 are included in the consolidated financial statements of BLIC. Both Brighthouse Financial, Inc. and BLIC file consolidated financial statements with the SEC pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.    

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. also maintains directors and officers and professional liability insurance policies under which the Registrant, the Depositor and the Underwriter, as well as certain other Brighthouse subsidiaries, are covered. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. also has secured a financial institutions bond.

Insofar as indemnification for liability arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Company pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Company has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Company of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Company in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Company will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

Brighthouse Fund UL for Variable Life Insurance
Brighthouse Fund UL III for Variable Life Insurance
Brighthouse Funds Trust I
Brighthouse Funds Trust II
Brighthouse Separate Account A
Brighthouse Separate Account Eleven for Variable Annuities
Brighthouse Separate Account QPN for Variable Annuities
Brighthouse Variable Annuity Account B
Brighthouse Variable Annuity Account C
Brighthouse Variable Life Account A
Brighthouse Variable Life Account One
New England Variable Annuity Separate Account
New England Variable Life Separate Account

Omitted.

Not Applicable.

Brighthouse Life Insurance Company (the "Company") hereby represents that the fees and charges deducted under the Contracts, in the aggregate, are reasonable in relation to the services rendered, the expenses to be incurred, and the risks assumed by the Company.

The Company hereby represents that it is relying upon the Securities and Exchange Commission No-Action Letter issued to the American Council of Life Insurance dated November 28, 1988 (Commission ref. IP-6-88) and that the following provisions have been complied with: