Complaint Review: PRIMERICA - Georgia, USA and Mississauga, ON, Canada GA, Nationwide, Canada

Oh nonsense. The catalyst that sparked the change in the insurance industry was the ridiculously high interest rates in the late 1970s. Cash value products had to change or perish. No one was going to be content with an 8% return in cash value + dividends when they could get 15% in a CD at the bank. It was economic reality. A.L. Williams was such a small player back then no one really noticed them at all. Even now, despite all the braggadacio, Primerica barely ranks in the top 50 in premium income. At the same time a new Standard Mortality Table was created in 1980, replacing the 1958 Mortality table. This drove down the price of term insurance in comparison to permanent insurance. I know a lot of PFS newbies like to claim it was commission that was the driving factor behind selling whole life back then, but pre- 1980 the difference in premium between whole life and term was substantially less so more people opted for whole life. For example, I still have the application of the first term insurance policy I sold in 1976. 29 year old healthy male, $100,000 of Yearly Renewable term with AIG. Premium was $314 a year. Whole life was about $500-600. That same person could now buy the same amount of TEN YEAR level term for $91 a year. There were several rationals for insurance on kids. One is you can't bury a kid for free. It costs money. Another was that the whole life created cash value that could be used to help the kid with a car or first year school expenses. The same 29 year old I mentioned above used the cash value in the policy his parents bought for him at age 1 to make a down payment on a house. $3,000 in cash value went a long way towards purchsing a $30,000 house in 1976. Another rational was to guarantee insurability. A small whole life bought at age 2 could be doubled every three with no evidence of health starting at age 21 until age 40. That meant if your kid developed a condition that would dog him all through his life he could still purchase life insurance as an adult to protect his family. Since the stock market had crashed in 1974 no one was really interested in buying mutual funds. A 50% drop in the Dow Jones with a slow recovery wasn't exactly the sort of thing that made people want to jump into it. To a person with a modest amount of money a chart from NY Life or Bankers Life showing the company had never failed to meet dividend projections seemed pretty solid and competetive in the late 1970s. The downspiral in term insurance rates combined with the tremendous jump in real estate prices has made term insurance the buy of the 2000s. When someone needs $400,000 just to cover their new mortgage, money is tight because of a $3,000 house payment, and term rates are rock bottom, for most consumers term is both an easy and sensible choice. It wasn't always that way. paying off the house wasn't as huge a concern when you could buy a brand new one for $15,000 and hade a 3% GI Loan. Things were totally different in the time before the Carter-era hyperinflation. To judge people for the decisions they made then based on today's circumstances is just dumb. BTW...............to once again burst a common primerica myth..........the amount of commission paid to an agent on $50 or $100 a month premium will be virtually the same whether the client buys whole life or term.

I read some of the comments about Primerica and really never had a real negative experience with PFS. Its been very positive. I ve spent over 23 years in finacial services and have worked in sales for other companies. I ve been in the work force for over 30 years. I have also worked for other companies in the same business and have a substanial amount education in the busines. I've worked for other companies in the business and As a whole PFS has had some the most honest people I've met. They've also done as good a job at training their people then any company I ve worked for in 30 years. The challenge is this. 20 years ago most people you hired had a much better work ethic. Today not so. TOO many people dont have a backbone. They have a wishbone. With PFS yourself employed. There is no gurantee. Its not for everyone. Traing is optional. YOur are in busines for yourself but not by yourself. We cant make you come to train.But.... You also just cant do what ever want either!!!!!!!!!!!! If you paid any money to PFS. It was to cover your licensing and prelicensing education to pass your test for life insurance. It also involes a background check. To make sure your not a criminal. duh.. YOu also sign an agree with PFS. I hope you read it. It clearly outlines what PFS is not and does not promise. Clearly in any busness they will always be and always have been people that should be terminated. We are not an exception. PFS spends alot of time on compliance. IN other words what you can and cannot do or say. Is it multilevel marketing? Yes. Does that make it a scam? NO of course not. Then again you dont have to recruit the world to make money in it. Your not required to recruit anyone. Is there incentive to do so. Sure there is. You are never required to buy any product from PFS. I repeat Never. IT is ourlined in the agreement you signed if you went to work for PFS. Any company of any size is always. I repeat always hireing/recruiting new people. I worked for the Walmart corp. It was a great company. DO they get hammered by the media and other people? You bet. They have done alot a good things too. Does that mean if someone misrepresents the company that its ok? Osolutely not. I seen alot of good and bad in this business. PFS has been pretty darn good. I know some of you are the brainwashed compettion So you dont really count as far as I am concerned. YOu are the same industy that I seen sell more life insurance coverage on young children who have no assets and no liabilities Then on the parents just to make a commission. The same industry that for nearly 100 years never changed. Never replaced each others business no matter how bad off it let the consumer.. It didnt change until PFS came along like it not. TO be continued. Thanks Mark

PRIMERICA IS NOT A SCAM IT IS DIVISION OF CITI GROUP"THE LARGEST FIRM ON WALL STREET " STILL SOME IGNORANT UNEDUCATED INDIVIUALS THINK IT IS SOME KIND OF AMWAY THING. GUYS EDUCATE YOUR SELF BEFORE POSTING THESE KIND OF ARTICLES.I HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PRIMERICA IT IS THE GREATEST OPPORTUINITY ON THIS PLANET OF EARTH.AND ABOUT RECURITING WHICH COMPANY DOES NOT RECRUIT OR HIRE PEOPLE? TELL ME ONE. A lot of companies recruit and hire people; they also recruit people with specific qualifications, and interview their knowledge to see how they react underpressure. You also are told what the job is exactly, and are not given a bunch of smoke and mirrors and just told that it is great. In my so called interview with Primerica I was asked if I would like the job, and that's it. The woman called it a Financial Analyst position which is complete bull, and she talked about the Financial Analyst courses; again it was complete bull, because a real Financial Analyst course is a very tough 3 year full time course, not a weekend course as she called it. At Primerica, considering what a real interview is like, I would have to say they didn't technically interview me, they just asked where my 212 bucks was. Sure a lot of companies when they recruit will not tell you the fine details- like the boss you will be working for is a complete a*s- but at least most companies will tell you what the position entails. They won't have you going in relatively blind about what you are selling. The woman wouldn't even give me details of their course. She tried to get me back in on a Saturday for a "meeting." Now being a an educated, intelligent and ethical person I like to pride myself on asking questions, and trusting my instincts; and as I sat through the presentation I felt lied to. I got a pretty strong sense that the "interviewer" was reeling me in to try and sell me something. Being an educated person with a bit of common sense I would have to say that that is a pretty deceptive way to hire people; it's obvious as the nose on my face. So tell me, what companies hire people and make them pay first without giving them the details of what they are buying first. Tell me one. I must add, that even more hilarious is the woman who tried to sell me the course said it was through a recognized college. The college was gracious enough to rent a room to them it seems since training for primerica is not listed in their curriculum. So you got to wonder about this woman's education and ethics to feed me so much bs. The willful blindness of people who work for Primerica of this scammish hiring practice boggles my mind because how can you defend a company that obviously will tolerate lying to such a degree. Could it be the MLM set up of the company? hhhmmm

I agree with the first person who wrote because the same exact thing happened to me but in Herndon, VA. They are extremely dishonest and unethical in their hiring practices. They called my house out of the blue and said that they heard I was interested in a job with them. I had never expressed any interest and already had a great job working for a lawyer. But, I figured I would check it out because I am going for a degree in finance. Long story short, after the first guy talked to me, he brought in the regional vice president (Brett Matthews) to try and convince me to fill out the application and pay the $199. Being a student, I'm not made of money and said I would have to think about it some more before I just go throw my hard earned money into something that sounded to me more like a con than an opportunity. After a while, the rvp got very hostile with me and said that I was obviously not a motivated person and not a decision maker and maybe Primerica didn't want me anyway. All I had to do was go home and think about it a little more and this arrogant s****.. The whole situation upset me very much because I have never been treated in such a manner by someone who wanted to be my potential employer. So much that I am writing a bunch of angry letters to as many people as I can, and telling everyone that I know NOT to even go near Primerica or any other Citigroup company.

Leroy of Tulare and others on this site understand the point I was trying to make, that is, it is the responsibility of the CONSUMER to figure out if he is getting the best deal he can get. It isn't the responsibility of the seller to tell the buyer that he's being overcharged and being sold a substandard product or service. You're right, you can go to cut-rate brokers or try to sell it yourself. The problem, which you peripherally touched on, is that there is this silly broker structure in place that is enshrined in law. Also, I have always suspected that prices of property are being kept up, not by the market per se, but by the real estate racket (and it is a racket), simply because the higher the sale price, the higher their commission. And don't forget the legally-sanctioned kickbacks that brokers get from steering prospects toward certain mortgage companies, and also the not-so-legal kickbacks they get from some "friendly" appraisers. Bottom line: any large, long-term purchase requires a lot of research on the part of the buyer, no matter what kind of purchase is contemplated.

