North American Income Pay Pro 10 Review (2026): $16,840/yr Income on $100K

Is the North American Income Pay Pro 10 Worth It?

Income Pay Pro 10 is a modified single premium fixed indexed annuity (FIA) issued by North American Company for Life and Health Insurance, the annuity arm of Sammons Financial Group. The “10” refers to the 10-year surrender charge schedule. Like all FIAs, it lets you participate in the upside of one or more market indices without exposure to the downside. Your principal cannot lose value due to negative index performance.

The product has three layers worth understanding separately:

• The chassis: A standard FIA with a 10-year surrender schedule, six indexed crediting strategies, and a fixed account option
• The embedded GLWB rider: Built into the contract (not optional) at a 1.15% annual fee on the GLWB value, providing the 8% compound roll-up and lifetime income guarantee
• The carrier: North American Company, a privately held insurer with over a century of operating history and A+ ratings across all three major rating agencies

For new-to-the-product readers, see our complete fixed index annuity guide first. This review assumes you understand the FIA basics and gets straight to what makes Income Pay Pro 10 different.

The Headline: $16,840 Per Year for Life on a $100K Deposit

Most product reviews bury the income math behind walls of feature descriptions. We are doing the opposite. Here is what the actual income looks like for a representative buyer, generated from a live illustration our team ran on April 25, 2026.

The math underneath that $16,840 number is the point. Here is exactly how it works:

1. Day one: $100,000 premium goes in. The GLWB value (used to calculate lifetime income) starts at 100% of premium = $100,000.
2. Years 1 through 10: The GLWB value grows at 8% compound annually. After ten years: $100,000 × 1.08^10 = $215,892.
3. Age 70 payout: The contract pays a 7.80% level Lifetime Payment Percentage (LPP) on that $215,892 income base. Annual income = $16,840 for life.

Important: the GLWB value is not your cash value. You cannot withdraw $215,892 as a lump sum. The GLWB value is the actuarial number North American uses to calculate your guaranteed paycheck. Your accumulation value (what you can surrender or pass to heirs) tracks the actual indexed strategy returns, which will typically be lower than the 8% rollup over the deferral years.

How That Stacks Up Against the Alternatives

The $16,840 number means a lot more in context. Here is what the same $100,000 generates if you skip the FIA + rider route and use other common income strategies, all priced for a 70-year-old male as of April 2026.

Income Pay Pro 10 produces roughly 17% to 100% more guaranteed lifetime income than the alternatives, depending on which alternative you compare against. The reason is the 8% compound roll-up and the structure of the GLWB value, which can’t be matched by deferring cash and buying a SPIA later. The trade-off is the 1.15% annual rider fee, which compounds against the contract’s accumulation value over the surrender period. If you plan to actually take income (not surrender or die early), that fee is well-spent.

The 8% Roll-Up + 1.15% Rider Fee, Unpacked

The embedded GLWB rider is the reason most agents pitch Income Pay Pro 10. The rider features:

• 8.00% compound annual roll-up on the GLWB value for up to 10 years, or until you turn on lifetime payments (whichever comes first).
• Income available as early as age 50, earlier than most competing income riders that require age 60+.
• Two LPA options: Level (locked-in payment for life) or Increasing (lower starting payment, grows by an annual increase percentage thereafter).
• 1.15% annual rider charge, deducted from the accumulation value on each contract anniversary, calculated as 1.15% of the GLWB value (not the accumulation value).
• Rider charge is deducted whether or not you have started taking income.

The 8% compound roll-up is the headline number. Many competitors use 6% or 7% rollups, or simple-interest rollups that produce smaller income bases over time. Compounded for 10 years at 8%, a $100,000 premium grows to a $215,892 income base regardless of how the underlying indexes perform.

Watch the Fee Math

The rider charge is calculated on the GLWB value, which is the rising income-base number, not your accumulation value. As the GLWB value grows from $100,000 at issue to $215,892 in year 10, the dollar charge grows too: $1,242 in year 1, climbing to $2,483 by year 10. Total rider charges over 10 years come to roughly $18,000 of cumulative fees deducted from your contract value. That cost is built into the income guarantee, but it does mean the cash value lags the income story significantly. If you are buying for income, fine. If you change your mind and want to surrender, you will leave money on the table.

