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Wanda Said:

Would this be the right way to eventually be successful?

We Answered:

You said you want to: "My goal would be to invest the insurance funds that aren't spent and build more capital up." Insurance companies do that. Insurance Agencies sell the insurance companies policies. So you will not be able to invest the insurance funds.

If you sell enough policies, and get more commission from the insurance companies than it cost your agency to operate, then you can use that profit to expand.

Joseph Said:

How Do I Become an Independent Insurance Agent/Open My Own Agency/Office?

We Answered:

I Googled "Mississippi insurance regulation" (without the quotes) for the Mississippi government insurance agency and found this site:

http://www.mid.state.ms.us/pages/laws_bu…

At the left of the page, in the menu, there's a choice that's in big, bold letters that says, "How Do I?" It appears to have what you're looking for. If not, you can always contact them directly for unanswered questions.

As a general rule, there are tests to take and pass to sell insurance. Without a doubt, this site will tell you.

How to get an agency to select you? Call them and ask. Every company will have their own requirements and standards, so the only place to get this question answered is to call each of the companies you wish to sell for. I'm sure that once you qualify based on all their standards, (and pay their fee (I assume), you'll automatically be signed up, as long as you are not impinging on another insurance agent's territory who's already selling for that company. They should no doubt tell you exactly where you can set up shop for them and where you can't, if they have this type of restriction. Maybe they will have such a restriction, maybe not. After all, the more agents they have selling their products, the more money they make, since you're working on a commission-only basis (I assume).

How much money do you need? First you find out all the requirements of each of the companies you wish to sell for. And, of course, the government's requirements. Then you figure out what it will cost to satisfy them all. Plus, of course, you'll need money to fund marketing, equipment, and employees if you're going to do any hiring. Without a doubt, each company can give you ball park figures based on all their experience in the past. They may make their numbers higher than necessary to keep fly-by-night people away so if their numbers sound a bit high, you might consider alternative actions here and there to save money, at least at first. Don't take their numbers as gospel.

You can find the information for Tennessee the same way I located the site for Mississippi. Without a doubt, every state has their own Department of Insurance that'll have all or most of the info you're looking for. Or they can point you in the right direction to find out what information they don't have available. And the rules and requirements for each state (Mississippi and Tennessee) will no doubt be different.

Do you have a thing for states with three sets of double letters in their names? ;-)

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P.S. What about the state independent insurance agent association of Mississippi?

Here's the directory to find the associations within each state:

http://www.iiaba.net/eprise/main/CB_Webs…

Here are the contacts for the one for Mississippi:

http://www.iiaba.net/MS/12_AssociationIn…

They might be better as a neutral advocate to get help from as a central source when you get frustrated in your search for info and advice.

Good luck, Al. :-)

Question asked 1 week ago. 1 day left for answers.
My reply posted 7-20-2010, 11:54 A.M. Central.
Last tweak: 2:04 P.M., 2:15 P.M.
Now: 7-21-2010, 11:34 A.M. Central. 9 hours left for answers.