Pacific Index Dimensions 10-Year review

It depends, and the first filter is geography. If you don't live in Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Utah, or Washington, this specific product isn't available to you at all -- you'd be shown the MVA version instead, which is a different contract with a different surrender schedule. For residents of those five states, this is a reasonably good annuity: it has a real crediting menu, no base fee, and none of the market value adjustment risk that comes with the more widely available version. It's a weaker fit for anyone who wants income guarantees or who isn't fully comfortable with a 10-year lockup.

The rational case for this product is straightforward: you want index-linked growth potential without direct market exposure, you want to avoid MVA risk on withdrawals during the surrender period, and you're willing to trade three extra years of lockup (versus Pacific Life's own 7-year version) for modestly better crediting terms across the board. You also don't need an income rider -- you're either planning to annuitize later, pass the contract to heirs, or simply let it grow. If you're in one of the five approved states, this product does what it says without hidden fees.

This fits someone roughly 45-75 years old, living in MN, MO, PA, UT, or WA, with qualified or non-qualified retirement dollars they won't need for a full decade. It's a better fit for someone building a multi-bucket retirement plan who wants one bucket to sit untouched and grow than for someone who needs income turned on soon or who might need the principal back before year 10. Risk-averse buyers who still want more upside potential than a MYGA offers, but don't want MVA exposure, are the core audience.

You're not buying stock market exposure. You're buying an insurance contract that credits interest based on the performance of an external index -- the S&P 500, MSCI EAFE, or the BlackRock iBLD Endura Volatility Control 5.5 Excess Return Index -- using one of several formulas: a capped point-to-point, a participation rate, an enhanced participation rate, a performance-triggered rate, or a point-to-point with spread. None of these let the index's full return flow through untouched; each one trims the upside in a different way in exchange for principal protection. And because this is the non-MVA version, the insurance company isn't allowed to adjust your surrender value based on interest rate movements the way it can on the version sold in most other states.

The headline feature is the nine-strategy crediting menu. On the S&P 500 and MSCI EAFE, you can choose Point-to-Point with Cap (100% participation, capped at 7.40%-7.65% depending on premium band), a base Participation Rate (38%-40% of the index gain, uncapped), an Enhanced Participation Rate (52%-55% participation with a 2% spread), or Performance-Triggered crediting (a flat 6.05%-6.40% declared rate if the index is flat or positive, zero if it's negative). The BlackRock iBLD Endura Volatility Control 5.5 Excess Return Index adds a Point-to-Point with Spread option at 110%-115% participation. A Fixed Account option (3.30%-3.50%) rounds out the menu for anyone who wants a guaranteed rate inside the same contract. All figures above reflect rates effective March 1, 2026, banded Low (under $100,000) and High ($100,000 or more) -- the higher band gets modestly better terms across every strategy. These are snapshots, not permanent features of the contract; they reset periodically and will look different by the time you're shopping.

The second-most-important thing about this contract is what's absent: the market value adjustment. Because this version is sold only where state law prohibits MVAs, you don't face the risk of a surrender value that swings with interest rates on withdrawals taken above the free amount during the surrender period. That's a real structural advantage over the standard MVA version of the same product sold in most other states -- your worst case on an early, above-free withdrawal is the stated surrender charge, full stop, with nothing layered on top of it.

You're trading a full decade of liquidity for the crediting terms above. The free-withdrawal allowance is 10% of purchase payments in year one, then 10% of the prior anniversary's contract value each year after -- and because there's no MVA on this version, that 10% (and any RMD amount Pacific Life calculates) comes out clean either way. Above that, the straight-line schedule below applies for a full 10 years, which is longer than most FIA surrender schedules on the market. There's no income rider to soften the wait -- this contract either grows quietly for 10 years or it doesn't fit your plan.

There's no annual contract fee, mortality and expense charge, or administration fee on the base contract -- Pacific Life makes its money on the spread between what the index does and what it credits you, not a visible line-item fee. The only optional cost is the Interest Enhanced Death Benefit Rider, which runs 0.40% annually on the Death Benefit Base in exchange for a 2% compound annual rollup for 20 years or to age 85, whichever comes first. That's a legacy-planning add-on, not an income feature -- there is no income rider on this product at all, so don't go looking for one. Whether the death benefit rider is worth 0.40% a year depends entirely on whether you expect this contract to go to heirs rather than get spent down or annuitized later.

Legal Entity: Pacific Life Insurance Company

A.M. Best Rating: A+