Insurance & Long-Term Care Planning in Des Moines, Iowa
A complete retirement plan goes beyond investments — it protects what you've built. Long-term care costs are one of the most significant financial risks Iowa retirees face, and they're among the least planned for. In Des Moines, assisted living care runs approximately $5,200 per month on average, with nursing home care exceeding $8,000 per month in many cases. Without a strategy in place, a single care event can significantly alter a retirement plan that took decades to build.
At Heartland Retirement Group, our dedicated insurance department works directly alongside your financial planning team — not as a separate sales function, but as an integrated part of how we build and manage your overall retirement strategy. Every recommendation is weighed against your income needs, legacy goals, and what actually makes sense for your situation.
Protection is part of the plan
Integrating Insurance Into Your Wealth Strategy
What We Cover
Insurance & Care Planning Solutions
We design protection strategies that integrate seamlessly with your retirement income and investment plans.
Life Insurance Planning
Life insurance can play a role well beyond working years. We review your coverage to ensure it still serves your goals in retirement.
What we help you evaluate:
- Whether existing policies are still needed or should be adjusted
- Beneficiary designations for alignment with your estate plan
- Using life insurance for wealth transfer or charitable giving
Long-Term Care Planning
Extended care is one of the most significant unplanned costs in retirement, and Medicare does not cover it. Medicare covers short-term skilled nursing care following a hospital stay — it does not cover ongoing custodial care, which is what most retirees actually need when health declines. Medicaid is available, but only after personal assets are largely exhausted.
We help Des Moines area families understand their options and build a plan that keeps a care event from derailing everything else.
We help you evaluate:
- Traditional long-term care insurance policies — benefits, premiums, and when they make sense
- Hybrid life/LTC products that provide coverage if care is needed, or a death benefit if it isn't
- Self-funding strategies for families with sufficient assets who prefer to retain flexibility
What Long-Term Care Actually Costs in Iowa
Iowa care costs are meaningful even though they tend to run below national averages. According to Genworth's 2024 Cost of Care Survey, Iowa families can expect to pay:
- Assisted living: approximately $5,200 per month statewide; Des Moines area costs run higher, averaging around $6,700 per month
- Nursing home care (semi-private room): approximately $8,365 per month
- Nursing home care (private room): approximately $8,973 per month
At those rates, two to three years of care can represent $200,000 or more — enough to materially change what's available for income, a surviving spouse, or the
legacy you planned to leave. The question isn't whether to plan for long-term care. It's which approach fits your situation.
Income Protection Strategies
Unexpected events can threaten your retirement income. We help build safeguards to keep your plan intact.
What we help you evaluate:
- Disability insurance (for those still working)
- Spousal income replacement strategies
- Maintaining liquidity to handle emergencies
Insurance & Long-Term Care Questions, Answered
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need long-term care insurance if I live in Iowa?
Not everyone does, and the right answer depends on your assets, income, health, and family circumstances. For some people, traditional or hybrid LTC coverage makes financial sense. Others may be better served by earmarking assets to self-fund care. We help you work through the options against your actual retirement income plan — not a generic checklist.
Does Medicare cover long-term care?
No — and this is one of the most common misconceptions in retirement planning. Medicare covers short-term skilled care after a hospital stay, typically up to 100 days. It does not cover ongoing custodial care, which is the type most people need when they can no longer manage daily activities independently. Planning for that gap is exactly what this part of your retirement strategy addresses.
When should I do a Roth conversion if I live in Iowa?
That question belongs on the tax planning page — but it's worth knowing that LTC premium payments and care costs interact with your overall tax picture. We coordinate across both.
What's the advantage of hybrid life/long-term care products?
Hybrid products give you optionality. If you need care, the policy covers it. If you don't, a death benefit passes to your beneficiaries. This flexibility addresses a common concern — that paying premiums for coverage you may never use means the money is "lost." With a hybrid product, the benefit goes somewhere either way.
What if I already have life insurance — do I still need LTC coverage?
Maybe not as much, and maybe in a different form. Some life insurance policies can be converted or restructured to include long-term care riders. We review your existing coverage to determine whether it still fits your current goals and whether there are more efficient ways to address the care risk within your overall plan.
How does your insurance department work with my financial planning team?
Heartland has a dedicated licensed insurance department that operates as part of your overall advisory relationship — not as a separate product sales desk. Your insurance advisor and your financial planner work from the same retirement plan, so protection strategies are built to fit your income, tax, and legacy goals rather than evaluated in isolation.
