Synergy Choice Income Annuity – Guaranteed Income Growth with Powerful Multipliers and Market Protection

The 25% Benefit Base Bonus is one of the largest upfront income base bonuses in the current income FIA market — but understanding exactly what it applies to is critical before evaluating the product. The bonus applies exclusively to the GLWB Benefit Base — the income calculation base used to determine your guaranteed lifetime income amount. It does not apply to the contract value. If you deposit $100,000, the contract value starts at $100,000. The benefit base starts at $125,000 ($100,000 × 1.25). The 10% annual simple interest roll-up is then applied to the initial premium amount each year — not to the $125,000 benefit base — producing annual roll-up credits of $10,000 per year (10% of the $100,000 initial premium). After 10 years of deferral, the benefit base has grown from $125,000 to $225,000 ($125,000 + 10 × $10,000), which then serves as the base from which the lifetime payment percentage is applied to determine annual income. The contract value, meanwhile, grows through whatever index credits or fixed account interest is earned — independent of the benefit base. The death benefit is the contract value, not the benefit base. So a buyer who sees $225,000 benefit base on an illustration after 10 years should understand that they cannot withdraw $225,000 as a lump sum — they can only receive income payments calculated from that base. The actual lump-sum accessible value is the contract value at that date, which will be meaningfully different from the benefit base amount. When comparing the 25% bonus against competing products with different bonus structures — such as the 10% income base bonus on the Prudential SurePath Income or the income base mechanics on the North American Income Pay Pro — the comparison should always be on projected annual income at the target activation age, not on bonus percentage alone.

The Synergy Choice Income uses a 10% guaranteed annual simple interest roll-up applied to the initial premium minus withdrawals. Simple interest means the 10% is applied to the same base each year — the annual credit is constant in dollar terms (assuming no withdrawals). For a $100,000 initial premium, the annual roll-up credit is $10,000 every year. After 10 years, the roll-up has added $100,000 to the benefit base (10 × $10,000), plus the 25% upfront bonus brings the starting total to $225,000. Competing products use compound roll-up structures: the North American Income Pay Pro uses 8% compound — after 10 years at 8% compound, a $100,000 base grows to approximately $215,892 without any upfront bonus. The Prudential SurePath Income uses an 8% daily roll-up plus a 10% income bonus — benefit base starts at $110,000 and grows daily at 8% simple. The Corebridge Power 10 Protector Plus Income uses a 9% simple roll-up. In comparing these structures, the Synergy Choice’s 25% upfront bonus provides a substantially higher starting point that partially offsets the simple-versus-compound disadvantage versus the North American roll-up over longer deferral periods. For buyers deferring 5 years or less, the 25% bonus advantage is relatively more pronounced. For buyers deferring 10 years, the compound roll-up advantage on competing products catches up. A personalized side-by-side income illustration at your specific age, premium, and income activation date — showing projected annual income from each product — is the only reliable way to determine which structure produces the better income outcome for your specific situation.

The Synergy Choice Income allows penalty-free withdrawals of up to 10% of the contract value after the first contract anniversary — no surrender charges or MVA apply to those withdrawals. However, the Aspida product materials explicitly disclose that a withdrawal from the contract value before the rider’s activation will reduce the benefit base (and thus the amount of future lifetime income withdrawals) proportionally. This is a critical distinction that many buyers overlook. On most income FIA products, the 10% free withdrawal provision is separate from the income calculation — taking the free withdrawal does not reduce the income base. On the Synergy Choice Income, it does. If you withdraw 10% of the contract value during the deferral phase, the benefit base is proportionally reduced — and since the 10% simple interest roll-up is applied to the initial premium minus withdrawals, the annual roll-up credit is also reduced. On a $100,000 contract where you take $10,000 in free withdrawals, the roll-up base becomes $90,000, and annual roll-up credits drop from $10,000 to $9,000 per year for the remaining deferral period. This design reinforces the product’s income-focused intent: it is optimized for buyers who plan to hold through the deferral period without drawing on the contract, with income activated through the GLWB at the target date. Buyers who anticipate needing supplemental access during the deferral period should explicitly model the impact of those withdrawals on the benefit base and projected income before committing to the product — and should maintain adequate liquid assets outside the annuity to cover those needs without reducing the income base.

The Synergy Choice Income includes two distinct long-term care-related provisions that serve different purposes. The standard nursing home waiver allows the owner to withdraw up to 100% of the contract value without surrender charges or MVA if confined to an eligible nursing home or nursing care facility for at least 90 consecutive days after the first contract anniversary. This is an access provision — it removes penalty charges so the owner can exit the contract cleanly and access the full contract value for care costs. The Enhanced Nursing Home Multiplier is an income enhancement — if the owner qualifies based on long-term care needs, the GLWB income withdrawals can increase for a defined period. This doubles the effective income amount during the qualifying care event period, providing meaningful additional cash flow when care costs are highest, without requiring a full surrender of the contract. These are two different tools serving two different financial functions: the waiver provides clean contract exit; the multiplier enhances ongoing income. Both require qualifying conditions and have specific eligibility requirements defined in the contract. Neither replaces comprehensive long-term care insurance — they cannot pay for care facility costs directly, cover home health care, or provide the broad benefit pool that a dedicated LTC policy provides. Products like the North American Income Pay Pro, the Midland National Income Planning Annuity, and the American Equity IncomeShield 10 all include similar income multiplier or doubling provisions — the Synergy Choice’s combination of both a full waiver and a separate income multiplier makes it one of the more comprehensive income FIA products in the care contingency category.

