Lincoln MoneyGuard
The company that invented hybrid long-term care insurance in 1987 cut pricing in 2023 — and the 2026 design adds 50% cash indemnity and a zero-day waiting period on home care. When we spreadsheet the hybrid market, MoneyGuard is usually one of the top one or two carriers on price.
What Makes MoneyGuard Competitive in 2026
Drew Nichols and Darrick Wilkins sit down for a 2026 refresher on Lincoln MoneyGuard — why it keeps winning on our spreadsheets, what the 50% cash indemnity actually looks like in a real claim, and where it still has trade-offs.
Four Reasons MoneyGuard Keeps Winning Spreadsheets
We sell every major hybrid carrier, and Lincoln was not near the top of our placements before 2023. The repricing — plus a couple of real design upgrades — changed that.
2023 Price Cut — Still Holding in 2026
Lincoln lowered MoneyGuard pricing in 2023 (rising interest rates help insurers whose reserves sit in fixed income). When we spreadsheet the market, MoneyGuard is usually the top one or two for benefit dollars per premium dollar.
No Waiting Period for Home Care
Most hybrid plans make you wait 90 days before benefits begin — whether you're at home or in a facility. MoneyGuard has a 0-day elimination period across the board, so claims pay from day one of qualifying care.
50% Cash Indemnity, Per Day
Newer on MoneyGuard: on any claim day you can take 50% of the benefit as cash with no receipts — or elect 100% with reimbursement. Pick day-by-day based on whether a paid caregiver or family is providing care.
The Original Hybrid LTC Carrier
Lincoln pioneered the hybrid long-term care category in 1987. Nobody has been underwriting and paying claims on this product longer, and the MoneyGuard platform has been refined through decades of iterations.
Why Lincoln moved pricing down: insurance company reserves live heavily in fixed-income assets. When rates rose starting in 2022, those reserves earned more — and Lincoln passed some of that yield back to new MoneyGuard buyers as lower premiums. It is rare to see an LTC carrier cut pricing. Lincoln did.
50% Cash Indemnity — How It Actually Plays Out
Historically Lincoln was a pure-reimbursement carrier. The current MoneyGuard lets you choose, on a per-day basis, between 100% reimbursement (with receipts) and 50% cash indemnity (no receipts, tax-free). That day-by-day flexibility is the point.
5-day-a-week home caregiver
Weekday paid caregiver has no problem generating receipts for the insurance company — elect 100% reimbursement on those days.
Weekend family care
Family covers Saturday and Sunday — no receipts, no invoices. Elect 50% cash indemnity on those days and deposit the check, tax-free, with no accounting required.
Assisted living with extras
The facility bill is straightforward to reimburse at 100%. Incidental care your family handles on top can still draw 50% cash on separate days.
The honest trade-off:100% cash indemnity (Securian, Nationwide) is cleaner at claim time. Lincoln's 50% version is a compromise — you keep full flexibility on about half the benefit, but you give up nothing on total LTC coverage. In practice, for families mixing paid care with informal help, the outcome is close enough to 100% cash that the price advantage wins.
Two MoneyGuards, Not One
If you see two different MoneyGuard quotes floating around, that is not a mistake. Lincoln currently sells two MoneyGuard sub-versions, and the one that wins on your spreadsheet depends on age, funding structure, and whether you want the fixed design or a market-linked version.
The most popular one — and the one that tends to spreadsheet at the top — is the traditional hybrid MoneyGuard: life insurance combined with long-term care benefits, 0-day elimination, and the 50% cash indemnity feature we described above. The second flavor is the market-linked design, which changes the illustration mechanics enough that it deserves its own quote pass rather than a quick comparison. We run both when a buyer asks for a MoneyGuard number.
MoneyGuard vs. the Hybrid Peer Set
How Lincoln stacks against the other two carriers we most often spreadsheet alongside it — Securian and Nationwide.
| Feature | Lincoln MoneyGuard | Typical hybrid peer |
|---|---|---|
| Elimination period (home care) | 0 days | Typically 90 days |
| Elimination period (facility care) | 0 days | Typically 90 days |
| Claim model | 50% cash / 100% reimbursement, chosen day-by-day | Varies — Securian and Nationwide are 100% cash indemnity |
| Benefit-per-premium leverage | Often top 1–2 on our 2026 spreadsheets | Competitive; varies by age and design |
| Product heritage | Invented the hybrid LTC category in 1987 | Entered the category later |
| Financial strength | A+ rated | A+ among the major hybrid peers |
Our take: MoneyGuard earned its way back into the top of the spreadsheet with the 2023 repricing and the 0-day elimination period. If price-per-benefit-dollar is your lead criterion, quote Lincoln. If 100% cash indemnity is non-negotiable, quote Securian and Nationwide against it and weigh the delta.
A Note on Underwriting
Lincoln MoneyGuard has long been the most forgiving underwriter in the hybrid space on BMI, and it is the one major hybrid carrier that does not charge smoker rates on this product. If your health profile is clean but you carry more weight than a carrier like Securian prefers, MoneyGuard is often the difference between an offer and a decline.
That is where an independent broker matters. We run your quote with Lincoln, Securian, Nationwide, and the rest of the A-rated hybrid carriers at the same time, then lay out where each one lands on your specific health profile before you apply.
Who MoneyGuard Fits Best
When to Consider Another Carrier
See MoneyGuard Numbers Tailored to You
We're LTC Tree — independent, and happy to pick up the phone. We'll spreadsheet Lincoln against every other A-rated hybrid carrier based on your age, state, and health, so you see where MoneyGuard actually wins and where it loses.
Or call 1-800-800-6139