As you learn more about Nationwide New Heights® Select 12, keep in mind why it’s so important for you to take control of your preparation for retirement.

chair icon

Longer life expectancies

We’re living longer. Chances are good that we’ll also spend more time in retirement, so it’s important to think about how to fund those extra years.

couple icon

A shift in responsibility

Pensions used to be a reliable source of retirement income, but the burden of funding retirement has overwhelmingly shifted to individuals.

stocks icon

Common concerns

Many people worry about the stock market and general financial stability, so they have been keeping their money in cash accounts.

Nationwide New Heights Select 12 can help you with all of this. It’s a single-purchase-payment, deferred fixed indexed annuity designed to provide growth potential for your retirement savings while also helping to protect it against market losses.

Key features of Nationwide New Heights Select 12

Enhanced growth potential

We track your potential strategy earnings daily and offer the opportunity for higher long-term accumulation based on our index lineup and unique crediting methodology.2

Protection from market risk

We guarantee that you will never lose any of your initial investment or credited earnings due to performance of the underlying index or indexes.

Protection for a spouse

The death benefit can be paid to either surviving spouse, no matter who passes away first or who owns the contract.

Deferral of taxes

Your annuity value may grow tax-deferred and allow you to delay paying taxes until you begin taking withdrawals.

Keep in mind, if you withdraw assets within the first twelve years of your contract, your principal may be reduced by surrender charges or a Market Value Adjustment (MVA), if applicable.1

Optional riders to customize your contract

New Heights Select includes optional riders that help you tailor your contract so it will focus more on what’s important to you.

Guarantee a lifetime income stream for yourself and your spouse

  • Nationwide High Point 365® Select Lifetime Income Rider
  • Nationwide High Point 365® Select Lifetime Income Rider with Bonus

Enhance the legacy you can leave for your heirs

  • Nationwide High Point® Select Enhanced Death Benefit Rider
  • Nationwide High Point® Select Enhanced Death Benefit Rider with Purchase Payment Bonus

Find out more and see how these riders may help you

Note that these riders are available for an additional cost, they must be elected at the time of issue, and only one rider may be elected per contract.

Nationwide New Heights Select 12 FAQ

Expand all
There are no annual contract or administration fees.
For the annuitant, the maximum age is 75; the owner may be any age. Maximum issue age in Florida is 64 and applies to both annuitant and owner.
$25,000 single purchase payment — for qualified and nonqualified contracts.
  • Nonqualified
  • IRA
  • Roth IRA
  • SEP IRA
  • SIMPLE IRA
  • Charitable remainder trust
  • 401(a)
A 12-year Surrender Charge is applied to contract value: 10%, 10%, 10%, 10%, 10%, 9.5%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 0% 1

If you’re the sole owner and annuitant, when you pass away, a death benefit will be paid to the beneficiaries named in your contract. The death benefit will be equal to the greater of the Daily Accumulation Value (DAV) or the surrender value.

A Joint Option is also available if the contract owner names a spouse as a co-annuitant. This allows the death benefit to be paid to either surviving spouse, no matter who passes away first or who owns the contract. The surviving spouse also has the option to continue the annuity contract at the death benefit value. Any remaining surrender charge or MVA would no longer apply to the contract.

New Heights Select offers seven indexes

Nationwide New Heights Select 12 offers growth potential based on the performance of underlying indexes.3 Choose one of the options below, or allocate among them and further diversify your contract.

J.P. Morgan Mozaic IISM Index

Watch this short video to see how the J.P. Morgan Mozaic II Index offers an opportunity to pursue steady growth potential in a variety of markets.

NYSE® Zebra Edge® II Index

Watch this short video see how the NYSE® Zebra Edge® II Index employs a methodology founded in behavioral finance to offer an opportunity for more consistent returns.

SG Macro Compass Index

Watch this short video to see how the SG Macro Compass Index may help provide steady growth in a variety of markets.

Goldman Sachs New Horizons Index

This index introduces the next frontier in terms of asset allocation—­ a Global Core Strategy and an Alternative Strategy—designed to potentially increase returns while improving diversification.

Read the Goldman Sachs New Horizons Index guide

J.P. Morgan Mozaic II Index

This index is based on the tendency for asset classes exhibiting positive returns to be more likely to continue delivering performance. Each month, it evaluates fifteen global asset classes, selects the nine with the greatest returns in the past six months and strategically allocates among them to smooth volatility within the index and create more consistent returns.4

Read the J.P. Morgan Mozaic II Index guide

Loomis Sayles Discovery Index

This index aims to drive positive returns in both growth and fragile markets through a predictive methodology that has demonstrated success in anticipating the health of equity markets by measuring the level of correlation among equities.