First of all, I'm not going to defend the real estate industry. Frank points out that the commission on homes runs around $12,000 (6%) on the average $200,000 home. Here in California the median home price is now over $500,000. There is no way in hades I'm going to pay a real estate agent $30,000 to peddle my home. The consumer does have some options. He can negotiate a lower commission with most agents. He can list his home with one of the myriad of agents now advertising they will sell your home for a flat fee of $2995, or he can go to a place like Help-U-Sell, sell it himself, and pay them $999 to make sure all the documents and disclosures are done correctly. The consumer has to investigate the market. Only the lazy and the brain dead allow a real estate agent to make $30,000 for 15-20 hours of work like Frank said. The same goes for the life insurance and loans primerica sells. You have to be braindead or lazy to pay the ridiculous rates they sell. All thier crap on loans regarding simple interest and biweekly payment plans and the amount of time you are in debt are simply smoke and mirrors designed to keep you from focusing on the fact that the points and fees are higher and the interest is higher than you could easily find elsewhere. Those things cost you money. I disagree with Frank on the commission structure in a multiline company being the same as in real estate. For one thing, the real estate agent needs the broker. Until you get a broker's license you cannot transact real estate unless you are underneath a broker. You can only sell under that broker's license. A life agent needs no broker. They can contract direct with carriers if they choose, or they can join a national agency that has contracts with literally 100s of different insurance carriers at once and sell all of their products. Also, the agent gets the bulk of commission. In a multilevel commission structure there are so many people dipping into the pot that no one ever makes te bulk of the commission. On a typical term insurance policy there is about 120-130% commission on the first year premium. The agent can get 80-100% of that from day #1. Primerica's rate structure has somewhere between 160-170% first year commission built into it, however you have 12-13 people getting a chunk. The beginner agent only gets 25%. Securities are similar to real estate in that the representative must work under a broker-dealer. However, contrary to a multiline commission structure the representative gets up 70- 80% of the commission and the broker gets 20-30%. Also, a consumer can look in their prospectus and see exactly how much commission is being paid out on their investment.

I wondered when somebody would finally get around to comparing Primerica to the real estate business. After all, they have so much in common, not the least of which is providing a service whose value is nowhere near commensurate with the prices charged for the service. In answer to the question, would any of you consider an [sic] brokerage office of Century 21 Realty or any other well known real estate brokerage a scam? I have to say YES. The real estate business is in some ways a lot worse than Primerica. Consider the following and judge for yourselves: These days, the average decent residential home (3br/2ba, middle class neighborhood) sells for over $200,000. Let's use that figure for argument purposes. The standard real estate commission charged is 6% of the sales price. If our hypothetical home sells for $200K, the brokerage gets $12K. That is split four ways, each piece of the commission being 1.5%, or $3K in our example. Each of the following gets an equal share of the commission pie: listing agent, selling agent, listing broker, and the firm. Where the agent (salesman) makes out big-time is if he is both the listing and the selling agent he gets two slices of the pie, or $6K. The listing broker and the firm (usually the same person in a small firm) get the other two slices. For the sake of simplicity I'm not including situations where the selling agent and the listing agent work for different brokers, which is the usual situation when a property is sold through multi-listing. In that case the selling agent only gets one slice and the listing agent gets the other. Is this beginning to sound more like a MLM upline/downline structure? Now, does anyone (outside of the real estate industry, of course) really believe that the brokerage did $12K worth of work to sell a $200K house? In some locations the average time on the market of most properties is measured in days, not weeks or months, and the selling agent usually only has to show the house two or three times before an offer is made. Usually, all the brokerage did for the seller was to fill out a couple of forms, put up a listing on the MLS database, put a sign on the front lawn and wait for the phone calls from prospects to come in. The brokerage will probably put somewhere around 20 to 30 man-hours, total, into the sale including showing up at the closing to collect their commission. In some really hot markets that number shrinks down to less than 10 hrs of effort per sale. Does that sound like $12K of effort to you? In anticipation of the arguments that will undoubtedly be made in defense of this fee structure, let's examine some of them. But the agent has overhead he has to cover. Yes, he does. He has to cover most of his business expenses and all of his car expenses. In the case of outfits like ReMax he also has to pay a franchise fee for the privilege of being associated with ReMax (known jokingly as ReamAss in the business). The Primerica agent not only has to cover all of his own expenses but he also has to buy all sorts of motivational crap and attend rah-rah meetings, the cost of which is all out-of pocket to him. And the bulk of what he produces goes to his upline (broker/firm), just like it does with the Primerica agent. But the agent is a professional, just like a doctor or lawyer; he deserves his fee. This argument is so stupid it is laughable. Doctors and lawyers (whose fees are also too high, but that's a subject for another time) spend seven to twelve years in school to qualify for licensure. In contrast, you can sign up for a night class at your local community college and get a real estate license in less than six months. You can also do that for insurance licensure, too, just like the Primerica agent does. Professional? Hardly. But the real estate agent has a lot of competition. So what? So does the Primerica agent. Competition is a fact of life; get over it. The difference, though, is that the 6% commission structure in the real estate racket is fairly universal while the rate structures in insurance vary wildly. Case in point: Primerica's sky-high rates for women as compared to the rates of other insurers. I could go on for many more paragraphs but the point is, simply, that Primerica and the real estate business have this in common: both sell products whose value is far below what they charge for them and both operate under guise of professionals to justify their outrageous fees. And, in both cases, it's the guy at the bottom of the pyramid (the agent) who gets royally screwed while the house takes the lion's share of what he produces and the customer gets horribly overcharged. Put them all together and they spell SCAM.

It is imperative to write objectively about a company as such. To assert with conviction that Primeria is a scam would be an injustice subjective relative statement which can be consisdered inmaterial. Would any of you consider an brokerage office of Century 21 Realty or any other well known real estate brokerage a scam? The owner broker of each office recruits other licenced Real esate agents or associate brokers to work for him or her as independent contractors, is that a scam? All active Primerica agents are licenced agents in there respective states. The same concept is employed. The Real Estate brokerage business model. Shall I continue? Or Explain how there is relationship between the two entities? In a more absolute matter, every single legal corporation in America operates a legal pyramid sceme and its legal. With the Real Estate brokerage business model, an agent could earn as much or more than the owner of the brokerage. Could any of you earn more than your boss or better yet the President of your employing firm? That is not an opportunity for all, building a business of your own is. Most people that assert there negative attitudes towards Primerica are broke and or under paid experts at being just that, broke. But FEW have the discipline to win at the process of building a business. Most want the money but are unwilling to employ themselves! (smile)

Quote PRIMERICA IS NOT A SCAM IT IS DIVISION OF CITI GROUP"THE LARGEST FIRM ON WALL STREET " STILL SOME IGNORANT UNEDUCATED INDIVIUALS THINK IT IS SOME KIND OF AMWAY THING. GUYS EDUCATE YOUR SELF BEFORE POSTING THESE KIND OF ARTICLES.I HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PRIMERICA IT IS THE GREATEST OPPORTUINITY ON THIS PLANET OF EARTH.AND ABOUT RECURITING WHICH COMPANY DOES NOT RECRUIT OR HIRE PEOPLE? TELL ME ONE. Quote When I first read this I laughed my butt off. Okay it's good that someone who works for Primerica is making a comment on there company. I live in Toronto Ont. I am a recent graduate from college with a travel tourism degree and I have a physical disability. I went to a couple of job fairs. The first one was just a bunch of agencies looking for bodies to fill there lists. This was the first meeting I had with the reprehensive of Primerica. She told me about this great job opportunity that was available to me. I have to use a scooter to get around over long distances for shorter distances say around the house I use a pair a crutches. So she started in on how there agency was accessible I could set my own hours the information was free blah blah blah. So I figured yea sure I'll go. Now on the day of this "free" event it was raining pretty hard all day and the street that Primerica was on had been washed out. Call it an act of God if you will lol. Now I have to book a ride with one of those mobility plus outfits which is a real oxy moron because I have to know where I am going a few days before the event in question and there is a 15 minute leeway for the times they quote over the phone. This means that what ever time they tell me on the phone can be altered by as much as 15 minutes either way. So my dad drove me to this little "free" thing. The city had set up an alternate way for people to get to the other side of the washed out road. But the route was poorly marked so we wandered around in circles trying to find our way. Now because of the rain and the road closure I was about 30 minutes late for the event. Me and my dad got out of the car and we went up to the room we knocked on the door a few times...no answer. So we wandered around for about five minutes went back knocked on the door still no answer. So we left the building and went home. Now a few weeks go by and I go to another job fair in Richmond Hill Ont. There were a few more legit businesses at this one than the last one. I applied to a few businesses for a variety of positions in restaurants and at a few halls. And low and behold look who there was the Primerica woman saying she was just there to visit some friends she had and once again we got to talking she gave me the same lines just about as the first time. I was just walking or in my case rolling because I had the same scooter between the booths. She asked if I was interested in a position with them it's a free information night blah blah blah. So once again I said yea sure I'll come thinking that the first time was only a coincidence that it was held at night and maybe they hold these things though out the day and that I just lucked out hitting a week where it was at night. Well that woman disappeared and reappeared with her card so fast I barley had time to think about which booth I was going to go next with my resume. She thrusted the card at me and told me the same time same location in two weeks. You will be there right. Not paying attention I said yea yea I'll be there and continued on my way. She said good I will call you a few days before to make sure you're coming. I continued for another hour going booth to booth handing out resumes taking up applications I didn't see the woman I figured she left. So it was toward the end of the job fair I was sitting at a table filling out two applications for two job opportunities and the woman comes back. She came out of nowhere when she said hi to me I jumped. She told me that she was just leaving and wanted to make sure that I was coming. Annoyed at the prospect of saying the same thing over and over but still trying to sound up beat I said Yes I will come. She left and I put a rush on to finish my applications and get them in because it looked like the two companies were starting to pack up and leave being so close to the end. I finished my applications signed them and got them in. Both of the reps said thank you some will be in touch with you in a few weeks regarding the position. So seeing that my ride which I had booked in the week before was about ten minutes early to pick me up I ran out and started to jump in and surprise surprise the rep was in the parking lot she shouted bye to me I looked over and gave a kind of half waved to her. So the rest of the week went by uneventful. Saturday night at 7:30 she called and asked me do you have your transportation setup for next week. I told her yes because the hockey game was on. The next week on Sunday night at around 6:30 the phone rings and guess who it is the Primerica woman calling to make sure that I was still coming. I had told my parents about the run in the week before I had with her and they had some questions that at the time I couldn't answer. So I figured that I might as well get them now. She couldn't give a straight answer to any of them. So I told her please hold on for one moment as she got put on hold. When I came back on the phone I told her that my parents had other plans for that night so I couldn't make it. Very rudely and with a hint of s****.. My parents had a few more questions for her to answer like what is this job so I asked her the questions she gave me half answers. I told the answers to my parents. Now at this point my mom was getting mad at the woman with good reason because honestly what company makes employment questions on the weekend or at night. So she takes the phone form me and starts asking more questions. I could hear a guy in the background saying yea yea we have accessible washrooms. She found out that after the free night I had to give them $200 for there classes and a list of 100 friends and family so they can enjoy this honor. Now the class cost $200 and after you pass there course load (No mention on a time frame) Its 2 or 3 classes every week for almost 4 weeks depending on if you take the whole load to be a finical advisor. Now my grades in math weren't the best in high school mostly Cs and Ds then in college they made us do a financial type of class it took me two tries to get though it. They never changed the course from the previous year. Eventually after a few minutes she said in a firm voice I'm sorry but we are going to take a pass on this. The rep said well this is the second time I have made a phone call to your house I don't think I will be making any more calls to you. But I doubt it. We all went upstairs and put the Primerica name into a search engine and this site was the first on the list so I thought I would tell my tale. Then today my mom went to work and told my story to a few friends and one of them said good for you guys I did that little course and the first people that they make you try and get to change over to there insurance are your relatives. So I hope my tale can help others in my predicament of having a physical disability and trying to find work or just people in-between jobs to avoid these quote rip off artist from fleecing them out of much needed money.

