Why it earned this rating
Our assessment
MultiRate 7-Year is a clean, no-fee MYGA from a carrier with a strong A+ rating. The multi-period crediting option is genuinely useful for buyers who want to ladder guarantees inside one contract, and the death benefit is handled well. What holds it from a higher tier is the rate structure: the 2% first-year enhancement creates a gap between the headline and what the contract actually earns over years two through seven, and the base rate needs to be competitive on its own to make a 7-year commitment worthwhile.
The short version
This is a seven-year guaranteed-rate annuity for people who want CD-like certainty with better tax deferral and no annual fees to drag returns. Western & Southern is a well-capitalized carrier, and the product is structured simply — no indexing, no living benefit rider, no premium bonus. You pick a guaranteed rate, lock it in for up to seven years, and let the money grow. The unusual feature is the ability to split your premium across multiple guarantee periods inside one contract, which gives buyers a form of internal rate laddering.
Key facts
The full review
Is Western & Southern MultiRate 7-Year a Good Annuity?
It depends on whether the base rate is competitive for a 7-year commitment in the current environment. The structure is clean — no fees, no indexing complexity, and a well-capitalized carrier. If the base rate is genuinely competitive with comparable MYGAs, this is a good option. If the headline rate is mostly driven by the first-year enhancement and the underlying multi-year rate is softer, it loses some of its appeal. The design itself is solid; the rate is the deciding variable.
Why Someone Would Buy This Annuity
The rational case for MultiRate 7-Year is straightforward: you get a guaranteed rate, no annual contract fees eroding returns, a full death benefit without surrender charges, and the ability to split premium across multiple guarantee-period buckets inside one contract. The carrier is A+ rated, which matters for buyers who are cautious about financial-strength risk on a long-commitment product. The immediate 10% free-withdrawal provision is also more generous than some MYGAs that require one full contract year before the first withdrawal.
Who This Annuity Is Best For
I think this product is best for buyers in pre-retirement or early retirement who have identified a meaningful sum — $5,000 minimum, more typically — that they genuinely do not need to touch for seven years. Qualified and non-qualified accounts both work here, and the RMD-friendly structure makes it usable inside an IRA. Someone consolidating CDs, building a fixed-income ladder, or parking rollover proceeds in a guaranteed vehicle is the natural fit. It is not a good match for anyone who might need principal access beyond the 10% annual allowance or who wants upside linked to market performance.
What You're Really Buying Here
You are buying a contractual guarantee that your money earns a fixed rate for the selected period and that Western-Southern Life Assurance Company will honor that guarantee. There is no market exposure, no cap, no participation rate, and no index crediting mechanics to track. The return is the stated rate minus whatever the carrier builds into its spread (which is already reflected in the offered rate — there is no disclosed spread fee separate from that). The unusual structural feature is the multi-period allocation: you can place different portions of your premium into guarantee periods of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 7 years with a $1,000 minimum per period. At the end of each guarantee period, that tranche either renews or becomes available without surrender charges.
How the Core Feature Works
At contract issue you choose one or more guarantee periods from the available menu (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 7 years). The seven-year period has a current base rate of 3.70% with a 2.00% first-year enhancement, bringing the initial credited rate to 5.70% in contract year one. After year one, the enhancement expires and the base rate — 3.70% as of April 2026 — applies for the remaining six years of the guarantee period. The rate is guaranteed for the period selected, which means you will not lose to a renewal-rate adjustment mid-term.
At the end of the guarantee period, the contract credits an annual renewal rate, which can be higher or lower than the original guaranteed rate. That renewal-rate risk is standard for any MYGA at maturity. The multi-period feature means that if you divided your premium among shorter guarantee periods as well as the seven-year tranche, those shorter tranches mature earlier and can be reallocated or withdrawn without surrender charges at their respective maturity dates.
Why the Secondary Feature Matters
The most practical secondary feature is the waiver of surrender charges at death. The full contract value is paid to the beneficiary the day the claim is processed, with no surrender charge deducted. That is not universal among MYGAs, and it removes one of the common anxieties about locking money into a long surrender product — the concern that a death before the surrender period ends would cost the estate money. For buyers who are using this as legacy positioning or simply want a beneficiary designation that works cleanly, the no-charge death benefit is a genuine advantage.
