The Pyramid Scheme aspect of Primerica Financial Services
I ran across a blog that did a series examining Primerica Financial Services, a multi-level marketing company that purports to sell financial products. While the company does offer life insurance, investments, and other financial products, like a typical MLM… they’re really out there selling the opportunity. The name of the game is endless recruiting.
The Financial Blogger did several nice posts about the company, but this explanation of the pyramid scheme aspect of Primerica was exceptional:
Is it a pyramidal scheme? In legal terms, the answer is no. However, it does not mean that because it is legal that the company’ structure is not shape like a pyramid. Everybody is making a cut on the people below them; it goes up to four level. I think this is clear that the guy on the top makes the big bucks. They will answer that every company is like that as the President and the VP’s are in the driver’ seat and the other employees are left with nothing. It is right also.
However, they do not explain why they are able to give a commission to four people for the same sale. The answer is pretty easy: they have to cut down the commission compared to the regular industry. As an example, if a life insurance of 100K would provide another agent with $1,500 in commission, a Primerica advisor at the lowest level will earn $900, then his recruiter will receive $300, the recruiter’s recruiter will get $200 and finally the guy who put all of them together will earn $100.
So for those who are in to sell, Primerica is definitely not the right place to be. “Yeah, but you could build a team and create your own business”, I guess they forgot that the best sellers on earth are not necessarily interested in building a team compared to earning the big bucks right away. The main problem I see with this approach is that you have to convince individual to work hard for less that they could earn only because they have the option of building a team a earn extra commission on somebody else’s work. In fact, if everybody concentrates on recruiting individuals, who will make the sales? You may have a hundred people below you, if nobody sales, it still makes 0$ in your pocket.
Check out the blogger’s whole series on Primerica.
For those of you who don’t like the MLM companies, have you ever sat through one of their presentations? How different is it from the company you work for? You have an organizational chart just like the MLM companies, but with different titles. The difference is everyone in each level gets to make some money in the MLM companies for training people below them and help them achieve whatever goals they might have. Were you rewarded for training a new employee at your work? Probably not.
I am a demonstrator for a MLM company that sells rubber stamps and scrapbooking supplies. If I get people to sign under me, I get to make money off their sales for teaching, mentoring, and motivating them. If someone joins under them, then my downline will start making money, so on and so on.
The key is to present an opportunity for others to join something they have a passion. Mine is in crafts so I joined the rubber stamping MLM company. If you believe you have the products that really help people change their lives, why not share it. That’s what most MLM companies do.
Before dogging Primerica or any other MLM company, why not research deeper and see what their true intentions are. From what I see, Primerica is in the business of selling insurances which everyone really needs, especially if you have a family. I don’t see anything wrong with that. MLMs are not for everyone, just those who are tired of working for someone else and need an opportunity to start their own business and help others below them achieve their goals as well.
I just want to thank everyone for telling their stories. I’ve been unemployed for 3 months and was called for an interview today. I was told it was a great opportunity and that it would change my life. As it is I’m in debt because times are tough… THANK YOU ALL on behalf of my 3 and 1 year old girls I’m struggling to keep happy!!!!!!
Really guys how can any one read these false stataments and acusations and accually belive tham? What i understand is that at lEAst 3% of the population that is put into this world, are simply here to complaint, if you tryed primerica and it did not work for you, this simply means you did not put any effort into it, and the products primerica offers really do help pleople, and there are proof!! check out the better business bureau the are an A+ rated company, if there really was any truth to all the aligations against the company there should be record of it somewhere right??? where is it??
come on now quit you winning, if you tryed this company and got lisenced remember you still have that lisence, and by the way you should also know the term twisting, yes there are bad people in this world that are simply out there to make a buck what ever it takes, however there still are people who enjoyes helping others! and those who are selling products that does not benifit the contumer, can and will be prosecuted and will also get his/her lisence revoked, so with that in mind i holpe any one deciding as to reather or not this would be good for you, ask yourself!! are you willing to help people you have never met? and how much effort are you going to use to help these people? sounds simple how ever it is not!!
Very “good article” – WOW – I am just falling down. Who pay you for writing it. Do you really know what you are writing about. What is wrong with MLM, specialy when the products are so good and competitive to all offered by banks, the idea of the company was to create competitive products to help people with their financial problems – and what is wrong in it????? Is also something wrong that people they work in the company they have opportunity to earn money – you are funny!!! Beacouse other people in this industry they do not earning any money??? And what is wrong if one person use other people to earn money – is it something new or illegal??? Oh men you are so funny. Sorry I do not want to waste more of my time for such a demagogy.
