Insurance Agent Forum

[dgoldenz]

Just curious how old everyone was when they started selling insurance and how they got into the business in the first place...

[SoCalBroker]

19 - started in the mailroom .... then accounting - then customer service. The agency principal was Old School [ My Dad ]

Left the biz to work in construction and go to JUCO. Realized the family biz wasnt so bad after all :-)

22 - licensed for both P&C and Life/Health

Haines Criss Cross Directory, a phone, my walkin shoes and one of the first IBM dual floppie pc's - and off I went.

I recall the elation as I plugged in the agency's first thermal FAX machine and sent a submission to an underwriter. Damn Im an old fogey [at 43]

[xrac]

At the tender age of 49 I sold the first prospect I ever sat down with for AIL. That was exciting.

[somarco]

22, part time, while in college.

Full time 2 yrs later.

NOYB how old I am now.

[emptyeternity]

I started selling Surety Insurance in 06, when I was 24, third generation. End of last year I got lic. for l&h.

[Markingriffin]

I grew up in the business. Both my father and grandfather were insurance agents.

I was always around ins agents growing up.

I got my lic at age 21.

I got into this business because of my father and I wanted what he had and to copy him.

[Norwayguy]

I was 23, had just moved to a new area and there were not many jobs but certainly a lot of Insurance Agent openings....while interviewing with NYL the manager asked me if I could see people asking my advice in financial situations, could I see it,...it was already happening and as I thought about it more my Uncle had been in insurance my entire life and Grandfather was an old pru debit agent and I had friends that had tried the insurance business....So after a couple wrong turns in the early years I'm still here 10 years later.

[ABC]

I started at 23 now 33. I was managing two Fitness center and selling gym memberships as employee benefits to businesses from a payroll deduction standpoint.

So I decided to to actually sell employee benefits.
Still worked the gym biz for my first 3 years in insurance.

[Paradigm]

I started on the securities side in early 20's and moved to the insurance side 10 years ago.

[insuranceexec]

Very interesting thread! Kudos to the poster!

Intern during college for a CAPTIVE GROUP.

Full-time after college with L&H, and series 7 for 3 years with the same captive group.

Got smarter.......LOL. Went independent on the L&H side, got my series 24 on the securities side.

I have been building and growing ever since. Obviously during the last 10-11 years you can add: marriage, child, grad school, another child, exchange student, and then law school..........LOL.

If I had to do over I would only change the exchange student....................HaHaHa!

[DJM]

Right after my 20th birthday i got my L&H license and went captive. i am now in the process of getting an independent agency set up.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by dgoldenz

Just curious how old everyone was when they started selling insurance and how they got into the business in the first place...

I was 26. I'm now 51.

Southern L & H, debit company, needed an agent. Did that for 2+ years and have been an independent agent since. Before insurance I was an FM disc-jockey....hence my avatar w/Zeppelin.......

[briko3]

So you wanted to exchange your exchange student? That's great

[Hollywood Broker]

24 and Loving It! I was pitched while working at Unieted Health Care as a Customer Service Rep. Ever since that day, I have been thanking them for introducing me into a lucrative, professional career!

[chp]

Started at 28, my sister was selling MEGA and told me how wonderful it was. I wanted to run my own business, watched her give a presentation and realized...this is easy, I can do this. That was 8 years ago. Started with Mega, worked my way up, then a bit over a year ago went indy. Best thing I ever did.

[Texas Insurance Guy]

28 and recruited into this company called NAA. Anyone ever heard of them? lol

[insuranceexec]

Originally Posted by briko3

So you wanted to exchange your exchange student? That's great

To make a long story very short. Yes.................LOL

[wfs]

I was 19, now 36.

[Newby]

I was 36 years old and had been in the motorcycle business for the past 19-years. I was in the process of buying my own dealership and took a job with a local funeral home thinking it would be very short term while I was in the process of buying my new business.

My job at the funeral home was to sell ForeThought insurance. At that time ForeThought was owned by the Batesville Casket Company. For training you went to their corporate offices for some training and to tour the casket manufacturing facility.

Now this is the part that sidetracked my entire business plan. Back in those days ForeThought had ZERO underwriting...as in...you could put a big "X" over the health questions on the application. And everyone had immeadiete 1st day coverage of 30% for 6-months, 70% months 7-12 and 100% after 12-months and this included if you had Aids, Cancer, Heart Attack this morning and even if you were under hospice care.

Selling funeral preplanning policies under those conditions was the easiest job in the world and paid well.

Over the years I've branched out into all the other senior insurance products.

I've never regretted going into the insurance business instead of staying with motorcycles. it's MUCH less stressful and the hours are way better. I've been in insurance now for 13-years.

[GreenSky]

Originally Posted by Paradigm

I started on the securities side in early 20's and moved to the insurance side 10 years ago.

You were in securities in the 1920s?

I needed a part-time job to afford tuition at UCLA in 1976. A P&C agency hired me, I became office manager after about 2 years.

Although I left the industry for about 10 years to work in politics, I returned by working for Secure Horizons in the mid 90's, going independent in 1997.

Rick