Since when has charging someone $199 dollars to, in turn, make money off of them ever become acceptable. These RVPs are making money off you dolts. I don't care that it's company policy. Screw policy. If they're interested in recruiting honest, hardworking, productive people to their "team", they should have to pay for the training. Manufacturing companies don't charge you to properly complete OSHA saftey training that every state requires. So what if the state requires a license. They should have to pay for their employee's license. The sad truth is that Primerica understands it's high turnover rate due to it's poor recruiting and knows that they would only stand to lose money if they absorbed the certification cost. Or would they? Perhaps it would force people to take more responsibility for the poeple they hire. All of Primerica's employees are quitely getting bilked and simply allowing it to happen. Unfortunately, Primerica is smarter than all you fools working for them. If you really care about your personal finances, stick it to Primerica. Make them invest in what they "believe."

Once again someone from Primerica claims that they are owned by "Citi" the largest financial firm on Wallstreet. Let me say this to you "Harpreet". After I was approached by someone to join Primerica, I called a friend of mine that works for "Citi". Just to check things out. You know what she told me. Run as fast as you can. Don't get mixed up with Primerica. Gee, imagine that, someone that works for Citi (the company that subsides Primerica) told me to run away from this "opportunity". What is your response to that?

Primerica is nothing more than a subsidiary of Citigroup. If Primerica cannot honor the guarantees it has made in its policies Citigroup has absolutely no obligation whatsoever to honor a single penny's worth of them. They can let every Primerica policy sink if they choose to. For Primeridorks to continually link the two firms is unethical, misleading and amatuerish.

I've recently become acquainted with Primerica Financial and decided to do a little online sleuthing to find out if my suspicions were correct. Based off of the majority of responses through Ripoffreport.com, I'd have to say I was not only spot on with my suspicions, but also way off on the scope of this scam. My wife had recently become ill from work-related stress that caused her to take some time off for mental exhaustion. During her downtime, she decided it was time to find a new career path to venture down, so she went online and posted her resum on several of the major jobfinder sites. Within a couple of days she had received a call from a nice-sounding man who claimed he was representing the hiring department for Primerica Financial. He claimed that one of his associates had seen her resum and felt that it was worthy of his attention. He claimed that once he had read it, he was more than convinced that she would be perfect for the job(s) he was offering. I put the plural there because she had qualified, based off of her resum, either a customer service role or a branch manager at one of 6 offices they were opening in the area. When my wife told me this, that immediately sent up a warning signal. How are you either customer service OR management material? Naturally someone would rather take a managerial role with a higher salary and compensation range than a customer service role. I was skeptical, but I told her to go to the interview. Because of a conflict of scheduling, her interview couldn't be conducted in his office (what?). He had originally wanted her to interview at 7PM (unheard of for a business), but I am working on my Master's degree at night, so she has to be at home to take care of our 2 daughters. So, the interview was held at a Burger King down the road from his office (WTF?). When my wife spoke with me afterwards, she was a bit puzzled by the meeting. She said that it sounded intriguing, and a role in financial services was something she was looking for, but what bothered her was that she was asked to schedule a second interview, and then she was asked if she had any friends or relatives that would be interesting in applying for a job also. Immediately I smelled a scam. Never in my days have I heard of an interviewer asking you to bring in other people to interview for the same job you're interviewing for. Why would you purposefully bring in competition for the job? My head was spinning with confusion on this. Then she told be about how she would be responsible for the $199 training course she had to take, and that was it for me. No respectable company requires you to pay for their required training, on your own time. That's ridiculous. I told her not to go to the second interview and that was that. About 3 days after her scheduled second "interview", the phone calls began. I'm not talking about 1 or 2 calls a month asking how she's doing and if she'd reconsider. I'm talking 2 to 3 a DAY. This guy was persistant...and then he was brutal. I guess in the course of their first interview, she had let it slip out that her present job had landed her in the hospital for exhaustion. Well, he began berating her for passing up an opportunity to lead a normal life free from financial and emotional stress, and that her dead-end career was going to "dead-end" her. It got to the point where she would hand me the phone so I could hear him spouting off at the mouth about what a mistake she's making in her life and how he is embarrased for our children because she is a coward. Its gotten to the point where we've had to selectively block his number (thank God for VOIP...restricted calling feature is the best). After all this frustration, I happened across this website and read the horror stories (and the subsequent rebuttals from the "owners"). Now I have mine (well, my wife's) to add. This company may provide legitimate services to those in need, and they may have the best intentions, but I believe that a bad apple spoils the whole bunch, and regardless of how many GOOD recruiters there are, its bastards like this that taint a business' image. Can you really defend this person's actions? Can you honestly sit there and defend a business that allows these tactics to take place? Shame on you all.

I've recently become acquainted with Primerica Financial and decided to do a little online sleuthing to find out if my suspicions were correct. Based off of the majority of responses through Ripoffreport.com, I'd have to say I was not only spot on with my suspicions, but also way off on the scope of this scam. My wife had recently become ill from work-related stress that caused her to take some time off for mental exhaustion. During her downtime, she decided it was time to find a new career path to venture down, so she went online and posted her resum on several of the major jobfinder sites. Within a couple of days she had received a call from a nice-sounding man who claimed he was representing the hiring department for Primerica Financial. He claimed that one of his associates had seen her resum and felt that it was worthy of his attention. He claimed that once he had read it, he was more than convinced that she would be perfect for the job(s) he was offering. I put the plural there because she had qualified, based off of her resum, either a customer service role or a branch manager at one of 6 offices they were opening in the area. When my wife told me this, that immediately sent up a warning signal. How are you either customer service OR management material? Naturally someone would rather take a managerial role with a higher salary and compensation range than a customer service role. I was skeptical, but I told her to go to the interview. Because of a conflict of scheduling, her interview couldn't be conducted in his office (what?). He had originally wanted her to interview at 7PM (unheard of for a business), but I am working on my Master's degree at night, so she has to be at home to take care of our 2 daughters. So, the interview was held at a Burger King down the road from his office (WTF?). When my wife spoke with me afterwards, she was a bit puzzled by the meeting. She said that it sounded intriguing, and a role in financial services was something she was looking for, but what bothered her was that she was asked to schedule a second interview, and then she was asked if she had any friends or relatives that would be interesting in applying for a job also. Immediately I smelled a scam. Never in my days have I heard of an interviewer asking you to bring in other people to interview for the same job you're interviewing for. Why would you purposefully bring in competition for the job? My head was spinning with confusion on this. Then she told be about how she would be responsible for the $199 training course she had to take, and that was it for me. No respectable company requires you to pay for their required training, on your own time. That's ridiculous. I told her not to go to the second interview and that was that. About 3 days after her scheduled second "interview", the phone calls began. I'm not talking about 1 or 2 calls a month asking how she's doing and if she'd reconsider. I'm talking 2 to 3 a DAY. This guy was persistant...and then he was brutal. I guess in the course of their first interview, she had let it slip out that her present job had landed her in the hospital for exhaustion. Well, he began berating her for passing up an opportunity to lead a normal life free from financial and emotional stress, and that her dead-end career was going to "dead-end" her. It got to the point where she would hand me the phone so I could hear him spouting off at the mouth about what a mistake she's making in her life and how he is embarrased for our children because she is a coward. Its gotten to the point where we've had to selectively block his number (thank God for VOIP...restricted calling feature is the best). After all this frustration, I happened across this website and read the horror stories (and the subsequent rebuttals from the "owners"). Now I have mine (well, my wife's) to add. This company may provide legitimate services to those in need, and they may have the best intentions, but I believe that a bad apple spoils the whole bunch, and regardless of how many GOOD recruiters there are, its bastards like this that taint a business' image. Can you really defend this person's actions? Can you honestly sit there and defend a business that allows these tactics to take place? Shame on you all.

