FIA Guaranteed Minimum Caps: How Low the Insurer Can Cut Your Cap

By Hans Goldstein, Founder, Retirement Literacy Foundation. He is also a licensed California insurance producer (#4273294). Education, not a product recommendation.
Published October 4, 2026 · Methodology dated October 4, 2026

A fixed indexed annuity's cap is set by the insurer and can be lowered at each renewal, down to a contractual minimum written into the contract. Of 99 fixed indexed annuities whose public documents state a numeric minimum annual cap, 86 (87%) let the insurer lower that cap to 1.00% or less, and 36 to 0.50% or less. Across 74 products with a 2026-dated S&P 500 one-year cap, the median cap was 8.12% and the median contractual minimum was 1.00% (public documents checked October 4, 2026).

Insurers are named below only as the publishers of the documents cited. A low contractual minimum is a term of the contract, not a prediction: it marks how far the insurer is allowed to go, and it is the number to compare when you weigh a current cap.

How low the floors go

Methodology (as of October 4, 2026)

The data: contractual minimums by product

Read each row as "today the insurer pays X; the contract lets it pay as little as Y." Blank cells mean the public document we found did not state that item. Monthly-cap minimums are shown in parentheses. Scroll the table sideways on a phone.

The widest gaps between today's cap and the contractual minimum

Verified documents only, S&P 500 one-year cap, rates effective August 2026 or later:

• Allianz Accumulation Advantage 5 Annuity (C64997): 10.75% S&P 500 one-year cap effective 2026-10-06, contractual minimum 0.25%.
• Symetra Edge Elite: 11.00% S&P 500 one-year cap effective 2026-10-01, contractual minimum 1.00% (2.00%/3.00% in withdrawal-charge period; 1.00% after).
• Nassau Growth Annuity (7/10-yr): 10.50% S&P 500 one-year cap effective 2026-10-02, contractual minimum 0.75%.
• Allianz Accumulation Advantage 7 Annuity (C64997): 9.75% S&P 500 one-year cap effective 2026-10-06, contractual minimum 0.25%.
• Corebridge Power Select Builder: 10.50% S&P 500 one-year cap effective 2026-10-01, contractual minimum 1.00%.
• New York Life IndexFlex Fixed Annuity-FP Series (5/7-yr): 10.00% S&P 500 one-year cap effective 2026-10-05, contractual minimum 0.50% (1.00% / 0.50%).
• Athene Performance Elite 7 / Performance Elite Plus 7: 9.75% S&P 500 one-year cap effective 2026-09-25, contractual minimum 0.50%.
• Forethought ForeAccumulation II: 10.25% S&P 500 one-year cap effective 2026-09-28, contractual minimum 1.00%.

Spreads and margins can work the same way. The contractual maximum daily-average margin on Midland National's MNL Endeavor 8 is 25.00% (rate disclosure 41062Y, June 18, 2026), so the averaged index gain would have to exceed 25% before that strategy credits anything. North American's VersaChoice 10 and Performance Choice 8 allow a 15.00% maximum spread, and Forethought's ForeAccumulation II and ForeIncome II also allow 15.00%. At the other end, a higher floor does not always mean much room above it: Corebridge Power Select Plus Income with the Lifetime Income Plus Multiplier Flex rider states a 2.00% minimum cap in years 1 to 10, and its current S&P 500 cap is 2.70%, 0.70 points above that floor (rate sheet effective October 1, 2026).

How the floors have moved

• F&G AccumulatorPlus 10. The 2011 to 2013 statement of understanding (form ADV1206, revised November 2013, published on a broker site) listed a 3% minimum annual cap. The 2019 version (ADV1711, revised September 2019) says the annual cap "will never be less than 1.00%". F&G's April 9, 2026 rate sheet footnotes participation-rate floors and spread maximums but no cap floor (secondary-source grade for the older forms).
• North American. Current public disclosures, for example the Charter Plus 10 disclosure (form 32541Z-4), state a 0.50% minimum cap and a 0.25% minimum monthly cap. The minimums on 2014-era North American contracts appear only in an agent-use-only guide, so they are not published here.

