The short version
As of September 1, 2026 the contract credits 4.08%. That is a snapshot of the current rate sheet, not a permanent number — carriers reprice these contracts regularly, and the rate you get is the one in force the day your application is issued.
What you give up is access. Money committed here is under a surrender charge for 7 years, and there is no index, no market participation, and no return above the declared rate.
How this contract works
A multi-year guaranteed annuity works the way a bank CD works, with an insurance company in place of the bank. You hand over a single premium, the carrier credits a declared rate, and the interest compounds inside the contract without being taxed until it comes out. The guarantee is a contractual obligation of Columbus Life Insurance Company, backed by the company's own reserves — not by the FDIC, and not by any bank.
The rate is locked for the guarantee period. Once the 7 years of surrender charges are behind you, the contract typically offers a window to take the money, renew into a new guarantee period at whatever rate is then being offered, or annuitize it into an income stream. What that window looks like is contract-specific — check the carrier's disclosure before you count on it.
The declared rate is guaranteed for 7 years, the same period the surrender charge runs, so the guarantee and the commitment end together.
The minimum premium is $5,000 for non-qualified money and $2,000 for qualified money, and the carrier will issue the contract up to age 89.
| Guarantee | Rate | In force since |
|---|---|---|
| 7-year guarantee | 4.08% | 2026-09-01 |
Getting your money out
The contract allows 10% out each year without a surrender charge. Beyond that allowance, a withdrawal during the surrender period is reduced by the charge for that contract year.
The surrender charge starts at 7% in year 1 and steps down to 3% in year 7; the full schedule is in the table below. Those percentages come off the amount you withdraw, which is why an early exit from a fixed annuity can return less than you put in even though the account value itself never fell.
This version carries a return-of-premium guarantee. Surrendering early still costs you the surrender charge and any interest it eats into, but the contract will not pay back less than the premium you put in — which is the floor that separates it from an otherwise identical contract without the feature.
Fees and tradeoffs
Our rate data carries no fee figure and no rider for this contract. That is a gap in the data, not proof that neither exists — waiver-type riders such as a nursing-home or terminal-illness benefit sit entirely outside what it reports, so check the carrier's brochure or ask the carrier directly before treating the contract as costless. What is certain is that the carrier is compensated either way: its margin is built into the declared rate, which is why comparing the rate against other contracts of the same length matters more than hunting for a fee schedule.
The real tradeoffs on a contract like this are tax and timing, not fees. Gains come out as ordinary income rather than capital gains, and a withdrawal before age 59½ generally carries a 10% IRS penalty on top of the tax. Neither is a reason to avoid the product; both are reasons it suits money you have already decided not to touch.
Who this fits
This contract fits money with a known holding period — someone who can genuinely leave the premium alone for 7 years and would rather have a fixed number than a range of outcomes. In practice that is often a maturing CD, a bond ladder rung, or cash earmarked for a spending date that is already on the calendar.
It does not fit an emergency fund, money that may be needed for a medical or housing event, or a buyer who wants the account to keep pace with inflation — a declared rate does not adjust when inflation moves. Anyone under 59½ should weigh the tax penalty before treating this as a savings account.
The carrier
Every guarantee in this contract is only as good as Columbus Life Insurance Company, which currently holds an A.M. Best financial strength rating of A+. An annuity is not FDIC insured; the backstop is the carrier's own balance sheet, with state guaranty association coverage behind it at limits that vary by state.
The contract is filed in 48 states, not including New York — New York files its own annuity products, so a New York resident is shopping a different and much smaller shelf.
- Death Benefit
- Full account value paid to beneficiary, surrender-charge-free, bypassing probate (Wink product profile; Client Guide 'Estate Planning Benefit', p.5).
- Minimum Guaranteed Surrender Value
- 100% of premiums at 1%-3% (return-of-premium guarantee: surrender charges are capped so cash surrender value never falls below 100% of premium paid, less withdrawals; the underlying minimum guaranteed annual interest rate is set in the contract at issue and by law must be between 1% and 3% — Wink profile 'Minimum Guarantee/MGSV: Varies, 1-3%, Guaranteed Annual Return'; Quick Reference CL 5.1027 03/15 'Surrender Charges' and Client Guide 'Money-Back Guarantee', p.3).
- RMD Treatment
- RMD-friendly: surrender charges waived on IRS required minimum distributions.
- Withdrawal Provisions
- Systematic withdrawals (10% free amount or interest-only) available monthly/quarterly/semiannual/annual, $100 minimum ($50 via EFT); not available with Roth IRA. Surrender charges are additionally waived for: confinement to a long-term care facility or hospital for 30+ consecutive days; terminal illness with ≤12-month life expectancy; IRS required minimum distributions and 72(t) substantially equal periodic distributions; annuitization beginning at least two years after the contract date with level payments for at least five years; and death of the owner(s).
- Waiver Riders
- Additional Waiver of Surrender Charge Riders (Long-Term Care Series CLR-133 0010; Terminal Illness Series CLR-132 0010) -- waives remaining surrender charges if confined to a long-term care facility/hospital 30+ consecutive days or diagnosed terminally ill with life expectancy of 12 months or less. This is a surrender-charge waiver, not a cash chronic-illness benefit rider.