Primerica.....

[toolioiep]

If you ask most professionals in the brokerage, mutual funds are a SCAM,...read the papers and they'll say Mutual fund fees are a scam. Mutual fund firms went around touting Teck funds in early 2000...then CRASH...same with most analysts on the planet....SCAM???

Mutual Fund firms moved all their client assets into RRSP CLONE 100% international Funds..then what?..the U.S dollar drops 35%??? all investors lose out on huge bull market in Canadian equities....SCAM. Mutual Fund firms still taking 2.5% fees all the way down!!!...SCAM????????

Sir - I can only presume your feelings on this are based on experience. My only point is that it was your brokers decision to place you in these products. If you remained in them far too long, the blame should be placed on your broker as he/she is ultimately responsible for your assets. I know my broker had me out well before a drop - and I was in mutual funds.

Yes there are 40 000 or so Primamerica agents out there making $35 000/year..maybe less...but they may be better off than many others...and the longer they last in the business and learn the trade, the more likely they will make $150 000/year at Primamerica or some other firm...that's probably 4-5times her current salary.

Lastly if the $200 fee is going to make or break your little friend then yes she should cut her losses now. I hear UPS is hiring for $10/hour..loading chemicals onto trucks at 2:00am.

Let her make up her own mind.

Instead of warning her that they will ask her to approach her friends and family to invest, why don't you do some research and educate her on how she can develop relationships with accountants, lawyers, mortgage brokers for referrals, holding wordshops, giving seminars to graduating professionals, taking an H&R block course and do tax returns for seniors and regular people, how she can buy a book of existing clients, go into companies and give seminars on basic financial planning???

why keep the girl down.....is it that she might become more successful than you????

Knowing the industry, if you can find 5000 of those 40,000 that make anything above the poverty line, I'll buy you a Tbone steak. The VAST majority of reps do the Primerica thing in conjunction with another job, as they are not successful enough as an advisor to make ends meat.

As for suggesting that someone makes their mistakes in the business and learn, nothing wrong with that. Unless of course they are making mistakes with your money, at which point I wager you would start calling them part of a scam.

Just my 2 cents....

 

[nautilus]

London Life. Now there's a scam. Freedom 55? haha
Have someone sit you down and show you the math. Instead of that investment, buy term insurance and invest the rest in your home.

 

[wonkyknee]

Very uninformed comments.

Sir - I can only presume your feelings on this are based on experience. My only point is that it was your brokers decision to place you in these products. If you remained in them far too long, the blame should be placed on your broker as he/she is ultimately responsible for your assets. I know my broker had me out well before a drop - and I was in mutual funds.



Knowing the industry, if you can find 5000 of those 40,000 that make anything above the poverty line, I'll buy you a Tbone steak. The VAST majority of reps do the Primerica thing in conjunction with another job, as they are not successful enough as an advisor to make ends meat.

As for suggesting that someone makes their mistakes in the business and learn, nothing wrong with that. Unless of course they are making mistakes with your money, at which point I wager you would start calling them part of a scam.

Just my 2 cents....

No need to look at the brokers...of course you can if you want. The gentleman was high up in a mutual fund company talking condescendinly upon Primerica(i may or may not disagree). The fact is the mutual fund companies came out with 100% clone funds after a 15 year bull run in the U.S. market. Also note that they came out with Technology funds after a run up of 1000%. Where your broker like mine was smarter than the rest does not alleviate the fund companies from any blame. They consistently come out with products late in the cycle. Why?...cause its easy to grab assets....SCAM?...probably.

Whether there are 5000 that live above the poverty line?..who knows, but to not take chances in life too is a mistake...and kudos to all those people for trying. And of course they can move their licence when they want as well and stay in the business. A very low percentage of stock brokers succeed, same with real estate agents, same with mortgage brokers?????...Your argument takes us nowhere???

All brokers out there are taking chances with your money. You better keep a close eye on your money too. ....how does it go??...past performance is not indicative of future returns...blah blah blah.

 

[wonkyknee]

Not bad..but not the whole story either..

London Life. Now there's a scam. Freedom 55? haha
Have someone sit you down and show you the math. Instead of that investment, buy term insurance and invest the rest in your home.