I've recently become acquainted with Primerica Financial and decided to do a little online sleuthing to find out if my suspicions were correct. Based off of the majority of responses through Ripoffreport.com, I'd have to say I was not only spot on with my suspicions, but also way off on the scope of this scam. My wife had recently become ill from work-related stress that caused her to take some time off for mental exhaustion. During her downtime, she decided it was time to find a new career path to venture down, so she went online and posted her resum on several of the major jobfinder sites. Within a couple of days she had received a call from a nice-sounding man who claimed he was representing the hiring department for Primerica Financial. He claimed that one of his associates had seen her resum and felt that it was worthy of his attention. He claimed that once he had read it, he was more than convinced that she would be perfect for the job(s) he was offering. I put the plural there because she had qualified, based off of her resum, either a customer service role or a branch manager at one of 6 offices they were opening in the area. When my wife told me this, that immediately sent up a warning signal. How are you either customer service OR management material? Naturally someone would rather take a managerial role with a higher salary and compensation range than a customer service role. I was skeptical, but I told her to go to the interview. Because of a conflict of scheduling, her interview couldn't be conducted in his office (what?). He had originally wanted her to interview at 7PM (unheard of for a business), but I am working on my Master's degree at night, so she has to be at home to take care of our 2 daughters. So, the interview was held at a Burger King down the road from his office (WTF?). When my wife spoke with me afterwards, she was a bit puzzled by the meeting. She said that it sounded intriguing, and a role in financial services was something she was looking for, but what bothered her was that she was asked to schedule a second interview, and then she was asked if she had any friends or relatives that would be interesting in applying for a job also. Immediately I smelled a scam. Never in my days have I heard of an interviewer asking you to bring in other people to interview for the same job you're interviewing for. Why would you purposefully bring in competition for the job? My head was spinning with confusion on this. Then she told be about how she would be responsible for the $199 training course she had to take, and that was it for me. No respectable company requires you to pay for their required training, on your own time. That's ridiculous. I told her not to go to the second interview and that was that. About 3 days after her scheduled second "interview", the phone calls began. I'm not talking about 1 or 2 calls a month asking how she's doing and if she'd reconsider. I'm talking 2 to 3 a DAY. This guy was persistant...and then he was brutal. I guess in the course of their first interview, she had let it slip out that her present job had landed her in the hospital for exhaustion. Well, he began berating her for passing up an opportunity to lead a normal life free from financial and emotional stress, and that her dead-end career was going to "dead-end" her. It got to the point where she would hand me the phone so I could hear him spouting off at the mouth about what a mistake she's making in her life and how he is embarrased for our children because she is a coward. Its gotten to the point where we've had to selectively block his number (thank God for VOIP...restricted calling feature is the best). After all this frustration, I happened across this website and read the horror stories (and the subsequent rebuttals from the "owners"). Now I have mine (well, my wife's) to add. This company may provide legitimate services to those in need, and they may have the best intentions, but I believe that a bad apple spoils the whole bunch, and regardless of how many GOOD recruiters there are, its bastards like this that taint a business' image. Can you really defend this person's actions? Can you honestly sit there and defend a business that allows these tactics to take place? Shame on you all.

I've recently become acquainted with Primerica Financial and decided to do a little online sleuthing to find out if my suspicions were correct. Based off of the majority of responses through Ripoffreport.com, I'd have to say I was not only spot on with my suspicions, but also way off on the scope of this scam. My wife had recently become ill from work-related stress that caused her to take some time off for mental exhaustion. During her downtime, she decided it was time to find a new career path to venture down, so she went online and posted her resum on several of the major jobfinder sites. Within a couple of days she had received a call from a nice-sounding man who claimed he was representing the hiring department for Primerica Financial. He claimed that one of his associates had seen her resum and felt that it was worthy of his attention. He claimed that once he had read it, he was more than convinced that she would be perfect for the job(s) he was offering. I put the plural there because she had qualified, based off of her resum, either a customer service role or a branch manager at one of 6 offices they were opening in the area. When my wife told me this, that immediately sent up a warning signal. How are you either customer service OR management material? Naturally someone would rather take a managerial role with a higher salary and compensation range than a customer service role. I was skeptical, but I told her to go to the interview. Because of a conflict of scheduling, her interview couldn't be conducted in his office (what?). He had originally wanted her to interview at 7PM (unheard of for a business), but I am working on my Master's degree at night, so she has to be at home to take care of our 2 daughters. So, the interview was held at a Burger King down the road from his office (WTF?). When my wife spoke with me afterwards, she was a bit puzzled by the meeting. She said that it sounded intriguing, and a role in financial services was something she was looking for, but what bothered her was that she was asked to schedule a second interview, and then she was asked if she had any friends or relatives that would be interesting in applying for a job also. Immediately I smelled a scam. Never in my days have I heard of an interviewer asking you to bring in other people to interview for the same job you're interviewing for. Why would you purposefully bring in competition for the job? My head was spinning with confusion on this. Then she told be about how she would be responsible for the $199 training course she had to take, and that was it for me. No respectable company requires you to pay for their required training, on your own time. That's ridiculous. I told her not to go to the second interview and that was that. About 3 days after her scheduled second "interview", the phone calls began. I'm not talking about 1 or 2 calls a month asking how she's doing and if she'd reconsider. I'm talking 2 to 3 a DAY. This guy was persistant...and then he was brutal. I guess in the course of their first interview, she had let it slip out that her present job had landed her in the hospital for exhaustion. Well, he began berating her for passing up an opportunity to lead a normal life free from financial and emotional stress, and that her dead-end career was going to "dead-end" her. It got to the point where she would hand me the phone so I could hear him spouting off at the mouth about what a mistake she's making in her life and how he is embarrased for our children because she is a coward. Its gotten to the point where we've had to selectively block his number (thank God for VOIP...restricted calling feature is the best). After all this frustration, I happened across this website and read the horror stories (and the subsequent rebuttals from the "owners"). Now I have mine (well, my wife's) to add. This company may provide legitimate services to those in need, and they may have the best intentions, but I believe that a bad apple spoils the whole bunch, and regardless of how many GOOD recruiters there are, its bastards like this that taint a business' image. Can you really defend this person's actions? Can you honestly sit there and defend a business that allows these tactics to take place? Shame on you all.

Quoting: "PRIMERICA IS NOT A SCAM IT IS DIVISION OF CITI GROUP"THE LARGEST FIRM ON WALL STREET " STILL SOME IGNORANT UNEDUCATED INDIVIUALS THINK IT IS SOME KIND OF AMWAY THING. GUYS EDUCATE YOUR SELF BEFORE POSTING THESE KIND OF ARTICLES.I HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PRIMERICA IT IS THE GREATEST OPPORTUINITY ON THIS PLANET OF EARTH.AND ABOUT RECURITING WHICH COMPANY DOES NOT RECRUIT OR HIRE PEOPLE ? TELL ME ONE ." Your post is very offensive to intelligent people. You can't spell, you scream with your allcaps, Primerica is a subsidiary, not a division of Citigroup and you have the nerve to talk about "...ignorant uneducated individuals...." I believe you're a shill for Crimerica which makes you a Crimerican and that you work for them. In any case I think the best medicine for your kind is to hand pamphlets at the Crimerican meetings giving out the facts about Crimerica and its parent, Citigroup (e.g. the average agent makes less than $6,000 a year) plus what kind of questions should be asked at these meetings. This should keep you from getting bored and liven up your next Crimerica meeting, Harpreet.

Quoting: "PRIMERICA IS NOT A SCAM IT IS DIVISION OF CITI GROUP"THE LARGEST FIRM ON WALL STREET " STILL SOME IGNORANT UNEDUCATED INDIVIUALS THINK IT IS SOME KIND OF AMWAY THING. GUYS EDUCATE YOUR SELF BEFORE POSTING THESE KIND OF ARTICLES.I HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PRIMERICA IT IS THE GREATEST OPPORTUINITY ON THIS PLANET OF EARTH.AND ABOUT RECURITING WHICH COMPANY DOES NOT RECRUIT OR HIRE PEOPLE ? TELL ME ONE ." Your post is very offensive to intelligent people. You can't spell, you scream with your allcaps, Primerica is a subsidiary, not a division of Citigroup and you have the nerve to talk about "...ignorant uneducated individuals...." I believe you're a shill for Crimerica which makes you a Crimerican and that you work for them. In any case I think the best medicine for your kind is to hand pamphlets at the Crimerican meetings giving out the facts about Crimerica and its parent, Citigroup (e.g. the average agent makes less than $6,000 a year) plus what kind of questions should be asked at these meetings. This should keep you from getting bored and liven up your next Crimerica meeting, Harpreet.

Quoting: "PRIMERICA IS NOT A SCAM IT IS DIVISION OF CITI GROUP"THE LARGEST FIRM ON WALL STREET " STILL SOME IGNORANT UNEDUCATED INDIVIUALS THINK IT IS SOME KIND OF AMWAY THING. GUYS EDUCATE YOUR SELF BEFORE POSTING THESE KIND OF ARTICLES.I HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PRIMERICA IT IS THE GREATEST OPPORTUINITY ON THIS PLANET OF EARTH.AND ABOUT RECURITING WHICH COMPANY DOES NOT RECRUIT OR HIRE PEOPLE ? TELL ME ONE ." Your post is very offensive to intelligent people. You can't spell, you scream with your allcaps, Primerica is a subsidiary, not a division of Citigroup and you have the nerve to talk about "...ignorant uneducated individuals...." I believe you're a shill for Crimerica which makes you a Crimerican and that you work for them. In any case I think the best medicine for your kind is to hand pamphlets at the Crimerican meetings giving out the facts about Crimerica and its parent, Citigroup (e.g. the average agent makes less than $6,000 a year) plus what kind of questions should be asked at these meetings. This should keep you from getting bored and liven up your next Crimerica meeting, Harpreet.