One more issue. Show me any, any, any, any, any business in NORTH AMERICA where people are payd just for being nice to each other !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am just not sure at least who wrote negative comments with “special thanks” – they are “real”. Some people fill not comfortable that someone earns money on their work – because in the place where they were working or will work “nobody earns any money on their work” – guys do you realy live on the same planet or you are just playing dummies.
Primerica is not a job opportunity, as many have emphatically said in defense. This is true. Unfortunately, there is the problem; it is often advertised as one. I’m not going to get into the Mult-Commission argument or if Primerica offers better services or not. The problem most people have, I believe, is how the “opportunity” is presented. Nobody wants to spend time and money driving to what they believe is a job interview when it really is a business opportunity with cost up front. I realize not everyone recruits like this but many do and so does the company. If you have seen their job openings on job sites or have been called by them, this is not apparent. On the phone, they are unable to answer very simple questions that I would expect any other employer to answer if I was to ask about their company. The sad part is, this works against them. People then go on the internet, read blogs and have the negative feeling that they were being conned. I, like most people without a suitable background, found it odd to be contacted for an opening based on my qualifications for a potential high paying job. Sorry, but that doesn’t sound remotely right and most people know at that point that it can’t be exactly as advertised. The company needs to stop doing this, as it is subtly deceitful and in the end, is what helps give it a bad name. As for the Primerica opportunity, I’m sure that after 30+ years, there is something to the opportunity for those willing to put in hard work, just like many similar opportunities with similar backgrounds (both Melaleuca and Amway actually have strong financial stability, long histories, and have garnered prestigious international awards for their companies, as well as producing financial independence in some).
Hopefully Primerica reps will read this and not see this as a personal attack on them but as something to consider. Every company can improve and they all have areas that need to be fixed. In my opinion, working on how the opportunity is presented would help their image and eliminate a lot of the complaints people have, as well as get more people to consider the opportunity.
P.S. I am not affiliated with Primerica but have a friend who is starting soon and going to get licensed in a few weeks so I’ve looked into it a bit more to understand what they’re doing. Plus I was contacted by them several months ago and looked into it a bit then an decided that wasn’t the direction I wanted to go. I will state my opinion on them is basically neutral as I don’t have definitive evidence yet on them as a whole as far as their product and service goes compared with all their major competitors, so I will not say anything else about them that would be speculation.
This comment will never get posted, but here goes.
Why are you promoting multi level marketing schemes on the same page you are purporting yourself to be a “lily white” fraud investigator.
I am not into MLM’s never, have and never will be. A friend asked me to research Primearmerica and gave me your site.
She now wants to get into an MLM as a result of being baited and switched by you into one of the scams you are promoting on the right hand margin of your site.
Shame on you!!!
LOL – I’m not baiting and switching anyone, nor am I promoting any MLM. As you are well aware (or as you SHOULD be aware before you go around throwing meritless allegations at me), Google serves up advertisements based on the keywords on the pages (which in this case often mention MLM scams), and doesn’t give me the opportunity to block the MLMers. Yes, I can block some, but there is a limit to that, and I exceeded the limit months ago. I’m sorry your friend wasn’t smart enough to evaluate the MLM and decide against it.
Oh my God people on here are lost out in the world nobody makes their own mind up anymore and if I was to guess you ask your friend and they say “Oh it didn’t work for me pyramid: someone who never got licensed and never sat down and helped anybody primerica is for people motivated by goals so many people listen to their broke cousin eddie who tried that thing, its not a job a business opportunity I’m pretty sure nobody has one million dollars to buy a mcdonalds, Be grown men and women and make up your own mind.
I have Primerica term along with my wife – 200,000 for 20 years.
The cost is $59. USAA is $64.
Primerica is very competitive with USAA – as a former AF Officer, one of the best insurance companies period. We have home, auto, and investments with USAA.
I checked out how Primerica and Farmers do business, it sounds very similar. Do other insurances agencies follow the same patterns – recruitment, commissions, etc? My guess is they are all very similar.
One last comment: I have been studying Dave Ramsey’s materials and he highly recommends term – other types of insurance (whole life, variable life, etc – complete and total ripoffs). Do yourself a favor and find the best rate you can with level term insurance if you haven’t already.
