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.

171 Comments

  1. Deborah 05/19/2008 at 3:06 pm - Reply

    I would like to offer a rebuttal to the previous post(s).

    When you are approached about an organization that you suspect might be a pyramid scheme or MLM scam, utilize websites such as MLM watch or Quackwatch and see what others are saying. Ask critical questions like – Does the money I would be earning come from the sale of the products/services or from getting recruits? Would I be required to purchase *pricey* training materials or company products? Would I be expected (pressured) to attend events where an admission fee is charged? If yes, that could indicate the money is generated by recruiting or those “training” materials or workshops, and not from the products and services. I asked myself these questions prior to making the decision to join Primerica and i’m glad I signed up because my experience has been very positive.

    Primerica is in the business of financial education and debt elimination, aimed at the under-served middle income market. An individual can make a decent supplementary income, even on a part-time basis, without recruiting anyone. And the clients are often in dire need of the products and services we (licensed agents) are educating them about.

    Going with the aforementioned life insurance example, those commissions are possible because that is a one-time payment based on the annual premium of that policy. If a person “recruits’ you into Primerica, they are instrumental in your training and development, so yes, they do have a vested interest in your success. There is no bonus or pay incentive to sign people up that won’t invest the time and energy it takes to get licensed/ trained (AND most, if not all, fees associated with obtaining the license of your state are reimbursable) so the “name of the game” is not endless recruiting.

    If one has an entrepreneurial mindset and wants to build a team and run an office – that is an option as well.

    • Simone 11/18/2012 at 1:42 pm - Reply

      ok what you are saying seems credible but where do yhe clients come from? Let’s say I want to join Primerica but I just moved her and don’t know anyone

  2. Tracy Coenen 05/19/2008 at 3:13 pm - Reply

    Primerica is not in the business of financial education. It’s in the business of recruiting.

    The under-served middle income market is far better off doing business with a real insurance agency or a real mortgage broker. The products Primerica sells are overpriced, and their main goal is recruiting you!

    It is next to impossible to make a real living in MLM schemes like Primerica without recruiting. Why? Because the full commission you’d be paid if you worked for a REAL insurance agency is instead split among many levels of the Primerica pyramid. You make less so the rest of the pyramid can make more.

    If you want to sell financial products, stay away from the MLMs. You can do much better elsewhere.

  3. Rocky Drake 06/01/2008 at 9:29 am - Reply

    PRIMERICA MILICO CITIGROUP A.L.WILLIAMS PAY ME WHAT THOU OWEST Bonnie Doorman, RVP, AL Williams, whom I had met previously when she was marketing Huff Cook, talked to me about a company that “offered a great opportunity through life insurance sales and asset repositioning”. Further, I could work part time and keep my present employ if I desired. Enthused, I worked over 80 hours/week; put in time with the company. Then, within 90 days, Bonnie Dorman, RVP, demanded I surrender my Bureau of Insurance license because I didn’t meet quotas!! THAT’S RAPE!! Deceit in light of the above. It’s their sin; they can’t demand the license because it is false pretenses. It is a fraud. I worked for it; I studied for it. Why should it only be an SCC license that can only be used to sell AL Williams – Primerica products? It is a fraud; a sham. I had the same examination. I had to study just as hard as my competition to receive my license to sell life insurance.

    Bonnie Dorman, rVp said you only have to work part-time and can make a lot of money. They lied; they smeared other firms that have protected territories. One needs a protected territory. I would have easily sold 4-12 replacement policies but no protected territory. So another rep had already sold. So you can see from the above I’m still waiting for a fair remuneration for what I would have sold and Art Williams – Primerica can pay me for the time I put in. They haven’t given me anything yet, therefore, there has to be a penalty for what they did in order to discourage further rapes. I wasted a total of 7 months going to the meetings, the class, studying and scouring the supposedly limitless field of “every person you meet is a sale”.

    In addition, old AL Williams reps they find me every few years. A quote that I can very well relate to: “I was never told how my name was referred to them”. They say they are headhunters. They are leeches; steal your leads; find your family and friends and attempt to rape you again. They’re just looking for whom they consider to be suckers. I always have to tell them I am still waitng for my money. Not only has ALWilliams not made restitution; he has made an offer of stock in an effort to take away the injury done to me. No remorse, no offer to pay for the expenses to get my life insurance license back that was stolen – nothing AL Williams-Citigroup-Primerica lies and lies and lies. Here is what I found out while I was slaving for A L Williams:
    – 80 fee to go to their seminars!! The RVP’s told us it was a great deal!! All the other life insurance companies give their training for no charge AND they pay for your accommodations.
    – I started finding insurance policies that were cheaper! A L Williams RVP’s told me I was selling the cheapest. Really began to be disturbed over that.
    One of the reasons Bonnie Dorman was able to talk me in to the business was the “fact” that A.L. Williams policies were the cheapest and the riders made them cheaper yet.
    – No reimbursement for my travel expenses.
    – A sales rep is a rag that they can throw out! They tell you you are going to be wallowing in moola! The RVPs don’t help you; I never, ever was introduced to a RSD or SRSD and they throw you away so they can exploit another one and steal his/her leads!!!
    – I started hearing “that person’s not even a potential client”. When Bonnie Dorman talked me in to getting in to the business, every one was a potential sale. “Just start a list”.
    – I began running in to people who wanted to buy from me but they had already bought from another guy who didn’t even work in the same state that I was working in. My eyes finally began to open and it began to sink in that an agent needs a protected territory.
    – You know it is so: when you go in to business, you don’t recruit other businesses. You stay right there and build your business up wherever you are. You get the help you need. If you start a branch business, or a separate enterprise, you get the help you need. You don’t tell them to pyramid on, for those new recruits to pyramid on, and on until you have exceed the entire population of the world!! Those RVPs and SRVPs know that. Those recruits are customers!

    AL Williams-Citigroup-Primerica still owe innumerable commissions plus interest and penalty because they stole my license after 3 months. They never
    forced Bonnie Dorman to admit she was wrong and to return my license to sell. That license was only good to sell MILICO products. That’s a conspiracy in restraint of trade!! The license granted by the govt body was good for 2 years. AL Williams deliberately made up the 90 days and I had to pay my expenses on top of it to pass the exam and get my license! What a fleecing!
    AL Williams takes away your license without any remorse! It caused me impoverishment and upwards of 99.5% of the other PFS reps wind up impoverished because of the abomination. It is nothing but multi-level marketing. Only those at the top make money: those at the bottom give their time and energy to those at the top. And they charged me for the classes. And I had to pay everything out of my pocket. Neither Bonnie Dorman nor any of other RVP’s, District or Regional Leaders told me that all the other life insurance cos give you training out of their own pocket. They help their reps. It took over a year for me to recover from all the uncompensated work time and expenditures.

    http://nextaxpro.spaces.live.com/

    All right. A fair restitution:
    1. You can’t get around base pay. If you supposedly are going to make this fortune selling “buy term and invest the difference in mutual funds”, “the 72 rule”, etc, they have no problem giving at least $500/week so you can survive; more in high cost of living areas. That’s not unreasonable. As aforementioned,
    if the reps did well on the Bureau of insurance examination, and I scored 87 out of 95 total, that’s not unreasonable. They recruited us and told us we were would swimming in dough working part-time!!

    2. Honest disclosure about the commission structure. We’re still trying to find out what it truly is!! Art Williams got around one lawsuit because Alabama {then} had only a one year Statute of Limitations for plaintiff action.

    3. Fair remuneration for selling the policy. Primerica can’t pound and pound that ludicrous “higher cost first year, lower later” because the reps don’t get paid commission in subsequent years. That’s laughing in the agent’s face! That’s an admission that they treat their reps very badly. AL Williams- Citigroup – Primerica owes me for the renewals.

    4. I put seven months of my time in to that scheme, overall. Should I hold my breath that Primerica will pay me fair remuneration for all the mental stress and impoverishment that multi-level marketing causes? Paying compensatory damages to me is not unreasonable, especially since there should be penalty as AL Williams never paid me a dollar. With no disclosure of the commission structure, how do I know I was actually paid an agreed upon stipend?

    5. Fair reimbursement plus interest for my travel expenses to take the course. That’s not unreasonable. I obtained the license required by the state governmental body and passed their test with a high grade. Reimbursement for my travel expenses to obtain the license and stay at a motel. That’s not unreasonable. AL Williams, Inc, forced me to give up the license that I earned! No argument of sincerity can be made by AL WIlliams, Bonnie Dorman or any of the RVP’s. They want those leads and will be very swift to steal them from you. When you franchise a store, if you’re smart, you check the contract for a fair evaluation of what the franchisor contributed to the good will and growth of the business. AL Williams staff and lawyers knew and Primerica knows about clauses like that. I was so young and am really surprised at the number of potential clients I visited and the enthusiasm I had and how I helped the image of that company. I was rewarded with termination and theft of my time. That’s theft of services! That’s theft of promised commissions!! I gave them my time. AL Williams and his people are thieves! Never again will it be done to me.

    6. A fair evaluation and restitution for sales missed when forced to surrender the license I had studied for and earned. That means they owe me for the
    bonuses I would have made as well as the sales I lost, not only in the valid period of the license, but in subsequent periods; volume build up; more sales, bonuses, etc! After 7 months with absolute minimal income, I was impoverished and forced to take job so I could get back on my feet. Multi-
    level marketing impoverishes workers! Hundreds of thousands of others have been raped, also, worldwide.

    7. The theft by AL Williams means lack of credentials for the next insurance place. The sin of A L Williams. Once again, you must have a protected territory. Reimbursement for travel expenses; fair restitution for my time to unnecessarily have to restudy for the examination. Boy, does AL Wiliams-Primerica-Citigroup screw people!! Taking away your license when no laws nor ethics were broken by the agent is an abomination!!! Art Williams, Bonnie
    Dorman, Primerica-Citigroup who bought them out [hence bought their debts] and the rest of them should be thankful I’m not asking for compensatory and punitive damage awards! Boy, do they fleece you! A lot of time and energy for what? To be used and thrown away so they can get your leads!! Aha!! Know you know why AL Williams and all the RVP’s ordered you NOT to make the sale on the first visit! Why? After 3 months, they will steal their license to sell, which is not even rightfully theirs!!! I studied for the test, put out by the state regulator, not by AL Williams; not by MILICO; not by Primerica: not by Citigroup. What a corrupt outfit! You can’t even recover unless you take the courses; then the examination all over again!!

    They owe for the mental stress!! Those sales District and Regional Leaders really have their nerve in demanding that you surrender the license when you have committed no legal, propriety, moral nor ethics violations.

    8. License was good for 2 years. Out and out fraud and nefarious extortion to only allow a license to sell insurance and securities through AL Williams!! That really takes nerve. whom do they think they are? God Almighty? The intent is to issue a license to sell life insurance and securities for yourself or for any firm. To limit to AL Williams is tantamount to threats, lies, deception, unfair restraint of trade and extortion. AL Williams violated the Sherman anti-trust Act without even telling us!!! Has Primerica turned from such reprobate shenanagans? Citigroup-Primerica must agree to pay for the remaining 21 months of lost revenue as a result of the illegal seizure of the license to sell life insurance. That’s generous: AL Williams does not have to pay punitive damages and AL Williams doesn’t have to pay compensatory damages for a minimum of 7 years.

    What?! Ripoff Report states this? To the editors of Ripoff Report: Primerica is willing to make amends? They bought AL Williams, stock symbol ALW. When you buy an outfit, you buy the debts. Let’s see proof. A.L. Williams “headhunters” know I worked there, even if Bonnie Dorman were to attempt to deny it. “Not everyone is a sales person {they recruited you, hence you are} – not every one is made for every business and your success depends entirely on the effort you put into it, but, the investment involved is very minimal in light of the training and licensing that it pays for – all this talk about $199
    being a rip-off. I guess people are wondering ‘why do I have to pay to start a job? ‘ But Primerica isn’t a JOB, You’re starting a business; {you’re starting a business when you go to work for all the others and the company pays -consult the Rock} how many other businesses can you start for less than $200 {unlimited, esp now. It’s called the internet}? Life insurance pre-licensing education is provided at no additional cost to you.” {ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Primerica lied to you!!! Documented by other threads, also. We are NOT bearing false witness. That leads one to question the whole scope of the investigation put out by the staff of Ripoff Report. How deep was the investigation? I’ve spoken with thousands of life insurance agents, including former AL Williams agents, and they all know that AL Williams charged $80 for the pre-licensing seminar. No additional costs? Even then, it was more than $200 as I have documented.

    A.L.Williams recruiters wanted me to buy a policy! What!! When I go to work for a company, I get their product for free or at employee discount rates. When I go to work for an insurance company, I get the policy for free. Buy an overpriced policy to help National Sales Directors and Senior National Sales Directors. What deception! What dishonesty!

    Ripoff Report said “recruit” in their ” Rip-off Report Investigation: Primerica`. “It should be noted that as an independent contractor, the compensation of a Primerica agent consists of commissions and bonuses earned upon the sale of a product, either directly or by an override commission GENERATED BY OTHER AGENTS {emphasis mine} recruited into his or her ‘hierarchy’. ”
    Not my words, his. Some have not seen through multi-level marketing. “But you should know, that your results are going to equal to your efforts.”
    That is NOT so in multi-level marketing, even in a local economy on the upswing. Here is the best explanation I have seen to date. There are probably less wordy ones, but this is worthy of very careful, thorough study. Primerica IS IS IS a mutli-level marketing company.
    http://www.frauddiscovery.net/Herbalife/WallStreetFooled.pdf
    It’s the same A.L. Williams hash refrigerated and microwaved up: “Primerica was been and is under investigation by the SEC, FTC and numerous other governmental bodies.
    Listing of investigations and litigations can be found SEC’s and other sites –>
    http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/txt-srch-sec?text=Primerica&mode=&start=&count=§ion=Litigation&sort=rank
    If you just do a goggle or Yahoo search on ‘Primerica fraud’ you will get hundreds of hits explaining lawsuits, Primerica’s deceptive tactics and
    testimonials of people defrauded. Most concerning of all though is that members of Primerica during company’s presentations and speeches yell out ‘Amen’ and ‘Hallelujah’ (my husband admitted hearing this too) and insist upon Primerica being a ‘Christian’ organization.” {an agent with AL Williams told me that many reps are pastors. It’s easy to believe you need “supplemental income” when you were not called and are not trusting the LORD for your support – consult the Rock}.

    Think Primerica is sincere? Before publishing “Rip-off Report Investigation: Primerica pledges to resolve complaints & address any inquiries from the past, present and in the future. Commitment to Rip-off Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. Primerica commitment to customer & agent satisfaction. After interviewing executives from Primerica, it is clear that they are dedicated to helping their agents and clients achieve complete satisfaction and will not allow a legitimate complaint to go unresolved”, Ripoff Report has to acknowledge that You can’t get around base pay and that the average commissions for a Primerica agent is 2000 and it goes in to a DEFICIT if only 1.5% of the RVPs, RVPs and SRVPs make 7 figure commissions and overrides { and possible kickbacks from chargebacks on their reps!!}. If it’s not multi-level marketing, why no base? Any company that pays only sales commissions without binding promises of preferred stock, stock, warrants – some future reward for work performed – is a slave master. An honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. Be up front. Bill Gates was. He asked the workers to accept shares of stock. Those who did not want his promises could walk away. Primerica pressures you to stay with threats of no refund of your 199 and the usury regarding the loans. Bill Gates backed up his promises. He did not vomit empty, lying promises of riches. He backed
    his promises up. That’s what A L Williams needed to do and did not. That’s what Primerica needs to do and has not, to date.

    9. Confession by Primerica if they did the same that Art Williams did to those who spent money, time and energy to obtain their brokers license. Does Primerica refund your $199? May be sometimes, but then again, Primerica will at times say that you have a “chargeback”. Primerica “loans” you money, whether you want a loan or not! Chargebacks is really deceitful. AL Williams only allowed their agent to receive a commission for one year, and the client pays a year in advance. In what circumstance could there be a chargeback??
    In other words, if the SRVP and RVP do not get their slice off of the agent – even after he is gone {!!!!!!} – they want to still make you pay!!! And to make sure you DO pay, they “loan” you “insurance money” in the event of a chargeback!! Nifty, isn’t it? Total evil. Tell it like it really is. Be sure your sin will find you out.
    It’ll find you out. It’s found a lot of multi-level marketers of swampland out. And their sin will find the rest of those boiler room shysters out. In fairness to ripoffreport, even stock, mutual fund analysts and institutionals do not know the inevitable law of rapidly diminishing returns involved in multi-level
    marketing. We will just ask Ripoff Report to read and pore over this daily for a month, then at least once a week for the next year. It is extremely important. Revealing information, even great revealing information, becomes dated. More, better explained exposes will come. Keep your eyes open. Ever alert, never hurt:
    To pay for a background report made me laugh myself sick. They want suckers, even hardened criminals, so long as they don’t do their mischief selling for Primerica! Anybody can get on as an “independent con”! What’s the background investigation for?! What if I had bought the policy? Would I have gotten my money back?? I once heard that that A.L. Williams went to jail on fraud charges. Why is it that you can obtain no info on this on the internet? Supposedly AL Williams is an open book. Fine. Tell us precisely what you were doing beginning around 1963 and what you’ve been doing all along. A Primerica MLM becomes so brainwashed, he never questions anything. Art L. Williams never came to see any rep and he never called for meetings. He can afford to pay the expenses.

    http://www.frauddiscovery.net/Herbalife/WallStreetFooled.pdf
    http://nextaxpro.spaces.live.com/

  4. daisy espinoza 06/05/2008 at 6:58 pm - Reply

    i recently joined primerica but wondering if what they say is true and also yeah is true i been in six family homes and not sold nothing and all that time in training and gas that is coming from my pocket someone write back

  5. TrinityExile 06/16/2008 at 9:44 am - Reply

    A bargain…

    Part of what they say is true. Yes, if your “customers” are disciplined enough over 30 years they can invest money in a mediocre account managed by Citigroup paid employees and be covered with term insurance. You initially will make a few hundred dollars which is like the bone thrown at a dog salivating.

