Independent Review of the Midland National Life Paragon Plus 14 Fixed Index Annuity

What’s Covered In This Review

In today’s review, I’ll be covering the following information on the Paragon Plus 14 Fixed Index Annuity from Midland National Life:

• Product Type
• Fees
• Current Rates
• Realistic long-term return expectations
• How this annuity is best used
• How it is most poorly used

Annuities can be complex. That’s where having an Annuity Investigator who loves math comes in. We make the complex, simple.

If you’ve been in the process of considering an annuity – or any type of financial vehicle that can help you to obtain a nice return, safety of principal, and a guaranteed income throughout your retirement years – then the Midland National Life Insurance Company Paragon Plus 14 Fixed Index Annuity could be a viable option for you. Yet, before you dive right in and purchase this annuity – or any other annuity, for that matter – it can be beneficial if you know all of the facts – particularly those that have to do with how the product works, and how it may, or may not, work for you in attaining your retirement goals. Over the past decade or so, with a large number of Baby Boomers that are planning for and reaching retirement, annuities have become quite popular. One reason is due to the guaranteed stream of lifetime income that they can provide. Because of the appeal of annuity products to a large segment of the population, there are more financial advisors who are offering them to their clients. However, this may not necessarily be a good thing – primarily because, even if a financial advisor is working to do the best thing for their client, they may not always be giving you the entire picture about annuities. Plus, due to the consistently growing popularity of annuities today, the list of different product offerings – along with additional riders – has increased a great deal. Along with this, unfortunately, can come a myriad of “fine print” which can make these products even more confusing – even for well-informed consumers. With that in mind, it is key that you fully understand how an annuity that you’re considering will work – particularly because a retirement annuity may require that you commit a large chunk of your overall savings, and if you later decide that the annuity you bought into is not going to perform in the way that you had initially thought, then it can be quite costly to get out of it.

Annuity and Retirement Income Planning Information that You Can Trust

If you have never visited our website before, then we would like to personally welcome you here to AnnuityGator.com. We are a team of experienced financial professionals who are focused on offering you comprehensive and nonbiased annuity reviews. We’ve been doing this for many years, and for far longer than any of our competitors. Because of that, we have become a well-known and trusted source of annuity information. Over the past few years, many other “copycat” websites have popped up on the Internet – however, if you look closely, many of these just reiterate what our reviews have shown. In your quest for additional information about annuities, you may have come across many details about annuities, and you may even find that much of the information you find about these products is conflicting. This is not completely surprising, though, as there are many annuities out there in the market place today, along with almost an equal number of differing opinions. You may also have recently attended an annuity seminar where, in exchange for a free lunch or dinner, you listened to the presenter discuss the Midland National Life Paragon Plus 14 fixed index annuity, or some other similar product. Attendance at this seminar may even be what has led you here to our website in search of additional information. As you peruse the Internet in search of additional annuity details, it is possible that you have come across other annuity marketing websites that work hard to “lure” people in by making such bold claims as the following:

• Guaranteed lifetime income
• Lowest fees
• Top-Rated Annuity Companies
• Highest Income Payouts
• Fast, Easy Annuity Quotes

Does this look familiar? However, while these claims can easily make people think that annuities can solve all of their retirement planning needs, the reality is that they may not necessarily be all true. Given that, it is essential that you first verify these claims before you move forward with buying an annuity, just like you would do if you were considering any other “high dollar” product. If you want to learn more about the Midland National Life Insurance Company’s Paragon Plus 14 annuity, then you are definitely in the right place. In fact, we dare say that the website you are on right now is the only place where you can truly find all of the intricate details that you need, which include the good, the bad, and yes, even the ugly. Our reasoning for this is because the only way to truly know if this annuity is for you is to understand the positives and the potential drawbacks of it. If you have been presented this annuity by a commissioned insurance or financial sales rep, then it is likely that the individual has placed much more emphasis on the annuity’s high points, while at the same time, only just glossing over the aspects of the annuity that may be considered as drawbacks. Just to be clear up front here, we believe that annuities can offer many great features – as long as they are a good fit for your overall financial goals. Given that, this annuity review is here to provide you with a more in-depth look at all of the details on the Paragon Plus 14 fixed index annuity. So if you’re ready to move forward, let’s get started!

