What Should I Do With My Endurance Plus Annuity?
The Allianz Endurance Plus is an older fixed indexed annuity that is no longer sold to new buyers. If you already own one, the most important question is not whether Endurance Plus was a good annuity when you bought it. The question is whether the income and benefits you have today are still competitive with what a newer annuity can guarantee.
That comparison matters more now because newer income annuities are being priced in a higher-interest-rate environment than many of the years when Endurance Plus was originally sold. In some cases, an older contract can still be excellent. In other cases, a newer annuity can generate materially more guaranteed income using only the amount you can actually transfer.
Our Professional Opinion
If you own an Allianz Endurance Plus, the first thing we would do is compare its guaranteed lifetime income against what a new annuity can guarantee today using your current cash surrender value.
This is where owners can make a mistake in either direction. Some people see an old contract and assume newer must be better. Others see a large Enhanced Withdrawal Benefit value and assume they should never move it. Neither conclusion is safe without doing the actual income comparison.
Endurance Plus includes an Enhanced Withdrawal Benefit, or EWB. The original contract added a 20% bonus to the EWB value on premiums received during the first three contract years and enhanced positive interest credited to the EWB by a factor of 105%. The EWB was built into the product without a separate rider charge.
Those features sound attractive, but the EWB value is not the same thing as cash surrender value. It is a benefit value designed primarily to support scheduled withdrawals, lifetime withdrawals, and certain death-benefit payout options after the applicable waiting period.
The bigger weakness is that the EWB growth was tied to the underlying contract’s credited interest rather than a simple guaranteed annual income-base roll-up. We generally prefer a modern guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit where the income base grows contractually by a known amount each year until income begins.
Endurance Plus also required a long wait before the EWB income choices became available. By the time many current owners reach the point where they are actually deciding whether to turn on income, the market may look completely different than it did when the contract was purchased.
That is why the old 20% EWB bonus should not drive the decision today. What matters now is the annual guaranteed income the existing contract will pay versus the annual guaranteed income a new contract will pay using the transferable value.
For example, if your Endurance Plus has a $300,000 EWB value but only $220,000 of cash surrender value, you cannot compare a new annuity funded with $300,000. The correct comparison is the income your existing EWB guarantees versus the income a new annuity can guarantee on the $220,000 that can actually be transferred.
You also need to compare the same income start date, the same single- or joint-life structure, and the same goal. If the Endurance Plus pays more, keep it for income. If a newer A- or better-rated annuity pays materially more, then a 1035 exchange may deserve serious consideration.
Because this is an older contract, we would also review the death benefit before replacing it. Depending on the contract version and payout method, the EWB can create additional value for beneficiaries that may disappear permanently after an exchange.
What We Like
- Built-In Income Benefit: The Enhanced Withdrawal Benefit was built into the product without a separate rider fee.
- 20% EWB Bonus: Premium paid during the first three contract years received a 20% bonus for purposes of the EWB calculation.
- Enhanced EWB Interest: Positive interest credited to the accumulation value was enhanced by a 105% factor when applied to the EWB.
- Lifetime Income Option: The EWB can provide lifetime withdrawals once the contract requirements are satisfied.
- Traditional Index Choices: Original allocations included the S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, FTSE 100, a blended index, and fixed interest.
- Principal Protection: Negative index performance does not directly reduce the accumulation value.
- Potential Legacy Value: The EWB may provide an enhanced benefit to beneficiaries when distributed according to the contract’s applicable payout rules.
What We Don’t Like
- Long Wait for EWB Income: The EWB income options were designed around a 10-year waiting period.
- Performance-Based EWB Growth: The EWB depends partly on actual credited interest rather than a clean guaranteed annual roll-up.
- EWB Is Not Cash: A large EWB value can make the contract look richer than the amount that can actually be transferred.
- Old Renewal Terms: Current caps, spreads, or fixed rates may no longer be competitive with today’s accumulation annuities.
- Legacy Contract Complexity: Different contract values can make it easy to compare the old annuity incorrectly with a new one.
- Better Income May Be Available Today: Current annuity pricing can produce significantly stronger guaranteed income than some older contracts.
Product Details
| Product | Allianz Endurance Plus |
| Product Type | Fixed Indexed Annuity |
| Status | Discontinued / no longer sold to new buyers |
| Primary Purpose | Protected accumulation plus future income through the Enhanced Withdrawal Benefit |
| Original Surrender Period | 10 Years |
| Original Minimum Premium | $10,000 |
| Original Issue Ages | Generally 0-80 |
| Flexible Premium | Premium could generally be added during the first three contract years |
| EWB Bonus | 20% on eligible premiums received during the first three contract years |
| EWB Interest Enhancement | 105% factor applied to qualifying credited interest |
| EWB Rider Charge | Built into the product with no separate rider fee |
| Income Availability | EWB scheduled or lifetime withdrawal options after the applicable 10-year waiting period |
| Free Withdrawals | Generally up to 10% of paid premium after the first contract year, subject to EWB and contract rules |
| Original Index Choices | S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, FTSE 100, blended index, and fixed interest |
Allianz is an excellent annuity company. Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America currently carries an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best with a stable outlook. That is well above our A- minimum for an annuity company. Our concerns with Endurance Plus are therefore not about Allianz’s financial strength; they are about whether an older product’s current income, renewal rates, and benefit structure are still competitive with newer annuities.
