ChoicePlus Advisory (NY) review

It depends on how you intend to use it. As a tax-deferred investment account held inside a fee-based advisory relationship, it is a reasonable, low-cost choice with no liquidity lockup. As a guaranteed-income product, it is only as good as the optional rider you attach — and those riders add cost on top of the underlying fund fees. For a New York investor whose advisor wants tax deferral and a broad fund menu without a surrender period, it does its job well.

The main reason to buy ChoicePlus Advisory is tax deferral on market-based investments at a low wrapper cost, inside a fee-based account. The base contract charge is far below what commission-based variable annuities typically carry, and there is no surrender penalty, so the money stays liquid. For an investor who has already maxed out other tax-advantaged accounts and wants more tax-deferred growth, this is the kind of vehicle an advisor reaches for. The optional GLWB rider also lets the same contract pivot toward guaranteed lifetime income later if the client's needs change.

I think this is best for someone who already works with a fee-only or fee-based advisor, has a longer time horizon, is comfortable with market risk inside the subaccounts, and wants tax-deferred growth without locking up access to their money. It fits both qualified and non-qualified money, with non-qualified issue ages running all the way to 89. It is a poor fit for someone who wants principal protection, who does not have an advisory relationship (this is not sold direct or for commission), or who wants guaranteed income as the headline feature — for that, an income-focused annuity is a more direct tool than bolting a rider onto an accumulation contract.

Strip away the annuity label and you are buying a tax-deferred investment account with an optional set of insurance guarantees you can switch on. Your money goes into variable subaccounts — there are 127 of them here, with net subaccount expense ratios running roughly 0.48% to 1.46% depending on the fund — and the value rises and falls with those investments. There is no cap, participation rate, or floor; this is direct market exposure, unlike an indexed annuity. The annuity wrapper adds tax deferral and the ability to attach living-benefit or death-benefit riders. The "advisory" part means the contract is designed to live inside a fee-based account, and your advisor's fee is set separately by their firm rather than baked into a commission.

The core of ChoicePlus Advisory is the subaccount platform plus its unusually low base cost. For ages 0-80, the mortality and expense (M&E) risk charge is 0.20% and the administration charge is 0.10%, for a total base contract expense of about 0.30% a year. M&E steps up to 0.40% for ages 81-85. There is a $50 annual contract fee that is waived once the account value reaches $50,000. On top of the contract charge you pay the expense ratio of whichever subaccounts you hold. Because there is no surrender period, you are not trading liquidity for that low cost — you can withdraw or exit without a contract penalty (normal tax rules and any IRS early-withdrawal penalty before 59½ still apply).

The optional guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) — Lincoln Market Select Advantage XIII — is what turns this from a pure investment wrapper into an income tool. It carries a 1.50% current charge (2.25% maximum), assessed quarterly on the benefit base, and credits a 5.00% simple annual roll-up to the benefit base for up to 10 years (to age 85), with an annual step-up if account value exceeds the benefit base. A joint-life version runs 1.60%. Separately, an optional Highest Anniversary Death Benefit rider (ages 0-76, 0.25% current / 1.25% maximum on the benefit base) locks in the highest contract anniversary value as a floor for heirs. These matter because they are the only way to get guarantees out of this contract — and the 1.50% GLWB charge is layered on top of the 0.30% base and your fund fees, so the all-in cost with income turned on is a different conversation than the bare wrapper.

There is no surrender charge schedule on this contract — that is one of its defining features. You can access your money without a contract-imposed penalty, which is the norm for advisory-platform variable annuities. Wink lists the penalty-free withdrawal provision as "N/A," which reflects that there is no surrender period for a free-withdrawal allowance to carve out against, not a restriction on access. RMDs are friendly here: required minimum distributions do not reduce the i4LIFE GMIB threshold level, and advisory fee withdrawals of up to 1.25% do not count against that threshold either — a detail that matters specifically because this is built to be billed inside an advisory account. Standard tax treatment applies: gains come out taxable, and withdrawals before 59½ can trigger the IRS early-distribution penalty.

The base contract is genuinely cheap by variable-annuity standards: about 0.30% total annual expense for ages 0-80, plus a $50 contract fee that disappears at $50,000 of account value. The real cost decisions are the riders. The GLWB charge is 1.50% currently (up to 2.25%) on the benefit base, charged quarterly — that buys you the 5% roll-up and lifetime income guarantee, but it roughly quintuples your contract-level cost, and it only pays off if you actually activate income. The i4LIFE Advantage GMIB carries 0.40% annually on account value, charged daily. The Highest Anniversary Death Benefit rider adds 0.25% (up to 1.25%). And every dollar invested also pays its subaccount expense ratio, 0.48% to 1.46%. The honest trade: this is one of the lower-cost ways to hold a variable annuity if you stay bare, but each guarantee you add is a real, ongoing drag that should be weighed against whether you will use it.

Legal Entity: Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York

Parent: Lincoln Financial

AM Best Rating: A