Quoting: "PRIMERICA IS NOT A SCAM IT IS DIVISION OF CITI GROUP"THE LARGEST FIRM ON WALL STREET " STILL SOME IGNORANT UNEDUCATED INDIVIUALS THINK IT IS SOME KIND OF AMWAY THING. GUYS EDUCATE YOUR SELF BEFORE POSTING THESE KIND OF ARTICLES.I HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PRIMERICA IT IS THE GREATEST OPPORTUINITY ON THIS PLANET OF EARTH.AND ABOUT RECURITING WHICH COMPANY DOES NOT RECRUIT OR HIRE PEOPLE ? TELL ME ONE ." Your post is very offensive to intelligent people. You can't spell, you scream with your allcaps, Primerica is a subsidiary, not a division of Citigroup and you have the nerve to talk about "...ignorant uneducated individuals...." I believe you're a shill for Crimerica which makes you a Crimerican and that you work for them. In any case I think the best medicine for your kind is to hand pamphlets at the Crimerican meetings giving out the facts about Crimerica and its parent, Citigroup (e.g. the average agent makes less than $6,000 a year) plus what kind of questions should be asked at these meetings. This should keep you from getting bored and liven up your next Crimerica meeting, Harpreet.

PRIMERICA IS NOT A SCAM IT IS DIVISION OF CITI GROUP"THE LARGEST FIRM ON WALL STREET " STILL SOME IGNORANT UNEDUCATED INDIVIUALS THINK IT IS SOME KIND OF AMWAY THING. GUYS EDUCATE YOUR SELF BEFORE POSTING THESE KIND OF ARTICLES.I HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PRIMERICA IT IS THE GREATEST OPPORTUINITY ON THIS PLANET OF EARTH.AND ABOUT RECURITING WHICH COMPANY DOES NOT RECRUIT OR HIRE PEOPLE ? TELL ME ONE .

I've been to the Primerica meetings. I went all the way through their training program. Then I quit right after that, because I couldn't bring myself to give them the names of my friends and family. In reality though, what they do is extremely helpful. The services that Primerica offers aren't bad, it's just the manner that they recruit. I took the things I was taught in their classes and was able to turn my finances around significantly. If I had taken advantage of the other services they offer (i.e. mortgage and supp. life insurance) I might be in an even better position - well, the mortgage anyway. I would definitely recommend my friends to the company, I just don't like being in the position to sell anything to friends and family. NOTE: I am NOT part of the company, and I'm sure they are pretty ticked at me for leaving after they put all that effort into coaching me. Sorry guys...

As an ex-agent of PFS in Toronto four years back, I am happy to have come across this site to warn those that do not know ... Four year back yes - My wife and myself were approached by two guys to work for what they described as the "number one financial service company in the world". We had newly migrated to Toronto and life was proving very difficult and that was one opportunity ... or at least it sounded to us. We both attended a presentation by a Regional Vice President with the usual laws of money and the Rule of 72 with interest figures well above what PFS / Citigroup were providing in order to impress people. As jobless new immigrats, my wife and myself jumped in to give a try at the dream these people were selling. It was a surprise that these two guys were not willing to put down what they were telling or selling to us on paper ... which I later learnt was to avoid any legal problem. Recruitment was based on a game of words/trust/coaching principle ... recruiting agents could tell any lie they thought good to "get in" new recruits as these added to their commission rate. Means, recruit and crap - whether you think them good or bad - to just build up he numbers to raise your commission rate. The trick: a one sided transfer of information from the person recruiting to the potential candidate; questions were not welcome and were vaguely skipped. Our questions as to what we were going to do was left with a "we'll get into such details later"; our questions related to salary was answered with a "you can make up to 50K CAD)per month if you work hard here"... but no mention of commission or whatever. Being jobless, however strange this sounded, we agreed to jump on board. And this is where we came to learn all the crap that goes on inside. First thing, agents are required to accept whatever coaches teach without qny question. Too many questions are considered a lack of trust and gets agents last on the list of trainees. I drew impressively high marks for both my insurance and my securities exams and was surprised when I learnt of the number of times some other aspiring vice presidents had failed these exams. Anyway we chose to go on since we had nothing else as option. Slowly, we started experiencing the image PFS had built in Toronto ... just mention and many informed people will just run away from you. As a rule, to get enough attention from your coach you need to get to be a client of PFS; that is where we got to buy my first life insurance in Toronto from the guy who recruited us (our coach) and were thereby acclaimed as new "Regional Leaders" (status) by the coach because of the new criteria the RVP had just set to be in force for a few months. Later we learnt that we had indeed not yet reached that level but were just "team Leaders" - which was a level lower! We decided to stay to see what was to come since we were still jobless and we had already iunvested our CAD$ 199. And as we proceeded, we were surprised as we learnt such things - from our classes - as "do not coach those who do not take insurance from you", "do not waste time with those who question too much", "do not put on paper what you tell people as these might one day be used against you", "do not give details of what we do until the person has "signed in" to join and paid his fees", etc. The list is long - and the practices were hard for honest people like us. Recruiting was a self-interest game aimed at raising commission rates - and no consideration was given to the interests of those being recruited; and that was hard for us when we knew that so many immigrants were getting ruined in this game at the cost of being forced to go back to their homeland. The business of selling insurance was in itself a simple task of filling in figures in a pre-defined form and entering these on a PC which generated a 10 or 12 page report impressive report indicating what had to be done by the client. Simple - primary school level. The products were not so bad in themselves. But the recruitment and business building scam was horrible. Pure self-interest! After 8 months in Toronto, our child was born prematurely with all kinds of complication. We were still with PFS and took a few days off. I got a call from the RVP who was asking what my further plans were. I was still unsure if I was going to stay further in Toronto or I would be going back to my homeland - the PFS business was a "morally difficult to carry on" business and had yielded almost no money during my past 8 months in the business; as a business-minded egoistic person purely concerned with his self-interest, the RVP suggested that under such circumstances - my being unsure if I was staying or not - he felt he was wasting his time with me. And there was the tip of my patience. My action the next few days made him regret what he had said. I got all friends who had bought insurance from me to cancel their policies ... and the RVPy was back to call me to save him further from this ... but he could not stop it.That was the end. I left PFS. He took over the few recruits I had managed to get; and these later quit also. A few months later, I left Toronto and returned back to my homeland. My wish was to share this experience with as many people as possible so they do not fall in the trap. And this I am doing through this great website.

1) You are not a business owner. You have been decieved into thinking you own your own business, but you do not. If you try to do anything with your "business" that is not profitable for Primerica, you will find out just how far your "ownership" extends. 2) Any financial planner who knows what they are talking about will tell you that responsibly managed debt is usually not a bad thing. 3) The fact that Primerica is reported on here so much more than any other financial services organization should not make you sit back in amazement, it should make you sit back and think that maybe there's a reason. 4) You should probably not make statements to the effect of "Primerica always does what is right for the client and does not charge any more than any other company will charge for the type of service that they offer to the average American family." This could be construed as false representation, as this statement has been disproven. 5) The turnover rate in the U.S. military is less than 20% annually. The turnover rate in Primerica, to the best of my knowledge, is somewhere around 95%. Not a very good point of comparison. 6) The fact that someone is admired on Wall Street speaks nothing to the employment opportunities or products that they offer. Weill et. al. are respected not because they offer quality products or employment, but because they run profitable businesses and have made a hefty sum themselves. Unfortunately, Wall Street offers no awards for business ethics (if they did, you could rest assured that these scumbags wouldn't receive them). 7) There is nothing wrong with offering financial advice for a fee. There is something wrong with Primerica's employment record, and there is something wrong with marketing disguised as advice.

I am a small business owner as is every agent with Primerica Financial Services. I must say that April who has spent allot of time on this site is obviously disgruntled. If she had put as much effort into helping families and growing her business as she has into this site she may have been more successful. It is true that there is a high rate of turn-over in the company. This also remains true in the military where there also is a recruiting process that gives everyone equal opportunity. I beleive that Primerica is a part of something great and will continue to grow like all great things do. The person that is in debt is inslaved to their creditors. We are able to teach people how they may get their families out slavery and never turn back. There are other orginizations that teach the same concepts and are helping more and more families acheive financial peace everyday. I don't hear anything about these organizations on your site. As far as the Enron cover up theory I'm not completely sure what people half a country away have heard or read but I happen to live and work in Houston. I know several people who were employed with Enron and other companies like it. The energy and gas industry happens to have taken a huge hit and Enron stands alone because of the unethical practices of accounting reporting of assets that certain CEO's were using. I don't guess you have seen any of them fetured on the cover of "Cheif Executive" magazine as CEO of the year in 2002. If anyone is wondering Sandy Weill, who is a man, did receive this honor. He is a Wall Street legend, started Shearson & Lehman Brothers, has been fetured in other magazines (Money, Business Week, Wall Street Journal) and was former president of American Express. Quite a track record huh? As far as Citigroup being a part of the Enron cover-up, the only involvement I am aware of is Citibank, who is a subsidiary of Citigroup, lending Enron some money. Like I mentioned earlier Enron, or Arthur Anderson(the accounting firm employed by Enron)was using some creative accounting practices in the reporting of their assets. That is exactly what was done with the moneys that were lent to them by Citibank as well as many other lending institutions. That is an accounting No No. Money that has been lent is not an asset but a liability which is precisely what Primerica attempts to teach people. Primerica always does what is right for the client and does not charge any more than any other company will charge for the type of service that they offer to the average American family. I ask you what is wrong with some people helping others with their financial security issues and earning a fee for it? Isn't that what every bank and some insurance companies are trying to do now? Banks are following the Citigroup example and starting to sell insurance and insurance companies are getting into the investment business. Somebody must be doing something right.

