North American PrimePath Pro 10 Fixed Index Annuity – Secure Income with Flexible Growth Options
North American PrimePath Pro 10 Fixed Index Annuity – Secure Income with Flexible Growth Options
Secure Your Future with a Flexible Retirement Income Strategy
At Diversified Insurance Brokers, we specialize in helping individuals and couples build retirement strategies centered on guaranteed lifetime income, tax-deferred growth, and protection from market downturns. The North American PrimePath Pro 10 Fixed Index Annuity, issued by North American Company for Life and Health Insurance, is designed for retirees and pre-retirees who want a dependable income stream they cannot outlive, combined with structured growth potential and built-in flexibility. In today’s retirement landscape — where volatility, inflation pressure, healthcare costs, and longevity risk all compete for attention — creating a reliable income floor is more important than chasing maximum returns. PrimePath Pro 10 is built to serve as that income foundation. It uses a fixed indexed annuity structure to protect principal from direct market losses while offering index-linked crediting strategies for growth potential. If you are new to this structure, our guide to how a fixed indexed annuity works and our resource on how annuities earn interest explain how caps, participation rates, and spreads influence credited interest. The key concept: when the market declines, your contract value does not decline due to negative index performance. When the market rises, you may receive credited interest based on the elected strategy, subject to contractual limits.
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The GLWB Rider — Embedded at No Annual Charge
The defining feature of the PrimePath Pro 10 is its Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit (GLWB) rider — and the most important fact buyers should understand before comparing it against competing income FIAs: the Benefits Rider is included in the PrimePath Pro 10 at no additional annual charge, and that arrangement is guaranteed for the life of the contract. Most income FIAs charge a separate annual rider fee of 0.75% to 1.25% calculated on the benefit base — a cost that compounds against accumulation over a 10-year deferral period and meaningfully reduces the account value available to beneficiaries or for surrender. The PrimePath Pro 10 builds the income guarantee into the contract structure without that ongoing deduction. For buyers who are evaluating income FIAs primarily by their payout rates, the absence of a rider charge is a significant competitive advantage that affects both net income yield and legacy planning. Our resource on whether income riders have fees provides a market-wide comparison of how different GLWB structures handle this cost.
The rider creates a separate benefit base — a calculation value separate from the account value — used solely to determine the Lifetime Payment Amount (LPA) when income begins. The benefit base starts equal to the premium and grows during the deferral period through the benefit base roll-up formula. When income is elected, the LPA is determined by multiplying the benefit base by the lifetime payment percentage applicable to the covered person’s age at that time, increasing by 10 basis points for each attained age from 50 to 85. The benefit base is never available as a lump sum withdrawal — it is a calculation number, not a cash value. If you want a breakdown of how roll-up rate differs from payout rate and how your age at income activation affects total lifetime income, that distinction is among the most frequently misunderstood in income FIA evaluation.
The Roll-Up Formula: Performance-Linked Benefit Base Growth
Most income FIA riders advertise a fixed roll-up rate — “your benefit base grows at 6% per year for 10 years.” The PrimePath Pro 10 uses a different mechanism: the benefit base roll-up equals twice the weighted average interest credit percentage on the contract. If the contract credits an average of 3% across its index strategies in a given year, the benefit base grows at 6% that year. If the contract credits 5%, the benefit base grows at 10%. The roll-up amount is never less than zero, and the formula continues until lifetime income is elected or the defined roll-up period ends.
This performance-linked structure aligns benefit base growth with contract performance rather than setting an arbitrary guaranteed floor rate. In favorable market environments where indexed strategies credit at higher rates, the benefit base grows faster than competing products with fixed 6-7% guaranteed roll-ups. In unfavorable environments where credited interest is low, the benefit base grows more slowly — but the 0% floor ensures credited interest on the underlying contract never goes negative. The benefit base floor provides a secondary protection: premiums accumulated at 1% per year until LPAs start and 0% thereafter, ensuring the benefit base has a minimum guaranteed growth regardless of index performance. Before electing income, requesting a formal illustration from North American — showing the projected benefit base trajectory under conservative, moderate, and favorable scenarios — is the most direct way to understand what this formula produces at your specific age and premium amount. Our guide on how income annuity roll-up rates work provides the conceptual framework for that evaluation.
