Can Index Annuity Gains Be Taken Back?

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]Hey folks, Sean Plummer over at the Annuity Expert in today's video I'm answering the question, can index-linked gains be taken away after they are credited? Depends on the indexed annuity. So, there are really two different types of index annuities.

[00:00:17]There's fixed index annuities and there's registered index-linked annuities. With fixed index annuities, the the any interest that is earned is locked in and cannot be taken away after they are credited, okay? Uh with a registered index-linked annuity, a RILA annuity, you can lose the interest that you've earned because you have the ability to lose money up to a certain extent before protections come into play. So, I don't I'm not a big fan of RILA annuities. Um I think you're either in the market or you're not in the market um or you want principal protection or you don't have principal protection.

[00:00:56]Um I I think you should buy a fixed index annuity and find one that especially that is designed for safe growth, so you have principal protection. And then if you want more upside, you could pay for higher upside.

[00:01:08]So, for example, uh the Athene Performance Elite Series, you know, you get a bonus, um you get 100% downside protection, then you have index strategies you can choose from, and if the upside's not good enough for you, you could pay like a 1 1 and a quarter percent fee and they'll give you a a huge increase in your upside potential.

[00:01:29]And then this way when the market's down, you're not losing any money and you're getting similar or better upside than the RILA annuities that are out there. So, uh reiterate, if you have a fixed index annuity, gains cannot be taken away. If you have a RILA annuity, gains can be taken away. Got any questions about this? Leave a comment below or contact us over at the Annuity Expert and we'll catch you in the next video. See you.