I took a one week Paid Time Off from work (PTO time, yay!) to regroup and reassess what I truly want to do when I grow up. (The older I get, the more I realize I still need to grow up).
Cataclysmic events usually trigger those “Lem’me think” moments. (Like, arguments with a boss’ boss for example, over something as ridiculous as the use of “quotation marks”. Someday, I might type or write about it…. oops, I already did! A written statement to the HR Department!).
Crickets.
So I decided to write down my plan for the week, updated daily…
1) PTO Day 1 – 08/30/2024 – Friday
- Accounting stuff.
- Called Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) – Jeremy emailed me steps on how to reinstate my license.
- Complete 24 hours of Continuing Education (CE) (Classroom Equivalency-CLEQ), with 3 hours at least, on Law and Ethics, 21 hours on other courses = 24 hours.
- I enrolled in Course #1, “Law and Ethics”. Completed it that same night and passed it. What the Course Provider does is, once you pass the course, they send this information to TDI. Then when you do a “Look Up” on your License #, these course names will show up on your CE Transcript.
- Also, one of the lessons learned there was, “check my website, THIS website”, just to make sure I am in compliance.
- And also, since finishing that course, all I thought about was how scammed I was by that IMO. And also glad that I only spent 6 months on that project. But still, that was 6 months I can never take back. But I learned by actual doing the activities – contracting and learning the ins and outs of it.
- So I knew “my plan for the next day”
2) PTO Day 2 – 08/31/2024 – Saturday
- Unpublish Insurance-related webpages, documented in two blog posts:
- Apps I used were:
- the Chat App I customized from within the website,
- and also noticed the ShallHelp Ticket System wasn’t working, so I also tweaked and just used the AGDT Ticket System (which I also tweaked and use for Tech Projects), and just used “Powered by AGDTechnology”) since I have the Developer License on that.
- As I brainstormed with “BruteSquad” in the chatting and screenshotting, as documented on that post, which became a Demo Page Documentation, of course I was regretting the having to un-publish the content that I already created over that “6 Month Project” timeline. I.T. Consultants get paid for that. (I also get paid for stuff like that). Then I thought, “well it might help someone else” if I just provide that for free. Also for my own documentation purposes.
3) PTO Day 3 – 09/01/2024 – Sunday
- Accounting, bills payments day. (It’s an awesome feeling by the way, to be debt-free. That’s another blog post I have to write, because that will help a lot of people for sure!) In fact, let me make a placeholder blog post- “How I became debt-free in 12 months. (30K Debt Free)” draft now, for when I actually write the “how”).
- Family time, cook dinner, visit with my son and his girlfriend.
- Change of address for my vendors:
- Hosting
- Domain Name Registrar – also updating Admin and Tech Contacts
- Payment Gateways for SH and AGDT. (AXN is a Demo Shop now, my former vendors who had their warehouse in California went out of business during Convid. Tsk, tsk.
4) PTO Day 4 – 09/02/2024 – Monday – Labor Day
- More Brainstorming and Research, over at an insurance forum, and then it became for me like, “Gotta choose a new Agency / IMO to do business with”. Just DECIDE already to reinstate.
- The thing is, for my particular license, if I don’t renew, I can never reapply.
- So the decision I had to make was more like, how much will all of it cost?
- Pen and paper? Or just do it whatever the cost? What’s the time commitment?
- So as not to belabor the decision on Labor Day when everything is closed, I DECIDED, “I’m just going to do whatever it takes to get licensed again.” (Same decision making process I did when I started my College Degree, my Post-graduate degree, my Online Marketing Courses, etc… I am investing in my own education, because what you learn, nobody else can take away from you). Just plan, schedule and then execute. I wrote it all down on paper (which is my cheat sheet that I am using in writing this blog post)
- So it was a Done Deal. I planned on clarifying the process next day and then pay for the other courses and finish it as soon as I can (I have a deadline, 09/30/2024).
- I’ll put the Summary of the Costs at the end of this blog post. (I figured, for that amount, I used to pay Credit Card Companies with JUST that for Finance / Interest Charges, MONTHLY! Being debt free gives you that type of savings – you can spend it on your own education instead. And if you are putting it on a Credit Card, pay it ALL off before your due date).
