I am an insurance agent. So many negative and hilarious posts about my job. Thought I’ll offer another perspective to some people who are considering joining.

My credentials: I am under 30, in this line for years, quarter-million annual taxable income, MDRT and all the other awards, blah blah blah….

Do not underestimate the privilege of having no liabilities & responsibilities.

I joined this line at 21, and only needed to take care of myself financially. This means I could afford to earn only $12k a year back then while building my career slowly and organically. Treating every day working as a learning opportunity rather than being super despo to close the sale. Those desperate to close the sale usually fail because consumers are not idiots. Then it becomes a vicious cycle, no sale = no money = more despo. Trust me, you will earn like shit the first few years. That’s normal. Those “successful”, “young” agents that earn money “fast” are liars. There are so many dirty tricks in this industry to con the consumers. If you know you know.

Literally get good at money.

So many agents only call themselves “investment specialists” but can only sell their companies’ ILP. That’s bulls… I know so many junior agents that do not even have a brokerage account and whatever issues the client has, ILP will always be the answer.

While you are earning like shit, you should invest your own money and be legit good. Attend courses like CFA, CFP, ChFC, Certified Private Banking etc and APPLY the knowledge learnt. Do your own investments, talk to doctors to be aware of medical trends, be extremely familiar with all the different hospitals processes. Personally, I have certain qualifications and run my own investment holdings company, hence clients trust my advice more than some XMM in a LV bag talking about why her ILP is the best.

Network like f***.

Consumers can buy insurance online and this trend will increase in the future. So what is the agent’s value proposition? I am the problem solver. Need some free legal advice? I can set up an informal dinner with my lawyer clients. Need a medical appt soon, I can bypass the long waiting time and set one for you within 3 days. Need to divorce your spouse? I know many private investigators and dirty tricks to increase your chances of winning. Need car mechanics and workshops? I get kickbacks from the shops and pass it to you as a form of savings. Need renovators and interior designers? I know people. Wanna get a job in IB (JP, UBS, Morgan Stanley etc), I know people, lemme set up a lunch. This network is exclusive to paying customers only, not even my extended family or friends have access to it, unless they are paying customers. The more the customers pay, the more priority you get in my network. So, it becomes a bidding war among customers and it makes good business sense.

That’s all. You can earn a lot in this career, but it is all blood sweat and tears. Young naive people also quite dumb ah, you think can just suka suka earn $100K fresh out of school, with no qualifications meh? There is always a price to pay, hope this enlightens people out there.

Maybe I shall do a confession exposing how agents appear successful? and churning practices? hahahahaha