Aspida Life Insurance Company was founded in 2021 — making it one of the newer entrants in the annuity market compared to carriers like Midland National (founded 1906), North American Company (founded 1886), Prudential Financial (founded 1875), and Allianz Life. For a 10-year income annuity commitment where the guaranteed lifetime payments may continue 20–30 years beyond the surrender period, carrier longevity and financial strength are foundational evaluation criteria. AM Best affirmed Aspida’s A- (Excellent) Financial Strength Rating with a Stable outlook on August 29, 2025. KBRA independently assigned A- (Excellent) in July 2025. The A- rating reflects very strong balance sheet capitalization and significant financial support from Ares Management Corporation — a global alternative asset manager with over $622 billion in AUM — which provides institutional capital infrastructure that most newer entrant carriers cannot replicate. Aspida’s NAIC Complaint Index is effectively zero since founding, indicating no annuity complaints. The concentration risk to note: Aspida is concentrated entirely in interest-sensitive annuity and reinsurance products — there is no diversification across life insurance, health insurance, or other lines. AM Best explicitly notes this concentration as a consideration in its neutral business profile assessment, alongside the execution risks inherent in a rapidly growing newer organization. For buyers comparing Aspida’s A- rating against the A+ ratings of Midland National (Sammons), North American (Sammons), Allianz Life, and Prudential’s Pruco Life — all of which back competing income FIAs — the relevant question is whether the Synergy Choice Income’s product mechanics provide sufficient competitive advantage to justify committing to an A- carrier with a 4-year operating history for a 10-year income contract. At Diversified Insurance Brokers, we include Aspida in our multi-carrier comparisons alongside A+ alternatives so you can evaluate the full picture — product mechanics, projected income, carrier strength, and premium competitive positioning — before making the final decision.

The Synergy Choice Income offers multiple indexed crediting strategies including the S&P 500, Goldman Sachs Lexicon Long Short Index, Goldman Sachs Grand Prix Index, BlackRock U.S. Equity Bitcoin Balanced Risk 10% Index, and others. The Goldman Sachs and BlackRock strategies are proprietary volatility-managed indices — each has internal algorithmic mechanisms that manage portfolio exposure to target a defined volatility level, typically resulting in smoother return profiles than the uncontrolled S&P 500 at the cost of lower peak credits in strong equity years. The BlackRock U.S. Equity Bitcoin Balanced Risk 10% Index is worth addressing specifically because buyers sometimes misinterpret it as a direct Bitcoin investment. It is not. It is a volatility-controlled index that balances U.S. equity exposure with a Bitcoin-linked component, targeting an overall 10% volatility level. The Bitcoin component introduces a source of return that is less correlated with traditional equity markets — which can sometimes benefit the index in periods where Bitcoin appreciates while equities are flat or declining. However, it can also underperform in periods where Bitcoin declines alongside equities. As with all proprietary volatility-controlled index strategies in FIAs, the appropriate evaluation is through historical index performance across multiple market environments — not through the Bitcoin brand name alone. All available indexed strategies in the Synergy Choice Income share the same fundamental credit protection: if the index is negative in a crediting period, credited interest is zero, not negative — the zero floor protects the contract value from index declines regardless of which strategy is elected.

The Synergy Choice Income’s built-in GLWB rider may be cancelled on or after the fifth anniversary of the rider’s effective date. Once cancelled, the income guarantees associated with the GLWB — the guaranteed lifetime withdrawal amounts and the longevity protection against contract value depletion — are eliminated. The contract continues in force as a standard FIA without the income rider. The cancellation option gives buyers a defined exit from the income structure if their planning needs change after year five — for example, if the owner’s financial situation changes materially and the income guarantee is no longer needed, or if a better income strategy becomes available. Cancellation would make sense primarily when the owner has decided they will never use the guaranteed lifetime withdrawal feature and no longer needs the income base growth or longevity protection. In practice, the GLWB is the core purpose of the Synergy Choice Income — the 25% benefit base bonus and 10% roll-up are specifically designed to build the income base for that GLWB. Cancelling the rider effectively converts the Synergy Choice Income into a less competitive accumulation FIA (the Synergy Choice Bonus or Synergy Choice Max without the income rider would be a structurally cleaner fit for pure accumulation from inception). Buyers who are uncertain about whether they will need lifetime income should evaluate whether the Synergy Choice Income is the right product structure at purchase — rather than electing it for income planning and then cancelling the rider later.

The Synergy Choice Income competes in the income FIA category alongside products including the North American Income Pay Pro (8% compound roll-up, 1.15% rider charge, A+ carrier), the Midland National Income Planning Annuity (age-banded LPP structure, no roll-up benefit base, 1.25% rider charge, A+ carrier), the American Equity IncomeShield 10 (bonus to both contract value and IAV, ~1.20% rider charge, A carrier), and the Prudential SurePath Income (10% income bonus plus 8% daily roll-up, A+ carrier). The Synergy Choice’s most distinctive competitive positioning is the 25% benefit base bonus — the largest upfront income base enhancement in the group. Its differentiating limitations relative to these competitors are the simple (not compound) roll-up structure and the A- (not A or A+) carrier financial strength rating. The A- rating meets the threshold most advisors specify as the minimum for new annuity commitments, and the Ares institutional backing adds credibility to the rating — but A+ carriers (Midland National/Sammons, North American/Sammons, Allianz Life, Pruco Life/Prudential) represent a higher tier of financial strength for a 10-year income commitment extending across a multi-decade retirement. In terms of projected annual income, the Synergy Choice Income is competitive — particularly for buyers in shorter deferral windows (5 years or less) where the 25% bonus advantage is most pronounced relative to the compound roll-up alternatives. A side-by-side income illustration at your specific age, premium, and income activation date remains the only reliable way to determine which product produces the best guaranteed annual income for your situation.