Read the Loomis Sayles Discovery Index guide

Nasdaq-100 Volatility Control 10% Price Return Index

This index captures equity performance from some of the largest non-financial companies in the U.S. while targeting a 10% level of volatility.

Read the Nasdaq-100 Volatility Control 10% Price Return Index guide

NYSE® Zebra Edge® II Index

This rules-based index applies the behavioral finance research of Roger Ibbotson and the team at Zebra Capital to select the most rational stocks from the 500 largest U.S. publicly traded companies. Then it allocates between the selected stocks, U.S. Treasuries and a cash account to help reduce risk and provide consistent long-term returns.5

Read the NYSE® Zebra Edge® II Index guide


SG Macro Compass Index

A global, multi-asset index that uses expected changes in economic growth and inflation to forecast the potential economic environment and makes strategic allocations based on the forecast. The SG Macro Compass Index reallocates quarterly and adjusts its bond allocation monthly. It seeks to provide consistent growth and diversification in changing markets.

Read the SG Macro Compass Index Guide

S&P 500® Index

Widely recognized as the leading indicator of the performance of the American economy and one of the most commonly followed equity indexes, the S&P 500 has nearly 60 years of history and consists of 500 large-cap, publicly traded companies.

Read the S&P 500® Index guide

smartphone icon
Ready to get started?
Call 1-877-245-0761 (sales); 1-800-848-6331 (service)

New Heights 12 is not available in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Guam, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, the U.S. Virgin Islands or Washington.

[1] If you withdraw assets within the first 12 years of your contract, your principal may be reduced by surrender charges. The surrender charge schedule may vary by state. The Market Value Adjustment is not applicable in all states. Please refer to the MVA endorsement in your contract for details.

[2] Note: While the crediting factors will not change during a strategy term, crediting factors for each subsequent strategy term may vary.

[3] Some indexes do not include dividends paid on the underlying stocks and therefore do not reflect the total return of the underlying stocks; an index or any market-indexed annuity is not comparable to a direct investment in the financial markets. Clients who purchase indexed annuities are not directly investing in a stock market index. An index cannot be invested in directly and is unmanaged. New Heights Select performance will not match the performance of the index. Past index performance is not a representation of future performance.

[4] The strategy may not be successful, and the index may be subject to increased volatility due to its use of leverage.

[5] NYSE® Zebra Edge® Index relies on a risk control methodology and could under-perform indexes that do not have a risk control overlay.

[6] International investing involves risk, such as currency exchange rate fluctuations, differences in economic stability, the possibility for disaster in other geographies, political factors and differences in accounting standards.

Read this important information.

Guarantees and protections are subject to the claims-paying ability of Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company.

Nationwide New Heights is issued by Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company, Columbus, Ohio.

The “S&P 500” is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“SPDJI”), and has been licensed for use by Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company (“Nationwide”). Standard & Poor’s®, S&P® and S&P 500® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”); DJIA®, The Dow®, Dow Jones® and Dow Jones Industrial Average are trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”); and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by Nationwide. Nationwide New Heights℠ Fixed Indexed Annuity is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, their respective affiliates, and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the S&P 500.

The Goldman Sachs New Horizons Index (the “Index”), and related trademarks and service marks are the exclusive property of Goldman Sachs and such Index is licensed to Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company for use in a Fixed Index Annuity (the “Product”). This Product is not sponsored, endorsed, recommended, promoted or sold by Goldman Sachs or by any third party provider of market data. Goldman Sachs and its affiliates, and any third party data provider disclaim to the full extent legally permitted all representations, third-party-beneficiary obligations, and warranties, including concerning warranty, advisability, suitability, and data and methodology accuracy and errors. Neither the Index nor any of the assets comprising it are guaranteed to yield specific results. There are no third-party beneficiaries of any agreements between third party providers and Goldman Sachs. Visit for complete disclosure.

The J.P. Morgan Mozaic IISM Index (“Index”) has been licensed to Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company (the “licensee”) for the licensee’s benefit. Neither the licensee nor Nationwide New Heights Select Fixed Indexed Annuity ("The Product") are sponsored, operated, endorsed, recommended, sold or promoted by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (“JPMS”) or any of its affiliates (together and individually, “JPMorgan”). JPMorgan makes no representation and gives no warranty, express or implied, to contract owners taking exposure to the Product. Such persons should seek appropriate professional advice before making any investment. The index has been designed and is compiled, calculated, maintained and sponsored by JPMS without regard to the licensee, the Product or any contract owner. JPMorgan is under no obligation to continue compiling, calculating, maintaining or sponsoring the index. JPMorgan may independently issue or sponsor other indexes or products that are similar to and may compete with the index and the Product. JPMorgan may also transact in assets referenced in the index (or in financial instruments such as derivatives that reference those assets). The activities could have a positive or negative effect on the value of the index and the product.