I was asked to attend one of the meetings and sell financial products offered by primerica. I think I could have sold for them excepet what they professed about Whole life insurance. I understand that there are advantages to buying term and investing the rest, HOWEVER there are also advantages to buying whole life. In my opinion the best choices to be made are only by the individual that is buying. If you ask any Primerica Rep. they will tell you that Whole Life is ridiculous, when if that were the case why would educated people buy it. Not to slam the people that sell for Primerica but there is rarely a background that is sound enough to give advice on insurance. A good education and sound advice is the way to go when looking for a sales rep to sell you insurance.

I dont understand why people have to rip on primerica. We aren't the cheapest insurance company but thats not all we offer. We offer free financial needs analysis. It's just there are too many people out there to make a quick buck. sure you can earn 100k the first year if you bust your butt... but thats few and far between. Taking people from cash value policies to term doesn't hurt anyone, taking people from saving accounts to mutual funds doesn't hurt anyone... taking someone from a conventional loan to a simple interest loan doesn't hurt anyone. So we do help people it's just that in any sales company you dont spend years at a college learning about sales. You just hop into it and if you do good .. great.. if not.. thats life. What would the medical feild would let doctors operate after 30 days of school. The success rate wouldn't be too good, would it? btw the 199 goes toward a 26 hours class that is REQUIRED by your state to get the license. No where else out there are you going to get 26 hours of school for only 200 bucks. It just goes to show that you wouldn't make it anywhere in our company cause you spend more time writing this little thing on the internet than you spend trying to help other people... kinda sad but guess thats just how you are.

I dont understand why people have to rip on primerica. We aren't the cheapest insurance company but thats not all we offer. We offer free financial needs analysis. It's just there are too many people out there to make a quick buck. sure you can earn 100k the first year if you bust your butt... but thats few and far between. Taking people from cash value policies to term doesn't hurt anyone, taking people from saving accounts to mutual funds doesn't hurt anyone... taking someone from a conventional loan to a simple interest loan doesn't hurt anyone. So we do help people it's just that in any sales company you dont spend years at a college learning about sales. You just hop into it and if you do good .. great.. if not.. thats life. What would the medical feild would let doctors operate after 30 days of school. The success rate wouldn't be too good, would it? btw the 199 goes toward a 26 hours class that is REQUIRED by your state to get the license. No where else out there are you going to get 26 hours of school for only 200 bucks. It just goes to show that you wouldn't make it anywhere in our company cause you spend more time writing this little thing on the internet than you spend trying to help other people... kinda sad but guess thats just how you are.

I dont understand why people have to rip on primerica. We aren't the cheapest insurance company but thats not all we offer. We offer free financial needs analysis. It's just there are too many people out there to make a quick buck. sure you can earn 100k the first year if you bust your butt... but thats few and far between. Taking people from cash value policies to term doesn't hurt anyone, taking people from saving accounts to mutual funds doesn't hurt anyone... taking someone from a conventional loan to a simple interest loan doesn't hurt anyone. So we do help people it's just that in any sales company you dont spend years at a college learning about sales. You just hop into it and if you do good .. great.. if not.. thats life. What would the medical feild would let doctors operate after 30 days of school. The success rate wouldn't be too good, would it? btw the 199 goes toward a 26 hours class that is REQUIRED by your state to get the license. No where else out there are you going to get 26 hours of school for only 200 bucks. It just goes to show that you wouldn't make it anywhere in our company cause you spend more time writing this little thing on the internet than you spend trying to help other people... kinda sad but guess thats just how you are.

April, YES - of course Primerica has a high turnover, it is indeed 'that' sort of business. Pyrmid, call it whatever you want. It is what it is. It is not illegal and it is regulated by (securities lic. individuals w/co) NASD and all appropriate persons. THAT HOWEVER DOES NOT QUALIFY ONE TO TELL OTHERS WHAT TO DO WITH THEIR MONEY! <-- You have my vote on that!! Passing a test does not gift you into growing other peoples money. One prime example is just to look at who they hire (anyone with 199.00) Would I trust an 18 year old to handle my finances - NO!! Not because he/she is not smart, but they simply do not have experince or wisdom behind them. They also limit themselves to a few short investments and that's it - it's too much to try to recruit and learn financial planning. I would not trust my money to their advice, not because they are invloved in anything illegal - but just because their advice is ---- well not worth the time.... They don't tell you too much the average, financially unsavy person would not already know or easily find out. You should ALWAYS GO TO A CERTIFIED PLANNER! As far as Citigroup goes - that's another story. Business being business - citigroup at the time made a financially wise investment purchasing Primerica. But I am sick and tired of these PFAs saying they are with the powerhouse bank - Yes, you are - FOR NOW. What will you say if Citigroup drops you? (what did you say BEFORE GLASSSTEGAL????) Does it make you feel important to state those things??? I know some people who work with another financial powerhouse - IN THE MAILROOM - Does that give them the knowledge to handle finances? Certainly not. Citigroup - did not pick out these individual agents - they are not personally backed by Citigroup (the individual agents) while they do undergo standard B/D licensing requirements (ie background, fingerprint, etc) they do not go through any extensive training program - nor are they certified. ** Another consideration - no one is fired (unless they have an sec violation etc) no one is fired? that's scary. Anyone with half a brain can work there that's also scary. (although, I do think there are some, albeit few, smart people there.) and the 1% wealthy few who did the right thing by their clients - well great for them. So I think we would agree about Primerica. But Citigroup ? No - please - any orginization that size is going to have had violations of one kind or another. - and yes there are a lot of people who think Sandy is a crook,,etc...but just look at how they are handling this investigation - read about it for yourself in cbsmarkertwatch - So this huge enron coverup thing with citigroup...?? What's going on there April? several ... highly respected advisors recommed citigroup - the same people who would not recommend the services of primerica to their dog. - I understand about primerica - but what are your qualifications of understanding q's to say that citigroup is a fraud and a rip off. (of course they may be ripping off consumers - most every bank does -but tell me how are they ripping off their stock holders? What is your basis for this?

For starts, I DO know what S&P is, my point is the way it was worded in another rebuttal, you did read that one right. And no, I did not know that Sandy Weill's was a man, as YOUR people put it, this was a woman. I did not work for the company when HE was in charge. Secondly, I do have my facts completely straight, Sandy Weill is the CO-CEO of Citigroup, you may have been lead to believe different, but check it out yourself. For example on their website, there lies the truth. Citigroup consists of the Chairman: John Reed, the Co-CEO: Sandy Weill, the CEO of consumer business: Bob Lipp, and the CEO of Citifinacial: Michael Knapp. The PFS consits of the Co-CEO's: John Addison and Rick Williams. PFS has a large turnover, that is fact and should tell you something. The biggest arguements that I've read are that Citigroup is helping the S&P's and that they are well respected, not true. Fact is, Citigroup has lowered the S&P and Dow because of their ongoing corruption and investigation into their doings of covering up the Enron problems. In a company such as PFS, recruiting is a prymid scheme, and please, you make money for others and not yourself. I am not taking an anger out on PFS as you make people think. I have made it very clear that just as the office I worked for was shut down, so will all of PFS in due time. I am only providing the facts. Citigroup stocks have deteriorated by over $120billion this year alone, so please trust them if you want. But the fact of the matter is they WILL screw you in any way they can.

I believe its Amy? Who keeps writting things that don't make any sense.. Standard & Poor's is not a name Primerica calls clients..Standard & Poor rates insurance companies. Sandy is not a 'she' as you refer to, she and her. Sandy is a man; who used to be with American Express. Now HE is the CEO of Citigroup, which owns Primerica along with countless other companies. (*Note to you PFS people, I would stop using the arugment, the biggest financial company in the world - as - big is not always best) While I won't attempt to defend Primerica in any way, I would suggest that you at least get your facts straight before making an argument - any argument. It is obvious that this company upset you so - but try to seperate your emotion from your argument so that you can get your facts. But you did win points for your side in this: You say you were once an agent? That goes to show who they hire. I would not want someone selling me insurance who does not know what standard & poors is or thinks the CEO of Citigroup, Sandy - is a female. One of Primerica's arguments for their higher insurance rates is: You get what you pay for. Yes, you certainly do....And please remember you do not pay for your 'FNA'. Here is an honest approach: - Their (PFS) financial views are generally in line with most consumer advocates... - While most of their information is good, you could learn the same thing on your own. Just read a book. -The 199.00 goes to your insurance license; if you check into rates for this outside of Primerica you will generally find that 199.00 is low. -If you think you will make money by 'helping people' you are mistaken...You do need to recruit. -IF ANYONE in any company treated me poorly or told me I had to provide a list of names before I could be trained, well common sense tells you to RUN, RUN, RUN...(and this does happen at some, maybe even most, offices. -There are offices around that don't require this for your training or joining, but do require it for you to make money. Bottom line - if you want to make money - you HAVE to recruit. And you can learn the same things they teach by doing some research on your own. But if you are a natural born salesman - hey - go for it! It's your life - be happy :)