No, Mike, regular insurance companies and agencies are NOT the same as Primerica. Primerica hangs their hat on the fact that you’ll believe that, based on one “similarity”: commissions. But a real insurance agency is far different from the multi-level marketing model Primerica uses.
Ok Tracy.
How is a real insurance agency different? Do you work for an insurance agency?
thanks
The biggest difference is that an insurance agency is actually focused on selling insurance, whereas the #1 focus at Primerica is recruiting new marks into the scheme. In a real insurance agency, the person who sells the insurance makes the bulk of the commission, as it should be. In Primeica, those above the seller collectively make much more off the sale than the actual seller. (This is common in all MLMs.. not rewarding the actual seller for selling, and instead giving most of the rewards to those who are recruiting.)
And no, I don’t work for an insurance agency.
Tracy, do other insurance agencies recruit people to work with them? How can I find out what the commissions are for someone, both new and old, in the business?
No, they don’t “recruit.” Insurance agencies do hire new agents, but only two parties will get commission on the sale of insurance: the agent, and the agency itself. No one else. Not like the pyramid in Primerica or other MLMs which pay 8 to 10 levels. If you want to know that the commissions are in a real insurance agency, ask an insurance agent.
Thanks for the info Tracy. Personally, I don’t have a problem with recruiting – I used to be in the military and I was recruited, as was everyone else. Hiring and recruiting sound synonymous.
So what you are saying in terms of commission is: a new agent gets commission and the company (Farmers for instance) gets the difference. The person who was involved in the hiring process does not get paid anything for the new person’s efforts. Is that correct?
No Mike, that’s not what I said. What I said is that on the sale of insurance, the agent who sold it will get a commission, and the agency the agent works for may also get a commission.
Tracy, your last response is vague. “The agency may get a commission.” If I am a State Farm agent working in a State Farm office does the person who recruited/hired me get any money from me, or would I make the entire commission and whatever other payment State Farm makes if I sell a policy?
Thanks
The statement isn’t vague at all. The agency might get a commission too. The agency might not. (Hence the use of the word “may.”) It depends on the insurance company or companies the agency is aligned with, what their agreement says, and what type of policy has been sold. So for the third and last time, the person who sold the insurance policy will get a commission and the agency might get a commission.
Tracy, you mentioned that you are not an insurance agent. How do you know how various insurance agencies operate in terms of commissions? I would like to do the research as well – is there a good web site/s that have State Farm, Farmers, New York Life, etc. commissions on them?
BTW – the use of the term “may” is vague, inexplicit, indefinite – however you slice it. I “may” do _____________ – is ambiguous.
Please show me some statistics – like I did in the comparison of USAA and Primerica – thanks.
Mike – I know because I do work in the industry. I’m not interested in researching this commission issue for you. Good luck finding the information you seek.
Tracy, you said on May 23rd, “And no, I don’t work for an insurance agency.”
Now you state, “I do work in the industry.”
One word: integrity
This discussion is over.
Mike – It is possible for someone to do work in the insurance industry without working for an insurance agency. Surely you’re aware that there are lots of different jobs and consulting opportunities in the insurance industry? So both of those statements are true. I do not work for an insurance agency, but I have done (and still do) work in the insurance industry.
Why do so many people have a problem with overrides?
When you bought or sold your house, did part of that commission not go to pay your agent’s broker? Suppose that Broker had 30 agents in their office. Is it wrong for that broker to want to hire and train others and recieve a continuous stream of overrides?
Why then are so many people against the Primerica system? It is basically the same.
I think people are just jealous, and don’t want to admit that they aren’t tough enough to do it.
I find it funny that traditional insurance agents have a problem with Primerica’s model.
Well, Primericans have a problem with traditional insurance agent’s products: cash “trash” value products.
What I found is that cash value life insurance products are the real scam!
Primerica’s model is just like real estate brokerage, except with more agency levels and 6 levels of back-end royalties. What is so wrong with that? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!
Oh and don’t give me that whole “Primerica has expensive Term” blah, blah, blah….
Until someone really sits down and does a comparison you won’t know.
Likewise, even if it were a little more expensive in some cases, so what! The benefits and features unique to Primerica Life Insurance are worth it!
I don’t know about ya’ll but I don’t live in the cheapest house in town, just because it’s cheaper!
Whole life agents typically sell Term that is only guaranteed renewable into whole life!
How about a Term policy that is guaranteed renewable till age 100. Then invest the difference? >>>> It’s a NO BRAINER!
