Simple Annuity 4 review

It depends on how much weight you put on carrier strength versus rate. If you're comparing purely on guaranteed yield, Simple Annuity 4's rate above 5% is attractive for a four-year term, and its withdrawal terms are more generous than many peers. If you screen MYGAs by financial-strength rating first — sticking to A- or better, which is a common conservative standard — Nassau's B++ rating takes this off the table regardless of the rate.

The rational case for Simple Annuity 4 is rate plus liquidity. A shopper gets a fixed rate north of 5% locked for four years, which is meaningfully higher than what many A-rated MYGA issuers were crediting at the same duration as of the brochure date. Layer in free withdrawal access starting in year one instead of year two, plus an RMD provision that treats one required minimum distribution per contract year as free of surrender charge and MVA, and this becomes a reasonably flexible short-duration parking spot for money that doesn't need to be liquid beyond the annual allowance.

I think Simple Annuity 4 fits a buyer roughly 55 to 80 who has a defined four-year horizon, is comfortable taking on a carrier rated a tier below "Excellent" in exchange for a higher credited rate, and doesn't need an income rider or index exposure. It's a reasonable fit for an IRA holder who wants RMD-friendly free withdrawals built in. It's a poor fit for someone who screens exclusively for A- or better carriers, anyone outside the 18-85 issue-age window, and anyone in Maine or New York, where the product isn't currently approved.

You are buying a contractual promise from Nassau Life and Annuity Company to credit a fixed rate of interest on your premium for four years and to guarantee a minimum surrender value even if that rate were ever lower. There's no market exposure, no index crediting, and no rider decision to make — the entire value proposition is the declared rate, held for the term, backed by the insurer's general account and its claims-paying ability. That claims-paying ability is where the carrier's B++ rating becomes relevant: you're trusting a mid-tier-rated insurer to make good on that guarantee over four years, not a top-rated one.

Simple Annuity 4 credits a single fixed rate declared at contract issue and guaranteed for the entire four-year term — there's no annual reset, no index participation, and no cap or spread to track. According to the source brochure, the 4-year guarantee period rate is 5.15% effective January 17, 2026. Nassau's own Wink product profile, however, lists a 5.00% rate as of February 1, 2026 — a discrepancy that could reflect a rate change between filing dates or simply a stale profile page. Either way, rates on new MYGA business change regularly, and a shopper should confirm the current rate directly with Nassau or a licensed agent before applying rather than relying on either figure as final.

The more practically useful secondary feature is the free-withdrawal structure. Simple Annuity 4 allows up to 5% of account value annually, free of surrender charge and MVA, starting in the first contract year — not delayed to year two, which is a real advantage over some competing four-year MYGAs. On top of that, the contract is explicitly RMD-friendly: after the first calendar year, one required minimum distribution per contract year is treated as a free withdrawal regardless of the 5% cap, so IRA holders taking RMDs don't have to worry about triggering a surrender charge on that distribution. Additional RMDs taken in the same contract year beyond the first do still carry surrender charge and MVA exposure.

The surrender schedule runs 9%, 8%, 7%, 6% across the four contract years, dropping to zero once the term completes. Unlike products that withhold free withdrawals in year one, Simple Annuity 4 opens up to 5% of account value annually from the start, free of both surrender charge and MVA.

Above the free-withdrawal and RMD allowances, any surrender during the four-year period is also subject to a market value adjustment — MVA, an interest-rate-based adjustment that can increase or decrease your surrender proceeds depending on where rates sit relative to your issue date. In a rising-rate environment, the MVA typically works against you, so the effective cost of an early exit can run higher than the surrender charge alone suggests. This is standard for MVA-bearing MYGAs, but it means Simple Annuity 4 is best suited to money you're genuinely willing to hold for the full four years.

There are no rider fees on Simple Annuity 4 because there are no optional riders — no income rider, and per the source materials, no chronic illness or long-term-care enhancement is available on this product (that absence carries only low confidence in the extracted materials, so a shopper considering care-cost protection should confirm directly with Nassau). There's no annual contract fee and no premium bonus to factor in either. The one guaranteed floor worth understanding is the minimum guaranteed surrender value: 87.5% of premiums accumulated at Nassau's Total Guaranteed Value interest rate, which ranges from 0.15% to 3.0% depending on the state and is set at contract issue, reduced for any net withdrawals taken. That floor protects you from an unlimited downside on surrender value, but it's meaningfully lower than your original premium if you have to exit early in a bad MVA environment.

Legal Entity: Nassau Life and Annuity Company

Parent: Nassau Financial Group

A.M. Best Rating: B++