New York Life At a Glance: Rates, Products and Reviews

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Additional Products Offered by New York Life

New York Life sells three types of annuities: fixed annuities, variable annuities and income annuities.

New York Life’s Fixed Annuities

New York Life offers three single premium fixed annuities. All of these products have a $5,000 minimum premium, interest rate guarantee periods between three and seven years, and no annual policy maintenance fee or policy administration fee.

• The Secure Term Choice Fixed Annuity II features a return of premium benefit that guarantees the owner will receive at least the premium they paid, less any withdrawals or surrender charges. Owners of this annuity can withdraw up to 10% of the contract’s accumulated value each year.
• The Secure Term MVA Fixed Annuity II contains a market value adjustment (MVA) provision that may alter the annuity’s value if the owner makes withdrawals before the surrender charge schedule is over. The inclusion of the MVA enables New York Life to offer high interest rates for this product.
• The Secure Term Choice Fixed Annuity V comes with a free living needs benefit that enables the contract owner to make a full or partial withdrawal without surrender charges if they become terminally ill or are confined to a health care facility for at least 60 days. Owners can add other riders, such as an interest opportunity rider or enhanced beneficiary benefit rider, for an additional cost.

New York Life’s Variable Annuities

New York Life’s variable annuity products are designed to maximize tax advantages for those seeking a retirement savings solution with market exposure.

• The Premier Variable Annuity – FP Series features an optional Investment Protection Rider (IPR) that preserves the owner’s premium and potential growth for a guarantee period of their choosing. The rider is designed to allow variable annuity owners to invest more aggressively while knowing their principal is protected.
• The IndexFlex Variable Annuity – FP Series combines features of fixed, indexed and variable annuities into one product. Owners can allocate their premium towards three different interest crediting methods: fixed-rate accounts, index-linked accounts and variable subaccounts. IndexFlex owners can transfer money between these accounts each year without triggering a tax event.

New York Life’s Income Annuities

New York Life offers products that fit into both of the main categories of income annuities: deferred income annuities and single premium immediate annuities (SPIAs).

• The Guaranteed Lifetime Income Annuity II is a SPIA with a $10,000 minimum premium. Owners can customize their contract with several optional features including payment acceleration, reduction in payments for joint life contracts and up to 100% cash withdrawals.
• The Guaranteed Future Income Annuity II is a deferred income annuity with a $5,000 minimum for initial premiums and the option to make additional premium contributions of at least $100. Owners of this annuity must defer income for at least two years and no more than 40 years. Policy owners can also choose to increase their payment amounts by 1% to 3% each year.
• The Guaranteed Period Income Annuity II is an immediate annuity with a period certain payout between five and 30 years. This annuity differs from New York Life’s other products in that it has no lifetime income option. The Guaranteed Period annuity has a $10,000 minimum premium, as well as payment acceleration and annual increase options similar to those offered by its income annuity counterparts.
• The Clear Income Advantage Fixed Annuity – FP Series is an especially unique product. It is a fixed deferred annuity with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB). The GLWB costs 0.95% annually and guarantees lifetime income for a single life or joint lifetimes (for an owner and their spouse). This annuity has a $50,000 minimum premium and an interest rate guarantee period of seven years.

About New York Life

New York Life was founded in 1845 and is a mutual company, meaning it is owned by its policy owners and does not trade on the stock exchange. The provider sells annuities and other insurance products in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In 2022, New York Life sold over $18 billion in individual annuity premiums, according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. New York Life is one of the country’s largest annuity providers, commanding a 6.45% market share.

Credit Ratings

Credit ratings for annuity providers can help determine a company’s financial strength and stability — an indication that it will be around to guarantee payments to you in the future. Different rating companies use different scales.

New York Life’s Credit Ratings

Rating Company	Credit Rating
AM Best	A++
Fitch	AAA
S&P	AA+

What Customers Are Saying About New York Life

New York Life has a strong reputation for customer satisfaction. In 2023, the company scored 822 points on J.D. Power’s Customer Satisfaction Index, exceeding the average of 800 and coming in fifth place overall. In 2024, New York Life is third overall ranked, though they scored 688 in comparison to 822 in 2023. The J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking measures the overall customer satisfaction of annuity providers.

New York Life also has very few complaints reported to state insurance commissions. According to the NAIC, New York Life received just two complaints from annuity customers in 2022, five complaints in 2021 and four in 2020.

The NAIC tracks the consumer complaints that each state’s insurance commission receives each year. These are used to compile a company’s NAIC Complaint Index.NAIC Complaint IndexDetermined by dividing the company’s share of complaints in the U.S. market by the company’s share of premiums in the U.S. market. The National Complaint Index is always 1.00, so a score of 2.00, for example, is twice as high as expected in the market.

NAIC Complaint Index for New York Life

All Policy Types	0.00
Individual Annuities Only	0.07

New York Life Pros & Cons

New York Life sells billions of dollars in annuity premiums each year to consumers all over the country. However, this popular provider may not be best suited for every buyer. Be sure to weigh the pros and cons before purchasing an annuity.

Pros

• Low minimum premiums: New York Life customers can purchase a fixed or deferred income annuity for as little as $5,000.
• Variety of products: The provider sells fixed and variable annuities, as well as immediate and deferred income annuities.
• Wide availability: New York Life sells insurance and annuities in all 50 states.
• Unique contract designs and riders: New York Life offers innovative products like the IndexFlex or Clear Income annuities, as well as unique riders that can’t be found with most other providers, such as the interest opportunity rider.
• Strong financial strength and customer service ratings: The company scores well with all the major credit rating agencies, as well as the industry’s top customer service metrics.

Cons

• No indexed annuities: New York Life does not carry indexed annuities as of the time of this writing, but they do offer an IndexFlex variable annuity that has some index-linked crediting options.
• Difficult to get rate quotes: Annuity agent Ryan Cicchelli told Annuity.org that New York Life can be withholding with their annuity rates. “On the downside of New York Life, it’s extremely hard to get quotes,” Cicchelli said, “It almost seems like you can’t just get information on your own.”

Provider Rating Methodology

Annuity.org created a fact-based methodology to analyze the strength, security and reach of different annuity providers. We assessed companies based on their availability, the amount of direct premiums sold, their AM Best Financial Strength Rating and their NAIC Complaint Index score.

Providers received a rating on a five-star scale for each of these categories, with the complaint index and financial strength ratings weighed as the heaviest variables. Then, using a weighted average, each company was assigned an overall star rating.

Annuity.org’s Top-Ranked Providers

Provider	Annuity.org Star Rating
Mass Mutual
New York Life
Pacific Life
Midland National
North American
Western & Southern

Our Rating Panel

The Annuity.org editorial team spoke with several annuity experts to learn more about what is important to customers when searching for a provider and what factors make a company reliable. While Annuity.org designed the methodology, these experts provided feedback during the process and consulted on what factors we should leverage to best help prospective buyers compare providers.