    However, you will have paid through the nose for licensing, gas, meals, and trips to various “trainings” which will eventually leave you with more questions than answers. Once your sphere of influence has been tapped you will be forced to cold calling with a host of slights, techniques and hours of hang ups. Very rarely does a RVP or upline give out sources. Even when they do it is a few here and there to earn your trust to get to your sphere of influence. I made $100 in the heat of the moment coming up with 100 names of people I knew that was faxed to a Senior person in Florida (former baseball player.) Don’t put any personal contact information in the FNA computer. They also scam by taking that list. Really look at the people and where they live. There was a soon to be RVP in Mark Williams office that lived in a run down apartment. Clearly she wasn’t making the money claimed (or in the way.) Be aware of people calling back and being stolen out from under you as a guise to help out your upline. That was a real experience as well.

    My husband worked with a sweet gal that introduced us to the RVP of the upline she submitted… er, sucombed to. She knew a lot of information about our family life which she told to this guy so he could better field our questions and make comments that fit our personality profiling. In fact, we once went to a seminar training called STAR which totally was about profiling customers to make sales. (Do you still believe in the idealism of helping others?)

    Well, we eventually changed over the term life to a cheaper institution when we dumped out of Primerica. We sold our home to pay off the second mortgage financed through them. We ate about $8,000 in expenses, fees and trying to prove we were worth the attention of the RVP or whomever willing to help us make sales and “build” our “business.” I paid for daycare so I would go to the office to learn from these people… all I ever learned was that they BS a lot and hand you an alumni book to create sales. Don’t be surprised if they guilt you into using your contacts as a test of trusting them.

    I think what people don’t talk about is the level of depression and humiliation left after these people have raped your dignity. Everyone eventually learns this is too good to be true somewhere down the line. It can happen right away or take 6 months or even a year depending on how emotionally attached you get to the “personal improvement” program.

    Your reputation is tainted with family and friends depending on how aggressive and unprofessional the upline is with “training.”

    Our friend lost her home and even her relationship over Primerica. The house of cards is often stacked on building a business and as it doesn’t pan out people find themselves in a jam with all the refinancing. I experienced serious problems with lacking care in budgeting and helping people live within their means. I experienced people being told you have to come work with us there is no way out … only later to realize how horribly worse off they were going to be.

    You need to look clearly. We went to a picnic of a Senior position in the Cleveland area. I couldn’t understand why the inside of the house had 1970’s decor including a wall radio. It’s because they inflate the numbers on how they exaggerate “income.” It’s usually over a period of time, based on gross sales without chargebacks or business expenses. Even the RVP’s home, car and family circumstances caused me to realize… I was being scammed by him.

    It’s a strange little world where a guy with 3 daughters who “loves god” and goes to church does such horrible things. But that is the false sense of security that just because someone says prayers, quotes the bible and attends a church means… what? They are not corrupt?

    Citigroup is corrupt as many in corporate America. IT’s a fact of life. IF you don’t have personal integrity or a conscience and are desperate to rape people without knowledge of what you are doing or don’t care then you can make it with a lot of intense hard work. But you better have a great reputation and be able to sell out those around you and their “circle of influence.” Remember, you are not in it to make friends but to make money. And the only way to become affluent is to screw a whole lot of people fast before they know it and move on.

    Thick as thieves many of them are. You don’t have to feel bad for being gullible in a weakened or hopeful state. You can learn and be stronger in the end for all the manipulation they put you through and cost you. After all, you will learn about yourself, your character and if winning is more important than doing the right thing.

    Trisha 🙂

  6. Elisa 08/02/2008 at 8:37 am - Reply

    Just a quick note: These are all very sad stories. I attended one of the Primerica recruitment classes in 2004 hosted by Luke Lorenz in State College, PA. He tried to be convincing, but it was clear within minutes that it was a “multi-level marketing” pyramid (legal, but still a non-sustaining plan for business that hurts a great many participants–investors and the poor new employees who work on commission and don’t enjoy a living wage). I mentioned to Luke that that’s what was going on, and he pretended to be oblivious to that fact. Or was he really that stupid? I don’t know. Best to steer clear of Primerica altogether (investors and potential “employees.”)

  7. Rocky Drake 08/14/2008 at 5:02 am - Reply

    It’s a pyramid scheme. It cannot be any different. It’s etched in stone and cannot be changed. It is rock-ribbed, incontrovertible fact. Name one person who hasn’t heard of Amway. Very soon, it will be the same way for Primerica, herbalife, Malaleuca, For U, Market America, EVEN IF THEY CHANGE THEIR NAMES. If you start at one as the first step, after ONLY THIRTEEN (13) STEPS you will have more than the entire populaiton of the planet if one recruits six, those six recruit, six, those 36 recruit six, on to the thirteenth plateau, BELIEVE IT OR NOT. That’s why AL Williams – Primerica employees cannot recruit anyone, nor make any sales. Their family and friends avoid them. Multi-level marketing { actually pyramids, face it} nefarious boiler room operations need to be forced to make monetary restituiton as well as mental stress, emotional isolation and humiliation restitution. The bill AL Williams- Primerca owes would stagger you. The human mind cannot take such an enormous figure in.

    The proof is in the puddin’, as the wise old saying goes. “Deborah” typed a “rebuttal” FIRST, BEFORE any one posted on the pyramid, cheating, fraudstar, illegal Primerica. What are you frightened of, Deborah? Hmmm? Put your money where you mouth is and make restitution for those whom have never restituted their victims. Restitute first, post later.

    Try starting a Primerica in China. It won’t be allowed, and you know it’s so. Amway cannot do any recruiting, i.e pyramiding. If they do, China will run that sicko scamster outfit out. It’s time those responsible are tried and hanged. I say that because pyramiding is allowed in the United States. Those taking bribes; those responsible for government regulators not taking down Primerica, Market America, etc, are to tried, convicted and forced to make restitution to the victims. I, as well as over TWO BILLION victims all over the world, await our fair and just restitution.
    http://360.yahoo.com/mgtenter95
    http://nextaxpro.spaces.live.com

  8. Shantell Harvey 08/20/2008 at 11:46 pm - Reply

    How lucky am I to come across this websit! And to think, I have an interview with them tomorrow. So blessed to be able to look up the potential companies
    that want to employ me. I thank you, you all have been a great help.

  9. ted 08/21/2008 at 10:22 am - Reply

    So I, like many recent grads, am on the job search- have been for 4 months now. Out of the blue, James Panos, a higher up w/ primerica, contacts me about a potential job offer.

    I went there two days later and listened to him talk and talk about making tons of money, about having an effortless future, etc. I thought it was all a bunch of shit from the very beginning.

    I knew this was so the second he said “Ted, you would be perfect for this job. I’m not trying to MANUFACTURE THIS CONVERSATION or anything, but you have the ability to talk to people….” He must have said manufacturing the conversation 15 times within an hour.

    How dumb do you think I am? You are indeed manufacturing a conversation, lying to my face and wanting to rape me. Why should I pay 100$ so you can do a background check? What kind of company finds people out of the blue- without applying, etc….??

    Stay away!

  10. K. Fleming 08/21/2008 at 2:46 pm - Reply

    It’s great to know this information before my meeting next week…..I can’t wait to bust these crooks in front of everyone else there. YIPPEEEE

  11. Mack 08/22/2008 at 2:37 pm - Reply

    Can you say paranoia?

  12. lisa 09/17/2008 at 3:42 pm - Reply

    I Like Them. All you non-believers can continue working in the corporate world and we see how great thats doing.

  13. nick 09/20/2008 at 9:45 pm - Reply

    i myself like the company i have learned alot about money and can say i will be debat free in 5 months any other company with charged you an arm and a leg for them to teach you about money. you all that hate the company, you just did not work at it as you have to at any other dum job you all have.

    • Andrea 10/10/2013 at 6:03 pm - Reply

      Learn to spell you don’t sound like you could sell a burger much less insurance.

  14. Karina 09/30/2008 at 6:48 pm - Reply

    WOW!,and I had an interview set up for tomorrow; I guess I have to call and “cancel”. I’m glad I did my homework!!! Thnx.

  15. Kenny 09/30/2008 at 7:54 pm - Reply

    Wow.. its very funny to hear what people say about Primerica.
    1. Why do companies have job fairs? to recruit, right.
    2. Why are there so many ARM loans that are about to get forclosed? mmmmmm someone mislead someone and it wasnt Primerica.
    3. Lets see. Every Corporation has a CEO, who makes all the money. and people under them, who dont make as much. Am I right or wrong?
    4. PRIMERICA IS NOT A JOB. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT. IT IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT. NOT A JOB.

    Primerica’s life insurance underwriter Primerica Life Insurance Company and its New York subsidiary National Benefit Life are rated A+ as “Superior” by A. M. Best as of May 2008.[20] Standard & Poor’s has the company rated AA as “Very Strong.”[21] The Insurance Marketplace Standards Association, a non-profit organization based out of Bethesda, MD with the intent to create ethical standards for the insurance industry, has renewed qualification for Primerica Life and National Benefit Life for high standards and quality business, “continuing dedication to ethical business practices.”[22]

    In 2007, Primerica received its fourth Dalbar Service Award from Dalbar, Inc., a client service rating organization focused on raising the standards of customer satisfaction and quality in the financial services industry, for Primerica’s excellent customer service in mutual funds.[23]

    Bruce Sankin, an investment counselor, consumer advocate, and columnist,[24] wrote in his 2005 book What All Stock & Mutual Fund Investors Should Know! of the Financial Needs Analysis that Primerica provides to its customers:

    A good financial analysis will give you a “Game Plan” on how to attain your financial goal. Many companies offer financial analysis. A financial analysis will cost between a few hundred dollars to as high as a few thousand dollars. One company, Primerica Financial Services, which is a division of Citigroup, offers the best value for a professional financial analysis. Primerica, which creates a custom design financial report, does not charge a monetary fee for this service. Their marketing approach is, if you are satisfied with the service provided in the creation of their financial analysis, they ask for referrals as their fee.[25]

    George Boelcke, a financial consultant,[26] wrote in an article in the American Chronicle:[27]

    Yet there is a huge company, Primerica Financial Services, a division of Citigroup, that has made vast numbers of refinance mortgage loans through a product they call SMART. NONE of these are adjustable rate mortgages. Read that again: Primerica has never originated any ARMs with their refinance products (done through Citicorp Trust Bank). Their clients are watching the mortgage crisis from the sidelines and the safely of a fixed-rate term and consolidation, thinking: “that could have been me in a foreclosure…” Because they refuse to do false, misleading, or gimmick advertising, they need to work harder to make themselves known, in spite of doing the right thing, in the right way, all the time? How sad that credibility can so often be bought by simple advertising. But if you´re looking for a second opinion, some options, or perhaps a way out, it might be worth your time to get in touch with them.

  16. andy 10/13/2008 at 11:07 pm - Reply

    I just sat through a 2 hour presentation that was supposed to be a training sesssion for my friends ” new job”. I knew something wasn’t right when the trainer was offering us a job and term life insurance.

  17. Ann 10/18/2008 at 6:24 am - Reply

    Primarica is what you make it. It is a wonderful part time job, for extra income. I started, so I could do something good for people. I educate them about their choices in finance. If primarica isn’t the best for their situation, I let them know. But often it is. Big banks and insurance companies have been making millions off the public thrue the years. And yes, Primerica also makes alos of money too. It is after all a business. The difference is ethical agents of Primaerica want to make a difference in families lives, by educating them of their options.
    Offering an opportunity to work for the company, is part of it, but not pushed. It’s not for everyone. Nor should it be.

  18. Rocky Drake 10/18/2008 at 6:39 am - Reply

    Thou shalt not bear false witness, Kenny. You lied!! Primerica IS a pyramid scheme. Primerica, with their interest only loans, must bear partial responsibility for the current meltdown of the real estate and banking industry{not international bankers}.
    At Primerica pyramid, it is recruit, recruit, recruit to the point that every one knows about the Primerica fraud abomination, just as everyone knows about Market America, Herbalife, Quixtar nee Amway and Mary Kay – all illegal scam pyramid schemes.
    Who is A. M. Best? May be you mean sardonically “I M Best”. Prove that the Primerica abomination [not even a company] is rated A+ ! Does it mean anything? How so? prove it.
    SOLVE THIS LIGHT PROBLEM: those who want to bear false witness by complimenting fraud, scam, skim, lottery rip off, flim-flam, fleecing, fakir, lying, deceitful, elixir merchandising pyramid nefarious scheme unscrupulous con America will pay 15000 for every lie that they post. Charge the tramps and bums admission – they won’t come. THIS THREAD is for customer complaints, exposes and consumer essays to shed light on the con men; the shysters and the sharks to watch out for: such as spurious, flattering you with impossible to make money pyramid schemes. PROVIDED you can read, read the title of this website. You KNOW what this website is for! The proceeds would be used to aid the millions of victims and their families that you have sucked the life savings out of. Believe me, some victims have poured as much as 100K, 200K, 300K, 400K, 500K or even more in to something that is DOOMED TO FAIL. A pyramid Ponzi scheme WILL inevitably collapse of its own weight.

    “And I will also say that I’d love for Primerica to publish a book listing all the people who make poverty level earnings.” And I won’t hold my breath awaiting publication. This website wasn’t designed to promote fraud! It was designed to expose and help eliminate fraud! YOU read and AGREED to the “Pissed Consumer Terms of Service”!!!! Your excuse that you went to public school and cannot read will never fly. IGNORANCE IS NEVER AN EXCUSE TO BREAK THE LAW!! READ THE OLD TESTAMENT; in particular the Penteteuch. You dig? Comprendes? Thank you very much!

    “This is a deadly business model in which you are doomed to fail,” says Robert Fitzpatrick, president of Pyramid Scheme Alert, an Internet-based watchdog group located in Charlotte, North Carolina. “There’s a ninety-nine percent loss rate” —meaning the vast majority of people who start MLM businesses end up losing money. “You’d have a better chance betting your life savings on a game of blackjack in Vegas than you would putting it all into a multi-level marketing home business.” {Ooouch!!!! That hurts!!!!!}

  19. Ben 10/18/2008 at 3:52 pm - Reply

    I suspect Rocky Drake is a whole life agent that has had allot of his policies converted/replaced by term.

  20. BigPappa 10/22/2008 at 4:57 pm - Reply

    Guess what? I was a Primerica agent and left. Why? Not for the reasons you may believe. I am not a whole life agent and do not push products that are not right for my clients. I left because Primerica does not have the best products for my clients. There is no way you can argue that their life product (singulur because the only have one product for all clients) is not over-prices. It is! You can find dozens of carriers to provide coverage for much less. AIG, American General, ING, Genworth, Banner Life, etc. all are much less expensive and have better clauses within the policies.

    Did you know Primerica has permanent products? They do. Your RVP will not admit this but they do have them. I have a copy of a permanent policy by PFS. It came as a result of a conversion from an old client. Read a policy and you will see the limited conversion clause they have for permanent insurance. In my case I replaced their garbage permanent insurance for one that was 48% less.

    Does one product fit everyone? Nope. There are different products because there are different needs. Sure there are the likes of WFG, WMA and other organizations that steer folks to high commission products, but that is not always the case Primerica folks. There are cases where Universal and other permanent policies are proper. Say for estate preservation or for older folks. Wake up and see that Primerica is not doing “What is right 100% of the time.” How can you make a statement when there are better products for less monety?

    Also, PFS is about recruiting. You start at 25% commission which is pitifull compared to any regular insurance company. The only way to succeed is to recruit and get promoted. Without recruiting you stay at the same level regardless if you sell hundreds of policies. Does this seem fair to those who want extra income without building a team? I left Primerica for a non-captive brokerage and started at 80%. That was in 2001 and now I am at 110% commission and have a large national team. Nearly everyone I knew at Primerica when I joined quit because they were frustrated. The few still there are still striving to make RVP and 100k. I made over 100k between my wife and I before I joined Primerica. Why would I want to take a step backwards. Now I recruit licensed agents and have the ability to match their commission structures and still make over-rides. At Primerica they would never allow someone to make a lateral transfer because the top-feeders like Hector LaMarque, Rick Susie, Mark Younger, Mark Rolls, would not get freebies.

    Further, why must you work so hard to build a team only to have your BEST LEG taken by your RVP when you go RVP? This is like building a business and then giving away your best products? Who does that? That systems is set up for you to fail so your up-line can steal your down-line when you quit. This system was originally in place when AL Williams first started because they did not have the over-ride structure and this was a way to compensate your up-line. It was kept after those at the top of the food chain realized they would not have t continue recuriting if they just took you best leg.

    Finally, why doesn’t Primerica allow you to be non-captive. For those of you who are not familiar with this term it means you can only sell the products for one company. There are many companies that allow you to sell multiple products to suit your client needs. Primerica touts to be the best opportunity in America? Well, it is not. Otherwise they would allow you to be non-captive. Because they know they do not have the best products they force you to use the one life product they have to serve your clients.

    I think Primerica had a great system when AL Williams conceived it. But think about it, how can it continue to be a great building opportunity when it is owned by a corporate giant of the type Primerica teaches you to despise?

    Use your common sense and don’t believe the hype. Have them show you their Tax Returns with their income. If they refuse to do so then they have no credibility and are making “Primerica” statements and not statement of fact.

