Secure Term MVA Fixed Annuity IV Fidelity 4-Year review

Yes, for a specific buyer. If you are a CA or NY resident, already working through Fidelity, want a short 4-year commitment, and can hold to maturity, this is a clean and well-backed product. The A++ carrier rating is about as strong as it gets, and the guaranteed rate is locked for the full term with no moving parts. It becomes a weaker fit if there is any real chance you will need to access more than the free 10% before year four ends — the MVA introduces an unpredictable layer of exit cost that a MYGA without it would not have.

The rational case here is carrier quality combined with a competitive locked rate in a short time frame. New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation carries A++ from A.M. Best, which is the highest grade available — not many carriers can say that. A buyer who is already using Fidelity, wants a 4-year safe-money vehicle, and cares about who stands behind the contract has a real reason to stop here. The 4-year structure also appeals to people who want certainty without a long runway, and the broad issue-age range means it works across qualified, non-qualified, and inherited IRA accounts.

I think this product fits most naturally for a retiree or pre-retiree in California or New York who has a meaningful safe-money allocation, uses Fidelity as their primary broker or custodian, and wants the peace of mind that comes with a top-rated carrier. The $50,000 minimum is above average for a 4-year MYGA, so this is not a starter product. It works well as a piece of a broader fixed-income allocation where the buyer has already sized the position and is confident they will not need to touch the principal before the surrender period ends. It is less well-suited for anyone who might face a liquidity event in the next four years, or anyone outside CA or NY.

You are buying a 4-year time deposit backed by an insurance contract rather than a bank. The guaranteed interest rate is locked at issue and does not fluctuate with market conditions — what you are quoted is what you earn, compounded annually, for the full term. New York Life holds the premium, invests it in its general account, and pays you the agreed rate. The insurance wrapper means the contract has creditor protections (which vary by state), tax-deferred growth in non-qualified accounts, and a death benefit equal to the full account value. The MVA is the main structural wrinkle: it is a mechanism that adjusts your effective surrender value up or down based on how interest rates have moved since you bought the contract. Rising rates since issue generally mean a negative MVA; falling rates generally mean a positive one.

The core feature is the locked fixed rate. At issue, New York Life assigns a guaranteed crediting rate that applies for all four contract years. The brochure notes rate banding by premium amount — buyers at higher premium tiers earn a slightly higher rate, with the disclosed tiers yielding 4.45%, 4.70%, or 4.70% depending on deposit size. That rate does not change. There are no caps, no participation rates, no index links — it is a pure fixed annuity. Interest credits annually and compounds inside the contract on a tax-deferred basis until withdrawal or annuitization. At the end of year four, the surrender charge drops to zero and the full account value is accessible without penalty.

The secondary feature worth understanding is the MVA — Market Value Adjustment. Unlike a straightforward MYGA where the only liquidity risk is the printed surrender charge, an MVA-enabled product adds a second variable to the exit equation. If you surrender above the free 10% before the contract matures and interest rates have risen since your purchase date, the MVA works against you, increasing your effective exit cost beyond the stated charge. If rates have fallen, it works in your favor. The MVA does not apply to the 10% free-withdrawal amount, to required minimum distributions, or to payouts after the surrender period ends. Its practical relevance is highest for buyers who might need a large lump sum before year four is complete. For buyers who are confident they will hold to maturity, the MVA is mostly theoretical — but it should not be ignored when the product is being evaluated.

The first thing to understand is that 10% of the account value is available immediately without surrender charge or MVA — and unlike many MYGAs, this provision applies from day one rather than after the first contract year. That is a modest advantage worth noting. The $2,000 minimum balance requirement means you cannot withdraw the full free amount if it would bring the account below that floor.

For amounts above the free 10%, the surrender charge schedule is 7% in years one through three, dropping to 6% in year four. The MVA applies on top of those charges, which means the real exit cost in years one through three could be meaningfully higher than 7% if the rate environment has shifted. Most buyers who are shopping a 4-year MYGA are already planning to hold to maturity, but the MVA is the reason this product demands a stronger holding commitment than a no-MVA alternative of the same duration.

There are no base contract fees and no rider fees on this product — it is a clean fixed annuity with no optional benefit overlay. The only fee-like structural element is the surrender charge schedule, which is a standard MYGA mechanism. The MVA is not technically a fee but it functions like one in a rising-rate exit scenario. The minimum guaranteed surrender value is based on a 0.05% annual return, which is a regulatory floor rather than a realistic outcome — it exists to ensure the contract always has a legally defined minimum, not as a meaningful benchmark for performance.

Legal Entity: New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation

Parent: New York Life Insurance Company

A.M. Best Rating: A++

New York Life Insurance Company is one of the oldest and largest mutual life insurance companies in the United States. The A++ rating from A.M. Best is the highest grade available and reflects the company's financial strength, reserve levels, and claims-paying history. For a fixed annuity where the carrier's general account is the only thing standing between the buyer and the promised rate, that matters more than it does for other product structures.