Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus Annuity Review
The Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus is a fixed indexed annuity designed primarily for guaranteed lifetime income. It combines a premium bonus, a contractually guaranteed income-growth mechanism, principal protection, and three different ways to receive lifetime income.
We do recommend the Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus for lifetime income. In the income comparisons we run, Athene is frequently competitive, and this product is often worth including when someone wants guaranteed retirement income either immediately or several years in the future.
The important distinction is that the income benefit uses guaranteed growth for the Income Base. That is the type of income design we prefer for deferred retirement income because you are not relying entirely on future index performance to determine whether your income base grows.
Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus Overview
- Product Type: Fixed Indexed Annuity
- Primary Purpose: Guaranteed Lifetime Income
- Surrender Period: 10 Years
- Minimum Premium: Generally $10,000
- Income Rider: Built-in Athene Ascent Income Rider
- Current Rider Charge: 1.00% of the Income Base
- Income Options: Level, Accelerated, and Earnings-Indexed
- Premium Bonus: Yes, subject to vesting and state availability
- Free Withdrawals: Up to 10% of Accumulated Value beginning in the first contract year under current product provisions
- Market Value Adjustment: Yes, where applicable
- Bailout Feature: Yes
Athene is an excellent annuity company. Athene’s primary insurance subsidiaries are currently rated A+ by AM Best, which comfortably exceeds our A- minimum preference for annuity companies.
Our Professional Opinion
We do recommend the Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus for guaranteed lifetime income. Athene is one of the stronger annuity companies in the market, and Ascent Pro 10 Bonus is frequently competitive when we compare guaranteed income payouts.
If your main objective is creating a contractual paycheck that you cannot outlive, this is a product we would include in the comparison whether you want to start income immediately or several years from now.
One of the biggest reasons we like it is the way the income rider is designed. The Income Base receives guaranteed growth while income is deferred. That gives us much more confidence than a performance-based income rider where your future retirement paycheck depends primarily on what the indexed strategies happen to earn.
That does not automatically mean Athene will be the highest-paying annuity for everybody. Income payouts change constantly. Your age, state, premium amount, whether the income covers one or two lives, and when you want the income to begin all matter.
If Athene is producing one of the strongest guaranteed payouts available when you are ready to buy, we think Ascent Pro 10 Bonus is a solid choice.
Another feature we like is the flexibility in how you take the income. Athene currently offers three payout options: Level Income, Accelerated Income, and Earnings-Indexed Income.
The Level Income option is straightforward. You receive a guaranteed lifetime payment that stays level.
The Accelerated Income option gives you a higher payment during the initial accelerated period and then reduces the payment later. This is more of a lifestyle choice. Someone who expects to spend more during the early years of retirement may prefer receiving more money while they are younger and more active.
The Earnings-Indexed Income option starts with a lower payment but can increase based on a percentage of the interest credited to the annuity’s Accumulated Value.
We like having those choices, but do not automatically assume an increasing or accelerated payout is better. Compare how much money you receive upfront, how the payment changes later, and how long it takes for one option to outperform another on a cumulative basis.
Where we are less enthusiastic is the accumulation side of the product.
A lot of the upside potential is tied to engineered or manufactured indexes rather than putting the emphasis on simple, traditional benchmarks. Athene uses strategies such as the S&P 500 FC and Nasdaq FC, but those should not be confused with simply tracking the traditional S&P 500 or Nasdaq-100.
We are always careful with engineered indexes because historical illustrations may include backtested performance before the index actually existed. We would rather judge the product conservatively than assume an engineered index will reproduce an attractive historical simulation in the future.
Athene also retains the ability to change cap rates and participation rates at renewal, subject to contractual minimums. That means your future accumulation upside can be lower than what was available when you originally purchased the annuity.
For most people buying Ascent Pro 10 Bonus, that is not a deal killer because lifetime income should be the primary objective and accumulation should be secondary.
However, if safe growth is almost as important as the guaranteed income, we would compare Athene against another income annuity offering similar or better lifetime income with a multi-year cap or rate lock. That reduces the chance of having your upside potential lowered midway through the contract.
Bottom line: we like Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus for the job it was designed to do—guaranteed lifetime income. We would not choose it primarily because of its index-growth potential.
What We Like
- Competitive Guaranteed Income: In the comparisons we run, Athene is frequently among the stronger lifetime-income options.
- Guaranteed Income Base Growth: The rider provides contractually guaranteed growth rather than requiring index performance to create the entire future income benefit.
- Level Income: Provides a predictable lifetime payment that does not depend on future interest credits.
- Accelerated Income: Provides more income upfront during the accelerated period for someone who wants to spend more earlier in retirement.
