Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus Annuity Review (2026)

What is the Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus?

The Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus is a fixed index annuity with a lifetime income rider built in, issued by Athene Annuity and Life Company. It is a single-premium contract with a 10-year surrender period. Your money earns interest from a fixed rate or from index-linked strategies with a 0% floor, so a market drop never reduces your balance through index losses.

What sets it apart is how the income rider is funded. Three separate guarantees stack on top of each other:

1. A 10% premium bonus added to your accumulated value, the money that is actually yours.
2. A 25% bonus added to a separate income base, a number used only to calculate lifetime income.
3. A 10% simple interest roll-up credited to that income base every year for up to 20 years.

None of the three depends on the market. Index credits add to your accumulated value on top of them.

Figures below come from Athene's product guide and consumer materials. Crediting rates and rider terms are effective August 28, 2026; payout percentages come from Athene's rate guide effective March 27, 2026, which its August materials still use. Rates change, and a licensed strategist confirms today's rates for your state.

How strong is Athene?

Athene Annuity and Life Company carries A+ ratings from S&P, Fitch and AM Best (August 2025) and an A1 from Moody's (July 2025), and reported $340.75 billion in statutory admitted assets at the end of 2025. It is a subsidiary of Apollo Global Management. A rating measures the company's ability to pay claims, not whether a contract fits you. More in our Athene company review.

The three guarantees that build your income

A 10% premium bonus, with vesting

On the day the contract is issued, Athene adds 10% of your premium to your accumulated value. A $100,000 premium starts at $110,000.

That bonus vests over time. Until it does, a surrender or a withdrawal above the free amount forfeits part of the bonus and its earnings. The vesting pace depends on your state, and it is slower than many buyers expect. In the roughly two dozen states on Athene's 12% surrender schedule, none of the bonus vests in years 1 through 6, then 20% vests in year 7, rising 20 points a year to 80% in year 10, with full vesting in year 11. In the states on the 8.3% schedule, vesting starts at 0% in year 1 and climbs 10 points a year to 90% in year 10, again reaching 100% in year 11. The full vesting table by state group is in the surrender section below.

Free withdrawals, RMDs and lifetime income within the allowed amount do not trigger the vesting adjustment.

A 25% income base bonus

The income rider opens an income base equal to your premium plus a 25% bonus. A $100,000 premium starts the income base at $125,000.

The income base has no cash or surrender value; it exists only to calculate lifetime income. Athene's April 2026 consumer brochure illustrated this feature with a 20% bonus; its August 28, 2026 product guide lists 25%, and that is the figure used throughout this review.

A 10% simple interest roll-up for up to 20 years

On each contract anniversary, Athene credits 10% simple interest to the income base, calculated on your premium minus any withdrawals. On $100,000 with no withdrawals, that is $10,000 a year, every year, regardless of index performance. The roll-up is guaranteed for years 1 through 20 and stops when you start income or after year 20, whichever comes first.

Here is the guaranteed income base on a $100,000 premium, assuming no withdrawals:

Simple interest means the $10,000 credit never compounds, which is less powerful than a compound roll-up at the same rate.

What the income rider costs

The rider is built in, so you cannot decline it. The charge is 1.00% a year of the income base, deducted monthly from your accumulated value (and from the minimum guaranteed contract value, except in certain states). It applies for the full contract term, including after income starts.

Because the charge follows the income base, the dollar amount grows as the base rolls up: about $1,250 in year 1 on a $125,000 base, and about $2,250 a year once the base reaches $225,000. It comes out of the accumulated value, the money you would receive on surrender and your beneficiaries would inherit, even in years when the index credits nothing.

After the 10th contract year you may cancel the rider if you decide you will never use it for income.

How your income is calculated

Your first-year lifetime income equals the greater of your income base or accumulated value, multiplied by a lifetime income withdrawal percentage. That percentage depends on three things: your age when the contract was issued, how many full contract years pass before you start income, and which income option you pick. The earliest age to start lifetime income is 50.

When you turn income on, you make two choices that cannot be changed later.

Single or joint life. Single-life payments last for your lifetime. Joint-life payments continue over the lifetimes of you and your spouse, at a lower percentage based on the younger spouse's age. Payments can be monthly, quarterly or yearly.

The income option:

• Level Income pays the same amount every year for life, and keeps paying that amount even if your accumulated value runs out.
• Earnings-Indexed Income starts lower than Level Income, but your payment can rise each year based on a percentage of any interest credits applied to your accumulated value. If the accumulated value runs out, the payment still increases 1% a year for life.
• Accelerated Income pays a higher percentage for a 10-year accelerated period, then drops to a lower ultimate percentage for the rest of your life. Athene cautions that total lifetime payments may end up lower than under the other two options.

