Prosperity Elite 10 review

It depends on whether you want the rider stack. For a buyer who plans to add the Protection Package and actually use the income, death-benefit, or care features, this is a reasonable hybrid contract with a meaningful bonus. For someone who only wants principal-protected accumulation, the conditional bonus structure and the long surrender period make it harder to recommend over a simpler FIA — especially when the current caps and participation rates aren't disclosed in the brochure.

The main reason to buy Prosperity Elite 10 is to get several retirement features bundled into one contract with a day-one premium bonus on the account value. The secondary reason is flexibility: you choose whether to layer on the Protection Package for income, an enhanced death benefit, and a chronic-illness multiplier, or keep the base contract leaner. In plain terms, this is for someone who wants growth potential plus protection plus a future income option, and would rather configure that inside a single annuity than assemble it piecemeal.

I think this annuity is best for someone roughly in the pre-retirement or early-retirement window, with long-term money they won't need for at least a decade, who values having a built-in income option and care features rather than relying purely on accumulation. The wide issue-age window (up to 85) also makes it usable for older buyers focused on legacy through the enhanced death benefit. It's a poor fit for anyone who wants short-term liquidity, the simplest possible annuity, or who has no intention of using the Protection Package — because without that package, you give up the 12% bonus and the income engine that justify the product's complexity.

You are not buying stock market upside, and you are not really buying a single thing at all. You're buying a configurable platform. The base contract is a principal-protected FIA with a premium bonus that vests over the surrender period. On top of that, the optional Protection Package turns it into an income-and-protection contract by adding a guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit, an enhanced death benefit, and a chronic-illness multiplier. The bonus you actually receive, and the income you can eventually draw, depend heavily on which version you elect. That's the key thing to understand: the brochure's most impressive numbers describe the fully-loaded version, not the bare contract.

The core of the base contract is the premium bonus credited to your account value. Without the Protection Package, the bonus is 6.00% for ages 0-70 and 3.00% for ages 71-85. Electing the Protection Package raises it to 12.00% for ages 0-71 and 6.50% for ages 71-85. This is a vesting bonus, which means it isn't fully yours immediately — it vests over the surrender period, so a full surrender in the early years gives up part of it. The account value then grows based on whichever crediting strategies you choose. F&G offers fixed and indexed options across the S&P 500, a gold commodity index, the Balanced Asset 5 Index, the GS Global Factor Index, and the Barclays Trailblazer Sectors 5 Index, using annual point-to-point, biennial, and monthly averaging methods. The current fixed rate shown in the materials was 3.75%, but the current caps, participation rates, and spreads on the indexed options were not disclosed in the available brochure — that's a real gap for an accumulation-minded shopper, and you should ask for the current rate sheet directly before allocating.

The most meaningful secondary feature is the Protection Package income rider — formally a guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit. It builds a benefit base separate from your account value, starting with an 18% bonus on your initial premium and then growing at a 10% compound roll-up for up to 10 years. Your eventual lifetime withdrawal is a percentage of that benefit base. Because the roll-up is compound rather than simple, deferral is rewarded — the longer you wait before turning income on, the larger the base grows. The same Protection Package also carries a chronic-illness impairment multiplier, which can increase withdrawals if you meet care-related conditions. Worth being clear-eyed about: the 18% benefit-base bonus and the 10% roll-up apply to the income base used to calculate payments, not to your withdrawable account value. They're meaningful only if you actually activate income.

This is a long-term contract, not a place to park money you might need soon. After the first year, you can take the greater of 10% of account value or up to 10% of the vested account value each year without a surrender charge. Anything above that during the 10-year schedule is hit with a surrender charge that starts at 12% and steps down to 3% in year 10 before reaching zero in year 11. A market value adjustment also applies — that's an interest-rate-linked adjustment to your surrender value, which can increase or decrease what you receive on larger withdrawals depending on where rates have moved since you bought in. There is genuine relief built in: surrender-charge waivers are available for nursing home care, terminal illness, and home health care, and required minimum distributions can be taken without surrender charges or MVA. Even so, the 12% first-year charge is on the steep end, and the 10-year horizon is a real commitment.

The base contract fee was not disclosed in the available materials. The visible costs are on the riders. The income rider (the Protection Package GMWB) currently charges 0.35% annually, with a contractual maximum of up to 1.00% — so the cost can rise over time, which is worth understanding before you rely on it. The enhanced death benefit adds roughly 0.60% annually. There is also an optional 1.25% annual charge for crediting options paired with rider charges. Stacked together, these can meaningfully erode the account value, and that's the central tradeoff: the rider fees are the price of the income guarantee, the larger bonus, and the protection features. If you elect the Protection Package and use the income, that's a defensible trade. If you elect it and never turn income on, you're paying for guarantees you don't use. Because the brochure didn't disclose current caps or participation rates, it's hard to weigh those fees against the actual growth potential — another reason to get the live rate sheet first.

Legal Entity: Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company

Parent: FGL Holdings

A.M. Best Rating: A