I hope you're not one of the growing population that feels home prices always go up?...Seems i heard that in the late 80's. That's about 18 years ago where many still have not recouped there losses. Yes many have not recouped their losses.

Now if it would have costed the same to rent, then at least you paid off your mortgage by owning( i hope, but not true in so many cases), but don't think for a second there was a rate of return.

Its funny how so many people look at purchase price and sale price but never look at all the costs involved in owning a home; changing the roof sometime over those 18 years, the furnace?, the air conditioning?, new kitchen?, new hardwood floors, painting, taxes, maintenance etc etc. The rate of return isn't that great.

But like i said, if you can own for the same price of renting then yeah..you might as well pay yourself.

 

[nautilus]

I hope you're not one of the growing population that feels home prices always go up?...Seems i heard that in the late 80's. That's about 18 years ago where many still have not recouped there losses. Yes many have not recouped their losses.

Now if it would have costed the same to rent, then at least you paid off your mortgage by owning( i hope, but not true in so many cases), but don't think for a second there was a rate of return.

Its funny how so many people look at purchase price and sale price but never look at all the costs involved in owning a home; changing the roof sometime over those 18 years, the furnace?, the air conditioning?, new kitchen?, new hardwood floors, painting, taxes, maintenance etc etc. The rate of return isn't that great.

But like i said, if you can own for the same price of renting then yeah..you might as well pay yourself.

What I meant was: Instead of the Freedom 55 crap, set your own direction for your money. Freedom 55 is a very expensive life insurance policy that promises you a lot of money at age 55. I'm saying you are better off buying term insurance, paying more on your mortgage to lessen the total interest paid over the years. By the time you are 55, your house can be paid for. A home owned outright is better than most life insurance policies.

 

[impala77]

Well most of you have confirmed what I have already suspected, that it is in fact an MLM scam. I just wish that my friend would take my advice and pull out. She has already put in $200 for her training and believes that she will make allot of money with them.

Best thing you can do is keep your mouth shut. If you have made your point and don't support her then just let her figure it out for herself. eventually she will either make some money or walk away.

I went down this route and alot of the ideas they put forth about buying term insurance versus whole life, getting rid of debt, building wealth and investments is pretty standard stuff. The only shady aspect of the company is the way they want you to get clients and recruits. They want you to sign up all your family and friends and then their family and friends etc. without that sort of start up list you are left to cold calling and it doesn't work unless you are really good at sales.

For the record not all of the funds that Primerica offers are related to citigroup and travellers etc. They also did have an afilliation with aim /trimark and other fund companies.

 

[RamsesIII]

Industry Experience

Hi guys,

I'm in the investment industry and have been for approx 20 years. Within the financial services industry Primamerica is regarded as "bottom fishers". One of their reps would not get hired at another investment dealer.

Years ago (late 90's) I met a beautiful waitress at Kennedys strip bar in Miss. She was also working for them. I went to a meeting just to see her again. Her VP from the branch was speaking. I raised my hand and asked how much he manages (assets) he said 5.5 million. The highest $$ in his branch.

I could not believe he was a VP. At the time I was managing over 80 million and was only a "senior advisor" at a large brokerage. 10 million was an average year's business.

It seems that they mostly go after small accounts and family members and friends of new reps. When that runs out, the reps leave but the business stays with them.

**When you leave the the company your clients - or book of business belongs to them not to you. **

At other companies you own your book of business and when you leave it can be sold to another advisor.

Stay away from companies who ask inexperienced people to bring in their family and friends first.

PM me if anyone wants more info.

 

[Macdaddy4life]

I went to an interview in 1989 with them. In a nutshell I was informed that for an investment of $1500 I could join their team and be trained. What a great deal! I thought that it smelled like a pyramid then.

A few years ago a former colleague of mine invited me to a business lunch and tried to sell me on investing in mutual funds with him. He told me about the infostructure of Primarica and it made my lunch taste like a pyramid then.

After reading this thread that my fellow hobbyists have partaken in I can safely and with confidence state the obvious, Primerica is a pyramid scam. Only a select few actually make money of significance and the others just give up. The company retains their customers and can just recycle new drones to get them business. It does not matter how well someone does, there is always another person to "buy in". They have a great scam going in that it is legal, but the odds in success are so slim for the average person and the company keeps growing.

