1-2-3 with Future Income Rider review

Yes, for the right buyer. This is a good annuity for someone who wants protected lifetime income, is comfortable deferring that income for about a decade, and likes the idea of an income rider that grows the benefit base aggressively without a separately disclosed fee. It is less appealing for someone who wants income to start in the next few years, needs frequent access to principal, or is mainly chasing accumulation.

The main reason to buy F&G 1-2-3 with Future Income is to build a large future income base now and convert it into guaranteed lifetime payments later. The 50% bonus on premiums received in the first 18 months gives the income base a meaningful head start, and the 150% roll-up means every dollar of interest the contract earns translates into a dollar and a half of income-base growth. The secondary reason is that the rider is built in, so the income guarantee is part of the contract rather than something you bolt on and pay extra for.

I think this annuity is best for someone in their fifties or sixties who is using long-term money, expects to defer income for at least 10 years, and wants a known income floor waiting for them at the other end. The minimum income commencement age is 50, but the Future Income option's 10-year wait means the math works best for buyers who are genuinely planning a decade or more ahead. It fits both qualified and non-qualified money, with issue ages running to 80. It is less attractive for someone who needs income soon, expects to tap principal above the free amount, or wants the simplest possible annuity.

You are not buying stock-market upside. You are buying a deferred lifetime income framework wrapped around a principal-protected annuity. The heart of the contract is the income base, which is a separate accounting figure used only to calculate your future income, not a pile of cash you can walk away with. Your premiums build that base, the 50% early-premium bonus inflates it, and the 150% roll-up grows it alongside any interest the underlying account earns. When you eventually turn income on, your age and the size of that base determine the guaranteed lifetime payment. The account value is what you can surrender or pass on; the income base is what funds the lifetime checks.

The Future Income Guaranteed Lifetime Benefit Rider is built into this configuration of the contract. Two features drive the benefit base. First, F&G applies a 50% bonus to the benefit base on all premiums received within the first 18 months, which rewards funding the contract early and fully. Second, the rider applies a roll-up worth 150% of all fixed and indexed interest the contract earns, so the income base grows faster than the account value whenever the indexed strategies credit interest. Under the Future Income option, there is a 10-year wait period before lifetime income can begin. Once you activate income, the guaranteed lifetime withdrawal amount is set by your benefit base and your age, and it continues for life even if the account value runs down. The minimum age to start income is 50.

The most meaningful secondary feature here is the crediting menu, which is what powers the 150% roll-up. The contract offers a fixed account along with several indexed strategies tied to the S&P 500, the Balanced Asset 5 and Balanced Asset 10 indices, the BlackRock Market Advantage Index, and the Morgan Stanley US Equity Allocator Index. Because the roll-up multiplies credited interest, the strategy you pick directly affects how fast your income base grows, not just your account value. The available materials list participation rates ranging from 40% to 130%, caps from 0.25% to 5.50%, spreads up to 10%, and a fixed account rate of 3.10% as of February 6, 2026. Those are snapshots and will change. The takeaway is that with the roll-up in play, the choice of crediting strategy carries more weight here than in a pure accumulation FIA.

This annuity is built for long-term retirement dollars, not short-term cash needs. In the first year, you can withdraw up to 10% of premiums paid without a surrender charge; in years 2 and beyond, the free amount is 10% of the previous account anniversary value. Anything above that during the surrender period is subject to the 10-year withdrawal-charge schedule below and to a market value adjustment (MVA), which means a withdrawal's penalty can move up or down with interest rates. The surrender schedule is also slightly front-heavy, holding at 10% through the first three years before stepping down.

There is meaningful relief built in. The contract is RMD-friendly, so required minimum distributions attributable to it are generally accommodated within the withdrawal framework. Surrender-charge waivers are available for nursing home confinement, terminal illness, and impairment when you cannot perform two or more activities of daily living. There is also an Enhanced Guaranteed Withdrawal Payments feature tied to chronic-illness situations, though that feature is flagged as lower-confidence in the source materials and is worth confirming with the carrier before relying on it. Even with these provisions, this is not a contract to treat like emergency cash.

The available materials do not disclose a separate fee for the Future Income rider, and the base contract carries no annual fee. That is genuinely favorable if it holds, because most built-in income riders charge somewhere between 0.95% and 1.25% of the benefit base each year. If you are shopping this contract, confirm the rider-fee structure directly, since a no-fee or fee-included income rider is unusual enough to verify in writing.

The real tradeoffs here are structural rather than line-item. The 150% roll-up applies to interest the contract actually earns, so in a flat or low-crediting year the income base grows less than the headline number suggests. The crediting itself is shaped by caps, participation rates, and spreads, which limit upside the way every FIA does. And the income guarantee is the priority, so the accumulation side is tuned to support the rider rather than to maximize cash growth. The biggest cost is time: you are committing money for a decade and waiting a decade before the Future Income option pays.

Legal Entity: Fidelity and Guaranty Life Insurance Company

Parent: FGL Holdings

A.M. Best Rating: A