Level vs. Increasing LPA: Which to Choose

When you turn on income, North American gives you two options:

The crossover point typically arrives around year 12 to 15 of payments, when the increasing LPA finally overtakes what the level payment would have been. For buyers turning on income at 70 with normal life expectancy, the level option usually produces more total income over the lifetime. For younger buyers turning on income earlier (say at age 60 or 62) with longer expected payout horizons, the increasing option can win on a present-value basis. Run both illustrations before you commit.

The Nursing Home Multiplier: A Built-In LTC Feature

This is one of the strongest LTC-style features in the FIA market and a major reason agents pitch this product. If you become confined to a qualified nursing care center for more than 90 consecutive days starting in year 3 or later, your annual lifetime payment doubles for that year. The doubled payment is available for up to five total payments across the life of the contract.

For our example buyer turning on income at 70 with a $16,840 annual LPA, the nursing home multiplier means the contract could pay $33,680 per year during qualifying nursing home stays, up to a total of $168,400 in extra long-term care benefit. That is real protection without the underwriting hurdles, premium commitments, or “use-it-or-lose-it” structure of a traditional LTC policy.

Important details:

• You must wait at least two years after contract issue before requesting the multiplier.
• 90 consecutive days of qualifying confinement must occur before each multiplier payment.
• The accumulation value must be greater than zero.
• The five payments do not have to be consecutive years.
• Not available in California.

For buyers worried about the cost of long-term care but unwilling to buy traditional LTC insurance, this feature alone can justify the rider fee.

The LPA Reserve: Flexibility to Bank Unused Income

Once you turn on lifetime payments, you can elect to take less than the full LPA in any given year. The unused portion gets credited to an LPA reserve account, which you can withdraw later as a lump sum or in additional installments. The reserve is capped at the accumulation value.

This is a meaningful flexibility feature. A retiree who does not need the full $16,840 in early years can let it accumulate, then take a larger lump sum later for travel, healthcare, or a grandchild’s education. Most competing GLWB riders are use-it-or-lose-it: if you do not take the full LPA, you forfeit the income for that year.

Strategy Options: 6 Indexes Plus a Fixed Account

Income Pay Pro 10 lets you allocate the contract across multiple crediting strategies. Available indexes include:

• S&P 500 with monthly point-to-point or annual point-to-point cap-rate strategy
• Barclays Transitions 6 VC Index (volatility-controlled at 6% target, annual or 2-year participation rate)
• Barclays Transitions 12 VC Index (volatility-controlled at 12% target, annual or 2-year participation rate)
• Fidelity Multifactor Yield 5% ER (multi-factor equity blend with treasury overlay, 5% volatility target)
• Goldman Sachs Equity TimeX (rules-based long-only S&P 500 ETF strategy with dynamic exposure)
• Morgan Stanley Dynamic Global (multi-asset 5% volatility target index)
• S&P MARC 5% Excess Return (multi-asset 5% volatility-controlled strategy)
• Fixed account with a guaranteed declared rate

You can transfer between strategies after each annual contract anniversary (or every 2 years for two-year strategies). Crediting factors (cap rates, participation rates, spreads) reset at each strategy term and are subject to change after the surrender charge period. Always review the current rate sheet before binding. We track them on the live FIA cap rates page.

Death Benefit and Spousal Continuance

The standard death benefit on Income Pay Pro 10 is the greater of the accumulation value or the minimum surrender value as of the date of death. The death benefit is reduced for any premium taxes the state requires.

The GLWB value itself is not a death benefit. If the rider has rolled the income base up to $215,892 but the accumulation value is only $180,000, the death benefit is $180,000, not $215,892.

For married couples, the spousal continuance feature lets a surviving spouse continue the contract and the GLWB rider after the first death. If you set up the contract as joint covered persons before electing income, your spouse keeps the LPA at the joint payout percentage for life. If you set it up as individual covered person and die before turning on income, your spouse can re-establish the rider with their own LPED based on their issue age.

Withdrawals, Surrender, and Liquidity

The 10% free-withdrawal allowance starting in year 1 is more flexible than many competing FIAs, which often start at 5% or hold withdrawals to RMD-only in the first few years. Income Pay Pro 10’s surrender schedule for most states (including AZ where our example was illustrated):

State variations apply. California uses a tighter front-loaded schedule starting at 7.5%. A handful of northeastern and western states (CT, DE, HI, IL, etc.) use a 9-year schedule starting at 9%. Always confirm the schedule for your state of issue before signing.