 

[blueline]

What is this SCAM you speak of? This sounds like a wonderful opportunity. Just give it a chance and your profits will be plentiful.

Regards,

Dudes from Nigeria who need access to the late King's frozen assets.

 

[orkut]

...
and it made my lunch taste like a pyramid then.
...

I don't know what that means, but it made me chuckle. Hee Hee.

 

[zekestone]

Primerica is a SCAM.
They sell terrible products; mutual funds with huge fees and insurance which is inappropriate for most people.

That's funny because they sell most of the same mutual funds that banks and trust companies sell. The difference? They don't run their own mutual funds. The only funds that they don't want to push are ones that don't pay commissions to agents (Altamira being one example).

Not any worse than a bank which always pushes their own shit no matter how bad it is.

As for inappropriate insurance... Banks and insurance companies are guilty of this as well.

 

[wonkyknee]

take another look at RBCDS, at Lynch, at TD Waterhouse etc etc....they're not pyramids????

take a look at the Major Banks?? not pyramids?...I say worse than Pyramids.

 

[YellowDog]

Had a friend who's daughter started doing Primerica. She called and wanted to review my finances. I said no. My friend called and asked why not as the daughter just wanted the experience. I told the friend that I managed my own finances and was very happy with that. I asked why I would let a college dropout advise me when I had an advanced degree in finance. I also said I didn't want any of my friends or their kids knowing my financial situation.
I am convinced it is a scam. I use these rules of thumb when determining if something is a scam:
1. If you have to pay a large amount of money to sell something.
2. If sales are first attempted on relatives and friends.
3. IMHO all pyramid schemes and MLM's are scams.
4. People who say they aren't scams are in the process of getting fleeced by them or have been fleeced by them or will soon be fleeced by them.
5. The success stories are lies. Unless you actually see someone's income statement chances are 100% that what they are telling you is false.

Another big scam is Liberty League. Another friend's son was in that and claimed to be making over 300k a yearthe first year. This is the second year and he has had his car repossessed, and is getting evicted from his apartment.

 

[LordLoki]

Had a friend who's daughter started doing Primerica. She called and wanted to review my finances. I said no. My friend called and asked why not as the daughter just wanted the experience. I told the friend that I managed my own finances and was very happy with that. I asked why I would let a college dropout advise me when I had an advanced degree in finance. I also said I didn't want any of my friends or their kids knowing my financial situation.
I am convinced it is a scam. I use these rules of thumb when determining if something is a scam:
1. If you have to pay a large amount of money to sell something.
2. If sales are first attempted on relatives and friends.
3. IMHO all pyramid schemes and MLM's are scams.
4. People who say they aren't scams are in the process of getting fleeced by them or have been fleeced by them or will soon be fleeced by them.
5. The success stories are lies. Unless you actually see someone's income statement chances are 100% that what they are telling you is false.

Another big scam is Liberty League. Another friend's son was in that and claimed to be making over 300k a yearthe first year. This is the second year and he has had his car repossessed, and is getting evicted from his apartment.

Sorry YellowDog I have to disagree with your (5). Some of the success stories are true. You can make lots and lots of money in pyramid schemes provided you get in get in early, sucker a lot of people, and get out fast. Of course the people you suckered are a bit of a pain but they will get over it someday.

Trick is to get in and out at exactly the right time so you are not nailed the same way all the suckers are. Hard part of that is you believe all the BS unless you are one of the people starting it up.

Please remember that they also amortize the short term payback over a year. Lets see my favourite SP made ~ $250 or an hr… so that would be $250 x 8 = #2,000 a day. $10,000 a week. About ½ a million a year. WOW what a success story!

(The preceding was an attempt at humour and sarcasm. Please do not flame me for being naïve.)

 

[YellowDog]

Sorry YellowDog I have to disagree with your (5). Some of the success stories are true. You can make lots and lots of money in pyramid schemes provided you get in get in early, sucker a lot of people, and get out fast. Of course the people you suckered are a bit of a pain but they will get over it someday.

Trick is to get in and out at exactly the right time so you are not nailed the same way all the suckers are. Hard part of that is you believe all the BS unless you are one of the people starting it up.

(The preceding was an attempt at humour and sarcasm. Please do not flame me for being naïve.)

You are absolutely right, but by the time the average joe is aware of the scam it is too late to make big money.

