EquiTrust MarketFive – 5-Year Growth with Guarantees and Market-Linked Potential
EquiTrust MarketFive – 5-Year Growth with Guarantees and Market-Linked Potential
At Diversified Insurance Brokers, we work with individuals who want protection first, growth second, and flexibility always. The EquiTrust MarketFive Fixed Indexed Annuity, issued by EquiTrust Life Insurance Company, was built for exactly that type of investor. It is a streamlined, 5-year fixed indexed annuity designed for people who do not want to lock up their money for a decade but still want more upside potential than a traditional CD or short-term fixed annuity can offer. For pre-retirees repositioning conservative brokerage assets, retirees rolling over maturing CDs, or investors seeking a defined time horizon with principal protection, MarketFive offers a compelling middle ground between safety and opportunity. If you have been reviewing current fixed annuity rates or comparing enhanced products listed among today’s current bonus annuity rates, MarketFive deserves attention because it combines indexed growth potential with clearly defined guarantees over a short surrender period. Instead of committing to seven, ten, or even twelve years, you maintain a concise five-year timeline while still participating in market-linked interest crediting strategies.
Financial Strength Notice: EquiTrust Life Insurance Company holds an AM Best Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) — below the A- threshold most financial advisors recommend for long-term annuity commitments. However, EquiTrust holds A- ratings from both S&P and Fitch, which rate it more favorably than AM Best. Its Comdex score is 51. The B++ from AM Best reflects AM Best’s conservative view of the carrier’s capital structure relative to larger, longer-tenured insurers. Buyers should weigh all three agency ratings, confirm current ratings at ambest.com before committing, and verify state guaranty association coverage. Full carrier context is available at Is EquiTrust a Good Company?
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EquiTrust MarketFive: Key Product Specifications
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Carrier and Financial Strength | EquiTrust Life Insurance Company, Des Moines, Iowa. Founded 1996; independent insurance operations began 2003. AM Best: B++ (Good). S&P: A- (Strong). Fitch: A-. Comdex: 51 (November 2025). $23B+ in assets. NAIC complaint index: 0.012% — one of the lowest in the industry. Not in J.D. Power study. BBB: A+ rating, not accredited. Not authorized in New York (confirm state availability at application). |
| Premium Structure | Flexible premium — one of the few FIAs in this series that accepts ongoing contributions. Initial minimum: $10,000. Maximum: $2,000,000. Subsequent premiums allowed after year 1: minimum $2,000 per addition, maximum $250,000 per year. Subsequent premiums are automatically applied to the 1-Year Interest Account at receipt, then reallocated among elected accounts at the next contract anniversary per current allocation instructions. Issue ages: up to 90 (nursing home waiver age cap applies separately). Qualified and non-qualified funding accepted. |
| Guaranteed Accumulation Value and Minimum Guarantees | Guaranteed Accumulation Value (GAV): At the end of the 5-year surrender period, the accumulation value will be no less than 105% of premiums paid, less withdrawals and less any buy-up account fees. This is a contractual floor — even if indexed strategies credit 0% in every term, the accumulation value at year 5 is guaranteed to reach at least 105% of net premiums. Minimum Guaranteed Surrender Value (MGSV): approximately 87.5% of premiums plus credited interest — the statutory floor required by state insurance regulation that applies at any point during the surrender period. MVA applies to surrenders subject to surrender charge (no MVA in California). |
| Index Crediting Strategies | Fixed account (1-Year Interest Account, guaranteed rate) plus multiple indexed strategies — approximately 10 crediting options total at last review. Indices include S&P 500, Barclays Focus50 (custom risk-controlled), and S&P MARC 5% Excess Return Index (custom risk-controlled). Crediting methods include point-to-point with cap rates, point-to-point with participation rates, and performance-triggered designs. 0% floor on all indexed strategies. Annual reset locks in previously credited interest. Rate Buy-Up option: available on select crediting strategies — for a 1% annual fee, a higher cap or participation rate is applied. No income riders of any kind. For a full explanation of crediting mechanics, see our guide on how fixed indexed annuities work. |
