Fishinnole
New Member
- 2
Hello all, needing some advice/guidance as I don't know which way to go. My dad started in the insurance world about 50 years ago and opened his agency here in FL about 40 years ago. He did a huge amount of life insurance over the years with a big name company and also dabbled in the P&C realm with another big name. I started working for him 14 years ago and it was just me and him. At the time, he had about $1.5m book of P&C. I handled messages, paperwork, mailing, writing, etc. During that time we gained appointments to more independent carriers and I actively worked growing it.
I did not make much money those years as I was new and had to earn things in his opinion like he had. Fast forward, the book all in is around $8 million and we have 3 fulltime employees. Two assistants and another agent that actively writes. Out of the $8 million, I wrote probably $6.5m of it. Alot of the original $1.5m vanished due to non renewals for exposure, passings, etc. Now the last few years I have made a considerable amount more as I am salaried vs. commission based. I did it that way with the assumption I would get the agency when my dad retired as no one else in my family is interested in insurance. I never asked for part of bonus payments that I pushed to make sure he received that were in the hundreds of thousands.
I brought up the topic to my dad about a year ago of when he eventually does retire how things would look for me taking over. His initial response was I would get it but have to fund my families lifestyle as the business, incorrectly, has been used over the years to do that. I said I wouldn't do that which then brought up me buying it from him. I said well I was underpaid, my mistake assuming, thinking I would get the agency at the end. So why would I buy it when I wrote the vast majority of everything while underpaid. Over the years I have been offered executive jobs elsewhere making over $400k but I wanted to help my dad and the thoughts of being my own boss one day and continuing the office. Right now, my dad still comes in but generally works on random things/no clients as he does the occasional life policy every few months. I oversee appointments, sales, advertising, renewals, even supplies for the office.
Then it comes up where if I did get the office, then to be fair to my other family members, I would get less inheritance which is an extremely sizeable amount.
It is not all about money but I do not think it is fair overall on the situation being played out. Our circumstance is very unique where our main company/60% of commissions comes from a carrier that has an extremely high bar for qualifying every year vs. my dad has been with them forever so that bar doesn't apply. If I miss the quota, I'm out with them even though a "legacy". Or they could non renew everything, like we've seen others do.
He is working on getting a valuation for the book with someone now but I don't really get what the end game of it all is... His main priority is my family being taken care of at my expense I feel. If the office makes $1m and family expenses are $300k, then I would have to make sure those are covered based on his reasoning forever. Or he could go and sell it to whoever, I said I would be out and go open my own things in a different state since FL is so volatile.
I guess I am just trying to get other input if I am being greedy, partially right, or they are wrong cause when I talk to them it sounds like I am the jerk of it all. Sounds like a Dear Abby post but no one else to really ask.
I did not make much money those years as I was new and had to earn things in his opinion like he had. Fast forward, the book all in is around $8 million and we have 3 fulltime employees. Two assistants and another agent that actively writes. Out of the $8 million, I wrote probably $6.5m of it. Alot of the original $1.5m vanished due to non renewals for exposure, passings, etc. Now the last few years I have made a considerable amount more as I am salaried vs. commission based. I did it that way with the assumption I would get the agency when my dad retired as no one else in my family is interested in insurance. I never asked for part of bonus payments that I pushed to make sure he received that were in the hundreds of thousands.
I brought up the topic to my dad about a year ago of when he eventually does retire how things would look for me taking over. His initial response was I would get it but have to fund my families lifestyle as the business, incorrectly, has been used over the years to do that. I said I wouldn't do that which then brought up me buying it from him. I said well I was underpaid, my mistake assuming, thinking I would get the agency at the end. So why would I buy it when I wrote the vast majority of everything while underpaid. Over the years I have been offered executive jobs elsewhere making over $400k but I wanted to help my dad and the thoughts of being my own boss one day and continuing the office. Right now, my dad still comes in but generally works on random things/no clients as he does the occasional life policy every few months. I oversee appointments, sales, advertising, renewals, even supplies for the office.
Then it comes up where if I did get the office, then to be fair to my other family members, I would get less inheritance which is an extremely sizeable amount.
It is not all about money but I do not think it is fair overall on the situation being played out. Our circumstance is very unique where our main company/60% of commissions comes from a carrier that has an extremely high bar for qualifying every year vs. my dad has been with them forever so that bar doesn't apply. If I miss the quota, I'm out with them even though a "legacy". Or they could non renew everything, like we've seen others do.
He is working on getting a valuation for the book with someone now but I don't really get what the end game of it all is... His main priority is my family being taken care of at my expense I feel. If the office makes $1m and family expenses are $300k, then I would have to make sure those are covered based on his reasoning forever. Or he could go and sell it to whoever, I said I would be out and go open my own things in a different state since FL is so volatile.
I guess I am just trying to get other input if I am being greedy, partially right, or they are wrong cause when I talk to them it sounds like I am the jerk of it all. Sounds like a Dear Abby post but no one else to really ask.
