Securian Eclipse Accumulator II IUL Review (2026)

How Eclipse Accumulator II IUL works

Eclipse Accumulator II IUL is indexed universal life insurance on one person. It pays a death benefit when the insured dies. While the insured is alive, part of each premium builds a cash value that can earn interest tied to stock indexes. Securian launched it on February 13, 2025 as an enhanced version of its earlier Eclipse Accumulator IUL, and describes it as its flagship IUL. It is issued by Minnesota Life Insurance Company, which AM Best rates A+ (Superior). For the company's full record, see our Securian company review.

Securian's own brochure says the policy is designed first and foremost to provide life insurance protection, with cash accumulation as a secondary benefit. That is the right way to think about it.

Here is the money flow in plain terms:

1. You pay a premium. Securian deducts a premium charge off the top.
2. The rest goes into your cash value. You split it among a fixed account and up to five indexed accounts.
3. Every month, Securian deducts administrative and insurance charges from the cash value, including the cost of insurance.
4. Each deposit into an indexed account starts a one-year segment. At the end of the segment, it earns a credit based on how its index moved, within its cap, participation rate or trigger rate. The credit is never below 0%.
5. Later, you can borrow against or partially surrender the cash value, often to supplement retirement income.

The key point: the 0% floor protects the index credit, not your cash value. In a year the index falls, the credit is 0%, but the monthly charges still come out. The cash value can shrink. Securian's own disclosure says it plainly: policyholders could lose money in these products.

This is life insurance, not an investment account. If you are weighing it against one, read is IUL a good investment first.

Index accounts and current rates

Eclipse Accumulator II IUL offers five indexed accounts, each with a one-year segment and a 0% floor. Current caps, participation rates and trigger rates are available on request. Securian's brochure says they may change over time, and its public materials do not list them. Ask for the rates in effect on the date of your illustration and for the guaranteed minimum on each one.

None of these indexes include dividends. The S&P 500 Low Volatility index holds the 100 least volatile stocks in the S&P 500. The S&P PRISM index spreads across stocks, bonds, commodities and cash and rebalances daily. Calmer indexes cost less to hedge, which is why those two accounts can run without a cap. Securian notes that their participation rates can be below 100%, so the credit could be less than the index's gain. See volatility-controlled indexes.

The two new accounts

• Hindsight. At the end of the year, Securian ranks the S&P 500, the Nasdaq-100 and the Russell 2000 by performance. The best one counts for 60% of the result, the second best for 40%, and the worst for nothing. The blended result is then subject to a cap and the 0% floor.
• Performance Trigger. If the S&P 500 is up at all over the year, even slightly, the account earns the full trigger rate. If it is flat or down, the account earns 0%. The trigger rate can change for new segments but cannot fall below 2.00%.

What the terms mean

• Cap: the most the account can credit in a segment.
• Participation rate: the share of the index gain that counts. At 150%, a 4% gain counts as 6%.
• Trigger rate: a fixed credit paid whenever the index finishes the year above where it started.

Hypothetical crediting examples

These examples are hypothetical. The rates below are made up to show the math. They are not Securian's current rates and not a forecast. For simplicity, each row assumes the index in each account moved by the same amount, and the Hindsight column assumes the other two indexes rose 2 points less and 5 points less.

For the Hindsight column in the second row, the indexes rose 6%, 4% and 1%, so the blend is 60% of 6% plus 40% of 4%, or 5.2%, and the worst index does not count. In the first row the indexes moved 1%, minus 1% and minus 4%, so the blend is 0.6% minus 0.4%, or 0.2%. The pattern: the trigger account wins in small up years, the uncapped account needs a big year, and the capped accounts do best in the middle. No single account wins every year, which is why many owners split their money. Our guide to IUL index crediting methods goes deeper.

The fixed account and the lifetime guarantee

The fixed account earns interest daily at a declared rate, with a 2% guaranteed minimum. Securian's consumer brochure does not state the current rate; it appears on your illustration.

The policy also carries a lifetime interest crediting guarantee. When the policy ends through death, surrender or termination, your cash value is credited with at least the equivalent of a 2% annual interest rate, whether you used the fixed account or the indexed accounts. This is a floor on the interest credited over the life of the policy, not on your cash value. Charges still come out, and a policy with heavy charges or loans can still lapse.

Account value bonus

Securian's launch release lists an account value bonus starting in policy year 11. Its consumer materials do not state the amount. A bonus is priced into the product, and illustrations are limited in how much credit they can give it. See IUL bonuses and multipliers.

Charges

Securian names the policy's charges in its disclosures but does not publish their amounts in consumer materials. It groups them into mortality charges and expense charges, and says they may increase over time, up to the guaranteed maximums in your policy. Ask for each amount, current and guaranteed maximum, on a signed illustration before you apply.

Securian built this product around low charges, but "low" only means something next to a number. Compare the total charges in the illustration, not just the caps. See IUL fees and charges.

Two optional agreements change the early years:

• Early Values Agreement. Removes surrender charges in exchange for a separate monthly charge during the surrender period.
• Surrender Value Enhancement Agreement. Guarantees a cash surrender value of at least 100% of your total premiums paid, during a period of 3 or 5 years depending on state approvals.