  21. T. LaFore 11/03/2008 at 1:50 pm - Reply

    I started as a client of Primerica. Since then my husband and I have joined and absolutely love it! We’ve been in it about a year and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

    Thank you A.L. Williams!!!

  22. Jill 11/04/2008 at 1:18 pm - Reply

    I have no personal experience with Primerica, but since my friend was interested in buying some insurance from Primerica I made a small “research” on the web, because I heard some traditional talks like “Primerica is scam”. I found this large Primerica discussion about their products (don’t worry, it’s definitely not a promoting link for Primerica 🙂 and this one on Fraud files, and it’s definitely bad for P. in my eyes… There are many people defending P. there and here, but common – if there was no problem with P., there would be no need to defend it. I don’t believe it at all – dealing with part time agents? Most of their products more expensive than the competitors’? No, thank you…
    Best wishes
    Jill

  23. FA 11/15/2008 at 1:30 am - Reply

    SESAME STREET ECONOMICS – 1 – If you are only licensed as a life insurance agent and a mutual funds representative and you believe you can take a wholestic financial planning approach you are wrong. Let me ask you how you’d hedge a portfolio against systematic risk. Sorry diversification is a text book wrong answer. You are in denial if you think you will get rich off these products alone that have a small trail and a trail only if you are even licensed with your 6 or 63. That isn’t half of you on this page. Your “business” which is a Multi-Level-Marketing, hence largest finanical services MARKETING org; notice the legal lingo that requires them to use marketing because you are definately not the largest financial services organization, is based very much so on recruiting. I’ve done corporate recruiting and guess what, not everyone wants to change thier life to a MLM anyone with a pulse can be a client life style, and believe me a salary PLUS commission is for the talented and truly competent; Anyone can go grab a commission only job at any financial services competitor. Sorry to say but the reason you are new to the industry and not receiving salary plus commission is because you have a history of slacking off in either your academic studies or other employment; hence your last desparation to grab this opportunity that you’ll soon find has a very poor pay out. If you are really interested in the financial industry obtain a series 7 license and 66 license your CFP and learn all the capabilities out there so you can really help people without being limited by primerica’s philosophy of that you only need these few products. You have fewer fund families than a 401k which is sad, and a “common sense” annuity; give me a break. It’s funny how you’ll criticize MetL life insurance and then go and use thier annuity product. Where is the falacy there?? Anyone?

    What you sell is sesame street economics to people that really have had no exposure to the industry. You exploit their lack of knowledge and use primerica slogans for every aspect of the business. When you are a parrot repeating the same lingo it is apparent you’ve given little though to do actual research yourself on the markets or how different asset classes are even correlated. A freshman with one econ 101 course could do circles around your fabricated knowledge of what you think is this whole financial realm. Well wake up and see that your not only doing an injustice by blindly leading these client sheep of yours to the slaughter house, but to say it’s in the name of doing what’s best for clients; seriously; go study, pass exams that qualify you to actually financially advise, which is not the 6 or 63 or life, health, ltc, and do us all a favor and use some self due diligence and educate yourself first before you just try and sell stories and common sense catch phrases that sound so ammature and weak. Now you can’t call yourself a financial advisor or planner because you legally are not aloud because you are completely not even close to being qualified so like i said do us a favor, go to citi.com and search for primerica and see that your parent company is so shameful of you the company is nowhere to be found on any of its main web pages. Our competitor Smith Barney of course, a wirehouse, is reputable and where they send clients for investment advise and financial planning. Guess how much pfs pays to use the citi name… how bad does pfs have to milk that too… it’s so funny… well whatever helps your denial keep feeding to each other. It’s like a bunch of fat kids thinking that cake is actually healthy for them if they wish it to be true. Well keep doing a great job pulling in that first paycheck that’s your life and health reembersement and make sure you keep outfitting yourselves as unprofessional as possible when you show up in t-shirt and jeans to your little pep talks. and secretly i know each and every one of you has a pfs life policy… u know u do too… who did u compare it with…uhh that’s right.. no one.. u bought in to it all ;p

    RECRUITING JUSTIFICATION: well lets see.. get the blind teaching the blind and say “who am i to judge who will make it or not” and yes then you can put your head on the pillow at night.. well, that’s if you have no real judgement and are more motivated by what, oh ya, the dream of money and success; ah so hypicritical. So i get a stupid 18yr old and sell him/her the world. They feel all excited b/c they are this business owner or soon to be business owner lol. They “spread the word” and the “regional rep” takes him/her on appointments and closes all the business making more on the business than the junior rep.. which u all think is justifiable but in reality the person with the actual relationship makes the most. Well then the 18yr old just gives everyone he knows away the senior guys are happy and the junior guy thinks that’s great, but then the will runs dry.. uh oh.. now its time for real business and talking to people we don’t know.. ummm how about we just get another idiot to be convienced to join and we’ll exploit his “warm market”.. and round and round this vicious cycle we profit… the 18yr old tries to coach, but can’t… why.. he’s not licensed or at that level.. hey they never told me that… so yep.. that regional or rvp gets all that business… and u thought u owned a business… uh no… but ur are a 1099 employee.. wait.. don’t u criticise them too.. umm ya u do.. wow.. so many flaws in this model.. so there lies the reason to recruit.. it continually opens up that persons warm market and u move on.. u sleep at night because you say, who am i do judge someones potential… well wake up people.. you are judged every single day by your potential and rightly so.. are you going to tell me your fund managers don’t judge funds potential based off history and past performance… or do you want there money invested in a company where they say.. hmmm hey lets give them a chance… no.. just doesn’t work that way. Oh and all this talk about how everyone else out there is Soo unhappy in corp america… let me ask you your positions you had before.. mcdonalds and wallmart don’t count as corp america. ya you have a few people with reputable backgrounds but there is a reason they didn’t make it in thier industry either.. and to say all those people that make it are “evil” well is just irresponsible and makes you look so amature. Who are you to assume everyone is dissatified. Many people that are real entrepreneurs not fake MLM ones, are happy and many people in other fields are just the same. But you negative people have to just talk crap about everyone else to make yourself feel better… or atleast you exploit the 18yr idiot… i think i’ve seen as high as 40yr idiot at a volnerable time in their life… so rest easy

  24. MSUGRadstud10 11/24/2008 at 10:03 am - Reply

    I was sucked into this scheme the summer after my freshman year of college. I will be getting my MBA in finance next year and am here to tell you this whole thing is a bunch of crap. Primerica’s fundamental principal, buy term, invest the difference is lax. It focuses on intelligent investors who understand the volatility of financial markets. I asked my recruiter who at the time was a senior RVP and soon to be NSD what his investment style was. Any prudent financial planner would tell you with ease his investment style. He simply said I earn 12% a year on my mutual fund. Being a student of finance I was shocked. He proved to me at that moment that a soon to be National Sales Director knew nothing about value investing or anything else of the nature. A person prudent in finance would not rely on a mutual fund to diversify their portfolio for them because mutual funds RORs are not all that great because of costs within the fund and an average investor can construct a portfolio that exceeds their ROR. Because I paid the $99 and the testing fees I went on and took my insurance exam, passed, and quit after they refunded me my testing fees. This was the biggest waste of $99 I have ever encountered. Primerica’s agents are not financially sound themselves and seek to benefit from other’s stupidity. My SRVP aslo told me that it was simply a distribution business, not a financial services business. WOW! Now we know why Citi is being bailed out right now, because the 100,000 Primerica agents are DISTRIBUTING financial instruments to people who cannot afford them in the first place. Do you honestly think that someone with a $30,000 income needs a mutual fund, life insurance, and legal protection? Hell no, thats why they make 30k/yr, they missed out on an education! EVERY Primerica representitive who believes in their company should be lynched along with some of the CEOs of various financial instituitions, FRE, FNM, AIG, and LEH! They are the same kind of scum and deserve the same treatment!

  25. stay away from primerica 11/27/2008 at 11:40 am - Reply

    I only hopes primerica goes out of bussiness,they take advantage of ignorant people .I currently have a mortgage with a 5.62 fixed interest rate for 20 years and i send extra towards the principal every month.A primarica agent was ‘HELPING “to refinance .My new interest rate would be 7.65,fixed, 20 years.Was this primerica agent really helping me or was he just triing to make a commission?I do not think i have to answer this question.I was told not to worry about the higher interst rate and only look at my “MONTLY SAVINGS”.What montly savings?If interest rates do not matter,why not give me a mortgage at 0%?

  26. Jake 11/28/2008 at 3:26 pm - Reply

    I left Primerica, NOT because I wasn’t making good money,
    but because I couldn’t handle GIVING IT BACK via chargebacks!!

    I will NEVER again watch my children go without what they deserve,
    simply because I’m unable to keep what I’ve earned.

  27. artie 11/29/2008 at 12:31 pm - Reply

    i actually enjoyed the people in the Base Shop but quit after my RVP closed 2 of my referrals with out telling me and paid me with a personal check on one and kept the commission on the second because he knew i was strapped for cash and needed the money. He got All the Credit, All the Commission and im sure His bonus!

    Thank god,it was the best thing that happened because it broke the spell. i was Mr. Primerica and believed in the hype at a terrible financial cost to me and my family. there was almost no product training and 99% hype and speeches about hope.

    now my family and i are 100% better, but i am upset with myself for putting my through such financial turmoil for 7 months because i was hypnotize.

    DONT DO IT!!!

    DON’T JOIN!!!

    i

  28. JP 12/05/2008 at 12:53 pm - Reply

    I’m glad I read this before I gave Primerica my final answer to join today. Thanks

  29. Deborah 12/05/2008 at 4:40 pm - Reply

    I am the same Deborah that posted back in May and I am still happily involved with Primerica. Though relatively new, I feel the need to respond to some of the comments that are ignorant of the company or not based in fact.

    I WILL investigate what was said about permanent products and commission levels of comparable agencies. *however you CAN check the earnings of others on the company site*

    I’ve read the “primerica discussion” above. It is unfair to insinuate that a person that works part time is not as credible/ knowledgeable because of that. We have to comply with all the same licensing and regulatory agencies.

    In response to MSUGRadstud10, the average person is not pursuing their MBA in finance and though they may *only* make 30k that does not negate the need to plan for retirement. Pensions are a thing of the past. Social Security is not a viable option. Plenty of working adults don’t set up a 401k let alone construct a portfolio! A simplified conservative investment is better than what the majority of middle class currently have. You don’t have to hold series 66, 7… 52,55,62,72,82,86,87 AND be a CFP to set that up (though we do provide the six steps to the financial planning process outlined on the CFP’s Board of Standards site) *just like every accountant is not a CPA but I digress…

    To the poster that said “stay away from primerica” on 11/28… Without knowing how much DEBT you rolled into your mortgage, I can’t comment specifically – however

    If a Primerica rep refinanced your home, kept you at the same amount of years you had left on your mortgage, resulting in monthly savings AND you put some of that $ back on the principal – you will pay off the principal sooner and save a considerable amount of money (in interest) over the life of the loan. Hopefully some of that monthly savings was put in an investment vehicle. If possible compare your amortization schedules (the one you had with the 5.62 fixed to the one you have now). Call your Primerica rep with your concerns. File a complaint if you feel you were wronged. I would hate to have the reputation of Primerica damaged due to a representative not fully explaining his/her recommendations to a client.

    Again Primerica is not a job! You can become an independent representative and invest as much or as little time as you want. And your earnings will reflect that. There are no quotas. You DO NOT have to recruit anyone. You DO have to have a background check conducted. You DO have to comply with the licensing requirements of your state. Most if not all licensing fees are reimbursed by Primera upon completion of those requirements.

    Of course you should do your research before you become a rep or a client. Just like when shopping for a car e.g., I think Ford Explorers are lemons – my colleague loves his – who should you listen to? Neither Go to edmunds.com or some consumer report site, ask mechanics, test drive the car etc… Some posters have never been a Primerica rep OR client – would you take advice from someone that’s never owned the car you’re considering? This is a loose analogy but you get the gist.

  30. Steve 12/07/2008 at 12:02 am - Reply

    Ok. Somone above said that the RVP’s dont care for you. I find that funny cause my RVP actually does all the work for me and i get paid. He personally goes on the appointments with me and now that i have a license he helps the people and if they decide to get life insurance i get paid for it. It has been pretty nice. I’m not sure if other RVP’s are corrupt or something but mine is not i know that for sure.

  31. Portfolio Manager 12/14/2008 at 3:32 pm - Reply

    On 15 Nov 08 FA’s comments probably would describe this multi-level-marketing scheme the best. I’m a portfolio manager for a very reputable company and just went to a introductory meeting with my nephew that was convinced this was a great business. He is 19, on winter break, and his old friend got suckered in. I took them down on campus at Cambridge and we spoke with one of the professors their, and then to my firm where a colleague of mine that is a Financial Advisor spoke with him about how it’s just an MLM Scheme, like Amway, Mary Kay, and many other berry juice and other MLM Schemes. The gist is to have a product where you inflate the price and thus it allows you to pay everyone in the “Downline”. Give it a try and learn the hard way or listen to words of wisdom and go visit a reputable firm and ask them about Primerica. If you are trying too hard to defend your position, there is almost always a reason. Remember that kids.

  32. Julius Midtown 12/24/2008 at 12:36 am - Reply

    This Saturday I had a Primerica “headhunter” call me during my shift at my current sales job, asking if I wanted to meet for coffee etc etc, as he had heard I was very good with people. I already knew all about this company, and since he decided to take me away from my sales and possible commissions for ten minutes to offer me the chance to throw away my career, I thought I’d return the favor. At 2:30pm this Monday (20 minutes after our scheduled meeting over coffee) I received an “I’m here, where are you?” message. This was soon followed by two more hoping I was still coming and “I guess something came up, call me to reschedule.” oh! And did I mention I asked for our meeting to be in my end of town, which was really just the farthest place i could think of from the office address he’d told me? Sucker.

  33. ken 12/29/2008 at 12:03 am - Reply

    To those out there who think Primerica is a scam,it probably is. But I bet you will never ever have a real opportunity in life to make $100,000 a year or more.If you have the thoughts that every good opportuinity in life is a scam,you deserve what you get.Hard work,bettering yourself,and being around positive people is not a scam.If you read Art Williams book “Coach” you will understand why he started this company 32 years ago.Primericas last quarter earnings showed a profit,did you?I have met some truly inspiring people who do help the MIDDLE CLASS.How much do I need to have to talk with portfolio manager?Can I invest $50.00 a onth with your firm?And what is the average salary of a college grad.?Can you ever work your way to owner?More importantly can you ever become financially independant?

  34. Ms. A 01/06/2009 at 9:13 pm - Reply

    I was offered a job with Primerica, while I was working at my current. I kept in contact with the man who approached me, and set up an “interview”. I went and bought a cute dress looked amazing. I forced my boyfriend to go with me, because a meeting at 7:30 at night was sketchy. I thought I’d try it though, well when we pulled up to the building, there were ALL these people. I called this man, and he came to meet us outside. It was a seminar, it was CRAZY. They never said how they were making the money. The first gentleman to get in front of the group to speak, said no one else was a “public speaker” LIES, no one said “um” once. This was rehearsed. It was acting. They weren’t recruiting, they were lying. They had a small space for all these people to sit, it was long and uncomfortable. They had people in another room who were “training” and who were “now with the company”, from across the hall we could hear them laughing and making jokes.. probably about all the people I was sitting with who were buying into everything Primerica Reps were saying. When it was over, the man who “recruited” me asked my boyfriend and I what we thought, I told him it felt like a CULT, that they were vague, and that though he was very convincing, I felt like people were acting, I told him I had many concerns but that I felt like I should be open to new opportunites. My boyfriend was explaining the same, and we said we would research the company. Well, the moment we said we were going to research and look into the company before we gave any information, he said that we weren’t the kind of people he was looking for, and that he wished us the best of luck. I shook his hand and we left. Not looking behind us. Just pissed we wasted so much time. An interview??? An interview my butt! liars, cheaters. crazy cults.

  35. Peter 01/07/2009 at 10:57 am - Reply

    My only response to all this back-and-forth chatter is this:

    If you are approached by a Primerica representative for product or recruitment – you are still able to decide on the bottom line.

    Term insurance has been around for a long time (before Art Williams), yet was not sold aggresively until he went after the insurance industry, who sold his family a $10,000 whole life insurance policy instead of a term policy that was worth roughly 10 times more money. Primerica,in spite of all credits and allegations, has continued this. Case-and-point: of the 30 largest mortgage lenders that existed in 2007, Primerica only dealt with Citi, who only offered fixed-rate mortgages as a rule for anyone applying through Primerica. As of 1/1/09, 60% of those companies are now gone. Citi’s lender that Primerica still remains, only with a SUBSTANTIALLY smaller rate of foreclosure than the industry. Regardless of your position surrounding Primrica, that is a strong indication of its intention to serve its clients with the best possible value. (lowest cost is not always equated to best value). Further, as for term insurance – yes, Primerica does have higher cost than others. The upside is at least three-fold:

    1) Among the benefits that Primerica offers is one policy written
    for one family (lower admin. costs), increaseing benefits rider,
    and a terminal illness rider (pays 40% of the policy immediately
    upon notice). These are part of the policy without aditional
    cost.

    2) Renewals on these policies are usually and significantly lower
    other companies

    3) As potential clients will see, Primerica looks for a time that
    life insurance will not be needed, and will make it known that
    the purpose of insurance is to provide a death benefit for
    protection – not a means to promote savings. Both of these
    normally appearing in any “cash value” policy does not allow you
    to have both – meaning that either you die and lose the savings
    or you cash the savings while losing your protection against
    dying.