| Free Withdrawals and Liquidity | Year 1: Systematic interest withdrawals from the 1-Year Interest Account are permitted without surrender charge or MVA (by current company practice — not a contractual guarantee). Year 2+: Up to 10% of the accumulation value on the previous contract anniversary may be withdrawn per contract year without surrender charge or MVA — single withdrawals ($250 minimum per request) or systematic (monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually via EFT). RMDs accommodated within the free withdrawal provision. For a broader comparison of liquidity features, see our overview of annuity free withdrawal rules. |
| Health Waivers and Death Benefit | Nursing home confinement waiver: after first contract year, up to 100% of accumulation value without surrender charge or MVA, for 90+ days of nursing home or hospital confinement. Available for applicant ages 0–80 at issue only. No charge. Terminal illness waiver: up to 75% of the accumulation value — available for all applicant ages at no charge. Death benefit: full accumulation value paid to named beneficiaries — no surrender charges at death, passes outside probate. Features may vary by state. |
MarketFive credits interest based on the performance of selected indexes such as the S&P 500, Barclays Focus50, and S&P MARC 5% Excess Return Index, depending on allocation choices available at issue. Each strategy includes a 0% floor — meaning your contract will never lose value due to negative index performance. When the market declines, you simply receive a 0% credit for that term — no loss of principal due to index movement. When the market performs positively within the parameters of your chosen crediting method, you receive interest based on participation rates, caps, or spreads. Gains are locked in annually through reset features, which prevents previously credited interest from being lost in future downturns. If you want a deeper technical explanation of how participation rates, caps, spreads, volatility controls, and floors interact within these contracts, our guide on how fixed indexed annuities work walks through each moving piece in detail.
The Flexible Premium Advantage: What Separates MarketFive From Single-Premium FIAs
Most fixed indexed annuities reviewed in this series are single-premium or modified single-premium products — you fund them at issue, and the contract amount is fixed from day one. MarketFive takes a different approach: it is a flexible-premium contract that accepts additional contributions after the first contract year, up to $250,000 per year with a $2,000 minimum per addition. This fundamentally changes the use case. Buyers who want to build a position over time — contributing annually from a pension, CD maturities, or brokerage account distributions — can do so within a single MarketFive contract rather than opening new contracts for each new tranche. Each subsequent premium is applied first to the 1-Year Interest Account at receipt, then reallocated among the buyer’s chosen index and fixed accounts at the next contract anniversary.
This structure has two practical implications worth noting. First, subsequent premiums earn the guaranteed rate in the 1-Year Interest Account until the anniversary reallocation — not the index-linked rate the buyer may have elected for existing funds. If you add $50,000 in February and the anniversary is in August, those funds earn the 1-Year Interest Account rate from February to August, then shift to your chosen allocation. Second, the 5-year Guaranteed Accumulation Value guarantee (105% of net premiums at year 5) applies to all premiums paid — so latecomers to the contract benefit from the same contractual floor as the initial deposit. For buyers building a short-term annuity ladder who want a single contract vehicle with ongoing contribution flexibility, MarketFive’s flexible-premium design is a meaningful structural advantage over the single-premium FIAs in this comparison series.
The Guaranteed Accumulation Value: What 105% at Year 5 Really Means
One of the defining strengths of MarketFive is its clearly defined five-year surrender schedule. Many retirees hesitate to commit to longer-term annuity contracts because they want flexibility if interest rates rise, if life circumstances change, or if new opportunities emerge. With MarketFive, your timeline is concise and predictable. At the end of the five-year term, you can choose to renew, reallocate, exchange into another product, or reposition assets entirely. This makes the contract particularly appealing for laddering strategies — where investors stagger multiple short-duration annuities to manage reinvestment risk.
