But what about cost?

A response to the earlier review praising the Simple III income rider.

The income guarantees come, of course, at a cost.

The rider costs 75 basis points or .75 percent.  This is pretty significant given the levels of income that are involved.

For example, there are caps on the allowable withdrawal percentages that seem to vary based on age and whether payments are being made to an individual or to a couple (joint and survivor).

In previous versions of the rider, these caps ranged from 4 percent to 6 percent.

Not entirely sure how the inflation adjusted option that the other reviewer describes works, but recent CPI levels have been around 2 percent or so. Assuming that the contract owner received the full CPI index credit, you're talking about a 2 - 2.5 percent gross credit at a cost of 75 basis points.  

This seems to leave a net income level of less than 2 percent?

Come to think of it, the inflation adjusted income option will always lag the CPI-based level of inflation due to the 75 basis point cost.  This could add up over a decade or so.