5) PTO Day 5 – 09/03/2024 – Tuesday
- I enrolled in the following Courses with the same TDI Accredited Course Provider to complete my minimum 24 hours of Classroom Equivalency Courses:
- Ethics and Law for Texas Insurance Agents = 3.00 hours (Completed 08/30/2024, Friday)
- Introduction to Life Insurance = 4.00 hours (Completed 09/03/24, Tuesday)
- Life Insurance Policies = 7.00 hours (Started 09/03/2024, Tuesday)
- Health and Accident Insurance = 5.00 hours
- Life Insurance Ownership and Beneficiary Designations – 5.00 hours
- I knew it was going to take time, so I had to carve out the time, to complete it a little bit at a time, with my full undivided attention. (It’s surprising how we can actually do a lot with FOCUSED time). These courses aren’t designed to just watch it, you also get quizzes at regular intervals and also get to type the password ever so often just to make sure there is still a human being on the course. You can’t progress on the next chapters of the courses unless you pass those quizzes. There are many so it’s useful to pay attention.
6) PTO Day 6 – 09/04/2024 – Wednesday
- Course Completion Updates:
- Ethics and Law for Texas Insurance Agents = 3.00 hours (Completed 08/30/2024, Friday)
- Introduction to Life Insurance = 4.00 hours (Completed 09/03/24, Tuesday)
- Life Insurance Policies = 7.00 hours (Completed 09/04/2024, Wednesday)
- Health and Accident Insurance = 5.00 hours (Completed 09/04/2024, Wednesday)
- Life Insurance Ownership and Beneficiary Designations – 5.00 hours
- As I am completing these courses, the Course Provider is also updating and sending my completion progress to the TDI. (One would think that these are things that that IMO would have made sure agents did, instead it was like “Buy More Leads” mantra. There are now several agents who are going all out with their testimonials about how they got scammed. It’s sad, but SURELY, there are others out there who just decided to let it go, or just walk away.
7) PTO Day 7 – 09/05/2024 – Thursday
- Called TDI again and spoke to Liz after lunch. I had some questions that I needed clarification on, like where to pay the Continuing Education Fine, ($50 per hour fine, up to $500 capped maximum fine). And she gave me the Invoice Number. (I wanted to make sure my Total Payment of $525 would indeed go to the TDI, using their vendor, Sircon.) Of course, I asked if there was an installment plan 🙂 – there is none. So fine. I bit the bullet. 🙂
- TDI Liz was so great at listening, too. I shared my experience with that IMO and I also said that there are a lot of those types of complaints on Social Media. She also tried to encourage me to file a complaint (as a Consumer). She said I have that option as well, and I was just happy to share my response. My decision to look into this again was brought about by a former client, who called my mobile phone (because I give it to all my clients, that offer that I will be reachable to them and will always do my best to help them – I mean I can’t help everybody, but I can help some, or one or three people). There were 3 other people from my Leads List from that IMO who were also contacting me. But I just had to tell them, I don’t do insurance anymore, only because of that IMO. But NOW, I know, there are other IMOs. And this time around, I have to REALLY screen who I will work with first. (I will not work “for” any agency – I will still be an Independent Broker Agent)
- We spoke for about 25 minutes. I shared that there is always a trade-off. If I filed a Complaint, that will take away my time and energy. If I use that time instead on making better and helping clients, then that would be a more productive use of my limited time. (Because I still have a Full Time job).
- So I got so regenerated after speaking to TDI Liz, she gave real useful and helpful advise. So I went back to the page, and simplified it:“Reinstate a license expired more than 90 days but less than one year
If your license expiration date was over 90 days but less than one year ago, your license can no longer be renewed. Instead, you need to reinstate your license. Here are the steps:- Complete your continuing education (CE).
- Pay the CE fine.
- Get a new set of fingerprints.
- Submit a new application, application fee, and late fee.
Important: All four steps must be completed before your license can be reinstated.
Source: Texas Department of Insurance. Link is here“ - So I figured I will be completing my last Course within the day, but I needed to get my Fingerprinting scheduled during office hours. So I did that at 2 p.m. and scheduled a 5pm appointment. And drove there, and got it done. They do the background check with the FBI and DPS. Paid $42.37. Done. 09/05/2024 – Thursday .