The Guaranteed Accumulation Value (GAV) of 105% of net premiums at year 5 is not a participation-based estimate — it is a contractual minimum. If index performance produces more than 5% cumulative growth over five years, you receive whatever the indexed strategies actually earned. If index performance underperforms — even crediting 0% in every single year — you still receive 105% of net premiums at the five-year mark. The practical math: $100,000 deposited in MarketFive guarantees a minimum $105,000 in accumulated value at year 5, assuming no withdrawals and no buy-up fee deductions. The Minimum Guaranteed Surrender Value provides statutory protection at approximately 87.5% of premiums plus credited interest at any point during the surrender period — relevant if a buyer needs access before the five-year maturity window. These twin guarantees address the two most common concerns conservative investors have about indexed annuities: what is the worst-case outcome, and what is the floor if something unexpected happens before maturity. For buyers evaluating how fixed annuities protect against market volatility, the MarketFive’s contractual floor is one of the clearest examples of this protection in practice.
EquiTrust’s Split Rating: How to Evaluate B++ (AM Best) vs. A- (S&P and Fitch)
EquiTrust’s financial strength ratings tell two different stories depending on which agency you consult. AM Best rates EquiTrust B++ (Good) — one notch below the A- threshold. S&P and Fitch both rate it A- (Strong). This divergence reflects methodological differences between the agencies: AM Best places significant weight on longer operating history, capital depth relative to peers, and a carrier’s position within its competitive tier, while S&P and Fitch weight risk-adjusted capital ratios and operating performance more heavily. EquiTrust’s relatively recent independent operating history (2003) and its mid-sized asset base ($23B+) weigh against it in AM Best’s framework even though its NAIC complaint index of 0.012% — essentially zero at scale — reflects extraordinary operational quality. For context, the NAIC national average complaint index is 1.00; EquiTrust’s 0.012% means it generates virtually no complaints relative to its market share. That operational profile is consistent with A- carrier quality even if the AM Best capital model produces a B++ output.
For buyers, the practical question is: which rating framework is most relevant for a 5-year commitment? For a 10- or 14-year surrender period, the AM Best B++ would be a more significant concern — the carrier needs to remain solvent through a longer time horizon, and there is more uncertainty in a B++ carrier’s trajectory over a decade. For a 5-year commitment, the A- from S&P and Fitch, combined with $23B+ in assets and a 0.012% NAIC complaint index, represents a meaningful level of financial confidence for the shorter term. Buyers placing amounts above state guaranty association limits ($250,000 in most states) in a B++ carrier should evaluate the overall allocation size relative to the shorter holding period. Our resources on annuity strategy in varying rate environments and sequence-of-returns risk provide additional context for positioning short-duration products like MarketFive within a broader retirement allocation.
Liquidity matters, especially in retirement planning. MarketFive includes penalty-free withdrawals of up to 10% annually after the first contract year, allowing access to a portion of funds without triggering surrender charges. It also provides nursing home confinement and terminal illness waivers — note the nursing home waiver has an age 80 cap at issue, while the terminal illness waiver is available at all ages and covers up to 75% of the accumulation value. For individuals concerned about access provisions and withdrawal timing, we recommend reviewing our resource on annuity free withdrawal rules to better understand how different carriers structure penalty-free distributions and waiver triggers. Compared to longer-duration contracts, MarketFive’s shorter surrender period and built-in contractual guarantees make it an attractive bridge product for investors transitioning between accumulation and income phases.
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MarketFive can be funded with qualified or non-qualified dollars, making it suitable for IRA rollovers, 401(k) transfers, and after-tax brokerage reallocations. If you are considering repositioning retirement funds, our overview of how to roll over a Roth IRA to an annuity explains the process step by step, and our resource on 401(k) to annuity rollovers covers qualified plan transitions. For clients approaching required minimum distribution age, understanding updated distribution timelines under SECURE 2.0 RMD rules is critical when coordinating short-term annuity positioning — and because MarketFive accommodates RMDs within its free withdrawal provision, the contract is well-suited for qualified accounts near distribution age. Because MarketFive is accumulation-focused with no income rider, it often complements longer-term income annuities already in place. Some clients use it to hold conservative assets while waiting to activate lifetime income on another contract. Others use it as a defensive sleeve within a broader retirement portfolio. The sibling EquiTrust Certainty Select MYGA and MarketSeven FIA are available for buyers who want a longer term from the same carrier.