Midland National Life Paragon Plus 14 Fixed Index Annuity at a Glance

Product Name	Paragon Plus 14
Issuer	Midland National Life Insurance Company
Type of Product	Fixed Index Annuity
S&P Rating	A+ (Strong)
Phone Number	(800) 923-3223
Website	https://www.midlandnational.com

Opening Thoughts on the Midland National Life Paragon Plus 14 Annuity

For more than 110 years, Midland National Life Insurance Company has been offering insurance and other financial products to its customers. The company has held strong, even though touch economic and financial times. Today, Midland National is a subsidiary of the Sammons Financial Group. Due to its financial strength and its timely payment of policy holder claims, the company has earned high ratings from the insurer rating agencies. These include the following:

• A+ (Superior) from A.M. Best Company
• A+ (Strong) from S&P Global Ratings
• A+ (Stable) from Fitch Ratings

Because of the constant volatility of the stock market, annuities – and primarily fixed index annuities – have become very popular over the past few years. One of the key reasons for this is because these types of annuities can provide you with the opportunity for a high return, while at the same time protecting your principal. They can also when it comes time to retire, offer you a set amount of regular incoming cash flow – which includes a lifetime option that will continue to pay you an income for the rest of your life. However, as good as this may sound, it is still extremely important for you to check out all of the facts before you move forward. This is because, if the annuity doesn’t end up performing the way you expected it to, then it could cost you a great deal of time and money to get out.

Before we get into the gritty details, here are some legal disclosures…

This is an independent product review, not a recommendation to buy or sell an annuity. Midland National Life Insurance Company has not endorsed this review in any way, nor do we receive any type of compensation for providing this review. This review is meant to be an independent review at the request of readers so that they may see our perspective when breaking down the positives and negatives of this particular annuity. Prior to purchasing any type of investment or insurance product, it is important that you do your own due diligence and that you consult a properly licensed professional if you should have any specific questions that relate to your individual circumstances. All names, marks, and materials that were used for this review are the property of their respective owners. For more information on how to compare annuities in order to determine which one may be right for you, click here to obtain our free annuity report.

How Midland National Life / Sammons Financial Group Describes the Paragon Plus 14

Midland National Life Insurance Company describes the Paragon Plus 14 as a long term annuity product that offers several different options, which can allow you the flexibility to choose the option that is best for your specific situation. This annuity offers potential stock market-related growth that is associated with the:

• Down Jones Industrial Average
• EURO STOXX 50
• Nasdaq 100
• Russell 2000 Index
• Standard & Poor’s 500 Index
• Standard & Poor’s MidCap 400 Index

The Paragon Plus 14 also offers an 8% premium bonus on all premium payments that are received during the first seven contract years, as well as an annuity payout bonus of 2% after the 14th contract year. This annuity also has some other features, such as a death benefit – that will pay out the accumulation value to a named beneficiary – as well as a nursing home confinement waiver whereby the penalty-free withdrawal amount can be 100% of the contract’s accumulated value while you are confined to a qualified nursing home. When the time comes to start receiving income, the Paragon Plus 14 offers a number of different payout choices, which include a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years, in addition to a life income option.