The practical point: the floor that applies to you is the one printed in your own contract and its data pages, by issue date and state. A disclosure for today's version can be lower or higher than what an older contract promised.

Bailout provisions: few, and one that cannot trigger

A bailout lets you leave without a surrender charge if the insurer declares a cap below a stated rate. In the public documents we checked, they are rare:

• Athene Agility 7 and 10: the bailout cap rate on the S&P 500 one-year cap is 0.50%, the same as the contractual minimum cap. Because the declared cap can never be below 0.50%, the bailout as written cannot be triggered (Athene allocation form, files.ipipeline.com).
• Athene Ascent Pro: 3.00% on the 7-year version and 1.00% on the 10-year versions, with a 30-day window after the anniversary.
• Delaware Life Retirement Stages Select and Target Growth 10: 2.00% bailout cap rate on the S&P 500 one-year cap (Delaware Life rate sheets, October 1, 2026), although the cap minimum itself is not stated in those documents.
• Forethought ForeIncome II: a withdrawal charge waiver with a separate bailout rate per strategy, for example 3.00% on the S&P 500 cap.
• American Equity AssetShield: a Rate Integrity Rider waives surrender charges if a cap or participation rate is declared at or below a waiver rate set at issue (secondary source).
• Aspida Synergy Choice Max: an S&P 500 cap bailout with the rate set at issue (secondary source).

We found no bailout in the public documents of Allianz, North American, Midland National, Lincoln, F&G, Nationwide, MassMutual Ascend or Symetra.

Products that publish no numeric minimum cap

For 54 FIA product rows we found no public numeric minimum annual cap. In several, the document says only that rates will "never be less than the guaranteed minimum" described in the contract, so the number is visible only in the contract you receive. Some of these products publish other minimums (participation, spread or fixed account); those are in the table and the CSV.

• Allianz Life: Allianz 222 Annuity (older issues, pre-MY methods); Allianz 360 Annuity (older issues); Allianz Accumulation Advantage Annuity (older issues / National); Allianz MasterDex series (MasterDex X / Xe / 5 / 10 / Plus; retired)
• American Equity: American Equity 'Foundation' (Foundation Gold); American Equity EstateShield 10 / 9 (CA)
• American General Life (Corebridge Financial): Corebridge Power Index Preferred (legacy)
• American Life & Security: MaxGrowth 10 / MaxGrowth 10 Bonus (producer-only document, not published)
• Americo: Americo Elite 5; LibertyMark Freedom 7 / 10 / 10 Plus / 10 LT (producer-only document, not published); OptiMark / OptiMark LT (12% bonus) (producer-only document, not published); Ultimate One Index 7 / 9 / 9 Bonus
• Ameritas: Ameritas Income 10 Index Annuity (FPDA); ApexAdvantage Index Annuity (10-yr MSPDA) (producer-only document, not published); FlexMark Select / Plus / LT (SPDA) (producer-only document, not published)
• Athene: Athene BCA 2.0 (6/8/10/12); Athene TargetHorizon 5/10/15 (legacy); Athene Velocity (10-yr)
• Delaware Life: Delaware Life Growth Pathway 5/7; Delaware Life Retirement Stages Select 5/7; Delaware Life Target Growth 10
• EquiTrust: EquiTrust MarketBooster Index (legacy); EquiTrust MarketForce Bonus Index
• F&G: F&G Flex Accumulator; F&G Power Accumulator 7/10; F&G Safe Income Advantage; FG Accumulator Plus 10 (2011-2013 form, API-1018)
• Integrity Life (Western & Southern): JourneyMark (10-yr; JM7/JM5 also offer GS Mariner)
• Life Insurance Company of the Southwest: Zenith Growth 10 / Growth Driver 10 / Flex Secure Growth
• Lincoln: Lincoln OptiBlend 5/7/10 (2022-2023 issues)
• Midland National: MNL Capstone 10 / 14; MNL IndexBuilder 10 / 14
• National Western: NWL Ultra Future (FPDA, 9-yr)
• Nationwide: Nationwide New Heights Select 9 / 12; Nationwide Peak 10 / Peak 10 Bonus
• North American: NAC RetireChoice 10 / 14 (discontinued) (producer-only document, not published); North American Secure Horizon Plus; Performance Choice 8/8 Plus/12/12 Plus (2014-era issues) (producer-only document, not published)
• Pacific Life: Pacific Index Edge; Pacific Index Foundation; Pacific Index Foundation 2; Pacific Index Income
• Protective: Protective Asset Builder II; Protective Indexed Annuity II
• Securian (Minnesota Life): SecureLink Assure / SecureLink Future; SecureLink Chronic Illness Access
• Symetra: Symetra Edge Plus (legacy; 12/2023 sheet); Symetra Edge Pro (legacy; last public rate sheet 10/2022)
• Transamerica: Transamerica Secure Retirement Index Annuity (all terms) [closed]; Transamerica Secure Retirement Index II Annuity (10-yr) [closed]
• USAA Life: USAA Fixed Indexed Annuity (7-yr)
• Voya (now Venerable): Voya Secure Index Five Annuity [closed]; Voya Secure Index Opportunities Plus Annuity (10-yr, 5% bonus) [closed]; Voya Secure Index Seven Annuity [closed]

