I just attended a Primerica meeting. Something didn't feel right to me. Does anybody know about Primerica?
Answer:
Bbase on your description, I would feel the same way too. I'm surprise that the office you went to did what they did. I currently work at Primerica and I love my opportunity there. Anyway, lets point out some of things that can raise possible compliance concerns. First, reps are not allowed to use Monster.com or any online resume database to recruit. (Unless this online database was an online job fair). Second, you do not need to provide references nor should the representative require you to do so.
I tell you why I joined Primerica. Even though I didn't have any experience in finance, I knew that middle america are in a huge financial mess. They are buying into cheap mortgages that can cost them alot of money in the long run, they own very expensive life insurance, they don't have a game plan to get out of debt, and majority of them are making bad investment decisions or they are not saving enough toward retirement. I join because I want to help people fix their finances and it doesn't cost the client anything to do it.
I also join the company because I'm allow to recruit people so that we can help more people. I only have 24 hours in a day. I can only do so much. So that's why I go out and find ordinary people like you and me. I do this by going out on the street or do job fairs and ask people if they are looking to make some additional part time income or if they are open to different career opportunities. If they say yes, I'll invite them to the office and see a 90 minute presentation. Then its up to prospects to decide whether they want to pursue this opportunity or go back working in corporate america. The best thing about the Primerica opportunity is that you don't have to quit your job to join (unless your current job is with another financial service company). If people do see the value in this company and they join my crusade to help families get out of debt and retire financially independent, I'll teach then everything they need to know to build a business and how to get promoted. The difference between PFS and corporate world is that we tell you how to get promoted. The company will also help out by teaching new associates on how life insurance works, how mortgages work, finding the right suitability on investing, what you need to do to stay complaint with state and federal laws, what forms you need when selling a certain product, etc.
To start a financial business for just $199 is a joke. Where can you start a business for just $199? No where! If you want to start a business in anything (either food, clothing, ice cream, barber shop, etc), you need to put up lots of capital say about $100k - $500k. Then you need to hire and train workers and pay them. Then you need to pay rent on the building. You also probably going to need a license or a permit to keep the business operating.
At PFS, you can already utilize the office in place and don't pay anything! You can recruit people and the company pays them. Only thing you have to pay is just $199 to get yourself licensed. The company will only pay people who are licensed. Only people who work hard and who are licensed will become wealthy.
It is a huge MLM scam. Google primerica scam. Get out while you can.
Take it from someone who knows. DON"T DO IT. If you have to pay money to get a job, it's a scam. I've been to their meetings, they make you think it's something really important and then when you get there, you're like ? .. Don't even waste your time. They contacted me through monster.com also and I even went to their meeting, it was complete garbage..Listen to your gut..
I had a Primerica rep who visited us at home. They were very aggressive and initially talked us into signing up for life insurance and claiming they could improve our financial situation. I decided afterwards to cancel it because I didnt like the whole deal and the way things were handled. The rep definetely worked off of commission.
I went through the same thing with them several years ago, and dropped them right after the session you just went through. Its not a scam- the company is owned and operated by Citi Financial, which is one of the biggest and most respected financial institutions in the world. But I do think that they promise you a lot of things that dont come through (like a 6 figure salary working part time hours), and the services that they offer arent really any better than any other financial planning company. I knew I had made the right decision when I was at Babies R Us and saw the Primerica Reps sitting at a folding table, looking bored as crap as everyone ignored them. So- its not a scam, but you probably really should not consider it if you have anything else going at all.
Hmmm. If it feels wrong..go with your gut instinct. Never heard of a company telling you it's so much money for a license before. It could be an MLM company, it could be Network Marketing (both completely different) However? Check with the BBB (better business bureau) to check it's legitimacy, and if there's any ill complaints against the company or any praise/good ratings of the company.
But do listen to your gut instinct. Your intuition is usually never wrong.
Was this something that you were looking to work in an office or from home? If you're opened to the idea of bring in additional streams of income working from the comfort of your own home, visit http://www.bedavis1.mywayout.net. and watch the simple proven formula presentation that not only tells about the business but how it works too.
