Ceres Life Graybar IncomePlus

For retirees and pre-retirees building a retirement income floor, the core appeal is straightforward: market participation potential during accumulation years combined with contractual income protection when income is activated — income that can continue for the rest of your life even if the underlying accumulation value is drawn down to zero over time through withdrawals. This makes the Graybar IncomePlus a product worth evaluating carefully if your primary retirement planning objective is generating dependable income you cannot outlive, alongside or in place of Social Security, pensions, or other guaranteed income sources. This review explains how the product is built, how each component functions, what it costs, and how to think about whether it fits your specific retirement income plan.

Ceres Life Graybar IncomePlus: Key Product Features at a Glance

How the Graybar IncomePlus Annuity Is Built

The Graybar IncomePlus is a single premium fixed indexed annuity — meaning it is purchased with a single lump-sum premium payment and begins its accumulation and income design work from day one. The product combines three core retirement planning components: principal protection from market loss, index-linked growth potential, and optional guaranteed lifetime income through the GLWB rider. Understanding how each of these components functions independently — and how they interact — is essential for evaluating whether this product serves your specific retirement income objective.

The accumulation component allows allocation between a declared fixed interest account, which credits a specified fixed rate regardless of index performance, and multiple index-linked crediting strategies that credit interest based on the performance of selected market indices. Most contract holders use a combination of both — the fixed account provides stable, predictable crediting while the indexed strategies provide potential for higher interest credits in positive index years. The balance between the two depends on your personal preference for predictability versus growth potential within the protected structure.

Interest crediting in the indexed strategies is tied to index performance but subject to caps or participation rate limits that determine how much of any positive index movement is captured in the credited interest calculation. If the selected index declines during a crediting period, credited interest is zero — not negative — which is the mechanism that protects principal from market downturns. This floor of zero is the defining protection feature of fixed indexed annuities and what distinguishes them from direct market investments where principal can decline in value during market downturns.

Available index options in the Graybar IncomePlus include the S&P 500, the S&P MARC 5% index, and the S&P 500 Dynamic Intraday TCA index. The S&P 500 is the standard broad U.S. equity market benchmark. The S&P MARC 5% and S&P 500 Dynamic Intraday TCA are risk-controlled index strategies that seek to maintain a volatility target by dynamically adjusting the mix of equity exposure and cash — these strategies typically have higher participation rates than the standard S&P 500 in exchange for the risk-controlled construction that tends to produce smoother but lower peak performance in strong equity years. The availability of multiple index options allows diversification across crediting strategy types within the same annuity contract.

The Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit (GLWB) Rider: How Lifetime Income Works

The GLWB rider is the income engine of the Graybar IncomePlus and the feature that distinguishes it from a pure accumulation FIA. Understanding exactly how the GLWB works — including the distinction between the Benefit Base and the accumulation value — is essential for evaluating whether this product will deliver the income outcome you need.

The Benefit Base is a separate tracking value that exists parallel to the accumulation value but serves a completely different purpose. The accumulation value is the actual market value of your annuity contract — the amount you would receive if you surrendered the contract, subject to applicable surrender charges. The Benefit Base is a bookkeeping value used solely to calculate your guaranteed income withdrawal amount. It cannot be withdrawn as a lump sum, it cannot be passed to heirs, and it does not appear in your account value. It exists strictly to determine how much guaranteed income you are entitled to withdraw each year for life.

The Benefit Base may receive a premium bonus at contract issue that immediately increases the starting point from which income calculations are made — the brochure example illustrates how a 20% Benefit Base bonus can increase the starting income calculation value meaningfully above the initial premium deposit. After issue, the Benefit Base may grow through a roll-up rate for a defined period before income is activated. This roll-up is not market growth — it is a contractual mechanism that increases the income calculation base at a specified rate during the deferral period, rewarding income deferral with higher guaranteed withdrawal amounts when income eventually begins. The longer you defer income, the higher the Benefit Base grows through roll-up, and the higher your guaranteed withdrawal amount when income begins — though the actual economics depend on the specific roll-up rate, the payout percentage applicable at your age, and the rider fee that reduces accumulation value during the deferral period.

When income is activated, the Benefit Base stops growing and the guaranteed withdrawal amount is calculated by applying a payout percentage based on the contract holder’s age at income activation to the accumulated Benefit Base value at that time. The resulting dollar amount is the guaranteed annual withdrawal you can take for life — even if the accumulation value is eventually depleted to zero through sustained withdrawals. This income for life regardless of account value guarantee is the core of what the GLWB rider provides and what makes it valuable for retirement income planning.