Level vs. Increasing Payments, and the LPA Reserve
The defining feature of the PrimePath Pro 10 is its Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit (GLWB) rider. This rider creates a separate benefit base used to calculate future lifetime income. It is critical to understand that the benefit base is not the same as the account value. The account value reflects your actual accumulation and is available for withdrawals subject to contract rules. The benefit base, by contrast, is a calculation number used solely to determine your LPA once income begins. PrimePath Pro 10 gives you the option of level lifetime payments or increasing lifetime payments that may rise annually based on the weighted average credited rate — never declining, but growing only when the contract credits positive interest. Because this is a rider-based income design, lifetime withdrawals can continue even if the account value is eventually depleted due to withdrawals, as long as rider terms are met. If you want to explore broader comparisons among income designs, including annuitization versus income riders, review our resource on whether to annuitize or use an income rider before making a final decision.
A lesser-known but practically valuable feature is the LPA Reserve. Once lifetime payments begin, if you take less than the full LPA in any given year, the unused amount accumulates in a reserve account rather than being forfeited. That reserve can be withdrawn later as a lump sum or in additional installments, subject to the accumulation value cap. The practical use case: a retiree who doesn’t need the full annual income in early retirement years can let the unused LPA accumulate and take a larger distribution later for a healthcare need, a home renovation, or a family event. Most competing GLWB riders are structured as use-it-or-lose-it — if you don’t take the full LPA, the income for that year is simply gone. The LPA Reserve transforms the PrimePath Pro 10’s income structure into a more flexible cash management tool for retirees whose income needs vary year to year. LPA income may begin as early as age 50, earlier than most competing income riders.
LPA Multiplier Benefit: Health-Activated Income Doubling
A distinctive feature of PrimePath Pro 10 is the LPA Multiplier Benefit. Beginning in the third contract year, if an owner or annuitant is unable to perform two of six activities of daily living (ADLs) for more than 90 consecutive days, the LPA can be doubled for up to five years, as long as qualifying requirements are met annually and the accumulation value remains above zero. This is not comprehensive long-term care insurance — it is a health-triggered income enhancement built into the income rider at no additional cost — but for households facing high care costs, doubling the annual LPA for five years can provide meaningful income relief during a high-cost care period.
There is a critical eligibility restriction buyers must understand before applying: at the time of application, all covered persons must be able to perform all six ADLs. Buyers who cannot perform all six ADLs at application are ineligible for the LPA ADL Benefit — and this is confirmed in writing at issue. The multiplier becomes available beginning in year 3, so a buyer who purchases at age 65 would first have access to the multiplier at age 68. For households who want this feature to eventually be available, confirming ADL eligibility honestly at application is the necessary first step. Still, it is important to evaluate how this compares with standalone or hybrid care strategies. Retirement income planning is strongest when all components — income, liquidity, healthcare, and legacy — are considered together, and our resource on annuities with inflation protection and the best fixed indexed annuities for income give the full product comparison landscape.
Liquidity, Free Withdrawals, and the Nursing Home Waiver
PrimePath Pro 10 allows penalty-free withdrawals of up to 7% of the accumulation value annually after the first contract year. This provides access to funds for unexpected expenses while maintaining long-term structure. However, withdrawals during the year that exceed the LPA (if income has been elected) proportionally reduce the benefit base — a meaningful restriction that buyers taking both the LPA and free withdrawals in the same year must understand before acting. For many retirees, the annuity is not meant to be the emergency fund; it is designed to secure lifetime income for essential expenses while other assets remain accessible for flexibility. Before purchasing any long-term annuity, understanding how surrender charges work and how they align with your liquidity needs is essential.
The nursing home waiver provides additional protection: after the first contract anniversary, if confined to a qualified nursing home facility for 90 or more consecutive days, you may withdraw up to 100% of the accumulation value without a surrender charge or MVA. A full surrender terminates the contract. This waiver is automatically included at no additional charge. All growth inside the contract is tax-deferred, meaning you do not pay annual taxes on credited interest until withdrawals begin. For individuals rolling over IRA or 401(k) assets, this annuity can function inside qualified accounts. Our guide on How Are Annuities Taxed? explains distribution treatment in retirement for both qualified and non-qualified contracts.