I believe its Amy? Who keeps writting things that don't make any sense.. Standard & Poor's is not a name Primerica calls clients..Standard & Poor rates insurance companies. Sandy is not a 'she' as you refer to, she and her. Sandy is a man; who used to be with American Express. Now HE is the CEO of Citigroup, which owns Primerica along with countless other companies. (*Note to you PFS people, I would stop using the arugment, the biggest financial company in the world - as - big is not always best) While I won't attempt to defend Primerica in any way, I would suggest that you at least get your facts straight before making an argument - any argument. It is obvious that this company upset you so - but try to seperate your emotion from your argument so that you can get your facts. But you did win points for your side in this: You say you were once an agent? That goes to show who they hire. I would not want someone selling me insurance who does not know what standard & poors is or thinks the CEO of Citigroup, Sandy - is a female. One of Primerica's arguments for their higher insurance rates is: You get what you pay for. Yes, you certainly do....And please remember you do not pay for your 'FNA'. Here is an honest approach: - Their (PFS) financial views are generally in line with most consumer advocates... - While most of their information is good, you could learn the same thing on your own. Just read a book. -The 199.00 goes to your insurance license; if you check into rates for this outside of Primerica you will generally find that 199.00 is low. -If you think you will make money by 'helping people' you are mistaken...You do need to recruit. -IF ANYONE in any company treated me poorly or told me I had to provide a list of names before I could be trained, well common sense tells you to RUN, RUN, RUN...(and this does happen at some, maybe even most, offices. -There are offices around that don't require this for your training or joining, but do require it for you to make money. Bottom line - if you want to make money - you HAVE to recruit. And you can learn the same things they teach by doing some research on your own. But if you are a natural born salesman - hey - go for it! It's your life - be happy :)

I believe its Amy? Who keeps writting things that don't make any sense.. Standard & Poor's is not a name Primerica calls clients..Standard & Poor rates insurance companies. Sandy is not a 'she' as you refer to, she and her. Sandy is a man; who used to be with American Express. Now HE is the CEO of Citigroup, which owns Primerica along with countless other companies. (*Note to you PFS people, I would stop using the arugment, the biggest financial company in the world - as - big is not always best) While I won't attempt to defend Primerica in any way, I would suggest that you at least get your facts straight before making an argument - any argument. It is obvious that this company upset you so - but try to seperate your emotion from your argument so that you can get your facts. But you did win points for your side in this: You say you were once an agent? That goes to show who they hire. I would not want someone selling me insurance who does not know what standard & poors is or thinks the CEO of Citigroup, Sandy - is a female. One of Primerica's arguments for their higher insurance rates is: You get what you pay for. Yes, you certainly do....And please remember you do not pay for your 'FNA'. Here is an honest approach: - Their (PFS) financial views are generally in line with most consumer advocates... - While most of their information is good, you could learn the same thing on your own. Just read a book. -The 199.00 goes to your insurance license; if you check into rates for this outside of Primerica you will generally find that 199.00 is low. -If you think you will make money by 'helping people' you are mistaken...You do need to recruit. -IF ANYONE in any company treated me poorly or told me I had to provide a list of names before I could be trained, well common sense tells you to RUN, RUN, RUN...(and this does happen at some, maybe even most, offices. -There are offices around that don't require this for your training or joining, but do require it for you to make money. Bottom line - if you want to make money - you HAVE to recruit. And you can learn the same things they teach by doing some research on your own. But if you are a natural born salesman - hey - go for it! It's your life - be happy :)

I believe its Amy? Who keeps writting things that don't make any sense.. Standard & Poor's is not a name Primerica calls clients..Standard & Poor rates insurance companies. Sandy is not a 'she' as you refer to, she and her. Sandy is a man; who used to be with American Express. Now HE is the CEO of Citigroup, which owns Primerica along with countless other companies. (*Note to you PFS people, I would stop using the arugment, the biggest financial company in the world - as - big is not always best) While I won't attempt to defend Primerica in any way, I would suggest that you at least get your facts straight before making an argument - any argument. It is obvious that this company upset you so - but try to seperate your emotion from your argument so that you can get your facts. But you did win points for your side in this: You say you were once an agent? That goes to show who they hire. I would not want someone selling me insurance who does not know what standard & poors is or thinks the CEO of Citigroup, Sandy - is a female. One of Primerica's arguments for their higher insurance rates is: You get what you pay for. Yes, you certainly do....And please remember you do not pay for your 'FNA'. Here is an honest approach: - Their (PFS) financial views are generally in line with most consumer advocates... - While most of their information is good, you could learn the same thing on your own. Just read a book. -The 199.00 goes to your insurance license; if you check into rates for this outside of Primerica you will generally find that 199.00 is low. -If you think you will make money by 'helping people' you are mistaken...You do need to recruit. -IF ANYONE in any company treated me poorly or told me I had to provide a list of names before I could be trained, well common sense tells you to RUN, RUN, RUN...(and this does happen at some, maybe even most, offices. -There are offices around that don't require this for your training or joining, but do require it for you to make money. Bottom line - if you want to make money - you HAVE to recruit. And you can learn the same things they teach by doing some research on your own. But if you are a natural born salesman - hey - go for it! It's your life - be happy :)

I think those complaining about PFS are not claiming that a representative cannot make a good living at PFS......the question is are they infact providing services which truly are in the best interests of their clients.........I am skeptical of agents whom are receiving a pyramid of commissions......mortgage rates which are not truly competitive........no doubt some of these reps are making great money....and the more people they get under them, the more money.........top executives of ENRON and Worldcom were making great money to........but they were not acting in the best interests of their investors and PFS does not act in the best interests of its customers......all of its "financial planning advise" is based on their getting monies to buy their products----consolidate mortgage and get the left over funds....etc As for licensing fees....yes, a restaurant owner must pay licensing fees...and many business require licensing fees....but if I go to work at a restautant, I do not have to pay the licensing fee....my employer does.....most brokerage firms pay your licensing fee and will deduct it from your commissions (if you earn them) Why wont PFS do that? Because most do not ever earn enough commissions to offset the time and money they put in for the registration and training. However, PFS already has your recruits and leads Its this sort of lack of integrity that is to blame for the downfall in the markets today.......PFS is making its money on the commissions......not the services.....just a sales technique to get the fees and commissions..... What reps really are is salesmen......and not everyone is cut out for sales.....which is why the turnover is so high

I think those complaining about PFS are not claiming that a representative cannot make a good living at PFS......the question is are they infact providing services which truly are in the best interests of their clients.........I am skeptical of agents whom are receiving a pyramid of commissions......mortgage rates which are not truly competitive........no doubt some of these reps are making great money....and the more people they get under them, the more money.........top executives of ENRON and Worldcom were making great money to........but they were not acting in the best interests of their investors and PFS does not act in the best interests of its customers......all of its "financial planning advise" is based on their getting monies to buy their products----consolidate mortgage and get the left over funds....etc As for licensing fees....yes, a restaurant owner must pay licensing fees...and many business require licensing fees....but if I go to work at a restautant, I do not have to pay the licensing fee....my employer does.....most brokerage firms pay your licensing fee and will deduct it from your commissions (if you earn them) Why wont PFS do that? Because most do not ever earn enough commissions to offset the time and money they put in for the registration and training. However, PFS already has your recruits and leads Its this sort of lack of integrity that is to blame for the downfall in the markets today.......PFS is making its money on the commissions......not the services.....just a sales technique to get the fees and commissions..... What reps really are is salesmen......and not everyone is cut out for sales.....which is why the turnover is so high

I think those complaining about PFS are not claiming that a representative cannot make a good living at PFS......the question is are they infact providing services which truly are in the best interests of their clients.........I am skeptical of agents whom are receiving a pyramid of commissions......mortgage rates which are not truly competitive........no doubt some of these reps are making great money....and the more people they get under them, the more money.........top executives of ENRON and Worldcom were making great money to........but they were not acting in the best interests of their investors and PFS does not act in the best interests of its customers......all of its "financial planning advise" is based on their getting monies to buy their products----consolidate mortgage and get the left over funds....etc As for licensing fees....yes, a restaurant owner must pay licensing fees...and many business require licensing fees....but if I go to work at a restautant, I do not have to pay the licensing fee....my employer does.....most brokerage firms pay your licensing fee and will deduct it from your commissions (if you earn them) Why wont PFS do that? Because most do not ever earn enough commissions to offset the time and money they put in for the registration and training. However, PFS already has your recruits and leads Its this sort of lack of integrity that is to blame for the downfall in the markets today.......PFS is making its money on the commissions......not the services.....just a sales technique to get the fees and commissions..... What reps really are is salesmen......and not everyone is cut out for sales.....which is why the turnover is so high

Good luck in "your" business/MLM opportunity. Let us know how you're doing in a year. With agent turnover at about 100%, the odds are somewhat against you.

Your kidding, right? You talk like your still in elementary school. You tell the negative people to just stay away from you, then why rebuttal abunch of rubbish? You really want to know how PFS and Citigroup are negative impacts on consumers? OK, I'll tell you what you should clearly already know. Citigroup is under investigation into the cover up of Enron's finances. Citigroups stocks have dropped considerably in the year 2002, and there doesn't look like there will be any increase any time soon. Because of companies covering up financial ruins within their own company or helping in the cover up of other companies, like Citigroup, companies like Texaco, Financial Corp of America and Global Crossing (Just to name a few), become the victims of their cover ups. These companies are expected to file Chapter 11 along with Worldcom. So, the only real negative effect is just that. Citigroup and PFS are the negative, to the consumers and to our economy.

