Summit Navigate 5 review

It depends on what you are looking for. For a buyer who wants a short FIA commitment, does not need an income rider, and values a crediting structure that blends annual performance credits with a term-end calculation, it can be a reasonable fit. For someone who wants the simplicity of a standard annual point-to-point cap or who is primarily focused on lifetime income, this is not the right product.

The main reason to consider Summit Navigate 5 is the combination of a short 5-year surrender schedule with index-linked growth potential and no rider fees dragging on returns. The 4.50% fixed account rate, as of the available materials, also gives buyers a clean fallback if they want to avoid index exposure entirely without abandoning the contract. The relatively low $10,000 minimum premium makes it accessible to buyers who do not want to commit a large sum.

I think Summit Navigate 5 fits best for a buyer in their mid-to-late 50s or early 60s who has a 5-year window before they expect to need the money and wants principal protection with some upside potential. It works in both qualified and non-qualified accounts. Someone who needs guaranteed income, regular access to more than 10% of contract value, or who dislikes complexity in how interest is calculated will find this product frustrating rather than useful.

You are not buying stock market exposure. You are buying a principal-protected annuity that ties interest credits to index performance using a specific formula, while ensuring your principal does not go down due to index losses. The wrinkle here is the crediting structure: this is not a standard annual reset where you see a cap, check the index, and receive a credit each year. Credits in years one through four are annual performance credits that are declared at issue for those periods, and then a final term participation credit is calculated at the end of year five using average monthly index values. That is a meaningful structural distinction worth understanding before you commit.

Summit Navigate 5 uses a term participation design rather than a traditional annual point-to-point cap structure. For years one through four, the contract pays annual performance credits — these are declared at issue, meaning the carrier sets them at the start of the contract and they are applied each year. At the end of year five, the final credit is calculated as a term participation credit based on average monthly index values over the five-year period.

The two index options are the Fidelity Multifactor Yield Index 5% ER and the S&P 500 Dynamic Intraday TCA Index. Both are managed volatility or strategy indices with embedded costs, which typically means participation rates can be set higher but the index itself does not move the same way a standard S&P 500 does. A fixed account option currently paying 4.50% is also available and resets annually after the initial term.

Because current participation rates for the index options were not available in the brochure materials, it is worth asking for the current rate sheet before making a decision. The structure of the product matters, but so does the actual rate offered at the time of purchase.

The fixed account option deserves more attention than it typically gets in FIA marketing. At 4.50% as of the available materials, a buyer who decides the index options are not attractive can park the contract there and earn a competitive guaranteed rate instead. That optionality is real. The rate resets annually after the initial term, so it is not a lock for the full five years, but it means this is not a contract where you must bet on index performance to get a reasonable outcome.

The 5-year surrender schedule runs 8%, 8%, 8%, 7%, 6% — which is a heavier front-loaded structure than some peers. Free withdrawals of 10% of the beginning-of-year accumulation value become available starting in year two, so year one has no penalty-free access. A market value adjustment (MVA) also applies alongside surrender charges on amounts withdrawn above the free allowance. The MVA means your actual exit cost can be higher or lower than the stated surrender charge depending on where interest rates are when you withdraw.

RMDs get a practical workaround: under current company practice, surrender charges and MVA on RMD amounts that exceed the penalty-free withdrawal allowance are waived. This is not a contractual guarantee and the company can change or remove it, but it reduces friction for buyers holding this in a qualified account who are approaching RMD age. Buyers in or near RMD territory should confirm the current policy before purchase.

A nursing home confinement waiver is also available in most states, which provides some liquidity relief in hardship situations.

There is no base contract fee and no income rider fee, because no income rider is offered. The cost structure here is largely invisible — returns are shaped by the participation rates and performance credits declared at issue, not by explicit charges. That means the tradeoff is in the terms themselves rather than in a fee line on a statement.

The indexed crediting design using managed volatility indices with embedded costs is worth understanding. The indices have expense ratios built into how they calculate returns, which dampens raw index movements. That is how the carrier can offer 100% participation — the index does not move like a traditional benchmark. Whether that is a fair trade depends on the actual declared rates, which the brochure does not disclose.

Legal Entity: Midland National Life Insurance Company

Parent: Sammons Financial Group

A.M. Best Rating: A+

Midland National is part of Sammons Financial Group, a private mutual holding company. The A+ rating from A.M. Best reflects strong financial stability, which is relevant when you are making a 5-year commitment to a carrier. This is an established player in the FIA market, not a fringe issuer.