Nasdaq®, Nasdaq-100 Volatility Control 10% P.R.(TM), Nasdaq-100®, and NDXV10P are registered trademarks of Nasdaq, Inc. (which with its affiliates is referred to as the “Corporations”) and are licensed for use by Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company and Nationwide Life Insurance Company. The Product(s) have not been passed on by the Corporations as to their legality or suitability. The Product(s) are not issued, endorsed, sold, or promoted by the Corporations. THE CORPORATIONS MAKE NO WARRANTIES AND BEAR NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE PRODUCT(S).

Citi is a registered trademark and service mark of Citigroup Inc. or its affiliates and is used and registered throughout the world. Loomis Sayles is a trademark of Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. (“Loomis Sayles”) registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The trademarks Citi and Loomis Sayles are being utilized under license and agreement.  Nationwide New Heights® Select (the “Financial Product”) is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Citigroup or Loomis Sayles, and neither Citigroup nor Loomis Sayles makes any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such Financial Product.  Neither Citigroup nor Loomis Sayles gives any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use.  In no event shall Citigroup or Loomis Sayles be liable for any direct, indirect, special or consequential damages in connection with any use of the Citigroup or Loomis Sayles data and information.

The NYSE® Zebra Edge® II Index has been licensed by ICE Data Indices, LLC (together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, “IDI”) to UBS AG and sub-licensed by UBS AG (together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, “UBS”) to Nationwide Life Insurance Company and Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company (collectively, “Nationwide”) for use in certain life insurance and annuities offered by Nationwide (the “Products”). Neither Nationwide nor the Products are sponsored, operated, endorsed, recommended, sold or promoted by Zebra Capital Management, LLC (together with its affiliates and subsidiaries, “Zebra”), IDI or UBS and in no event shall Zebra, IDI or UBS have any liability with respect to the Products or the Index. Zebra, IDI and UBS make no representations, give no express or implied warranties and have no obligations with regard to the Index, the Products or otherwise to any investor in the Products, client or other third party. The mark NYSE® is a registered trademark of NYSE Group, Inc., Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. or their affiliates and is being utilized by ICE Data Indices, LLC under license and agreement. The marks Zebra® and Zebra Edge® are registered trademarks of Zebra Capital Management, LLC, may not be used without prior authorization from Zebra Capital Management, LLC, and are being utilized by ICE Data Indices, LLC under license and agreement.

The SG Macro Compass Index (the “Index”) is the exclusive property of SG Americas Securities, LLC (“SG”) and has been licensed to Nationwide Life Insurance Company and Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company (collectively, “Nationwide”) for use in certain life insurance and annuities offered by Nationwide (the “Products”). With respect to the Products, SG’s sole contractual relationship with Nationwide is to license the Index and the SG Marks to Nationwide. None of SG, S&P Opco, LLC, or other third party licensor (collectively, the “Index Parties”) to SG is an agent of Nationwide or has in any way sponsored, promoted, offered, sold structured or priced any Product, and no Index Party makes any representation as to the advisability of purchasing, selling or holding any Product. No Index Party shall have any liability with respect to the Products or for any losses relating to the Products, whether arising directly or indirectly from the use of the Index. No Index Party shall have any obligation to make payments under the Products. In calculating the performance of the Index, SG deducts transaction and replication costs, each calculated and deducted on a daily basis, which will reduce the potential positive change in the Index and increase the potential negative change in the Index. The total amount of transaction and replication costs is not predictable and will depend on a number of factors. “SG Americas Securities, LLC”, “SGAS”, “Société Générale”, “SG”, “Société Générale Indices”, “SGI”, and “SG Macro Compass Index” are trademarks or service marks of SG. Additional information is available at HYPERLINK "http://www.sg-macro.compass.com" sg-macro.compass.com.

The J.P. Morgan Mozaic IISM Index, the Goldman Sachs New Horizons Index, the Loomis Sayles Discovery Index, the NYSE Zebra Edge II Index and the SG Macro Compass Index are excess return indexes. Indexes calculated on an excess return basis include calculation elements that reduce index performance. Because of this, an excess return version of an index will have lower performance than a total return version of the same index would, especially in high interest rate environments. Some excess return indexes also deduct a notional charge(s) in calculating index performance. This deduction(s) will reduce the potential positive change in index performance and increase the potential negative change in the index performance.

Nationwide, the Nationwide N and Eagle, Nationwide is on your side, Nationwide High Point 365 and Nationwide High Point are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

Third-party marks that appear in this message are the property of their respective owners.

Contract/certificate: ICC20-FACC-0126AOPP, ICC20-FARR-0122AO, ICC20-FARR-0123AO, ICC20-FARR-0124AO, ICC20-FARR-0125AO, ICC23-FAZZ-0150AO.1, ICC2O-FAZZ-0151AO, ICC20-FAZZ-0152AO