R -- Immediate Annuity

The purpose of this amendment is to clarify the requirement. The U.S. Department of Education (Department) seeks to buy an immediate annuity for a settlement of an employment-related claim. All references to the term "tax-deferred" should be replaced with "immediate" in the original FedBizOpps notice. The beneficiary is a 48-year-old (DOB 2/24/57) female, and her state of issue would be Maryland. The Department solicits from brokers who will provide no fewer than three price quotes of annuity products with a guaranteed income for a 5-year period, paid monthly, and funded with a single deposit of $110,000. Annuity payments to the beneficiary commence not later than one month from the Department's purchase. Any proposed insurer should be rated at least A.M. Best A+ or higher, S&P AA+ or higher, or Moody's Aa2 or higher. All bids accepted for consideration must be submitted by 5:00 pm, EST on September 21, 2005.