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The differences between life insurance agents and brokers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a broker has an average salary of $124,861, which is higher than the $62,552 average annual salary of a life insurance agent.
The top three skills for a life insurance agent include health insurance, life insurance license and life insurance sales. The most important skills for a broker are brokerage, financial services, and insurance products.
| Life Insurance Agent | Broker | |
| Yearly salary | $62,552 | $124,861 |
| Hourly rate | $30.07 | $60.03 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 68,781 | 2,770 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 46 | 49 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A life insurance agent is responsible for offering life insurance services for clients according to their needs and qualifications. Life insurance agents handle insurance claims of the beneficiaries, ensuring the accuracy of documents and account statements for verification. They also discuss possible options and alternatives, as well as considering the clients' long-term financial goals and objectives. A life insurance agent must be well-knowledgeable of the insurance services offered by the company, discussing policies and coverage to suit the clients' best interests.
Brokers can either be a firm or an individual acting as an intermediary between a securities exchange and an investor. They often provide services to individual investors and traders who cannot engage directly with security exchanges, which only accept orders from their members. They provide investors and traders with an investment plan, market intelligence, and research. They may cross-sell some financial services and products offered by their brokerage firms. They are also typically classified as discount or full-service brokers.
Life insurance agents and brokers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Life Insurance Agent | Broker | |
| Average salary | $62,552 | $124,861 |
| Salary range | Between $39,000 And $99,000 | Between $68,000 And $227,000 |
| Highest paying City | Anchorage, AK | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | New York |
| Best paying company | AIG | Child Guidance & Family Solutions |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a life insurance agent and a broker in terms of educational background:
| Life Insurance Agent | Broker | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between life insurance agents' and brokers' demographics:
| Life Insurance Agent | Broker | |
| Average age | 46 | 49 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 53.7% Female, 46.3% | Male, 63.8% Female, 36.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 4.9% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 6.9% White, 70.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 13% |