Palladium MYG 6 (NY) review

Depends. Structurally, it's a legitimate fixed annuity from a financially sound carrier (A.M. Best A) with reasonable withdrawal terms and no market value adjustment risk on excess withdrawals — that's a real plus for New York buyers. But calling this a "6-year annuity" oversells the commitment: the surrender charges run for a full 10 years, so if you plan to walk away right when the guarantee period ends, you're stepping into whatever renewal rate the carrier is offering at that moment, or you're staying locked in for four more years of declining surrender charges. For someone who's fine holding the full 10 years regardless, it's a reasonable product. For someone who read "6-year" and assumed that was their exit point, it isn't.

The rational case for this product is narrow but real: New York doesn't get the parent-brand Palladium MYG series at all — that non-NY series isn't filed in New York — so this NY 6 product is one of the only fixed-rate MYGA-style options carrying the American National name available to New York residents. It comes from an A-rated carrier, offers a predictable declared rate with no crediting formula to interpret, skips the market value adjustment that its non-NY sibling carries, and gives savers a straightforward 10% annual free-withdrawal allowance from year two on. For someone who wants simple, guaranteed, tax-deferred growth and is prepared to hold the full 10 years if needed, that's a defensible trade.

Best for New York residents in their retirement-planning years (issue ages run 0-90, but this is realistically a product for adults with money they don't need for a decade) who want principal protection and a fixed guaranteed rate, and who are genuinely comfortable being in this contract for up to 10 years — not just six. It's a weaker fit for anyone who's mentally budgeting on a 6-year exit, since four more years of surrender exposure sit on the other side of that guarantee. It's also not a fit for anyone chasing index-linked upside or built-in income, since this is a plain fixed-rate MYGA-style contract with no riders.

Strip away the marketing and this is a single-premium deferred annuity that credits one declared interest rate, set at issue and banded by how much you deposit (Low Band under $100,000, a step up at $100,000-$249,999, another step at $250,000+). That rate holds for six years. What the product name doesn't make obvious is that the surrender-charge schedule wrapping around that six-year guarantee runs for a full ten years — 8%, 8%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1%. So you're not just buying six years of a locked rate; you're buying a ten-year contractual relationship with the carrier, with the rate only locked for the first six of those years.

American National of New York declares a fixed rate at issue, banded by premium size — as of the Wink data snapshot dated 11/1/2022, that was 3.65% for premiums under $100,000, 3.75% for $100,000 to $249,999, and 3.90% for $250,000 and up, each guaranteed for the full six-year initial period. That's the entire crediting mechanism: no index participation, no cap, no spread — just a declared rate that compounds annually and doesn't move for six years regardless of what happens to interest rates in the broader market. At the end of the six years, the contract owner gets a 30-day window to surrender penalty-free, roll into a new declared-rate guarantee period at whatever rate the carrier is then offering, or annuitize. Miss that window, and the contract continues on renewal terms the carrier sets unilaterally — with four more years of surrender charges (years 7 through 10, at 4%, 3%, 2%, then 1%) still attached if you want out early.

The second-most-important thing here is what's absent: there's no market value adjustment on this NY filing. A market value adjustment (MVA) is a mechanism that raises or lowers your surrender penalty based on how interest rates have moved since you bought the contract — good for the insurer when rates rise, unfavorable for the policyholder in that same scenario. American National's non-NY Palladium MYG series does carry an MVA on excess withdrawals; the New York filing reviewed here does not. That's a genuine structural advantage for New York buyers of this product, even though the two aren't directly comparable products since the parent-brand Palladium MYG isn't sold in New York at all.

The surrender schedule is 8%, 8%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1% across a full ten years — and it applies for all ten years regardless of when the six-year rate guarantee ends. In practice that means years 1 through 6 you're both inside the rate guarantee and inside meaningful surrender charges (8% down to 5%); years 7 through 10 the declared rate is no longer locked at the original level, but you're still facing real surrender charges (4% down to 1%) if you want out. Free withdrawals are available every year: interest-only in year one, then up to 10% of account value annually starting in year two, penalty-free in either case. Surrender charges are also waived for qualifying nursing home confinement or disability. Absent those carve-outs, anyone thinking of this as a clean six-year commitment needs to plan for the real possibility of holding it, or paying a declining penalty, for a full decade.

There's no separate rider fee here — there's no income rider, no chronic illness rider, and no explicit base contract fee disclosed in the Wink profile. The real cost isn't a stated fee; it's opportunity cost and reinvestment risk. If you hold past year six without exercising the 30-day window, you're accepting whatever renewal rate the carrier declares next, with no leverage to negotiate it. The trade you're actually offered is a known rate for six years, a full decade of contractual commitment (with declining penalties as the offset), and no MVA to add uncertainty to what an early exit costs you.

Legal Entity: American National Life Insurance Company of New York

Parent: American National Group

A.M. Best Rating: A