Why it earned this rating
Our assessment
Bridges the gap between Monument Advisor's pure accumulation focus and traditional VAs with living benefits. Designed for the fee-based advisor channel with competitive pricing, and optional living benefit riders give it more flexibility than Monument Advisor for buyers who want income planning options alongside tax-deferred growth.
The short version
If someone is working with a fee-based advisor and wants tax-deferred accumulation with the option to add income guarantees, L.inc+ Core Advisory fills a gap that Monument Advisor cannot. It offers the advisory-channel cost advantages — no surrender charges, competitive pricing, institutional-quality investment options — while adding the living benefit rider flexibility that pure accumulation VAs lack. What keeps it from a higher rating is that the additional rider costs reduce the cost advantage over traditional VAs, and buyers who never activate the income features would have been better served by Monument Advisor's simpler, cheaper structure.
Key facts
The full review
Is Nationwide L.inc+ Core Advisory a Good Annuity?
Yes, for the right buyer. This is a good annuity for someone working with a fee-based advisor who wants tax-deferred growth and the flexibility to add guaranteed income features. It is less appealing for someone who is purely accumulation-focused and does not anticipate needing income riders, because Monument Advisor offers a simpler, lower-cost alternative for that use case.
Why Someone Would Buy This Annuity
The main reason to buy L.inc+ Core Advisory is to get the cost advantages of a fee-based VA with the option to add living benefit riders. The secondary reason is access to institutional-quality investment options through the advisory channel. In real life, this is the type of annuity someone buys when they are working with a fee-based advisor, want tax-deferred growth, and are not yet sure whether they will need guaranteed income in retirement. Rather than choosing between a pure accumulation VA and a traditional VA with riders, L.inc+ Core Advisory lets them have both options in one product.
Who This Annuity Is Best For
L.inc+ Core Advisory is best for someone working with a fee-based financial advisor who wants tax-deferred accumulation with the flexibility to add income guarantees later. It is a strong fit for someone who is 5 to 15 years from retirement and wants to keep their options open — accumulate now, decide on income features later. It is also well-suited for advisors who want to offer clients a single product that can evolve with their planning needs. It is less attractive for someone who is certain they only want accumulation (Monument Advisor is cheaper), someone who wants a commission-based product, or someone who is not working with a fee-based advisor.
What You're Really Buying Here
You are buying a tax-deferred investment wrapper designed for the advisory channel that gives you the option to add insurance guarantees if and when you need them. The core value is the same as any advisory VA — tax-deferred growth with institutional-quality investments and no surrender charges. The additional value is the optionality of living benefit riders, which means you are not locked into a pure accumulation strategy if your planning needs change.
How the Core Feature Works
L.inc+ Core Advisory provides access to institutional-quality investment options through a tax-deferred variable annuity wrapper. As a fee-based product, it is designed to be held in advisory accounts where the advisor charges a separate advisory fee rather than earning commissions from the product. There are no surrender charges, which means the buyer has full liquidity at all times.
The investment options are curated for the advisory channel, which typically means lower-cost institutional share classes and a menu designed for portfolio construction rather than retail distribution. The tax deferral works the same way as any VA — gains, dividends, and rebalancing activity are not taxed until withdrawal, which allows the portfolio to compound more efficiently over time.
Why the Secondary Feature Matters
The optional living benefit riders are what make L.inc+ Core Advisory more than just another advisory VA. These riders can provide guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits, which means the buyer can establish a guaranteed income floor regardless of market performance. For someone who starts with an accumulation focus but later decides they want income certainty in retirement, the ability to add that feature without switching products is a meaningful advantage.
This matters because planning needs change. Someone who is 55 and focused on growth may feel differently at 65 when they are thinking about covering essential retirement expenses. L.inc+ Core Advisory allows that evolution within a single product, which avoids the cost and complexity of surrendering one annuity and purchasing another.
Liquidity and Surrender Schedule
There are no surrender charges. L.inc+ Core Advisory is a fee-based product with full liquidity at all times. This is consistent with the advisory-channel model, where advisors need the ability to manage client assets without being constrained by surrender periods.
Full liquidity is one of the most important features for advisory-channel buyers. It means the advisor can rebalance, reallocate, or liquidate the position without penalty, and the client is never locked in. The only cost consideration on withdrawals is the tax treatment — gains come out as ordinary income, not at capital gains rates.
Fees and Tradeoffs
The cost structure is designed to be competitive with other advisory-channel VAs. There are no surrender charges and no traditional commission-based compensation. The advisory fee is charged separately by the advisor and is not part of the product cost. If living benefit riders are elected, those carry additional charges that increase the all-in cost.
The main tradeoff is cost versus flexibility. L.inc+ Core Advisory costs more than Monument Advisor when living benefit riders are added, but it offers income planning options that Monument Advisor does not. For someone who uses the income features, the additional cost is the price of that flexibility. For someone who does not, Monument Advisor's flat-fee structure is more efficient. Underlying fund expenses also apply, as they would in any investment account.
Product snapshot
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Product type | Variable annuity (advisory / fee-based) |
| Issued by | Nationwide Life Insurance Company (or affiliate) |
| Channel | RIA / fee-based advisor |
| Cost structure | Low-cost advisory VA pricing; no surrender charges |
| Investment options | Institutional-quality options across fund families |
| Surrender charges | None — full liquidity |
| Living benefit riders | Optional |
| Death benefit | Standard contract value; enhanced options may be available |
| Advisory fee | Charged separately by advisor; not part of product cost |
Carrier snapshot
L.inc+ Core Advisory is issued by Nationwide Life Insurance Company or an affiliate, part of the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company family. Nationwide is a Fortune 100 mutual company founded in 1926 and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The company carries ratings of A+ from S&P, A+ from AM Best, and A1 from Moody's, with $322.3 billion in total assets. Nationwide's presence in both the advisory and traditional VA channels gives it a broad product shelf, and L.inc+ Core Advisory represents its solution for fee-based advisors who want more flexibility than a pure accumulation VA provides.
Final take
L.inc+ Core Advisory sits in a smart spot in the market. It takes the advisory-channel advantages of products like Monument Advisor — low cost, no surrender charges, institutional investments — and adds the optionality of living benefit riders. For a fee-based advisor building a retirement plan for a client who may need income guarantees down the road, that combination is hard to replicate with a single product.
The honest assessment is that the value of this product depends entirely on whether the buyer uses the income features. If they do, L.inc+ Core Advisory justifies its existence by providing something Monument Advisor cannot. If they do not, they would have been better off in Monument Advisor's simpler, cheaper structure. For buyers and advisors who want to keep their options open, it is a strong option from a top-tier carrier.