The Additional Waiver of Surrender Charges Rider for confinement to a long-term care facility or hospital (30+ days) and terminal illness (life expectancy 12 months or less) adds further protection for buyers who want a safety valve for health-related liquidity events.
Liquidity and Surrender Schedule
MultiRate 7-Year is a commitment. The first three contract years carry a 7% surrender charge on amounts withdrawn above the free-withdrawal provision. That is meaningful — a $100,000 contract subjected to a full surrender in year two faces a $7,000 penalty before the return-of-premium floor. The schedule declines to 3% in year seven, and the product reaches a surrender-charge-free state in year eight.
The immediate 10% free withdrawal from day one (minimum $250) is useful. It means RMDs taken in the first year are protected, and regular systematic withdrawals of interest earnings are also available without charge by current company practice (though that is not a contractual guarantee). The return-of-premium minimum guarantee means you cannot end up with less than your principal adjusted for distributions, which removes the worst-case scenario on full surrender.
| Contract Year | Surrender Charge |
|---|---|
| 1 | 7% |
| 2 | 7% |
| 3 | 7% |
| 4 | 6% |
| 5 | 5% |
| 6 | 4% |
| 7 | 3% |
| 8 | 0% |
No market value adjustment applies to this product, which removes the interest-rate-driven variability that affects surrender values on some competing MYGAs.
Fees and Tradeoffs
There are no annual contract fees on MultiRate 7-Year. What you see as a credited rate is what you earn, with no management fee, no administrative charge, and no rider fee (since no riders are available except the waiver provision, which carries no explicit fee in the spec). That is one of the structural arguments for this type of product over more complex alternatives.
The tradeoff is that there is no upside participation if rates rise during your guarantee period. You locked in; you get what you locked in. Buyers who commit to the seven-year period and see available MYGA rates climb in years three or four will be earning their original rate while better options exist in the market. The multi-period allocation feature partially addresses this by letting you keep some premium in shorter-duration tranches, but the longer you extend, the more you are committed to the locked rate.
The first-year enhancement also warrants honest scrutiny. The 5.70% headline rate for year one is real, but if the comparison you're using is a 7-year yield of 5.70%, the math does not hold: you earn 5.70% in year one and 3.70% in years two through seven, which is meaningfully lower over the full term on a blended basis.
Product snapshot
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Product Type | Fixed Annuity |
| Surrender Period | 7 years |
| Issue Ages | 0-89 (0-85 in Oklahoma) |
| Minimum Premium | $5,000 |
| Crediting Methods | Fixed interest rate with guaranteed periods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 years) |
| Free Withdrawal | 10% of contract value per contract year (noncumulative; $250 minimum), available immediately from contract issue |
| MGSV | 100% of premiums paid, adjusted for any distributions (Return of Premium Guarantee; guaranteed minimum interest rate of 1-3% as defined in contract) |
| Death Benefit | Full contract value on the day the death claim is processed; no surrender charge applies; bypasses probate when properly structured |
| Income Rider | Not available |
| Premium Bonus | None |
| Availability | Not available in AK, ME, NH, NY, RI. Variations approved in CT, HI, MA, NJ, OR, PA, WA. Operates in DC, Guam, and all states except NY. Oklahoma issue ages limited to 0-85. Seven-year guarantee period not available in Guam. |
Carrier snapshot
Legal Entity: Western-Southern Life Assurance Company
Parent: Western & Southern Financial Group
A.M. Best Rating: A+
Final take
MultiRate 7-Year is a clean, no-frills MYGA from a strong carrier. The fee-free structure, the full no-charge death benefit, and the multi-period allocation flexibility are all genuine advantages. The product is appropriate for buyers who have identified long-term money, want guaranteed growth without market exposure, and value Western & Southern's financial strength.
The key question before committing is whether the base rate — not the enhanced first-year headline — is competitive against comparable 6-7 year MYGAs in the current market. If it is, this is a solid choice. If the base rate trails peer options meaningfully after accounting for the enhancement's one-year tenure, a competing MYGA with a consistently higher multi-year rate may produce a better outcome over the full term. For buyers who want the multi-period laddering inside a single contract and are satisfied with the base rate, this is the right tool.