Questions About Getting into the Insurance and Financial Services Industry

[thekmeisterishere]

I have been looking for a job for the past few months now and apparently, a friend of mine suggested me to look at Primerica as a job. I talked about the idea with other friends and family too. They were saying that the pyramid structure is something you as a person shouldn't trust. I am also wondering are the insurance policies and the financial products that they sell are high quality, by any chance? Because this is one of the places I visited and I checked out the seminars. (By the way, my friend's suggestion actually triggered my interest in working in the Insurance and Financial Services Industries). I also like the fact that you are doing something that involves helping people, too, in this profession, and working in this arena is recession-proof.

Another place I visited was Farmers Insurance and I recently checked out their corporate headquarters, and I am aware that they are a really strong brand (just like Allstate and State Farm). They were talking about how you have a lucrative subsidy program that can help you pay for important things such as office space and other things. Are there any conditions that I need to know about concerning this program. Because I read about it and found it really interesting, too. I want to know if there are conditions to such a program.

I have so far explored these two companies and am really interested in getting a job in Insurance, Financial Services, or even both. Do you guys know of any other good companies that can help you open a good agency, train you to run your business and that won't give you a hard time especially if you lack a Bachelor's degree.

 

[DHK]

Lack of bachelor's degree is NOT an issue in the insurance and financial services industry.

The insurance and financial services industry is not a 'job'. It's not even a 'career'. It's an obsession.

Lots here on all the companies you mentioned - Primerica (MLM), State Farm, Farmers, Allstate, etc. Although SF, Farmers, Allstate are all P&C agencies while Primerica is not.

Note that a "subsidy" is only an additional commission on business you submit. Do not confuse "subsidy" with "salary". Totally different things.


Before recommending companies, you need to determine if you want to be in P&C or L&H/Financial Services. They are essentially two different business models and require different ways of thinking to be successful.

Once you decide between P&C or L&H/Financial Services... then we can help you further.

 

[AlTheGud1sRtakn]

^ What he said. I'd like to add one thing though - stay away from Primerica (previously known as AL Williams).

Primerica search
AL Williams search

 

[thekmeisterishere]

Well I know that I have only visited two companies so far nowadays. Also, I don't know what kind of insurance I am specifically interested in selling, but, I would like to sell a diversified base of products to customers. So generally speaking, I would like to sell L&H, P&C, Business Insurance, and other various policies. I am not sure what I would like to mainly sell yet, since I have been only looking into Insurance/Financial Services for the past few weeks only. (I fell in love with this field due to my friends suggestion to look at a Primerica position). But most likely, I will look at other companies.

 

[DHK]

Well, I'd take Primerica and any other MLM-based financial services selling position off the table for you.

The hardest part of this business... is actually DOING the business: Prospecting, fact-finding, presenting, and obtaining referrals.

Therefore, you want to be in a position to be rewarded for excellence in YOUR efforts.

Primerica (and just about every other MLM-based company out there) will start you off with a 25% contract on life insurance sales. You increase your compensation by recruiting others... to a maximum of 65% (I believe).

So, if you sell a $1,000 annual premium term life insurance policy, you'll earn about $250.

However, if you go with a professional life insurance career agency - such as MassMutual, New York Life, Guardian, Met Life, Northwestern Mutual, Mutual of Omaha, etc., your compensation is about 45% or so for term life insurance sales, not including any training bonuses or other benefits, etc.

$1,000 premium = $450 in your pocket.

When the time is right for you to become an independent agent... because you feel comfortable with your training to take to nearly any company... you can easily find independent agent contracts to pay you 90% or more on term life insurance policies.

$1,000 premium = $900+.


Who do you think is getting that difference at Primerica? Your upline, for as long as you stay with them and sell Primerica insurance.

Do you think they deserve that kind of a cut off of your efforts? Up front, perhaps. They'll be taking a lot more time with you. But forever? Well, they'll tell you that if you want to earn more, you need to recruit too.

Being in the recruiting and training business is totally different than being in this profession as a professional.


The selling of life insurance and financial services is a PROFESSION. That's why there are industry associations like NAIFA, Society of Financial Services Professionals, IARFC, MDRT, and the Financial Planning Association.

There are industry certifications such as CFP, ChFC, CLU, RFC, and LUTCF. (There's LOTS more, but those are the main ones... and VERY FEW MLM'ers ever bother with such professional distinction.)

Not everyone's needs can be handled with a "one size fits all" mentality to financial planning. And the better YOU become in this industry, the better you can help others to make informed financial decisions that feels right to them.