    People like Art Williams start companies from the ground, find reasonable ways to solve other problems, and ask others to join in, paying them for their efforts. If you agree that the pay and promotion is fair and reasonable, then the “scheme” would not be valid. I know many people who have seen Primerica and signed on. Some left feeling disillusioned, while some stayed and enjoy it. The ONLY DIFFERENCE between them is that those who stayed maintained the fact that Primerica makes it possible for those who stay to succeed. Anyone who feels ripped off probably had something happen that was not necessarily Primerica’s doing, as opposed to someone within Primerica not doing/stating something correct – much like any legit company issues!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    The last time I checked, EVERY JOB that gives you a paycheck is on the same page.

    If you are aware of how compensation is forwarded to you, and you like what you see – then only you sell yourself out of the opportunity you originally saw!!!!!

    For the record, the average person is hard-pressed to find ways to pay their bills – probably due to factors including higher obligations than they thought at the outset. Anyone that can help you find a way that saves you money IS doing their job for you.

    While I am not endorsing anything specific about Primerica, I am stating that Primerica’s intentions appear to be honorable. Competitors will make claims to devalue, and individuals will have complaints. There are VERY FEW companies that can’t stay the same!!!!!!! The bottom line is still at your door to act on.

  36. Melissa 01/08/2009 at 12:12 am - Reply

    I was called earlier this morning by a gentleman representing Primerica Financial. He found my resume on a very well known job-seeking website. This gentleman made this company sound like something fantastic. I informed him early on that I recently lost my job and he sounded even more eager to schedule my “interview”. I accepted, as the economy has given me no other bites for employment. He stated that if I liked what I heard at the “interview” slash orientation, I would be invited back for a second inerview. I’ve never done anything like this before, was started getting a little skeptical, but decided whta the heck…I looked up Primerica Financial online and read more negative things and personal experiences and am ever so grateful that I did not get “fooled”. Thank you for the comments and helpful information about the pyramids and recruiting. I am not looking to fool anyone as part of my job, nor am I looking to be a part of something where I am not genuinely helping people. Thank you again for those of you who have taken the time to educate other potential victims of this company and their true intentions.

  37. SJ 01/09/2009 at 6:24 pm - Reply

    Melissa: Sorry you decided to listen to the opinion of a few competitors or disgrunteled reps who search these sites out to voice their OWN opions.I trust you check for these sites for all companies you associate or do business with. My guess is, if you did, you would find very few who not have had some nut coplaining about them. I believe that the majority of the things you read on these blogs are lies and any intelligent open minded person would look for legitamate sources of information or attend the interview to make their own mind. If you can’t be open minded why would anyone want you on their team? By the way I have 20 years expierance in PFS & have never been layed off.I have paid many death claims, closed many loans and have millions of dollors in assets under managment with some of the best mutual fund companies in the world.Please get the facts befor you blog nonsense, you could be effecting someones life. Remember it more honorable to encourage than to discourage!

  38. Edwina T 01/18/2009 at 5:24 pm - Reply

    I don’t give much credence to an analysis that is written by someone who has such poor writing skills. I’m a former Primerica recruit and am not only making money, like any business person should, but also my recruits are making money. Call it what you want, but the name of any business is to make money, except we have helping people at the top of the list. Can you say that about the average merchant or…the gas companies? I don’t think so!

  39. Jason Edwards 01/27/2009 at 7:09 pm - Reply

    I have work for this company for 3 yrs now I made a fair bit of money with them. I understand most people approach about earning the entire bit like other agents from different insurance companies. example if you sold a term insurance for 100k costing the client $85 per month the pay is calculation would be $85×12<– 12 months in a year =$1000.00 So that agent would be advanced buy the company outside of primerica the $1000.00 on the first day on the job adding they sold a policy as the above. at Primerica you begin at a 25% contract level yes you have to recurit to gain other levels example a 75% contract level you will get paid $750.00 for the same transaction. Yes I do agree that the pay system is different from other companies. However let take a closer look at building a business would you rather make $100 per hr on your own efforts or would you rather earn $10 hr on 10 other peoples efforts. You choose because if you worked a job before in your past or even work one now your present employer mastered the system. Earn money on other people’s efforts and time. It’s called the FREE ENTERPRISE. Now Grow Up!!! it’s either you work for a Great company or you Own a Great company. At Primeria I own a Great Company.

  40. JB 02/05/2009 at 12:34 pm - Reply

    My experience:

    Mike, a long-time friend of my husbands, told us that he had just started working for a “financial planning company” and asked if he could come over and give us his spiel. He made it sound like this meeting would actually just be him fulfilling some sort of training or quota requirement. It would be doing him a favor. Mike didn’t give us any indication what kind of services he would be presenting to us, but we assumed that it would ultimately have something to do with investments. Because my husband and I are relatively satisfied with our current financial situation, we weren’t terribly curious about what Mike had to offer us – however, we’re open minded and after all, we were doing our friend a favor.

    My husband and Mike scheduled the meeting to take place in our home at 6:30 PM on a week night. This wasn’t a particularly good time for me since I get home from work at 6:00 and have a routine of things that I need to get done: preparing dinner and making our lunches for the next day, etc… Since it was an informal meeting between friends, my husband and I figured that he could be the one to entertain Mike’s presentation while I listened from the kitchen.

    Shortly before the meeting, we learned that Mike’s supervisor (or trainer or something) would be coming along and that this supervisor would ultimately be the person presenting the company’s services to us. This was a bit unnerving because the meeting was originally presented as an informal favor for a friend. Now it seemed to be turning into a full fledged business meeting with our friend’s boss. Had the actual circumstances of the meeting been explained to us in the beginning, my husband and I probably wouldn’t have agreed to it.

    Mike and Carl (the supervisor) showed up on time and introduced their company: Primerica which neither of us had ever heard of. My husband and Carl made small talk while I puttered around in the kitchen making dinner. My husband made a few attempts to get the ball rolling by asking what sort of services Primerica provides, but Carl made it clear that he would wait until I was finished in the kitchen. I’m sure that he was just being polite, but I thought that he was missing a social cue – If my husband and I were alright starting a presentation without me then he should be too.

    So, with our dinner on hold, both my husband and I gave our friend’s boss our fullest attention. Carl started by saying that he wanted to “get to know us” which consisted of asking us a series of ridiculous questions like: “If you could make any amount of money, how much would you like to make?”, “If you could retire at any age, what age would you like to retire at?” and “If money was no object, what would you do or buy?” You can imagine how pointless our answers were and Carl never did get around to telling us how Primerica could help us earn 100 trillion dollars a year while retired so that we could buy a unicorn.

    Carl then went on to assure us that by the end of the meeting we would be convinced that Primerica was a “legitimate business” that “helped people”. Carl really couldn’t have waved a bigger red flag short of calling Primerica a scam. He continued on by showing us a series of statistics regarding consumer debt, insufficient retirement funds and scarce savings accounts. Then he showed us some before and after numbers of a couple, Bob and Susan, that Primerica saved loads of money by giving them a better mortgage and better life insurance and better savings AND putting $500 back in their pockets every month! Then, if that wasn’t good enough, Carl told us that we could make big money helping couples just like Bob and Susan.

    At this point, I stopped Carl and asked him what exactly he was trying to sell us. Life insurance? Investments? A career? Carl said that he could help us with all of those things, but he was mostly excited about offering us both career opportunities recruiting more people to work as recruiters. Out of sheer politeness, we inquired about Primerica’s life insurance policies and investment opportunities; both subjects Carl didn’t seem to have any concrete information on. He was able to tell us about a seminar the next night where we could learn more about Primerica, but that sounded like it was geared for recruiting employees as well. We finally asked Carl to leave some literature about Primerica’s products and services so that we could learn more about the company. Unfortunately, the only literature Carl had in his big important briefcase on wheels was a scant brochure about career opportunities as a recruiter.

    Now I’m not saying that Primerica’s a scam or a legalized pyramid scheme. I’m not saying that Carl was a representation of all of Primerica’s employees. I’m not saying Primerica doesn’t have tangible products and services. I’m not saying that people can’t make money with Primerica recruiting people to be recruiters. All I can say is that after that meeting I know I never want to do any kind of business with Primerica.

  41. Entrepreneur 02/06/2009 at 3:26 pm - Reply

    Everyone commenting here about Primerica can be classified into 5 main categories:
    1. The Skeptic
    2. The Success
    3. The Dreamer
    4. The Professional
    5. The Failure

    The “Skeptic” either isn’t comfortable or doesn’t know any other way of progressing through life than what he’s witnessed growing up. This person thinks the proper (and only) way to be a success is by climbing the corporate ladder, landing a secure job that can be worked for 30-40 years to pay for life, or by getting some kind of loan to start a business. The Skeptic is often a person afraid to take risks that may end in failure that often embarrasses him. The Skeptic feels good about the title he’s achieved at his job, and is content with how life is going. This person is most often a non-believer in the possibility that he could ever experience financial independence EVER in life. This person believes that it is his place in society to be responsible by showing up to a “privileged” opportunity (job) all of his healthy young life, and then be satisfied with the potential reality of living out the mature years that are left on a fixed income.

    The “Success” has achieved great accomplishments through luck, hard work, affiliation, or a combination of all of the above. This person may or may not be “a believer in people.” Leaders in MLM organizations have to be believers in people, much like the salesmen have to believe that there’s a potential sale behind every door knocked on. Successful MLM leaders are salespeople—any business owner is. Business owners sell whatever product or service their business produces or provides. Most Primerica Successes will tell you that their most valuable product is the opportunity they’re extending to you. The mere mention of having an OPPORTUNITY extended to a person to ascend to a level of financial freedom often sets off alarms in the minds of those who don’t believe they could (or should) ever achieve such a thing. These people may also believe that such opportunities should not be extended to any and everyone. The “Success” has experienced his good fortune through simple effort and belief in many cases. Whether the effort was made first in collegiate work or hard-knocks, it’s often very difficult for the Success to understand why any and everyone else wouldn’t simply do the same given what lies ahead. There is a mindset that believes “hard work creates luck;” and, “successful people typically want to affiliate with those who are willing to work hard.” Therefore, the successful person often believes that one’s future is entirely within one’s control. The MLM Success believes that anyone willing to do what it takes can achieve financial freedom with the proper coaching, support and environment.

    The “Dreamer” believes so much that anything’s possible, that he is desperately willing to attempt to follow the direction of the “Success” who sells him the dream with starry eyes and naïve commitment. Hopefully, the Success he’s following has a good heart and intentions—bad people succeed too. Even still, if the dreamer has or is willing to obtain what’s needed to achieve success, mainly education and experience, the OPPORTUNITY exists and can be realized. Financial freedom becomes a reality for only about 2% of our society. It eludes the other 98% because they simply do not have, or is unwilling to do, what it takes. This majority of our society will dream on after attempts at financial freedom. Hopefully, there’s a back-up plan, because living off of dreams alone can wind you up on skid-row, kind of like a gambler. But even a fortunate gambler wins sometimes.

    The “Professional” is the one with the Series-7, 66, CFP certificate and often the pretty good job with a reputable company. He often has commonalities with the “Skeptic.” This person became a professional because he believed that the way to do things was the corporate industry-accepted way of doing things: education, training, evaluated trial period, credentials, etc. The Professional is often not a “believer in people.” Unlike the MLM Success, he does not believe that any and everyone should be assumed to have the ability to accomplish what he himself did. Professionals, like everyone else, notices the 98% of everyone in our society and does not make it their business or priority to sift through the masses looking for the 2%.

    The “Failure” often starts out as a “Dreamer,” and most often winds up a “Skeptic.” The Failure doesn’t have, and isn’t willing to do, what it takes to win. As mentioned, 98% of us do not get to experience financial freedom. Therefore, those who try and fail often find comfort in expressing distain for the circumstance, people and/or company surrounding the failed effort.

    Supervisors, Managers, Directors, VPs, CEOs and ultimately Shareholders (in public companies), are all compensated based on the performance of each level of employee in the corporation concerned. Ultimately, when a product or service is provided to an end user, the income derived from the sale of that product or service is diced up to pay every “level” concerned, just like in MLM.

    In regards to the costs involved with a would-be entrepreneur getting licensed, trained, etc., please refer to Webster’s definition of Entrepreneur: “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.” In most cases, a new recruit of a MLM organization doesn’t know enough to organize or manage, but because the desired end result is the ownership of an accomplished business effort, the risks of potentially wasting the expense of traveling, lodging, materials, etc., must be assumed by the individual in the same way it would be if he took out a loan to purchase or start any other business.

    The problem is, the corporate entities of MLMs cannot control how the inexperienced, half-afraid, sometimes mislead and or deceitful brand new “owners” of the concerned opportunity present the opportunity to others. They try through formatted systems, but because of the mere nature of these organizations, efforts take on a life of their own. Honesty is always the best policy; and honestly, many MLM opportunities such as the Primerica opportunity, do offer and result in financial freedom for many. Why else would large, publicly traded corporations purchase companies like AL Williams and rename it Primerica; or Aegon purchase World Marketing Alliance (WMA) & rename it World Financial Group (WFG)?? Warren Buffet owns a few MLM companies. These are legally and intellectually astute organizations and people right? And why would established corporations partner with them to provide products to the public through such efforts?

    People, the opportunities are legitimate in many cases, but folks have to realize that to own the opportunity to be successful and financially free, they have to own the opportunity to fail. Just make the best effort to involve yourself with the best guidance, support and environment you can, and bust your hump believing in you—the opportunity is genuine.

  42. The Financial Blogger 02/11/2009 at 7:43 pm - Reply

    I usually don’t try to plug my post, but since you are referring to them, I think you should also take a look at a question from one of my readers:
    http://www.thefinancialblogger.com/a-reader%E2%80%99s-question-about-primerica-multi-level-marketing-business-model

    there are about 55 comments that will also help you out understand what is Primerica.

    cheers and thx for the mention!

    TFB.

  43. EC 02/13/2009 at 12:47 am - Reply

    I was contacted by a rep this past Tues. When I asked exactly what is the company about and what were they selling. He went round and round the bin, up younder, and over the chicken coup. And I still didn’t know what Primerica was about. So his ambiguous response made me want to do some research on the net before our little interview. I’m so glad I did. I thank all you guys for taking out the time to share your thoughts and comments. Now, I feel like I can make an intelligent decision as to what I need to do now. Thanks again.

  44. someone_who_cares 02/22/2009 at 2:23 pm - Reply

    Wow you had a lot to say. Did you let it all out or did you leave somethings out?? Hmmm.. You were asked to turn in your license?? That means you probably were doing something illegal or unethical.. I am glad you are no longer with PRIMERICA.. Agents like yourself give us a bad name. You were not doing what was right for the people, I am glad you got punished. How hard is to educate clients on their needs and get paid on that? Well I guess it was really hard for you. Also, honestly do you really think if we were doing doing our clients wrong for 32 years our Government would not have closed us down already??? Did you read that 32 YEARS!!! We are not a Mickey Mouse company that just started last year!! I have sat down with a lot of people and it feels great to be able to help them. You know what else, to be able to work with someone who had no direction in life and you are able to motivate them and help them change for the better if that is not great then i don’t know what is. When I graduated college I did not pick up a book for the life of me. PRIMERICA and their leaders are constantly asking people to read books on how to self improve not only financially but also how to be a better person. Let me give you an idea of the books they recommend (some leaders give them to their team). Tell me if these are harmful books that make us a Cult. Oh by the way the people who wrote these books are not in PRIMERICA:
    1. The ABC’s of MAKING MONEY by Dr. Denis L. Cauvier and Alan Lysaght (recommend to read it, especially page 194.
    2. The Secret (hmm this book is really bad watch out.. HAHAHA)
    3. Success is not an Accident
    4. Notes from a Friend by Anthony Robbins
    5. How to win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
    6. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon hill (Excellent book to read)
    7. What to say when you talk to your self by Shad Helmstetter, Ph.D

    I can go on and on. What was it this person complaining said.. hmmm.. oh that is right we are a cult!! Come on now!! Stop bad mouthing PRIMERICA!! It did not work out for you, move on. It does not work for everyone. A lot of people think that you can come in and become an RVP over night. This BUSINESS IS FOR REAL!!! If you put in the time and effort you need to it will pay off. When you try to reinvent the wheel you will fall!! It is your own business so you have to put some work into it!! If you did not want to work and wanted to take advantage of people( that is why they probably took your license away!!) I am glad you are no longer working with us.

    Oh by the way you said $99.00 is lost right. Ask someone to pay for the life, Health and Annuities license to see how much they have to pay. Then ask them do they prefer to pay $99.00 or $400-500. Don’t know what your situation was, but if you get your license and you don’t want to work with us you can use the license with another company. You don’t have anything to lose. I got my return for the small investment that I made 100% plus more. $99.00 for license first sale $546.00. Hmm no brainer.

    For those of you who are here looking to see what people say, I have a piece of advice. Have you ever read any review on something, lets say a movie review. They said it was the worse movie they have ever seen, the actors were horrible, it had no story line and so on. You did not go see the movie but then you saw it on video and you said to yourself what were these people talking about it was a Great movie. Well the same thing goes with PRIMERICA. There are people that have some bad experiences and they quit PRIMERICA, that was their choice. Don’t you think you should give it the benefit of a doubt by you trying it out and deciding yourself. What if it is true what we tell people?? Do you understand that just knowing the rule of 72 you are already ahead of the game if you did not make one cent in PRIMERICA!!! I have taken financial courses in College I never heard of the rule of 72!!! What if you can make $500 to $1000 extra a month on a part-time basis helping your family, friends and yourself?? Or even better what if you do decide to make a career change and you do make it to RVP!! We forget sometimes with all the negativity of reality how to dream. We have to dig in deep in ourselves and find that child to be able to dream again. To many of us are taking life tooooooo serious and remember life is to short. I am not telling you that you will become a millionaire here, but what if… What if you can dream again… What if you have an opportunity.. Just a small opportunity to add to your income.. That alone doesn’t that give you some guts to give it a try… Worse case is that you don’t like the business and our crusade.. But you leave with education about how to manage your money.. I don’t know about you, but I was not taught in my home to managae my money… I have learned that here..

