Insurance is an industry with a great reputation for being stable. Insurance agents can make great money while maintaining a comfortable, balanced life. Whether you’re looking for a career change or just starting out, insurance might be the right career for you. Starting out in insurance can lead to a great remote work option, and eventually your own profitable online business. If you’re great with people, sales, and details and are looking for more flexibility so you can travel or just work from home, this may be a great option for you. And helping people protect themselves and their property can be a very rewarding vocation. Outlined here are four steps to get you started on your path to becoming an insurance agent. Read more to start your career plan.
- Pick a Specialty
Agents can sell many different kinds of insurance, such as property, casualty, disability, liability, health, business, and personal lines of insurance. These are referred to as “lines of authority” in the industry. Agents must receive licensure for their particular line of authority. Knowing what type of insurance you want to sell is an important step in the career path. It can be helpful to have prior experience if the insurance is industry specific, or at least if you’ve been a client who has held a certain type of insurance, you may enter the industry with a greater understanding of the purpose and specs of your particular speciality.
- Complete Pre-Licensure Requirements
Once you’ve determined that insurance sales is for you, you will need to meet some requirements before acquiring your license. Pre-licensure requirements vary from state to state, but they are a mandatory step toward earning a license as an insurance agent or broker. For example, California applicants for casualty insurance must complete 20 hours of general pre-licensing education, as well as 12 hours of education in the state’s ethics and insurance codes. Students should check with their state’s insurance department for pre-licensure requirements.
- Pass a Licensing Exam
Once you have all of your initial education requirements out of the way, it’s time to study and test. All agents must pass a licensing exam to sell insurance. The National Insurance Producer Registry has compiled a list of state-specific licensing requirements, associated fees, and other important data about the licensing process.
- Apply at Insurance Agencies
Congratulations! Once you have passed your exam and received your license, you are now ready to enter the arena as a professional insurance broker. Agents who have met all the requirements and earned licensure are eligible for employment at insurance agencies and brokerages, which can vary from small local brokerages to regional offices of well-known insurance carriers.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, median annual salaries for insurance sales agents was just under $50,000 in 2017. However, the top 10 percent of agents earned more than $125,000 annually, while the bottom 10 percent took home just over $27,000.
It’s a hot job market as well. Employment of insurance agents is expected to increase by 10 percent through 2026, the BLS reports. That translates into about 50,000 new positions during that time span. Demand is expected to be greatest for independent agents as large insurance organizations place more emphasis on these agents to help control their overhead costs.
Getting a real estate license takes time and money, but it can help secure a rewarding job in the real estate industry. Keep in mind that a career as a real estate agent can be as flexible as you want it to be. You can limit your hours to mornings three days a week or never work on weekends. The trade-off, of course, is that this will greatly limit your ability to be successful. You may need to work a lot harder to build your client base and business at first, freeing up time later as you scale and even outsource some of your responsibilities and administration, building the type of profitable business and freedom you are looking for in the long run.
While you can work part-time as a real estate agent, most successful insurance agents work as a full-time agent, making themselves available to clients throughout the week and sometimes on weekends. In general, the more time and effort you put into being an insurance agent, the more success you will achieve, both in terms of money and job satisfaction. To learn more about being an insurance agent read Step by Step Become an Insurance Agent and Become an Insurance Agent. Subscribe for more business, sales, and investing posts. Have a lovely day!
