Lincoln MYGuarantee Plus Fixed Annuity – Predictable Growth Without Market Risk

For those seeking predictable, market-free returns, this annuity delivers peace of mind with steady accumulation and flexible access to funds. Whether you are repositioning cash from CDs, rolling over IRA assets, or carving out a conservative allocation within a diversified retirement portfolio, the MYGuarantee Plus provides contractual clarity. If you are comparing options, reviewing current fixed annuity rates can help you determine how Lincoln’s offering stacks up against other highly rated carriers. Rate competitiveness matters, but structure, financial strength, and flexibility matter just as much.

Lincoln MYGuarantee Plus: Key Product Features at a Glance

About The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company

The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company was founded in 1905 and operates as part of Lincoln Financial Group, one of the largest and most recognized financial services companies in the United States. Lincoln holds an AM Best A (Excellent) rating, an A+ from Fitch, and an A2 from Moody’s — a tri-agency rating profile that places it among the most credentialed MYGA issuers in the market. With over $101.8 billion in total assets, Lincoln brings institutional scale and depth to its guarantee commitments. The company is not licensed in New York; New Jersey and Pennsylvania buyers receive the contract as a group certificate rather than an individual policy. For a full carrier evaluation covering AM Best history, complaint data, and how Lincoln compares to competitors across rating tiers, our resource on whether Lincoln Financial is a good company is already linked above — first and only use on this page.

How the MYGuarantee Plus Works: Fixed Rate, Fixed Term, No Surprises

The Lincoln MYGuarantee Plus is a single-premium deferred fixed annuity with a market value adjustment. You make one lump-sum deposit at issue — minimum $10,000 for both qualified and non-qualified accounts — and Lincoln locks in a fixed declared interest rate for the full guarantee period you select. That rate does not change during the initial term. It does not reset annually. It is not tied to any index, benchmark, or market performance. The interest compounds tax-deferred inside the contract, and at the end of the guarantee period you have a 30-day window to renew, reposition, or convert to income. For a thorough explanation of how the MYGA structure works — including how the initial guarantee period, renewal mechanics, and income options interact — reviewing multi-year guaranteed annuities provides the full structural context.

Rate banding is an important feature: higher premium amounts earn higher declared interest rates. The top rate band applies to premiums of $100,000–$2,000,000. Buyers depositing at lower tiers receive a lower declared rate for the same term — meaning the headline top-band rate you see quoted may not be the rate that applies to your specific premium. Confirming the rate for your actual deposit amount before application is essential for accurate yield projection. The minimum guaranteed interest rate is 1.00% (or higher if your state requires it), providing a contractual floor below which Lincoln cannot renew the declared rate even if market conditions deteriorate significantly.

Term Selection: 5, 7, and 10 Years

The Lincoln MYGuarantee Plus is currently offered in 5-year, 7-year, and 10-year guarantee periods. That range allows buyers to align contracts with specific retirement milestones. Some clients use the 5-year term as a strategic holding period for capital they anticipate repositioning within a near-term planning window. Others lock in 7 or 10 years to capture today’s rate environment for an extended period. Because the rate is guaranteed for the full term, the account value compounds predictably without market exposure. This structure appeals to many individuals comparing annuities to bank CDs — for context on how those two vehicles compare in practice, reviewing whether annuities are worth it alongside our resource on fixed annuities vs. CDs (linked in the tax section below) provides useful framing. You can also benchmark the MYGuarantee Plus directly against the market by reviewing 3-year fixed annuity rates and 5-year fixed annuity rates alongside longer-term options to see where Lincoln sits competitively.

A common planning technique for buyers with larger allocations is the laddering strategy: splitting the total allocation across two different guarantee periods — for example, a 5-year and a 10-year contract funded simultaneously — so that a portion of the allocation reaches its penalty-free window every few years rather than creating a single all-or-nothing maturity date. Each contract in the ladder matures independently, giving penalty-free access to that tranche on its own timeline. For a complete explanation of how annuity laddering works across multiple contracts and how to optimize the term selection within a ladder, our resource on fixed annuity laddering strategy covers the mechanics in full. A broader overview of the laddering concept across annuity types is also available at laddering annuities.

