New Horizon Plus 7 review

Yes, with real caveats. New Horizon Plus 7 is a reasonable annuity for someone who wants principal-protected, index-linked growth and doesn't want to pay for a rider they won't use — the $10,000 minimum and fee-free structure make it easy to get into. It's a weaker fit for someone comparing it against the broader FIA market, because the single-index crediting menu, restrictive free withdrawal, and B++ carrier rating put it a step behind higher-rated products with deeper menus and more generous access provisions.

Someone would buy this annuity because they want a straightforward way to protect principal while capturing some S&P 500-linked upside, without committing to a large premium or paying for features like a lifetime income rider they don't plan to use. The low $10,000 minimum opens the door to buyers who'd otherwise be priced out of the FIA category. The absence of any explicit annual fee also means the full cost of the product is embedded in the cap and participation rates rather than showing up as a separate line item. For someone who has already decided they want a 7-year, no-rider FIA and values a low entry point over menu depth, this product does the job.

I think this is best for a buyer in their late 50s through 70s, in a qualified or non-qualified account, who has a smaller sum to allocate to an indexed annuity and wants principal protection more than income guarantees. The wide 0-80 issue-age range also makes it usable for legacy or custodial planning, since it can be opened for a much younger annuitant than most FIAs allow. It's not a fit for someone who wants a deep menu of index choices, needs more than a one-time annual withdrawal allowance, or is shopping primarily by carrier financial strength rating.

You are not buying market exposure. You're buying an insurance contract that guarantees your premium against loss (subject to the 87.5%-of-premium minimum guaranteed surrender value) while crediting interest based on formulas tied to S&P 500 performance. There are three ways that interest gets credited: a fixed rate on the fixed account, a capped point-to-point strategy, or a participation-rate point-to-point strategy — and you choose how to allocate between them. None of these options hand you the index's actual return; they all convert index movement into a bounded, formula-based credit. The "Plus 7" in the name signals the surrender-schedule length and the free-withdrawal structure, not an enhanced crediting formula or a bonus on your premium.

The Point-to-Point with Cap strategy currently credits 100% of the S&P 500's point-to-point gain, up to a stated annual cap. As of the most recent rate data in the source materials, that cap was 7.75%, though the carrier's guaranteed minimum is far lower — as low as a 1.00% cap at 100% participation if rates were ever reset to the floor. The Point-to-Point with Participation Rate strategy instead credits a percentage of the index's gain with no cap; the current participation rate is 30%, against a 10% guaranteed minimum. The Fixed Interest Rate option is a traditional declared rate, currently 2.00%. All three reset annually, and in a flat or negative index year, the indexed strategies simply credit zero — you never lose principal to index performance, but you also never fall below the guaranteed floor built into the MGSV.

One flag worth naming: the cap and participation figures in the available materials were dated to a 2023 rate snapshot, and while a November 2025 carrier fact sheet confirms the same strategy structure, it doesn't republish current numbers. Anyone shopping this product should ask for a current rate sheet rather than relying on either figure.

The feature that actually defines the "Plus" in this product's name is its free-withdrawal provision, and it's worth understanding closely because it cuts the other way from what the name implies. New Horizon Plus 7 allows one penalty-free withdrawal per contract year, starting in contract year two, equal to the greater of 5% of the single premium or the contract's RMD amount. Western United Life's non-Plus "New Horizon 7" sibling, by contrast, offers 10% of annuity value penalty-free starting in contract year one — meaningfully more generous, and available a full year earlier. In other words, "Plus" does not mean more access or a bonus here; it describes a different, more restrictive withdrawal structure. There's also no premium bonus of any kind on this product, despite bonuses being common on FIAs with "Plus"-style branding elsewhere in the industry.

The 7-year surrender schedule starts at 9.3% in year one and steps down to 4.0% by year seven — a front-loaded schedule that's slightly steeper in the early years than the more common 8%-starting schedules seen elsewhere in this category. A market value adjustment (MVA) applies on top of the surrender charge for withdrawals that exceed the free amount, meaning a large early withdrawal can cost more than the surrender percentage alone suggests, depending on the interest-rate environment at the time. The one saving grace on the RMD side: the free-withdrawal provision explicitly accommodates the contract's RMD amount if that's greater than 5% of premium, so retirees using this inside a qualified account for required distributions shouldn't run into surrender charges on those specific withdrawals. Outside of RMDs, though, this is money that should be earmarked for the full 7 years — the free-withdrawal allowance is thin enough that an unplanned cash need could trigger real surrender costs.

There's no annual contract fee, no M&E charge, no product fee, and no administration charge disclosed on this product — the cost of the insurance and the index-linked upside potential is baked into the cap and participation rates rather than charged separately. That's a genuine positive relative to products carrying explicit rider or annual fees. The tradeoff shows up structurally instead: a 7.75% cap or 30% participation rate caps how much of an S&P 500 rally actually reaches your account, and both of those figures are subject to change (down to guaranteed floors of a 1.00% cap and 10% participation) at the carrier's discretion after the initial period. There's no income rider fee to weigh, because there's no income rider at all — this is a pure accumulation play, and buyers should not expect income-planning features that some other FIAs bundle in.

Legal Entity: Western United Life Insurance Company

Parent: ManhattanLife

A.M. Best Rating: B++