Nationwide New Heights Select 9 Annuity Review (2026): $10,540/yr Income on $100K

What Is the Nationwide New Heights Select 9?

New Heights Select 9 is a single premium fixed indexed annuity (FIA) issued by Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company. The “9” refers to the 9-year surrender charge schedule. Like all FIAs, it lets you participate in the upside of one or more market indices (typically the S&P 500 or volatility-controlled variants) 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 9-year surrender, multiple index strategy options, and a unique daily-tracking accumulation feature
• The optional riders: Four optional riders for additional cost (only one allowed per contract) covering lifetime income or death benefit
• The carrier: Nationwide Life and Annuity, a Fortune 100 mutual-affiliate insurer with top-tier financial strength ratings

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 New Heights Select 9 different.

The Headline: $10,540 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 24, 2026.

The math underneath that $10,540 number is the point. Here is exactly how it works:

1. Day one: $100,000 premium goes in. The rider immediately credits a 30% bonus to a separate ledger called the Minimum Income Benefit Value (the “income base”). Income base = $130,000.
2. Years 1 through 5: The income base grows at 9.5% compound annually. After five years: $130,000 × 1.5746 = $204,651.
3. Age 65 payout: The contract pays a 5.15% lifetime payout percentage on that $204,651 income base. Annual income = $10,540 for life.

Important: the income base is not your cash value. You cannot withdraw $204,651 as a lump sum. The income base is the actuarial number Nationwide uses to calculate your guaranteed paycheck. Your contract value (what you can surrender or pass to heirs) tracks the actual S&P 500 strategy returns, which will be lower in most years than the 9.5% rollup.

How That Stacks Up Against the Alternatives

The $10,540 number means a lot more in context. Here is what the same $100,000 generates if you skip the rider and use other common income strategies, all priced as of April 2026 for a 65-year-old male.

The Nationwide structure produces roughly 17% to 55% more guaranteed lifetime income than the alternatives, depending on which alternative you compare against. The reason is the 30% upfront bonus combined with the 9.5% rollup, which mathematically can’t be matched by deferring cash and buying a SPIA later. The trade-off is the 1.10% annual rider fee, which compounds against the contract’s cash value over the surrender period. If you plan to actually take income (not surrender or die early), that fee is well-spent.

The High Point 365 Select with Bonus Rider, Unpacked

This rider is the reason most agents pitch New Heights Select 9. The rider features:

• 30% income base bonus at contract issue. A $100,000 deposit becomes a $130,000 income base on day one.
• 9.5% compound annual growth on the income base for up to 12 years or until you turn on income (whichever comes first).
• Highest DAV reset: Income base resets upward whenever your Daily Accumulation Value reaches a new daily high, even after you have started income.
• Joint life option: Income guaranteed for both spouses’ lives at slightly reduced payout percentages.
• 1.10% annual rider charge deducted from the contract value quarterly.

The 30% bonus is what separates this from competing FIA income riders. Most carriers offer either a smaller bonus (10% to 20%) or a longer rollup with no bonus. Nationwide combines a high bonus with a high rollup rate, which is why the 5-year deferral numbers come out so strong.

The Other Income Rider Option

If you do not need income for at least 5 years and want to maximize a longer deferral, Nationwide also offers a non-bonus version called the High Point 365 Select Lifetime Income rider. It uses a different mechanism:

• No upfront bonus
• 1% annual growth on the Minimum Income Benefit Value for 10 years
• Income base automatically locks in at every new high point your DAV reaches
• Lower annual rider fee than the Bonus version

Generally the Bonus version produces higher income for deferrals of 10 years or less. For longer deferrals (12+ years), the math gets closer and the non-bonus version starts to make sense. Pull both illustrations and compare apples to apples before you commit.

The Accumulation Story: What Makes the Chassis Different

Even setting aside the income riders, the New Heights Select chassis has two features that are uncommon in the FIA market.

1. Daily Accumulation Value (DAV)

Most FIAs only credit interest at the end of each strategy term (typically 1, 2, or 5 years). If you take a withdrawal mid-term, you forfeit the interest accumulated to that point. Nationwide’s DAV tracks your potential earnings every single day, and earnings are credited to withdrawals taken between term-end dates. If you take a Required Minimum Distribution at age 73 mid-strategy-term, you actually get the earnings-to-date applied. That feature is rare in the FIA market.

