Hi all,
This is my first post, but have lurked here for a while, and have appreciated the information I have gathered from this community. I have recently obtained both my P&C and Life & Health licenses in the state of Michigan. I have spent a number of years in financial services, but have no experience with insurance until now. I have been offered a contract with Michigan Farm Bureau, but having read this forum a good deal, I realize there are mixed feelings about working as a captive agent. I am looking for advice as to how I should proceed.
With Farm Bureau I will get a salary of $30,000 my first year in addition to my regular commission, plus $550 per month to offset E&O and personal healthcare expenses, etc. In addition to this over the first 5 years they offer a "quick start" program where they will cover all of my office expenses and I can earn 1.5 to 3 times my regular commissions if I hit certain goals which are reviewed every 6 months. The base commission is 9.5%/12% for new auto/home respectively and 7.5%/9.5% respectively on renewals. Life is 30-50% on new policies and 5-10% on renewals for up to 7 years and then drop off completely.
I can see that there are significant benefits in starting captive with regard to training/support, both educationally and financial support. However, I know there are significant advantages to being independent as well. Also, if I were to consider going independent what is the best way to go about it? I know garnering appointments is very difficult. I'm curious to get some opinions from those with experience in this industry. I realize it's not an easy industry to have success, but given hard work, and hopefully using information I've found here and avoiding some pitfalls in the early going I can build a successful business in time. Thanks in advance... if I left out any important details please let me know and I'll be happy to clarify.
This is my first post, but have lurked here for a while, and have appreciated the information I have gathered from this community. I have recently obtained both my P&C and Life & Health licenses in the state of Michigan. I have spent a number of years in financial services, but have no experience with insurance until now. I have been offered a contract with Michigan Farm Bureau, but having read this forum a good deal, I realize there are mixed feelings about working as a captive agent. I am looking for advice as to how I should proceed.
With Farm Bureau I will get a salary of $30,000 my first year in addition to my regular commission, plus $550 per month to offset E&O and personal healthcare expenses, etc. In addition to this over the first 5 years they offer a "quick start" program where they will cover all of my office expenses and I can earn 1.5 to 3 times my regular commissions if I hit certain goals which are reviewed every 6 months. The base commission is 9.5%/12% for new auto/home respectively and 7.5%/9.5% respectively on renewals. Life is 30-50% on new policies and 5-10% on renewals for up to 7 years and then drop off completely.
I can see that there are significant benefits in starting captive with regard to training/support, both educationally and financial support. However, I know there are significant advantages to being independent as well. Also, if I were to consider going independent what is the best way to go about it? I know garnering appointments is very difficult. I'm curious to get some opinions from those with experience in this industry. I realize it's not an easy industry to have success, but given hard work, and hopefully using information I've found here and avoiding some pitfalls in the early going I can build a successful business in time. Thanks in advance... if I left out any important details please let me know and I'll be happy to clarify.
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