SPDA Series II 1-Year review

It depends on what you need it to do. If you want principal protection, a low minimum premium, and you trust a strong carrier to renew rates fairly over time, this can work. If your goal is locking in a specific yield for the full contract term, this product does not do that — a multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA) would be a better fit. The 1-year reset is not a flaw exactly, but it is the defining feature that makes this product appropriate for some buyers and wrong for others.

The main reason to choose this annuity over alternatives is the combination of carrier strength and flexibility inside a simple structure. Western & Southern's A+ rating is genuinely rare — only a handful of annuity carriers hold that tier at A.M. Best. The $3,000 minimum premium is also unusually low for the category, making this accessible to buyers who are not placing large sums. And the nursing home waiver adds a meaningful safety valve for buyers in their 60s or 70s who worry about needing care during the surrender period.

I think this product works best for buyers in their mid-50s to mid-70s who want a simple, guaranteed-interest vehicle backed by a top-tier carrier, and who either expect to hold to maturity or plan to use the 10% annual free withdrawal to ladder distributions. It is less appealing for buyers who want to know exactly what their account will be worth in seven years — because the rate resets, you do not have that certainty. It is also not the right choice for anyone who needs an income rider or wants market-linked growth potential.

This is a plain fixed annuity. Integrity credits a declared interest rate to your account each year. The rate is set at issue and then re-declared annually at the end of each guarantee period. There are no indices, no caps, no participation rates — just a straightforward interest credit. The contractual floor is 1%, which means Integrity is obligated to pay at least that much regardless of what rates do externally. The account value grows tax-deferred, and when you eventually take distributions, gains are taxed as ordinary income.

The SPDA Series II 1-Year uses a one-year guarantee period. That means Integrity locks your rate for twelve months. At the end of year one, they declare a new rate for the next twelve months — and so on, each year until the surrender period ends. The current credited rate at contract issue was 5.00% as of April 2026. That rate applies to year one only; future renewal rates will reflect whatever Integrity chooses to declare, subject to the 1% floor.

There is no market value adjustment on this product. If you take a surrender above the free-withdrawal amount, you pay the surrender charge schedule — but the underlying interest rate applied to your account is not affected by external interest rate movements the way an MVA product would be. That removes one layer of risk, but it does not change the renewal rate uncertainty.

The nursing home and long-term care confinement waiver is worth taking seriously on a 7-year product. If you are incapacitated and confined to a nursing home or long-term care facility, surrender charges are waived. This does not pay for care — it just removes the exit penalty if you need to access your funds. For buyers in their 60s and 70s, the probability of needing long-term care during a 7-year window is not trivial, and having that waiver in place provides meaningful peace of mind. An unemployment waiver is also included in most states, which is less common on fixed annuity products targeted at retirees but adds a small amount of flexibility for younger buyers.

SPDA Series II 1-Year allows 10% free withdrawals immediately from contract issue — not after a waiting year, immediately. That is a genuine advantage over products that require waiting until year two. The 10% is calculated on account value and is noncumulative, meaning unused allowance does not carry forward. Minimum withdrawal is $300, or $100 for systematic withdrawals.

Withdrawals beyond the 10% free amount are subject to the schedule below.

The MGSV (minimum guaranteed surrender value) is the full premium less any prior withdrawals — Integrity will not let surrender charges reduce your account below what you put in. RMDs from qualified accounts are also treated as free from surrender charges, which matters for buyers using this inside an IRA. There is no market value adjustment to worry about here.

There is no base contract fee and no rider fee on this product. From a fee standpoint, it is as clean as a fixed annuity gets. The economic cost is entirely in the rate structure — you give up rate certainty beyond year one in exchange for simplicity and the carrier's discretion to offer competitive renewal rates.

The structural tradeoff is the most important thing to understand before buying. In a rising-rate environment, annual resets could work in your favor. In a falling-rate environment, you could find yourself earning well below what you locked in at issue, still years away from penalty-free surrender. The 1% floor protects against catastrophic outcomes, but most buyers would consider earning 1% on a 7-year locked annuity a poor result regardless of its technical legality.

Legal Entity: Integrity Life Insurance Company

Parent: Western & Southern Financial Group

A.M. Best Rating: A+