- Earnings-Indexed Income: Provides an opportunity for lifetime payments to increase based on future interest credits.
- Premium Bonus: Gives the contract an immediate increase in Accumulated Value, subject to vesting provisions.
- Strong Insurance Company: Athene comfortably exceeds our A- or better financial-strength preference.
- Principal Protection: Direct stock-market losses do not reduce the Accumulated Value due solely to index performance.
- Bailout Feature: If Athene lowers the applicable 1-year cap below the contractual bailout level, the contract may provide an opportunity to exit without normal charges during the applicable window.
- 10% Free Withdrawals: The current contract provides meaningful annual liquidity beginning in the first contract year.
- Enhanced Income Benefit: Qualifying health conditions can temporarily increase the maximum lifetime withdrawal amount.
What We Don’t Like
- Engineered Index Reliance: Much of the product’s growth opportunity is tied to manufactured or volatility-managed indexes rather than plain-vanilla traditional benchmarks.
- Renewal Rate Risk: Athene can change future caps and participation rates subject to contractual guarantees.
- No Multi-Year Cap Lock: You do not receive the type of guaranteed upside parameter we prefer when accumulation is a major objective.
- 10-Year Surrender Period: This is long-term retirement money and should not be used for funds you may need soon.
- Income Rider Charge: The current rider charge is 1.00% of the Income Base and is deducted from contract values under the rider provisions.
- Bonus Vesting: The premium bonus is not automatically free walkaway money. Excess withdrawals or early surrender can cause some of the bonus to be lost.
- Earnings-Indexed Income Starts Lower: You give up some initial income in exchange for the possibility of increases later.
- Accelerated Income Drops Later: The higher initial payout only lasts through the Accelerated Income Period before dropping to the lower ultimate payout.
How the Guaranteed Income Rider Works
The Athene Ascent Income Rider provides a separate Income Base used to calculate guaranteed lifetime withdrawals.
The Income Base is not the same thing as your Accumulated Value. It is a calculation value used to determine the amount of lifetime income you can receive.
The rider provides guaranteed simple-interest growth to the Income Base while income is deferred, subject to the rider provisions.
That distinction matters because we prefer knowing that the income calculation value has a contractual growth mechanism rather than hoping future index returns create enough value to support the projected income.
Once lifetime withdrawals begin, the payment can continue for life under the rider even if the Accumulated Value eventually reaches zero.
The Three Lifetime Income Options
Level Income
Level Income provides a guaranteed lifetime payment that stays the same.
This is the easiest option to compare against competing lifetime-income annuities. Compare the actual annual dollars Athene guarantees against the actual annual dollars another A- or better-rated company guarantees.
Accelerated Income
Accelerated Income provides a higher payment during an initial defined period and then reduces to a lower lifetime payment afterward.
This can make sense for someone who intentionally wants more spending money during the early years of retirement.
Do not compare only the first-year payment. The higher initial amount is temporary, so you need to understand both the accelerated payment and the ultimate payment that follows.
Earnings-Indexed Income
Earnings-Indexed Income starts with a lower guaranteed withdrawal amount but has the potential to increase based on a percentage of the interest credits applied to the annuity’s Accumulated Value.
We would compare the cumulative break-even point against the Level Income option before selecting this feature.
A payment that can increase is not automatically better than a larger level payment. You first have to recover all of the income you gave up during the early years.
Compare Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus Income
We like this product for income, but that does not mean Athene will be the highest-paying carrier for every person.
Lifetime income payouts change with age, state, premium amount, whether income is single or joint life, and when you want payments to begin.
Contact us and we will create a custom annuity income heat map based on your age, state, premium amount, and desired income start date. We compare A- or better-rated insurance companies so you can see exactly which contracts currently provide the highest guaranteed lifetime income.
Premium Bonus
The Ascent Pro 10 Bonus includes a premium bonus that provides an immediate increase to the annuity’s Accumulated Value.
That can be useful, but do not think of an annuity bonus as free money you can immediately walk away with.
The bonus is subject to contractual vesting provisions. Withdrawals or surrender above the free amount during the surrender period can result in a Premium Bonus Vesting Adjustment and the loss of a portion of the bonus.
Bonus annuities can also have lower cap or participation rates than comparable non-bonus products, so the bonus should be evaluated together with the entire contract.
Index Options and Growth Potential
The Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus offers multiple indexed crediting strategies in addition to a fixed interest strategy.
Our main concern is that a significant amount of the upside potential is concentrated in engineered or manufactured indexes.
Examples include strategies based on the Nasdaq FC Index and S&P 500 FC Index. Despite the familiar names, these are not the same as simply using the traditional Nasdaq-100 or S&P 500.
