NAC VersaChoice 10 review

Yes, for the right buyer. This is a good annuity for someone with true 10-year money who wants principal protection, index-linked growth potential, and the option to dial up withdrawal access through the ELB rider. It is less attractive for someone who wants short-term flexibility, simple design, or a product with fully disclosed income rider terms upfront.

The main reason to buy VersaChoice 10 is a 10-year accumulation runway with principal protection and a crediting menu wide enough to accommodate different rate environments. The secondary reason is the ELB rider's 20% withdrawal provision — for buyers who think they might need a larger-than-typical distribution in any given year, that feature is materially different from what most 10-year FIAs offer. The optional income coverage and ADL-based waiver add a safety net for buyers who want flexibility on both the income and health fronts.

I think VersaChoice 10 is best for a pre-retiree in their mid-50s to late 60s who is parking qualified or non-qualified dollars for a decade, wants to avoid direct market exposure, and values having more than one index strategy available. The ELB rider makes it particularly relevant for buyers who want principal protection but aren't certain they can leave the full account untouched for 10 years. It is not the right product for someone primarily shopping for income guarantees, someone who wants simple design with minimal moving parts, or someone who may need access to most of their principal before the surrender period ends.

You are not buying stock market exposure. You are buying a principal-protected insurance contract that credits interest based on selected index performances, subject to caps and participation rates, while your principal is shielded from direct market losses. The ELB rider layer adds a liquidity feature on top of that protection. The combination means you trade a decade of flexibility for downside protection, index-linked growth potential, and an optional liquidity safety valve — that's the actual deal here, not market returns.

VersaChoice 10 offers seven crediting methods across five indices. The S&P 500 is available with a monthly point-to-point cap (around 2.10%–2.40%), an annual point-to-point cap (around 8.20%–9.20%), and an annual participation rate. Four proprietary indices — the S&P Multi-Asset Risk Control 5% ER, Fidelity Multifactor Yield Index 5% ER, Goldman Sachs Equity TimeX Index, and Morgan Stanley Dynamic Global Index — are available with annual or two-year participation rates. Enhanced versions of the participation strategies are also available, carrying a typical 0.95% annual strategy charge deducted at term-end.

That charge matters. When you elect an enhanced participation rate strategy, the higher participation percentage comes at a cost that reduces your net credited return. Whether the enhanced rate justifies the charge depends on how the index performs during the term. The rates quoted above are as of April 2026 and are subject to change at each contract anniversary.

The Enhanced Liquidity Benefit Rider is the most distinctive feature on this product. Standard 10-year FIAs give you 10% per year in penalty-free withdrawals. With the ELB rider, if you take no withdrawals in a contract year, you can take up to 20% in the following year without surrender charges or MVA. That's a meaningful liquidity buffer for someone who might need a larger distribution for a one-time expense — a home purchase, a healthcare bill, a tax event — without blowing out the annuity.

The rider also packages the income and chronic illness components. The GLWB provides optional lifetime income, and the ADL-based waiver allows accelerated payouts if you need long-term care. The bundled structure means a single 0.60% annual fee covers all three benefits, though the GLWB's specific payout terms were not fully disclosed in the available brochure materials — a gap worth asking the carrier about directly before committing.

This is a 10-year product, and the surrender schedule is front-loaded. Years one and two carry a 10% surrender charge; it steps down gradually to 2% in year ten. An MVA — Market Value Adjustment, meaning your effective surrender penalty can increase or decrease based on interest rate movements — applies throughout the charge period. That adds interest rate risk on top of the schedule itself.

The base contract's 10% free-withdrawal allowance provides some cushion. The ELB rider expands that to 20% in years following zero-withdrawal years, which materially softens the illiquidity for buyers who elect it. A return-of-premium feature also becomes available starting in year three for ELB riders, calculated as net premium less withdrawals and strategy charges. That provides a floor for buyers who want out without full surrender charges after a few years, though "return of premium" here is not a guaranteed minimum — it is calculated net of deductions.

The base contract carries no explicit annual product fee, which is consistent with most commission-channel FIAs. The main fee layers are: the 0.60% annual ELB rider charge (if elected), and the 0.95% strategy charge on enhanced participation rate strategies (deducted at term end). Those two can stack if you elect the rider and use enhanced strategies, which eats into credited interest meaningfully in flat or modestly positive index years.

The broader tradeoffs are structural. The 10-year surrender with MVA is a real commitment. Proprietary indices like the Goldman Sachs Equity TimeX and Morgan Stanley Dynamic Global Index often carry embedded index costs that reduce how much market movement translates into credited interest — these costs are not always disclosed prominently in brochures and are worth asking about. And because the GLWB's specific payout factors were not available in the materials reviewed here, evaluating the income rider's value relative to its fee requires a direct conversation with the carrier or an advisor who has the current rider schedule.

Legal Entity: North American Company for Life and Health Insurance

Parent: Sammons Financial Group

A.M. Best Rating: A+