North American Financial Strength

You are signing a contract that needs to perform for the rest of your life. The carrier on the other side matters as much as any product feature.

North American is part of Sammons Financial Group, a privately held mutual-style holding company that also owns Midland National Life Insurance. The “privately held” structure matters: Sammons is not chasing quarterly earnings to please public shareholders, which historically has translated into more stable crediting rates and longer-term carrier behavior. North American has been in continuous operation for over 130 years.

For the broader carrier picture, see our complete North American annuity review.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Class-leading 8% compound roll-up on the GLWB value for 10 years
• Embedded rider (no opt-in election needed), which simplifies the buying decision
• Top-tier financial strength from Sammons Financial Group (AM Best A+, S&P A+, Fitch A+)
• 10% free withdrawal starting in year 1 is more generous than most FIAs
• Nursing home multiplier doubles LPA for up to 5 years, providing built-in LTC-style coverage
• LPA reserve feature lets you bank unused income for later years
• Income available as early as age 50, earlier than most competing income riders
• Six diversified index strategies plus a fixed account allow real diversification
• Spousal continuance preserves the GLWB rider for the surviving spouse
• Increasing LPA option for buyers wanting inflation protection

Cons

• 1.15% annual rider fee compounds against the contract value over the surrender period (slightly higher than some competitors)
• Rider charge is calculated on the rising GLWB value, not the accumulation value, so dollar fees increase over time
• 10-year surrender period is on the longer end for FIAs (some competitors offer 7 or even 5-year chassis)
• GLWB value is not cash value: the headline numbers reflect what you receive as income, not what you can surrender or pass to heirs
• Crediting factors can change at each strategy term and after the surrender period
• Nursing home multiplier not available in California
• Sold through agents only: no direct-to-consumer purchase
• Not available in: Guam, New York, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and (the brochure version of this product) Oregon

Who Should Buy Income Pay Pro 10?

This product fits well for:

• Pre-retirees ages 50 to 70 who want guaranteed lifetime income starting in 5 to 10+ years
• Buyers with $50,000 to $1,000,000 of qualified or non-qualified retirement money to deploy toward income
• Buyers who want top-tier carrier financial strength (A+ rated across all three agencies)
• Couples who want joint lifetime income coverage with spousal continuance
• Buyers concerned about long-term care costs but not interested in a separate traditional LTC policy
• Buyers comfortable holding the contract for the full 10-year surrender period

It is not the right fit if you need full liquidity, want to maximize legacy rather than income, expect to need the money before age 59½, or are looking for the absolute lowest-fee option (a straight MYGA will be cheaper if income is not the goal).

Bottom Line: Strong Income Numbers for Long-Deferral Buyers

The North American Income Pay Pro 10 produces some of the highest 10-year deferred income numbers we have seen from any A+ rated FIA carrier in 2026. The $16,840 per year on $100,000 example is not cherry-picked. It is what the actual North American illustration system spits out for a representative 60-year-old buyer at this writing, using a real 50/50 Barclays Transitions allocation and the published level LPP table.

The trade-off is real. You give up cash value flexibility (the 1.15% rider fee compounds against your contract value) and you commit to a 10-year surrender period. If you actually take the income you bought the rider for, the fee is well-spent. If you change your mind in year 4 and surrender, you will leave money on the table.

The honest framing: this is one of the strongest pure-income FIA structures in the market right now, particularly for buyers with a 7-to-10-year deferral horizon. The combination of an 8% compound roll-up, a doubling nursing home multiplier, and the LPA reserve flexibility creates a product that competes well with anything from Athene, Allianz, or Nationwide in the same income-rider category.

To pull a personalized illustration with your age, deposit, deferral period, and state, contact our team. We will run quotes against Income Pay Pro 10 and at least two competing FIA income products so you can compare apples to apples. Browse all of our fixed and indexed annuity reviews, see how North American stacks up against the competition, or compare directly against the Nationwide New Heights Select 9 for an A+ rated apples-to-apples comparison.

Sources & Citations

• North American: Income Pay Pro Product Page
• North American Income Pay Pro Brochure (35405Z-1, REV 8-24)
• AM Best Company Profile: North American Company for Life and Health Insurance
• Sammons Financial Group