SecureKey (Raymond James) 5-Year review

It depends on the buyer. For a Raymond James client who wants a 5-year FIA commitment with principal protection and a solid index menu, this is a reasonable fit. The optional GLWB adds flexibility for those who might also want income down the road. It is less appealing for someone comparing FIA rates across carriers on their own — the Raymond James channel means you get rates through an advisor, not a rate aggregator, so independent shopping is harder.

The main reason to buy SecureKey 5-Year is a shorter FIA commitment combined with a wide range of indexed crediting options. Twelve account options across the S&P 500, Russell 2000, MSCI EAFE, and the S&P 500 Low Volatility Price Return Daily Risk Control 5% index give buyers real flexibility in how they position the contract. The secondary reason is optionality — the ReadyPay GLWB is available if income planning becomes a priority, but buyers who only want accumulation do not pay for it.

I think SecureKey 5-Year is best for a Raymond James client in their late 50s or early 60s who has already-qualified or non-qualified money earmarked for a medium-term commitment, wants principal protection, and is comfortable with an advisor-managed crediting strategy. The broad issue age range (0–85) is unusual — for younger buyers this likely means qualified plan assets. For older buyers approaching 85, the 5-year surrender window is more manageable than longer alternatives. It is less suitable for someone who wants to comparison-shop FIA rates independently or who needs regular access to more than 10% of the account value per year.

You are not buying direct stock market participation. You are buying a principal-protected annuity where growth is tied to how the chosen index performs each year, subject to caps, participation rates, or other crediting structures. The principal floor means your account value does not go backward on index declines — but the upside is also shaped by the specific terms in effect when you buy. Those terms change with interest rates over time, and the brochure does not disclose current levels. The practical result: you need your Raymond James advisor to pull the current rate sheet to understand what you're actually getting on the growth side.

SecureKey 5-Year offers twelve indexed account options, all using 1-year index terms. The crediting menu spans five methods: cap rate (your gain is capped at a ceiling), step rate (you earn a fixed credit if the index is positive), participation rate (you receive a set percentage of index gains), participation rate with spread (you receive a percentage of gains minus a deduction), and performance triggered (you earn a set rate if the index meets a threshold). A fixed account with a 5-year guaranteed rate is also available.

The four underlying indices — S&P 500, Russell 2000, MSCI EAFE, and the S&P 500 Low Volatility Risk Control 5% — give buyers different risk profiles to choose from within the same contract. The Russell 2000 adds small-cap exposure; the MSCI EAFE adds international developed-market exposure; the risk-control index is designed to reduce volatility but typically comes with lower caps or participation rates in exchange.

The ReadyPay Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit is the contract's most significant optional feature. It is not built in — you add it at an additional cost of 1.00% annually (maximum 2.00% over the life of the contract) — which is the right way to structure a rider on an accumulation-focused FIA. Buyers who do not need income guarantees do not pay for them.

The rider's mechanics are worth noting. The benefit base grows at 7% annually for up to 10 years before income starts, which is a meaningful roll-up. Payments cannot begin before age 59½. A spousal continuation option is available, and a double payout provision activates if the annuitant is confined to a nursing home or hospital after the rider has been in force five years and account value is still positive. That last feature functions as a partial long-term care benefit without requiring a separate care rider.

The 5-year surrender period is on the shorter end for FIAs, which is the right call for a product positioned around accumulation flexibility. The schedule steps from 9% in year one down to 5% in year five, then drops to zero.

Free withdrawals of up to 10% of account value per year are available from day one — that is more accessible than many FIAs, which start the free-withdrawal provision only after the first contract year. The $2,000 minimum remaining account value is a standard floor that prevents full liquidation without triggering charges.

An MVA — Market Value Adjustment — applies to withdrawals above the free amount. This means your effective surrender cost can be higher or lower than the stated charge percentage depending on interest rate movements. In a rising-rate environment, the MVA typically increases the exit cost; in a falling-rate environment it can reduce it. The RMD waiver means required minimum distributions attributable to the contract are not subject to surrender charges, which is an important provision for qualified-account holders approaching 73.

Nursing home confinement (90+ consecutive days, issue age 80 or younger) and terminal illness (not expected to survive 12 months, issue age 80 or younger) trigger full waiver of surrender charges. Those provisions are capped by issue age, which is worth noting for buyers near 80 at purchase.

The base contract has no disclosed explicit fee — the cost is built into the spread between gross index performance and what the contract credits. On accumulation-only use, the primary cost is the cap or participation rate structure: you give up full index upside in exchange for principal protection.

If you add the ReadyPay GLWB rider, the fee is 1.00% annually, rising up to 2.00% over time if the carrier adjusts it. That fee comes out of account value, not the benefit base, which means it can modestly drag on accumulation. Whether the rider fee makes sense depends entirely on whether you intend to use the income feature — for a buyer who adds the rider as insurance and never activates it, the fee is a cost with no return.

The one meaningful disclosure gap is the absence of current cap rates, participation rates, and spreads in the available brochure materials. This is not unusual for a channel-restricted product, but it does mean that the growth potential — the main reason to buy an FIA over a MYGA — cannot be evaluated without speaking directly to a Raymond James advisor.

Legal Entity: Brighthouse Life Insurance Company

AM Best Rating: A