    If you want to look at it in a different way. The $99 you pay (which is for the state) think of it as paying for a financial education that would have cost you a lot more in college. Ask anyone, better yet go to college and ask them how much would a course in finances cost you. Do that instead of coming to work with us, not for us. See how that works out for you.

    Everyone who reads this really look inside yourself. Decide for yourself. If you don’t want to do this DONT!! If a piece of you says let me give it a try do it!! Just don’t listen to people who don’t know what they are talking about or maybe just had a bad experience. Sometimes those things do happen. Someone really angry because it did not go well for them tries to lie to other people to convince them this does not work. People it WORKS!! I have seen it work!! It works if you work!! It is not easy. But remember the things worth fighting for are never easy!!

    I hope this helped some of you.

  45. ljroseville 02/23/2009 at 10:22 pm - Reply

    My my my, you Primerica folks! so proud of yourselves are you? ‘ oh, stop bad mouthing us! ‘ well, where are your Art Williams and John Addisons now? Canceled conventions? Canceled company trips? looks like the big sugar daddy has lived the large life too long and came falling down! been down this road with P and found the RVP is a fair weather fan. one minute you’re the next up-and-coming RVP and then you’re a doormat the next. as long as you bring in the fresh meat, you’re da bomb! but as soon as the #s start to dwindle, so does your fan base! have fun at the next convention. lol

  46. AW 02/23/2009 at 11:13 pm - Reply

    I love the fact that Primerica is being scrutinized. That is as American as sunflower seeds are baseball. We shouldn’t however mistake scrutiny for actual truth and evidence.

    If you want to work your behind off and get paid what you are worth, Primerica is the place! If you want to own your own business, Primerica is the place. If you want to be paid for training other people, Primerica is the place.

    Corporate America has a conflict of interest. Does your company want to pay you more or less? Do you have an opportunity to make as much as anyone if you work as hard as they do? Does your company have your best interest at heart or theirs? Is your company exclusive or inclusive?

    Primerica isn’t easy, but then again neither is practicing medicine! Ask Oprah how easy it was to make her money. Primerica does not promise to make anyone rich tomorrow. They offer an opportunity.

    Don’t believe everything you read. Go find out for yourself. Many seem to be good at listening, but how many are good at thinking?

  47. MLS 02/25/2009 at 11:53 am - Reply

    Thank you, thank you, thank you, for all the varied responses. I had a gut feeling at the “overview” that this company was using “Little people” to get to the top. Sorry to say my own cousin lead me there. I am not going to my interview today!

  48. Prayerman 03/04/2009 at 1:12 am - Reply

    It is amazing, I had a visit from Primerica… put all the practices to work and low and behold, my house will be paid off in 10 years rather than 30. I saved 177,000 in interest using their Knowledge that no other so called bonified company had done. All the other insurance companies ripped me for very little gain. I invested with primerica and though we all have taken losses, I still have well over my original monies invested. I don’t the same from all you na sayers to what this company has done for many many people. Thank God for Art Williams in starting a company that truely cares for people that work hard and earn the income and not sure stand out there with their hand out for freebies. I have never been treated so lovingly and resepectfully as by this Primerica Company. No one has taught me so much about money and how it works. Go Primerica… a true American company of truth.

  49. Craig Hansen 03/04/2009 at 7:09 pm - Reply

    “Bonified”?!?!?

    LMAO

    If that was satire…well done. If that was a serious attempt at a glowing endorsement of Primerica…it was still damn funny.

  50. Tracy Coenen 03/05/2009 at 1:09 pm - Reply

    Craig – Thank you for pointing that out so that I didn’t have to.

  51. SCS 03/12/2009 at 11:24 am - Reply

    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.

  52. Carlos 03/17/2009 at 3:58 pm - Reply

    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!!!!!!

  53. Luiz 03/23/2009 at 12:06 pm - Reply

    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!!

  54. mis07 03/25/2009 at 7:27 am - Reply

    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.

  55. mis07 03/25/2009 at 7:35 am - Reply

    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 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  56. mis07 03/25/2009 at 7:56 am - Reply

    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.

  57. fmj1987 04/11/2009 at 12:25 pm - Reply

    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.

  58. Lehigh Valley 05/16/2009 at 10:51 am - Reply

    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!!!

  59. Tracy Coenen 05/16/2009 at 10:58 am - Reply

    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.

  60. anthony 05/17/2009 at 9:43 pm - Reply

    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.

  61. Mike 05/23/2009 at 6:50 pm - Reply

    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.

  62. Tracy Coenen 05/23/2009 at 7:04 pm - Reply

    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.

  63. Mike 05/23/2009 at 7:51 pm - Reply

    Ok Tracy.

    How is a real insurance agency different? Do you work for an insurance agency?

    thanks

  64. Tracy Coenen 05/23/2009 at 9:01 pm - Reply

    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.

  65. Mike 05/24/2009 at 7:14 am - Reply

    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?

    • Matt 08/27/2013 at 10:58 pm - Reply

      The company I work for starts out at 45 percent commission and their term insurance will blow Primericas out the water. You don’t need to recruit unless you become a managing partner, where you will be required to get other managing licenses that a managing partner has to get.

      The company I work for you do get a percent of commission as you do in Primerica if your a managing partner.
      That does not cut into your 45 percent commission. This is simple math but 45 is greater than 25 (Primericas starting commission)

      From what I’ve seen, all MLM schemes and pyramid schemes suck life out of your contacts. Although I had to start by doing surveys with friends and family I have yet to business with them and was promised that I wouldn’t have to. I’ve gone on about 4-5 service calls since I started.

      To answer your question, they are similar but are definantly not the same. When a company searches you out for the job, do a quick search of the company and add scam to the search. You’ll find sites like this that will give you insight to what your getting yourself into.

      Pyramid schemes and MLMs feed off of fresh blood and new recruits. Not every company does and that’s where I drew a line when I deceived to get in the industry.

      I was approached by 3 dif Primerica reps and turned them all down because its a scam. Just because your making money and everything seems fine and your working for Primerica does not take away from the way the company is structured, which is a scam.

      Hell, Enron seemed like a good investment and 1000s and 1000s of people put their 401k in a company that vanished over night and they were around for decades.

      Market prime securities seemed like a good way to make money until 2008 and millions of forclosers latter and a collapsed market later people realized it wasent right.

      Do your own research, weigh out the pros and cons and make a decision.

      • Certified Fraud Examiner 11/03/2013 at 9:45 am - Reply

        @Matt – “Market prime securities seemed like a good way to make money until 2008 and millions of forclosers latter and a collapsed market later people realized it wasent right.”

        It was Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS’s) not Market Prime Securities.

  66. Tracy Coenen 05/24/2009 at 8:37 am - Reply

    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.

  67. Mike 05/25/2009 at 1:21 pm - Reply

    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?

  68. Tracy Coenen 05/25/2009 at 3:04 pm - Reply

    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.

  69. Mike 05/27/2009 at 9:51 pm - Reply

    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

  70. Tracy Coenen 05/28/2009 at 7:07 am - Reply

    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.

  71. Mike 05/29/2009 at 10:32 pm - Reply

    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.

  72. Tracy Coenen 05/29/2009 at 11:12 pm - Reply

    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.

  73. Mike 05/29/2009 at 11:24 pm - Reply

    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.

  74. Tracy Coenen 05/29/2009 at 11:40 pm - Reply

    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.

  75. Stufrogg 06/10/2009 at 1:37 am - Reply

    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.

  76. Stufrogg 06/10/2009 at 1:57 am - Reply

    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?

  77. Tracy Coenen 06/10/2009 at 7:30 am - Reply

    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.

  78. Channing W. 09/16/2009 at 2:08 am - Reply

    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.

  79. Tracy Coenen 09/16/2009 at 11:23 am - Reply

    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.

  80. Channing W. 09/17/2009 at 12:22 pm - Reply

    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.

  81. Tracy Coenen 09/17/2009 at 1:56 pm - Reply

    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.

  82. USANAWatchDog 09/17/2009 at 7:16 pm - Reply

    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.

  83. Channing W. 09/17/2009 at 7:51 pm - Reply

    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

  84. Tracy Coenen 09/18/2009 at 8:20 am - Reply

    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.

  85. Channing W. 09/18/2009 at 11:56 am - Reply

    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.

  86. USANAWatchDog 09/18/2009 at 1:15 pm - Reply

    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?

  87. Tracy Coenen 09/18/2009 at 10:42 pm - Reply

    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.

  88. Channing W. 09/18/2009 at 11:55 pm - Reply

    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!

  89. Tracy Coenen 09/19/2009 at 5:45 am - Reply

    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.

  90. Tracy Coenen 09/19/2009 at 11:18 am - Reply

    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.

  91. Channing W. 09/19/2009 at 11:41 am - Reply

    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!!!

  92. Channing W. 09/19/2009 at 11:45 am - Reply

    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

  93. Tracy Coenen 09/19/2009 at 8:46 pm - Reply

    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.

  94. Craig Hansen 09/20/2009 at 8:32 pm - Reply

    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.

  95. Lee D 09/21/2009 at 11:23 am - Reply

    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.

  96. BBA, Marketing_MBA,Finance 11/12/2009 at 10:09 am - Reply

    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??!!

  97. Lee D 11/12/2009 at 11:01 am - Reply

    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.

  98. dusty 11/18/2009 at 4:48 pm - Reply

    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!!!!

  99. dusty 11/18/2009 at 5:16 pm - Reply

    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.

  100. Chris 11/20/2009 at 12:26 am - Reply

    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!!

  101. Primerica Truth 12/28/2009 at 4:43 pm - Reply

    Primerica is not a scam by definition, but it is not a very good “opportunity” either. I am going to explain the half-truths, lies, and misleading statements that are used by the Primerica reps to coax people into believing that Primerica is actually a good opportunity for them to become multi-zillionaires. I am also going to compare it to other opportunities in the industry to show how you get screwed by becoming a Primerica rep. DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: I am experienced enough to analyze this topic with a MBA in Economics, series 7, 63, 65 securities license, and 12 years experience in the financial services industry with Wachovia, Morgan Stanley, and AXA Advisors. I have never worked for Primerica. I declined the offer after doing thorough independent research, analyzing their own sales/marketing material, and speaking with actual participants.
    1)”If you join Primerica, you will be in business for yourself; therefore you must pay for all of the cost of your business (i.e. licensing, training, and office)” $99 to start then $25 monthly for Primerica online (additional fees will come for training and investment licensing, later.) First off, you are not in business for yourself; you are an independent distributor of Primerica/Citibank products and a select group of mutual fund companies. If you read the IBA’s small print….Any assets or client accounts you bring into Primerica belong to Primerica and you must sign (not 1 but 3) 2 year non-compete contracts (1 investment, 1 mortgage, 1 Insurance). This is the way that Primerica/Citibank push their cost of sales off on their sales force. Reputable investment/insurance companies once hired will take you through a training program and pay for your licensing along with a higher commission payout and the clients are yours.
    2)”You can build a team of reps and get overrides so Recruit, Recruit, Recruit.” I equate this to the equivalent of an “Insurance Salesman Mill.” You have heard of a puppy mill….well Primerica’s average rep makes 2.5 sales per year so the only way to keep new business coming in the door is to recruit new people, have the RVP work their warm market during “training” and have the new rep hopefully repeat the process, so that you have more people writing less business as opposed to properly training their reps to sell through seminars, networking, or acceptable referral selling practices. This is the ponzi scheme aspect of their business model. If they do not recruit, recruit, recruit the scheme breaks down b/c they are not replacing the 99% of reps that just left the company. The FTC has on several occasions analyzed this model due to the tremendous amount of complaints and concluded that they were not a ponzi scheme because they actually sold a product, but that does not change the fact that the business model is ponziesque in nature. There is not one insurance company in the world that would disallow you the opportunity to build a team of agents under you and the payouts would be much higher, so do not waste your time splitting your commissions with people who do absolutely nothing for your business.
    3)”Buy Term Invest the Difference is the only retirement strategy to use.” I do not disagree with BTID for most low/middle-class investors. It is not a cure-all strategy. People who make over 100k per year need permanent insurance, people with complex estate tax situations need permanent insurance, some people who have built up cash value would be crazy to switch from an investment vehicle that grows tax deferred vs. taxable mutual funds. Also the term insurance product that Primerica offers is overpriced when compared with other like-kind carriers with exactly the same features. They must price it that way to accommodate their tiered commission schedule which is well below industry average and pays 4 levels above to people that do absolutely nothing to help you grow your business. (will discuss later).
    4) Product line Analysis: 1) The term insurance is way over priced compared to other leaders in the industry. 2) The SMART LOAN product is 100-150 basis points (1%-1.5%) higher with higher closing cost than most other bank equity loan products. They try to sell this by putting the client on a bi-monthly payment plan and illustrate how they can pay it off in fewer years showing the interest savings but its fuzzy math. You can pay bi-monthly on a 30 year fixed or pay an extra amount per year and accomplish more savings with the lower rate so do not buy it. Do your homework and make sure you are comparing apples with apples on the amortization calculation.
    5) “Pay the Eagles and starve the Turkeys” This is an expression that has been used in the insurance industry for years. Basically this strategy is worse at Primerica than any other company I have analyzed or been a part of throughout my career. By recruiting, recruiting, recruiting….. the reps at RVP level keep new business coming in the door because they tell new recruits that part of their “training” will be to offer sales leads from their warm market. The new reps set the appts with people they know (friends, family, co-workers) and the recruiter and recruited go on the sales call as a training session. Because the new rep is not insurance licensed yet, any business that is sold goes under the Recruiter’s rep code (usually RVP) with promises of being paid back later. wink, wink. Also any investment 12b-1 fees that would normally go to the sales person is not paid to reps unless you are RVP level which does not happen at other companies. If you sell a mutual fund as a rep at Wachovia, Morgan Stanley or any other investment house you receive the annual management fee not the person that recruited you. Also the payouts at Primerica start at a paltry 25% where most other companies start out at 45-50% and go up to as high as 90%. If you analyze the income earners in Primerica….you will find that the +/-5 people making over 5 million per year and the +/-43 people making over 1 million per year are all a part of the original founders of the company who are on top of the pyramid. As long as the rank and file keep recruiting, recruiting, recruiting and washing out of the business in 6-8 months, the orphaned accounts that are left keep rolling up to their book of business. Also, if you are one of the naive 1/10 of 1% that get to 100k per year after 10 years and overcome your upline in income you are duly rewarded by him taking your best downline. So in reality they could care less if you grow a successful business because the top 5% get the business either way, either by washing out of the business and they get the orphaned clients or build a successful business and they take your best downline. Primerica’s tag line should be “We sell false hope and a misleading, lackluster opportunity.” So the bottom line is…..If you want to sell overpriced, non-competitive products for a lower commission than you could get elsewhere, sign a 2 year non-compete to do that and also pay the insurance company for the right to do it, then Primerica is the company for you. My Advice: Work for a reputable insurance carrier that does not have to recruit people like “The Primerica Debate Team” to go to online blogs and write positive things about the company to counter act all of the negative real-life experiences from people who endured the ordeal.

  102. Anonymous 12/29/2009 at 7:37 pm - Reply

    Tracy, let me begin by saying that in no way shape or form am I trying to be rude to you. Now, since you said “Is it a pyramidal scheme? In legal terms, the answer is no.” It either is or it is isn’t and obviously the answer is no you even agreed. So, there is no if, but, or however about the question. The answer is no. Primerica reminds me much of the restaurant corporate business. Host make the least, busers and servers get more with tips, the assistant manager makes a little less than the General manager, then the regional manager makes even more than the general manager and so on. Explained that way, one can argue that the restaurant business is a LIKE a pyramidal scheme, but it’s not. Every company runs their business different. Many individuals may disagree on the different methods, but if the government says its okay, whether it might be right or it may be wrong, it is allowed. Some people will succeed and some people will struggle with it just like any other business.

    • Steve 11/30/2011 at 9:24 pm - Reply

      The difference being, a GM at a restaurant doesn’t make any more or less money based on how many people the host brings into interview for a position. Fact of the matter is, in Primerica, you cannot earn a living full time by just selling their services. You want to make big money, you have to recruit. You don’t recruit, you’ll be out of a job. It is no different than Mary Kay, pampered chef, or the 90 day challenge.

  103. Adrian Cortes 12/30/2009 at 2:33 am - Reply

    By mistake I landed on your page again. And I read the post for the guy with the MBA that worked with great and known companies such as Morgan Stanley and Wachovia(I think they asked for the goverment money A.K.A. tax payers money A.K.A my money, your money, etc…) My question for that guy: do you have something better to do? leave alone Primerica and other companies, if Primerica it is not for you, who cares about what you think? Be concern about you and your family. I bet you: you are unemployed right now and if not, you will be if you work for those corporations or if you have a boss. Let me tell you about corporate behavior: If a person coming out of college has not experience they wont hire you, if you have experience but no degree they wont hire you, if you are not a family member or friend they wont hire you. You need to work your _ss hard to get promoted and beg a century for a rise. My point here is the big corporations are crooked because they have billions of dollars in profits but they prefer use a big part of this to lobby congress to minimize the minimum wage, create bellow minimum wage jobs and receive tax credits for this “job creations” I think Tracy shoul Investigate the frauds of all this companies or is she scare?. My last but not least point, Primerica is a legitimate company with a legitimate business and if anyone accepts this independent agent agreement let them do it (dont talk bad about the company, because you are attempting againts the dreams of other people that may be succesful at this business and if you tell them not to do it, you are cutting opportunities for them and their families, also, if a person talks bad about other is tha correct? show some respect!)And if they joined is because someone told them they can be somebody, no matter what race, or education, social status, religion, or any other barrier, they only have to work and be rewarded with money, promotions, money, vacation trips, money, friendship and the satisfaction of doing what is corrrect for the client(by the way a client can be myself-I want to invest, I need Insurance, I need a LTC program, etc/my immediate family mom, dad, uncle, cousin, my best friend, my other best friend, recomendations for what I did for my best friend, etc…) not for the corporation. I have said! Take care of you and your family. God be with You.
    p.s. if I have any writing mistake forgiveme I am 100% mexican!

