Performance Choice 8 review

It depends on what you need. For a buyer focused on accumulation with principal protection and no interest in an income rider, this is a solid product from a well-rated carrier. For a buyer who wants guaranteed lifetime income, it is the wrong product — there is no income rider available and no way to add one. The 8-year commitment is also a real constraint. If there is any chance you will need more than 10% of the account in the first several years, the combination of surrender charges and the MVA can make an early exit more painful than expected.

The main reason to consider Performance Choice 8 is accumulation with protection. Buyers who want to avoid direct market losses while still capturing some index-linked growth will find a genuinely deep menu here. The presence of the biennial crediting option is notable — most 8-year FIAs stay with annual strategies. For a buyer who prefers a longer measurement window, that option adds something most competitors in this duration band do not offer.

The minimum premium of $20,000 is accessible, the carrier is financially strong, and the broad issue age range (up to 85) means it can fit older buyers as well as those in earlier accumulation stages.

I think Performance Choice 8 is best for a buyer in their 50s or 60s who has true 8-year money, wants principal protection against market downturns, and values having several index crediting strategies to allocate across. It works for both qualified and non-qualified money. It is a poor fit for anyone whose primary goal is lifetime income, anyone who may need liquidity above the 10% free-withdrawal in the first five years, or anyone uncomfortable with the MVA adding variability to surrender costs.

You are not buying direct stock market participation. You are buying a principal-protection contract where interest is credited based on how selected indices perform, subject to caps, participation rates, or spreads set by North American. The floor is principal protection — you do not lose money because an index declined. The ceiling is shaped by the crediting parameters, which North American can adjust at each renewal.

The five indices on this product include the plain S&P 500 and four more specialized constructs — a MARC-style risk-control index, a Fidelity multifactor strategy, and two bank-sponsored volatility-managed indices from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Those proprietary indices typically carry embedded volatility controls that reduce how much they move, which is why their participation rates can be higher than a raw S&P 500 strategy. That is not a flaw, but it is something to understand before allocating heavily to them.

Performance Choice 8 offers three distinct crediting methods: annual point-to-point, biennial term end point, and monthly point-to-point. Each method measures index performance differently.

Annual point-to-point compares the index at the start and end of each contract year. Biennial term end point extends that measurement to two years, which can capture more market movement in exchange for a longer commitment period per cycle. Monthly point-to-point tracks the index monthly and sums the capped monthly returns — this method can underperform in strongly trending markets because each month's gain is individually capped.

The participation rates cited in the spec range from 35% to 245% across strategies, reflecting the wide difference between the plain S&P 500 strategies (lower participation, often with a separate cap) and the proprietary index strategies (higher participation, but the underlying index moves less). Cap rates range from 2.35% to 8.0%, and a 0.95% spread applies on select strategies. Rates as of early April 2026 also included a fixed account at 3.20%. These figures are subject to change at each renewal.

The biennial term end point option is the product's most distinctive secondary feature. A two-year measurement window allows more of a sustained index trend to register before crediting occurs. In exchange, the money is locked into that strategy for two years rather than one. For a buyer who is comfortable with the longer cycle and believes an index will move meaningfully over a two-year period, this can be a more efficient use of the annuity's crediting structure than annual resets alone.

The fixed account option at 3.20% is also worth noting as a secondary feature. In an environment where someone is uncertain about near-term index behavior, the ability to park a portion in a fixed rate while the rest works through index strategies adds real flexibility.

After the first contract year, 10% of account value can be withdrawn annually without surrender charges. Amounts above that threshold are subject to the schedule below, and a Market Value Adjustment — an MVA — may also apply. An MVA adjusts the surrender value up or down based on interest rate movements since issue, which means the actual cost of a large early exit depends partly on the rate environment at the time, not just the stated surrender percentage.

The four consecutive years of 10% charges at the front of this schedule are meaningful. An RMD waiver likely applies — the spec does not confirm this explicitly, and RMD-friendliness was flagged as low-confidence, so verify directly with North American before using this product in a qualified account above the free-withdrawal amount. The product is not available in New York; variations are approved in California and Massachusetts.

There is no base contract fee and no income rider fee — because there is no income rider. The only fee-equivalent cost in the index sleeve structure is the 0.95% spread on select strategies, which reduces credited interest on those specific allocations.

The structural tradeoffs are more significant than the fees. The cap rate range (2.35% to 8.0%) is spread widely enough that the actual return potential depends heavily on which strategy and which index a buyer selects. Proprietary index strategies may show higher participation rates, but those indices are designed with embedded volatility controls that limit their movement — so a 150% participation rate on a low-volatility index may produce less credited interest than a 50% rate on a standard S&P 500 strategy in a strong year. Understanding that dynamic matters before allocating.

Legal Entity: North American Company for Life and Health

Parent: Sammons Financial Group

A.M. Best Rating: A+