Index Choice 10 (NY) review

For the right New York buyer, yes. It is a good annuity for someone who wants principal protection, index-linked growth potential without direct market exposure, and a modest bonus, and who is genuinely comfortable committing the money for the full 10 years. It is a weaker choice for someone who wants short-term access, the highest available caps, or a lifetime income rider — Index Choice 10 (NY) does not offer an income benefit at all. It is also, by design, only relevant if you live in New York, since the contract is not approved anywhere else.

The main reason to buy Index Choice 10 (NY) is protected accumulation. You want a portion of your savings to have some upside tied to the stock market, but you do not want to risk losing principal to a market downturn. This contract gives you that: in a down year your indexed strategies simply credit zero rather than a loss, and your protected value keeps rolling forward.

The secondary reason is the 2% premium bonus. F&G credits an extra 2% to your account value on your initial premium right away, and — importantly — that bonus money is eligible to earn index credits just like the rest of your account. It is not a headline-grabbing number, but it is real, walk-away-relevant money that starts working immediately rather than a paper "benefit base" figure you can only access through an income rider. For a New Yorker who has fewer index annuity choices to begin with, a clean protected product from an A-rated carrier with a small head start is a reasonable thing to want.

I think this product is best for a New York resident, likely in or near retirement, who has a block of money they want to protect and grow but do not expect to need for at least 10 years. Think of it as a bucket you are deliberately setting aside — not your emergency fund, and not money you might want in years two or three. Because the schedule is steepest early, the ideal owner is someone who will comfortably leave it alone.

It is also a better fit for someone whose priority is protection over performance. If you would be frustrated watching a strong market year get capped at a modest rate, this is not your product. But if your real goal is "don't lose it, and let it grow a little more than a CD or a plain fixed annuity might," the design fits. It is a poor fit for younger savers with long horizons who can tolerate market risk, for anyone who wants guaranteed lifetime income (there is no income rider), and for anyone who cannot rule out needing the principal early.

You are not buying the stock market. This is a fixed indexed annuity, which means it is an insurance contract that credits interest based on a formula tied to the S&P 500 — you are never actually invested in the index, and you cannot lose money to a market drop. When the index rises, you get some of that gain, up to a cap. When it falls, you get zero for that period, not a loss. Your principal, plus the 2% bonus, plus whatever interest you have already earned, stays protected.

It helps to be clear-eyed about the two sides of that trade. The protection is genuine and it is the whole point. The cost of that protection shows up as caps on your upside and a long commitment period. So what you are really buying is a decade-long, principal-protected savings vehicle with a stock-linked interest formula and a small upfront bonus — issued specifically for New York under its own policy form. It is a conservative tool, and it should be judged as one, not as a growth investment.

Index Choice 10 (NY) links its interest to the S&P 500 through three indexed strategies plus a fixed account, and each indexed strategy credits 100% participation up to a cap. The differences are in how they measure the index:

**Annual Point-to-Point** compares the index at the start and end of the year and credits the gain up to the annual cap. As of the 11/14/2025 rate snapshot, that cap is 5.25%.

**Monthly Averaging** averages the index across the year and credits the result up to its cap, currently 6.55%. Averaging tends to smooth out a volatile year.

**Monthly Point-to-Point** applies a monthly cap — 2.00% as of the snapshot — to each month's gain and sums them. There is an upside cap each month but no monthly downside cap, so a few sharply negative months can pull the year's credit down toward zero even if the index finished higher. It can shine in a steady up-market and disappoint in a choppy one.

- The **Fixed Account** simply credits a declared fixed rate, currently 3.00%, with no index involved.

Those are the numbers you are shopping today, and this is where the honest caution belongs: these caps can be reset by F&G, and the contract only guarantees a floor. The guaranteed minimum caps are far lower than the current ones — the annual point-to-point cap is only guaranteed to stay at or above 3.00%, and the monthly point-to-point cap only at or above 1.00%. In plain English, the worst the company can contractually do is drop your annual cap to 3.00% and your monthly cap to 1.00%. That is the contractual floor, not a forecast, but it is the number a careful buyer should weigh, because a renewal-year cap sits entirely in the carrier's hands above that floor. There is also a separate guaranteed minimum on the contract itself — a minimum guaranteed surrender value equal to 100% of premium growing at a rate between 1% and 3% set at issue — that backstops your principal regardless of how the index behaves.

