SecureFore 5-Year (Wells Fargo) review

It depends on access. For a buyer who can actually get to it — a Wells Fargo client in an approved state with genuinely idle 5-year money — this is a solid no-frills MYGA. The rate range shown in the brochure (4.75%–4.95% as of the April 2026 rate sheet) is competitive against 5-year CDs and comparable fixed-rate instruments. The product design is clean, the fee structure is transparent, and the carrier is well-rated. For anyone outside the Wells Fargo distribution channel or in one of the many excluded states, the product simply is not accessible, which makes the rate comparison academic.

The straightforward reason is a locked rate for five years with no annual reset risk. A buyer comparing this to a 5-year CD gets tax-deferred compounding, a death benefit, and health-event waivers — features a CD does not offer — at a rate that is likely competitive or better. The five-year term also reduces reinvestment risk compared to rolling shorter instruments: you know what you are earning through maturity rather than facing a renewal decision in two or three years in a potentially different rate environment. For buyers in their 60s and early 70s, committing idle money to a fixed 5-year return while preserving tax-deferred growth is a reasonable strategy.

I think SecureFore 5 (Wells Fargo) is best for a pre-retiree or early retiree, roughly mid-50s to mid-70s, who is already working with a Wells Fargo advisor, has a defined block of money they will not need for five years, and wants certainty over upside. Both qualified and non-qualified money can work here; non-qualified accounts get the more meaningful tax-deferral benefit. It is not a fit for anyone who might need access to more than 10% of the value before year five ends, for buyers who want income guarantees, or for anyone outside the channel and approved states.

A MYGA — multi-year guaranteed annuity — is a fixed-rate insurance contract, nothing more. You deposit a lump sum, the insurer credits a guaranteed rate each year, and the money compounds tax-deferred. At maturity you take the full accumulated value without penalty. There are no indices, no participation rates, no crediting strategies to select or monitor. The guarantee is as simple as it gets: a single rate, a fixed term, and a defined outcome. The insurance wrapper adds two things a CD cannot offer — tax deferral on the interest until you take distributions, and a death benefit that passes the full account value to beneficiaries without surrender charges. Everything else — the waivers, the free-withdrawal provision — are support features around that core guarantee.

At issue, Forethought declares a fixed interest rate that applies for the entire 5-year term. Based on the brochure's April 2026 rate sheet, that rate is 4.75% for contracts below $100,000 and 4.95% for contracts of $100,000 or more. The rate does not reset annually, does not fluctuate with market conditions, and is not subject to any caps, spreads, or participation-rate adjustments. Your account grows at that rate each year, compounding on the prior balance. On day one of year six, the surrender charge drops to zero and you can withdraw everything without penalty. The declared rate is the entire product — if you are comparing this to a market-linked instrument expecting more, that is a different product category.

The terminal illness and nursing home waivers are the most practically meaningful secondary feature for buyers in this age range. A 5-year commitment is real, and the risk of a health event forcing early access is not theoretical for buyers in their 60s and 70s. If you spend 90 or more consecutive days in a nursing home after the first contract anniversary, surrender charges are waived on amounts you withdraw. Terminal illness has the same waiver. That is not a performance feature — it does not make the rate better — but it substantially reduces the worst-case scenario from needing funds before year five ends. These waivers are built into the base contract with no added fee, which gives them genuine weight as a practical safeguard rather than a marketing line item.

You are trading five years of liquidity — above the 10% free-withdrawal amount — for a locked rate. The surrender schedule starts steep and steps down: 8% in year one, 8% in year two, 7% in year three, 6% in year four, 5% in year five, then zero. The year-one and year-two charges are real enough that a large early withdrawal would meaningfully reduce your net return. Plan accordingly.

The 10% free-withdrawal provision covers most routine needs. In year one, the free amount is 10% of premiums paid; from year two onward it is 10% of the beginning-of-year contract value. That is generally enough to cover RMD obligations on an IRA-held contract and provides a modest buffer for unexpected cash needs under that threshold. Importantly, this product carries no Market Value Adjustment — your exit cost at any point is exactly the stated surrender charge, with no additional interest-rate-driven penalty layered on top. That makes early-exit math straightforward and predictable.

There are no base contract fees and no rider fees on SecureFore 5. No annual administrative charge, no mortality and expense charge, no crediting spread that the brochure discloses separately. What the rate sheet shows is what you earn. The only economic cost built into the structure is the implicit spread between what Forethought earns on its investment portfolio and the rate it credits to you — standard for all fixed annuities and fixed-rate instruments, and not unique to this product.

The tradeoffs are structural. You are locking in a rate for five years; if market rates move significantly higher after you purchase, you will have underearned relative to a ladder of shorter instruments or a future issue. The surrender charges in years one and two are steep enough that a change in circumstances during the first half of the term is genuinely costly. And the channel restriction is a real limitation for anyone comparing MYGAs across the open market — the Wells Fargo version files separately, prices separately, and approves separately from the open-market SecureFore 5, so rate comparisons require confirming the specific contract terms available to you.

Legal Entity: Forethought Life Insurance Company

Parent: Global Atlantic Financial Group

A.M. Best Rating: A