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American Income Life

Part of Globe Life

Engaged employer

I'll tell you what they wont. Read if youre considering working for them IMPORTANT!!! - Licensed Agent American Income Life Employee Review

2.0
17 Jan 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The best parts about working at AIL for me were: Great personal growth even though the job was not for me, I did learn a lot about sales techniques, rebuttals, and just how to sell in general. Its easy to get hired, just walk in and you'll get a job unless you're a felon. Its great work experience that you can put on a resume, if you do it long enough. You get to experience what its like being self employed. The coworkers were great! I'm still friends with them. You get to meet a lot of different people from different backgrounds which makes for an interesting job! The commission you get paid if everything goes through is decent. The Discount card and Child safe kits are worth anyone listening to these guys and The lifetime renewals are good if you last a year to receive them!

Cons

Before I go through the Cons of this job. Ask yourself these questions honestly, throw away all the money they talk about in the interview. Quit pretending you're going to go in there being the best! 1) Do I have at least 6 months of monthly bills saved up so I can survive comfortably? Can I survive weeks or months without getting paid? 2) Do I have a family that counts on me bringing them food and shelter. If I cant for a week or two how will I make sure I get them what they need? 3) Am I people person do I like talking to people? Am I good at It? 4) Would I really want to do this for 10 years? Do I have any other major goals? Ex. College 5) Can I emotionally handle barely being around my family? In other words can I work 10-13 hour days 6 days a week in town or on the road away from my family? 6) Do people in my area need Life Insurance? Look at economy of area and jobs. Are a lot of families struggling or poor? If you said no to any of those questions Id recommend turning away right now! AIL is 100% commission based with no benefits! Truth of the matter is AIL can be rewarding but you HAVE TO DEDICATE A LOT OF TIME AND ENERGY TO MAKE IT PAY OFF!!! If you said yes then congratulations you will be taking on a challenging career! Make sure you go over these questions with your wife and she what she thinks. Fair warning AIL can cause Marital problems. So you decided to take the bull by the horns. First thing is to get your license Have $350+ ready to pay out of pocket! Not much I can say here except to study hard and take practice exams. Youtube helps me understand things I don't understand. After passing congrats you're licensed the other $200 will be used to buy a laptop and gas money. Hope you don't have a truck! They hand you a 12 page script to memorize before you're released! I practiced out loud at home and I got it down pretty easy. They could make you learn it in a distracting office if you cant do it there just tell them You cant focus there. Depending on agency they could make you recite it word for word to get released. My office didn't make me do this but just be warned. So after memorizing and reciting it 100% you're good to go. But wait before you make your own money you have to write business on other agents(your manager) before you write your own. Yep I typed that right. You will be presenting/signing people up and not getting paid for it! Your manager releases you when he/she feels you're ready. Hope you have a manager that has good ethics and morals some don't. I remember when I first started I wrote a deal that paid $1000 in commission under my managers name!! still bitter about it! If you're still in the process and didn't quit good job most people don't make it past that process. Now you're off to work on your own, I still remember how good of a feeling it was. You will still be forced to attend "Mandatory" meetings and cold calling nights that last up to 4 to 12 hours a week of your time! (You wont be getting paid for it). THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING Here is what will make you successful unlike me. HARD CARDS (union member filled cards) are what make you successful there. Make sure you request them!! They will tell you countless times in training that referrals are what makes you money! Its not!! If you thing Im just a crazy conspiracy all you have to do is look at the numbers. The top Agents making 100K-200K work hard cards in fact they barely work any referrals. You will see what I mean if you pay attention to everybody's numbers. They do this so they can afford their expensive car/house payment! Another thing if you don't write enough business they will make you think its your fault having hard cards makes it easy to attain the office minimum. The most common lines I hear is "You didn't show them the value" even if the client couldn't afford it. I worked there a year and I collected over 1000 referrals and my closing rate was around 50%. Yeah I actually did what managers cant even do and they said would make me loads of money. sitting with people that make $7-$15 an hour vs Union(good paying jobs) $15-$40 an hour its a lot easier to make money off union members especially when they filled a card out for you to come see them compared to cold calling a referral. If you're planning on doing this make sure you're managers are your best friends they will make you a millionaire! If you don't suck up to them they could fire you a month before you get your renewals like they did to me. If you are let go before a year your manager gets your renewals!! So final word of advice watch who you're working for if they're not looking for your best interest don't waste your time. Doesn't matter how hard you work if you're manager doesn't like you you're screwed! That's just my personal experience luckily I got my amazing dream job after I got fired so I'm not to upset over it. Best of luck to all you job seekers! If you go with AIL good luck to you!

Explore other reviews about American Income Life

5.0
15 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I love this company. I am part of a fabulous team.

