| When I first started looking into getting my license to | | | | products anywhere. Either way, you pay a modest |
| sell health insurance, I had a difficult time figuring out | | | | fee of a couple hundred dollars or so, and schedule |
| what was involved. I was confused on which license I | | | | your classes. |
| needed to get, how to apply, where to take classes | | | | Taking the Class: |
| and so on. Taking the first couple of steps is the most | | | | Make sure you are on time. The instructors are fairly |
| difficult part. Once you get past the first few steps, | | | | strict on ensuring you put in the correct number of |
| things tend to make more sense. This article is | | | | hours. Due to the strict government regulation of the |
| intended to make those first steps a bit more bearable. | | | | financial industry, professors can get fined big bucks |
| First things first: | | | | for allowing students to walk in late. So make sure you |
| A license to sell health insurance is also a license to sell | | | | show up early. |
| life insurance. If you want to sell others types of | | | | The classes themselves are pretty intense, so doing |
| insurance, like property and casualty, that requires | | | | homework reviewing materials prior to class will prove |
| separate training and a separate exam. This type of | | | | beneficial. My class was a monopoly, with 99% of the |
| license is called an "Insurance Agent" license. The | | | | students representing one firm. On the first day, most |
| license we will be referring to in this article is Life and | | | | students were dressed to a T, but by the last day |
| Health Insurance License. | | | | jeans and t-shirts were the rule. Also, if you own or |
| You will need to go look at the laws in your specific | | | | represent a business, like any other gathering, bring |
| state, but most state laws are pretty basic and very | | | | business cards. It's good to get to know people in the |
| similar. You will need to take a 40 hour class, which will | | | | field, so network, network, network. |
| get you a certificate of completion. The certificate of | | | | Schedule the exam: |
| completion will then grant you access to taking the | | | | Once you have finished the course, you will get a |
| state licensing exam. Here in California, like everything | | | | certificate of completion. This is basically your |
| else, it's a bit more difficult. In California, you are | | | | gatekeeper to taking the exam and getting your |
| required to take an additional 12 hour ethics course, | | | | license. Most states will have online scheduling tools. At |
| totaling 52 hours in all. | | | | this point, you're ready to go. |
| Registering for Class: | | | | Sell Insurance: |
| I had a heck of a time finding somewhere to take my | | | | Once you have passed the exam, which requires a |
| classes. I searched and searched before finally landing | | | | score of 70% or higher, you are legally allowed to sell |
| on Kaplan Financial's website. Now this is not an | | | | life and health insurance. |
| endorsement, but rather a suggestion to other | | | | I hope this helps make things a bit easier for you |
| companies offering courses, that your marketing | | | | aspiring producers out there. |
| efforts are terrible, because I could not find you | | | | |