    • Ivon F. 01/12/2011 at 10:12 am - Reply

      I read your comment, and I’ve only been on this site for a few inutes. I haven’t read everything, so don’t chew me up. By your response, it reads as though you are with Primerica, and there is nothing wrong with that. If there is something that they are good at, is to selling a dream. There is nothing with the sale of a Dream. Nothing is guaranteed – anywhere (not even in the American constitution, we are entitled to pursuit of happiness, and nowhere does it say that it is guaranteed). I am a former PFS person, and I work in corporate america right now and am building a small business (my own, with my own name, and not sponsored by anyone on the side). I think that many people come to Primerica, they are sold the pie in the sky; and expect the pie in the sky to come when you work hard, but the truth is, that sometimes in Primerica you do work very very hard and make many sacrifices and nothing happens. Fact is that Primerica is not cheap, and the information that they provide is available and accessible to anyone – especially those that have internet. I think that Primerica did well on the days before the internet, because they had regular people (non sales people) treat others like regular people.

      Would I return? I thought about it. I am in the ‘right market’ married with children, and my friends are all married with children; however, for the work, time invested, and money that you have to invest, it is much better to work for someone else when it comes to that.

      Not everyone has the drive, or personality to be an RVP. I don’t agree with some complaints that I read here and there, and I feel that I got a lot of tools, funny, some I still use every day. But the person has to be right for that oppty, when it comes. My thing, was that I was very very young, not married and without children, so married couples wouldn’t take me very seriously.

      Note also that this is the internet, and anyone can voice their opinions anytime they want. it is a much different era than before.

      Lastly, don’t put your Mexican heritage down. You have created technologies that are still standing to this day and have much rich culture!

  104. Tracy Coenen 12/30/2009 at 10:02 am - Reply

    Yes, we have nothing better to do than to warn consumers about a crappy company with a crappy “opportunity” and expensive products. There are much better products out there for consumers, and they’re better off with real jobs with real paychecks than participating in the pyramid scheme called Primerica!

  105. Vinny 01/13/2010 at 4:09 pm - Reply

    Tracy,

    This is an awesome website. You are really providing a great service exposing some of these companies. I personally have license for life and health and can offer some great term policy rates. I don’t have all my facts but have been told by others how expensive Primerica’s term product is. I have been approached by Primerica and ran the other way. Have no intention of ever joining them.

  106. Chris 01/22/2010 at 9:41 pm - Reply

    In regard to the negative response from the MBA, I will state one fact.

    AXA Insurance of New York is rated by the neutral A.M. Best rating firm as A –
    Primerica is rated A +

    Enough said. Everyone look it up. http://www.ambest.com

  107. john 01/26/2010 at 4:28 am - Reply

    u guys r retarded… primerica has made me bank… Eventually the oppurtunity will come and go and you will all still be complaining

  108. Leo 01/26/2010 at 3:54 pm - Reply

    Primerica offers opportunity. Each individual has to take advantage of such opportunities and make the best of them. Primerica is not for everyone. If it is for you, it can change your life for the better.

  109. sabrina 01/28/2010 at 12:53 am - Reply

    Regarding Leo comment:

    I do agree 100% of your comment about Primerica. It is not for everyone but if you like what you do keep doing it. My only problem with Primerica is that most of their Reps alway “saying” bads thing about their companys.

  110. Rachelle 02/22/2010 at 7:34 am - Reply

    In response to the MBA (Primerica Truth):

    Your acumen, and comprehensive research is well appreciated by intelligent people. I would love to see how a Primerica Rep would answer each of the 5 allegations posted in your commentary.

    I will keep watching, but I am sure that no one can step up to the podium and offer an INTELLIGENT counter, because you are dead on the money. Good Job!

  111. Jason 03/12/2010 at 2:44 pm - Reply

    In response to Rachelle:

    As a Primerica Rep I am willing to step up to the podium and accept your challenge.

    1. When I joined Primerica I did pay a one time fee of $99 and I do currently pay $25 per month for the software program that allows me to run my business. While I was in training and unlicensed, I was able to market one of their products to clients which payed me the $99 dollars back several times over. I received extensive training and did not have to pay for my insurance license and I am in the process of obtaining my securities license which the company also payed for. No compete clause- So what. It’s not like any other company would have given me chance anyways.
    2. I’m not sure where Primerica Truth is going with the ponzi scheme claim. As I understand a ponzi scheme is a system of taking money from one investor and giving directly to another investor as interest earned on that investor’s investment. Think Social Security. Which is a giant ponzi scheme run by the government. I think Primerica truth is trying to speak to the recruiting side of the business. I do believe that if any business wants to grow they have to recruit/ hire/ employ or whatever you want to call it, new people. The only difference in Primerica is that a Rep at any level can bring someone into the business, train them, and enjoy an override from that person when they are productive. Compare that to a boss who hires employees and puts another employee in charge of training them for little or no additional compensation. Then who gets to enjoy the override from the new hire? The boss. Which system do you think is really better? I’m not in the business of financial services. I’m in the business of distributing financial services. That’s why I’ll ultimately be managing an office collecting overrides from the people I supervise, while Primerica truth will be shaking the bushes for more sales to earn a buck and making his boss rich.
    3. Buy term invest the difference period. The only people I have ever seen that buying cash value life insurance is good for is the agent selling it.
    4. As far as our term prices go. I don’t have a nicely completed comparative table of prices to show you. But I can tell you that I replace everybody’s insurance everytime because I always have a better deal. The SMART loan is right for some and not for others. I can honestly say that banks use fuzzy math with the interest calculations. When I show a client that they can be out of debt faster and pay less in interest, they really aren’t concerned with the interest rate. I wouldn’t be either.
    5. Compensation. A new Rep starts out at a 25% commission. However, you can easily qualify for a higher commission before you are licensed. I did and started at 50% plus a 20% bonus on sales. Who else do you know in financial services that are giving bonuses to new people? I think they usually only give bonuses to the top execs who now a days have to give it back because they are owned by the government due to shoddy business practices. Do your homework Primerica Truth. Primerica submitted an IPO and will be founded as the largest financial service marketing company in North America with a 33 year track record, no debt, and $5 billion in liquid capitol. No government assistance needed. The top earners have been in the company for years and years. But the top earners in most company’s are senior to everyone else. We also have several people who have made it to the top who are young and new in the company. I won’t mention names but a certain SNSD in Utah is 29 years old, in the company for 8 years and earns over $1million a year. My RVP was a $100k earner in three years not ten.
    Rachelle
    Primerica is an awesome company who does right by their clients and reps. Yes there are a few bad apples. But a company of over 100,000 reps is going to expierence that.
    Tracey
    I have a real job with a real paycheck. It sucks. I have no opportunity with it. I have a shot with Primerica and I’m going to take it.
    Jason

  112. jefri 04/01/2010 at 9:06 am - Reply

    Good morning guys..i am a Primerica agent for 5 years..make a lot money..married with 3 young kids..i dont know what my life would be without Primerica..i just dont understand by some people that wannna be wealthy without doing the work..if financially independent and debt free are easy to achieve.. i guess everybody would do it..ITS NOT EASY…its business..we cannot get frustrated from the work than we don do..in other word..WE ARE LAZY.. a job is just a job when u retire u dont have that J>O>B..we need to understand that..to all PRImericans in this blog..i admire you guys just to spend some time with the people that just dont get it.. PRIMERICA is for special people that have guts, desire and glory and do whatever it takes to get the job done.TO APRIL 1ST..WE ARE THE LARGEST PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANY IN THE WORLD WITH ZERO DEBT…Dont waste our time here talking to people that are complaining and bitching for something that tried for a couple of months..Thats why only 2% of the population make more than 100,000 a year. Guys lets the crusade move and we conquer the world..

  113. april 04/05/2010 at 3:44 pm - Reply

    i find this site hilarious because people are to blind to realize that every job, company etc. is a so-called pyramid. Some one is always above you and making more money than you. but not every company gives you the opportunity to reach the top and own your own business. We dont sell products, we promote services that help families do more than just survive, but live without worry about the future. If that is such a bad thing and a scam, then I pitty whoever thinks that. It only works for those who want to get up off the couch and do something about the lives they complain about every day. Keep your eyes opened, because we are big and doing the right thing for others, and always looking for others to join us in the fight against the crappy economy we now deal with. How many companies do you know that have come out ahead and always will come out ahead of the economy????? If this were a scam we would have been stopped after 30years , dont u think?

  114. Primerica Truth 04/13/2010 at 7:37 pm - Reply

    To Adrian Cortes: Good luck in your endeavors with Primerica. I hope that you can build a career with the company and support your family. I offer the information to help people that have never been in this industry on how Primerica misleads and deceives their own reps and how other insurance companies at least offer better products and a better opportunity to suceed.

    To Chris: Please learn how to read an AM best rating chart…….AXA Insurance Company of New York (rated A-) is the Operating Company that covers their Property and Casualty products. AXA Equitable Life Insurance of New York (rated A+) covers their life, accident, and annuity business and is the name of their North America Life Company. AXA Group is ranked the 99th largest corporation in the WORLD by Forbes. Citigroup is ranked #472 and no they are not the largest financial services company in the World, North America, or even the United States (even before the recession) in terms of revenue, assets, or market capitalization. They boast being the largest financial services company in North America, but it is a case of being deceptive once again. Citigroup was the largest financial company in North America in terms of employees before the break-up, but most of the 100,000 Primerica employees are part-time, only 25,000 have their securities license, only 10,000 make more than $50k per year. Please do your independent research about everything that Primerica tells you and read all of the fine print and disclosure information on Primericas own marketing/ contract material. You will learn so much about your own company.

    http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/08/worlds-largest-companies-business-global-09-global_land.html

    To Jason: Other insurance companies will pay for your licensing and train you. Other insurance companies do not charge you $25 per month to use their website to check on your accounts, sales numbers, and agents.(Are you kidding me!) Other insurance companies will chargeback on sales commission that “fall off the books” , denied or cancelled within a year, but would never do a chargeback PLUS an additional $25 over and above the commission paid to the rep for a denied, refused, or cancelled policy. If a client is rated, other insurance companies will pay the rep the difference in premium, Primerica keeps the difference themselves. Other insurance companies will allow you to recruit a downline (producer group), pay you more in commission, never take your best two downlines (producer group), and you will truly own your book of business. Start asking the right questions to your upline and watch them get confrontational and start lying to you all over again. God Bless you Primericans, I hope that some day you will learn the truth.

  115. Mick Dundee 04/28/2010 at 9:01 pm - Reply

    Art Williams started the whole Primerica conglomerate. I watched the “Do it” video from 1987 and it’s an embarrassment.
    Basically he’s a first class redneck idiot.
    I guess the there’s a lot of those type of people in the USA since his company is successful and you’d have to be an idiot to buy their sh!tty, overpriced products.

  116. Former PFS Agent 05/25/2010 at 7:13 pm - Reply

    This thread at TFB really gets into the meat of PFS.
    http://www.thefinancialblogger.com/comparing-primerica-to-other-companies/

    Let me say this. It’s probably a good idea if the Primerica agents don’t read the post. Sometimes facts can burst a bubble.

  117. Dallas Recent Primerica Recruit 06/24/2010 at 12:23 am - Reply

    I was recently recruited by Primerica.

    I thank Tracy for her well thought out opinion. While I don’t agree with 100% everything that she says, it is extremely professional and thought out.

    I was very put off by the lack of professionalism displayed by Primerica advocates in their responses to the artical and it substantiates my concerns about recruiting Primerica’s practices.

    As a recent Primerica recruit, I was very very swayed by the chance to learn myself about financial products and help others about saving and investing money. I was not put off by the fact that commissions were so little at the recruit level because I understood that my recruiter would have to hold my hand a lot and really he should be earning the commission while training me.

    I should have done a better job at researching Primerica. I did find that they have A+ rating on Better Business Bureau. However, there is a group in Dallas that has D-. And most folks will at least look on the Better Business Bureau and it is important to not have to combat a bad company image to get ones foot in the door with a client.

    .

    I was not put off by PrimeAmerica MLM scheme because there are plenty of other examples of mainstream MLMs such as Avon and Mary Kay. Crown Financial (Christian personal finance management organization) isn’t against them, but one does their homework recommends finding MLM that are are not a scam and will work for you. So that is confusing – are MLM’s automatically a bad way to market products?

    I am concerned about Primerica’s recruiting practices as there is not very much discernment about who is recruited and it is important to have quality team members (who represent one’s company/business professionally and ethicly). I think though I should avoid MLMs because I am not really interested in constantly recruiting and training folks. I am interested in doing finanical plans for folks

    I am $125 poorer but wiser now 🙂 I am now trying to get out gracefully and safely.

  118. I think it’s hilarious that all the people defending Primerica say the same thing that their boss told them when recruited. Every business is a “pyramid”. Well not every business are you forced to pay to start and recruit, recruit and recruit.

    I will give them credit for accepting anyone…. except do I really want just anyone making my financial plans? Do I really want some dude recruited off the street saying I can save you thousands of dollars? Do you even know anything about finances?

    I will paint you a picture of when I was asked to join them, the person recruiting me drove up in a six inch lifted brand new Ford Truck, 200 dollar jeans and shirt with alligator boots. This first impression got me thinking three things, one he is completely going to use me to get rich ( he doesnt care about me), two is this the type of look that higher level employees look? Would I trust someone that dresses like this to make my financial plans? and the final first impression I got is…. He is fake rich and has absolutely no money and no assets. Its all appearances.

    He was going over some of his sales numbers and using big words like “Simple Interest”, and “Skip the whole life and invest the rest”. Well I can tell you, EVERYONE USES SIMPLE INTEREST. I hate people who think primerica is going to save their life with simple interest. They are being ripped off just because they are finally being explained on how interest works, and how primerica does it. Even though every other company in America is only allowed to sell simple interest loans as well.

    As he continued explaining the products and his two week payment schedule and how it saves so much time. I interuppted him and said, not one mortgage company allows you to make a bi weekly payment anymore. He didnt understand what I ment. Now because mortgages are packaged and sold as investments in the market, that when a mortgage company recieves a half payment, they simply hold it in another account waiting for the second half to show up. Mortgage companies DO NOT POST HALF PAYMENTS. ( way over anyone at Primerica’s head) I dont care whom your lender may be call them up and ask for yourself. In essence what this will do is let you make an extra payment a year which is still good but every company allows you to make an extra payment as long as its a full payment or you could go with a novel idea just pay extra principal. Also when you just send them a check every two weeks you lose interest because that money is not doing anything for you.

    The guy talking to me about helping me become a financial planner and help so many people out in the world, didnt know the first thing about finances. He only knew what he was trained to know. His only talent was recruiting everyone and living off of their hard work.

    Final thought, Primerica is owned by Citi…. Citi stock is about 4 dollars a share…. Citi isnt a very well ran organization…. A not very well ran organization that runs Primerica…. A not very well ran organization that can only sell a poorly ran organizations products… I can keep going on and on with this thought process…

  119. stephanie villarreal 07/16/2010 at 4:48 pm - Reply

    I was researching primerica to find out if they are a scam. If they have idiots like these people defending them. They are not a company worth working for. Most of you are uneducated or act uneducated.

  120. Former agent 07/29/2010 at 1:23 pm - Reply

    This is for Dallas. If you already paid your money why not still get at least your life/health license and go from there? There are other organizations you can market with or sign up directly with some carriers.

  121. Samantha07 08/03/2010 at 4:02 pm - Reply

    @ Stephanie Villarreal the only idiot here is YOU!!! I will not let some broke employees sit here & talk crap about this great company!! @ Chronies get your facts right! We are no longer part of Citi we went public on the NY stock exchange on April 1st, this yr & already broke records!! We are Federally Regulated & don’t let whomever join the business, for you information we get to choose who we would like in our business (just like your job does) & they have to pass the background check! Even if you want to get your business license for whatever kind of business you have to pay the state no matter what people!! I’d rather pay $99.then have to pay over 500k for a franchise & still not even own it!! We do what is best for the consumer 100% all the time!

  122. the123abcman 08/09/2010 at 2:58 pm - Reply

    …they are just a financial services company. Probably no better or worse than others. 100% commision jobs aren’t for people without significant and successfull sales experience. Probably why I won’t take the job if they offer it to me.