Then guess what, if you want to be a messenger for helping others, you can join and get paid! Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Then guess what, if you train and develop leaders, the company will pay you a ton of money for helping families! Is that good or bad!
Nobody in Primerica gets paid for recruting. Paychecks are sent out when business is transacted!
If you want to find out what a pyramid scheme is….see Bernie Madoff!
Losers have a victim mentality.
Winners have a victor mentality.
Which mentality do you have?
The problem with the commission structure in MLMs is that the person who actually sells the product or service is not receiving the bulk of it. Most of the commission is going to the upline who, in reality, had little or nothing to do with the sale. That’s what we call an endless recruiting scheme… in which the money is actually made from recruiting rather than selling the product or service. The business of recruiting helps very few people, and certainly doesn’t help those at the bottom of the pyramid make money.
Tracy, In a typical corporate american job, the person who trains you
usually does not make a higher salary than you, and in most cases they
are the same level of employment as you. Alot of the time, it is not
even in their job description to train you, but they do it anyways at
no additional cost. Primerica believes in rewarding their reps, and if
you train someone, you deserve a portion of the commission too. Whats so wrong with that? Dont be mad because you are not gettin extra compensation for training someone. You also said that the upline has very little or nothin to do with the sale… well this may not be the case directly, but they did have alot to do with the sale indirectly. It was the upline’s teaching and intruction they enabled the rep to go out and make the sale. I’d like to see a rep close a sale offered by Primerica with no prior instruction! Finally, you are wrong when you say that the money is made from recruiting because it is not. No money is made if there is no sales transaction. A rep can go out and recruit 100 people, but if no one does any sales, there’s no money in your pocket. You get a paycheck when a SALES transaction occurs.
It’s common to use “typical corporate jobs” to justify the MLM structure, but it just doesn’t hold water. MLM is pay to play, while corporate jobs PAY YOU. And there are not 8 levels of people being paid on one sale in the corporate world. In the real corporate world (such as insurance or other commissioned sales) the bulk of the commission goes to the actual sales person, with one or two others also being compensated. In MLM, the bulk of the commission goes to everyone BUT the person making the sale. That’s why I don’t like the structure of Primerica. You can’t make a decent living in Primerica without recruiting… hence it becomes an endless chain recruitment scheme. Members are constantly searching for new recruits as the try (almost always unsuccessfully) to earn a living wage in Primerica. And they’re usually forgetting that all they’re really doing is recruiting competition and therefore taking sales opportunities away from themselves. I know of no industry outside of MLM whose purpose it is to recruit as many COMPETITORS as possible. Dumb.
We are not recruiting “competitors,” we are recruiting teammates. If we recruit someone, it isn’t taking sales away from us, its adding to our sales… Even if the recruited gets more sales than we do, we get compensated for it too; so how is that taking sales away? Also, in Primerica, it is not necesarily true that the bulk of the commission goes to everyone but the seller. If you are at a division leader position, you earn a 60% contract and if your recruiter is a regional leader, then they earn a 70% commission (in general). Now, if the downline makes a sale, the upline makes the difference of it… and the difference between 70% and 60% is 10%, so the upline is only making 10% of wat that commission was while the seller made 60% from the commission. Granted, sometimes it is the other way around, where the difference in commission is alot greater than wat the seller would make (i.e. an RVP making 95% and a new rep making 25%… the difference is 70%) but this isnt the case all the time. If you are a newer rep, you cant expect to make as much as a 10 year seasoned vet, the same as if you are new on the job… u wouldnt expect to make more than the 5 year seasoned department manager, or the 30 year store manager, or anyone else above you that has been working alot longer. Corporate jobs dont PAY YOU, they TAKE from you. They do not pay you what you are worth, they pay based on the job position… therefore, you have no credibility. If Oprah Winfrey wanted to stop doing what she was doing to be a fryer at McDonalds, do you think they are going to pay her loads of money because she is Oprah, or they are gonna pay her $7.00/hr jus like all the other fryers? They are going to pay her what a fryer makes… Therefore, you are being paid based on the JOB, and not what you can do, bring to the table, or anything else. It doesnt matter how much education you have and if you received your Master’s or Doctorate’s degree, you are still going to make somewhere in the range of WHAT THE JOB PAYS! At least with what we do (as with any other commission job) you get paid based on what you bring to the table. If you slack and dont put in much work, then no you will not succeed in Primerica, or any other corporate commission jobs out there. But I know I work my butt off when I have a job, so I would rather work for a company that pays me for how much I put in than to work for someone in which I will only bring in the same paycheck regardless of how hard I work.