Loans and partial surrenders

Securian's July 2025 consumer brochure lists four loan types:

From year 11, a fixed rate loan costs 4% and earns 4%, so its net cost is zero at those rates. In years 1 to 10 the gap is 1%. Taking a fixed rate loan starts a 12-month period in which you cannot move money from the fixed account into the indexed accounts.

An indexed loan is a bet. You pay 5% and hope the index credits more. In a year the S&P 500 is flat or down, you pay 5% and earn little or nothing on that money, and a few flat years during retirement can grow a loan faster than expected. The short-term loan is useful for a bridge, but if you miss the 90-day window, interest applies back to the day you borrowed. Confirm the loan rates in your own policy, since the variable rate moves and terms can vary by state. See IUL policy loans and loans vs withdrawals.

Partial surrenders are allowed after the first policy year. They reduce the surrender value and the death benefit, and a transaction charge applies.

Taxes. Partial surrenders up to your cost basis (premiums paid, less earlier tax-free distributions) are not taxed while the policy stays in force and is not a modified endowment contract (MEC). Securian warns that withdrawals may be taxable within the first 15 policy years. Under federal tax rules (IRC 7702(f)(7)), cash paid out in those years along with a cut in benefits can be taxed as gain. A policy that takes too much premium too fast becomes a MEC, and then loans and withdrawals are taxed as gain first, with a 10% extra tax before age 59 and a half. The biggest risk is a lapse: if the policy ends with a loan outstanding, the gain above your premiums can become taxable that year. See IUL taxes.

Riders and built-in benefits

Securian calls its riders agreements. Its brochure lists these for Eclipse Accumulator II IUL. Some carry a charge, and availability varies by state.

• Accelerated Death Benefit for Terminal Illness. Take part of the death benefit early after a terminal diagnosis. No charge for the agreement.
• Chronic Illness Access Agreement. No added cost up front, but the benefit you receive is less than the death benefit you accelerate.
• Accelerated Death Benefit for Chronic Illness Agreement. Monthly benefits, usable for any purpose, once the insured is certified chronically ill. Securian says its chronic illness agreements are not long-term care insurance, may not cover all costs, may affect Medicaid eligibility, and have uncertain tax treatment. See IUL chronic illness riders.
• Long-Term Care Agreement. Lets you use the policy for long-term care benefits, the death benefit, or both. Not available in every state.
• Overloan Protection Agreement. Keeps an outstanding loan from ending the policy even if the cash value cannot cover the charges. Securian says its tax treatment is uncertain, so ask a tax professional before you rely on it.
• Income Protection Flex Agreement. Pays part or all of the death benefit to beneficiaries as installments over 10 to 30 years, at no added cost. The part of the payments above the original death benefit is taxable as interest.
• Waiver of Premium. Pays a monthly premium if the insured becomes totally and permanently disabled before age 65.
• Guaranteed Insurability Option, Inflation Agreement and Term Insurance Agreement. Ways to add coverage later without new underwriting, or to add term coverage of up to four times the base amount.
• Premium Deposit Account. Lets you prefund a series of premiums with one deposit that earns interest. That interest is taxable.
• Exchange of Insureds. For corporate-owned policies only.

How the illustration is built

You will decide on this policy by reading an illustration, a year-by-year projection of premiums, cash values and death benefits. The guaranteed column assumes maximum charges and minimum crediting. The non-guaranteed column assumes today's charges and an illustrated interest rate held level for decades.

The NAIC's AG 49-A limits how high that illustrated rate can be and how much credit bonuses and loan arbitrage can get in the projection. At launch in February 2025, Securian said the maximum illustrated rate on this policy was as high as 6.59%. Ask for the rate used on each account in your illustration. Our own rule for hypotheticals is to stay at or below the AG 49-A limit and never above 6.5%. We also suggest asking for a second illustration 1 to 2 points lower, because real crediting varies year to year and the order of good and bad years matters once loans begin.

Projections built on indexed loans usually look better than those built on fixed rate loans. Ask to see both. Our guide on how to read an IUL illustration walks through each column.

Who Eclipse Accumulator II IUL fits

• You need permanent life insurance and have used cheaper tax-advantaged options first, such as a 401(k) match and an IRA. See IUL vs 401(k).
• You can fund the policy at or near the tax limit for many years. That is what max-funded IUL means.
• You like the idea of a trigger account for small up years and a best-of blend alongside a plain S&P 500 cap.
• You value a carrier with top-tier ratings from all four major agencies.
• You live in a state where it is approved, which excludes New York.

Who should look elsewhere

• You may need the money in the early years. Surrender charges apply early on unless you pay for the Early Values Agreement, and early cash values sit below premiums paid.
• You mainly want a death benefit at the lowest cost. Term insurance, guaranteed universal life, or Securian's own Eclipse Protector II IUL is built for that.
• You cannot commit to steady premiums. Underfunded accumulation IULs are the ones that lapse. See IUL lapse risk.
• You want your cap locked. No IUL does that. Caps, participation rates and trigger rates can fall for future segments, down to the contract minimums.
• You live in New York. This policy is not sold there.

To see how this policy stacks up against other accumulation designs, compare it in our IUL comparison tool or see the best IUL for cash accumulation.