Podcast
Insurance Exam Prep
Hosted by Ran Chen, EA, CFP® · EN
Insurance Exam Prep is a daily podcast designed to help future insurance professionals pass their licensing exams with clarity and confidence.
Built and operated by OpenExamPrep, this podcast breaks down insurance licensing exams into focused, easy-to-digest episodes covering Life Insurance, Health Insurance, and Property & Casualty, across both the national portion and state-specific requirements. Each episode targets one key concept, common exam trap, or high-frequency test topic—making it ideal for studying during commutes, workouts, or short study sessions.
Created by Ran Chen, EA, CFP®, a financial professional and exam specialist who has personally passed multiple professional licensing exams, Insurance Exam Prep was developed from firsthand experience with how complex—and often poorly taught—insurance exam material can be. The goal is simple: make insurance exam preparation clearer, more accessible, and more effective through structured explanations and modern learning tools. Whether you’re preparing for a Life, Health, or P&C exam, just starting your licensing journey, or reviewing before test day, this podcast is designed to guide you step by step—one concept at a time.
Free practice tools, AI-powered explanations, and additional exam prep resources are available at: https://open-exam-prep.com/
30episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Property & Casualty Exam Prep 7, Deductibles, Limits, and Coinsurance
Yesterday00:04:21Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The difference between a per-occurrence limit, which caps a single event, and an aggregate limit, which caps total payments for the policy period. - How sublimits impose lower, specific caps on high-risk property like jewelry, regardless of the overall policy limit. - The purpose of a coinsurance clause is to encourage policyholders to insure their property to an adequate value, typically 80%. - The coinsurance penalty formula: (Insurance Carried ÷ Insurance Required) × Amount of Loss = Insurer's Payment (before deductible). - A critical exam trap is to always subtract the deductible *after* applying any coinsurance penalty, not before. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →Property & Casualty Exam Prep 6, Proximate Cause and Concurrent Causation
2d ago00:02:32Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Proximate cause is the initial event in an unbroken chain that leads to a loss. - Damage from subsequent events is typically covered if the proximate cause was a covered peril. - Concurrent causation involves both a covered and an excluded peril contributing to a single loss. - Anti-concurrent causation clauses are used by insurers to exclude losses even when a covered peril was involved. - The windstorm-then-flood scenario is a classic exam trap testing your knowledge of these causation rules and exclusions. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →Property & Casualty Exam Prep 5, Actual Cash Value and Replacement Cost
3d ago00:02:56Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The fundamental difference between Actual Cash Value (ACV) and Replacement Cost is depreciation. - How to calculate ACV using the formula: Replacement Cost - Depreciation = ACV. - Why Agreed Value is used for unique items like classic cars to guarantee a specific payout and avoid disputes. - The critical exam trap of confusing Stated Amount, which is a limit, with Agreed Value, which is a guarantee. - How Salvage Value represents the residual worth of damaged property that an insurer can recover to reduce the total loss payment.
Transcribe →Property & Casualty Exam Prep 4, Insurable Interest and Indemnity
4d ago00:02:38Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Insurable interest in Property & Casualty insurance must exist at the time of the loss. - The principle of indemnity means insurance restores you to your pre-loss financial state, preventing profit from a claim. - Having an insurable interest means you would suffer a financial hardship if the insured property were damaged. - Mortgagees and lienholders have an insurable interest limited to the amount of their financial stake in the property. - A key exam trap is distinguishing the timing of insurable interest for P&C (at time of loss) versus life insurance (at time of application). For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →Property & Casualty Exam Prep 3, Risk Management Methods
5d ago00:03:09Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The five primary methods of handling risk are Sharing, Transfer, Avoidance, Reduction, and Retention (STARR). - Purchasing an insurance policy is the most common and direct example of risk transfer. - A deductible in an insurance policy represents risk retention, where the policyholder accepts a portion of the loss. - Installing safety measures like sprinkler systems or burglar alarms is a form of risk reduction, not elimination. - Deciding not to participate in a risky activity at all, such as not owning a swimming pool to avoid liability, is risk avoidance. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →Property & Casualty Exam Prep 2, Law of Large Numbers and Insurable Risk
6d ago00:03:07Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How the Law of Large Numbers allows insurers to accurately predict future losses. - The six essential elements of an insurable risk, remembered by the mnemonic CANHAM. - Why catastrophic events, such as wars or nuclear incidents, are typically excluded from insurance policies. - The critical difference between pure risk, which is insurable, and speculative risk, which is not. - How insurers use the underwriting process to combat the effects of adverse selection. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →Property & Casualty Exam Prep 1, Risk, Peril, Hazard, and Loss
1w ago00:03:25Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Risk is the uncertainty of loss; only pure risk (loss or no loss) is insurable, not speculative risk (chance of gain or loss). - A peril is the direct cause of a loss, such as fire or wind. - A hazard increases the chance of a loss and can be physical (icy roads), moral (dishonesty), or morale (carelessness). - A direct loss is the physical damage itself, while an indirect loss is the financial consequence, like lost income. - Exam questions often use homeowner, auto, and commercial scenarios to test the distinctions between these core concepts. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →[Health Insurance] 67, Tax Treatment of LTC Insurance and HSA Distributions
1w ago00:03:25Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Premiums for tax-qualified LTC insurance can be partially deducted based on the policyholder's age. - Benefits from a tax-qualified LTC policy are received income-tax-free, but only up to a federally set per diem limit. - HSA distributions used for qualified medical expenses are always free from both income tax and penalties. - Using HSA funds for non-qualified expenses before age 65 results in the withdrawal being subject to both income tax and a 20% penalty. - For individuals age 65 and older, the 20% penalty on non-qualified HSA distributions is waived, though the amount is still subject to ordinary income tax. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →[Health Insurance] 66, Tax Treatment of Employer-Provided Health Insurance and Disability Benefits
1w ago00:03:24Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Employer-paid group health insurance premiums are a deductible business expense, and the benefit is tax-free to the employee. - The core rule for group disability insurance: the tax treatment of the premium determines the taxability of the benefit. - Why benefits from a non-contributory (100% employer-paid) disability plan are fully taxable to the employee. - How benefits from a disability plan paid entirely by an employee with after-tax dollars are received completely tax-free. - How to calculate the taxable portion of disability benefits in a contributory plan where costs are shared between the employer and employee. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →[Health Insurance] 65, Tax Treatment of Individual Health Insurance Premiums
1w ago00:02:44Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Self-employed individuals can take an above-the-line deduction for health insurance premiums, up to the net profit of the business. - Employees paying for individual policies with after-tax dollars can only deduct premiums as an itemized medical expense. - The itemized deduction for medical expenses is only for costs that exceed 7.5% of Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). - Marketplace plans may offer a Premium Tax Credit to lower costs, which is a credit and not a deduction. - COBRA premiums are treated as a standard medical expense, subject to the 7.5% AGI floor, with no special tax treatment. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →