Palladium MYG 5 (NY) review

It depends on whether you'll actually manage the renewal window. If you will, this is a reasonably competitive New York MYGA with no MVA and a full death benefit. If you're the type who sets up an annuity and doesn't revisit it for a decade, the 10-year surrender schedule outlasting the 5-year rate guarantee is a real risk — you could end up earning a carrier-set renewal rate you never agreed to while still paying an exit fee to leave.

The appeal is straightforward: a guaranteed fixed rate for five years, a $5,000 minimum that's accessible for a lot of savers, no market value adjustment on this NY filing, and a death benefit that pays the full account value to a beneficiary rather than some reduced surrender figure. For a New York resident who wants a CD-like commitment with tax deferral and doesn't need income riders or index exposure, that's a fair trade — as long as they understand what happens after year five.

I think this fits a New York buyer in their 50s to 70s with non-qualified or IRA money they don't need for at least five years, who wants principal protection over growth potential, and who is comfortable calendaring a renewal decision five years out. It's a poor fit for anyone who might need meaningful access to principal in years 6 through 10, or anyone who wants a "set it and forget it" annuity — this product punishes exactly that behavior.

You're not buying a simple five-year CD substitute, even though the marketing name suggests one. You're buying a contract with two separate clocks running at once: a 5-year interest-rate guarantee and a 10-year surrender-charge schedule. The rate clock stops first. When it does, you get a narrow 30-day window to surrender penalty-free, roll into a new guarantee period at whatever rate the carrier is then offering, or annuitize. Outside that window, your money keeps accruing at a renewal rate you didn't lock in, while the original 10-year surrender schedule keeps ticking underneath it.

Rates are banded by premium size rather than a single published figure: 3.25% for premiums under $100,000, 3.35% for $100,000+, and 3.50% for $250,000+, each guaranteed for the full five-year term — per the Wink data snapshot dated as current to 11/1/2022. That's roughly 3.7 years old at the time of this review, and current rates from American National for this NY filing are almost certainly different by now. Don't shop on these numbers; confirm the live rate sheet before doing anything.

Once the five-year guarantee ends, the contract doesn't mature or auto-renew quietly. You get a 30-day penalty-free window to pull the money out, re-enter a new multi-year guarantee period at then-current rates, or annuitize. Miss that window and the contract rolls forward on the carrier's terms — and you're still five years from full liquidity under the surrender schedule.

The full-account-value death benefit is the strongest secondary feature here: beneficiaries receive the entire account value, not a reduced surrender figure, which matters if the owner dies during the surrender period. American National also waives the surrender charge outright for qualifying nursing home confinement or disability, on top of the standard 10% annual free withdrawal — a meaningful protection if health, not preference, forces early access to the money. Neither of these offsets the rate/surrender mismatch, but they do soften the downside if something goes wrong.

The surrender schedule below applies for the full 10 years of the contract regardless of the 5-year rate guarantee — that's the central thing to plan around. In years 1 through 5 the surrender charge and the rate lock line up, so early withdrawal risk looks like an ordinary MYGA. Starting in year 6, though, you're outside the rate guarantee but still facing a 5% charge that only steps down slowly (4%, 3%, 2%, 1%) through year 10. Standard free withdrawals let you take interest only in year one and up to 10% of account value annually after that, and the surrender charge is waived entirely for qualifying nursing home confinement or disability. There's no MVA on this NY filing, so surrender charges are the only penalty mechanism — no interest-rate-driven adjustment layered on top.

There's no explicit rider fee, product fee, or annual contract charge disclosed for this product — it's a straightforward fixed-rate contract with no living-benefit or income rider to price in. The real cost here isn't a stated fee; it's opportunity cost. If you don't act at the 5-year mark, you're exposed to whatever renewal rate the carrier declares, with no guarantee it stays competitive, while still carrying multiple years of surrender exposure. The Minimum Guaranteed Surrender Value floor (1%-3%, varying) provides a backstop, but it's a floor, not a target.

Legal Entity: American National Life Insurance Company of New York

Parent: American National Group

A.M. Best Rating: A