When my wife and I were in our twenties, we determined to get out of debt and to have a certain level of financial freedom. Everyone in our church knew how passionate we were about managing our finances rather than living with the yoke of debt around our necks. Our pastor, knowing how committed we were to fiscal responsibility, asked us to lead a class on financial freedom and debt elimination. We were thrilled and honored and were eager to share our knowledge with our church family. We believed that every young couple should get off on the right foot financially, and we were going to help educate others in doing just that.

I recall shortly after my wife and I married, an older couple introduced us to speaker and author Dave Ramsey who has several excellent books on financial freedom as well as a popular program called “Financial Peace University.” Since my wife and I were familiar with Ramsey’s financial philosophies, we thought his material would be perfect to use in teaching our class.

I confess that I did not totally complete Dave Ramsey’s course that my wife and I were going to present to our church class. My wife completed it twice, but I just explored bits and pieces of it. The parts I read were enlightening. I saw that it had great content, and I knew many people who endorsed the course and who said they had benefited greatly from it.

At the time, I was working for one of the largest insurance companies in America. I was what is called a “captive sales agent.” A captive sales agent is an agent who can sell only one product – his company’s product. As a captive sales agent, I did not have the option of selling products from other insurance companies/carriers – even if those companies offered better coverage or lower rates. My hands were tied. I sold my company’s product only. That was it.

The people at church who attended our class, knew I was an insurance agent and also knew the company for which I worked. In fact, many of the folks that attended the class were policyholders of mine, so the section of the course that was to cover insurance was especially important to me. I really should have watched the video before presenting it to the class, however, to better prepare myself for what Dave had to say about insurance.

Not long into Dave’s video presentation on insurance, he stated, “it is best to work with an independent agent.”  At that moment, I wanted to disappear.

Dave was not saying anything negative about captive agents/agencies. He was simply stating that people can save money when it comes to insurance by working with an independent agent/agency rather than a captive agent who does not have the same variety of choices and competitive pricing.

Independent agencies tend to have a much broader range of products to work with in providing solid coverage and great rates. When rates go up, independent agencies can shop around for a better deal for their clients. Captive agencies do not have that flexibility.

Although it was an embarrassing moment for me, it was also a great lesson. Ramsey taught me the value of providing options and giving people more choices. I began Actsphere Insurance Group six years ago. It is now a thriving independent insurance agency with thousands of satisfied customers – all of whom are getting exceptional coverage and value for their money. Actsphere serves many Texas counties such as Harris County, Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, Galveston County, and Chambers County. Though our hub is in the heart of Pearland, Texas, our policyholders range from Dallas to San Antonio and Austin to Beaumont. We serve all of Texas! Contact Actsphere today and see how a wide variety of coverage options and carrier choices can help save you money and be one step on your path towards financial freedom!

Johnnie Lee

Founder/Principal Agent

Actsphere Insurance Group