You foolish foolish man. Of course you’re recruiting competitors. That’s one of the most poisonous aspects of MLM. They are into recruiting large volumes of competitors.
And your analysis of the commissions is terrible. Seems you’ve learned some talking points but haven’t figured out how wrong they are. THE PERSON WHO SELLS THE PRODUCT is not receiving the bulk of the commission on the sale. THAT is what I said, but you used numbers to address something completely different, while making it sound like you were disproving me. I never said the person at the top makes the bulk on each sale, just that the actual salesperson is not making the bulk of the commission on their personal sale.
And YES corporate jobs pay you want you’re worth. If you’ve got skills that can earn you more than $7/hr, you’re free to go present those kills to anyone around the world and invite them to pay you more. No one is forced to stay in any job in this country. So long as the free market exists, you can go get yourself a higher paying job any time you can find an employer who believes you’re worth more.
Also like to point out (if it hasn’t already been stated), that promotion in MLM does not depend on how good you are at retailing the product or service, but how well you can recruit additional business associates into the pyramid scheme. The commission you are paid is from those beneath you and the only reason you got a commission is because those below you are required to purchase the product or service on a regular basis in order to be commission eligible. That is how MLMs pay you to recruit.
Ok, you keep saying how in MLM you have to recruit to make money, correct? So, if you are recruiting, how are u making competitors if they are making you money? You are contradicting yourself. Which, in realtiy, you dont HAVE to recruit, its jus highly recommended if you want a better income. Noone is making me recruit. If I wanted, I could stay exactly where I am right now and only sale and I would be the same as a sales person.
And Tracy, on June 10th, 2009 at 7:30am you commented, and I quote, “…the person who actually sells the product or service is not receiving the bulk of it. Most of the commission is going to the upline…” So I was stating how this is not always true because there are times where the upline does not make as much as the seller if the seller is at a higher position in the company. That is what I was getting at.
As far as corporate paying you what you are worth is a bunch of bologna. Going back to my McDonalds/fryer example, it dont matter how much skills you have, you are going to make what a fryer makes if thats what you wanna do. If you want to prove me wrong, go be a fryer at McDonalds and let me see you work yourself to a 6 figure salary being only on the fryer. And you proved my point exactly when you said, “No one is forced to stay in any job in this country…you can go get yourself a higher paying job any time.” The key words here are “get yourself a higher paying job.” So your other job did NOT pay what you were worth, you had to find another job who pays better. You had to find another job thats pays what that new job pays. If you hated being a fryer @ $7/hr and wanted to be lets say a Driver @ $15/hr, you will get paid more because a driver gets paid more than a fryer… in other words, the position (of a driver) is paying you what that position is. You had no credibility in your previous job, you had to find another job. That is not the same as a job paying you what you are worth, that is finding another job that pays a better salary… big difference.
As far as what USANAWatchDog said, we are not required to purchase anything that we sell. Again, it is highly recommended that we do because our services help ourselves as well as other clients, but also we believe in being a connature of our own products. It would be like working for T-mobile but having a verizon wireless phone yourself and trying to persuade someone why they should get with T-mobile and talk about how they are the best cell phone company to be with, when you yourself arent even with them. Its stupid… if you believe in something that much to where you are telling other ppl to get it, you should have it yourself. Going along with that, most of my commission comes from actual clients (that arent recruits). Don’t get me wrong, I would love gettin sales from my recruits as well, but most of my sales come from referals I’ve gotten from other clients I’ve done
Channing – Different jobs pay different wages. You understand that, right? So the bottom line is that anyone who is “worth more” than whatever job they’re working in, can go find a different job that pays more. Suggesting that MLMs “pay you what you’re worth” is silly, particularly since 99% of people who participate in them actually LOSE money.
I know that different jobs pay different wages, which is why ppl have to find jobs that pay more if they want to make more. Jobs dont pay u based on ur performance (yes u may get a lil raise here and there, or get promoted after workin there for a long time) but in general a job pays a certain wage range. So like I said, they are not payin YOU for what your worth, they are paying u within the salary wage. What I mean when I say Primerica pays u for what your worth is, if you put in hard work, trust me, u WILL get the results. If you dont put in the effort, u dont make nothin, or even lose money. Which is what so many ppl do. Only about 2% of people are cut out to be in Primerica, that dont mean its a scam, it jus means its not right for most ppl.