Many businesses are scams, so do your research and contact the BBB (you can do that online too) and check them out.
Good luck on your endeavor!
It sounds like a California office. I was originally found on the monster system as well, and went through a similar process. I came back to discuss my questions with my RVP Cordelia 3 seperate times. After doing some credible research, (15 minutes on Google is not research) going to CNNMoney, and Forbes, the Washington Post and other regulated sources, I could not find a single bad thing about the company actually in print. Plenty of opinions in interent chat rooms by people who seemed very bright, but after researching their opinions found the to be of very little value in the way of credible research.
Yes, Primerica is very different. It feels wierd at first, and most folks are a little scared and skeptical. That is normal, there is nothing wrong with any of that.
I am going to assume you are in California. Lending and Life Licenses in CA cost around 900 dollars total. The company knows that people cannot afford to pay that. So Primerica pays for 700 of it and they ask new people to commit 200 to their own liscence, you own the license, the company cannot revoke it. After you have completed the liscenceing and field training process the 199 is refunded back to. That is the rule in every office in every state by the way. The company cannot just pay for the liscences then have people turn around and go back to another company or just plain flake out. I passed my test in CA the first time, (Six weeks after submitting my background check) and my fees were returned to me.
When I am interviewing new people I ask many of those same questions, just not on a sheet of paper. What I am looking for is this. 6 refrences, "If this guy cannot come up with 6 people that trust him, I do not want him working with me, and especially not with another family's money." Do they know anyone who wants our help? "Do they see value in what we do or they just here to make money, if they are just here to make money and do not care about helping people then I will thank them for their time and show them the door." Part-time or fulltime? "I use this to know how to taylor the messege to them, if someone is looking for part time it is of no value to that person to start putting together a career transition plan, if they want to move to full time as soon as it is practical, then I clear my schedule for that person so that I can invest the time they need to be properly trained and developed quickly as a leader."
I suggest doing some credible research, go back to that office and ask all the tough questions, I tell people right up front, "There are no stupid questions, there are no rude questions, you deserve any answer you are willing to ask for."
The first two questions everyone asks themselves is "Is it real?" and "Can I do it?" What I love about all the interesting stuff you find on Google is I like to use it as a first right of passage, buddy if they cannot make it past some guy in a chat room that they don't even know, then they will not make it to a prominant postion in the company. I love it, it saves me a lot of time having people go to those sites and get washed out, so if that stuff runs you off, then you just saved the person who is looking to help you a lot of time and energy.
The POTENTIAL in Primerica is to be compensated like a professional athlete. You also woould have to work like a professional athlete. It takes dedication and discipline, training and patience. But most of all heart and belief in doing the right thing for people.
I have a feeling like you were brought to that meeting by mistake. I would suggest you stay where you are. Primerica is growing company who liscences about 2000 people a month nationwide. You can rest assured that if it is a scam, by doing nothing you will be safe, perhaps even join the rest of the group in their jeering. By the way, if a company backed by Citigroup, the largest company in the world, that has been in business in the most heavily regulated industry in the world (Investments, Insurance and Banking) for almost 30 years is NOT in fact and MLM scam (We are a general agency, built on the broker agent model of real estate) then well you missed out.
The job of a recruiter is to find diamonds in the rough. Just a little pressure will crack those who are not of the quality that we are looking for. So I like to apply it early, go to google, yeah go for it, read it all, have fun, better yet call all your friends and family and let them beat you up a little, tell you that you can't do it, tell you it is a scam, or they tried it and it didn't work, or they had a friend who lost a fortune, or it is a pyramid or an MLM. They just want your money. Yeah man turn up the heat, the more the better, run them off early. It is not fair to the people who do want our help and our opportunity, to waste time with those who do not.
Honestly I do hope you talk to some people, I do hope you get beat up a little, but I also hope that you learn that when people tell you all that some are really concerned, learn from their concerns, and move forward their desire to keep you from getting hurt can help you avoid some common mistakes, others are just like crabs in a bucket, one tries to climb out, the rest pull it back down.
Good Luck.
Tough call, good luck.
I'm sure that the first few responses to your question have probably already scared you away from the Primerica opportunity so by giving you an explanation I only hope to enlighten you, not to recruit you.
