Select Choice Plus MVA 3-Year review

It depends on the buyer's specific situation. For someone who is certain they won't touch the money for 3 years and wants the slightly higher rate the MVA form offers, it's a reasonable choice. For anyone with any real chance of needing funds before term end, the unpredictability of the MVA makes it a harder sell compared to the non-MVA version. The carrier is financially solid at A- (AM Best), the term is short, and the rate structure is transparent — those are genuine positives. But the MVA is a real tradeoff, not a marketing footnote.

The rational reason to choose the MVA form over the standard version is yield. MVA products typically offer a slightly higher declared rate because the carrier is transferring some of the interest-rate reinvestment risk back to the buyer. A buyer who is confident in their 3-year hold — maybe funding a known future expense, bridging to Social Security, or parking a CD rollover — gets a marginally better locked rate without meaningfully changing their expected outcome if they hold to term. The low $2,000 minimum also makes this accessible to buyers who can't meet the $10,000–$25,000 floors common among larger MYGA carriers.

I think this product fits a fairly specific profile: a conservative buyer, likely in or near retirement, who is moving money from a CD or savings account, has a clear 3-year horizon, and is comfortable accepting that early surrender costs will float with market interest rates. The nonqualified issue ages starting at 0 make it technically useful for custodial accounts, though that's an unusual use case. For qualified money, it's RMD-friendly, and the waiver provisions for confinement and terminal illness add a safety valve that matters to buyers in older age brackets.

You're buying a 3-year fixed rate with an attached market value adjustment clause. Strip away the product name and what remains is this: the carrier promises a specific interest rate for 3 years, and in exchange for that guarantee, they've added a mechanism that adjusts your surrender proceeds based on the movement of interest rates since your contract issued. The MVA is not a fee — it's a formula. In a rising-rate environment, it reduces what you receive on early surrender. In a falling-rate environment, it may actually improve what you receive. It's a risk transfer, not a cost, but for most retail buyers it reads as complexity.

The declared rate is fixed at issue and guaranteed for the entire 3-year initial rate guarantee period. There's no index participation, no cap, no spread — just a stated percentage that compounds annually. S.USA uses a rate-banding structure: at the time of the source materials, the 3-year rate was 4.30% for contracts below $50,000, 4.30% for $50,000–$99,999, and 4.55% for $100,000 and above. The guaranteed minimum interest rate is 1%, so even if the carrier resets rates in a future guarantee period, your floor is legally capped there. At the end of the 3-year period, you have a 30-day surrender-free window to take the money out or select a new guarantee period.

These rates are snapshots from the available materials and will change. Ask for current rates directly before purchasing.

The secondary feature worth understanding is the optional rider suite. Two riders are available: a Penalty-Free Withdrawal (PFW) Rider and a Guaranteed Return of Premium (ROP) Rider. The PFW Rider gives you 10% annual free-withdrawal access after contract year one at a cost of -0.10% off your credited rate. The ROP Rider guarantees that if you surrender early you'll receive back at least your original premium, at a cost of -0.15% off the rate. You can take both for -0.25% combined. These exist because the base contract has no built-in free-withdrawal provision — a structural gap relative to many competing MYGAs. The riders plug that gap, but at a rate reduction that slightly narrows the MVA-form's yield advantage.

The base contract has no free-withdrawal provision. The surrender charge schedule runs 9% in year one, 8% in year two, and 7% in year three — and the MVA applies on top of those charges for surrenders or excess withdrawals during the term.

The MVA — Market Value Adjustment — means your effective exit cost is not fixed. If market interest rates rise after your contract issues, the MVA formula will typically reduce your surrender proceeds beyond the stated charge percentage. If rates fall, it may offset some of the surrender cost. The practical implication: in a rising-rate environment, bailing early becomes significantly more expensive than the stated 9/8/7% schedule suggests.

Three meaningful exceptions exist: RMDs from qualified contracts are waived from both surrender charges and the MVA. The Confinement Waiver removes both charges after 90 or more consecutive days of qualifying confinement. The Terminal Illness Waiver allows one full or partial penalty-free withdrawal after a qualifying terminal diagnosis with expected death within one year. These provisions meaningfully reduce the hardship risk for buyers in older age brackets.

There are no explicit base contract fees. The rider costs are the main fee consideration: -0.10% for PFW, -0.15% for ROP, -0.25% for both. Those reductions come directly off the credited rate, so they're straightforward to evaluate: if a 4.55% rate drops to 4.30% after both riders, you're earning the same as a lower-band contract. Whether those riders are worth it depends entirely on how much you value the liquidity option and the premium guarantee.

The bigger tradeoff is structural. This is an MVA product competing against non-MVA MYGAs at similar durations. The rate premium the MVA form offers is real but typically modest — and if rates move against you and you need to exit early, the MVA can turn a manageable surrender cost into a larger one. That's not a hidden fee; it's the defined mechanism of the product. But buyers should understand it before they sign.

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

Parent: Prosperity Life Group

AM Best Rating: A-

S.USA Life is the annuity-issuing arm of Prosperity Life Group, a mid-sized insurance group with a focused product line in fixed annuities and MYGAs. The A- AM Best rating indicates adequate financial strength for a short-term guaranteed product commitment — not top-tier, but solid for a 3-year term.