Someone with no experience at a construction company will get the starting base salary. As the worker gains more experience, their value as a worker increases. That worker will get paid based on performance, experience, and knowledge. That worker can then take his talent from one company to another. That new company isn’t going to start that individual at the lowest pay scale. Comparing job talents from one type of career to another is flawed in your argument. Of course when someone starts a new line of work, they will start at the bottom of the pay scale.
Also, the more education someone has the more money they will be paid. MLM is unique in that it doesn’t matter how good you are, you have to fight to be that 1% who make money.
If you took all expert sales people with IQs of 200 and stuck them in an MLM company, guess what? Only 1% of them will succeed. Why? Because MLM doesn’t pay based on talent, or even how well you retail product. It pays based on who can recruit the biggest downlines. And that is where Boiler Rooms come into play. Recruiting hundreds at a time is what these guys do.
99% will always fail no matter if they are all perfect or cut out for the job. That is the mathematical result: 99%.
Do you know how to do math?
Yes, different jobs pay different wages. And as one acquires more skills, one is worth more to an employer, and will begin to see their earnings go up. You pretend we’re all slaves to employers, when that’s far from the truth.
Almost everyone in MLM loses, so they definitely are NOT “paid what they’re worth.” By your logic, they’re worth negative earnings… i.e. they pay into the company.
That is not true all of the time. For example, I have worked in 3 different grocery store settings as a cashier. When I got my 3rd grocery store job (with experience with the other 2) I started a whole 25 cents higher than base salary, big whoopety do. My point is, a job pays within a pay scale, so even if u are experienced, have more knowledge, and perform well, you will just get a higher pay within that pay scale… again this isnt paying what you are TRULY worth, because there are ppl who are more lazy, less intelligent overall, and perform poorly, but because they are at a job that pays higher, they make more than you. Is that fair? This was my biggest problem with corporate america… I am a hard worker in whatever job I go into, and I learn my duties quickly, so I always get extremely effecient in what i do. Now I am not saying this about everyone, but in every job i’ve been in, I would say at least half of the ppl performs worse than I do; and you have your handful of ppl who slack, go on frequent bathroom/smoke breaks to get off from work, pass on customers to other co-workers, etc etc etc AND I make the same as them, if not less (just because they have been there longer). I do not get paid what I am worth, because if I did, I would make more than the others… thats why commission jobs expose people to how hard they really work… the more work u put in, the more u get out of it. I guess ppl who are more lazy (im not saying all, but some) would tend to hate the commission style of pay because they would never get much anyways. Relating this back to my point, Primerica pays on commission, so if people just put in the work, they will come out on top. The problem is most ppl dont want to put in ALL the work that translates into a successful Primerican.
If you took all expert sales ppl of 200 IQ and stuck them in Primerica, they would do just fine (if they are experts like u say). Paychecks go out when a transaction occurs, so if they are only sellin and not recruiting, they will still make money, it will only be at a lower commission rate. It doesnt matter if you recruit the biggest downlines, if I have 100 recruits and dont do nothin, guess what, Im not gettin paid. Recruiting has something to do with it, but its not everything. I do know math, and I know 99% of ppl will fail… BECAUSE ppl dont want to put in all the work. I guaranty if they put in ALL the work, there would be alot greater than 1% of ppl who succeed.
And I would actually say we are more like slaves in a corporate setting than anythin else. What are we… employees. Lets define employee: 1) One working under another’s control or orders in exchange for something such as compensation; under a boss. Now lets define slave: 1) a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another. 2) a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person; subject to a master. I would say a master and a boss are similar, as are who works for them. Think about it, we follow the rules of our boss… they tell us when to work (our schedules), how to work, and how much we get paid for the work we do. They basically control our life… because our life is determined mainly by how much money we make (ppl with more money have a better living). And how many stories have u heard where a person needed a day off for a funeral, or there kid was sick, or something unexpected happened while they were at work and their boss still wouldnt let them off until their shift was over? I’ve heard many like this, and actually am living proof of the funeral example. We have to do what our boss’s tell us. If you dont believe me, I dare u to jus not show up for work tomorrow and see what happens to you.
But I know I am not getting through to you guys so I am going to quit talking about this. You have your feelings/opinions and thats totally fine, but from ur inaccuracies about Primerica, you can affect someone life who could use us. But I respect ur opinions and I honestly hope you can make it in the careers that you have for yourselves!