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How does the Guaranteed Accumulation Value work if I add premiums in year 2 or 3?
The Guaranteed Accumulation Value guarantee applies to all net premiums paid — not just the initial deposit. If you add $25,000 in year 2 and $30,000 in year 3, the 105% guarantee at the end of year 5 applies to the sum of initial plus subsequent premiums, less any withdrawals taken and less any buy-up account fees deducted. The guarantee is calculated on net premiums, which means the 105% floor applies to whatever you have contributed across the life of the contract. Subsequent premiums are applied first to the 1-Year Interest Account at receipt, then reallocated at the next contract anniversary — so the growth mechanics are the same as the initial premium once they enter the indexed accounts. One nuance: if you elect a buy-up account (the 1% annual fee for enhanced crediting rates), those fees are deducted from the accumulation value and reduce the net premium base used in the 105% calculation. If you expect to use the buy-up feature, model the fee impact on the guaranteed floor before finalizing your allocation strategy.
What is the Rate Buy-Up option, and when does it make sense to pay the 1% annual fee?
The Rate Buy-Up option on select MarketFive crediting strategies allows a buyer to pay a 1% annual fee on the buy-up account balance in exchange for a higher cap rate or participation rate on that specific index account. This is an explicit cost-for-upside exchange. Whether it makes sense depends on two factors: the magnitude of the rate enhancement offered and the likelihood of capturing it. A buy-up that increases the participation rate from 40% to 65% on a volatility-controlled index provides meaningful additional upside potential — if the index delivers a return, you capture 25 percentage points more of it. A buy-up that increases a cap from 4% to 5.5% on a capped strategy is less impactful because the improvement in maximum credit is smaller. The break-even analysis: the additional credits earned from the higher rate must exceed the 1% annual fee paid on the buy-up account. In a year where the index credits 0%, the buy-up fee is a pure loss. In a year where the index credits 8% and the higher participation rate captures 65% versus 40%, the additional 25% multiplied by the 8% credit produces a 2% improvement — covering the 1% fee with 1% net benefit. Buyers who use the buy-up should evaluate the annualized fee drag against the current rate enhancement and model scenarios across zero-credit years to confirm the expected net benefit over the full 5-year term before electing it.
EquiTrust has an A- from S&P and Fitch but B++ from AM Best — which rating should I rely on?
Each rating agency uses a different analytical framework, and the divergence in EquiTrust’s ratings reflects genuine differences in methodology. AM Best, which focuses exclusively on insurance companies, places significant weight on operating history depth, capital structure relative to very large peers, and competitive position within the insurance sector. S&P and Fitch weight risk-adjusted capital ratios, operating performance trends, and earnings quality more heavily. EquiTrust’s relatively recent independent history (operations began 2003) and mid-sized asset base ($23B+) create the AM Best B++ outcome, while the same carrier’s strong capital ratios and financial performance produce A- from S&P and Fitch. For a 5-year commitment, both sets of ratings are relevant: the A- from two of three major agencies suggests the carrier is financially sound by the measures those agencies prioritize. The B++ from AM Best is the more conservative read, appropriate for buyers who rely primarily on AM Best or who hold their independent insurance carrier standard at A- or above. The Comdex score of 51 — a blended percentile ranking across all agencies — reflects the averaging effect of the split ratings. Buyers who require A- across all three agencies for a 5-year commitment should select an A-rated FIA. Buyers who consider S&P and Fitch A- sufficient alongside AM Best B++ for a 5-year term will find MarketFive competitive on product design and contractual guarantees.
