Gray Divorce Financial Specialist
Insurance pensions, corporate retirement, real estate — Iowa's equitable distribution requires expertise. This guide shows you exactly what you're entitled to.
Leanne Ozaine, CDFA® & CFP® | Specializing in gray divorce for 50+
Turn Panic Into Power — $97If you're over 50 and facing divorce in the Des Moines metro area—whether in West Des Moines, Ankeny, Johnston, or Waukee—you're navigating a unique intersection of financial complexity. Child custody typically isn't your main concern—your children are grown, established, or building their own lives. Instead, your divorce centers on protecting and dividing decades of accumulated wealth in Iowa's insurance and finance capital, often combined with agricultural assets.
This is especially challenging if you've never personally managed the family finances. Perhaps your spouse handles the Principal Financial benefits, investment portfolios, or farmland holdings while you focused on raising children or supporting their career. Now you're facing questions like:
The Des Moines difference: This metro area uniquely combines high-income insurance and finance professionals with substantial agricultural wealth. Your divorce may involve both corporate executive benefits AND multi-generational farmland—a complexity rarely seen elsewhere.
Here's what nobody tells you: A "fair" settlement can still leave you struggling.
50/50 sounds equal. But if you take the house and your spouse takes the 401(k), only one of you has retirement income. A pension isn't cash. Tax treatment turns "half" into 40% or 60% depending on which half you take.
Your lawyer knows Iowa law. They don't know what you'll live on for the next 30 years.
Most people sign their settlement while still in emotional shock. The brain is in survival mode — the prefrontal cortex that makes rational decisions is literally offline. By the time the fog lifts, the settlement is final.
You need someone whose only job is protecting your financial future — not billable hours, not legal posturing. Someone who can show you exactly what different settlement scenarios mean for your life 5, 10, 25 years from now.
The 5-step system that shows you what you'll actually live on, so you stop guessing and start knowing.
Calculate your real post-divorce income — including spousal support, assets, and earning potential — so you negotiate from facts, not fear.
Document gathering checklists tell you exactly what to bring to your attorney — so you walk in prepared, not panicked.
Map out your real expenses as a single person — before you fight for something you can't actually maintain.
The asset identification system helps you find accounts and property you might not even know exist.
22-page guide + video tutorials + checklists + templates
$97
Instant access. 100% money-back guarantee.
Get the Clarity You Need — $97Principal Financial Group is Iowa's largest publicly traded company and one of the Des Moines metro's major employers. Divorces involving Principal employees require understanding complex, multi-layered compensation packages.
Principal Financial employee benefits in divorce:
The pension + 401(k) combination: Unlike many companies that offer only one retirement vehicle, Principal employees often accumulate significant value in BOTH a pension plan AND a 401(k). Understanding how each works, how they're valued, and how to divide them requires specialized expertise.
For those new to finances: A pension is a promise to pay you monthly income in retirement based on your salary and years of service. It's different from a 401(k), which is an account you can see and control. Principal employees may have both—each requires different division strategies and has different tax implications.
Beyond Principal, Des Moines is home to numerous insurance companies—Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Nationwide (regional office), EMC Insurance, Athene, and many others. Insurance industry compensation creates unique divorce challenges.
Insurance industry divorce complications:
The income calculation challenge: When compensation includes base salary + bonuses + commissions + stock grants, calculating "income" for spousal support purposes becomes complex. Do we average the last 3 years? 5 years? How do we account for a particularly good (or bad) year?
The Des Moines metro area sits at the intersection of Iowa's agricultural heartland and urban financial services. Many gray divorce cases involve families with one spouse working in insurance/finance while the family also owns substantial farmland.
Agricultural assets in Des Moines metro divorces:
The dual-wealth scenario: A common Des Moines metro situation is a household with $300K+ in insurance industry income PLUS $50K-$100K in annual farmland rental income PLUS $2-5 million in farmland equity. This creates significant wealth to divide—and complex decisions about who gets what.
Example: One spouse works as a Vice President at Principal (salary $200K, bonus $60K, stock grants $40K) while the family owns 400 acres of inherited farmland generating $80K/year in rental income and worth $4.8 million. How do you fairly divide BOTH the retirement benefits AND the farmland? Can one spouse buy out the other? Should the land be sold? What if children were expecting to inherit the farm?
The Des Moines metro has seen substantial real estate appreciation, particularly in West Des Moines, Waukee, Ankeny, and Johnston. Homes in desirable neighborhoods regularly exceed $500K-$1 million, creating significant equity to divide.
Real estate considerations for Des Moines metro:
The retirement timing consideration: If you're in your late 50s or early 60s, keeping a $600K house with a $3,000/month payment (mortgage, taxes, insurance) may be financially unwise when you're about to retire. We help you run the numbers to ensure keeping the house doesn't jeopardize your retirement security.
For gray divorce in the Des Moines metro, retirement accounts are often your largest asset—frequently worth $500K to $2 million or more when combining both spouses' accounts.
Critical retirement account considerations:
The QDRO timeline: Getting a QDRO approved can take 3-6 months after the divorce is final. Don't assume you'll have immediate access to your portion of your ex-spouse's 401(k). Plan your cash flow accordingly.