We also pay attention to the actual launch date of an engineered index. Historical performance shown before an index existed is backtested rather than live performance.
We do not assume that a backtest will repeat itself after you purchase the annuity.
Athene can also change cap rates and participation rates at future contract anniversaries subject to contractual minimums.
If growth is only a secondary objective, that is acceptable to us because the guaranteed income is the reason to own this particular product.
If growth is nearly as important as income, we would compare an income annuity offering similar guaranteed payouts with some form of multi-year rate or cap lock.
Bailout Feature
The contract includes a bailout provision tied to the declared annual cap on the applicable 1-Year Point-to-Point strategy.
If Athene lowers that cap below the contractual Bailout Cap Rate, the contract can provide a limited period during which you can access the Accumulated Value without the normal withdrawal charges.
We like having the bailout provision, but it is not the same thing as having a cap lock. A cap lock prevents the insurer from lowering the locked rate during the guarantee period. The bailout provision gives you a potential exit after the rate has already been lowered beyond a specified threshold.
Enhanced Income Benefit
The current Ascent Pro 10 Bonus includes an Enhanced Income Benefit that can increase the Maximum Lifetime Income Withdrawal when qualifying health conditions are met.
After the applicable waiting period, eligibility can generally include confinement in a qualified care facility or being unable to perform at least two of six Activities of Daily Living for the required period.
The enhanced benefit can continue for up to 60 months while the eligibility requirements remain satisfied and the Accumulated Value remains above zero.
This benefit is not long-term care insurance. Someone concerned about paying for extended care should separately compare long-term care insurance or a hybrid life and long-term care policy.
Liquidity and Withdrawals
The current Ascent Pro 10 Bonus allows free withdrawals of up to 10% of the Accumulated Value beginning in the first contract year, subject to the contract provisions.
Withdrawals above the free amount during the surrender period can be subject to withdrawal charges, a Market Value Adjustment, and a Premium Bonus Vesting Adjustment.
That means an excess withdrawal can potentially reduce more than just the account balance, so this should be considered long-term retirement money.
Death Benefit
If the owner dies before annuitization, beneficiaries generally receive the applicable contract death benefit based on the Accumulated Value or minimum guaranteed contract value under the contract provisions.
This is primarily an income annuity rather than an enhanced-death-benefit product. If maximizing inheritance is the primary objective, we would compare products specifically designed for legacy planning or life insurance.
Who Should Consider the Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus?
- Someone Seeking Guaranteed Lifetime Income: Your primary goal is creating a paycheck you cannot outlive.
- Someone Deferring Income: You want contractual Income Base growth before payments begin.
- Someone Starting Income Immediately: Athene’s current payout is competitive for your age and situation.
- Someone Who Wants Income Choices: You value the ability to select Level, Accelerated, or Earnings-Indexed payments.
- Someone Comfortable With a 10-Year Commitment: You have sufficient liquid assets outside the annuity.
Who Should Probably Buy Something Else?
If you do not need guaranteed lifetime income, we would generally choose an accumulation-focused FIA instead.
If your primary goal is maximizing safe growth and you are concerned about future cap or participation-rate reductions, we would look for a product with a multi-year rate lock or cap lock.
If another A- or better-rated carrier provides materially more guaranteed lifetime income for the same premium, we would choose the higher-paying income annuity.
What We Recommend
We like the Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus for lifetime income.
The guaranteed Income Base growth is exactly the type of feature we want when someone is planning retirement income several years into the future. It reduces the dependence on future index performance and makes the income plan more predictable.
The Level, Accelerated, and Earnings-Indexed options also give the buyer legitimate choices in how they want to spend retirement income.
The weakness is accumulation. We do not love the reliance on engineered indexes or the fact that Athene can change future participation rates and caps.
For most Ascent Pro buyers, that should be secondary because the reason to own this annuity is the guaranteed income.
If Athene’s guaranteed payout is competitive when you are ready to purchase, we think this is a solid income annuity and one that deserves serious consideration.
Compare Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus Before You Buy
We can compare the Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus against other A- or better-rated lifetime-income annuities based on your age, state, premium, single- or joint-life needs, and desired income start date.
Contact The Annuity Expert for a free custom income heat map and no-obligation quotes. We will show you which annuity currently produces the most guaranteed retirement income rather than assuming one carrier is always the best.
Book A Free Consultation
Get help from a licensed financial professional. This service is free of charge.
Let Us Answer Your Questions
Not quite ready for a meeting, but you have a question that needs answering? We’re happy to help. Leave an inquiry below, and one of our staff will respond via email.