SecureKey (Raymond James) 10-Year review

It depends on the buyer. For someone who wants a clean, fee-light FIA with a 10-year time horizon, access to a Raymond James advisor, and either an accumulation goal or an accumulation goal with a potential income fallback, this is a reasonable product. It is less appealing for someone who might need liquidity above the 10% free withdrawal threshold within the next decade, dislikes MVA risk on surrender, or wants a shorter commitment with comparable crediting terms.

The main draw is the combination of a no-fee base contract and a credible index menu. Someone who wants to protect principal, participate in index growth without uncapped market risk, and keep costs low during the accumulation phase will find the basic structure appealing. The optional ReadyPay rider is a meaningful secondary reason — it lets a buyer defer the income decision rather than committing to a rider fee from day one. That optionality has real value for buyers who are not sure whether they will want lifetime income or simply want to preserve the choice.

I think SecureKey (Raymond James) 10-Year fits best for someone in their mid-50s to early 70s with a 10-year time horizon, working with a Raymond James advisor, who wants principal protection and modest growth potential without paying a base contract fee. It is a natural fit for non-qualified money or IRA money the buyer genuinely does not need to touch for a decade. It is not a fit for someone shopping outside the Raymond James channel, someone who expects to need partial surrenders above the 10% threshold, or someone primarily seeking income guarantees from day one — in that case, the built-in income rider version would be the more appropriate framing.

You are not buying stock market participation. You are buying a principal-protected contract where interest credits are tied to index performance, but your actual downside in any given year is zero — the index credit floor is 0%. Returns above that are shaped by either annual caps (on Point-to-Point strategies) or flat performance-triggered rates (credited whenever the index is flat or positive). The practical effect is that in good index years, you earn up to the cap; in flat or modestly positive years on the Performance Triggered accounts, you earn the declared rate; in negative index years, you earn nothing but also lose nothing to the index. Your premium is at risk only if you surrender early and the surrender charge plus MVA together exceed the contract value growth — which is unlikely but possible in the early years.

SecureKey (Raymond James) offers three crediting approaches across four indices.

Annual Point-to-Point with Cap measures index performance from one contract anniversary to the next and credits the lesser of actual index gain or the declared annual cap. The caps as of the most recent rate disclosure were: S&P 500 at 9.00% (base) or 9.25% (enhanced, for $100,000+), MSCI EAFE at 9.50%/9.75%, Russell 2000 at 9.50%/9.75%, and the S&P 500 Low Volatility Price Return Daily Risk Control 5% index at 10.50%/10.75%. The Low Vol RC index typically produces smoother but lower raw returns, which is why its cap sits higher — the carrier can afford to offer more cap capacity when the underlying index is dampened.

Performance Triggered is structurally different: if the index return is zero or positive at the end of the contract year, the account credits a flat declared rate regardless of how much the index actually moved. S&P 500 Performance Triggered rates were 5.50%/5.75%; MSCI EAFE 6.50%/6.75%; Russell 2000 6.75%/7.00%; S&P 500 Low Vol 4.50%/4.75%. This approach eliminates the "just missed the cap" problem but also means you never earn more than the declared rate even in a strong year.

The Fixed Account offers a current rate of 4.00% guaranteed for 10 years, which is a notable feature — locking a rate for the full surrender period rather than resetting annually is uncommon and genuinely useful for buyers who want predictability in at least part of their allocation.

The 100% participation rate guarantee on Point-to-Point strategies, and the guaranteed 0.50% minimum cap, set the floor on future terms. In practice, caps can be reduced by the carrier going forward, so treat the current rates as a snapshot rather than a promise.

The optional ReadyPay Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit is the meaningful secondary feature. It is not built in — you choose to add it at issue — and it costs 1.00% of the benefit base annually (maximum 2.00% if the carrier ever raises it). What it provides is a 7% simple interest roll-up on the benefit base for up to 10 years before you start withdrawals, plus an annual step-up if contract value grows faster. Payout rates at activation scale by age: a 65-year-old single owner can draw 6.00% of the benefit base per year for life; a 70-year-old 6.25%.

The rider also includes a confinement enhancement: if you spend time in a nursing home or hospital after five rider years, the withdrawal rate can increase by up to 200% (maximum 10.00% withdrawal percentage). That is not the same as a standalone long-term care policy, but it is a meaningful liquidity safety valve.

The secondary feature matters because it changes the product's identity. Without ReadyPay, this is a clean accumulation FIA. With ReadyPay, it becomes a hybrid — income-oriented but not income-locked. Buyers who add the rider pay for optionality they may or may not exercise, and they should think carefully about whether a 1.00% annual drag on the benefit base is justified given their actual income timeline.

Ten years is a long surrender period for an accumulation FIA. The schedule starts at 9% in year one and steps down by one percentage point most years, landing at 1% in year ten. An MVA — Market Value Adjustment — also applies on top of surrender charges, meaning the effective surrender cost can move up or down depending on interest rate conditions at the time of the withdrawal. In a rising rate environment, the MVA can increase your penalty meaningfully.

The 10% annual free withdrawal provision helps. In year one it is 10% of premiums paid; from year two on it is 10% of the prior anniversary account value. RMDs from qualified accounts are exempt from surrender charges and MVA, which makes this viable for IRA money as long as RMDs stay within the free withdrawal corridor. Two hardship waivers are available — nursing home confinement of 90+ consecutive days after contract year one, and terminal illness with a 12-month life expectancy — and both also waive the MVA. Waiver eligibility requires issue age 80 or younger.

The base contract carries no annual fee, no M&E charge, no product fee, and no administration charge. That is clean and meaningful — many FIAs embed costs in their crediting terms rather than explicit fees, but the absence of a visible annual charge is still a genuine advantage for buyers who want to evaluate the product on its crediting potential alone.

The ReadyPay rider costs 1.00% of the benefit base per year, deducted from contract value. The maximum is 2.00% — Brighthouse can raise the fee, though it would be unusual to do so dramatically. If you add the rider and never use it, you have paid an insurance premium for optionality you did not exercise. That is a reasonable trade for many buyers but should be understood going in.

The main structural tradeoffs are the cap rate compression over time (the carrier controls future cap levels), MVA risk on surrender, and the 10-year commitment itself. Buyers who would be better served by a 5- or 7-year FIA should not stretch into a 10-year product just because the current cap rates look slightly higher.

Legal Entity: Brighthouse Life Insurance Company

Parent: Brighthouse Financial

AM Best Rating: A