Advanced Choice 5-Year review

Yes, for the right buyer. It is a straightforward MYGA that does what MYGAs are supposed to do: lock a rate, protect principal, and return your money at the end of the term. It is not the right fit for someone who might need a significant portion of the funds before year five, because the MVA makes early surrender more expensive and less predictable than the stated schedule alone suggests.

The primary reason someone buys this product is rate certainty. In a period where locking a guaranteed yield for five years is attractive relative to short-term alternatives, Advanced Choice 5-Year offers a straightforward way to do that. The $10,000 minimum makes it accessible to a broader range of buyers than some competitors. The RMD accommodation is a meaningful secondary reason for IRA owners who need to take required distributions but do not want surrender exposure on those amounts.

I think this annuity fits best for someone in or near retirement — roughly ages 55 to 85 — who has money they do not expect to touch for five years, wants a guaranteed rate without index risk, and is comfortable with the liquidity constraints that come with a MYGA. It works in both qualified (IRA, rollover) and non-qualified accounts. It is a weaker fit for someone who might need access to more than 10% of the account in any given year, or who wants lifetime income guarantees built into the contract.

A MYGA is essentially a multi-year fixed-rate insurance contract. You deposit a lump sum, the carrier credits a declared rate for the full term, and you get back the accumulated value at the end — or earlier, subject to surrender charges and MVA. You are not buying market exposure. You are buying certainty: the rate will not change mid-term, and principal is protected from market loss. The insurance wrapper also means interest compounds tax-deferred until withdrawal, which is the main structural advantage over a bank CD with a similar yield.

The core feature is the fixed credited rate. Security Benefit declares a rate at issue — the brochure notes 4.95% for standard accounts and 5.15% for accounts of $125,000 or more as of late April 2026 — and that rate applies for the entire 5-year guarantee period. At the end of the term, there is a 30-day window in which you can surrender without penalty, roll into a new contract, or annuitize. If you do nothing, the contract typically continues under renewal terms. A small account-value bonus of 0.10% applies when the account balance reaches $125,000 or more, which marginally improves the effective yield for larger deposits.

Note that rates are a snapshot tied to the brochure date and will vary at the time of actual purchase. Rates also vary by issue age and premium band.

The secondary feature worth understanding is the MVA — Market Value Adjustment. When you withdraw more than the free amount during the surrender period, Security Benefit applies both a surrender charge and a market value adjustment. The MVA moves up or down with interest rates: if rates have risen since your contract was issued, the MVA works against you and effectively increases your exit cost beyond the stated charge. If rates have fallen, it can work in your favor. For someone confident they will hold the contract to maturity, the MVA is largely irrelevant. For someone with any chance of needing early access, it is a real risk factor that should be modeled before purchase.

After the first contract year, you can withdraw up to 10% of account value annually without surrender charges, provided you leave at least $5,000 in the account. That provision covers most routine liquidity needs and handles RMDs for qualified accounts. Security Benefit explicitly states that RMD withdrawals during the surrender period are not subject to surrender charges or MVA — though that policy is described as company practice subject to change, which is worth noting.

Amounts above the free-withdrawal threshold are subject to the schedule below, and the MVA applies on top of those charges.

The 9% first-year charge is on the steeper end for a 5-year MYGA. Most buyers will not encounter it, but it should not be ignored. Nursing Home and Terminal Illness waivers are available in most states (not CA, MA, or NJ), providing penalty-free access if a qualifying health event occurs. The MVA cannot be waived in CT, PA, or TX.

There is no base contract fee and no rider fee — the fee structure for this product is clean. The cost of ownership is the opportunity cost embedded in the crediting rate relative to alternatives, not an explicit annual charge.

The main structural tradeoff is the MVA on early surrender. A second is the MGSV — the minimum guaranteed surrender value, which is the floor protecting you if the carrier encounters financial stress. The spec notes this as "Varies 1-3% (Not specified as exact percentage in available materials)," which is a low-confidence disclosure. Before purchasing, it is worth confirming the exact MGSV terms in your contract documents.

Legal Entity: Security Benefit Life Insurance Company

Parent: Eldridge Industries

A.M. Best Rating: A-