I have been trying to think of a way to make big money fast, and have been thinking of starting a MLM pyramid scam, or starting a religious movement. Since I like sex it will probably involve religion since the cult leaders seem to get laid alot.

 

[LordLoki]

You are absolutely right, but by the time the average joe is aware of the scam it is too late to make big money.

I have been trying to think of a way to make big money fast, and have been thinking of starting a MLM pyramid scam, or starting a religious movement. Since I like sex it will probably involve religion since the cult leaders seem to get laid alot.

Please let me know ASAP about your pyramid scheme. If it involves food or sex I may be very interested. How about a chain of combination Out Call / Pizza Delivery outlets?

 

[jimmyt]

A little while back a friend of mine told me that she had an opportunity to work for a company called Primerica. She explained that they were a financial company which does loans, debt consolidation, life insurance and investments. She does not have any background in financial work and said that this company trains you. She told me that they have meetings and motivational seminars and invited me to one. So I went. It was held in a rented office location and there were allot of people there. All seemed very nice, welcoming any new people who came aboard. My first reaction was that I thought to myself, oh no, not another Amway/Quixtar marketing scam. But I decided to sit and listen. So in the hour and a half that I did, I heard some very inspirational speeches and talks of success. I left there feeling exactly what I thought. Yup, it’s another Amway!

The problem is I am now trying to convince my friend that this is a scam and that she isn’t going to make any money there. And possibly even lose money. However, she is dead certain that it is legit and that with hard work she will become successful there.

My question is, has anyone ever had any experiences with them that can confirm if I am right or wrong?

Think pyramid sceme

 

[Meister]

Please let me know ASAP about your pyramid scheme. If it involves food or sex I may be very interested. How about a chain of combination Out Call / Pizza Delivery outlets?

How about Lube, Oil, Filter & Handjob. It's perfect. It takes about 20 minutes to change your oil. Plenty of oil around for hj, don't need to get out of your car.

 

[wonkyknee]

Are we still talking about Primerica?....They're owned by Citigroup and been around for a long time.

what's this large amount of money you need to start selling?..is it the $200.00 licencing fee?

Is buying a restaurant with $250 000 and inviting your friends and relatives over a scam too?...large upfront cost and friends and relatives get invited???

Must be a scam.

The biggest issue with MLM's is that most people are lazy and uninterested in investing money, time, on the business and/or the education and so they fail.

True, I wouldn't deal with Primerica...but I'd buy products from Amway, if the service and products were there...same goes for Avon...there are of course success stories, but for such educated business people with degrees in business you should know that in any industry there are only 10-20% of the people making good money and the rest are treading water..real estate, mortgage brokers, Avon, Amway, Brokerage houses, Funeral sales, Insurance etc etc...this doen't make them scams..that's just the succes ratios in every business.

 

[zekestone]

Had a friend who's daughter started doing Primerica. She called and wanted to review my finances. I said no. My friend called and asked why not as the daughter just wanted the experience. I told the friend that I managed my own finances and was very happy with that. I asked why I would let a college dropout advise me when I had an advanced degree in finance. I also said I didn't want any of my friends or their kids knowing my financial situation.
I am convinced it is a scam. I use these rules of thumb when determining if something is a scam:
1. If you have to pay a large amount of money to sell something.
2. If sales are first attempted on relatives and friends.
3. IMHO all pyramid schemes and MLM's are scams.
4. People who say they aren't scams are in the process of getting fleeced by them or have been fleeced by them or will soon be fleeced by them.
5. The success stories are lies. Unless you actually see someone's income statement chances are 100% that what they are telling you is false.

Another big scam is Liberty League. Another friend's son was in that and claimed to be making over 300k a yearthe first year. This is the second year and he has had his car repossessed, and is getting evicted from his apartment.

Duh... I guess that's why the people I know who do well at Primerica are able to make enough money to buy homes, cars and feed their families... AND... I've watched my own investments made through them grow nicely.

And by your definition, if you've ever read a franchise agreement, I suppose you'd consider all franchises to be scams too.

So you have a degree in finance, eh? But somehow you don't seem to understand the different ways mutual fund companies make money and compensate people/companies who sell their product.

Yellowdog, your logic is even "better" than the logic we get from Compromised.