I just got my property and casualy license and was wandering if i should get my life and health also?

Question

i'm wandering if both of them will benefit me , and would it be better to get them and open up my own company as soon as i get enough experience

Answer 1

You bet it's a good idea.  People would like having one knowledgable agent for everything.

Answer 2

Tom Z said it perfectly.  Both areas are distinctly different from on another and clients buy each for different reasons.  Regardless of you are working at a local independent agency, for a captive company or eventually open you own agency, having both will make you more marketable, well-rounded, more knowledgable and hopefully help you earn more throughout your career.

One is a "demand" product - P&C; must have car insurance, property insurance (if you own), business commercial, etc.  Because of this, initially more people will be willing to speak with you.

The other - L&H - is an emotional" product and more of an "intangible" (not so much with health, though).  With life insurance, less people will want to meet with you - but plenty will.

As a result, both have different and longer sales cycles, different motivating factors, different companies offering their products / services.

In a nutshell:  having both will expose you to more side of the insurance industry; in time, you will likely gravite to that which is more suited to you.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Sure it would be good, especially if you are looking to open your agency.  the more licenses you have, the more product you can sell, the money you can make.  life and health license is a fairly easy test to pass.

Answer 4

In most cases I would say absolutely not. The P&C business is completely different from the life and health business. The way the products are solds, who they are sold to and especially hpow they are marketed is a very different animal. Your liability and compensation is far greater in life and health and unless you are really comiited no one should sideline in it.

The P&C business is completely commoditzed. In life insurance, when sold properly has much less to do with price than it does personality. Another huge difference is that life and health must be SOLD, whereas P&C is mostly mandatory to buy.

Answer 5

It is a good idea to have both licenses available. That being said I can tell you that it is hard to be the "jack of all trades". Property & Casualty insurance is significantly different than Life & Health so it is hard to be expert and keep up to date on both lines.

Being realistic you will need to specialize in one or the other. If you are a P&C agent you might write the occassional term life policy or individual health policy but you will not be writing the mega life cases that require detailed knowledge of tax laws and estate planning. You will not be writing the large group benefits cases without detailed knowledge of products and procedures.

If you specialize in life and health you will probably be referring P&C cases to an associate.

Go for both licenses but don't think you will be an expert in both areas. These disciplines are worlds apart.

Answer 6

YES! One sale of either product to your P&C clients will more than make up for the cost & time to acquire it!