ChoicePlus Advisory review

Yes, for the right buyer. This is a good annuity for someone in a fee-based advisory relationship who wants tax-deferred growth through professionally selected subaccounts, full liquidity, and a low base cost. It is less attractive for someone who wants guaranteed principal protection, a fixed rate of return, or built-in lifetime income, because none of those are part of the core contract. The honest answer is that whether this annuity is "good" depends almost entirely on the account it lives in and the advisor managing it.

The main reason to buy ChoicePlus Advisory is tax-deferred market accumulation inside a fee-based account at a low contract cost. The secondary reason is flexibility — you can keep it as a pure investment wrapper, or you can elect a lifetime income rider or an enhanced death benefit if your situation calls for it. In practical terms, this is the kind of annuity someone buys when their advisor wants a tax-deferred sleeve for assets that have already maxed out other tax-advantaged accounts, and they want to avoid the surrender charges and high M&E costs that come with traditional variable annuities.

I think ChoicePlus Advisory is best for someone who already pays an advisor a management fee, has long-term money they want to grow tax-deferred, and is comfortable with full market exposure. It fits a buyer who values liquidity and a low base cost over guarantees. It is less appealing for someone who wants principal protection, a predictable rate, or a contract built around guaranteed lifetime income — those buyers are usually better served by a fixed, fixed indexed, or income annuity, or by a different version of a variable annuity with stronger built-in benefits.

You are not buying a guarantee. You are buying a tax-deferred, advisor-managed investment account wrapped in an insurance contract, with the option to layer guarantees on top for an extra cost. The real value here is the combination of low base expense, no surrender penalty, a broad fund menu, and tax deferral — not downside protection. Your account value will move with the subaccounts you choose, which means it can lose money. That distinction matters, because this product behaves much more like an investment portfolio than like a traditional fixed or indexed annuity.

The core of ChoicePlus Advisory is its subaccount platform. You allocate your premium among up to 127 variable subaccounts spanning stock, bond, and asset-allocation strategies, and your account value reflects the underlying performance of those funds, minus expenses. There are no indexed, structured, or fixed crediting buckets in this version — it is 100% variable, so the contract is meant to be invested and managed actively rather than left in a guaranteed account.

What sets the advisory share apart is the cost layer. The base contract charges roughly 0.20% mortality and expense risk plus 0.10% administration, for about 0.30% in total base expense — a fraction of what a commission-based variable annuity typically charges. On top of that, each subaccount carries its own net fund fee, reported in the range of 0.48% to 1.46%. You also get 12 free transfers per year, so reallocating among funds is straightforward. Because there is no surrender charge, the advisor can rebalance or move money without triggering a penalty.

The most meaningful secondary features are the optional riders, and the key word is optional. Lincoln offers its ProtectedPay lifetime income riders (Select Core, Core VII, Max VI, and Plus V variants) for buyers who want a guaranteed withdrawal stream, with the spec showing an annual benefit charge in the 1.50% to 2.75% range and a benefit-base roll-up reported around 6.00% for up to 10 years. There is also a choice of death benefits, including a Highest Anniversary Value benefit and an Estate Lock option, for an additional charge of roughly 0.25% to 0.45%.

These matter because they let one contract serve two very different buyers — one who just wants a low-cost tax-deferred wrapper, and one who wants to convert market money into guaranteed income later. But the income rider is not built in, and it is not free. The roll-up applies to a benefit base used to calculate income, not to your real account value, and stacking the highest income and death benefit riders can push your all-in cost well above 3% before fund fees. The flexibility is real, but so is the cost of using it. (Income rider fee, roll-up, and death benefit fee are flagged as medium-confidence spec fields and should be verified against the current Lincoln rate sheet and prospectus.)

This is one of the strongest aspects of the advisory share: there is no surrender period and no market value adjustment. You can access your account value without a contract-imposed withdrawal penalty, which is unusual for a variable annuity and is exactly what you would expect from a fee-based product designed to be managed inside an advisory account.

A few things to keep in mind. The spec lists 12 free transfers per year — that refers to moving money among subaccounts, not a penalty-free withdrawal allowance, since there is no surrender schedule to be penalized against in the first place. Standard tax rules still apply: withdrawals of gains before age 59½ can face ordinary income tax plus a 10% IRS penalty, and the IRS, not Lincoln, governs that. So while the contract itself is fully liquid, the tax treatment is the real constraint on early access. Even so, this is far more flexible than a traditional surrender-charge variable annuity.

The base cost story is genuinely good. The contract charges about 0.30% in total base expense (roughly 0.20% M&E plus 0.10% administration), plus a $50 annual contract fee that is waived once your account value reaches $50,000. That is low for a variable annuity.

The less obvious costs are where buyers need to pay attention. Each subaccount carries its own fund expense, reported between 0.48% and 1.46%, so your real all-in cost depends on which funds you hold. Optional riders add more: the income riders run 1.50% to 2.75% a year, and the death benefit options add another 0.25% to 0.45%. Layer those on and a fully featured contract can cost well over 3% annually before fund fees — which can erode much of the cost advantage that makes the bare-bones version attractive. The biggest structural tradeoff, though, is risk: there is no principal protection here. In a down market your account value falls, and unless you have paid for an income or death benefit rider, there is no floor under it.

Legal Entity: The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company

Parent: Lincoln Financial Group

A.M. Best Rating: A