The rider fee is charged annually at approximately 1.10% of the Benefit Base and is deducted from the accumulation value. Because the fee is charged on the Benefit Base rather than the accumulation value, and because the Benefit Base grows through roll-up during the deferral period, the fee can in some situations exceed the credited interest on the accumulation value — particularly in low-index-return years. Understanding this fee mechanic and its effect on accumulation value over time is an important part of evaluating the overall economics of the product. The appropriate frame for the rider fee is not cost in isolation but rather the cost-benefit trade-off of paying that fee in exchange for the lifetime income guarantee the rider provides.

Premium Bonus and Benefit Base Growth: What the Numbers Mean

The premium bonus feature of the Graybar IncomePlus applies at contract issue to the Benefit Base — immediately increasing the starting income calculation value above the initial premium deposit. A 20% Benefit Base bonus on a $100,000 premium, for example, would establish a starting Benefit Base of $120,000 rather than $100,000. Because all future income calculations flow from the Benefit Base rather than the accumulation value, this initial bonus can have a meaningful effect on guaranteed lifetime income amounts — particularly when the Benefit Base then grows through the roll-up rate during the deferral period before income is activated.

It is important to understand what the premium bonus does and does not do. The bonus increases the Benefit Base — the income calculation tracking value — but it does not necessarily increase the accumulation value by the same percentage. The accumulation value is subject to any bonus recapture schedules specified in the contract, which may reduce or eliminate the bonus amount credited to the accumulation value if the contract is surrendered during the early surrender years. This is a standard feature of bonus annuity designs — the bonus supports the long-term income objective of the product rather than enhancing short-term liquidity. For contract holders who hold the product to maturity and activate the income rider as intended, the bonus functions as designed. For contract holders who surrender early, the recapture schedule determines how much of the bonus is retained.

The roll-up rate applies to the Benefit Base during the deferral period and increases the income calculation base at a contractually specified percentage annually until income is activated. This roll-up growth is a contractual guarantee — it is not dependent on index performance and is not affected by market conditions or credited interest rates. It is simply a mathematical increase to the Benefit Base value designed to reward income deferral by increasing the eventual guaranteed withdrawal amount. The economics of the roll-up — whether deferring income for additional years produces meaningfully higher lifetime income — depend on the specific roll-up rate, the payout percentage applicable at different activation ages, and the net effect of rider fees on the accumulation value during the deferral period. Illustrations comparing different income activation ages make these trade-offs concrete and are an important part of evaluating the right income start timing for your specific situation.

About Ceres Life Insurance Company

Ceres Life Insurance Company is a de novo annuity carrier founded in 2020 and headquartered in Austin, Texas. The company was incubated by CC Capital, a private investment firm founded by Chinh Chu, and is led by Deanna Mulligan — the former CEO of Guardian Life Insurance, one of the most well-regarded and highly rated insurance organizations in the United States. That management pedigree is significant context for a newer carrier: the operational and regulatory expertise Mulligan brings from a major carrier environment informs how Ceres has been built from the ground up as a cloud-native, highly scalable insurance platform designed for annuity products specifically.

AM Best assigned Ceres Life a Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) with a Stable outlook in July 2025 — the initial rating for a newly formed entity. AM Best’s assessment reflects Ceres Life’s very strong balance sheet strength, adequate operating performance, limited business profile (reflecting its recent entrance into the market), and appropriate enterprise risk management. The company’s investment portfolio is managed by Arena Investors LP, a subsidiary of The Westaim Corporation, with a projected allocation to primarily fixed income securities. Total assets stand at approximately $395 million. As with any newer carrier, buyers comparing the Graybar IncomePlus against income-focused FIA products from established A-rated carriers should evaluate the income economics alongside carrier financial strength using a side-by-side comparison — the management team’s quality and the AM Best balance sheet assessment both factor into a complete carrier evaluation for a long-term income contract.

Liquidity, Free Withdrawals, and Surrender Period

The Graybar IncomePlus is a long-term retirement product, and its liquidity provisions reflect that design. Penalty-free withdrawals are typically available after the first contract anniversary, generally up to 10% of the accumulation value annually during the surrender charge period. This free withdrawal provision allows access to a meaningful portion of the contract value each year without triggering surrender charges — providing a degree of liquidity during the surrender period for contract holders who need access to funds for anticipated or unanticipated expenses.

Withdrawals beyond the 10% free withdrawal amount during the surrender period may incur surrender charges and potentially market value adjustments depending on interest rate movement since contract issue. The specific surrender charge schedule and any waiver provisions for nursing home confinement or terminal illness should be confirmed in the contract for your state.

