Only a small number of industries outside the financial services industry offer the potential for relatively inexperienced professionals to make significant income within their first year of employment. And within the financial services industry, there are few careers that offer newcomers the opportunity to earn as much as a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:life insurance agent does right off the bat. In fact, a hardworking insurance agent can earn more than $134,000 in their first year of sales.

But success as an insurance agent doesn’t come without a cost. It’s a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:tough field, and most participants burꦅn out sooner rather than later. Insurance agents hear the word “no” far more than they hear the word “yes.” And it’s not uncommon for the word "no" to be delivered with a fair amount of obscenities and the proverbial door in the face. Additionally, many people hold insurance♔ agents in low regard—some people even equate them to glorified con artists.

But for those who can stomach the potential rejection, the paycheck and flexibility of being a life insuran💙ce agent can be worth the effort.

Overview of the Insurance Field

While there are many 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:kinds of insurance (ranging from auto insurance to health insurance), the most lucrative career in the insurance field is for those selling life insurance. Agents focusing on this 🔯end of the insurance market help families, businesses, employers, and other parties protect against financial loss when someone dies.

Insurance agents selling this type of coverage are either “captive” agents, which means they only sell insurance from one company, or “non-captive” agents, meaning they represent multiple insurance carriers. Either way, the typical insurance agent is going to spend the majority of their time engaging in some type of marketing activity to identify people who might be in need of new or additional 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:insurance coverage, providing themꦡ with quotes from the companies they represent, and persuading them to sign the new insurance contract.

Typically, a life insurance agent receives anywhere from 30% to 90% of the amount paid for a policy (also known as the premium) by the client in the first year. In later years, the agent may receive anywhere from 3% to 10% of each year’s premium, also known as “renewals” or “澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:trailing commissions.”

Let’s look at an example of how a life insurance agent ea꧑rns:

Insurance Sales Commission Example

Uni the insurance agent sells Ryan a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:whole life insurance policy that covers Ryan for the rest of their life (assuming they cont꧂inue to mak🔯e their premium payments). Uni’s insurance company pays a 90%/5% commission on whole life policies, which means the selling agent receives 90% of the first year’s premium and 5% of future renewals.

The policy costs Ryan $100 per month or $1,200 per year. Thus, in the first year, Uni will make a $1,080 commission on selling this life insurance policy ($1,200 × 90%). In all subsequent years, Uni will make $60 in renewals, as long as 🅘Ryan continues to pay the premiums ($1,200 × 5%). An agent selling one or two policies per week at this commission level could make $50,000 to $100,000 in their first year as an agent.

Life Insurance Agent Qualifications

As mentioned before, a life insurance agent is not a profession for the thin-skinned or faint of heart. In fact, more than any other factor, including education and experience, life insurance agents must possess a fighting spirit. They must be people who love the thrill of the hunt, the rush of a sale, and see rejection as a steppingstone to eventual success. A 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:career in life insurance sales is not ideal for those wꦕho view themselves as introverted, soft-spoken, or afraid of conflict.

The vast majority of life insurance companies have no formal education requirements for becoming an ag𒁃ent. While many prefer college graduates, this general rule is constantly overlooked in favor of🎶 the “right” candidates. Previous experience in the insurance industry is not required because most medium and large insurance carriers have internal programs to train their salespeople about the products they’re going to sell.

While it may prove easy for a tenacious go-getter to get hired at a reputable insurance company, there is one nonnegotiable hurdle that stands between a potential insurance agent and their commissions: state licensing. Insurance agents are currently licensed by the individual state or states where they’ll sell insurance. This generally requires passing a state-administered licensing exam, as well as taking a licensing class that typically runs 20–50 hours.

Getting Hired to Sell Insurance

If you feel like a career in life insurance sales is for you, there are a couple of steps to take in order to find your first job. First and foremost, you’ll need to put together a resume that highlights your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:entrepreneurial spirit. You’ll want to include anything that shows you taking initiative to make things happen, whether it was starting your own business or taking someone else’s business to the next level. Life insurance agent💎s have to be driven and have the ability to be self-starters. Resumes that show a track record of that kind of behavior will help you get your foot in the door.

Once you have your resume polished, you’ll want to begin finding positions and applying. It’s imperative that you don’t feel pressured to take the first position that comes along, because working for the wrong company can burn you out and haunt you for the rest of your insurance career. Ideally, you want to work for a well-known company with a good reputation among consumers, other a🦄gents, and insurance rating agencies.

Perhaps the best place to start in deciding where to apply is to visit the insurance company rating websites for AM Best, Moody’s, or 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Standard & Poor’s. From there, you’ll be able to build a list of companies that have ratings of “A” or higher in your state. These companies will typically offer the most secure products at reasonable prices, with an emphasis on compensating and kee😼ping quality agents.

Be Sure to Follow Up

Once you’ve created this list, begin looking at each company. Due to the high turnover rate of insurance agents, most companies prominently post their job listings by geographical 🔥area, which makes them easily s♔earchable for you. When you find a company in your area that seems to fit your personality, apply for the position and make sure you follow the company’s instructions on its site.

Follow up with phone calls on a weekly basis until you hear an answer either way. Many insurance company recruiters will decline to interview a potential agent who doesn’t first make a follow-up call; this is considered to be a strong indicator of a potential agent’s tenacity. During your interview, continue to 💃communicate your entrepreneurial and “never-say-quit” personality; most managers wi🅺ll hire someone based on these factors over all the others combined.

If you’re lucky enough to land the job, you can expect your first 12 months to be spent handing out a lot of business cards and making a lot of phone calls. Your sales manager will be the first to remind you that your only “purpose” in life is to find potential clients. In fact, they’ll be far more interested in how many contacts you’re making each🌼 week than how well you know their product li💯ne.

You can expect to struggle financially for the first few months until your first sales 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:commissions start rolling in. While some companies offer a s🌳alary to keep newbies from starving, this is becoming more rare. Many agents are now lucky to be compensated for one to two months of training before being put on ꦛa “commission-only” basis.

A Few Warnings

While the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:life insurance industry promises great rewards for those who are willing to work hard and put up with a good amount oꦬf rejection, there are two pitfalls you need to be aware of. First, you will most likely be expected to market to your friends and family. While that might 🔯be tempting and seem like a great idea to get you started, it can also burn a lot of bridges with people you care about.

Second, you should visit your state insurance commissioner’s website and check out the complaint history against companies that you’re considering working for. What you’ll typically find is insurance companies that maintain less than an “A” rating, as well as those that sell insurance using a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:multilevel marketing scheme, have a much higher incidence of comp𒅌laints than the larger, more established companies.

Accepting a job with the wrong insurance company can🔴 potentially burn you out and ruin your dreams of a promising career. If a career in life insurance sales is something you truly desire, take your time and wait for the right opportunity at the right company. Doing so will maximize your chances of long-term success.

The Bottom Line

Being a life insurance agent is a tough field, wi✨th burnout, constant hustling, networking, and many instances of rejection before a sale is ever made. But for t༺hose who can stomach all of this, the paycheck and flexibility can be worth the effort.