Heritage Premier Plus 7 review

Yes, for the specific buyer it's built for. If you want a guaranteed rate locked for seven years and you're comfortable not touching principal during that window, this is a competitive, cleanly disclosed MYGA. It's not a good fit if you want flexible access to your money, since the free-withdrawal provision here only releases interest, not a percentage of the account value the way many competing MYGAs allow.

The rational reason to buy this product is rate certainty over a meaningful time horizon. A 5.25% guaranteed rate for the full seven years is a real number you can plan around, not a teaser that resets lower after year one. The first-year 6.25% credit is a genuine bonus in the sense that it doesn't come at the expense of the base rate in later years — it's layered on top. For someone parking retirement or legacy dollars they don't need for seven years, that combination of a durable rate and a small first-year lift is the whole pitch.

This product fits buyers roughly in the pre-retirement to retired range (issue ages run 18-88, so the practical buyer is usually 55+) who have non-emergency money — savings they've already decided not to touch for seven years — whether in a qualified account like an IRA or in taxable savings. It's a poor match for anyone who might need meaningful access to principal in years one through six, since the only penalty-free access is to interest earned, not the underlying deposit.

Strip away the "Premier Plus" branding and this is a single fixed-rate account: put in a lump sum, and Capitol Life guarantees 5.25% annually for seven years (6.25% in year one). There's no index-linked strategy, no cap, no participation rate, and nothing tied to market performance — this is the fixed-rate side of the annuity world, closer to a long CD than to an indexed annuity. The "Plus" in the name refers to the interest rate bonus mechanic layered onto the base rate, not to any additional living benefit or income feature — there is no income rider on this contract.

The core feature is the rate structure itself. Capitol Life declares a 5.25% base rate that's guaranteed for the entire 7-year term — not a rate that resets annually at the company's discretion, which is how some fixed annuities are structured. On top of that base rate, the contract adds a 1.00% interest rate bonus in year one only, bringing the effective first-year credited rate to 6.25%. Years two through seven credit at the flat 5.25%. It's worth being precise about what this bonus is *not*: it is not an account-value premium bonus (extra dollars added to your principal at issue), it's a temporary boost to the interest rate itself, applied for one year. That distinction matters for anyone comparing this contract against MYGAs that advertise "bonus" language more loosely.

The secondary feature worth noting is the chronic illness and care-need waiver suite. Full surrender charge waivers are available if the owner is confined to a nursing home, diagnosed with a terminal illness, becomes disabled, or needs home health care. That's a meaningful piece of principal protection layered on top of the rate guarantee — it means an unexpected health event doesn't trap your money behind a surrender charge on top of everything else. It doesn't replace a dedicated long-term-care product, but it's a real backstop that a plain CD doesn't offer.

Seven years is a genuine commitment here, and the free-withdrawal provision is narrower than many peers. After the first 30 days, you can withdraw interest earnings only, penalty-free, subject to a $100 minimum per withdrawal — there's no standard 10%-of-account-value annual free withdrawal on this contract as described in available materials. The surrender charge schedule runs 8.2%, 7.2%, 6.2%, 5.2%, 4.6%, 3.6%, and 2.7% across the seven years, and a market value adjustment (MVA) applies — meaning a full or partial surrender above the free amount could cost more or less than the stated schedule depending on how interest rates have moved since issue. The chronic illness and terminal illness waivers are the main relief valve if a health event forces early access. Outside of those triggers, this product should be treated as fully committed money for the full term.

There's no explicit rider fee here because there's no income rider or optional living benefit to attach one to — this is a base fixed-rate contract. The real cost is structural rather than a line-item fee: the interest-only free withdrawal limits how much of your own money you can touch without triggering the surrender schedule and potential MVA impact, which is a tighter liquidity trade than MYGAs offering 10% annual free withdrawal. In exchange, the buyer gets a full 5.25% rate lock across the entire term with no downward reset risk. The 0.15% minimum guaranteed rate that applies after the term (per the disclosed floor) is standard boilerplate and unlikely to matter unless the contract is left in force well past its guarantee period.

Legal Entity: Capitol Life Insurance Company

Parent: Liberty Bankers Insurance Group

A.M. Best Rating: A-