ForeIncome II 5-Year with Income Multiplier (Wells Fargo) review

Yes, for a specific buyer in the Wells Fargo distribution network. This is a solid annuity for someone who wants guaranteed lifetime income, values principal protection, and prefers a five-year commitment over the longer surrender schedules most income annuities carry. It is less appealing for anyone outside the Wells Fargo channel, for someone whose main goal is accumulation rather than income, or for someone who can comfortably defer a full decade — that buyer might extract more from an income annuity structured specifically around extended deferral.

The main reason to buy ForeIncome II 5-Year (Wells Fargo) is to build future protected lifetime income with a shorter exit window than most income-focused FIAs provide. The Income Multiplier is the draw: by crediting 3x your index interest to the withdrawal base during deferral, it gives future income a faster way to grow than a flat roll-up in a good year. The secondary reason is the five-year surrender, which returns full liquidity at a point when most competing income annuities are still charging you to leave. For a Wells Fargo client who fits this profile, the product is a genuine option.

I think this annuity is best for a Wells Fargo client in their late 50s through early 70s who is planning future retirement income, expects to defer withdrawals for at least a few years, and wants a built-in rider on a shorter timeline. The 45-85 issue-age range is wide, but the multiplier rewards deferral, so it is better suited to a pre-retiree or early-retiree than someone who needs income to start right away. It is less attractive for someone whose priority is accumulation, for someone who expects to never activate income — they are paying 1.05% annually for a feature they will not use — and for anyone outside the Wells Fargo distribution chain who would simply purchase the open-market version instead.

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 withdrawal base. Your premium establishes that base, and during the deferral years the Income Multiplier credits three times your earned index interest to the base rather than once. When you eventually activate income, your age and the size of that withdrawal base determine your guaranteed annual payment for life. The account value and the withdrawal base are two distinct numbers — the account value is what you could walk away with, while the withdrawal base exists solely to calculate lifetime income. The Wells Fargo channel version of this contract operates the same mechanics as the standard version; the difference is distribution, not structure.

The headline feature is the Income Multiplier Benefit, built on the Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit VII and included automatically. In any year your chosen index strategy earns interest, that interest is credited once to your account value and three times to your withdrawal base during the deferral phase — that is the 3x multiplier. The withdrawal base is the figure your lifetime payout is calculated from, so growing it three times faster directly grows your future income. Once you activate income, the multiplier steps down to 1x: credits apply at the normal single rate. The rider fee of 1.05% of the withdrawal base is charged annually throughout, whether or not income is activated. A critical point: the multiplier only applies when the index actually earns. In a flat year, there is nothing to multiply, and a fixed roll-up that guarantees a set percentage regardless of market behavior would outperform the multiplier in such a scenario. This product rewards years of positive index performance during deferral; the guaranteed floor of the structure is principal protection, not a minimum roll-up on the income side.

The most meaningful secondary feature is the five-year surrender schedule. Income-focused FIAs almost universally carry eight-to-ten-year surrender periods because the carrier needs time to support the income guarantee. Getting the same built-in lifetime income rider on a five-year chassis is the differentiating structural choice here, and for a liquidity-conscious buyer it changes the planning calculus. Your money is free of withdrawal charges after year five. The honest caution remains that the short surrender works against the multiplier's deferral incentive — the contract frees your principal at exactly the point where continued deferral would keep compounding the withdrawal base. The contract also includes a built-in Income Enhancement Benefit, which can increase payments under qualifying chronic-illness or care circumstances at no separate charge. That adds a care-support dimension worth discussing with the advisor if that risk is on the table.

This annuity is built for retirement income, not short-term cash needs, but it is more liquidity-friendly than most income-focused FIAs. You can take up to 10% of contract value each year without withdrawal charges — in year one that 10% is measured against premiums paid, and in later years against account value. Anything above that during the surrender period is subject to the schedule below, and a market value adjustment may also apply. An MVA — Market Value Adjustment — means your surrender penalty size can move with interest rates, so the cost of an early full surrender is not fixed. The relief features are solid: required minimum distributions are generally accommodated without withdrawal charges, a Nursing Home Waiver removes charges and the MVA after 90-plus consecutive days of qualifying confinement, and a Terminal Illness Waiver does the same after a qualifying diagnosis past the first contract anniversary. After year five there are no withdrawal charges. The minimum guaranteed surrender value floor is 87.5% of premiums accumulated at 1-3%.

The cost that matters here is the income rider. The Income Multiplier Benefit charges 1.05% of the withdrawal base annually, deducted from account value whether or not income is ever activated. That is the trade: you are paying 1.05% per year to buy the right to a 3x multiplier on index credits and a guaranteed lifetime payout. Whether that is worth it depends almost entirely on whether you actually intend to turn income on and defer long enough for the multiplier to do work. If you never activate income, you have paid for a guarantee you did not use. The spec does not list a separate base-contract fee. The other tradeoff is structural: index gains are shaped by caps and participation rates, and the current terms reflect that this contract supports income guarantees first. Cap rates were documented at medium confidence — the brochure shows a range of 5.00% to 7.85% across strategies — so ask for a current rate sheet before building any projection around specific numbers. The 3.00% fixed account is available as an alternative to the indexed strategies.

Legal Entity: Forethought Life Insurance Company

Parent: Global Atlantic Financial Group

A.M. Best Rating: A