Milestone MYGA 7-Year review

Yes, with a caveat. It's a solid, honestly-structured 7-year rate lock for someone who wants a guaranteed return and a low entry cost. The caveat is that Sagicor sells a second version of essentially the same contract — the Milestone Max MYGA 7-Year — that pays a higher declared rate at every premium tier and throws in a no-cost illness waiver, in exchange for a higher $25,000 minimum and narrower state availability. If you can meet the $25,000 threshold and live in a state where Max is sold, it's worth comparing before defaulting to this base version.

The core appeal is accessibility: a $15,000 minimum is low for a 7-year MYGA, and the three-tier pricing structure ($15,000 / $50,000 / $100,000) means even modest deposits get a declared rate, not a penalty rate. Someone rolling over a smaller IRA, or who wants to ladder several smaller MYGAs across carriers, can use this product without needing to consolidate into a single large deposit. It's also a clean choice for someone who wants a guaranteed rate with no moving parts — no cap, no index, no rider decisions to make.

This fits a buyer in or near retirement who wants a guaranteed, CD-like return on a portion of their savings and doesn't need immediate income or a chronic-illness liquidity feature. It works for both qualified (IRA) and non-qualified money. Because the surrender schedule runs the full 7 years with no free-withdrawal room in year 1, it's not a fit for anyone who might need meaningful access to principal in the near term — and because it doesn't include Max's illness waiver, someone specifically shopping for that protection should look at the Max version or a competing MYGA that includes one.

Strip away the brand name and this is a savings vehicle, not an insurance-heavy product: you deposit a lump sum, Sagicor credits one declared interest rate for seven years, and at the end of the term your money is available to withdraw, roll over, or re-lock. The "annuity" wrapper mainly buys you tax deferral on the growth (versus a taxable CD) and a modest death benefit if you die before maturity. There's no market exposure, no index crediting, and no living-benefit rider baked in — just a fixed rate for a fixed period.

The product credits a single declared fixed rate for the entire 7-year guarantee period — no annual resets, no index participation. As of the Wink data snapshot (11/4/2025), the declared rate bands were 4.70% for deposits under $50,000, 5.05% for the $50,000-$99,999 band, and 5.20% for $100,000 and above, with a $750,000 maximum per the Agent Guide (higher amounts available with Home Office approval). These are snapshot figures, not permanent — Sagicor reprices its MYGA shelf regularly, so confirm the live rate before applying. What's worth noting is that the top declared rate here (5.20%, and only at the $100,000+ tier) still trails the Max version's top rate (5.25% at a $75,000+ tier, or 5.10% starting at just $25,000) — the base product's higher entry accessibility comes with a rate discount at every comparable tier.

The Minimum Guaranteed Surrender Value (MGSV) is the real backstop here: 87.5% of premium paid, accumulated at a nonforfeiture rate of 1% to 3%, adjusted for net withdrawals and surrender charges. That's the statutory-minimum floor that applies if you surrender early during the charge period — it's standard for the MYGA category, not a differentiator, but it matters because it caps your downside if life circumstances force an early exit. There's no chronic-illness or nursing-home withdrawal waiver on this base version, which is a meaningful gap relative to the carrier's own Max product — someone who wants that protection built in in advance should account for its absence here.

You're trading 7 years of full liquidity for a locked rate, with a partial release valve: 10% of the accumulation value can be withdrawn penalty-free each year, starting in contract year 2 (there's no free-withdrawal allowance in year 1). Withdrawals beyond that 10% during the surrender period trigger both the surrender charge shown below and a market value adjustment (MVA), which can move in either direction depending on where interest rates sit relative to when the contract was issued — that's a real risk if rates rise after you buy and you need to exit early. At the end of the 7-year term there's a 30-day penalty-free window (with 45 days' advance written notice) to withdraw or fully surrender without charge; per the Agent Guide, the 7-year schedule does not repeat, so once that window passes without action, the contract renews annually going forward with no further surrender charge or MVA in effect. The brochure materials don't specify RMD treatment for this base version, which is worth asking about directly if you're funding this with qualified money and will owe required minimum distributions during the surrender period.

There's no explicit fee load here — no annual contract fee, no front-end charge, and no rider fee, since there's no rider to attach one to. The real tradeoff isn't a fee, it's a rate gap: this base version pays less than Sagicor's own Max version at every comparable deposit tier, and skips the illness-waiver feature Max includes. In exchange, you get a materially lower minimum premium ($15,000 versus $25,000) and — based on the extraction available here — broader state availability, since Max is explicitly not sold in seven states (AK, CA, CT, ME, MT, NY, VT) while this base product's exact state footprint could not be confirmed from the materials on hand. If you can clear the $25,000 threshold and Max is offered where you live, it's worth pricing both before committing.

Legal Entity: Sagicor Life Insurance Company

A.M. Best Rating: A-