SecureOption Choice 5-Year review

It depends on how much you're depositing and whether you need access to the money in year one. For a $500,000+ deposit, the 5.10% rate is a competitive five-year lock from a financially strong carrier, and the product is refreshingly transparent about its rate structure. For a deposit under $100,000, the 4.90% rate is less compelling, and the total lack of first-year liquidity is a real constraint regardless of balance size. This isn't a product built to impress — it's built to do one thing (lock a rate for five years) cleanly.

Someone buys this MYGA because they want a predictable, insurance-backed alternative to a five-year CD, with tax deferral on the growth in a non-qualified account. The three-band rate structure means a buyer with a larger balance knows exactly what premium tier they're targeting, rather than negotiating a one-off rate. An A+ A.M. Best rating adds confidence that the guarantee is backed by a financially sound carrier, and the death benefit and chronic-illness waivers offer some flexibility that a plain bank CD doesn't.

I think this product is best for someone with non-qualified savings — or an IRA rollover they're comfortable locking up — who has a genuine five-year time horizon, doesn't anticipate needing any of this money before year two, and is depositing enough to land in the $100,000+ bands where the rate becomes more competitive. It's a weaker fit for someone who might need emergency access in year one, or someone depositing a smaller sum who could find a better rate elsewhere at the sub-$100,000 tier.

You're not buying market exposure or an income guarantee. You're buying an insurance company's promise to credit a fixed, pre-set interest rate on your premium for five years, with that rate determined by which of three deposit bands your premium falls into at issue. In exchange for giving up access to your principal (beyond the limited free-withdrawal allowance starting in year two), you get a rate that's locked and guaranteed regardless of what happens to broader interest rates during the term. The Guaranteed Minimum Surrender Value acts as a floor under the contract if you need to cash out early, though it's a floor set well below your original premium.

The core feature is the three-band fixed rate, all guaranteed for the full five-year term (Wink profile data as of 4/15/2026):

The rate is locked at issue for the full five years — there's no reset, no cap, no participation rate, and no index to track. What you see at issue is what you get for the life of the initial guarantee period. Because Securian publishes all three bands rather than advertising only the top-tier number, a shopper can see up front exactly what a smaller premium would earn instead of being quoted a headline rate that only applies at the largest deposit size. Note that these are a snapshot from the current rate sheet and will change before a new contract is issued — always confirm the live rate at the time of application.

The secondary feature worth calling out is the surrender-charge and MVA waiver for qualifying events: a 90+ day hospital or nursing-home confinement (after the first contract anniversary), a terminal illness diagnosis with a life expectancy of 12 months or less, annuitization, or death. This matters because it's the contract's built-in escape hatch from the surrender penalty when life goes sideways — without it, a health crisis that forces access to the money would trigger the full surrender charge and MVA on top of an already difficult situation. It's a standard feature for this product category, not a differentiator, but it's a meaningful backstop rather than a marketing add-on.

This is a five-year commitment with no exceptions in year one — the 10% free-withdrawal allowance doesn't kick in until the second contract year, which is stricter than MYGAs that offer some free-withdrawal access from day one. From year two on, you can access up to 10% of the prior contract anniversary value annually (minimum $250 per withdrawal), or more if required by an RMD. Anything above that, or a full surrender, triggers both the surrender charge below and a market value adjustment, which can move in either direction depending on where interest rates have moved since issue.

There's no explicit rider fee here — SecureOption Choice 5-Year doesn't carry an income rider or any other fee-based add-on, so there's nothing eroding the credited rate. The real cost is structural rather than a stated fee: the total lack of first-year liquidity, and an MVA that adds interest-rate risk on top of the standard surrender schedule for any early exit. The Guaranteed Minimum Surrender Value (87.5% of premium at 1%-3% guaranteed growth) sets a floor, but it's meaningfully below principal, so an early full surrender in the first couple of years can still result in a loss relative to what you put in.

Legal Entity: Minnesota Life Insurance Company

Parent: Securian Financial Group

A.M. Best Rating: A+