Preferred Choice 6 review

It depends, and the honest answer leans toward "not as priced at the last snapshot." The contract terms themselves are fine — no MVA, a real minimum guaranteed rate, straightforward death benefit. But a MYGA's whole value proposition is the rate, and this one was outpriced by its own carrier's 5-year and 7-year versions in the same data pull. If current rates have since repriced this product to be competitive with (or better than) its siblings, the calculus changes. If not, a buyer who doesn't specifically need a 6-year maturity is better served looking at the 5-year or 7-year Preferred Choice, or shopping the broader MYGA market.

The rational reason to buy Preferred Choice 6 specifically is a maturity-date match — someone who knows they want their money back in exactly six years, tied to a known expense or a Social Security claiming date, and doesn't want to round up to seven or down to five. A second, weaker reason is simplicity: no rider decisions, no index-strategy menu, just a declared rate and a clean surrender schedule. Neither reason depends on this being the highest-paying option in the lineup — both are about fit, not yield.

I think this product is best for a buyer who has already decided they want a 6-year commitment for a specific reason, has $25,000 or more in non-qualified or IRA money they don't need for six years, and is not chasing the highest available MYGA rate. It's a weaker fit for someone comparison-shopping purely on yield, since the same carrier's 5-year version paid meaningfully more at this snapshot with a lower minimum — that buyer should look there first, or check other B++-and-above carriers' 6-year offerings before settling here.

You're buying a contractual promise: Manhattan Life credits a fixed, single declared rate for six years, then the rate resets annually to the lesser of 3% or the 5-year Constant Maturity Treasury rate minus 1.25 percentage points, never falling below a 1.00% floor. There's no index exposure, no participation rate, no cap — the number you're quoted is the number you get for the full term. The tradeoff for that certainty is opportunity cost: if rates rise during the six years, you're locked at 3.75% (per the snapshot used here) regardless.

The core feature is the single declared rate itself. Manhattan Life sets one rate at issue and guarantees it for the full six-year surrender period — there's no blended first-year bonus rate stepping down to a lower renewal rate, which is a real structural plus since it removes the "teaser rate" risk that shows up in some MYGA designs. After year six, the contract doesn't just fall to a token minimum; it resets each year using a formula tied to Treasury yields, capped at 3% and floored at 1.00%. That floor is the only part of this contract that's contractually guaranteed for the life of the policy — the 3.75% figure is a snapshot declared rate, current as of the brochure date, not a permanent guarantee.

The secondary feature worth noting is the absence of a market value adjustment (MVA). Many MYGAs impose an MVA on withdrawals taken beyond the free amount during the surrender period, which can compound the surrender charge if interest rates have moved against the contract holder. Preferred Choice 6 doesn't have one, which means the surrender charge schedule below is the entire penalty — no additional rate-driven adjustment layered on top. That's a genuine simplification for a buyer who wants to understand their worst-case exit cost without modeling interest-rate scenarios.

Six years is a real commitment, and the surrender schedule below reflects that: 8% in year one, stepping down by one point each year to 3% in year six. Above the 15%-per-calendar-year free withdrawal amount, anything pulled out early triggers that charge, and because it's a calendar-year allowance available starting in the first contract year, a buyer can access some money without penalty relatively soon after purchase — that's better than contracts that withhold free withdrawals until year two or three. Withdrawals must be routed through EFT, which is a minor logistical note rather than a real restriction. There's no MVA to compound the cost of a larger withdrawal, which somewhat softens the six-year commitment compared to MVA-bearing peers, but the surrender charge itself still makes this money you should plan not to need before year seven.

There's no explicit fee drag here — no set-up charge, no administrative expense deducted from premium, and no rider fee since there's no optional rider on this contract. The tradeoff isn't a visible fee; it's the opportunity cost embedded in the rate itself. At the snapshot used for this review, choosing the 6-year over the 5-year meant giving up nearly a full percentage point of yield (3.75% versus 4.70%) while also needing $15,000 more to get in the door. That's the real cost of this product relative to its own family, and it's worth weighing against whatever value the 6-year maturity specifically provides.

Legal Entity: The Manhattan Life Insurance Company

Parent: ManhattanLife Group

A.M. Best Rating: B++