Being an insurance agent for one of the best insurance companies in the United States can seem like a great opportunity- but are these employees working much harder than they bargained for? Here is a comparison on salaries for these life insurance companies as well as their workplace environment.

Northwestern Mutual

Number of Agents: Over 6,400 nationwide

Product Offerings: Life Insurance, Disability Insurance, LTC, Annuities, Investments, Planning Services

nw team.jpg — **Dress Code:** Business formal
**Base Salary:** $100/week
**Commission:** 50%
**Startup Expenses:** Licensing costs paid for

State Farm

Number of Agents: Over 19,000 independent contractor agents

Product Offerings: Auto, Homeowners, Business, Renters, Life, Health, Pet, Disability, Boat, Retirement, Estate Insurance and Annuity.

uniform sf.jpg — **Dress Code:** Red shirt/polo, jeans
**Base Salary:** $0
**Commission:** Commission rate starts at 7% for new agents, who work their way up to 10%
**Startup Expenses:** Vary based on individual business decisions

New York Life

Number of Agents: 12,000 agents

Product Offerings: Life Insurance (term life, whole life, universal life, and variable universal life), Retirement Income, Annuities, Mutual Funds, ETFs, 529 Plans, Small Business Services, Estate Planning Services, Wealth Management Services

nyl hq.jpg — **Dress Code:** Business formal
**Base Salary:** $0
**Commission:** Renewal commissions are 5% compensation for 2nd-year plans, 10% for 3rd year, 15% for 4th year, and 20% for 5th year.
**Startup Expenses:** Training allowance given for first three years if quota is met

Prudential

Number of Agents: # of agents not specified; 42,000 employees

Product Offerings: Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Retirement, Annuities, Cash Management, 529 Plans, Workplace Benefits

prudential employees.jpg — **Dress Code:** Business casual
**Base Salary:** $0
**Commission:** 50% commission of the first-year premium, term life products pay out to the agent 45% commission
**Startup Expenses:** 26-week training period where you receive a stipend salary and accrue commission and licenses

MassMutual

Number of Agents: 7,000

Product Offerings: Life Insurance, Disability Income Insurance, Individual Retirement Accounts, Annuities and IRAs, Brokerage Products, Mutual Funds, 529 Plans, Military Life Insurance

**Dress Code:** Business formal
**Base Salary:** $0
**Commission:** First-year commissions are based on a percentage of the initial sales from qualifying products
**Startup Expenses:** Upfront fees for testing and training that are not paid for, starting agents receive $200 stipend a week for their first year(s) if quota is met

Nationwide

Number of Agents: 11,000 independent agents

Product Offerings: Car, motorcycle, RV, boat, snowmobile, ATV, scooter, golf cart, renters, condo, private client, flood, homeowners, pet, farm, life, dental, identity, travel, wedding, special liability, travel, and commercial insurance. As well as annuities, mutual funds, retirement plans and specialty health services.

nw place.jpg — **Dress Code:** Business casual
**Base Salary:** $0
**Commission:** Property and casualty insurance policies pay back a commission of 10-17% depending on the specific product.
**Startup Expenses:** Licenses are required that are not paid for

MetLife

Number of Agents: Agent # not specified, 50,000 employees

Product Offerings: Auto, recreational vehicles, home, dental, life, disability, vision, accident & health, legal, pet insurances as well as annuity and long term care, retirement, and funding/financial solutions.

**Dress Code:** Business formal
**Base Salary:** Base compensation is given
**Commission:** Commission payouts given on sold policies, and other types of compensations
**Startup Expenses:** Licenses required for the state you will be residing in, not paid by MetLife

Transamerica

Number of Agents: 35,000 employees, agents not specified

Product Offerings: Life insurance, long term care, dental insurance, medicare solutions, annuities, mutual funds, individual retirement accounts (IRA), 401(k), 403 (b), pensions, employee benefits, exchange traded funds.

**Dress Code:** Business formal
**Base Salary:** $0, base pay for first year of training
**Commission:** Either fixed or based on the percentage of the premium written
**Startup Expenses:** Licenses/certifications required and paid for

World Financial Group (WFG)

Number of Agents: 42,000 contracted WFG agents.

Product Offerings: Financial strategy insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, long term care, segregated funds, guaranteed interest accounts, annuities, retirement funds, college saving plans, estate preservation, business strategies.

**Dress Code:** Business formal
**Base Salary:** $0
**Commission:** 25% commission rate, when you recruit 3 agents commission moves to a 55% rate
**Startup Expenses:** $100 start-up fee to join, $200 to $1,000 and travel expenses and lodging to attend the welcome seminar

Primerica

Number of Agents: 100,00 licensed independent agents across North America (including Canada and the United States).

Product Offerings: Financial Needs Analysis (benefits: income protection, retirement income, debt solutions, education funding, financial independence), term life insurance, mutual funds, annuities, business retirement plans, home and auto, prepaid legal, identity theft

**Dress Code:** Business formal
**Base Salary:** $0
**Commission:** Starts with 25% of 30% commission based off of the sale
**Startup Expenses:** Primerica pays for your training

Lincoln Financial Group

Number of Agents: Over 9,000 employees, and has over 1,100 registered representatives

Product Offerings: Life insurance plans, annuities, employee benefits, long term care planning, 401(k), 403(b), 401(a) and 457(b) plan providers

**Dress Code:** Business formal
**Base Salary:** $0
**Commission:** Not listed
**Startup Expenses:** Licensing costs paid for

John Hancock

Number of Agents: 6,600 employees, agents not specified

Product Offerings: Annuities, college savings, IRA, life insurance, long-term care, mutual funds, retirement planning, safe access accounts

**Dress Code:** Business casual
**Base Salary:** Base pay is given
**Commission:** Commission and bonuses are available to agents
**Startup Expenses:** Training is paid for

Allstate

Number of Agents: 19,000 independent contractor agents

Product Offerings: Auto, life, home, renters,, condo, motorcycle, business insurance, roadside, identity, boat, motorhome, off-road, phone protection, pet, event, landlord insurances, retirement and investment packages, and voluntary employee benefits

**Dress Code:** Blue shirt, dressy pants
**Base Salary:** $0
**Commission:** Base commissions for agents are 9 percent of premiums, but agents earn an extra percentage point
**Startup Expenses:** While training, Allstate pays $16 an hour and provides necessary equipment

AIG

Number of Agents: 50,000 employees, agents not specified

Product Offerings: Annuities (index, variable, fixed), life insurance (term life, universal life, guaranteed whole life), retirement services, mutual funds

**Dress Code:** Business formal
**Base Salary:** $0
**Commission:** Not listed, given
**Startup Expenses:** AIG pays for training and licensing costs.

Policygenius

Number of Agents: 530 employees

Product Offerings: Life, homeowners, auto, disability, renters, vision insurance, jewelry insurance, identity theft insurance, travel insurance, health insurance, long term care services, wills and trust services

hq pg.jpg — **Dress Code:** Business casual
**Base Salary:** Base salary is given
**Commission:** Not listed, given
**Startup Expenses:** Training is paid for

Lemonade

Number of Agents: Approximately 567 employees.

Product Offerings: Renters, condo, co-op, homeowners, life, and pet health insurance (car insurance is coming soon)

**Dress Code:** Business casual
**Base Salary:** Not listed
**Commission:** Trusted advisors are only tasked with one product to sell, and they get a 20% commission for selling that one product.
**Startup Expenses:** Licenses/certifications required and paid for

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