Sentinel Security Life At a Glance: Rates, Products and Reviews

Consumer Notice: Regulators order Sentinel Security Life to halt new business amid financial concerns [as of Dec. 4, 2024].

Compare Sentinel Security Life Annuity Rates

Products Offered by Sentinel Security Life

Sentinel Security Life offers a variety of annuity types, including fixed annuities, indexed annuities and income annuities.

Sentinel’s Fixed Annuities

Sentinel Security Life designed its fixed annuity, the Personal Choice Annuity, with customization as a top priority. The annuity features six available riders that can be purchased “a la carte,” so you can get all the features you want in your contract and none you don’t.

The Personal Choice Annuity’s riders include:

• Required Minimum Distribution Rider
• Preferred 10% Free Withdrawal Rider
• Terminal Illness/Nursing Home Care Rider
• 72(t) Free Withdrawal Rider
• Death Benefit Feature Rider
• Accumulated Interest Withdrawal Rider

Some of these riders may only be available in some states. The Personal Choice Annuity also comes with guarantee periods of three, five, seven or 10 years.

Sentinel’s Indexed Annuities

Sentinel Security Life offers four indexed annuity products:

• The Personal Choice Plus+ Annuity offers four interest crediting options and four riders that can be purchased to customize the contract, including a free withdrawal rider and death benefit rider.
• The Accumulation Protector Plus^SM Annuity allows owners to choose from several market indexes for interest crediting, including exclusive access to the CS Momentum Index and the CS ESG Macro 5 Index. This annuity comes with a 10% premium bonus that’s immediately credited to the account, and purchasers can add a Rate Enhancement Rider that increases free withdrawals from 5% to 10% of the account value.
• The Retirement Plus Multiplier^® Annuity has surrender periods of five, seven or 10 years. Owners can choose to track the S&P 500 or the Goldman Sachs Aging of America Dynamic Balance Index. The annuity features two optional riders: an accumulation buy-up rider and a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB).
• The Summit Bonus Index^SM Annuity advertises itself as the “Ultimate Income Annuity.” This product has the optional Income Rider, which increases the annuity’s 7% premium bonus to 15%, promises a guaranteed roll-up rate of 7.25% for the first 10 years and adds a GLWB. However, this annuity has fairly low rate caps (between 1.10% and 2.50%) that could severely limit the product’s growth potential.

Sentinel Security has offered my clients opportunities for higher income that they couldn’t attain with other carriers. Recently, I had a client with a policy in need of replacement, and the lifetime income she could receive from Sentinel Security Summit Bonus more than doubled what she would receive from her current policy. When considering a company with high guarantees, Sentinel Security emerges as a top contender in the market.

John Stevenson, CFFOwner and Advisor at Stevenson Retirement Solutions

John Stevenson, a Certified Financial Fiduciary®️, specializes in securing retirements with tax-free accounts. With a focus on guaranteed retirement, he’s ensured none of his clients suffer from market fluctuations. As a renowned educator and podcast host, John empowers thousands weekly, sharing his expertise in minimizing taxes and protecting against financial downturns.

Sentinel’s Income Annuities

Sentinel Security Life also sells the Guaranteed Income Annuity, a deferred income annuity that features a choice of one of three optional riders.

• The GLWB Rider credits a one-time premium bonus of 11%. This rider also comes with an 8.5% compounding roll-up rate guaranteed for 10 years and ensures that the annuity owner cannot outlive their payments once their income begins.
• The Legacy Benefit Rider provides a death benefit for the policy and immediately credits a 10% bonus to the contract’s death benefit value.
• The Accumulation Benefit Rider establishes a “Benefit Base” which can be used to calculate income payments and the contract’s death benefit. This rider promises a compounding interest rate for the Benefit Base that increases by 175% of the interest applied to the account value for the first 10 years. 

Aside from the add-on riders, the Guaranteed Income Annuity also features a 2.75% minimum interest rate guarantee and penalty-free withdrawals of up to 10% of the account value after the first contract year.

About Sentinel Security Life

Sentinel Security Life began as a final expense insurance company founded by a group of Utah funeral directors in 1948. The company acquired National Mutual Insurance Company of Utah in 1965, and in 2011, Sentinel debuted its first annuity, the Personal Choice Annuity.

In 2023, Sentinel Security Life sold just over $1 billion in individual annuities, representing a market share of almost 0.30% of the U.S. annuity industry, according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The company sells annuities and life insurance in 36 states.

Credit Ratings

If you’re thinking of buying an annuity, it’s important to know about credit ratings for annuity providers. These ratings represent the financial strength and stability of the provider, and therefore, how likely the provider is to be able to fulfill its obligations in an annuity contract.

Sentinel Security Life Credit Ratings

Rating Company	Credit Rating
AM Best	B++ (Good)
Fitch	Not Rated
S&P	Not Rated

What Customers Are Saying About Sentinel Security Life

Sentinel Security Life has received an above-average number of complaints from annuity customers. According to the NAIC, the company had two complaints from annuity customers reported to state insurance commissions in 2023, six complaints reported in 2022 and 13 reported in 2021.

The NAIC tracks consumer complaints each state’s insurance commission receives each year. These are used to compile a company’s NAIC Complaint IndexNAIC 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 Sentinel Security Life

All Policy Types	0.42
Individual Annuities Only	1.18

These numbers indicate that Sentinel Security Life has more annuity customer complaints than the average for this industry.

Sentinel Security Life did not appear in either the 2022 or 2023 editions of the J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking, which measures the overall customer satisfaction of annuity providers.

Sentinel Security Life Pros & Cons

Some consumers might prefer Sentinel Security Life’s product features, but this provider won’t be right for everyone. You should always weigh the pros and cons before purchasing an annuity from any provider.

Pros

• Customizable annuity contracts: All of Sentinel’s annuity products can be customized with riders, so you can pick and choose which benefits and features align with your goals and needs.
• Variety of indexed annuity options: Sentinel offers four different indexed annuities, each with unique features and plenty of customization opportunities.

Cons

• High number of annuity customer complaints: Sentinel has a poor track record for customer satisfaction, having several complaints registered with state insurance commissions in the last few years.
• Requires riders for some standard features: Some features that come included in most standard annuities, like the 10% free withdrawal feature, are only available as riders with an extra cost on Sentinel’s products.

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 different 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.