Payout percentages by age

These single-life percentages come from Athene's Income Payout Rate Guide, effective March 27, 2026. Rows are issue age; columns are completed contract years before income starts. The full guide lists every issue age from 50 to 80 and every year from 0 to 10, plus years 15 and 20. N/A means income would start before age 50 or the combination is not offered.

Level Income, single life

Earnings-Indexed Income, single life (starting percentage)

Accelerated Income, single life (first 10 years / after)

Joint life. For Level and Earnings-Indexed income, subtract 0.50 percentage points from the single-life rate. For Accelerated income, subtract 0.80 points from the first-10-years rate and 0.50 points from the rate after. Joint rates use the younger spouse's age.

Worked example: guaranteed income by start age

Here is the guaranteed math for a hypothetical 60-year-old who puts in $100,000, takes no withdrawals and chooses single-life Level Income. It assumes zero index growth, so the income base drives the result. Actual results can only be higher if the accumulated value ever exceeds the income base.

Waiting pays twice, since the base grows and the percentage rises; income starting at 80 is about 1.8 times the age-70 figure. The cost is years without income while the rider charge keeps coming out.

Earnings-Indexed Income at 70 would start at $225,000 times 6.25%, or $14,062.50, trading about $2,800 a year for the chance of future raises.

Worked example: Accelerated Income versus Level

Athene's own case study uses a buyer who is 65 at issue and starts income at 67, after two contract years. With a $100,000 premium, the income base is $125,000 plus two $10,000 roll-up credits, or $145,000.

Accelerated Income pays $1,595 more each year for the first decade, $15,950 in total. After that it pays $2,610 a year less. Simple division ($15,950 divided by $2,610) shows the Level option pulls ahead in total dollars during the 17th year of income, around age 83. Accelerated Income can make sense if you expect to spend more in your active years or want to bridge income while delaying Social Security. If longevity runs in your family, Level Income usually pays more over a long life.

Worked example: income for a couple

Athene also illustrates a hypothetical couple, both 62, who want $25,000 a year of joint lifetime income starting at 67. Using the joint Level rate (6.45% minus 0.50, or 5.95%) and an income base of 175% of premium after five years, the premium required is $25,000 divided by 1.75 and by 5.95%, which comes to $240,096. Athene compares that with a portfolio that would need to grow to $625,000 to support a 4% withdrawal of $25,000; reaching that from today requires $417,574 invested at an assumed 8.4% annual return, a return that is not guaranteed. The annuity figure is guaranteed by the contract terms, subject to Athene's claims-paying ability.

A second Athene illustration moves half of a hypothetical $200,000 portfolio into this annuity at 65, with income at 68. The annuity half alone pays $155,000 times 6.35%, or $9,842.50 a year for life. Athene shows about 50% more total income than a 4% withdrawal from the whole portfolio, roughly two-thirds of it guaranteed, though the portfolio side assumes a 7% return nobody can promise.

The Enhanced Income Benefit for care needs

Once you are taking lifetime income and the contract is at least a year old, your payment increases if the covered person is confined to a qualified care facility or cannot perform at least 2 of 6 activities of daily living (bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting and transferring) for 90 of the last 125 days. A licensed physician has to certify eligibility.

• Single-life income is multiplied by 2.
• Joint-life income is multiplied by 1.5.
• The increase lasts up to 60 months, and ends sooner if the accumulated value reaches zero. After that, income returns to the normal amount for life.
• With Accelerated Income, the multiplier applies to the lower ultimate amount, even during the first 10 years.
• It is not available in all states, and the care-facility trigger does not apply in California.

In the age-70 example, $16,875 of single-life income would become $33,750 a year during a qualifying stretch. This is not long-term care insurance, and Athene says so.

Index crediting strategies and rates

You can split your money across a fixed strategy and index strategies and reallocate at the end of each crediting period. Index credits lock in and never go below 0%. Rates below are effective August 28, 2026, guaranteed for the initial term, then subject to change.

Two more choices round out the menu:

• S&P 500, 1-year point-to-point with a cap: 5.50% cap rate, with a 1.00% bailout cap.
• 1-year fixed strategy: 2.85%, declared each year.

Participation rates over 100% need context. All six uncapped indexes are excess return indexes with volatility control: returns are measured above a cash-like reference rate and swings are dampened by design. Some deduct servicing costs inside the index (0.85% a year for AIGO, 0.50% for AIPEX and for the BNP Paribas index), and the Nasdaq FC Index caps how much it can rise in a single month. So 190% of a muted index is not directly comparable to a cap on the plain S&P 500. See our guides to proprietary indices and participation rates.