Enhanced Death Benefit and the Flexible Premium Structure
PrimePath Pro 10 offers an enhanced death benefit with two options: the beneficiary may elect to receive the greater of the accumulation value or minimum surrender value as a lump sum, OR the greater of the benefit base and the benefit base floor paid in equal installments over five years, subject to the rider death benefit maximum. The second option gives beneficiaries access to the benefit base value — which may be significantly higher than the account value after a long deferral period — in exchange for a structured payout rather than a lump sum. For families who want legacy planning to reflect the income value built up during deferral, this option can be meaningfully more valuable than a standard lump sum death benefit. Our resource on how guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits work covers how benefit base and accumulation value diverge over time and what each represents for income and legacy planning purposes.
PrimePath Pro 10 is also a flexible premium product — additional premiums can be deposited after the initial purchase, unlike single-premium FIAs that close to new money at application. This makes it useful for buyers who are staggering deposits from multiple accounts, converting a series of maturing CDs over successive years, or directing RMD proceeds from other qualified accounts into new accumulation. The North American PrimePath Pro 10 is one product in the carrier’s broader FIA lineup. Buyers specifically focused on accumulation rather than income should evaluate the VersaChoice 10 for enhanced liquidity or the BenefitSolutions 10 for built-in care benefits. Buyers focused on immediate income should compare the Income Pay Pro as a competing income FIA from the same A+ carrier — it carries a separate rider fee but has a different income growth structure and a 27% premium bonus. If your priority is maximizing guaranteed income at a specific start age, also review Annuity With Highest Guaranteed Payout to compare PrimePath Pro against the full income FIA market. If you are still deciding whether an annuity belongs in your retirement strategy, explore Are Annuities Worth It? to understand suitability factors.
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If the Benefits Rider has no annual charge, how does North American make it financially sustainable?
The no-annual-charge structure is sustainable because the rider cost is embedded in the product design rather than charged as an explicit fee. The primary mechanism: the benefit base roll-up is linked to actual credited interest (2× the weighted average credit) rather than a guaranteed fixed 7-8% roll-up that exists independently of the contract’s investment performance. Competing income FIAs that guarantee “6% compounded regardless of market performance” must charge a separate annual fee to fund that guaranteed growth — typically 0.75–1.25% of the benefit base annually — because the guaranteed roll-up has to be funded whether or not the indexed strategies actually credit interest. The PrimePath Pro 10 doesn’t offer a fixed guaranteed roll-up rate: when the market credits zero interest, the benefit base also grows by zero (subject to the 1% benefit base floor). That performance linkage eliminates the separate funding cost of the guaranteed roll-up, making the no-charge structure possible. Additionally, the product offers enhanced crediting strategies that do charge a strategy fee in exchange for higher participation rates — buyers who use those strategies are trading accumulation value for potentially higher crediting, which is a separate election and separate cost that applies regardless of the income rider. The income rider’s no-charge structure and the optional strategy fees are two independent components of the contract design.
Should I elect level or increasing lifetime payments?
The choice between level and increasing LPAs is permanent once made at the lifetime payment election date — it cannot be changed. Level payments start higher (because the initial payout rate applies fully), while increasing payments start lower but may grow over time when the contract credits positive interest. The crossover point — where increasing payments have cumulatively exceeded what level payments would have paid — typically arrives after many years of payments. For buyers activating income at age 70 with a standard life expectancy, the level option often produces more total income over the lifetime simply because receiving more money earlier is worth more in present-value terms and because there is no guarantee that credited interest will consistently increase the increasing payment in future years. The increasing option has explicit value for buyers who: (1) are in strong health and expect to live well into their 80s or 90s, (2) are specifically concerned about inflation eroding purchasing power over decades of retirement, and (3) are comfortable with lower initial income knowing that income will grow if the contract performs. Buyers who need maximum income now or who are in moderate health should generally favor the level option. This decision deserves a formal illustration showing both scenarios side by side at your specific age and benefit base value before electing. Our resource on the best FIAs for income covers how different carriers structure level vs. increasing elections for additional comparison context.