2. Optional Mid-Term Lock-In

Once per strategy term, you can manually lock in the index value of any elected strategy option. If the S&P 500 is up 18% halfway through your strategy term and you are nervous about a pullback, you can call Nationwide and lock that gain. The lock applies even if the index falls before term end. For active retirees who want some agency over their crediting, this is a real benefit.

Strategy Options

You can allocate the contract across up to 10 different strategy options at one time, including:

• 1-Year S&P 500 Balanced Allocation (the strategy used in our case study)
• 1-Year S&P 500 Risk Control 10% strategies
• Multi-year terms (typically 2 or 5 years) on the same indices
• Domestic and global volatility-controlled indices
• A declared rate component that pays a fixed interest rate (similar to a MYGA inside the FIA)

Crediting factors (cap rates, participation rates, spreads) reset at each strategy term and are subject to change after the surrender charge period. Always look at the current rate sheet before binding. We track them on the live FIA cap rates page.

Death Benefit and Legacy Options

Two optional enhanced death benefit (EDB) riders are available for buyers focused on legacy rather than income. Only one rider can be elected per contract, so you have to choose either income or EDB, not both.

• High Point Select Enhanced Death Benefit rider: Death benefit equals the greater of the Highest DAV or the Minimum EDB Value (premium growing at 4% annually until 200% of premium or age 80).
• High Point Select Enhanced Death Benefit rider with Purchase Payment Bonus: Same as above, plus an immediate purchase payment bonus credited to both the contract value and the return of purchase payment guarantee.

Without any optional rider, the standard death benefit is simply the greater of the Daily Accumulation Value or the surrender value. That is already a meaningful protection for heirs. The optional EDB riders are worth their cost mostly for buyers with specific legacy goals.

Withdrawals, Surrender, and Liquidity

The 7% free withdrawal during the surrender period is more flexible than many competing FIAs (which often limit free withdrawals to 5% or 10% only after year 5).

Nationwide 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.

Nationwide is a Fortune 100 company with roughly 100 years of operating history. The ratings sit firmly in the upper tier of the U.S. life and annuity industry. Not the absolute top (where you find the A++ rated mutuals like New York Life and MassMutual) but well above the threshold for any reasonable income annuity placement.

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

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Class-leading income numbers for short-deferral buyers thanks to the 30% bonus + 9.5% rollup combo
• Top-tier financial strength from a Fortune 100 carrier (AM Best A+, S&P A+, Moody’s A1)
• Daily accumulation tracking means earnings credited to withdrawals between term ends
• Optional mid-term lock-in gives you agency over crediting decisions
• 7% free withdrawal during surrender period is more generous than most FIAs
• Up to 10 strategy options at one time provides real diversification
• Joint income option covers both spouses’ lives

Cons

• Only one rider can be elected at issue, so you must choose between income, enhanced death benefit, or no rider at all
• 1.10% annual rider fee on the income rider compounds against contract value over the surrender period
• 9-year surrender period is on the longer end for FIAs (some competitors offer 7 or even 5-year chassis)
• Income base 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
• Sold through agents only: no direct-to-consumer purchase

Who Should Buy New Heights Select 9?

This product fits well for:

• Pre-retirees ages 55 to 65 who want guaranteed lifetime income starting in 5 to 12 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 or better)
• Couples who want joint lifetime income coverage for both spouses
• Buyers comfortable holding the contract for the full 9-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: Worth a Quote for Income Buyers

The Nationwide New Heights Select 9 with the High Point 365 Select with Bonus rider produces some of the highest 5-to-10-year deferred income numbers we have seen from any A+ rated carrier in 2026. The $10,540 per year on $100,000 example is not cherry-picked. It is what the actual illustration system spits out for a representative 60-year-old buyer at this writing, using a real backtested crediting strategy and the published payout percentages.

The trade-off is real. You give up some cash value flexibility (the 1.10% rider fee compounds against your contract value) and you commit to a 9-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, but it is a tool for buyers who know they want guaranteed lifetime income and are willing to commit to a long-term contract. If that describes you, it deserves a quote.

To pull a personalized illustration with your age, deposit, deferral period, and state, contact our team. We will run quotes against New Heights Select 9 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 Nationwide stacks up against the competition, or compare against the Nationwide Peak 10 FIA for a sister-product look.

Sources & Citations

• Nationwide: New Heights Select Product Page
• Nationwide New Heights Select Fixed Indexed Annuity Guide (FAM-1149AO.9, 2/26)
• AM Best Company Profile: Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company
• S&P Global Ratings: Insurance Company Ratings