What Primerica (and the other MLM companies) have done... is turn the profession into a sales force with minimal training and planning with 'mantra's'. They figure that 100,000 part-time representatives will sell more insurance as a whole than 5,000 professionally trained agents.

And they were right... to the detriment of the industry and their clients. They cheapen true professionals who serve their clients and spend years to develop their own skills. Clients buy into their mantra's (such as "buy term and invest the difference") because it's also what a bunch of "financial entertainers" say too.

So if you want to make this your profession, go with companies that also treat agents as professionals.

 

[MWD]

One lesson I learned a long time ago is to ask questions, gather the information and be confident enough in yourself to make the decision that best resonates with you. I would take the information shared here as information and not the final answer for you, as an individual. I can recall instances where I listened to others, who with such conviction, were confident in their opinions and what I should do. Wrong. Ask questions, talk to people, and glean what you can and then make a decision.

I obtained my licenses earlier this year. I interviewed with State Farm and turned it down. Some things I learned in the interview process with State Farm compelled me turn down the job offer. I interviewed with an independent agency and again there were certain things in that path that my gut instinct lead me to turn it down. I interviewed with Primerica and accepted that opportunity. I found it offered an incredible amount of team support, people with years of experience (in addition to newly licensed individuals), customer retention software, forms, processes and more importantly a great variety of products and services to our my clients that I wouldn't have had with the other two avenues I had been considering. Keep an open mind, do your homework and trust your gut instinct.

 

[DHK]

I will say that I think that is the most articulate (and non-recruiting/bashing) post I have ever read from a Primerica agent on this forum!

 

[WorldIsMyOyster]

I can't tell you much about Primerica but I CAN tell you that MLM are seldom lucrative. I've worked with a couple of different ones and won't make that mistake again. I did make a little bit of money (not near as much as I put into it) with MLM but as a whole, it's very difficult. Your pay is based more on recruiting other people into the business to also make sales, versus the amount of product that YOU actually sell. Generally also, the products are more expensive that what you would get by purchasing through a non-MLM company. I would imagine that Primerica (and NAA) are no exceptions.

 

[AlTheGud1sRtakn]

The primerica agent that I met with several years ago (before I had ever even considered getting into this business) got my name from a friend who had just gotten married and bought life insurance from him. The friend thought that I was someone who would like to learn more about investing, and I did want to learn more, so I agreed to meet with the agent. We talked for a long time and he didn't try to cram life insurance down my throat so he at least had that going for him, but we didn't talk about actual investments AT ALL. All he talked about was how much money he makes and how much I could make just by recruiting people. I told him I was happy with my current job and just wanted to learn about ways someone like me (didn't make a lot of money at the time. Come to think of it that part hasn't changed much!) could invest a little bit every month and have it grow. All he would talk about was building a passive income through Primerica and how that was the best investment possible and would beat anything I could hope to get from the market. I basically said "Yeah, but that's going to be a whole second job at that point so it ought to".

I'm not sure why he didn't mention anything about mutual funds. I would have been all about putting aside a few hundred every month right then and there if he had even given me the most basic explanation of how they work (I was still young and clueless). Isn't buy term and invest the difference supposed to be their whole thing? He couldn't have touched on the investment side just a bit? Yet all he talked about was becoming an agent and recruiting.

From what I understand that is more or less everyone's experience.

 

[unic.consulting]

The primerica agent that I met with several years ago (before I had ever even considered getting into this business) got my name from a friend who had just gotten married and bought life insurance from him. The friend thought that I was someone who would like to learn more about investing, and I did want to learn more, so I agreed to meet with the agent. We talked for a long time and he didn't try to cram life insurance down my throat so he at least had that going for him, but we didn't talk about actual investments AT ALL. All he talked about was how much money he makes and how much I could make just by recruiting people. I told him I was happy with my current job and just wanted to learn about ways someone like me (didn't make a lot of money at the time. Come to think of it that part hasn't changed much!) could invest a little bit every month and have it grow. All he would talk about was building a passive income through Primerica and how that was the best investment possible and would beat anything I could hope to get from the market. I basically said "Yeah, but that's going to be a whole second job at that point so it ought to".

I'm not sure why he didn't mention anything about mutual funds. I would have been all about putting aside a few hundred every month right then and there if he had even given me the most basic explanation of how they work (I was still young and clueless). Isn't buy term and invest the difference supposed to be their whole thing? He couldn't have touched on the investment side just a bit? Yet all he talked about was becoming an agent and recruiting.

From what I understand that is more or less everyone's experience.

That's because recruiting was what his career was. I doubt he even really cared about the insurance/investing side.