Select Choice Plus MVA 7-Year review

It depends on your timeline. For a buyer who genuinely has seven years of idle money and wants to lock in a competitive declared rate, yes — this is a reasonable choice. For a buyer who has any meaningful chance of needing the money before the guarantee period ends, the answer shifts toward no. The MVA means the effective cost of early exit is unpredictable and can be substantially higher than the printed surrender charge suggests. That uncertainty is the product's defining limitation.

The rational case for this annuity is rate. The MVA version of Select Choice Plus typically carries a slightly higher declared interest rate than the non-MVA sibling, and that premium compounds over seven years into a meaningful difference in accumulated value. A buyer who is confident in their timeline — funding an IRA for a specific retirement date, parking a lump sum they won't touch for seven years — can capture that extra yield in exchange for absorbing the interest-rate risk that the MVA transfers from the insurer to them. The low $2,000 minimum also makes it accessible for buyers with smaller amounts to deploy.

I think this product is best for a conservative saver in their mid-to-late 50s or early 60s who has a specific seven-year window — perhaps a defined pre-retirement horizon — and wants the highest possible guaranteed fixed rate from a financially solid carrier without any index exposure. Qualified-money buyers benefit from the RMD exemption from withdrawal charges and MVA. It is a poor fit for anyone with uncertain liquidity needs, anyone who might need access above the optional penalty-free withdrawal amount, and anyone whose primary goal is lifetime income.

You are buying a single-premium deferred fixed annuity with a declared interest rate locked for seven years. The insurer credits that rate annually to your accumulation value, and at the end of the guarantee period you can surrender penalty-free during a 30-day window or roll into a new guarantee period at the then-current renewal rate. The MVA is the structural feature that distinguishes this version: it adjusts your surrender value up or down based on changes in interest rates since you bought the contract. Rising rates after purchase reduce your early surrender value; falling rates enhance it. The floor is the guaranteed minimum interest rate of 1%, which means the insurer bears the floor risk but transfers the early-exit interest-rate risk to you.

The declared fixed rate is guaranteed for the full seven-year initial rate guarantee period. Rate bands apply: contracts below $50,000, at $50,000 or more, and at $100,000 or more each receive different rates, with the highest tier offering up to 5.00% as of the brochure date. That rate is credited daily or annually per contract terms and compounds through the guarantee period.

At the end of seven years, a 30-day penalty-free window opens. You can surrender the full account value, make a partial withdrawal, or do nothing — if you do nothing, the contract rolls into a new declared rate for a new guarantee period. Renewal rates can never fall below 1%, but there is no guarantee they will match your initial rate. The MVA applies only during the surrender period — once the guarantee period ends, it is no longer a factor.

The most meaningful secondary feature here is the optional waiver package. The Confinement Waiver eliminates withdrawal charges and the MVA if you are confined to a qualifying nursing facility or hospital for 90 or more consecutive days. The Terminal Illness Waiver provides a similar one-time exit if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness expected to result in death within a year. These are not income riders or liquidity features in the conventional sense, but they address the most common reason a seven-year commitment becomes untenable. For a buyer who is otherwise healthy and confident in their timeline, they are a meaningful backstop. The optional Penalty-Free Withdrawal rider and the Return of Premium rider address different concerns — see the fees section below.

This is a product you should treat as illiquid for seven years. The base contract provides no free withdrawal, which is less common even among MYGAs. To get the standard 10%-per-year free withdrawal access, you need to add the optional Penalty-Free Withdrawal rider at issue, which reduces your credited rate by 0.10%. If you add neither rider, any withdrawal during the surrender period triggers both the surrender charge and the MVA.

The surrender schedule starts steep and declines gradually:

On top of those charges, the MVA can add to or subtract from your surrender value depending on where interest rates are at the time of exit. In a rising-rate environment — exactly the scenario where you might most want to exit and redeploy — the MVA reduces what you receive. Required minimum distributions on qualified contracts are exempt from both withdrawal charges and the MVA, which is a genuine relief valve for IRA holders.

The base contract carries no annual fee. The MVA is not a fee in the traditional sense — it is an adjustment mechanism that can work for or against you — but it represents real economic risk that should be priced into your thinking before you commit.

The optional riders do reduce your credited rate. The Penalty-Free Withdrawal rider costs 0.10% off your declared rate annually. The Return of Premium rider costs 0.15%. If you add both, you give up 0.25% — a meaningful slice of a fixed-rate product's total return when rates are in the 4-5% range. You are essentially buying insurance against early exit and against loss of premium, and whether that is worth the rate reduction depends on your confidence in the seven-year timeline.

The main tradeoffs in plain terms: a high declared rate in exchange for seven years of illiquidity plus unpredictable early-exit costs from the MVA. If you keep the money in place for seven years, the tradeoffs disappear and you are left with the accumulated value at the promised rate.

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

Parent: Prosperity Life Group

AM Best Rating: A-