No, in MLM, hard work doesn’t mean you’ll be successful. That’s what you’re missing. (Above and beyond your obvious problem understanding the real world and the freedom employees have in going and finding other jobs if they’re worth more!) In MLM, 99% of people will LOSE MONEY. This industry has been studied over and over with the same result: Almost no one profits, and of those that do, a very small fraction make a living wage. Hard work in MLM doesn’t correlate to success because the system is set up in such a way that most have to fail.
P.S. MLM is the only industry in which I’ve seen that there is almost NO CORRELATION between hard work and results. Millions and millions of people work very hard in MLM each year, yet end up with only financial losses.
Hard work doin ALL the work does mean u’ll be successful. And even tho ppl have the right to find another employer, they will still have to listen to THEIR rules and obide by them, and if they then go to another, theirs another boss they have to listen to. It dont matter how many times u go to another job, u still have a boss ur listenin to. And you keep sayin ppl can find jobs if they’re worth more, but there is no guaranty other jobs will hire them. Especially in today’s economic struggles, its ALOT harder to find employment, regardless of what skills u have. What you said about a very small percentage of those who work in an MLM format dont make a comfortable livin wage is false… well maybe you are right about that in most MLM formats, but im not talkin on behalf of the MLM system, I am talkin on behalf of Primerica specifically. I dont know what other MLMs do, but I know Primerica is a legitimate compamny. In fact, of our 100,000+ reps, more than 5,000 make between 50k and 100k ( A very comfy living), 2000+ make a 6-figure income, including 50+ who make 7 figure plus salary. I would say there are quite enough ppl who make a comfy livin. Do your facts before you make a statement. But yes i agree, most ppl do fail, not because of the system, but because ppl are jus unwillin to do ALL the work. Last example… professional athletes. In the NFL (National Football League) there are only about 1600 players that play in a given year, most of which are backups. So less than a quarter of 1% of the world cannot play in the NFL because they will never make it, and an even lower percent succeed as starters and really thrive. My point is, most ppl couldnt play in the NFL because they would fail, but is the NFL a scam? NO! Just because the majority of ppl who would ever try would fail, does not make it a scam. Only about 1% of ppl in Primerica will succeed, as in professional sports. Its jus the way of the game. Ppl dont have all the tools it takes to play in the NFL, as ppl dont have all the tools it takes to be in Primerica. Im not sayin nothin bad about those ppl, but jus because YOU never succeeded dont mean others dont. I’ve been in Primerica a lil over a year and im doin great. I will never go back to corporate america again either!!!
I didnt see that last comment u posted until I already posted mine. But u think thats not true in corporate america. You dont think millions and millions of ppl work hard every year and live paycheck to paycheck? People go in to work faithfully everyday, clock in, and work 8, 10, even 12 hours a day, and all they have to show for themselves is a paycheck that is practically all gone by the time they receive it because its all goin to bills. But think what u want. I hope u love working for your master and struggle as u live ur paycheck to paycheck life
Millions and millions of people work in corporate America each day and get paychecks. If they choose to live beyond their means (and therefore live paycheck to paycheck), that is not the fault of the employer. They either need to spend less or get the skills and qualifications that will allow them to be paid more.
On the other hand, almost all participants in MLMs lose money. They don’t earn even ONE CENT.
I’ll now invite you to prove the bogus statistics you threw out about people in Primerica making $50k to $100k each year. Those statistics are a complete fabrication. But please… point us to the proof. I guarantee this is made up, and will be noted as a lie until you can provide the proof.
No further comments by Channing will be allowed until he proves the lie or admits he’s lying.
I’d rather he not be allowed to post until he learns to write. Damn, it’s difficult reading one wall-of-text post after another.
No offence to Channing, but his (her?) stated work history is of a series of menial, entry level jobs. It’s probably safe to say that Channing has virtually no grasp of the fundamental principles of how a business really functions.
Channing, if you want to improve your life, either go to school and educate yourself, or find an employer who will invest time and money to develop you. You’re at the bottom of the ladder of life right now, and will be until you grow. If you’re a failure at life, you’re going to be a failure at Primerica or any other scheme that sells you a pig in a poke.
MLM – Commission Sales – Pyramid structure, All have negative connotations to some ppl but to some it is a grand opportunity. Like someone said, salary PLUS commission is for the truly competent. Not everyone is.
Finance – Lots of financial services companies sell crap so why is everyone acting like the non MLM insurance cos. are so much better. They all sell crap (even bulge bracket IB firms)and they are all trying to make their margins.
