Life insurance agent careers
Plain guides for anyone thinking about becoming a life insurance agent: the license, carrier contracts, how commission works, where buyers come from, and how to tell whether it fits you. Each guide says who it is not for.
- 1,000+Licensed agents
- 40+A-rated carriers
- 50States served
Start here
The path from no license to a first policy, and whether it fits you.
How to become a life insurance agent
The full path from license to first policy, in six steps.
Read the guide →
Life insurance agent job description: duties, skills and a typical week
Duties, skills, a typical week, and how captive and independent roles differ.
Read the guide →
Is life insurance sales a good career?
An honest look at the upside, the commission reality, and who it suits.
Read the guide →
Can you be a part-time life insurance agent?
What part time really means for licensing, follow-up, taxes, and fit.
Read the guide →
New life insurance agent checklist: from exam to first policy
Ten steps in order, from license to your first week of conversations.
Read the guide →
Life insurance agent vs financial advisor: what is the difference?
Licenses, regulators, standards of conduct and pay for each role, and how to check credentials.
Read the guide →
Licensing
The license, the exam, and what your state requires.
How to get a life insurance license
Pre-licensing, the exam, fingerprints, and what a second state takes.
Read the guide →
How to pass the life insurance licensing exam
Real question counts, pass marks, test-day rules and retake limits from three states.
Read the guide →
How to get a Florida life insurance license
The Florida 2-15 license, step by step, from the state's own requirements.
Read the guide →
How to get a Texas life insurance license
The Texas life agent license, step by step: exam, fingerprints, application, and the temporary license.
Read the guide →
How to get a Georgia life insurance license
The Georgia Life license, step by step: course, exam, affidavit, fingerprints, and the temporary license.
Read the guide →
How to get an Ohio life insurance license
The Ohio Life license, step by step: 20-hour course, PSI exam, fingerprints, application and CE.
Read the guide →
How to get a Pennsylvania life insurance license
The Pennsylvania Life license, step by step: PSI exam, application, fingerprints and CE.
Read the guide →
How to get a North Carolina life insurance license
The North Carolina Life license, step by step: NIPR application, Pearson VUE exam, fingerprints and CE.
Read the guide →
How to get an Illinois life insurance license
The Illinois Life license, step by step: 20-hour course, two exams, the five-day wait and CE.
Read the guide →
How to get an Arizona life insurance license
The Arizona Life license, step by step: PSI exam, fingerprints, the NIPR application and four-year CE.
Read the guide →
How to get a Tennessee life insurance license
The Tennessee Life license, step by step: Pearson VUE exam, fingerprints, application and CE.
Read the guide →
Life insurance agent continuing education: what each state requires
Hours, ethics rules, carryover and late costs in nine states, and what to do about them.
Read the guide →
Pay and contracts
What federal data says, how commission works, and how carrier contracts work.
Life insurance agent salary: what the data says
The federal pay figure, why commission pay varies, and how to read income claims.
Read the guide →
How life insurance agent commission works
First-year and renewal pay, contract levels, chargebacks, and what to ask.
Read the guide →
Insurance carrier contracting: how appointments work
Contracts versus appointments, what carriers ask for, and how agencies help.
Read the guide →
What is an independent life insurance agent?
Independent vs captive, and what an IMO, FMO or agency does for you.
Read the guide →
Training, leads and how the work runs
Where buyers come from, how good training looks, and where you work.
Life insurance leads for agents: where they come from
The kinds of leads, what they cost, and the questions to ask an agency.
Read the guide →
Life insurance agent training programs: what good training includes
How to judge an agency's training, what to ask, and what to avoid.
Read the guide →
Final expense agent training: what a good program teaches
What the products, underwriting and conversation involve, and what to ask.
Read the guide →
Working from home as a life insurance agent
What you need, how a day runs, and who it suits.
Read the guide →
Becoming a bilingual life insurance agent
Serving Spanish and Portuguese speaking families, and what it asks of you.
Read the guide →
How Checkmate works with agents
Checkmate Financial Group is an independent life insurance agency in Orlando, Florida. People call us ready to buy, and agents answer inbound calls and work qualified web leads. Agents compare 40+ A-rated carriers, train live every day, and work in a portal that holds their CRM, leads, training, and payouts. New to the business is fine.
We do not publish agent income figures or promise earnings. Read the full offer on the agent page, then apply or call and ask your hardest question.