Tax Deferral: A Core Advantage for Retirement Accumulators

Tax deferral is one of the MYGuarantee Plus’s most important structural benefits. Interest earned inside the annuity is not taxed annually — growth compounds without current taxation until distributions begin. Over multi-year periods, that deferral can meaningfully enhance accumulation compared to taxable accounts earning the same nominal rate. For retirement savers in higher tax brackets, the difference can be substantial: a CD or taxable bond paying the same rate loses a portion of each year’s credited interest to taxes before it can compound, while the annuity retains the full credited amount in the account each year. If you would like clarity on how distributions are ultimately treated — including the LIFO sequencing of non-qualified withdrawals and the rules for qualified account distributions — reviewing how annuities are taxed provides that context. For a side-by-side illustration of how tax deferral compounds over time compared to a taxable fixed-income alternative, our resource on fixed annuities vs. CDs walks through the long-term accumulation difference.

Liquidity, RMDs, and Health Event Waivers

Liquidity is structured but meaningful. Beginning in the first contract year, policyholders can withdraw up to 10% of the accumulation value annually without surrender charges or MVA. This provision is non-cumulative — unused free withdrawal amounts do not roll forward to the next year. The 10% free provision accommodates most planned distributions, including required minimum distributions (RMDs) for qualified account holders, supplemental income needs, and unexpected expenses, while preserving the majority of assets within the guaranteed structure. If any single withdrawal would reduce the accumulation value below $5,000, it may be treated as a full surrender — a planning consideration for buyers whose contract value approaches that threshold late in the term.

Two built-in health event waivers provide additional access under qualifying circumstances. The nursing home waiver allows penalty-free access to the contract value upon confinement to a qualifying nursing home facility. The terminal illness waiver waives surrender charges upon diagnosis of a qualifying terminal illness. Both waivers apply to the full contract value — not just the standard 10% free amount — providing meaningful liquidity at exactly the moments when access matters most. For buyers who want broader long-term care protection beyond the MYGA waiver provisions, reviewing how an annuity with a nursing home care rider functions and how it differs from the MYGuarantee Plus waiver structure is a useful comparison. For a full breakdown of how surrender charges apply to excess withdrawals and how MVAs interact with those charges, reviewing annuity surrender charges explained ensures expectations are clear before any commitment.

Legacy Planning and Death Benefit

The MYGuarantee Plus provides a death benefit equal to the greater of the accumulation value or the Minimum Guaranteed Cash Surrender Value — meaning beneficiaries receive at minimum the full account value with no surrender charges and no MVA applied at death. This direct, charge-free transfer can simplify estate administration and reduce the delays associated with probate when beneficiary designations are properly completed. Beneficiaries may choose to receive the death benefit as a lump sum or elect an available annuitization option for structured payout. For families coordinating multiple retirement accounts and investment assets within a broader estate plan, reviewing annuity beneficiary death benefits clarifies payout elections, spousal continuation provisions, and how annuity beneficiary designations differ from probate-based transfers.

Portfolio Role: Where the MYGuarantee Plus Fits

From a portfolio construction standpoint, many retirees allocate a portion of assets to guaranteed fixed vehicles like MYGAs to stabilize overall retirement performance. When equities decline sharply, the fixed annuity remains steady — credited interest continues regardless of market conditions, and no market loss is possible. When rates rise, new contracts can be layered in at the improved rate environment through the laddering approach described above. When income is needed, systematic withdrawals or annuitization can convert accumulated value into predictable cash flow. For buyers who are also evaluating indexed alternatives — wanting some upside participation alongside guaranteed growth — reviewing how a fixed indexed annuity works enables a direct structural comparison between fixed and indexed approaches. For clients nearing the end of a guarantee period and planning their next step — whether converting accumulated MYGA value into guaranteed income or repositioning into an income-focused product — our resource on best retirement income annuities covers how MYGA accumulation can transition efficiently into a guaranteed income structure.