Select Choice Plus 4-Year review

It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. For someone who wants a guaranteed rate for exactly four years — not three, not five — with no MVA risk and the option to add liquidity access at a small cost, yes, this is a reasonable choice. For someone who wants the best possible rate in the 4-to-5-year MYGA space, they should compare current rate banding carefully because the base rate of 4.15% (as of September 2025 disclosures) is workable but not exceptional. For someone who wants indexed growth potential, income guarantees, or premium bonuses, this product was not designed for any of those purposes.

The straightforward case for Select Choice Plus 4-Year is a predictable, locked return over a mid-length time horizon. Someone rolling over a maturing 3-year MYGA who wants another short-ish cycle, or someone who specifically wants to time their annuity maturity around a known future need — a home purchase, a business transition, a four-year countdown to a planned retirement — would find the 4-year term more useful than rounding up to five. The low $2,000 minimum also makes this accessible for buyers funding an IRA with smaller incremental amounts. The optional Return of Premium rider provides a backstop guarantee that principal is recoverable at contract maturity, which may appeal to buyers who want certainty but are sensitive to surrender charge risk.

I think Select Choice Plus 4-Year fits best for a conservative buyer who wants the certainty of a fixed declared rate over a specific shorter time horizon, prefers no MVA exposure, and is either happy to leave the money alone for four years or willing to pay a small rate reduction for the PFW rider's access. It is less attractive for buyers who want income rider options, specialty crediting, premium bonuses, or the higher rates that longer surrender periods typically offer. The non-qualified issue age starting at birth (age 0) is unusual and suggests possible gifting or legacy-planning applications for smaller amounts.

You are buying a guaranteed interest rate for four years. No indexing, no market linkage, no complexity. The insurance company takes your premium, credits it at the declared fixed rate for the initial guarantee period, and at the end of that period you either take the money or roll into another guarantee term. The declared rate is guaranteed not to fall below the 1% guaranteed minimum interest rate (GMIR), but in practice the contract is designed to be competitive with bank CDs and short-term fixed annuities — the GMIR is a contractual floor, not the actual expected rate. What separates this from a bank CD is the tax-deferred growth, the death benefit, the optional riders, and the insurance company's credit guarantee instead of FDIC coverage.

Select Choice Plus 4-Year credits a declared fixed interest rate for the full 4-year initial rate guarantee period. The rate is set at issue and guaranteed for the entire term — it does not float, it does not reset annually, and it does not vary with index performance. As of September 2025 rate disclosures, the declared rate was 4.15% for contracts below $50,000 and below $100,000, and 4.40% for contracts at $100,000 or above. Rate banding at the $50,000 and $100,000 breakpoints means buyers who can meet the higher threshold will see a meaningful improvement in yield.

At the end of the initial guarantee period, there is a 30-day window during which the contract can be surrendered penalty-free. If no action is taken, the contract rolls into a new guarantee period at the then-current rate. Buyers who plan to exit at maturity need to act during that 30-day window — missing it means accepting a new term at whatever rate S.USA Life declares at that time.

The no-MVA design is the most important secondary feature on this contract. A market value adjustment — present on many competing MYGAs and fixed annuities — means that if interest rates have risen since your contract issued, an early surrender triggers an additional downward adjustment on top of the stated surrender charge. For a 4-year product in a rate environment where rates can move meaningfully over the term, the absence of an MVA is a real protection. The Select Choice Plus 4-Year's surrender charges of 9%, 8%, 7%, 6% across four years are what they are — no surprise multiplier on top of them if you need to exit early.

The optional riders round out the secondary picture. The Penalty-Free Withdrawal Rider, added at issue, provides access to 10% of the accumulation value annually after year one at a rate reduction of 0.10% — a small and transparent cost. The optional Return of Premium Rider (−0.15% rate reduction) guarantees that the total surrender value at any point will be at least equal to the original premium, even in the first contract year when surrender charges are highest. The terminal illness and confinement waivers address emergency-access scenarios at no additional charge.

The base contract has no built-in free withdrawal provision — this is unusual relative to many competing MYGAs that include 10% free withdrawal automatically. If a buyer wants partial access during the surrender period, they need to add the PFW Rider at issue. That rider cannot be added after the contract is in force.

There is no MVA on this contract form, so the surrender charge is the only exit cost beyond normal withdrawal. Qualified contract holders taking required minimum distributions are not subject to surrender charges on RMD amounts, which makes this contract RMD-friendly for IRA use. The confinement waiver applies after 90 consecutive days of skilled nursing, intermediate nursing, or hospital confinement — charges are waived for withdrawals while confined. The terminal illness waiver allows one full or partial surrender without charges upon a terminal diagnosis (expected death within 12 months, diagnosed after the contract date).

The base contract has no annual fee. No spread is deducted, no contract maintenance charge, no rider fee unless a rider is elected. The cost structure here is entirely embedded in the credited rate — you get what you see.

The rider trade is transparent: if you want the 10% annual free withdrawal access, the PFW Rider reduces your credited rate by 0.10% annually. If you want the Return of Premium guarantee, the ROP Rider reduces your credited rate by 0.15% annually. If you want both, the combined reduction is 0.25%. These are additive, not compounding, which makes the math easy. On a 4-year contract crediting 4.15%, adding both riders brings you to 3.90% — still a positive real rate at most recent inflation readings, but a meaningful reduction in total accumulation.

The main structural tradeoff is that this is a 4-year lock with no flexibility in the base contract. Buyers who might need a portion of principal before year two — when even the PFW rider first activates — have limited options beyond the confinement and terminal illness waivers. Amounts above the free withdrawal on the PFW rider, or any withdrawal in year one, are subject to surrender charges.

Legal Entity: S.USA Life Insurance Company, Inc.

Parent: Prosperity Life Group

AM Best Rating: A-

S.USA Life is a subsidiary of Prosperity Life Group, a mid-sized insurance holding company. The A- AM Best rating sits within the acceptable range for a short-to-medium-term fixed annuity commitment, though it is one notch below A and well below the A+ or A++ ratings of larger carriers. For a 4-year MYGA at the entry-level premium sizes this product accommodates, the carrier profile is reasonable. Buyers placing larger amounts — particularly above $100,000 — should verify current AM Best ratings directly and consider how the carrier's financial strength compares to alternatives at that premium tier.