First of all, I would like to say that the last answer was right about not paying attention to what people you find on google say. Researching via message boards and chatrooms is definitely not credible. You should check out articles in regulated publications before you praise or condemn the company. For example the IMSA (a non-profit that looks at insurance companies' standards) rated Primerica the most ethical insurance company in 2004. Oh yeah, as a part of the financial services industry Primerica is regulated on the state and federal level. If it was a scam, I think that the SEC would have caught on by now.
Next, I would like to address the structure of the company. Primerica is not multi-level or a pyramid. It functions like real estate (a general agency with brokers and agents). The RVP (broker) covers all of the overhead expenses such as an office, secretaries, and supplies and recruits reps (agents) to distribute financial services. As reps grow their own businesses under the RVP, they are promoted until eventually they become RVPs. When a rep becomes RVP, he/she is promoted out from underneath his/her trainer and is seen as equal to other brokers (not pyramidal) The new RVP then takes on the overhead costs and helps other agents get started and promoted. The structure of the business is really fascinating when you look at it.
Now, I will address compensation. Primerica reps work on commission, but they do receive a residual income from investments and overrides. Reps generally are encouraged to start part-time and continue working a regular job until they are licensed, build a team, and have an income that has either consistently exceeded their usual income for a period of time or is at least enough to live off of and cover personal expenses. The company does not encourage people to immediately plunge into a business about which they know nothing. They want to educate, train, and grow new leaders who will represent Citigroup (largest company in the world) well and be successful. Anyways, the point is that you can't think about this business with an employee mindset (letting an employer decide how much your time is worth). You have to think about it like a business owner (deciding how much you are worth). Usually, the people who flake out in this business and write about what a scam it is on a message board are people with employee mindsets. They are used to hanging out and letting things happen and trying not to get fired so that they can keep their $40,000/year jobs. They would rather have stability than opportunity. Primerica gives you a little more control over your own destiny. To make it to RVP (the broker position) takes a lot of hard work, determination, and dedication, but the rewards are big (personally and financially). Did you know that Primerica pays out more to its field force every year than the income of doctors and lawyers combined?
Ah yes, recruiting. The fact that Primerica recruits is how it gets linked to MLMs and pyramids, but there is one key difference. Representatives DO NOT get paid a single DIME for recruiting. The $199 goes entirely to licensing and a background checks. Licenses actually cost way more than $199, and the company is investing money in each recruit, hoping to get a return on the investment. The point is this: Primerica has a stake in each recruit.if the reps are not successful, the company is not. Besides, the money is refunded to anyone who completes training.the whole reason that recruits have to pay anything at all is to show that they are committed enough to follow through (i.e. a good investment of time and energy of the field trainer and the money put forward by Primerica for the rest of the licensing). Another reason that people question this is because Primerica recruits everyday people, not financial gurus. The fact of the matter is that Primerica is reaching out to middle America.they are not looking for M.B.A.s from Harvard to manage investments for Joe who works down at the oil change place. They are looking for people who can connect and explain finance in a way that won't make peoples heads spin. Of course, all recruits are properly trained, and they are supervised and licensed by the state and federal government.Primerica takes smart people with good hearts and gives them the know how to help other people like themselves.
I am the partner of a successful member of the Primerica team. I have seen this man sit down with families who didn't have a clue about anything financial and open their eyes to a whole new world. I have seen him get people started in mutual funds who otherwise probably would never have saved enough to retire. I have seen him explain to people how to pay off their debts years earlier (not by selling them something, simply by teaching them about debt-stacking). Kids will go to college, people will get out of debt and retire, families will go on vacations, and those who have lost someone close will grieve but they will not have to worry about whether or not they can still pay the mortgage, all because of Primerica representatives. As I said before, you will probably never join this business because of the ignorance that runs rampant in this world, but I hope you will at least afford it the respect that it deserves. Really, I think that the best way for you to decide for yourself about Primerica is to have an FNA done (for free, you can throw it away if you don't agree with it) that way at least you understand what the company is about rather than immediately discounting the rightness of what its representatives are trying to build.
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