If you pay your premium annually or plan to make a large unscheduled payment, you may find yourself wondering when it is a good time to invest. You may want to consider the Allocator, a dollar cost averaging strategy* that can help you ease the worry of investing during fluctuating market conditions.

In a rising stock market, investors are often warned against "buying high." In a declining market, investors are often advised to wait for the market to "bottom out" before investing. In reality, few are successful at timing market highs and lows.

With the Allocator, you invest the same amount of your net premiums at regular intervals, taking advantage of the market's ups and downs. Here's how it works: Your net premium goes into the MetLife Fixed Account**. A portion is then automatically transferred to the funding options you have selected. As the chart illustrates, for each dollar of net premium, you would receive more units when the market is down and fewer units when the market is up, so over time, your average cost per unit will generally be lower.

With the Allocator, you select the dollar amount to transfer out of the MetLife Fixed Account, the time period for the transfers, and the investment allocation. And you may cancel the Allocator or change the amount of your net premium being transferred at any time.

This example shows you how the Allocator can dollar-cost-average a $1200 lump sum net premium.  Instead of purchasing all 40 shares at once for a purchase price of $30 each, the Allocator will spread the purchases out over 12 months.  Let's say you want to invest $100 monthly ($1200/12).  The average purchase price drops to $15 and the number of shares increases to 117.

Dollar cost averaging allows investors to take advantage of ups and downs in the market by investing a fixed dollar amount at regular intervals of time.

In this hypothetical example, you buy more units when the price is lower and fewer when the price is higher.

*Neither dollar cost averaging nor the Allocator strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against a loss. Dollar cost averaging involves continuous investment in securities regardless of fluctuating prices, and you should consider your financial ability to continue purchases through periods of low or fluctuating price levels.
** Guaranteed by the issuing insurance company