Nationwide New Heights Select 10 review

Yes, for the right buyer. This is a good annuity for someone who wants accumulation potential with principal protection and is willing to make a 10-year commitment to access the most competitive crediting terms in the standard New Heights Select line. It is less appealing for someone who is uncomfortable with a decade-long surrender period, needs 10% annual liquidity during that time, or lives in New York.

The main reason to buy New Heights Select 10 is to access the best crediting terms Nationwide can offer in the standard New Heights Select line. Longer surrender periods give the carrier more time to manage the underlying hedging, which typically translates to higher caps, participation rates, or more favorable Balanced Allocation Strategy terms. The secondary reason is the same rider flexibility found across the product line. In real life, this is the type of annuity someone buys when they have a 10-year or longer time horizon, want more growth potential than a traditional fixed annuity, want principal protection, and are willing to trade liquidity for better rates.

New Heights Select 10 is best for someone who has a clear 10-year or longer time horizon and wants to maximize crediting potential within the New Heights Select family without going to the 12-year version's more limited state availability. It is also a reasonable fit for someone who values the rider optionality and wants the flexibility to add income or legacy features. It is less attractive for someone who may need access to more than 7% of their contract value annually, wants a shorter commitment, or prefers the 3-year strategy terms available in the 9-year and 12-year versions.

You are not buying direct stock market participation. You are buying a principal-protected insurance contract that credits interest based in part on the performance of selected indices while protecting principal from market downturns. The real value here is the combination of protection, the most competitive crediting terms in the standard line, a broad index menu with Balanced Allocation Strategies, and the flexibility to customize the contract with an optional rider. This is a structured product that trades unlimited upside and near-term liquidity for downside certainty and potentially higher credited interest.

New Heights Select 10 lets you allocate among several interest-crediting strategies tied to seven indices: Goldman Sachs New Horizons, J.P. Morgan Mozaic II, Loomis Sayles Discovery, Nasdaq-100 Volatility Control 10% PR, NYSE Zebra Edge II, S&P 500, and SG Macro Compass. Strategy terms are available in 1-year and 2-year durations. The Balanced Allocation Strategy options blend an index component, a declared rate component, and a strategy spread.

The practical advantage of the 10-year surrender period is that it typically allows the carrier to set more competitive crediting terms than the 8-year or 9-year versions. This is the fundamental tradeoff in FIA design: longer commitments generally buy better rates. The Daily Accumulation Value tracks potential earnings daily, and the lock-in feature lets you lock the index value once per strategy term. These features give buyers ongoing visibility into their contract's performance and a tool to capture gains mid-term.

The optional rider menu mirrors the structure available across the New Heights Select line. Buyers can choose one rider from four options. The High Point 365 Select Lifetime Income rider (0.95% annual fee) provides guaranteed lifetime withdrawals after a 5-year deferral period, with 1% annual growth on the Minimum Income Benefit Value for 10 years. The High Point 365 Select with Bonus rider (1.10% annual fee) offers a 30% MIBV bonus and 9.5% compound growth for 12 years after just a 1-year deferral.

On the legacy side, the High Point Select Enhanced Death Benefit rider (0.50% annual fee) grows the minimum EDB at 4% compound to a 200% cap. The High Point Select EDB with Purchase Payment Bonus version (0.80% annual fee) adds a 3% purchase payment bonus that vests over the 10-year surrender period. The vesting period here is longer than the 8-year version (which also has a 3% bonus), so the full bonus takes two additional years to vest. Buyers who prioritize the EDB bonus and want faster vesting may find the 8-year version more attractive on that specific feature, while buyers who prioritize crediting terms will prefer the 10-year version's rate advantage.

This annuity allows no free withdrawals in year 0. Starting in year 1, free withdrawals of up to 7% of contract value are available annually through year 9. After year 10, the free withdrawal amount increases to 10%. Amounts above the free withdrawal limit are subject to the surrender schedule, which varies by state.

Group 1 states: 10% / 10% / 9% / 8% / 7% / 6% / 5% / 4% / 3% / 2% / 0%. **Group 2 states:** 9.2% / 8.9% / 7.9% / 7% / 6% / 5% / 4% / 3% / 2% / 1% / 0%. **California:** 8.40% / 8.05% / 7.10% / 6.10% / 5.10% / 4.10% / 3.10% / 2.05% / 1.00% / 0%. Group 1 states have the steepest early charges, with 10% for the first two years. RMD withdrawals are free of surrender charges and MVA. LTC and terminal illness waivers are available after year 1. The death benefit pays the greater of the DAV or surrender value. The 7% free withdrawal limit remains the main liquidity constraint throughout the surrender period.

There is no base contract fee. Fees only apply if the buyer elects an optional rider. The income riders charge 0.95% or 1.10% annually depending on the version chosen. The enhanced death benefit riders charge 0.50% or 0.80% annually. These fees are deducted from the contract value and will reduce the accumulation over time.

The less obvious tradeoffs are structural. The 10-year commitment is a long time to have limited liquidity. Upside is limited by the crediting terms of each strategy. The Balanced Allocation Strategy blends components in a way that can smooth returns but also cap the highest possible outcomes. Some of the volatility-controlled indices have embedded index costs. The 7% free withdrawal cap is below the industry norm. And the state-variable surrender schedule means the actual cost of early withdrawal depends on where you live. This version offers 1-year and 2-year strategy terms but not the 3-year terms available in the 9-year and 12-year versions.

New Heights Select 10 is issued by Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, based in Columbus, Ohio. Nationwide is a Fortune 100 mutual company founded in 1926 with $322.3 billion in total assets. The company carries ratings of A+ from S&P, A+ from AM Best, and A1 from Moody's. Nationwide is one of the largest and most diversified insurance and financial services companies in the United States, and the New Heights Select line reflects a modern, accumulation-focused FIA design with meaningful rider optionality.