Cons

None this is a great company

avatar
American Income Life Response
4w
Thank you for your feedback. We're glad you're enjoying the supportive culture, flexible schedule, and the opportunity to make a generous living while offering valuable financial protection to working families. With a persistent work ethic, this career can be extremely rewarding. Best wishes for future success at American Income Life.
4.0
2 Sept 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

So many pros here....let's start with: 1) Freedom & flexibility- the ability to be an independent contractor (1099 associate) who can set their own hours, work pace, and income level. 2) Preparation for the future- It is also nice that you can utilize AIL to gain valuable knowledge about sales, marketing, business development, communications and almost any other valuable skill/trait you would normally acquire in a university/college setting before setting out into the professional world. AIL is a great place for people to develop a solid core for what may lie ahead in their future for what they ultimately want to do for the rest of their lives. 3) A fully-vested, Union-protected 10-year renewal plan makes achieving whatever you want to do in life possible- whether it is starting your own business or a non-profit, without taking out huge small business loans. Work hard now- enjoy the financial benefits for the rest of your life. 4) The socialization aspect: from policyholders to co-workers to the random person that opens up the door to you on a daily basis there is never a boring day @ AIL. In short, we get paid to drive, talk, and help educate people on how to be financially literate when it comes to insurance and savings. Also, we get invited to BBQ's, family functions, and many other cool events from our members. It is impossible to work @ AIL and not develop a strong social network as a result of working here! 5) The opportunity to be given recognition and additional responsibilities based on your own results, instead of on tenure or who you know 6) Legitimate 6-figure income reality...I've personally only had 1 year under $100,000 and I took a ton of time off that year. I had never made more than 50,000 per year working 60-70 hours per week in retail prior to AIL. 7) Good Senior Leadership/Mentors: although rare, this company truly some fantastic individuals sitting in high-profile & decision-making positions within the company...many of whom truly live the company's mottos and operating principles to the 'T' 8) Ability to rebound quickly in a financial crisis- whether it happens directly or indirectly to you there a very few professional opportunities where you can go make an extra 10K or so the following month, even if you are not a manager. While money is the root of all evil, it can also help you do great by and support those around when times get tough. As long as someone focuses on the beneficial aspects of the monetary opportunity at AIL they will be in a good place. 9) Running your own business- as long as you are showing results and growth, you can run your own office(s) with nearly absolute autonomy. But, unlike running your own traditional business, you have the support of a Fortune 700 company and its senior leaders when you need it. It's the best of both world's really.

Cons

NOTE: Every individual AIL office is franchised and no two are exactly alike in nature...just like a fast-food chain or multiple-location gym. Depending on your SGA (AIL franchise-owner), RGA, MGA, and other upline managers, you may have the above-mentioned freedom & financial opportunities inhibited by several factors including: 1) Micromanagement- many managers treat their associates like W-2 employees in their daily interactions with them and should be reminded of the 6-Point Test for Independent Contractors to help them develop a working relationship that is more true to the nature of their contract. Recommend to do something, but not require them to do something. Small but huge difference between the two. 2) Too heavy of a focus on the scripts- teach your associates the script and it's key components but don't hold back their creativity and interpretation of the presentation- remember, you hired them because they were intelligent beings (I hope)...not script-reciting robots. 3) Mandatory Meetings- yikes, this is a huge legal volcano waiting to bury the SGA's of this company. Recommend attendance and explain why it is important associates are there...and leave it at that. 4) Lack of accountability from senior management- remember, you are not infallible...quit making promises you can't back up and if you fail to uphold your end of the bargain, make it right in whatever way possible! 5) Buddy-buddy system- depending on the SGA, many are very cliquey and develop too tight of an inner-circle where the general attitude becomes very akin to a fanatic cult. Stay true to your standards and guidelines, not to who challenges you the least and edifies the very ground you walk on 6) Chargebacks and selective underwriting- you may actually owe the money back to the company if you submit a policy that does not get issued due to health, even though sometimes the insured met the underwriting guidelines of the field guide you were issued. AIL also does not like to underwrite large policies for some reason. 7) Too many traps in the bonus system- many times as a senior manager I have not earned the bonuses I projected on earning because of the several pitfalls in the bonus system, such as the quality of the downline manager (the manager you are supervising), the fact that your downline managers did not code enough new associates (even though you might have) 8) The Peter-principle- associates are promoted to management positions to rapidly in many SGAships across AIL so they never get a chance to fully grow into their previous role and end up failing miserably at everything. Give junior associates more time to hone their skills before throwing the next task(s) at them. If you want to grow so bad, go do it yourself and stop forcing others to take on your responsibilities.

2230
avatar
American Income Life Response
8y
Thank you for your thorough review of the AIL opportunity. We appreciate you taking the time to help others understand the uniqueness of our Independent Agent position. We enjoy seeing our agents succeed and know that hard work and dedication is a staple of a successful AIL agent. We thank you for being a part of our AIL family!
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