Certainty Select 6 review

Yes, for the specific buyer it's built for. If you have $10,000 or more you don't need for six years and want a locked rate with no market exposure, this is a clean, uncomplicated way to get it. It's a weaker fit if you want top-of-market yield, a stronger-rated carrier, or meaningful access to principal (not just interest) in the early years without electing the optional rider.

The core appeal is simplicity: one rate, one term, no strategy decisions, no index-crediting formulas to parse. Someone who already knows they want six years of guaranteed growth and isn't shopping primarily on carrier strength buys this because the underlying structure — a straightforward MGSV floor, a no-cost liquidity option, and a no-cost nursing home waiver — covers the basics without asking for anything extra in return. It's also a reasonable building block in a CD/MYGA ladder for someone spreading money across several guarantee periods.

I think this fits a retirement-age or near-retirement saver with non-qualified or IRA money who wants a conservative, tax-deferred alternative to a bank CD and is comfortable with a mid-tier-rated carrier. It's a weaker match for someone who needs the absolute highest guaranteed rate available (shop the full MYGA market first), or who might need more than interest-only access to the account in the first year or two and doesn't plan to elect the optional liquidity rider.

You're not buying an investment with upside — you're buying a guarantee. EquiTrust promises to pay 5.15% annually for six years, backed by its own claims-paying ability (rated B++ by AM Best), in exchange for your commitment not to withdraw more than allowed without a penalty. There's no index, no cap, no participation rate to evaluate — the rate you're quoted is the rate you get, every year, for the full guarantee period, full stop.

The fixed account credits interest at a rate set at issue and guaranteed for the full six-year term — 5.15% as of the brochure's March 2026 snapshot. At the end of the six years, the contract renews into a new guarantee period at whatever rate EquiTrust is then offering, subject to a Minimum Guaranteed Interest Rate floor (the MGSV formula guarantees no lower than 1% and no higher than 3%, depending on state). Several states — Florida, Alaska, Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas — build in an alternative: instead of a new multi-year lock, the contract can auto-renew annually at a declared rate with no surrender charge or MVA, which is a meaningfully different (and more flexible) end-of-term option if you're in one of those states.

The more interesting feature here isn't the rate — it's the optional, no-cost liquidity rider. Elect it at issue and the contract adds free withdrawal of interest in year one, then up to 10% of the prior anniversary's Accumulation Value every year after that, all without surrender charge or MVA. It also changes what happens at death: instead of the base contract's account-value payout, your beneficiary can choose immediate Cash Surrender Value or a payout stretched over at least five years or life. Since it costs nothing to add, there's not much reason to skip it unless you're in North Carolina, Ohio, or Texas, where it isn't available. EquiTrust also throws in a no-cost Nursing Home Waiver (not available in Massachusetts), which can free up account value without penalty if you need extended care later.

Without the optional rider, the base contract only lets you touch cumulative interest earned — as a single withdrawal (minimum $250) or on a systematic schedule — without triggering a surrender charge or MVA. Anything beyond that during the surrender period runs into the schedule below, which opens at 10% in years one and two and steps down slowly to 8% by year six. That's a front-loaded schedule: most of the penalty is still in place well past the contract's midpoint, so this isn't a product to fund with money you might need back in year three or four. The MVA (market value adjustment) adds interest-rate risk on top of the stated surrender percentage for any withdrawal that exceeds the free amount — it can cut either way depending on where rates have moved, but it's an extra variable to be aware of. Vermont contracts don't apply an MVA at all. If you elect the no-cost liquidity rider, the picture improves meaningfully: 10% of account value becomes accessible penalty-free every year starting in year two, which turns a fairly rigid contract into something closer to a normal MYGA liquidity profile.

There's no charge for the optional liquidity rider or the Nursing Home Waiver — both are add-ons at no additional cost, which is a genuine plus. The brochure materials don't itemize a separate base-contract fee, which is typical for a MYGA (the rate you're quoted is net, not gross of some hidden charge), but it's also not explicitly spelled out either way in the source documents. The real tradeoff isn't a fee — it's the carrier rating and the surrender schedule. EquiTrust's B++ AM Best rating is solid but a tier below the A-range carriers that make up much of the top of the current MYGA market, and the 10% opening surrender charge is on the steeper end for a six-year contract with no premium bonus to offset it.

Legal Entity: EquiTrust Life Insurance Company

Parent: Guggenheim Partners

AM Best Rating: B++