Find a Job You Really Want In
Yes, life insurance is a good career path. Whether you want to work with clients in sales or analyze complex financial data, there is no shortage of career options in the life insurance industry. There is also plenty of business for life insurance companies, which means high job security and numerous opportunities to move up the corporate ladder.
People choose this career for many reasons, as some are attracted to its lucrativeness, others to its heavy emphasis on finance and data, and still others to the opportunity to work with people during difficult times in their lives.
Whatever it is you’re passionate about, you’re sure to find a fulfilling career path in the life insurance industry.
The 5 Best-Paying Jobs in Life Insurance
The life insurance industry has plenty of lucrative opportunities if you’re willing to put in the years of work it takes to get to one of these positions. Once you do, though, you and your bank account will likely find your work highly fulfilling.
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Actuarial Fellow
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Actuarial fellows are the most experienced actuaries in the field and, as such, are the most certified and highest-paid. In addition to an undergraduate (and often a graduate) degree, actuarial fellows have to have at least eight years of experience as an actuary, during which time they take nine actuarial science exams.
Actuarial fellows work with other actuaries to gather and analyze data in order to estimate the cost of death or other events that life insurance policies will cover. This is then used to design the policies and make other financial decisions for the insurance company.
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Chief Claims Executive
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Chief claims executives are in charge of all of the other claims adjusters in their company. They design policies and procedures and ensure that they’re being followed as claims adjusters process, investigate, and settle their clients’ claims.
Chief claims adjusters have to be strategically minded and have a firm grasp of finance and economics. Many also have MBAs. If you enjoy business, finance, and management, a career as a chief claims executive may be fulfilling for you.
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Insurance Underwriter Executive
Average Annual Salary: $61,000
Insurance underwriters are in charge of deciding if the company should provide insurance to an individual. Insurance underwriting executives are the heads of these teams, creating procedures, doing risk management research, and helping their employees with complex cases.
Underwriters need to be well versed in finance and insurance policies, and they need to have a knack for reading between the lines and assessing risks. If all this sounds attractive to you and you think you’d enjoy a leadership role where you get to be highly analytical in your decision-making, you might enjoy being an underwriting executive.
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Risk Modeling Manager
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Risk management departments are designed to help insurance companies manage and protect their assets, and risk modeling managers are the leaders in charge of these departments. They oversee risk and strategy modeling, and they use that information to create systems that control risk and increase profits for the organization.
If you love data and have a penchant for business strategy and management, you might thrive as a risk modeling manager.
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Senior Financial Analyst
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Life insurance companies hire financial analysts to analyze their projects and operations to make sure they are making sound financial decisions. Senior financial analysts usually have at least an MBA, and they’ve worked their way up to be at the top of their field of expertise.
Financial analysts need to have excellent accounting and finance skills as they sift through complex financial data and market trends to help their company make the best decisions possible. If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, consider making a position as a senior financial analyst your career goal.
10 Entry-Level Jobs in Life Insurance
If you’re just starting out your career and are interested in the life insurance industry, consider one of these roles that will let you get your feet wet and start climbing the corporate ladder.
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Average Annual Salary: $78,000
Actuaries are the ones who do the research and analysis to determine how much insurance policies should cover, how much they should cost, and other factors. If you enjoy math, finance, and business, you may enjoy a career as an actuary.
To become an actuary, you’ll need an undergraduate degree in actuarial science or other analytical fields such as statistics or math. Once you’re in the field, you can then continue to take certification exams and work your way up to becoming an actuarial fellow.
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Average Annual Salary: $49,000
Claims adjusters are the professionals who process policyholders’ insurance claims. In the life insurance industry, they’ll usually work with beneficiaries who have lost a loved one to process their claim and then pay them the proper amount of money.
To become a claims adjuster, you’ll need to pass any license exams your state requires. While you don’t always need a degree, having one will significantly increase your chances of being able to get hired, and it will open up doors to leadership roles in the future.
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Average Annual Salary: $47,000
When you apply for a life insurance policy, your application goes to an underwriter who determines if and how much risk you’re worth. If you have an analytical mind that loves strategy and finance, you might thrive as an underwriter.
To get into this field, you’ll usually need a bachelor’s degree in finance, business, or a similar field and professional certification. Having an MBA is also helpful (and sometimes necessary) if you want to become an underwriting executive in the future.
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Risk Management Analyst
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Risk management analysts are in charge of helping life insurance companies minimize their financial risks. Whether creating policies for underwriters to follow or managing company investments, risk management is all about thinking through what could go wrong, why it might, and how to minimize the risk.
To become a risk management analyst, you’ll need to have a love for the analytical fields of finance, accounting, economics, and/or statistics and have an undergraduate degree in one of those subjects. That will get you in the industry, and then you can continue your education and work your way up to a risk modeling manager position.
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Financial Analyst
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Financial analysts are finance experts who help companies manage their money wisely. They look over financial reports, market trends, and other data and give advice on what decisions companies should make and whether or not a particular project is financially sound.
Financial analysts have strong problem-solving, analytical, and quantitative skills, and they usually have at least a bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, or a similar subject. If you want to become a senior financial analyst, however, you’ll likely need a master’s degree as well.
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Life Insurance Sales Agent
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Life insurance sales agents reach out to potential clients, whether those are individuals or companies, and try to convince them to purchase a life insurance policy. Sales agents also work with those clients to help them choose the best plan for their needs and may even help them make adjustments to it as needed in the future.
