https://thekenswickpartners.com/articlesStraight answers on work, money, and the decisions behind a career.en-usTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/estimated-taxes-explained-like-rent-dayhttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/estimated-taxes-explained-like-rent-dayTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000An employee's taxes come out before the paycheck lands; a contractor is a tenant with four rent days a year and nobody collecting in between. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/median-vs-average-explained-like-a-pickup-gamehttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/median-vs-average-explained-like-a-pickup-gameTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000Ten players, one seven-footer, and why the midpoint of insurance agent pay tells you more than any average an agency chooses to show you. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/1099-vs-w2-explained-like-a-food-truckhttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/1099-vs-w2-explained-like-a-food-truckTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000The difference between a paycheck and a commission check is the difference between a shift at a restaurant and owning the truck: who buys the propane, who pays both halves of the payroll tax, and who keeps the regulars. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/overrides-explained-like-a-referral-bonushttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/overrides-explained-like-a-referral-bonusTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000The person who recruited you is paid a slice of every policy you sell, for as long as you sell; here is why that is legal, how the slice is sized, and the one place the comparison breaks. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/chargeback-explained-like-a-store-returnhttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/chargeback-explained-like-a-store-returnTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000You sold it, you were paid your cut, the customer brought it back, and the store wants the cut out of your next check: that is a chargeback, with the real dollars. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/commission-advance-explained-like-getting-paid-earlyhttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/commission-advance-explained-like-getting-paid-earlyTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000An advance is nine months of a bonus handed over on day one, on the understanding that you give back whatever you do not end up earning. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/renewals-explained-like-a-subscriptionhttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/renewals-explained-like-a-subscriptionTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000Being paid a small cut every month a subscription you sold stays active is a renewal, and stacking hundreds of them is the whole case for staying past year two. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/commission-explained-like-a-servers-tipshttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/commission-explained-like-a-servers-tipsTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000A server's tips and an insurance agent's commission work the same way, with one twist: part of the tip can arrive before the table has finished eating. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/is-that-insurance-agency-a-pyramid-scheme-how-to-tellhttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/is-that-insurance-agency-a-pyramid-scheme-how-to-tellTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Federal Trade Commission's own test, what a legitimate commission hierarchy looks like next to an illegal one, and five questions to ask before the coffee meeting. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/1099-life-insurance-agent-what-it-meanshttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/1099-life-insurance-agent-what-it-meansTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000The self-employment tax arithmetic on real dollars, the IRS statutory-employee rule almost nobody mentions, what you now buy yourself, and the questions about your book to settle in writing before you sign. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/life-insurance-for-business-owners-key-person-buy-sellhttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/life-insurance-for-business-owners-key-person-buy-sellTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000The two structures, the two federal rules that trip owners (section 101(j) and Connelly v. United States), and what to bring to the people licensed to act on them. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/what-a-life-insurance-agent-does-all-weekhttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/what-a-life-insurance-agent-does-all-weekTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000An honest week, hour by hour, for a first-year agent and a third-year agent side by side, with the government data that frames it. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/how-life-insurance-agents-get-paidhttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/how-life-insurance-agents-get-paidTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000One $1,200 term policy followed from the first premium to year three: the commission, the advance, the chargeback, the renewals, and the override above you. https://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/leaving-a-salaried-job-for-commission-sales-first-yearhttps://thekenswickpartners.com/articles/leaving-a-salaried-job-for-commission-sales-first-yearTue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000A cash-flow calendar for the move into life insurance sales, with the numbers that belong on the kitchen table before anyone resigns.