The bailout feature. If Athene ever sets the capped S&P 500 strategy's annual cap below the 1.00% bailout rate, you can take your full accumulated value with no surrender charge, vesting adjustment or MVA for up to 30 days after that contract anniversary.

Surrender charges, bonus vesting and the MVA

The surrender schedule depends on your state, and Florida uses different schedules by age.

The 12% states are AL, AR, AZ, CO, FL (ages 35 to 64), GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, ME, MI, MS, ND, NE, NM, SD, TN, VA, WI, WV and WY. The 8.3% states are AK, CT, DC, DE, HI, ID, LA, MA, MN, MO, MT, NC, NH, NJ, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, UT, VT and WA. Athene's product guide lists Virginia under both headings, so confirm which schedule applies there.

The premium bonus vests on a matching schedule:

Market value adjustment. During the 10-year surrender period, a market value adjustment applies to the part of any withdrawal or surrender above the free amount. According to Athene's consumer brochure, if interest rates have risen, stayed the same or fallen by less than 0.25% since you bought, the MVA is negative and takes more money out. If rates have fallen by more than 0.25%, it is positive. There is no MVA in California. Our surrender charges guide explains how these costs combine.

On surrender, Athene pays the greater of your accumulated value after these charges or the minimum guaranteed contract value, a floor based on a minimum interest rate on part of your premium.

Free withdrawals, RMDs and waivers

Starting in the first contract year, you can take up to 10% of your accumulated value each year with no surrender charge, vesting adjustment or MVA. Lifetime income payments count toward that 10%, not on top of it. Two cautions: withdrawals do not earn index interest for the period they are taken, and before income starts, any withdrawal reduces your income base by the same percentage it reduces your accumulated value. Taking 10% out cuts the income base by 10%.

Required minimum distributions from an IRA-funded contract count as part of the free amount and do not trigger charges or count as excess withdrawals, even if they exceed the usual limit. They do reduce the income base and accumulated value proportionally. Withdrawals may be taxable, and a 10% IRS penalty can apply before age 59 and a half.

Two waivers open full access after the first contract year, with no surrender charge, vesting adjustment or MVA:

• Confinement waiver: the annuitant is confined to a qualified care facility for at least 60 days in a row, with confinement starting after year 1.
• Terminal illness waiver: the annuitant is diagnosed, after the first contract year, with an illness expected to cause death within a year.

Using either waiver counts as an excess withdrawal and ends the income rider. Neither waiver is available in California.

Death benefit and spousal continuation

If you die before annuitizing, your beneficiary receives the greater of the accumulated value or the minimum guaranteed contract value. The income base is not paid out as a death benefit.

A spouse who is the sole primary beneficiary can continue the contract as the new owner and annuitant. If the rider was still in its growth phase, it keeps growing. If income had already started, the rider continues only if you chose joint-life payments; single-life income ends at death. A non-spouse beneficiary receives the remaining accumulated value and the rider ends.

Who the Ascent Pro 10 Bonus fits

This contract suits someone who:

• Wants a guaranteed lifetime income number to plan around and intends to use the rider.
• Can leave the premium alone for 10 years beyond the 10% yearly free withdrawal.
• Can wait several years before starting income (no earlier than 50), so both the base and the payout rate grow.
• Wants some cushion for a late-life care event.

Who should skip it

It is a weaker fit if you:

• Might need a large share of the money within 10 years. In many states, early surrender costs up to 12% plus unvested bonus.
• Want accumulation, not income. You would be paying a 1% charge on a growing base for a benefit you never use, and a no-rider growth contract such as the Athene Performance Elite 10 may suit you better.
• Live in New York.
• Need long-term care coverage. The care benefit is limited to 60 months and only multiplies your income payment.

Other annuities to consider

• Athene Performance Elite 10 review: a 10-year Athene contract built for growth rather than income.
• Allianz 222 review: a different design for an income bonus, where roll-up credits depend on index performance.
• Income rider calculator: run your own roll-up and payout scenarios.

How to buy an Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus

1. Confirm the surrender and vesting schedule for your state.
2. Sketch your income plan: how long you will wait, single or joint, and which option.
3. Review the rider charge and your free look period with a licensed strategist.
4. Fund it by check, transfer or 1035 exchange.

Tax Free Wealth Plan is a licensed independent insurance agency appointed with 25 companies. We can compare this contract with other top-rated income annuities. Request an Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus quote.