It takes a certain uneducated and indoctrinated type to try selling junk to their own family and friends…. you don’t know any better so we forgive you.
If this is the best opportunity you have take it – and sell your a#@ off. If your family and friends watched you get to the point where this is the only employment that you can obtain then they can at least make you some commission right??!!
99% of people who join MLM schemes lose money.
By contrast, only 60% of bank robbers are caught and convicted.
If you’re unemployable, uneducated, and have shifty ethics, it’s pretty obvious which business opportunity is the better one.
Lets be honest, Primerica is a pyramid scheme. Channing, I am sorry that you got wrapped up in the scheme. I was approached by a Primerica representative 3 years ago. At the time I was working for a union construction company and was looking to do something else. So, I decided to go to a meeting. first of all, the meeting was at a hotel, not an office. I was already suspicious. I then sat through the hour long meeting about how great their mortgages were and how I could sell life insurance and all of that fun stuff. Then, they explained how to really make money. Recruiting. After that, they then explained that they would like to run a few appointments with me. oh, and they wanted to start with my family. They said, “you should set us up with appointments with your family members so I can show you how it works” and I wasn’t allowed to sell yet. so, basically they wanted me to set up a meeting with my family members, so they could sell them something. I think that was the final straw in my experience. I said thank you for the presentation, but this was not for me. I did end up in the financial services industry as a financial advisor, but with a reputible company. If you really are considering a job in the financial services industry, there are plenty of opportunities out there for people with little or no experience. I had no previous experience when I started and am now doing very well. As far as their products go, I do not know much about their mortgages except what I read on the internet, but I do know that I love it when I run acrossed one of their life insurance policies, I know that I am getting a sale!!!!
this message is for stufrogg, I love you buy term and invest the difference guys. Have you ever seen the return on these whole life products? Do you even really know how a Whole Life Product works? Do you recommend buy term and invest the difference to every client? You don’t actually do the work of a “real” financial advisor and see what your clients needs and risks tolerances are? basically, you just put everyone in the market no matter what their objectives and tolerances. That is why everyone thinks your company is a scam.
Do I sell Whole Life as a retirement supplement? Absolutely, but not to everyone. I only sell it to people that it fits with. Do I sell buy term and invest the difference, Absolutely, to the people that have the appropriate objectives and risk tolerances. I don’t know how you keep your securities license, but that is ridiculous. any good advisor doesn’t sell the same thing to every client. The reason your company tells you to bash whole life is because you are a stock company. Your company’s main goal is to make the stock holder’s money. Also, you don’t have a whole life product and if you did it would suck because you wouldn’t pay dividends and your financials for your company aren’t very good.
Once again, your term insurance is a joke. The riders and “unique” features you have can’t be that great because I have replaced “Every” Primerica policy I have come across. It is obvious that after people see what real insurance policies look like, they do not feel they are very unique…..
I will agree with you on one thing. The idea of paying out more than one level is not that uncommon even in other agencies. I know for a fact that large companies pay out bonuses to more than one level. for instance, at my former company,
I was hired by a partner, he made an override on me and any agent he hired,
there was a senior partner, he made an override on everyone
then there were managing partners and training partners, who’s bonuses were based on a percentage of the overall production of their areas.
The biggest difference is that these people were promoted based on merit. Not just given the right to recruit your own people just because you were an employee. You had to be a member of the million dollar round table 2 consecutive years before you were even allowed to apply for Partner. That did not mean you were granted it.
I went to one of these “Business Opportunity Meetings” at a Primerica office today. Needless to say, I was not impressed. They state they have over 100,000 employees, and what they state in VERY FINE PRINT is that less than 10% of those employees earn $50,000 a year or more. That’s less than 10,000 people working for Primerica that actually earn a decent living with that job.
At the end of the presentation when I said I didn’t want to be part of any pyramid scheme, the service rep gave up trying to recruit me. That’s when the real fun began and the service rep cornered me in her office, where she tried to force me to set up an appointment so she could switch my auto and life insurance policies to “help save me money.” Even after I stated I was very happy with my current insurance company and I did not want to switch, she continued to press on as if I wasn’t even talking to her. She then tried to convince me that I didn’t even know what my current life insurance policy coverage consisted of!! It was a horrible experience and nothing but a waste of my time!
What kind of “business opportunity” would try to sell me something I don’t need?? Primerica reps act and talk like a bunch of car salesmen. THEY SHOULD NOT BE TRUSTED!!