Milestone MYGA 3-Year review

Depends on the premium size. At $100,000 or more, the 4.75% rate is a reasonable, if not standout, 3-year MYGA return, and the product's clean structure — no fees, no surrender surprises, a solid MGSV — makes it a defensible pick. Below $50,000, the 3.75% rate is a weak return for locking money up for three years, even with MVA-protected downside. This isn't a bad annuity so much as a rate-tiered one where the answer changes depending on how much you're putting in.

The main draw is simplicity paired with a low entry point. Someone with $15,000 to $40,000 who wants a guaranteed rate, doesn't want to shop a $25,000-minimum product, and values a full-value death benefit with no strings attached would find this workable. It's also a fit for someone who specifically needs the base Milestone's broader state approval rather than the Max variant, which isn't sold in several states including New York.

I think this product is best for a retiree or near-retiree with a modest lump sum — think an IRA rollover, a CD maturity, or an inheritance in the $15,000–$50,000 range — who wants a short commitment and doesn't want to shop around for a higher minimum. It's a weaker fit for anyone with $50,000 or more to place, since that buyer can generally do better either by meeting Milestone Max's $25,000 minimum with Sagicor directly, or by shopping the wider 3-year MYGA market before settling for this tier's rate.

You're buying a fixed-rate insurance contract, not an investment. Sagicor takes your premium, declares a rate for three years, and guarantees that rate regardless of what interest rates or markets do during the term. There's no index participation, no cap, no spread — the number on the rate sheet is the number you get, banded only by how much you put in. What you're really paying for with the lower bands is convenience: a lower minimum than most 3-year MYGAs ask for, in exchange for accepting a below-market rate if you can't clear $50,000.

The crediting is a simple declared fixed rate, banded by premium size and locked for the full 3-year guarantee period. As of the November 2025 rate sheet cited in the brochure materials, premiums under $50,000 earn 3.75%, premiums of $50,000 or more earn 4.50%, and premiums of $100,000 or more earn 4.75%. These are snapshot rates — Sagicor re-declares them periodically, so anyone shopping this product should pull the current Crediting Strategies/Rates PDF before applying rather than relying on a brochure date.

At the end of the initial 3-year term, Sagicor opens a 30-day penalty-free window (with 45 days' advance written notice) where you can withdraw in full, take a partial withdrawal, or let the contract roll into another 3-year guarantee period at the then-current rate. This repeats at contract years 3 and 6; after that, the contract renews annually with no further surrender charge or MVA. If you take no action during a penalty-free window, the contract automatically re-enters a new surrender-charge period at whatever rate is then declared — worth flagging, since that default is easy to miss if you're not paying attention to the notice.

The free-withdrawal allowance is the second feature worth understanding. Contract owners can take out 10% of the prior anniversary's accumulation value each year, without surrender charge or MVA, but only starting in the second contract year — not the first. That's a meaningful detail: someone who needs access to a portion of their money in year one has none available beyond what's contractually guaranteed at death. The $500 minimum withdrawal amount is a minor administrative detail, not a real constraint for most buyers.

This is a three-year commitment with a front-loaded surrender schedule of 9% in year one, 8% in year two, and 7% in year three, plus a market value adjustment (MVA) — meaning the surrender penalty on amounts above the free-withdrawal allowance can move up or down with interest rates, not just follow the flat percentage in the table. Combined with no free withdrawals in year one, this product asks for real patience in the early going. The tradeoff is a relatively short lockup as MYGAs go — three years is on the shorter end of the category — and the automatic penalty-free windows at years 3 and 6 give you recurring off-ramps if your plans change, provided you act on the notice rather than letting the contract auto-renew by default.

There's no annual contract fee and no rider fee — this is a fee-free product by design, since it carries no optional riders to attach a fee to. The real tradeoff isn't a fee at all; it's the tiered rate. A buyer at $40,000 earns a full percentage point less than a buyer at $100,000 for the identical contract terms, surrender schedule, and MGSV. That's a meaningful opportunity cost for anyone near a band threshold — bringing an extra few thousand dollars to clear the $50,000 line is worth doing the math on before applying.

Covered in the deterministic table above.

Covered in the deterministic block above.