For those new to finances: These retirement accounts represent your financial security for potentially 30-40 years. Understanding not just how to divide them, but how to invest them and make them last through retirement, is critical financial planning work we do together.
Des Moines metro has many high-income households earning $200K-$500K+, which creates unique spousal support (alimony) dynamics.
High-income spousal support considerations:
Tax treatment matters: For divorces finalized after December 31, 2018, spousal support is NO LONGER tax-deductible for the payor or taxable income for the recipient. This changed the entire economics of spousal support and affects negotiation strategies.
The Principal Financial retirement scenario: If your spouse plans to retire from Principal at age 60 with a full pension, but you need ongoing support until you qualify for Medicare at 65, negotiating the amount and duration of support requires careful planning around their retirement timing.
If you're over 50 but not yet 65 (Medicare-eligible), health insurance becomes a critical divorce consideration—especially in the Des Moines metro where many people have been covered under employer group plans.
Health insurance transition options:
The pre-65 gap: If you're 58 and divorcing, you have 7 years until Medicare eligibility. At $1,200/month for individual coverage, that's over $100,000 in health insurance costs. This MUST be factored into your settlement negotiations and post-divorce budget.
For those new to finances: Health insurance costs are often overlooked in divorce planning, but they can be one of your largest monthly expenses. We help you understand your options and negotiate coverage as part of your settlement.
The Des Moines metro has many business owners, insurance agents with their own agencies, financial advisors with their own practices, and entrepreneurs. Valuing and dividing these businesses creates unique challenges.
Business valuation challenges:
The buyout question: In most cases, the spouse operating the business buys out the other spouse's interest. But determining fair value—and whether payment comes from property division, cash, or over time—requires sophisticated financial planning.
Example: An independent insurance agent has built an agency worth $800K based on $200K annual income from renewal commissions. The spouse who built the agency keeps it, but must buy out the other spouse's $400K marital interest. How? With cash from other assets? By refinancing the marital home? With a payment plan over time? Each option has different financial implications.
In affluent Des Moines metro marriages, separate property claims become critically important. Iowa law protects separate property—but the burden of proof is on YOU to demonstrate an asset is separate and hasn't been commingled.
Common separate property claims in Des Moines metro:
The commingling trap—farmland example: You inherited 200 acres from your parents 10 years ago. The land generates $40K/year in rental income, which has been deposited into your joint checking account and used to pay household expenses. Even though the land itself was inherited (separate property), the commingling of rental income with marital funds creates complex tracing issues. Part of the land's value may now be considered marital property.
Documentation requirements:
Strategic planning: Sometimes proving an asset is 100% separate property is impossible due to years of commingling. But we can often negotiate that a PORTION of the asset's value is separate (the original inheritance) while the appreciation is marital. This nuanced approach can save you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Iowa has a progressive income tax system (0.33% to 8.53%), and the Des Moines metro's high-income residents face significant state tax considerations in addition to federal taxes.
Key tax issues for Des Moines metro divorce:
The retirement account tax differential: A $500,000 traditional IRA and a $500,000 Roth IRA have the SAME account balance but vastly different after-tax values. When you withdraw from the traditional IRA, you'll pay federal tax (potentially 22-24%) PLUS Iowa state tax (up to 8.53%). That $500K traditional IRA might only give you $335K after taxes. The Roth IRA? You already paid taxes, so it's worth the full $500K.
Principal Financial stock grants: If your spouse receives Principal stock (PFG) as part of compensation, understanding the cost basis, holding period, and tax treatment is critical. Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are taxed as ordinary income when they vest, but subsequent appreciation is taxed as capital gains when sold.
Many Des Moines metro families own farmland they planned to pass to the next generation. Divorce can derail carefully laid succession plans—or it can be an opportunity to clarify them.
Farm succession considerations in divorce:
Example scenario: You and your spouse own 640 acres (worth $7.7 million at $12,000/acre) that was inherited from your parents. You have two adult children—one farms the land, the other works at Principal in Des Moines. You were planning to leave the land to both children equally, but now you're divorcing. How do you:
This level of complexity requires coordinated planning among your divorce attorney, financial planner (like us), tax advisor, and estate planning attorney.
In high-asset Des Moines metro divorces, economic misconduct and asset dissipation are serious concerns. Iowa courts will account for dissipated marital assets when dividing property.
Common forms of economic misconduct in Des Moines metro:
Red flags to watch for:
How we help: As a financial professional, I can analyze tax returns, bank statements, investment accounts, and business records to identify discrepancies that suggest hidden income or assets. This information helps your attorney build a strong case for appropriate discovery and potential penalties for misconduct.
Navigating a gray divorce in the Des Moines metro area—with its unique combination of insurance industry benefits, agricultural wealth, and high-asset complexity—requires specialized expertise. Here's how we help:
Our process:
Why this matters: Getting your divorce settlement right isn't just about the next year—it's about the next 30-40 years of your life. The financial decisions you make now will determine whether you retire comfortably or struggle financially. Our job is to make sure you have the information, analysis, and confidence to make decisions that protect your long-term financial security.
You don't have to navigate Des Moines metro divorce finances alone. Whether you're protecting Principal Financial benefits, agricultural assets, or building a new financial future, let's turn your fear into financial strength.
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