At Diversified Insurance Brokers, we help retirees and pre-retirees evaluate annuity companies based on what matters most in retirement: safety of principal, income reliability, flexibility, and long-term performance. If you’re asking, “Is EquiTrust a good insurance company?” the answer for many retirement savers is yes—especially when the product is selected and structured correctly for your timeline and income goals.

EquiTrust Life Insurance Company is a recognized name in the fixed and fixed indexed annuity space for people who want market protection, competitive crediting approaches, and optional income features. While EquiTrust may not have the same household brand recognition as some legacy insurers, it has built a meaningful position by focusing on annuity designs intended for accumulation, income, and “transition planning” as you move from working years into retirement distribution years.

What matters most, however, is how EquiTrust compares to other annuity carriers available today—and whether the specific contract you’re considering aligns with your personal retirement goals, your liquidity needs, your rollover strategy, and your risk tolerance. That side-by-side comparison is where working with an independent firm makes a measurable difference, because you can evaluate EquiTrust’s strengths without guessing what you might be giving up elsewhere.

About EquiTrust Life Insurance Company

EquiTrust is primarily an annuity-focused insurer. Instead of trying to be all things to all consumers, the company’s product lineup centers on retirement accumulation and retirement income strategies—most often through fixed annuities, fixed indexed annuities (FIAs), and income-focused designs. That specialization can be helpful for clients who want a carrier that is intentionally building contracts around retirement outcomes rather than offering annuities as a secondary product line.

In practice, EquiTrust is commonly evaluated by households who are within five to ten years of retirement or already retired—when preserving principal and generating predictable income becomes more important than chasing aggressive market growth. These products are frequently coordinated with Social Security timing, pensions (when available), and conservative investment portfolios to create a more stable income foundation. If you’re new to indexed annuities, it may help to review how a fixed indexed annuity works so you can better understand how crediting, protection, and income features interact.

EquiTrust is often compared to other mid-sized annuity carriers that compete on crediting strategies, bonus designs, and income rider structures. Because many differences are “in the fine print,” side-by-side comparisons are critical—especially around surrender schedules, penalty-free access, rider fees, and how income is actually calculated. For broader context, many clients compare EquiTrust against other annuity-centric carriers such as Delaware Life before narrowing the field.

Financial Strength and Stability

Financial strength is a non-negotiable factor when choosing an annuity provider. Annuities are designed to be long-term contracts—often held for many years and sometimes used for lifetime income—so the insurer’s ability to meet future obligations matters. Ratings help provide a snapshot of claims-paying ability, capitalization, and overall financial profile. They should not be the only deciding factor, but they should be part of a careful review.

As of your current draft, EquiTrust is referenced as holding a B++ (Good) rating from A.M. Best and A- (Strong) ratings from both Fitch and S&P, each with stable outlooks. That positioning is generally viewed as “solid but not top-tier,” which is exactly why comparisons matter. Some higher-rated carriers may offer lower income factors or less competitive features, while some mid-tier carriers may offer attractive contract designs that fit specific needs.

Our job at Diversified Insurance Brokers is to compare EquiTrust against higher-rated carriers so you can weigh guarantee strength against product value in a practical way. We’ll show you what you gain and what you give up—rather than treating ratings as a simple pass/fail test. If ratings are your top priority, we’ll build the comparison set around that priority. If income level or liquidity is more important, we’ll build around that instead.

EquiTrust Annuity Products Overview

EquiTrust offers multiple annuity categories designed to support different retirement objectives, including fixed indexed annuities, bonus annuities, income-focused “bridge” strategies, and multi-year guaranteed annuities (MYGAs). The common thread across these designs is principal protection: your annuity premium is not directly exposed to market losses, and growth is credited based on either fixed rates or index-linked methods subject to contract terms.

One of the more discussed offerings is the EquiTrust MarketTen Bonus Index Annuity, which blends index-linked crediting with an upfront bonus concept and optional income riders. Bonus designs can be effective when they match your holding period and income timeline, but they should be evaluated carefully because bonuses are typically balanced by longer surrender schedules, different crediting terms, or rider costs.

For most households, the smartest way to evaluate EquiTrust is not by product category alone, but by role: is this annuity being used for safe accumulation, for creating lifetime income, or as a transitional tool to bridge early retirement years? Once that role is clear, we can compare contracts more intelligently—especially around free withdrawal rules, income rider mechanics, and how beneficiary protections are structured through annuity death benefit provisions.

