Recent College Grad, Should I Work for New York Life?

[CamaroRacing12]

I dont know much if any at all about finance and insurance and anything of the nature. I am pretty green. I have been interviewing with New York Life in Boston to become a financial planner and they seem to like me (just got back from my 4th interview today)

Now the position is 100% commission (which to be honest worries me) but the commission structure seems great. It seems like a good job but just a risky thing because i wont make any money until i make my first sale which could be months from now.

I dont really have a defined question but I am just looking for advice is this a good career path? if so is this a good way to start it? is no base pay a common thing in the insurance world? any and all advice would be much appreciated

thank you

tony

 

[VolAgent]

Four interviews? Wow, they are really flogging you, that or they sense you are unsure and keep dragging you in, hoping you'll say yes.

I suggest you start interviewing them just as hard as they are interviewing you. Start asking how they plan for you to get in front of people. Project 200 isn't a sufficient answer. Ask what they plan for you to do if that isn't enough. NYL will put you through LUTCF in house, so hopefully you'll learn to sell. But you need people to sell too.

 

[Josh]

Depends on your situation. If you have enough time to go without paying your bills and want a great learning experience with the chance of making some solid money, it's a great option. Probably at most 4/100 folks that start in the industry are still in it 13 months later. Tough odds to beat.

 

[CamaroRacing12]

Four interviews? Wow, they are really flogging you, that or they sense you are unsure and keep dragging you in, hoping you'll say yes.

I suggest you start interviewing them just as hard as they are interviewing you. Start asking how they plan for you to get in front of people. Project 200 isn't a sufficient answer. Ask what they plan for you to do if that isn't enough. NYL will put you through LUTCF in house, so hopefully you'll learn to sell. But you need people to sell too.

haha i think they sensed i was unsure.....

yes he mentioned project 200 lol. he said that it is all about referrals and once u make some deals connections will be made and leads would be generated. also he said its all about netowrking yourself and marketing urself out there.

Depends on your situation. If you have enough time to go without paying your bills and want a great learning experience with the chance of making some solid money, it's a great option. Probably at most 4/100 folks that start in the industry are still in it 13 months later. Tough odds to beat.

those are very tough odds to beat but i believe I can do it. My situation is good. i have very little bills and live at home. but i would of loved to start making some money for hobbies I have (drag racing and boating) it sounds like 3/4's of the job of a financial planner is just meeting new people and getting your name out there. but like i said i have no idea.

all i know is i'd love to make good money



I also have been talking with liberty mutual and they offer $40k base pay for the first 13 weeks which would be all training before u start selling then when training is over base pay is cut in about half and commission starts. Does that sound better? that position is for life/auto/home insurance sales only

 

[4life]

This is normal for New York Life unlike other places (AFLAC) where all you need is a heartbeat New York Life does screen. My advice to you is this before you say yes setup appointments with the different managers if you can or get some back ground on them. Find out who has the most success in taking trainees to the Million Dollar Round table and go with that manager.

 

[jhuang]

There's always good money if you help don't think about helping people the right way.

Good luck!

 

[Chazm]

haha i think they sensed i was unsure.....

yes he mentioned project 200 lol. he said that it is all about referrals and once u make some deals connections will be made and leads would be generated. also he said its all about netowrking yourself and marketing urself out there.




those are very tough odds to beat but i believe I can do it. My situation is good. i have very little bills and live at home. but i would of loved to start making some money for hobbies I have (drag racing and boating) it sounds like 3/4's of the job of a financial planner is just meeting new people and getting your name out there. but like i said i have no idea.

all i know is i'd love to make good money



I also have been talking with liberty mutual and they offer $40k base pay for the first 13 weeks which would be all training before u start selling then when training is over base pay is cut in about half and commission starts. Does that sound better? that position is for life/auto/home insurance sales only

Project 200 is just pulling out your cell phone and calling all of your friends and relatives and then calling all of your friends relatives and your relatives friends...lol

The odds are definitely against you but if you have very little bills and "live at home" (don't we all ) then it will be easier. Just don't fall in their trap when they say you'll be bringing home lots of money in no time....and then you go spend money you don't have.

As far as referrals go, yes you will EVENTUALLY get referrals but it will be a small trickle. 2.5 years in the biz and I get maybe 2-3 a month. Not enough to live on but I love when I get one!

As far as LM goes, if they give you $800/week to start they will expect you to produce or you go bye bye. Personally, I would rather stay 100% commission. If you get a salary you are going to get lower commissions.

 

[Josh]

If I had to bet on your career I would take the gamble on Liberty Mutual long before I'd think you'd be successful at NYL.

I don't have the numbers, and I don't know that they exist, but I would imagine the success rates at LM are at least 10 times what they are at NYL.

 

[CamaroRacing12]

Project 200 is just pulling out your cell phone and calling all of your friends and relatives and then calling all of your friends relatives and your relatives friends...lol

The odds are definitely against you but if you have very little bills and "live at home" (don't we all ) then it will be easier. Just don't fall in their trap when they say you'll be bringing home lots of money in no time....and then you go spend money you don't have.

As far as referrals go, yes you will EVENTUALLY get referrals but it will be a small trickle. 2.5 years in the biz and I get maybe 2-3 a month. Not enough to live on but I love when I get one!

As far as LM goes, if they give you $800/week to start they will expect you to produce or you go bye bye. Personally, I would rather stay 100% commission. If you get a salary you are going to get lower commissions.

thats exactly what i was thinking. lowww commission if there is a base pay.

If I had to bet on your career I would take the gamble on Liberty Mutual long before I'd think you'd be successful at NYL.

I don't have the numbers, and I don't know that they exist, but I would imagine the success rates at LM are at least 10 times what they are at NYL.

why? why would u think that?

 

[Josh]

Talk to 10 LM agents and then talk to 10 NYL agents. The problem with NYL is that you're odds of developing any type of a steady income are fantastically low. The model of sell your family and friends insurance, then sell their family and friends insurance must have worked in the past, but in order to be truly successful at that you need to have multiple ways of marketing yourself and NYL has a less then stellar track record if you take a look at the number of agents that fail on their system. The ones that succeed do quite well for themselves, but they are the exception and not the rule. Most of the folks at LM aren't going to retire millionaires, but they have a steady situation and most of them probably make more than most NYL agents.

As a point of reference, NYL cuts your commissions too. As a true independent you can get better products and better commissions. NYL has a great training program, but they're not going to take care of you the way that LM will.

If you go with NYL I think you're regret it as much as 94/100 people do after 13 months. That's a fantastically high failure rate when you consider the amount of time and energy you'll put into most likely not making any money.

This is oversimplifying the issue, but as an agent that as done life as well as p&c, it's a hell of a lot easier to ask your friends/family/acquaintances/anyone if they want to save money on their insurance then it is to prospect with a life portfolio that is not competitive against any indy life agent.