The interaction between free withdrawals and the GLWB rider is an important planning consideration. Free withdrawals taken outside of the guaranteed lifetime withdrawal structure may reduce the Benefit Base and the guaranteed income amount under the rider. The specific rules governing how ad hoc withdrawals interact with rider mechanics are specified in the contract and should be reviewed carefully with an advisor before taking any withdrawal that is not part of the rider’s income activation structure. For contract holders whose income strategy is built entirely around the GLWB rider payouts, ad hoc free withdrawals may not be the optimal approach — but they provide a useful safety valve for genuine unexpected liquidity needs during the deferral period.

Tax Treatment and Qualified Funds

Growth inside the annuity is tax-deferred — meaning credited interest accumulates without triggering current income tax liability. Taxes on growth become due when funds are withdrawn from the contract, at which point the growth portion is taxed as ordinary income rather than at capital gains rates. This tax deferral advantage compounds over time: for contract holders in taxable accumulation, the ability to grow the full pre-tax value without annual tax drag on credited interest can produce meaningfully different accumulation outcomes compared to taxable savings vehicles over multi-year accumulation periods.

Withdrawals prior to age 59½ may be subject to a 10% IRS early withdrawal penalty in addition to ordinary income tax on the taxable portion. For qualified contracts (IRA or other tax-qualified funds), the tax treatment follows the applicable rules for that account type, and the full withdrawal amount may be taxable as ordinary income. The GLWB rider distributions are treated as ordinary income in the year received. For retirees concerned about tax efficiency in retirement income distribution, the interaction between annuity income, Social Security benefit taxation thresholds, and required minimum distributions for qualified contracts is an important planning consideration that affects the optimal income activation timing and withdrawal amount.

Who the Graybar IncomePlus Is Best Suited For

The Graybar IncomePlus is designed for a specific retirement planning profile. It fits best when several conditions are present: the primary planning objective is reliable lifetime income — not maximum accumulation, not short-term liquidity, and not aggressive market exposure. The contract holder has a sufficient accumulation period before income is needed to allow the Benefit Base roll-up to produce meaningful income enhancement through deferral. The contract holder can allocate funds that are not needed for at least the duration of the surrender period, understanding that early access beyond the free withdrawal provision triggers surrender charges. And the contract holder values the behavioral certainty of a contractual income guarantee over the potential upside of a purely market-linked accumulation strategy without income protection.

The product is particularly relevant for people who are building a retirement income floor — a guaranteed base of income from contractual sources that covers essential retirement expenses regardless of what happens in financial markets. When essential expenses are covered by a guaranteed income floor comprised of Social Security, pension income if available, and annuity income like the GLWB generates, the remainder of a retirement portfolio can take on more market risk because the financial consequences of market downturns on day-to-day retirement living expenses are insulated by the floor. This income floor and upside approach is a retirement income architecture strategy that many financial planners recommend, and the Graybar IncomePlus is a product designed specifically to contribute to the floor layer of that architecture.

The product is less well-suited for contract holders who need significant liquidity during the surrender period, who are pursuing aggressive market growth without income protection as their primary objective, or who have short investment horizons that make the surrender period and its associated charges a meaningful constraint. Comparing the Graybar IncomePlus against alternative FIA and income annuity structures using consistent assumptions — same premium, same income start age, same time horizon — is the most reliable way to confirm whether this specific product produces the most favorable income outcome for your situation relative to what the broader market offers.

How to Evaluate the Graybar IncomePlus Against Alternatives

No single annuity product is the right choice for every person in every situation, and the Graybar IncomePlus should be evaluated against comparable alternatives before any commitment is made. The relevant comparisons depend on your objective. If the primary objective is lifetime income, the comparison should be against other FIAs with GLWB riders — examining the Benefit Base bonus percentage, the roll-up rate, the payout percentage at your target income activation age, and the rider fee, using the same premium and same income start age for each product. The product that produces the highest guaranteed annual income amount at your target activation age — net of rider fees and accounting for reasonable assumptions about accumulation value behavior — is generally the most favorable for the pure income objective.

If accumulation rather than income is the primary near-term objective, with income as a future option, the comparison widens to include FIAs without income riders that may offer more competitive indexed crediting terms in exchange for not carrying a rider fee. Our current annuity rates page provides a real-time view of what the market is offering across product types, and our advisors run apples-to-apples comparisons across carriers for clients who want to confirm the Graybar IncomePlus is genuinely competitive before committing. If you have already received an illustration for this product, our annuity second opinion service provides an independent evaluation against the current marketplace at no cost.