MarketFuture Bonus Income Index review

Yes, for the right buyer. This is a good annuity for someone who wants protected future lifetime income, is comfortable leaving the money alone for most of a decade, and likes the idea of a bonus that boosts the real account value rather than only the income figure. It is less appealing for someone who wants short-term access to principal, a simple accumulation FIA, or the highest-rated carrier they can find.

The main reason to buy MarketFuture Bonus Income Index is to build a future protected income stream while keeping principal protection along the way. The 8% roll-up grows the income Benefit Base for up to 10 years, so the longer you wait before turning income on, the larger the base your lifetime payment is calculated from. A secondary reason is the chronic-illness feature: if you later cannot perform daily activities, the rider can double your income withdrawals for a period, which turns the contract into a partial care-funding tool without a separate long-term-care policy.

I think this annuity is best for someone in the pre-retirement or early-retirement window, roughly ages 55 to 72, who wants to earmark long-term money for future income and expects to defer withdrawals for several years. It works for both qualified (IRA) and non-qualified money, and the low $10,000 minimum makes it accessible. It is less attractive for someone who might need the principal above the free-withdrawal amount during the surrender period, someone who wants pure accumulation, or someone who places heavy weight on carrier financial-strength ratings.

You are not buying stock market upside. You are buying a lifetime-income framework wrapped around a principal-protected annuity, and the engine of that framework is the Benefit Base. Your premium plus an 8% bonus starts the Benefit Base, that base compounds at 8% each year for up to 10 years (or until you begin income, whichever comes first), and your age when you activate income determines the withdrawal percentage applied to it. Here is the distinction that matters most, because "bonus income" products routinely blur it: the same 8% bonus is also credited to your Accumulation Value, which is the real, walk-away cash value of the contract. That is unusual and genuinely favorable. On many bonus income annuities the bonus exists only inside the Benefit Base, which you can only ever access as a stream of income and never as a lump sum. On this contract, the 8% touches both numbers. That said, the Benefit Base itself is still a calculation figure, not cash: you cannot surrender for it, and the minimum guaranteed floor is 100% of premium, not 108%, so the account-value bonus is not part of the guaranteed-minimum backstop.

The Income Benefit Rider is built into the contract rather than an optional election. During the deferral phase, the Benefit Base grows by an 8% compound annual credit for up to 10 years, or until you start income withdrawals if that comes sooner. There is no reset, so the roll-up runs its course once and does not restart. When you decide to turn income on, your lifetime withdrawal is set as a percentage of the Benefit Base based on your age at activation. Because the roll-up is compound and runs for a decade, patience is rewarded: the buyer who defers the full 10 years builds a materially larger base than one who activates early. The rider fee for all of this is 1.25% per year, and importantly it is charged against the Accumulation Value rather than the larger, inflated Benefit Base, which keeps the dollar cost lower than riders that bill against the benefit base.

The most meaningful secondary feature is the Enhanced Income Withdrawals benefit, which lets your income double if you become unable to perform activities of daily living, and it is included in the rider's 1.25% cost rather than sold as a separate add-on. For a buyer worried about care costs, that turns the income rider into a modest self-funded care hedge. The other feature worth naming is the crediting menu itself: alongside the 3.50% fixed account and a 6% cap on the S&P 500 one-year point-to-point, the contract offers a 5.00% declared performance-trigger rate and participation strategies on volatility-controlled indices such as the S&P MARC 5% Excess Return (140% participation) and the Barclays Focus50 (125%). These control-index strategies trade a lower ceiling for steadier, more predictable credits, which suits a contract whose real job is funding future income rather than chasing growth.

This annuity is built for long-term dollars, not cash you might need soon. After the first contract year you can withdraw up to 10% of the prior anniversary Accumulation Value each year without penalty, provided at least $2,000 remains in the contract. Once income withdrawals begin, the annual penalty-free amount becomes the greater of that 10% or your income withdrawal amount, so activating income does not shrink your access. Anything above the free amount during the 10-year schedule is subject to surrender charges that start at 10% and hold there for the first four years before stepping down. A Market Value Adjustment also applies, meaning your surrender cost can move with interest rates (in California the MVA does not apply). There is relief around the edges: required minimum distributions are excepted from the excess-withdrawal rules that would otherwise reduce your future income and Benefit Base, and both a Nursing Home Waiver (after year two, following 90-plus consecutive days of confinement) and a Terminal Illness Rider (up to 75% of Accumulation Value) waive charges at no extra cost. The RMD-friendly treatment is noted in the materials but is a lower-confidence detail; if it matters to your plan, confirm it against the current contract. Even with these provisions, treat this as money you are committing, not emergency reserves.

The headline cost is the 1.25% annual rider fee, deducted proportionately from each crediting account and taken against the Accumulation Value. The trade is straightforward: that 1.25% buys you the built-in 8% roll-up, the lifetime payout guarantee, and the chronic-illness doubler. Whether it is worth it depends almost entirely on whether you actually turn income on. If you do, the roll-up and guaranteed payout can more than justify the drag. If you never activate income and instead surrender for cash, you will have paid the fee for years and received a benefit base you never used. There is no separate base-contract fee, and no stated M&E, administration, or product charge in the available materials. The other quiet tradeoff is the crediting ceiling: a 6% cap on the S&P 500 point-to-point is modest, which is the expected cost of a contract engineered to support income guarantees first and accumulation second.

Legal Entity: EquiTrust Life Insurance Company

Parent: Magic Johnson Enterprises

A.M. Best Rating: B++

MarketFuture Bonus Income Index is issued by EquiTrust Life Insurance Company, an established annuity carrier majority-owned by Magic Johnson Enterprises. Its A.M. Best rating of B++ places it in the "good" tier — solid, but a step below the A-range carriers that dominate the income-annuity market. That is worth weighing for a product whose value depends on guarantees the insurer must honor decades from now.