How a Financial Advisor May Pitch This Annuity

If an insurance or financial advisor has approached you regarding the Midland National Life Paragon Plus 14 annuity, then it is likely that he or she keyed in on certain features of the annuity that can be beneficial to you, such as the premium bonus, the tax-deferred growth, the protection of principal, and the lifetime income feature. Unfortunately, they may also have left out some of the other elements of this annuity that could be considered drawbacks. (This is especially the case if they are a commissioned sales person and stand to make a nice commission on the sale of this annuity). As an educated consumer, you have probably noticed that insurance and financial services firms do a very good job of ensuring that their products sound very attractive. For instance, based on the above description of the Paragon Plus 14, you may have felt that this is the perfect annuity for you. However, if you were to take a closer look at this annuity, you could find that there are some features that won’t work to your advantage, and that there are even others that won’t work at all unless certain parameters have been met. For instance, while you may be able to attain index-linked growth on your account, this return will be based on a participation rate. So, this means that you will only receive a percentage of the underlying index’s return. In addition, if you choose the monthly point-to-point crediting strategy, then you will also be subject to an index cap rate. This rate is declared each contract anniversary. And, as its name implies, this can essentially “cap” your positive return – in turn, limiting you from gaining the full amount of the return that is earned by the underlying market index. Some of the other benefits of this annuity will also have certain conditions that must be met in order for you to qualify. For example, the nursing home confinement waiver will only begin after the annuity’s first contract anniversary, and only if you are confined to a nursing home facility for at least 90 consecutive days.

What About the Fees on the Paragon Plus 14 Annuity from Midland National?

The financial and insurance products that do not charge at least some type of fee are few and far between. In fact, it may even be safe to say that products with absolutely no fees or charges are practically non-existent. Here you can see charges by way of an agent commission, as well as annual contract and administrative fees. With the Midland National Paragon Plus 14, there are also 14 years of surrender charges – which is extremely long, even for an insurance product. This means that if you want or need to take out any more than 10% of your annuity’s contract value within the first 14 years of owning the product, you’ll be hit with a surrender charge. And, if you are under the age of 59 1/2 when you make the withdrawal(s), you will also incur an additional 10% “early withdrawal” penalty from the IRS. With this in mind, it is important to understand that this – or any – annuity purchase should be considered as a long-term endeavor. Otherwise, your money could be locked up for quite some time before you can take it out penalty-free.

The Annuity Gator’s End Take on the Midland National Life Paragon Plus 14 Annuity

Where it works best: This particular annuity will usually work the best for those who are looking for:

• The opportunity to obtain a higher rate of growth
• Safety of principal
• Lifetime income

Where it works worst: Conversely, the Paragon Plus 14 Fixed Index Annuity from Midland National may not fare so well for those who:

• Want to fully participate in market gains
• Want or need to access their funds penalty-free within the first 14 years
• Do not intend to use the guaranteed lifetime income feature

In Summary

There are many factors that need to be considered when you are trying to determine whether or not an annuity will be right for you – or even if any annuity is the best option for your retirement funds. If you are considering a fixed indexed annuity, you can be secure in knowing that your principal will be safe from the ups and downs of the stock market, as well as in that you will have a future retirement income that you can count on. The only way to truly know if this annuity may be right for you is to run the Midland National Life Paragon Plus 14 fixed index annuity calculator. We can provide you with a much more detailed and personalized peek at how this annuity may perform, based upon your specific parameters. And, once we have run these numbers for you, we will provide you with a personalized spreadsheet with your information at no charge. You may find that after you have a test run on the Paragon Plus 14 annuity, that there are some key advantages. However, you may also find that this particular annuity falls somewhat short and that there could be some other better alternatives out there for you. Should you still have any additional questions or concerns regarding this – or any other – annuity, please feel free to reach out to us via our secure contact form here.

Have Any Additional Questions? Did You Happen to Notice Any Mistakes?

While we realize that this annuity review was a bit long in nature, we believe that it is far better to provide you with more details than not enough. That way, you can make a well-informed decision about this, and whether or not it may be right for you. With that in mind, if you did find this annuity review to be beneficial, then please feel free to forward it on to anyone else that you think might also benefit from it, as well. Also, we know just how quickly information about annuities and other financial products can change. Therefore, if you happened to notice any mistakes in this annuity review, please let us know that, too so that our team can take care of the updates and any revisions. Are there any other annuities that you would like to see reviewed? If so, we’ll get to it. Our annuity pros will add these reviews to our website. So, just let us know which product you’d like to see, and be sure to check back often for these updates. Best, The Annuity Gator