Your income is the engine that funds everything else. The right disability plan keeps it running.
Disability insurance protects your income when illness or injury prevents you from working. It is the most overlooked line in personal protection — even though for working-age adults, disability is statistically more likely than premature death. The right policy structure, definition of disability, and benefit period all materially affect what the policy will actually pay when a claim is filed.
Most disability programs aren’t underbought. They’re under-engineered. Group long-term disability that pays only 60% of base salary, no individual policy to fill the gap, restrictive ‘any occupation’ definitions that disqualify many real-world claims, short benefit periods, and missing residual or partial disability benefits — these are the gaps that don’t surface until a claim is being adjudicated.
At Avanti Group, we run a Residential Risk Audit™ before we recommend any disability program. We look at your income, your existing group coverage, your obligations, and your specific occupation — and structure coverage that actually responds when an injury or illness keeps you out of work.
Who We Work With
We place disability coverage for individuals across Iowa and the Midwest, including:
- Professionals (physicians, dentists, attorneys, accountants, engineers)
- Self-employed individuals and business owners
- Higher-income employees with inadequate group coverage
- Commission-based earners (sales, real estate, insurance)
- Skilled trades workers with physical occupations
- Anyone whose income is the foundation of their household financial plan
The Coverage Lines That Matter Most
A complete disability program often layers multiple policies. The components we evaluate and place include:
- Individual Long-Term Disability — portable, individually owned coverage with stronger definitions than group coverage
- Group Long-Term Disability — employer-sponsored coverage, typically 60% of salary up to a cap
- Short-Term Disability — coverage for the gap between sick leave and the long-term policy
- Business Overhead Expense — for self-employed business owners, covering practice expenses during a disability
- Disability Buy-Sell — for business partners, funding the buyout of a permanently disabled partner
- Key Person Disability — protecting the business when a key employee is sidelined
- Supplemental / Wrap Coverage — layered above group coverage to bring total replacement closer to actual income
What Most Disability Programs Get Wrong
The definition of disability is rarely scrutinized. ‘Own occupation’ definitions pay benefits when you can’t perform your specific occupation. ‘Any occupation’ definitions only pay when you can’t perform any work. The difference is enormous, and many group plans use the more restrictive definition after a transition period.
Group LTD alone is rarely enough. A group LTD policy paying 60% of base salary leaves significant exposure for higher earners, commission-based income, and bonus compensation. Individual coverage layered on top is often the right answer.
Benefit periods are too short. Many policies pay benefits for 2 or 5 years. A serious disability can extend for decades, and the policy needs to pay until at least normal retirement age — ideally to age 65 or 67.
Residual and partial disability are missing. Many disabilities reduce earning capacity without eliminating it entirely. Without a residual disability provision, a partial disability that cuts your income in half may not trigger a claim payment.
How to Get Started
Disability insurance isn’t a commodity product. The right program depends on your income, your occupation, your existing group coverage, and your obligations. We need to understand your situation before we can build the right program for it.
Call our office or use the button below to start a conversation. We’ll review your current coverage, identify any gaps, and let you know exactly where you stand before we ever go to market.