  123. Kevin 08/13/2010 at 10:23 pm - Reply

    Warburg-Pincus the 14th largest private equity firm in the WORLD spent 10 million dollars investigating Primerica. For over 90 days 347 private investigators, forensic accountants, and a such went over this “scam” with a fine toothed comb. The result, they invested 230 million dollars in us at the IPO price. We were 30 times over subscribed and many of the companies you people might revere wanted to get in on the ground floor of this opportunity. But, still someone has a bad experience or knows someone who didn’t make it in the business (probably didn’t bother to get licensed either) and here come the crap storm. We are the #1 IPO of 2010, Jim Cramer of mad money said it point blank, “Primerica could teach GM and the rest of the bunch about how to run and business and go IPO”. So unless you have some serious counter agruements backed up with facts from viable, respected organizations like stop peddling your problems with Primerica as fact. I have worked here in Dallas for more than 15 years in sales and have been very successful, but at the end of the day my salary and commission was all I got. The company got the equity. This is not for everyone, thank goodness, or it wouldn’t pay so well. But, let me ask you nay sayers, where are you going to go and make your nest egg? Back to your corporate job with 2-3% annual raises in a 4-5% inflationary ecomony? Get real. Primerica is an opportunity, a vehicle to allow the other 95% of the country a chance of achieving a better life. All in all for $99 you can get a great financial education and quit or G.O.Y.A. and work to have a life. If not, don’t complain that you never got a break or had a shot. Most people are just so hard-wired into the corporate Matrix they can’t see the reality before them. You are a slave or prisoner to your job, just doing time until you find something else or they let you go. Here is another stat for you more people have made more money with Primerica than with any other company in the US in the past 45 years. We pay 25 million a day in death benefit claims, we pay the families of our fallen patriots fighting in wars without hiding behind the war clause.(what other insurance company does that consitently?) We paid during Katrina, 911, and the list keeps growing. We do the right thing everytime. So unless you really know of what it is you speak find another drum to beat.

  124. Tracy Coenen 08/14/2010 at 10:38 am - Reply

    Kevin – Your statement about more people making more money with Primerica than any other company is an outright lie. So I’m just going to point that out and then move past that to the real issues. The issue is also not whether the company pays on its insurance policies as required to by law. We’ll just assume that they do.

    What I’m attacking is the MLM business model. This model makes tons of money for the owners of the companies, which is why it is used so often. From a money-making perspective, the investors in Primerica have probably done well for themselves. The problem is with all the people in the pyramid who are being taken advantage of.

    Guess what? You don’t own anything with Primerica. You’ve sold a policy or product to someone, you’ve gotten a much smaller commission than you would have gotten with a traditional insurance or finance company, and you own nothing. Primerica owns the customer. Just like with that job, you have nothing at the end of the day.

    Recruiting is pushed because that’s how Primerica makes most of its money. It’s from thousands and thousands of recruits, who each make very little off what they sell. You don’t get properly rewarded for selling a financial product, because Primerica pays out multiple levels in the pyramid. Almost no one can make a living as part of the pyramid. But it survives because of the hope that you might make a living.

    MLM is all about false promises and smoke and mirrors. Primerica is just one of many sleazy MLM companies.

  125. Kevin 08/14/2010 at 1:12 pm - Reply

    Sleazy, smoke and mirrors, all things that make companies that do well at their strategies look bad to those who take your opinion as fact. I notice you did not refute anything will factual evidence. Is it because you don’t have any or you are on such a mission against Primerica that you can’t see were you are wrong. There is plenty of great news and press about the company, yet you continue down your path. Obviously, from your earlier posts you are in the industry so your credbility or your basis is appearent. Like I asked before where is your 3rd party proof or validiation? Your 3rd party research? As usual, just like the 35000 websites about why I hate Christmas and the conspiracy theory against the addictive nature of Starbucks coffee, people will always find a way to shoot at something successful. And stop calling it a pyramid. Pyramids are illegal and we are in one of the most regualted industries in the country. Multiple state and federal licenses are required to conduct business. We don’t get 1 dime for recruiting someone into the business. That is the essence of a pyramid, money for recruiting. And as far as recruiting goes I assume your current company didn’t recruit you? No job fair? No call from HR? You just walked in, filled out your paperwork and began collecting money. Please. Say what you will, but let’s get factual not just your opinion. I await with great anticipation of the new information you will bring to the table.

  126. Tracy Coenen 08/14/2010 at 1:21 pm - Reply

    Kevin – The press that Primerica gets for itself is of no concern to me. That is spin and has no credibility. I have been studying multi-level marketing for years now, and the FACTS that you demand about Primerica and other MLMs are all over this site. I invite you to take a look at these facts.

    Our government allows MLMs to exist because these companies pay millions of dollars per year for lobbyists to sit in Washington DC and ensure that their business model is never outlawed. I haven’t said Primerica is illegal, but I have said many times that the MLM method is abusive and predatory, and ought to be outlawed.

    Recruiting for a real job is different than recruiting for a MLM. Multi-level marketing companies live and die by recruiting thousands of new bodies each year who take the place of the 90+% who leave the companies. These recruits don’t individually create much money for the company, which is why so many are needed. Recruits in MLM pay to play, while recruits to legitimate jobs are paid for their efforts. This is one big difference. Almost everyone in MLM loses money, while everyone in a job MAKES money (at different rates of pay, of course, but still pay).

    MLMs are careful not to pay directly for recruiting, because that would violate the letter of the law. But they rely on recruiting for their existence. Without recruiting, an MLM dies.

    And no, my company did not recruit me. I started the company.

  127. Kevin 08/14/2010 at 7:07 pm - Reply

    I see trying to get FACTS out of you is useless. You believe MLM’s are bad so be it. I believe people who distort every opportunity with generalization are the just paying themselves lipservice. My last question does the average middle class american citizen stand a better chance at a corporation or in business for themselves if they wish to retire or have any quality of life? Employee or owner, which one?

  128. Tracy Coenen 08/14/2010 at 7:17 pm - Reply

    Kevin – The facts you seek are all over this site if you can be bothered to look around. I see no need to retype what I’ve already typed over and over. I have done tons of research on MLMs, and many of my findings are here.

    MLM is not “in business for yourself.” In MLM, you own NOTHING. All you have is the right to market substandard products or services under a contract that the company can terminate at any time without compensating you in any way. That’s not a business. That’s being a salesperson for a business opportunity scam in which almost all participants lose money.

  129. Lana 08/14/2010 at 9:46 pm - Reply

    Tracy,
    Where were you 15 years ago when I was sucked into Primerica, WMA and WFG! You are correct. I was a top 100,000 ring earner for WMA/WFG. WFG was sold to Aegon. YES ……. my team was taken from me……. when I was not willing to work under Xuan Nguyen (at that time, the company was divided into two divisions – Monte Holmes was the leader for the other division.) I hired an attorney, only to find out that I signed a VERY WEAK contract and the company has complete control over your so called “business” and can do whatever they please. My direct up-line (CEO) was terminated due to compliance reasons…. and without the person you have signed a lease for an office – you can imagine what happened to me! I was fed to the sharks! Everyone was grabbing at whatever they could…my office furniture…… my chairs and equipment I used for training…..and then my team. If your a single woman in a “man-driven” business like this one…….Watch out!!!

    After 6 months of being inactive and losing my team I started from square one. I was still making overrides….but only on my own business…..not what I had built for 15 years. I was given the role as Branch Manager again…… but this time…….I was managing other agents – not my own agents. I was told that I would be approving business for the top producer in the company…and he was………..all the points and RECRUITS…..to get his promotion. To make a long story short – I caught him red handed churnning and doing OSBA (outside business activity) without prior approval – When I reported him to our district compliance officer – I was only told by my leaders (I can compare this to Wall Street and the SEC)….not to get involved…..soon to find out that ALL LEVELS in the chain needed the points (production) for their promotions!! He wrote 3 policies w/ the same client (WRL, Pacific Life, Zurich Kemper) with the intention of cancelling at least two. I was was wasting my time, money and was set up to be held accountable for his bad business. At that point I stopped approving his business and decided to go work elsewhere. So many red flags – his persistency was not more than 30% – churnning – OSBA – and being cheered on by his UPLINE to keep up the bad work!

    For the past 4 years I have been a paralegal. If I ever choose to get back into financial services – it will be with a professional organization with a good reputation, and NOT with an MLM business. Read your contract – it will tell you in legal terms it is NOT your business! If you calculate the time you put in……..all the weekends and working 14 hour days………..Take my advice……IT’S NOT WORTH IT!!!!!!!!

  130. gus 08/19/2010 at 2:11 pm - Reply

    Let me tell you that Primerica is very misleading. I was an agent for 15 years, reached RVP and got the ring. Some things came to light recently that lead to my resignation:

    1. To have the best contract you must be (FULL – TIME).
    2. RVPs (best contract) must open and maintain an office at their own expense
    3. 2 year no contest period if you leave (they are NOT your clients)
    4. RVPs can NOT be employed anywhere else even if it has no conflict to Primerica business.
    5. Captive products – Term is expensive! 27 yr old Female non tobacco, 750K, 20 yr term. Primerica – $67 / American General – $26
    6. Declines or rated policies leaves the clients NO options.
    7. ONLY 1 annuity product.
    8. Must hit certain number every month as RVP or LOSE that production.

    I can go on and on but isnt that enough?
    I dont hate Primerica, they have helped me become who I am today BUT at a very high cost. The good news is I got out.

    They breed on control:
    -Everyone else in Financial services are crooks.
    -Everyone with a job is unhappy.
    -Primerica is different from other MLMs

    How much money has ANYONE really made when you net out expenses (office, seminars, retreats, Tshirts, gas, etc.)?

    Look at this link:
    http://www.freecourtdockets.com/docketsummaries/Shane-E-Perry-and-Dannene-L-Perry-1-10-bk-16295-California-Eastern-Bankruptcy-Court-Docket-Case-Summary-78848.htm

    They are the poster children of Primerica and they are financially devastated.

    People are after “the dream” in Primerica but the sad truth is most people are living the nightmare. The majority of friends I have developed in Primerica are RVPs and heroes of the sales force. They are living a lie. Barely able to make office rent every month, creditors on their back, no savings BUT having to sell the dream every week at the opportunity meeting while they are starving.

    I got tired of living a lie.

    PLEASE keep an open mind and see what else is out there if you want a career in financial services.

    Last thing: Ask yourself this question – If Primerica is so good than why doesnt anyone come back after they leave?

  131. Rational Person 12/06/2010 at 3:07 pm - Reply

    Gus, when you said that it is financially hard, I’d like to have a little bit more information on that.

    To have the RVP promotion, you must absolutely secure 100k$ per year. Of course you need to be full time, if you want to be there for your team. Also, here in my country (or Province?) it is illegal to work in the insurance/financial business on Part Time. Primerica developed a simple solution to this.. you pass your permit and you have three months to secure money and if you can’t, well it’s just not for you and you can go work to a bank with your permit. They don’t care what you do, and if you’re not there for the Primerica opportunity.

    An office here costs around 1k$ per month max, so yes, I guess that if you make more than 10k$ per month you can afford an office quite easily. Plus, it would make sense that everybody using the office every day pays a little something on that (I’m talking about Full Time people, that make money in the company – no part timers like me).

    My upline was very clear with me and I see that many of you either got crappy uplines or know someone who had a crappy one. He told me everything about ME running a FRANCHISE and ME not getting any money until I have my permit. Why anyways would I have money if I am not allowed by the law to even talk about financial products?

    I joined for the personal development opportunities, and YES I learned quite a lot so far.. things that nobody showed me in the corporate environment, things that they assumed I learned before getting the job.. or not want me to learn to get their job.

    Primerica will “hire” anybody who is willing to change something and help families who are willing to help themselves. My upline and I are SHOWING to the families what mistake they did by describing them what is their credit score and by giving them the tools to fix that and same money on the long-term. Primerica is also offering very good products that I cannot talk about yet, but the most important thing to remember is that we (or at least I and my upline, I don’t really care for the rest) will never offer something to a client if it’s not helping him in some way. And when I say helping, I’m talking about him paying less or equal to have a better protection or I’m out of his house.

    For starters, you do not need to recruit anybody if you really don’t want to. Your upline push for it because it’s good for both you and him. You do the business as you like, if you only want to help families without having a team, you can, and it will be the same thing as a real estate agent or anybody else working on a comission salary (yes there are some “real jobs” in this world based on commission only).

    I’m very sad to see that some have been enrolled with the promise to make a 6-digit salary. I’m not very into the financial stuff, but when I saw that you can save your familie’s house from the banks..it just make sense. For this, you must really like what you do, this is not some easy make money fast at home thing.

    My suggestion here for anyone who is willing to join Primerica is to choose carefully your upline (the guy who hire you as an independant contractor). A good one will help you develop your skills (people approach, leadership..). A bad one will sell you the dream, and only tell you what to do without even working on you. Also, if you don’t want to help yourself, your upline will not help you.

    I read entire threads on Google about scams and everything. The thing is that my upline already explained me how the commission work, how the process work and how to do it the right way without going through a lot of frustration; AKA leaving my full time job without any permit or financial backup.

    Primerica will offer you an alternative and an opportunity if you’re fit for the task. Here people help each other, there’s a lot of team spirit and my RVP is very friendly and helpful. I had tips that will forever change me, because I asked for them and I proactively decided to improve myself regardless of this so-called “scheme”.

    About the costs, you will pay a starting fee that is reimbursable (not entirely, but most of it) if you quit. To get that fee, your upline should have already told you what to do, else, I can tell you if you live in my Country. The per-month fee is OPTIONAL, however if you don’t take it, you won’t have all the goodness offered by Primerica. You can take it one month, and take the other months on a free subscription. This you entirely have control over it, no scam, they even tell you in the damn contract in a whole SECTION. As for the people complaining about the 30$, I am seriously wondering if they understood what they could do with the POL. Primerica offers professional tools on your phone and computer to help you and to communicate with other rep. THAT with quite a lot of tips by the big leaders and ongoing trainings. For those who launch their own business, just get a quote for a CMS that will help you manage your business and come back to me.

    You who compare the prices are special people. Primerica offers various products, all there for a special purpose in the quest of helping people to solve their debt or to make more money short-long term. I usually don’t discredit my grocery store because I saw the milk bottle 25 cents less in another grocery store. A Primerica rep that will try to suggest his products without you saving any penny somewhere or at least help you on something well… ask for another rep seriously.

    I guess maybe it’s different here in Canada, but I look forward to an objective discussion with someone, right here. And I’m quite open to realize that I’m wrong on something.

  132. Eric Smith 01/31/2011 at 2:42 am - Reply

    I like that you point out that in legal terms Primerica isn’t a scam, but essentially by most subjective aspects it is. Primerica agents throw some much kool-aid around. They constantly talk about paying death claims faster and often claim American General, a subsidiary of AIG is no longer in business.

  133. Thousand 02/12/2011 at 11:29 pm - Reply

    I was referred to this job by a mutual friend and he said it would be good for me since it is only an office job and you do not have to do anything else but help people and you are paid by commission. I was pretty excited. But just before he told me all this, probably several hours ago, I got a call from a lady with a thick accent and it was noisy in the background. I had no idea what she said and I was not really interested. I was also not sure how she found me.

    Then, a little bit later, I received a call form another state, and the man left a voicemail saying the same thing. A job offering. I called the number back, but it went straight to voicemail. My friend then finally told me that he referred me and told me everything about it.

    He said that one must be trained and pay about $100. The second he said that I’d have to pay, it reminded me about a company who were trying to recruit in college about selling knives and stuff. Not that I am cheap, but I won’t lie. My family is dirt poor and if I paid $100 and something did not go right with this job, it would be money down the drain. I also read that no one should ever pay to get hired.

  134. Primerica Sucks 03/27/2011 at 4:27 pm - Reply

    For 100% sure it’s nothing but a con game and pyramid scheme. They even used an dishonest technique to meet with me under the guise of supposedly offering me employment at the time. When all they actually tried to do when I was there was to get me to invest in their pyramid scheme. I have no respect for the crooks what so ever.

  135. TT 04/08/2011 at 4:57 pm - Reply

    Thank you to the person who posted on March 27, 2011. I just received a call about a ‘job’. However, when I asked questions, I received vague answers. I became suspicious and began researching. It took some digging but I found the ‘core business’ to be Primerica. I will not be going for the ‘interview’.

  136. John 06/28/2011 at 2:15 pm - Reply

    I found this blog and its replies very interesting. I got a phone call out of the blue from Primerica this morning saying someone referred me, blah blah blah. I asked who it was that referred me but they rattled off the title of someone. When I told them I was not interested they proceeded to ask me if I knew anyone else who was looking for a job. I hung up and immediately started researching them.

    Shady practices tend me make me think the organization is shady.

  137. Michael A Manor 08/25/2011 at 2:03 pm - Reply

    I was a district leader, made several sales (on face value – insurance sales of a million and a half dollars and an 80,000 dollar mortgage), hired seventeen people, and earned less than six hundred dollars in the six months I was active. In the meantime, I spent over fifteen hundred in gasoline prospecting. When I left active service, only one person I had hired was active.

    You can argue all you want FOR the company, but it’s a model that fails the vast majority of people who join and that speaks as much of mismanagement as willful corporate malfeasance. The relative few who made is big had solid warm markets to begin with and hired like crazy and it was the latter that provided their fortune not the former.

    I sat in a business training seminar in Ohio in May 2009 and listened as my RVP’s boss stated that eighty percent of those who entered the business failed. More like 99% but even at eighty, it’s an appalling record.

    Here’s something you cannot argue. As a district leader with considerable responsibility, my rate of earnings on an insurance sale was little over four tenths of one percent of the face value. I sold time clocks thirty years ago and made twenty percent. This is an insult to a good sales rep but there is worse. You don’t get a commission check. That’s a lie. You get an advance. If your client stops paying, you lose your alleged commission, because the company isn’t going to sustain the loss. You are.

    It’s not illegal, but it should be and for all the endless Christian fundamentalist preaching their do in their supposed secular business, they should be ashamed.

  138. John 08/30/2011 at 3:41 pm - Reply

    I’ve read enough to come to a conclusion to stay away from this. BTW, those that believe Primerica is some company that didn’t take your tax dollars with TARP money, CITI did. Primerica is a holding company, and partially backed with mortgage backed securities. MBS are what led to the 2008 crash and Primerica is a spin off of Citi to move money around.

    I’m sure some of you have made lots of money with this company, but it’s just not for me.