MarketValue Index (MVi) Annuities

EquiTrust’s MarketValue Index (MVi) annuities are designed for clients seeking index-linked growth potential without direct market downside risk. These contracts commonly provide multiple index strategy choices, allowing you to allocate across different crediting methods rather than relying on only one approach. That can be appealing for conservative investors who want some upside opportunity while maintaining principal protection as the core foundation.

The value of an indexed annuity is rarely found in a single headline number. The real evaluation is how crediting works over time and how that crediting interacts with the income design you’re choosing. Indexed annuities are governed by levers like caps, spreads, participation rates, and reset periods—details that can materially affect outcomes. That’s why we encourage people to separate marketing language from mechanics. If you want a plain-language filter, our guide Fixed Indexed Annuity Myths Debunked is a strong starting point.

WealthMax and Bonus Annuities

EquiTrust also offers bonus annuity designs, where an upfront premium bonus increases the amount used for certain account-value or income calculations. In the right situation, this can help when you plan to hold the annuity long-term and when the rider structure aligns with your income start date. But it’s important to be realistic: bonuses are not “free money.” They are usually offset by longer surrender charge schedules, different index crediting terms, or rider fees.

That does not make bonus annuities bad. It simply means they must be evaluated as a complete contract. In many cases, the bonus is helpful when your objective is guaranteed lifetime income and you are committed to the holding period. In other cases, a non-bonus contract may provide better flexibility or cleaner crediting. We often compare these designs against options in our Bonus Annuity Comparison resource so you can see how different carriers structure the trade-offs.

Bridge and Income-Focused Annuities

EquiTrust bridge annuities are designed to help retirees transition from early retirement into full income phases. A common use case is coordinating income while delaying other benefits, especially Social Security. A bridge strategy can create dependable cash flow for a defined period so you can delay claiming and potentially increase lifetime Social Security benefits—depending on your broader household plan.

When we build bridge strategies, we evaluate them alongside Social Security timing and your overall income floor. That can include reviewing specific circumstances for self-employed clients and others whose benefits look different than traditional wage earners. For timing education, see Social Security benefits for self-employed. The best bridge strategy is one that improves predictability without creating unnecessary liquidity constraints.

Certainty Select MYGA

EquiTrust’s Certainty Select MYGA (Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity) is designed for investors who want simple, predictable returns with no market exposure. MYGAs are often compared to CDs because of their fixed-rate structure, but annuities typically offer tax-deferred growth and may present competitive yields depending on the rate environment and term length.

MYGAs are commonly used for laddering—spreading maturity dates across multiple terms—so you reduce reinvestment timing risk. They can also serve as a conservative anchor in a broader plan, especially for funds earmarked for near-term retirement spending or future income positioning. When comparing MYGAs, many clients start with current fixed annuity rates to see how EquiTrust compares to other carriers at the time of publication, since rates can change.

Who Is EquiTrust a Good Fit For?

EquiTrust annuities tend to fit best for retirees and pre-retirees who prioritize structure, guarantees, and income predictability over aggressive market growth. If your goal is to avoid market-loss risk on a portion of your retirement assets while still having a path to tax-deferred growth and optional income, EquiTrust may be a carrier worth evaluating in the mix.

EquiTrust can also make sense for IRA and 401(k) rollovers where stability and retirement income planning are primary goals. In those situations, we focus heavily on how the contract handles liquidity, how surrender charges line up with your expected time horizon, how income riders work, and whether the benefits justify the costs. If your plan requires larger access in the early years, we may narrow the field to contracts with more favorable withdrawal provisions and waiver features.

Check Your Guaranteed Lifetime Income

One of the most important retirement questions is not how much you can earn in a good year, but how much income you can rely on for life. Use the calculator below to estimate how EquiTrust annuities—or competing options—could translate into guaranteed lifetime income based on age, premium, and start date. This is often the fastest way to “normalize” comparisons across multiple carriers so you can evaluate the trade-offs in plain English.

Why Work With Diversified Insurance Brokers

Diversified Insurance Brokers is an independent, fiduciary insurance agency representing 100+ carriers nationwide. Our role is not to promote a single company. It’s to help you find the best fit for your goals, explain contract mechanics clearly, and show you the trade-offs before you commit to a long-term annuity decision.

When evaluating EquiTrust, we compare it against competing insurers, stress-test income projections, analyze surrender schedules, and translate rider mechanics into practical outcomes. If EquiTrust is the strongest fit, we’ll show you exactly why. If a higher-rated carrier offers stronger guarantee strength with comparable income, we’ll show you that instead. And if another carrier delivers meaningfully higher guaranteed income or better flexibility for your timeline, we’ll put those numbers side by side so the decision becomes obvious.