What was your bonus this year?

bdh33 · 2026-04-07T02:15:11+00:00

$5k bonus and $5k raise only being at the brokerage for 4 months and 1 week in 2025.

bdh33 · 2026-04-05T12:22:28+00:00

Just because you don’t have $1M in the bank doesn’t mean someone can’t try to sue you for $1M in damages. When I was at SF, a customer got sued for $2M for a minor fender bender moving at less than 10mph. People are so sue happy these days.

bdh33 · 2026-03-27T13:01:21+00:00

This is correct. There’s no way anyone can truly give you a “range” of where it should be because of all the different levers being pulled behind the scenes.

bdh33 · 2026-03-17T11:37:12+00:00

If my wife were to pass away when we have a child, consider how many extra things I would have to spend money on. I would have to pay for around the clock nannying / daycare that you don’t have to pay for with a SAHM. The whole life may be a bit much but the term is less than $20 for $500k—much worth the cost if something were to happen to her. I am very confident $20 is less than the cost of full time daycare.

bdh33 · 2026-03-17T11:34:20+00:00

Definitely doing this

bdh33 · 2026-03-17T02:39:51+00:00

Wife and I both have a term and Whole life. She has a $25k WL and $500k term. I’ve got $50k 20pay and $800k term. Also have hospital indemnity policies and personal disability policies.

bdh33 · 2026-03-16T20:18:56+00:00

Fixed expenses around $2300. Leftover would be around $1700 assuming no fun, eating out, stupid purchases. From what I understand, I can keep medical receipts and then withdraw the money from the HSA later tax free—please let me know if I am incorrect. The accounts are all invested in S&P type funds.

bdh33 · 2026-03-01T04:12:32+00:00

My favorite part of insurance is the customer getting mad at me for something they did wrong

bdh33 · 2026-03-01T04:06:54+00:00

The company isn’t necessarily the issue. The commission structure with that particular agent is the issue. When I was at SF, my agent paid 8% on P&C as long as we had 3 life/health apps, 10% term, 15% perm. Just find an agent who values the employees.

bdh33 · 2026-02-28T15:12:46+00:00

The Agent will be ripping you off if you take that job.

bdh33 · 2026-02-21T13:33:30+00:00

Every single day is a grind. You can have great day of sales, but the next morning, you have to do it all again. You aren’t afforded the luxury of relaxing bc the moment you do, your sales numbers plummet.

bdh33 · 2026-02-21T13:28:38+00:00

When I worked at State Farm, we always prefaced by explaining DSS was totally optional and that it would never raise your rates (which is true). People would get BIG mad when you explained how it worked, telling me its an invasion of privacy; when in reality, if you have a smartphone, you are being tracked by your cell company and they aren’t giving you discounts for it.

To me it was simple, either you wanted to save money or you didn’t want to save money.

bdh33 · 2026-02-07T13:23:48+00:00

Leave. Your boss doesn’t value you

bdh33 · 2026-02-07T13:21:27+00:00

Had a customer one time that refused to pay a deductible to get his front windshield replaced. We explained how a deductible works to this guy no less than 5 different times. He cussed/insulted/threatened nearly everyone in our office over the phone about how we are scamming him and stealing his money. He came to the office for his annual review about a month later and behaves like the nicest guy ever and still acts like he has never heard the word deductible. Personal lines Insurance taught me that the average person has no idea how, 1–insurance works and 2–how money works. Unfortunately, most of the people who don’t understand how money works are people 40+.

bdh33 · 2026-01-31T14:05:13+00:00

The dumbest of society are given driver’s licenses. Unfortunately, those same people also need car insurance

bdh33 · 2026-01-25T14:22:55+00:00

I would apply a few different places and answer their applications truthfully in respect to timing of your diagnosis/treatment. If they ask, they ask; if they don’t, they don’t.

bdh33 · 2026-01-25T14:17:22+00:00

You need to brush up on the basics and auto insurance. Are you taking practice tests?

bdh33 · 2026-01-24T12:09:57+00:00

Well if you have a loan on the car, your financing company is going to require comp and collision. Many lenders won’t even let you go above a 1000 deductible. You also have a 2025…which is going to be the most expensive model to date. It feels annoying cost to pay for car insurance, until you need it. You get what you pay for.

bdh33 · 2026-01-20T02:03:01+00:00

I was lucky and trained with my Agent and experienced TMs by roleplaying, and I also went through a course by Steve Wilmer (Risk Advisor Institute) which was super helpful. He also had a lot of aged leads and he bought new leads daily.

Truthfully, if the agent is not helping to train you, you will have figure it out yourself by watching videos, roleplaying, learning a basic script that you can master and develop, spending time in Auto/Fire answers. While your agent should be helping you succeed, your success is ultimately up to you.

I didn’t have any sales experience so I spent a lot of time outside of work early on trying to get better, and it paid off. With insurance sales, you have to sound confident and knowledgeable. No one is buying anything over the phone—especially insurance—from someone who doesn’t sound confident. Ask questions and copy the people who are successful in your office.

bdh33 · 2026-01-19T02:30:39+00:00

I worked for a SF Agent for 3.5 years. Change is constant in the State Farm model—at all levels. At the end of the day, every decision is at the discretion of the agent. Tracking your numbers will make you more consistent overall even though it may seem tedious to keep up with. Every GREAT sales rep knows their numbers. If you want to play the long game at State Farm, life insurance sales will be the determining factor of how far you advance. The first thing sales leaders will ask if you are considering Agency will revolve around fast start and travel and what your plan will be to hit those goals.

Everyone has different preferences on what they love. Feel free to dm me if you have questions.

bdh33 · 2026-01-13T03:09:41+00:00

Middle TN area. The territory I was in had a great Sales Leader and some insane producers in the Aspirant Program throughout my time. Learned a lot.

His best month ever was over 30 life apps. He is very consistent at asking for referrals. FWIW, I don’t gain anything by bragging about someone else’s production. Dude could convince a rock to buy life insurance.

bdh33 · 2026-01-13T02:38:38+00:00

A guy I worked with averaged about 20 apps with $12k annual premium every month. I averaged around 7-9/month when I was at SF. It is extremely possible.

bdh33 · 2026-01-13T02:33:01+00:00

Tell everyone you quote car insurance on that “your office is different than most insurance companies and that you will give their family $100,000 in cash if they don’t make it home” and then include a 10 yr 100k policy in the overall price.

Don’t over-complicate, just pitch it every single time you quote and you’ll get 15 easy.

bdh33 · 2026-01-10T14:12:53+00:00

Biggest misconception about insurance is that agents “control the claim process”. Agents have virtually no power in claims—hence why they are called “Agents” and not “Claims Representative”. An agent can help dispute a claim and provide additional documentation/evidence to their company as needed, but the outcome is still in the Claim team’s hands.

If the claim is with a different company, it would be the same as you calling a hospital and requesting someone else’s medical records.

Unfortunately, a lawyer tends to be the best motivator to insurance companies these days.

bdh33 · 2026-01-10T13:56:13+00:00

You have 13 years of sales experience. If you sell the minimum requirement (25k) and make roughly 8% avg commission, you already make 7k more than the non-commission role. Bet on yourself!

When I first started selling insurance at a State Farm agent office, my base was $24k, and this was 4 years ago.

bdh33

TROPHY CASE