The nursing home waiver says ages 0–80 at issue — what happens if I’m 81 when I apply?
If you are 81 or older at the time of application, the nursing home confinement waiver is not available on your MarketFive contract — the age cap applies at the time of issue, not at the time of a potential qualifying event. The terminal illness waiver has no age restriction and is available at all applicant ages. For buyers over 80 who need the nursing home waiver as part of their protection planning, MarketFive is not the appropriate contract. EquiTrust does accept issue ages up to 90 on the MarketFive itself (the annuity contract can be issued), but the nursing home waiver is unavailable for buyers above age 80 at issue. The terminal illness waiver covering up to 75% of accumulation value remains available regardless of issue age. Buyers above 80 considering a 5-year FIA without the nursing home waiver should evaluate whether the terminal illness waiver and the 5-year contractual maturity provide sufficient flexibility given their specific health and liquidity circumstances, and should compare products that include nursing home waiver provisions without age caps at issue. For context, compare the short-term annuity options for older buyers that include health waivers without age restrictions.
How does MarketFive compare to EquiTrust’s other FIAs — MarketSeven, MarketForce Bonus, and the MarketPower products?
EquiTrust’s FIA lineup covers a range of surrender periods and product features. The MarketSeven extends the surrender period to 7 years and also includes a Guaranteed Accumulation Value benefit — making it the natural step up from MarketFive for buyers who want the same guarantee structure over a longer accumulation runway. The MarketForce Bonus adds a premium bonus structure with a longer surrender schedule — appropriate for buyers who prioritize the upfront boost over a shorter commitment. MarketPower Bonus Index and MarketTwelve Bonus Index are the longer-duration bonus FIAs in the lineup, with 12–14 year surrender periods and premium bonuses up to 15%. MarketFive occupies the shortest-duration accumulation niche in the lineup — no bonus, no income rider, but the clearest 5-year exit timeline in the EquiTrust family. The right choice among them depends primarily on time horizon and whether the bonus structure justifies a longer commitment, which our resource on best short-term annuity options addresses for buyers weighing 3- to 5-year alternatives across all carriers.
About the Author:
Jason Stolz, CLTC, CRPC, DIA, CAA and Chief Underwriter at Diversified Insurance Brokers (NPN 20471358), is a senior insurance and retirement professional with more than 25 years of real-world experience helping individuals, families, and business owners protect their income, assets, and long-term financial stability. As a long-time partner of the nationally licensed independent agency Diversified Insurance Brokers, Jason provides trusted guidance across multiple specialties—including fixed and indexed annuities, long-term care planning, personal and business disability insurance, life insurance solutions, Group Health, Travel Medical and Evacuation Insurance, and short-term health coverage. Diversified Insurance Brokers maintains active contracts with over 100 highly rated insurance carriers, ensuring clients have access to a broad and competitive marketplace.
His practical, education-first approach has earned recognition in publications such as VoyageATL, and contributions from his agency featured in Kiplinger and GoBankingRates— highlighting his commitment to financial clarity and client-focused planning. Drawing on deep product knowledge and years of hands-on field experience, Jason helps clients evaluate carriers, compare strategies, and build retirement and protection plans that are both secure and cost-efficient. Visitors who want to explore current annuity rates and compare options across multiple insurers can also use this annuity quote and comparison tool.
Browse More Resources: Return to our complete Fixed Indexed Annuity Products & Education guide — covering FIA products and education from top carriers.
Last Reviewed: June 24, 2026 |
Reviewed by: Jason Stolz, CLTC, CRPC, DIA, CAA
Chief Underwriter, Diversified Insurance Brokers, Inc. | NPN: 20471358 | Diversified Insurance Brokers, Inc. — Licensed in all 50 states
Fact Checked by: Tonia Pettitt, CMIP©
Medicare Specialist, Diversified Insurance Brokers, Inc. | NPN: 14374308 | Diversified Insurance Brokers, Inc. — Licensed in all 50 states
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