  139. Jim T 10/15/2011 at 6:21 am - Reply

    Primerica is a definite scam an the ppl that defend them and or work for them shouldd be ashamed of themselves . its owned by citigroup, another zionist corporation leading to americas miserys these days, Primerica is a failure and has lead to the ruin of hundreds of lives nation wide,dont join them, , JUST SAY NO.

  140. sarah 11/03/2011 at 7:11 am - Reply

    Just go to sites like term4sale.com and you will see that other life insurance companies have rates that are 10-50% less expensive than Primerica. Did I mention that the 35 year term policy isn’t guaranteed past the first 20 years? Hmmm, they tell their clients to “buy term and invest the difference” but what difference is there when Primerica insurance is way more expensive? They employ captive gents which means they can’t shop around and look for what’s best for the clients.

    ALL of their mutual funds are load funds. So much for helping middle America. People that are duped into buying Primerica products could buy term life for much less with other companies through non-captive agents and the hundreds less per yer could then be put into mutual funds with lower fees and this could potentially mean tens of thousand of dollars or even hundreds of thousands more for the client in the long run.

    And for those of you that think its actually owning your own business, just check the fine print in the IBA supplement and the advertising handbook. You don’t even own your book of business and there is a 2 year non competition clause if you decide to go independent. You cannot have your own independent website because the company wants to control all content.

    For anyone considering a career in finance, go independent. There, you truly own your own book of business, can shop round and you can always recruit other agents to get the overrides without your prospective recruits thinking its a pyramid scheme like most of the population today thinks of Primerica.

  141. Ez 12/05/2011 at 11:33 am - Reply

    Think about it guys. Do you really want someone with no financial experience handling your finances. for the most Part, Primerica agents are trained to regurgitate what they have been taught, the famous phrase” Buy term and invest the difference.” Do some research and you will find that their insurance products are more expensive that other companys. Plus their agent are captive, therefore they are not allowed to shop around for the best product for the clients. How can you do the right thing for the client 100% of the time, if the opportunity to give them the same coverage but at a cheaper rate? Give me a break. Those of you who fail to research blindly accept this model. Are you really doing whats right for the customer? Really.

  142. anon 01/07/2012 at 1:50 pm - Reply

    I was with this company. Tried to sell term to my parents. They said no. My mom got cancer and died, age 67. If I had switched her to term there would have been no life insurance benefits to receive on her death because term is too expensive at that age and the policy would have lapsed. Primerica reps don’t have a clue of the harm they can do. They told me I was doing the right thing. I was angry for my parents not supporting me. They were right.

  143. Kevin 03/12/2012 at 5:50 pm - Reply

    Primerica Truth’s comments on Primerica remind me of how the company treated me back when it was called A.L. Williams. Back then I was rather young and was approached by man I hadn’t seen in years, took him all of 3 minutes to turn it into a sales speech and I wasted months and embarrassed myself peddling this cult of thinking to my friends and family. It really is a scheme and instead of attacking @Primerica Truth, heed what he wrote. If it does work for you then good but for those who are angered by his comments; it just goes to show that this company cannot run with bad press because RVPs act like they’re cluing you into this great unknown money club and lifestyle but really you’re just pushing business on friends, family and random encounters; and honestly, I cannot stand those kinds of people.

  144. Pete 05/31/2012 at 3:24 pm - Reply

    Tracey

    Seems to be one of the most correct posters. Like most have even admitted in their posts, the main focus of PA is recruitng. When putting recruiting ahead of sales in the MLM model, it makes it an illegal pyramid per FTC guidelines. Like to refer all to yahoo, “he Truth About MLM”, by Dr. Jon Taylor.

  145. Elad Ben 07/06/2012 at 1:00 pm - Reply

    Good afternoon to All.

    I could not agree more with Primerica Truth, FA, and Tracey. Spot on! I joined Primerica in December 2011, hoping to earn additional income. They did provide pre-licensing classes which I attended, but I paid for the licensing exam. I passed the exam in January (first time), and sought out to “build a business”. Hasn’t happened yet. Is anyone surprised? I could not help but feel as if I had joined Amway (I mean, Quixtar). Oy vey! They refer to their “pep rallies” as “EVENTS” and recruiting is the big thing! The Primerica sales strategy, overall, sounds good but fails to meet its motto, “doing right by our clients 100% of the time”. This is dishonest. How many people are able to “buy term and invest the rest”? I have since focused my attention on the Series 6/63 and licenses which Primerica advertises as “free”, but only once you have recruited and sold to the level of District Leader. LOL At DL you receive a whopping 50% commission.

    Guess what? I am being recruited by a company that offers several insurance products [term, UL, IUL, final expense, etc.], with a starting commission of 55%. Needless to say who I plan to work for. I will pay for Series 6/63, and 7 securities licenses on my own as I did with life and I plan to pursue the CFP certification/designation through my alma mater in 2013. To Primerica subcontractors: Please shop around. I am more than confident you will find a better opportunity. Also, if you are serious about a career in financial services, pursue professional, financial certifications before selling annuities and mutual funds. I have an MBA as well, and I am always speaking to “full-time, financial advisors” and seeking their guidance in these matters. Primerica reps. would be wel advised and encouraged to do the same; outside of the Primerica bubble.

  146. Hey Elad 04/12/2013 at 12:02 am - Reply

    Hey elad, I want to work in the financial and thought the certifications primerica provids could help me out. It seems you know better could you offer me any advice at this point I am willing to buy into primerica and blow a $100 for the “experience” to put on my resume and certifications plus the actual legitimate teaching that they would provide.

  147. […] life insurance and investments. I’ve written about Primerica in the past, questioning whether Primerica is a pyramid scheme, and whether PFS is a […]

  148. Nicholas Dennison, because I want you to know who I am, John 11/28/2014 at 6:31 pm - Reply

    Primerica ruined my life; simple as that.

    I had posted on a classifieds website that I would be moving to my college’s city in September (this was the summer after I graduated from high school as an honours student with top grades in every subject), and that I needed a part-time job to pay my way through school. I obviously didn’t have the opportunity to go the traditional McDonald’s route, seeing as I lived far away and couldn’t travel for an application or interview, so I was desperate. It certainly didn’t help that my father, being a single parent with two other kids to take care of just a year after a messy divorce, had made it very clear that he couldn’t offer me any support on a construction worker’s pay.

    A man called John Bruschetto replied. I’ll never forget that name. He told me he knew of a great opportunity for me with his company; that we could meet when I was in town and at school. I did some preliminary research on Primerica, and I didn’t see anything suspicious until it was too late. I met with him in September; it was one of those ‘seminars’ that’s been mentioned here a few times. I was extremely uncomfortable; but given the amount of time I had available to me with my studies and the preposterous two-hour long, multi-stop bus rides I was taking to and from the location for weekly “meetings” into October at stupid hours, I didn’t feel like I had the time to devote to looking for anything else.

    My grades suffered, and with them my self-esteem. It was a spiral into depression from there, one that I haven’t fully recovered from yet, one that started with someone from Primerica preying on a young, naïve, desperate student with high hopes and a bright future. If you ever come across this, John Bruschetto, know that I understand how you got involved; you have a family and kids to support, and you were found by someone else in a moment of desperation after you lost your job. But also know that at the same time, I can never forgive you for dragging me down with you.

  149. RUN AWAY!!! 11/23/2016 at 1:57 am - Reply

    Ah yes, Primerica. A family friend who claims to have become a millionaire by being an RVP just called to ask if she could stay at our place because she is on a recruiting mission in our area. A millionaire who cannot afford to stay at a hotel. A millionaire with a broken iPhone screen she could not replace or repair. She even begged to use our internet because she does not want to use up her prepaid phone minutes by making calls through the web. Yes, Primerica will make people rich.

  150. Rob 01/14/2017 at 10:23 pm - Reply

    Seems like the only thing that has changed is the name. I “worked” for A.L. Williams in Texas in 1985. I was actually given a word for word copy of the insurance license test. Made it pretty easy to pass! They had complaints and lawsuits against them way back then.

  151. Maria 05/04/2017 at 10:45 am - Reply

    Seriously, people…are you really better off out of Primerica? Your job tells you when to get there, when to use the bathroom, when to eat, etc. This is a business. It is not for everyone. This works for some people. If you want to remain in the traditional work force, go ahead! When you end up with no money for retirement and have to work at Publix, don’t hate yourself. You were given the opportunity and decided to bash the company. If you are better off, great! Let people make their own mind. Just because you couldn’t make it work, does not mean it’s the company’s fault. It’s you that didn’t have what it takes. I love Primerica and have been very successful because I follow their plan to a tee. Go me!!

  152. Tracy Coenen 05/04/2017 at 4:06 pm - Reply

    Maria – Yes, consumers and sales people ARE better off without Primerica. Consumers can buy better products for more competitive prices elsewhere. People who want to sell insurance or investments can make more money on their personal sales with other (non-MLM) companies.

  153. Tope Stevens 06/05/2017 at 3:01 pm - Reply

    So, clearly this site is extremely biased being that the comments viewed are particularly chosen by the site owner ha! What a joke!

  154. Tope Stevens 06/05/2017 at 3:05 pm - Reply

    Bad people always attract bad company. You’ll only see and get the bad and every ounce of it if that’s all you see. God bless you site owner because I know you won’t approve this message lol. If you can’t do what right here than at least do so in your real life. Peace ??

  155. D. Holland 10/04/2017 at 4:13 pm - Reply

    I had signed up with Primerica about a month ago. I have since then resigned from there. I ignored all the red flags even though they slapped me in the face. All of the things that people are saying is true. This company preys on the fact that you are looking for employment. I have been out of a job for a couple of months before I was contacted by a rvp I will not name names because I feel that would be petty. Make no mistake these people are good at painting a picture for you so you will believe what they are selling.
    I looked this company up but unfortunately I didn’t run across this blog until after I committed to the company. first off the money they said I could make was unbelievable yet I didn’t understand how I was going to make this money. I was told I had to build a team that I would make money from them with over rides. Instantly red flags popped up I was thinking that this was a pyramid scheme. I would be making money off of somebody else’s back that didn’t sit right with me. So I there and listen to this financial speech about how I could be debt free in 5 years. You know the saying” if it sounds too good to be true it probably is” Well anyway I sit in this office with this woman for near three hours. She said she wants to meet with my wife because if she was going to take me out of the house she wanted my wife to know why.
    So I set it up for my wife to come the next day and we meet with her and she goes over the same thing with my wife that she told me the previous day. I foolishly agree to come aboard. She told me the $99 was for a background check I later found out it was for IBA( independent business application) and licensing classes. So like some of the people on here said she asked about my contacts in my phone. I asked her “so we are going to bother my friends?” Her response was ” You don’t bother your friends you help your friends.” so again I fell another trap of theirs. So fast forward to my first appointment. One of my friends on my contact list. Near the end of the appointment I was talking to my friend I guess I said too much so she slaps me on my leg under the table. At this point I was upset .What gave her the right to put her hands on me? I didn’t say anything about that. But, mentioned it on the way back to my car like it was okay to do so. I still stayed even though I made no money. I was constantly pressured to call people from my contact list to set up appointments. so fast forward to my next appointment with yet another one of my friends. Near the end of this meeting I again must have said something wrong because this time she kicks me twice in the leg. I was so mad at this point that I was ready to kick her back but,I didn’t. As soon as we got back to the car I confronted her about her actions. I told her not kick me because I don’t appreciate that and thought it was rude. She said”You know why I did that?” Like it wasn’t a big deal. I told her I didn’t care why don’t do it again.
    Needless to say that was it for me. I did stay long enough to take and pass my life insurance exam on my first try after that I was done. So there may be some success doing this but it far and few in between. It that I was lazy or that I could not handle hard work. So for all you Primerica Lovers good luck and nice life.

  156. Hindsight is 20/20 06/19/2018 at 5:19 am - Reply

    Would you believe me if I said that I just read through this this thread in entirety? Not because of any interactions with Primarica, but rather after my brief encounter with OPES Financial Solutions, another MLM which sounds almost identical except that it is non-captive. My experiences were almost identical to those described above. I am trying to get my $149 “background check” for Opes licencure refunded.

    The pitch was that they had far more demand than supply of field trainers to meet with clients, in their very rapidly growing new business. It was the strangest experience to be going on what I thought was an interview and then suddenly by day 2 of the “interview process” I felt like I had somehow become the client (only, the submissive and agreeable client who thinks they are being evaluated for approval with the company.) Blurred boundaries all over the place.

    My #1 piece of advice to new prospects is to ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS and to continue to ask the questions until you actually get a REAL answer. looking back I see that I asked the right questions but was frequently dismissed with the response of “I’ll get to that in a minute.” In fact this happened so frequently that she became annoyed and I felt embarrassed for interrupting her. I trusted her simply because of our trusted mutual contact ( all part of the master plan) – I even told her so, that I would never be giving her the information I was giving her if I didn’t trust her so much.

    Hindsight:
    The way she expertly dodged around ever answering those questions is awe inspiring to me in retrospect. And yes, those are the people that will definitely succeeded and that type of business structure. The ones who are willing to be a total sellout of anyone who comes in contact with them, and then tell themselves that they are just trying to help the world. True humanitarians? I think not.

  157. Hindsight is 20/20 06/19/2018 at 5:26 am - Reply

    I wanted to add that unbeknownst to her I was actually recording our first “official” interview/ meeting and most of the third. I had no ill intentions in doing this I just didn’t want to miss any important information as I was very enthusiastic about what I thought I was signing up for. I’m not sure of the legality of this and so I have not revealed that card in my refund process just yet. She had agreed to refund my money in an earlier text but has since not responded when I followed up on that so I will be continuing pursuit through my credit card company .

  158. Stacey MW 06/30/2018 at 12:25 am - Reply

    I have met Andy Young, personally, on more than one Primerica occasion. I was “fortunate” enough to “earn” a spot at his after meeting parties. I am ashamed now to admit after so many years the events and hope no one else has felt the embarrassment and shame he gave me. I was in an abusive marriage and believed the “it’s all in my control totally and ultimately my fault” culture. I became an “RVP” and thankfully resigned and have a happy career now. Prior to that, this “special behind the scenes meeting” Millionaire Andy Young gave me the nickname “CD” which stood for Cum Dumpster. He said I just “laid back and took it” being I wasn’t assertive enough with “my business and life overall”. I didn’t realize at the time I was not only married to a narcissist and sociopath, but a “business mentor” apparently had similar tendencies. Thank God I reigned from Primerica and some of the narcissistic “leaders”. Now, I actually make money and don’t feel bad about myself.

  159. Trinity 03/20/2020 at 8:57 am - Reply

    Here’s a novel idea. Let people decide for themselves what they do. Most people recruited to Primerica have little to no sales background and need training/help to get off the ground. And unlike other sales jobs, Primerica allows people to learn it risk free without quitting their job. There are many MLMs that have done amazing things for families. That said, sales isn’t for everyone. Wouldn’t it be better to learn if that’s you in a part time capacity rather than being thrown into the ocean to learn while trying to feed one’s family? In addition, few sales jobs can compete with the ceiling that MLMs offer. How many car or furniture salesmen have the ability to work hard enough at their craft to earn $200k/year or more? People who are critical of MLM seem to either be mad because they can’t compete with their product or they have some axe to grind and most of them don’t even look at the products. It’s business. Let the product speak for itself. Who cares how they market? Finally, show me a business where people don’t make money off of people below them. Every business has a “pyramid structure.” Is that seriously your argument?

    • Tracy Coenen 03/20/2020 at 10:06 am - Reply

      Guess what? People DO get to “decide for themselves.” And they can do it with the help of information I provide here.

      A pyramid scheme doesn’t refer to the fact that there are fewer people at the higher ranks. It refers to the money transfer, pay to play, and the recruiting that happens in MLM.

  160. Trinity1 03/20/2020 at 9:06 am - Reply

    In addition, all of the negative comments on this thread are about people, not Primerica. If you were a poor judge of character and joined a shady team led by shady individuals, it says more about you than it does about the company. Hopefully you learned something about yourself from it and quit blaming a company that would never endorse such behavior knowingly. I’m not denying your victimhood, but quit blaming Primerica. This type of behavior happens in businesses everywhere, not just MLMs. Wake up folks.

    • Tracy Coenen 03/20/2020 at 10:06 am - Reply

      Oh, Primerica very much endorses the deception that goes on in the recruiting process. They rely on it for their continued profitability.

  161. CS 05/04/2020 at 3:14 pm - Reply

    Trinity, lots of people make $200,000 or more in a sales job. I would wager that a higher percentage of salespeople working for nonMLMs make $200k or more per year than people who are in MLMs…we know that a very small percentage of people in MLMs make a living wage so the percentage that make 200k a year is imperctibly small.

    As to your question about wouldn’t I rather test the waters as a salesperson with Primerica while still working another job rather than take a risk by leaving my job to try being a salesperson at a nonMLM…I would far rather be a salesperson at a regular company that actually pays for my training rather than being at an MLM where I have to pay for my training.

    Lastly you say that people who had bad experiences with people at Primerica are bad judges of character and it is their fault….um the fact that Primerica allows “shady” people to remain associated with their organization speaks volumes about Primerica. Primerica is allowing these “shady” people to represent them.

    If anyone is reading this, do not join an MLM. Look up the antiMLM movement to read what really happens in MLMs.

  162. Crafton Barnes 11/30/2020 at 9:49 pm - Reply

    Tracy this is a very informative blog. I have a question I would like to ask you off the blog? Is there an email address I could send it to you?
    I hope all is well,
    sincerely,
    Crafton

  163. Crafton Barnes 11/30/2020 at 10:53 pm - Reply

    I just realized how “Phishy” that sounded, I apologize.
    My question is about a person who sells Primerica and I’d rather it not be publicly on the blog is all.
    I signed up on the email updates. This is strictly a research question!
    Thank You in advance
    Crafton

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