What is the commission for a life insurance agent?

Asked by: Juliana Larson  |  Last update: March 6, 2025
Score: 4.1/5 (62 votes)

Typically, a life insurance agent receives anywhere from 30% to 90% of the amount paid for a policy (also known as the premium) by the client in the first year. In later years, the agent may receive anywhere from 3% to 10% of each year's premium, also known as "renewals" or "trailing commissions."

How much does a life insurance agent make per deal?

The most common way life insurance agents make money is through commissions. Generally, agents receive front-loaded commissions of 40% to up to 115% of the policy's first-year premiums, although the figure for renewals falls steeply to about 1% or 2%.

How much do you make for selling a life insurance policy?

Whether you are selling them to employers or individuals, these policies tend to be large, with significant annual premiums. In the first year, a life insurance agent can earn anywhere from 30% to 90% of this premium, along with 5% to 10% of premiums paid in later years.

What is a good commission rate for insurance agents?

As an independent agent the commissions to the agency vary between 5% and 25%. The average is 15% for those policies. The agent gets between 35 and 50% of the commission normally.

What is the profit margin of an insurance agent?

According to industry experts, most insurance agency owners operate with an average profit margin of 2% to 10%.

For New Insurance Agents - How Commissions Work!

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How do life insurance agents get paid?

Typically, a life insurance agent receives anywhere from 30% to 90% of the amount paid for a policy (also known as the premium) by the client in the first year. In later years, the agent may receive anywhere from 3% to 10% of each year's premium, also known as "renewals" or "trailing commissions."

What is the commission for selling life insurance?

How Life Insurance Agents Earn Income. Most of a life insurance agent's earnings will come from commissions. For every policy sold, the insurance agent earns a large upfront commission. This rate can range from 40% to 100% of the first-year premium, the amount the policyholder pays for the policy.

What is a reasonable commission rate?

A reasonable commission rate depends on the base salary offered, the value of the sale, and the time required to close a deal. A range of 20%-30% is most often cited as a reasonable commission rate. The average salary-to-commission ratio in the U.S. sits at 60:40.

How hard is it to sell life insurance?

A career as a life insurance sales professional can be challenging. The competition is fierce, and you may experience a lot of rejection before a successful sale. Conducting business in the comforts of your home isn't any different. You should be willing to put in the effort for your venture to grow.

How much can you sell a $100,000 life insurance policy for?

A typical life settlement is worth around 20% of your policy value, but can range from 10-25%. So for a 100,000 dollar policy, you would be looking at anywhere from 10,000 to 25,000 dollars.

How to calculate life insurance commission?

Take your base commission and multiply that by the premium that's paid on the insurance policy you sold. If you have an override, multiply that amount by the premium as well. Take the amounts of both of those calculations and add them together to get the final amount you will earn in commission.

Is selling life insurance a good hustle?

In our opinion, it doesn't hurt that insurance is a lucrative business. You can gain commissions on the plans that you sell, so it's entirely up to you how much you want to hustle. You can also make more money with consistent renewals, so it pays in the long run to have loyal clients.

Which life insurance company pays agents the most?

Top paying companies in Insurance for Life Insurance Agent are National Agents Alliance, New York Life, and National Income Life.

Do insurance agents have a base pay?

Because an insurance agent's salary is on a commission basis, it really is up to each agent to determine what his or her annual income target is.

Which insurance company pays the highest commissions?

Some of the companies that offer high commission rates to their agents are HDFC Life, Max Life, ICICI Prudential, and Kotak Mahindra. These companies also have attractive incentive schemes and bonus programs for their top-performing agents.

Is commission taxed?

All wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, and tips are taxable, even if they are not reported on Form W-2. Compensation received by an employee for services performed. A bonus is given in addition to an employee's usual compensation.

What is the normal commission?

normal commission means an amount of commission which the member would normally charge to that customer or a similarly situated customer in the ordinary course of business in transactions of similar size and having similar characteristics but not involving a security taken in trade.

How do I calculate my commission rate?

This is a very basic calculation revolving around percentages. Just take the sale price, multiply it by the commission percentage, and divide it by 100. An example calculation: a blue widget is sold for $70 . The salesperson works on a commission — they get 14% out of every transaction, which amounts to $9.80 .

What is an example of a commission on a life insurance policy?

However, it is typically based on a percentage of the premium paid for the insurance policy. For example, if the insurance policy has a premium of $1000 and the commission rate is 10%, the insurance agent or broker would earn a commission of $100.

Why did I quit being an insurance agent?

There's two big reasons why insurance agents quit: they don't feel valued, and they aren't given the technology they need to do their jobs well. In addition, managing commissions while hitting performance goals is a stressful part of the job for many insurance agents.

Is selling life insurance taxable?

The portion of the sale amount you receive that is equal to what you've paid in premiums (your “cost basis”) will not be taxed. The portion that exceeds your cost basis, but is less than the cash value of the policy, is subject to income tax. Lastly, any amount above the cash value is subject to capital tax gains.

What is the most profitable type of insurance to sell?

Life insurance is the most profitable—and the hardest—type of insurance to sell. With the highest premiums and the longest-running contract, it brings in cash over a long period of time. In the first year, agents make the largest annual sum on a policy, bringing in anywhere from 40–120% of the policy premium.

What is the ratio of life insurance to salary?

Many pundits recommend buying life insurance equal to a multiple of your salary. For example, one financial advice columnist recommends buying insurance equal to 20 times your salary before taxes.