Product provisions can vary by state and contract vintage. Existing owners should use their actual contract and current in-force statement when making a keep-or-replace decision.
How the Enhanced Withdrawal Benefit Works
The Endurance Plus tracks both an accumulation value and an Enhanced Withdrawal Benefit value. The accumulation value is the actual account value used for cash surrender and other contract calculations. The EWB is a separate benefit value designed to support specific income and death-benefit options.
Premiums received during the first three years received a 20% EWB bonus. When the annuity earned positive indexed or fixed interest, qualifying interest was enhanced by 105% when credited to the EWB value.
A 105% enhancement does not mean the annuity earned 105% interest. If the underlying contract earned 4%, for example, the EWB credit would be based on 105% of that credited interest, subject to the contract provisions.
If the accumulation value earned 0% in a contract year, the EWB did not receive a magical guaranteed roll-up simply because the benefit existed. That is the distinction we care about when comparing Endurance Plus with modern guaranteed roll-up income riders.
The Most Important Comparison: Old Income vs. New Income
For most Endurance Plus owners, this is the most important section of the review.
Request the exact lifetime income available from your existing contract today. Then request the cash surrender value—the amount that can actually move to another annuity.
We then compare that transferable amount against today’s guaranteed-lifetime-income annuities from A- or better-rated companies.
Because current annuities are being priced in a relatively high-interest-rate environment, a newer product can sometimes produce a much larger guaranteed payout than an older income benefit. Other times, the old EWB is still excellent and should be kept.
The answer is in the guaranteed annual dollars, not the size of the benefit base.
Contact us and we can build a custom annuity income heat map using your Endurance Plus cash surrender value, your age, state, desired income start date, and whether the income needs to cover one or two lives.
What Values Should You Request From Allianz?
- Accumulation Value: The current account value before any applicable surrender adjustment.
- Cash Surrender Value: The amount that could actually be transferred or withdrawn today.
- EWB Value: The current Enhanced Withdrawal Benefit value.
- Lifetime Withdrawal Quote: The exact annual income available today.
- Future Income Quotes: What the contract would pay if income starts one, three, or five years later.
- Death Benefit: Both the lump-sum benefit and any enhanced payout option tied to the EWB.
- Current Renewal Rates: Current caps, spreads, and fixed interest rates.
- Tax Basis: Especially important for nonqualified contracts.
Should You Keep the Allianz Endurance Plus?
Keeping the contract can make sense when the existing EWB produces more guaranteed income than a new annuity can provide using the transferable value.
It can also make sense when the death benefit is unusually valuable, when the existing contract is fully liquid and still has competitive renewal terms, or when moving the money would restart a surrender schedule without materially improving anything.
When a 1035 Exchange May Make Sense
A replacement becomes more attractive when the contract is out of surrender, the EWB income is not competitive, and a new annuity materially improves guaranteed income, liquidity, or growth.
A properly structured 1035 exchange can transfer a nonqualified annuity directly to another annuity without recognizing the gain at the time of the exchange.
If your goal is safe accumulation rather than income, compare the current Endurance Plus renewal rates with today’s best fixed indexed annuity choices for accumulation. If renewal-rate certainty is important, review annuities designed to reduce the risk of future cap and renewal-rate drops.
Death Benefit Considerations
Endurance Plus can provide more than a basic accumulation-value death benefit under certain contract provisions. The EWB may be available to beneficiaries when distributed over the required payout period rather than as an immediate lump sum.
Do not exchange the contract until you know whether that enhanced legacy value matters to your family. If leaving money to beneficiaries is one of your primary goals, compare the old contract with today’s best annuities for enhanced death benefits.
What We Recommend
For an existing Allianz Endurance Plus owner, we recommend comparing the old guaranteed income against today’s guaranteed income before making any decision.
If the Endurance Plus still pays more, keep it for the job it does well. If a newer A- or better-rated annuity can generate materially more guaranteed income from the cash surrender value, then an exchange may improve the retirement plan.
The comparison is free and there is no obligation. Contact The Annuity Expert and we can review the Endurance Plus statement, calculate what you would be giving up, and show you what the same transferable money can guarantee today.
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