How much does an insurance agent makes in a year?

I agree with everyone else that it depends on the type of insurance you are selling. For instance, I know of an agent that owns her own business and makes upwards of $700-$900k gross per year. If you are starting out, I would not expect to make any more than $35k your first couple of years. Another example is one of my best friends that started his own independedn agency and made a whopping $9,000 his first year because of overhead etc. The insurance industry varies too much to give a solid dollar figure.

What kind of insurance is this agent selling? Is he a captive agent or independent? How many years has he been in the business? What's his persistency ratio?

It depends, my dad doesn't make more than me for his base salary. but his commission is what makes his money. For insight I make 11.00/hr, but his pay is on a comission scale. Its all based on how many policies you write and how many cars you sell. He does home,auto, and life. Works for AAA Insurance.

It depends on your experience and training, as well as your method of pay. If you make salary, like I did, you could make anywhere from $30k to $40k (Canadian) per year, and this was an entry position. If you make commission, then it varies. If you are planning to enter the field, you may want to check and see locally what people make. I also worked in a fast growing industrial town, so my salary might be quite a bit higher than in other areas.

My dad did some insurance consulting for years. He made over $50,000 a year.

He basically visited work sites and did lots of documentation to what he saw & made recomendations to the companies to better themselves for safety concerns.

Where I live you can make 14.00/hour at Geico. That's if you are talking about an auto insurance agent.

Depends on what type of insurance you are selling and how much you sell. There is usually commission involved. Agents who produce make comfortable but not high salaries. Its very competitive and your hours can include nights and weekends.

more than i do sadly

Well it depends, be more specific on which agent you are talking about because working as a certain type of insurance agent can get you as little as $30k where but working as another agent can get you 10 times as that per year!!