You don’t always need a degree to get started in this field, but most states have their own licensing requirements, so be sure to check into those. If you are good at sales, enjoy working with people, and want to get a foot in the door of the insurance industry, a job as a life insurance sales agent might be the perfect role for you.
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Claims Examiner
Average Annual Salary: N/A
Claims examiners work behind the scenes to make sure that life insurance policyholders have filed their claims correctly and legitimately. This allows claims adjusters to work with the policyholder to accurately determine how much money they need to be paid for their claim.
If you enjoy following the rules, have an analytical mind, and don’t mind working in the background, you might enjoy working as a claims examiner. You don’t necessarily need a degree to become one – you just have to pass any required state licensing exams – and it’s a great way to launch your career in the insurance industry.
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Customer Service Representative
Average Annual Salary: $30,000
Life insurance companies need customer service representatives to talk to clients just like any other organization does. Clients come with all kinds of questions, ranging from technical difficulties to wondering how to file a claim, and customer service representatives solve their problems while being a positive face of the company.
If you love solving problems and talking to all kinds of people (including the difficult ones), you might enjoy being a life insurance customer service representative. You likely won’t need a degree to get a job in this field, but you will need to study the ins and outs of life insurance, so consider taking an online class or two in that subject.
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Average Annual Salary: $51,000
Even the best life insurance sales agents won’t get far without a marketing team. These professionals research markets, work to understand what clients want from their insurance companies and come up with strategies to show potential customers that their product is what they’re looking for.
To become a life insurance marketing specialist, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree in marketing. A master’s degree won’t hurt either, especially if you want to move up to a leadership position in this industry.
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Average Annual Salary: $97,000
Insurance brokers don’t work for life insurance companies directly – they act as a third party that goes between insurance companies and clients and helps companies and individuals find, set up, and manage the insurance policies they purchase for themselves or offer their employees.
Each state has its own licensing requirements to become an insurance broker, and you’ll need an undergraduate degree in business or a related field. If you enjoy working with people, helping them through sometimes overwhelming and confusing decisions, and handling lots of data, you might find this career fulfilling.
Why Choose a Career in Life Insurance?
Everyone has different goals for their careers and thus chooses their career path for different reasons, but here are a few common reasons why people choose to enter the life insurance field:
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There are plenty of jobs. Entry-level life insurance employees are almost always in demand, so you should have no trouble finding a position. Plus, an excess of jobs means companies will be more willing to pay for your licensing or offer other perks to woo you.
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It’s easy to enter. As far as getting an entry-level life insurance sales agent position goes, there really aren’t many educational requirements you have to meet. This means you can get a career going quickly if that’s important to you – you might just need to get your degree later if you want to move into leadership roles in the future.
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It pays well. The insurance industry as a whole is known for its high commissions for its salespeople, and this is especially true for the life insurance industry. Other roles also pay very well, with life insurance industry leaders making six figures.
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You get to work with people. For those who enjoy interacting with a wide variety of people, the life insurance industry may be a great fit. You get to meet and work with clients from all walks of life, and while these interactions may not always be lighthearted, many people thrive on getting to meet so many people.
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You enjoy working with data and being analytical. While some people are drawn to the interpersonal side of the life insurance industry, others are drawn to the opportunity to analyze numbers and data in a practical way. Life insurance has plenty of jobs that require these skills, so if you enjoy these tasks, it might be the career for you.
Education and Certification Requirements for a Career in Life Insurance
The exact requirements for a career in life insurance will depend on the state, company, and particular position you’re in, but there are a few degrees and certifications that will come in handy across the board.
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Business degree. This is the one-size-fits-all option for undergraduate degrees, as it can qualify you for almost any job in this industry and gives you the foundation to continue your education in almost any specialty.
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Finance degree. If you know you want to work in the money side of the life insurance industry, an undergraduate finance degree will open a significant number of doors for you.
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Statistics degree. Studying statistics will give you a solid foundation in data collection and analysis. This will qualify you for a number of life insurance jobs, including actuarial and risk management positions.
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Economics degree. Understanding how the economy works helps you make wiser investment and risk management decisions, which is vital to a career in financial or risk management analysis.
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Marketing degree. If you want to go into the marketing or sales side of the life insurance industry, an undergraduate degree in marketing will go a long way in helping you get a job and move forward in your career.
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Masters of Business Administration (MBA). While not required for most entry-level positions, it’s a good idea to get your MBA if you want to have any kind of leadership role in the life insurance industry.
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State-specific certifications. Each state has its own certification requirements for many professionals in the life insurance industry, so check into yours. Some jobs may require you to have completed them before you begin, while others may pay for you to obtain them, so look into those options as well.
What Do People Working In Life Insurance Do?
People working in life insurance perform all sorts of jobs focused on the goal of the industry, which is to sell life insurance policies to clients and then process the life insurance claims those clients or their beneficiaries file.
To be successful in this field, you’ll need to be detail-oriented to learn the ins and outs of the insurance industry, be able to provide excellent customer service, and have a firm grasp on marketing and sales and/or finance, depending on the roles you choose to go into.
Author
Abby is a writer who is passionate about the power of story. Whether it’s communicating complicated topics in a clear way or helping readers connect with another person or place from the comfort of their couch. Abby attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she earned a degree in writing with concentrations in journalism and business.