If I take free withdrawals before starting LPAs, does that permanently reduce my future income?
Yes — withdrawals before income begins proportionally reduce the benefit base as well as the accumulation value. The reduction is proportional: if a $200,000 contract accumulates to $220,000 in accumulation value and you withdraw $22,000 (10%), both the accumulation value and the benefit base are reduced by 10%. If the benefit base had grown to $280,000 at that point, after the 10% proportional reduction it becomes $252,000. The 7% annual penalty-free withdrawal provision allows regular distributions without surrender charges during the accumulation phase, but each such withdrawal reduces the benefit base from which future LPAs will be calculated. For buyers who intend to take regular annual distributions during the pre-income phase — to supplement Social Security, bridge income, or satisfy RMDs — those withdrawals will reduce the eventual LPA compared to a scenario where no pre-income withdrawals were taken. This is one of the core trade-offs in income FIA design: accessing money early vs. maximizing the future income guarantee. Structuring the withdrawal discipline before application — deciding explicitly whether pre-income distributions will be taken and at what level — is important to model in the illustration. Our resource on how much an annuity pays on $100,000 provides a useful reference point for calibrating the relationship between deposit size, deferral period, and expected LPA at various ages.
How does the PrimePath Pro 10 compare to the North American Income Pay Pro?
Both products are income FIAs from North American Company for Life and Health Insurance — same A+ carrier — but they have distinct structural differences that make each more appropriate for a different buyer profile. The PrimePath Pro 10 embeds the GLWB at no annual rider charge with a performance-linked benefit base roll-up (2× credited interest). The Income Pay Pro 10 carries a separate annual rider fee (charged as a percentage of the GLWB value) but offers a fixed 8% compound roll-up on the benefit base and includes a 27% premium bonus. For buyers who are decades from retirement and want to maximize the benefit base through a long deferral period, the Income Pay Pro’s 8% compound roll-up can produce a larger benefit base than the PrimePath Pro’s performance-linked formula if actual credited rates are moderate. For buyers who are closer to income activation, expect to take early distributions, or prioritize avoiding ongoing fee drag on the accumulation value, the PrimePath Pro’s no-charge structure may produce a better net outcome. Comparing the two requires running illustrations under your specific age, premium, and deferral timeline — the “winner” is not universal across buyer profiles. Our dedicated review of North American Income Pay Pro covers its structure in full for a direct side-by-side evaluation.
I’m concerned about healthcare costs in retirement but don’t want to buy separate long-term care insurance — how does the LPA Multiplier actually work?
The LPA Multiplier (also called the LPA ADL Benefit) doubles your annual income for up to five years when you cannot perform 2 of 6 activities of daily living for 90+ consecutive days — beginning in contract year 3. The activation is annual: you must meet the ADL requirement each year to receive the doubled payment, and confirmation is required annually. The feature is available as long as the accumulation value is greater than zero. It is not a long-term care insurance product — it doesn’t cover facility costs directly, doesn’t have its own benefit pool, and doesn’t provide care coordination. What it does is double your existing income stream for up to five high-cost years, which can provide meaningful relief against care expenses without requiring a separate insurance application or medical underwriting. Important: you must be able to perform all 6 ADLs at the application date — this is confirmed in writing on the application. A buyer who cannot perform all 6 ADLs at purchase is ineligible for the ADL benefit entirely. For households where a spouse or annuitant already has any ADL limitation, or where health is declining, the LPA Multiplier is not an available benefit and the product should be evaluated purely on its income and accumulation merits. For buyers who want more comprehensive care planning alongside an income FIA, our resource on the best FIAs for income identifies which products combine stronger income design with more robust care provisions.
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.
Explore More Annuity Options: Browse our complete guide to What Is a Fixed Indexed Annuity? — covering FIA education, carrier products, income riders & indexed annuity strategies from 100+ 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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