The most meaningful secondary feature is the 2% premium bonus, and it is worth understanding exactly what it is and is not. F&G credits an extra 2% of your initial premium directly to your account value as soon as the contract is issued. Because it lands in your account value rather than in some separate income-only "benefit base," it is money you actually own, and it is eligible to earn index credits alongside the rest of your account from day one. On a $100,000 premium, that is $2,000 of real, working money at the outset.

Now the honest part: 2% is small, and it does not exist in a vacuum. Carriers fund bonuses by pricing them into the crediting terms — typically slightly lower caps than a no-bonus version of the same product might carry. So the right way to think about it is a trade: you are accepting somewhat leaner caps in exchange for a guaranteed 2% head start that compounds for the life of the contract. Over a full 10-year hold, that head start can be worth more than it first looks; over a short hold, the steep surrender charges would swamp it. Whether the bonus is a good deal depends heavily on how long you actually keep the money and how the caps hold up at renewal. I would not buy this product for the bonus alone, but as a tiebreaker for a buyer already sold on the protection, it is a genuine plus.

The contract also includes surrender-charge waivers for nursing home care and terminal illness, which can free up access to your money without penalty if you face a qualifying health event. Those are useful safety valves, though they should be read as contingency protection, not as everyday liquidity.

This is the part of the contract to take most seriously. Index Choice 10 (NY) carries a 10-year surrender period, and the charge schedule is unusually steep at the front: 10%, 10%, 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, then 2% in the final year. Many 10-year FIAs start around 9% or 10% and decline every year; this one holds at 10% for three full years before it begins to step down. That means an early full surrender is expensive — walk away in year two and you would forfeit roughly 10% of the withdrawn value on top of any market value adjustment.

The everyday liquidity is more reasonable than that schedule suggests. After the first contract year, you can withdraw up to 10% of your account value (measured at the prior anniversary, less any withdrawals already taken that year) each year with no surrender charge, either through systematic withdrawals of at least $100 per mode or up to four non-systematic withdrawals of at least $500 each. For required minimum distributions and modest income needs, that 10% window usually does the job. The trouble only comes when you need more than the free amount, or you need the whole thing early.

One point I want to be careful about: the source materials are not consistent on a market value adjustment. Only one of the four documents — a 2024 quick-reference guide — mentions that an MVA may apply to partial and full surrenders, and it does so in a generic disclosure paragraph. The product profile, the agent guide, and the consumer brochure do not describe an MVA mechanic at all. So treat the MVA as possible but not clearly documented here, and confirm it directly against your actual contract and its state-specific disclosures before you rely on either answer. If an MVA does apply, a larger-than-free withdrawal during the surrender period could be adjusted up or down based on interest rate movements, on top of the surrender charge.

The good news on cost is that the source materials show no explicit annual product fee or rider fee on this contract. That is normal for a base accumulation FIA with no income rider — you are not paying a visible drag every year, which helps the bonus and the credited interest compound cleanly.

The tradeoffs here are structural rather than line-item. First, the caps are the real cost: at the current snapshot, a 5.25% annual point-to-point cap is on the conservative side of the FIA market, and the caps can be lowered at renewal down to their guaranteed floors of 3.00% (annual) and 1.00% (monthly). Second, the index menu is narrow — the S&P 500 is the only index, so there is no diversifying into small-cap, international, or low-volatility strategies the way some competing FIAs allow. Third, and most importantly, the front-loaded 10-year surrender schedule is the price of admission; it is what funds the protection and the bonus, but it also makes this a contract you should only enter with money you are certain you can leave alone. Finally, there is no lifetime income rider, so anyone whose real goal is a guaranteed paycheck in retirement should look at an income-designed product instead. None of these is a hidden fee, but together they define who this product does and does not suit.

Legal Entity: Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company of New York

Parent: FGL Holdings

A.M. Best Rating: A