Allianz's newest contract series (222+, Benefit Control+ and Accumulation Advantage Classic) refer to minimums "stated in the Statement of Understanding", which is not public; the table fills them from sister products on the same base contract and grades them partial.

Rate locks: the protection that matters more than the floor

A floor tells you the worst case. A lock tells you the rate will not move for a stated period. In public documents, these strategies lock a cap or rate for the surrender period or a multi-year term:

• New York Life IndexFlex: the cap or trigger is set at issue and guaranteed for the initial term, which equals the surrender period (New York Life client rate sheet, October 5, 2026).
• Integrity Indextra: an S&P 500 one-year cap lock for the full withdrawal-charge period.
• The Standard Enhanced Choice Index Plus: an S&P 500 Locked Cap for 5 or 7 years, at purchase only (2025 specimen contract).
• MassMutual Ascend Index Protector 7: an S&P 500 7-year cap lock (rates page dated November 21, 2025).
• Lincoln OptiBlend, Core Capital and Covered Choice: "5 Year Lock" accounts guaranteed for the initial five years (Lincoln fact sheets).
• Protective Indexed Annuity II: the S&P 500 cap is constant for the withdrawal-charge period (secondary source).
• Pacific Index Foundation: caps and triggered rates set at issue and guaranteed for the initial guarantee period (Pacific Life product guide).

A lock trades flexibility for certainty. If certainty of the rate is the main goal, compare it with a fixed-rate annuity that declares its rate for the whole term.

RILAs: reported separately

Registered index-linked annuities are securities. Their buffers or floors limit losses rather than guarantee principal, so a low cap floor is a different trade-off than in a fixed indexed annuity. The minimums below come mostly from SEC prospectuses. Two examples: Nationwide Defender's prospectus states a minimum cap of 0.05% for the life of the contract on every index strategy, while Equitable's Structured Capital Strategies PLUS 21 prospectus states a 12% minimum performance cap rate for 6-year segments and 2% for 1-year segments.

If a known rate matters most

An indexed annuity pays a declared cap for one term, then whatever the insurer declares next, down to the contractual minimum. A fixed-rate deferred annuity (often called a multi-year guaranteed annuity, or MYGA) declares its rate for the whole term in the contract, and a bank CD does the same for its term. If the reason for buying is a predictable rate, compare the locked rate on those products with the minimum, not the current cap, on an indexed annuity.

Questions to ask your agent

Sources (checked October 4, 2026)