Income Assurance Advisory 10 review

Yes, for the right buyer. This is a good annuity for a fee-based advisory client who wants to defer and then turn on protected lifetime income, values the strong 8% roll-up and 30% Benefit Base bonus, and likes that the advisory share class removes the surrender period. It is less appealing for someone who mainly wants accumulation, because the mandatory income rider charges 1.10% (rising to as much as 3.00%) on the Benefit Base whether or not income is ever activated, and it cannot be turned off.

The main reason to buy Income Assurance Advisory 10 is to build a guaranteed future income stream using money that an advisor is managing on a fee basis. The Benefit Base — the number used to calculate lifetime income, not the cash you can walk away with — grows by 8% compounded each year for up to 10 years, and Jackson adds a 30% bonus to that base on first-year premiums. The secondary reason is the structure of the advisory share class itself: there is no surrender charge, so this income engine sits inside an account the client can still access without a multi-year penalty grid hanging over it. For an advisor building a deferred-income sleeve, that combination of a strong roll-up and no surrender lockup is the appeal.

I think Income Assurance Advisory 10 is best for someone in the pre-retirement or early-retirement window, roughly age 55 to 70, who is working with a fee-based advisor and wants to dedicate a portion of long-term money to a future protected income stream. It fits a buyer who plans to defer for several years so the 8% roll-up and 30% Benefit Base bonus can do their work, and who genuinely intends to activate lifetime income rather than just park cash. It is less attractive for a do-it-yourself buyer outside an advisory relationship — this share class is sold through the advisor channel — and less attractive for anyone whose primary goal is accumulation, frequent access to principal above the 10% free amount, or avoiding ongoing rider costs. Both qualified and non-qualified money can work here; the contract is RMD-friendly, with required distributions taken free of the market value adjustment even when they exceed the 10% free-withdrawal amount.

You are not buying stock market upside, and you are not really buying an accumulation product. You are buying a lifetime income framework wrapped around a principal-protected annuity, delivered in a fee-based wrapper. The heart of the contract is two separate numbers that move independently. One is the Account Value — the real cash, which earns interest through conservative indexed strategies and a fixed account. The other is the Benefit Base — a bookkeeping figure used only to calculate how much lifetime income you can take. The Benefit Base is what grows at 8% compounded and gets the 30% first-year bonus; it is not money you can withdraw or pass on as a lump sum. When people are dazzled by the "8% growth" pitch, this is the distinction that matters most: the roll-up applies to the income calculator, not to your withdrawable balance.

The core feature is the built-in Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefit (GMWB). It is included automatically — there is no opt-in and no opt-out — and it works off the Benefit Base rather than the Account Value. At issue, Jackson applies a 30% bonus to the Benefit Base on all premiums paid in the first contract year. From there, during the initial rollup period the Benefit Base grows to the greater of that bonused figure or premiums accumulated at 8% compounded annually for up to 10 years, until you commence income. Once you turn income on, your age and whether you elect single or joint life determine the withdrawal percentage applied to the final Benefit Base, and that payment is guaranteed for life even if the Account Value eventually runs to zero.

A couple of mechanics deserve emphasis. The 8% is a compounding credit to the income calculator, not an interest rate on your cash — a $100,000 premium does not become $216,000 of spendable money, it becomes a Benefit Base used to compute lifetime income. And the roll-up is time-boxed: it runs for up to 10 years or until you start income, whichever comes first. The product rewards deferral, so activating early leaves growth on the table.

The most meaningful secondary feature is the advisory share class itself — specifically, the absence of a surrender schedule. On most 10-year income FIAs, the tradeoff for a strong roll-up is a long withdrawal-charge grid that can run a decade. Here there is no surrender charge at all. That changes the liquidity picture meaningfully: above the 10% free-withdrawal amount, you are not facing a stacked surrender penalty, only the market value adjustment that applies during the first seven years.

The crediting menu is the supporting cast, and it is deliberately modest. You get an S&P 500 annual point-to-point with a cap (5.50% as of the August 25, 2025 rate sheet, with a 3.05% guaranteed minimum), a Performance Triggered strategy that credits a declared 5.15% if the index is flat or positive, and a 2.65% fixed account. These are not aggressive growth terms, and that is by design — the contract's job is to fund the income guarantee, not to compete with accumulation FIAs on cap rates. Treat the indexed strategies as a way to keep the Account Value reasonably intact, not as the reason to own the product.

For an income product, the liquidity here is unusually friendly because of the advisory structure. There is no surrender charge in any contract year — that is the defining feature of this share class. You can take up to 10% of the Account Value each year free of penalty, available immediately, and in the first contract year that 10% applies to initial and additional premium. The free-withdrawal amount does not carry over from year to year, so you cannot bank an unused allowance.

The one liquidity caveat is the market value adjustment, or MVA — a mechanism that adjusts the value of larger withdrawals up or down based on how interest rates have moved since issue. It applies during the first seven years to withdrawals and annuitizations above the free amount, and during the first five years to index- and fixed-account annuitizations. Because there is no surrender charge, the MVA is the only friction on a large early exit, and in a rising-rate environment it can reduce what you receive. Required minimum distributions get a carve-out: an RMD attributable to this contract can be taken free of the MVA even if it exceeds the 10% free-withdrawal amount, which is a real benefit for qualified money. Anything above the greater of the RMD or the 10% free amount is still subject to the MVA during the applicable window.

The fee story is short but important. There is no product fee, no administration charge, and no mortality-and-expense charge — Jackson is explicit about that. The cost that matters is the income rider, and on this contract it is unavoidable. The GMWB charges 1.10% annually for single or joint life, calculated on the Benefit Base and deducted from the Account Value. Two details sharpen the trade. First, the Benefit Base is typically larger than the Account Value once the roll-up and bonus take effect, so a 1.10% charge on the Benefit Base can be a higher effective drag on your actual cash than 1.10% sounds. Second, the fee is not fixed forever: it can increase by up to 0.40% on each fifth contract anniversary, with a contractual ceiling of 3.00%.

The harder pill is that the rider cannot be terminated at the client's request. On many income FIAs you can drop an optional rider if your plans change; here you cannot. You are committed to paying for the income engine for as long as you hold the contract, whether or not you ever activate income. That is the central tradeoff: the 1.10% (rising over time) buys you a strong 8% roll-up and a 30% Benefit Base bonus, and whether that is worth it comes down to one question — do you actually intend to turn income on? If yes, the cost funds a guarantee you will use. If you are unsure, a no-rider accumulation FIA is the cleaner choice.

Legal Entity: Jackson National Life Insurance Company

Parent: Jackson Financial Inc.

A.M. Best Rating: A