- Then I went on ahead with the last course I needed to start … I’ll copy paste from above …
- Course Completion Updates:
- Ethics and Law for Texas Insurance Agents = 3.00 hours (Completed 08/30/2024, Friday)
- Introduction to Life Insurance = 4.00 hours (Completed 09/03/24, Tuesday)
- Life Insurance Policies = 7.00 hours (Completed 09/04/2024, Wednesday)
- Health and Accident Insurance = 5.00 hours (Completed 09/04/2024, Wednesday)
- Life Insurance Ownership and Beneficiary Designations – 5.00 hours (Started 09/05/2024, Thursday)
8) Back to Work Day – Day 7 – 09/06/2024 – Friday
- Course Completion Updates:
- Ethics and Law for Texas Insurance Agents = 3.00 hours (Completed 08/30/2024, Friday)
- Introduction to Life Insurance = 4.00 hours (Completed 09/03/24, Tuesday)
- Life Insurance Policies = 7.00 hours (Completed 09/04/2024, Wednesday)
- Health and Accident Insurance = 5.00 hours (Completed 09/04/2024, Wednesday)
- Life Insurance Ownership and Beneficiary Designations – 5.00 hours (Completed 09/06/2024, Friday)
- Paid TDI CE Fines through Sircon = $525 (ouch!)
- Completed Application and paid New Application Fee = $61.13
- I also emailed TDI to also let them know I completed all requirements and paid the necessary fees and also added the Summary below, so it will be easier to see how much it will all cost to reinstate one’s expired license (more than 90 days but less than one year):
—————————
SUMMARY OF COSTS:
1) Continuing Education
Ethics and Law for Texas Insurance Agents = 3.00 hours
8/29/2025 Amount Paid = $18.76
Life Insurance Ownership and Beneficiary Designations – 5.00 hours
Health and Accident Insurance = 5.00 hours
Introduction to Life Insurance = 4.00 hours
Life Insurance Policies = 7.00 hours
9/2/2025 Amount Paid = $74.19 (This was originally Courses Subtotal = $106.00, Filing Fees $22.00, Tax $1.49, But I got a Bundle Total Discounts -$55.30, so the Total $74.19).
2) IdentoGo Fingerprinting
09/05/2024 Amount Paid: $42.37
3) CE Fine TDI Invoice XXXXXX
09/06/2024 Amount Paid: $525.00
4) New Application Fee
09/06/2024 Amount Paid: $61.13
Continuing Education: $92.95
Fingerprinting: $42.37
New Application Fee: $61.13
————————-
Subtotal = $196.45
+ CE Fine = $525.00
————————–
TOTAL Cost to Reinstate an Expired License = $721.45
———————————————————————-
Why did I reinstate my General Lines (Life, Accident, Health and HMO Insurance) License?
Because I still want to help people. 🙂
Like when my previous client went out of her way to contact me via personal mobile, work mobile phone and email and left voicemails.
I’m glad I complied with the records-keeping element of my profession, so I was able to help her within 48 hours of the initial contact from her.
If I saw the BAD in the industry when I first joined it, I won’t be able to fix it, if I left.
I can still make a difference.
I’ve documented my walk here.
I haven’t received the results yet of my application or if there are still steps that I need to take.
But I’ve done what I could.
The fact remains, the saying that goes,
“Before you leave, think WHY you started.”
And then consider if your “WHY” still matters to you.
What’s Next?
I’ve contacted one IMO in the same city. They are all remote. 110%, Buy your own leads. (they sell it). Get licensed in 5 other States.
There’s another IMO I am looking at, All remote, 40%, Free Leads. Get licensed in 16 other States.
And based on what I know now, how do I know if I can trust my license and information again with another IMO?
And here’s another “What If”…
What If I just started my own agency?
It remains to be seen. I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. So the next steps:
- Wait for the result of my Application to reinstate.
- If approved, contact my 8 Carriers and self terminate my appointment contracts with them (in order to make sure that former IMO will not contact my clients again after I’ve already closed a contract with these clients with my own money and efforts and time. It’s an ethical issue as well. I cannot work with an organization I can no longer trust because they have defrauded me. (I built an app / software, which incidentally, made it apparently CLEAR to me that they did defraud me). It’s like a fork in the road – I will just do what I can to help others rather than dwell on my bad experience with them.
- Select an IMO.
- Schedule around my Full Time Job to help other people. 🙂
That’s it. It can be done, I did it. 🙂
And it’s 2 day weekend off too, so I wrote this today. I go back to work again on Monday. 🙂