I am a PFS agent, I don't make a lot of money. However, I am happy where I am at. I can do much better if I want to. I just need to work a little more harder. No one can stop me! I have no complain against PFS business.

I understand that if you attend U.C.L.A. and you did not study hard...for sure you will fail...do you blame U.C.L.A.? It is your own fault for not doing what it takes to win. Losers always blame someone else for their problems...losers will always be negative about everything they come across. Attention Good People!!!! Do not get yourself to be negatively conteminated.

Winners always hang around with winners. Losers, always complain and cry like babies......Hey LOSERS Don't blame anyone for your $199 licensing fee...you have to pay for a business license to do any business in the USA....You should be glad that you did not have to pay for your state requirement course for the license. If you open a restaurant, you need to get the license with the city or state....If you did not work hard and you fail in your restaurant business....Do you blame YOUR CITY or STATE Business Licensing Department or do you blame your self for failing in your own business? Negative people to me are sour grapes....please stay away from me.....I can't afford to get conteminated by your negative attitudes.

To all the positive people, negative people are little people. That's why they never make it in life. They are ignorant people. You don't have to be like them. Stay positive and win!!!!!

I am a PFS agent, I don't make a lot of money. However, I am happy where I am at. I can do much better if I want to. I just need to work a little more harder. No one can stop me! I have no complain against PFS business.

I understand that if you attend U.C.L.A. and you did not study hard...for sure you will fail...do you blame U.C.L.A.? It is your own fault for not doing what it takes to win. Losers always blame someone else for their problems...losers will always be negative about everything they come across. Attention Good People!!!! Do not get yourself to be negatively conteminated.

Winners always hang around with winners. Losers, always complain and cry like babies......Hey LOSERS Don't blame anyone for your $199 licensing fee...you have to pay for a business license to do any business in the USA....You should be glad that you did not have to pay for your state requirement course for the license. If you open a restaurant, you need to get the license with the city or state....If you did not work hard and you fail in your restaurant business....Do you blame YOUR CITY or STATE Business Licensing Department or do you blame your self for failing in your own business? Negative people to me are sour grapes....please stay away from me.....I can't afford to get conteminated by your negative attitudes.

To all the positive people, negative people are little people. That's why they never make it in life. They are ignorant people. You don't have to be like them. Stay positive and win!!!!!

I am a PFS agent, I don't make a lot of money. However, I am happy where I am at. I can do much better if I want to. I just need to work a little more harder. No one can stop me! I have no complain against PFS business.

I understand that if you attend U.C.L.A. and you did not study hard...for sure you will fail...do you blame U.C.L.A.? It is your own fault for not doing what it takes to win. Losers always blame someone else for their problems...losers will always be negative about everything they come across. Attention Good People!!!! Do not get yourself to be negatively conteminated.

Winners always hang around with winners. Losers, always complain and cry like babies......Hey LOSERS Don't blame anyone for your $199 licensing fee...you have to pay for a business license to do any business in the USA....You should be glad that you did not have to pay for your state requirement course for the license. If you open a restaurant, you need to get the license with the city or state....If you did not work hard and you fail in your restaurant business....Do you blame YOUR CITY or STATE Business Licensing Department or do you blame your self for failing in your own business? Negative people to me are sour grapes....please stay away from me.....I can't afford to get conteminated by your negative attitudes.

To all the positive people, negative people are little people. That's why they never make it in life. They are ignorant people. You don't have to be like them. Stay positive and win!!!!!

I am a PFS agent, I don't make a lot of money. However, I am happy where I am at. I can do much better if I want to. I just need to work a little more harder. No one can stop me! I have no complain against PFS business.

I understand that if you attend U.C.L.A. and you did not study hard...for sure you will fail...do you blame U.C.L.A.? It is your own fault for not doing what it takes to win. Losers always blame someone else for their problems...losers will always be negative about everything they come across. Attention Good People!!!! Do not get yourself to be negatively conteminated.

Winners always hang around with winners. Losers, always complain and cry like babies......Hey LOSERS Don't blame anyone for your $199 licensing fee...you have to pay for a business license to do any business in the USA....You should be glad that you did not have to pay for your state requirement course for the license. If you open a restaurant, you need to get the license with the city or state....If you did not work hard and you fail in your restaurant business....Do you blame YOUR CITY or STATE Business Licensing Department or do you blame your self for failing in your own business? Negative people to me are sour grapes....please stay away from me.....I can't afford to get conteminated by your negative attitudes.

To all the positive people, negative people are little people. That's why they never make it in life. They are ignorant people. You don't have to be like them. Stay positive and win!!!!!

The more I read these the more I get outragged. As a former agent of PFS. I know for a fact everything these people are telling you is a load of crap.

You want to boost about how PFS is rated high with Standard and poors. What happened to the market today? You want to boost about how Sandy Weill is this great leader, blah-blah, and how she's in Money magazine. Wow, she's the Co-CEO of Citigroup. She's NOT the CEO of PFS.

Tell me the last time you ever heard anything good in the press about Marge Magner, John Reed, Bob Lipp, John Addison, Rich Williams, and Michael Knapp? Exactly. You have people so uninformed at PFS that they claim PFS's insurance, etc is FDIC insured. No it's not.

You also have moron's trying to tell people that this is not a pyramid scheme. Please spare us. It states in your companies disclosure these exact accounts. So, how do you expect people to believe such nonsence when it's even on your site in black and white? Are you trying to tell America that PFS made errors when putting their site up?

Tell you what, when you can answer these questions legitimatly, then maybe people will listen to PFS's side of the story, otherwise, stop wasting our time.

I am so tired of hearing this one perticular persons rebuttal over and over again. About the 80% who don't do work and the 20% that over compensate, blah blah blah. I am also so tired of hearing about Money Magazine, tell me, what other famous magazines have they been featured in resently? Exactly!

I also was a rep then an agent, that was the biggest mistake of my life. Great, I just love busting my own a*s to make thousands upon thousands for other people, and crap for myself. And please, don't start the Primerica is Not a pyramid scheme, hello, you do know what a pyramid scheme is don't you. Then we all know PFS IS that.

Sorry, what is this stuff about it's been proven to help standards and poors. What? Lovely how you classify people. I know what it costs for your insurance, etc, so really, how can you possibly think people will believe you help these people, no, lets get it straight, YOU HELP YOURSELF to what little bit of money these people have.

Someone also said that they are a rep' in NY, boosting about PFS's Toronto office. If you know anything about insurance laws and regulations, then you obviously know that Canada has VERY different laws and regulations on insurance, products, etc. That's how a company like PFS can come in, take over, and screw the American people. I'll give you a common example of the differences between what Canada's laws and regulations from the USA's, infact I'll even give you an example of this in a general company, not and insurance company, so that I don't confuse your little minds. Let's take Cineplex. The US's minimum wage is (I believe) $5.85. Cineplex hires people starting at $4.25. How's this? Because they are originated out of Canada, therefor our laws and regulations don't always apply. Understand, now?

Do you know what happened to the PFS office I worked at? It was shut down by the government. They may be doing this little by little, but eventually, PFS will be seen for what they really are, a scam!

I am most likely the most skeptical person on this planet, but I didn't become that way overnight, I was ripped off a few years ago by a credit card scam, I have had financial difficulty most of my life (bankruptcy twice), I work hard and earn every penny, I learned not to "trust" anyone or anything.

So when I was approached about his "oppurtunity", my "fiancial analyst" said to me it cost nothing to look, I was sure there was a catch. When he told me that my finanical needs analysis was free, I knew there was a catch. But you know what? There was no catch, it was all free, then he explanined to me how he got into the business. I decided to try (after a really long discussion with my better half and she is twice as untrusting as I am).

I had no formal training in Life Insurance, Real Estate, or finacial analysis but this company was willing to teach me about money and how it worked. Primerica showed me how to get out of debt, stay out of dept, and gave me the oppurtunity to share it with others.

You would think that my friends would be against me, my family, I was wrong, they all supported my me to my surprize. I went through the training and no matter what you believe the $199.00 goes to state and Primerca picks up the rest, I say that because like you, I want to know the truth. I don't have anyone on my "team" (not that I haven't tried) but this business is not for everyone.

I enjoy helping people. It's not about the money for me, It's about helping people that are in same situation I was in, or even worse.

My mother pointed out something to me a few weeks ago, She said you know, "God, truly wants us to be successful in life, he is the King of Kings, we as his children should be able to live as a prince or princess, should we not? God gave someone the knowledge to build this incredible company, and offer them a chance and life they never knew possible.

I also want to thank you. I like your honesty and if you ever did do this business you would be bigger than those now. God bless and may all your dreams come true.

I am most likely the most skeptical person on this planet, but I didn't become that way overnight, I was ripped off a few years ago by a credit card scam, I have had financial difficulty most of my life (bankruptcy twice), I work hard and earn every penny, I learned not to "trust" anyone or anything.

So when I was approached about his "oppurtunity", my "fiancial analyst" said to me it cost nothing to look, I was sure there was a catch. When he told me that my finanical needs analysis was free, I knew there was a catch. But you know what? There was no catch, it was all free, then he explanined to me how he got into the business. I decided to try (after a really long discussion with my better half and she is twice as untrusting as I am).

I had no formal training in Life Insurance, Real Estate, or finacial analysis but this company was willing to teach me about money and how it worked. Primerica showed me how to get out of debt, stay out of dept, and gave me the oppurtunity to share it with others.

You would think that my friends would be against me, my family, I was wrong, they all supported my me to my surprize. I went through the training and no matter what you believe the $199.00 goes to state and Primerca picks up the rest, I say that because like you, I want to know the truth. I don't have anyone on my "team" (not that I haven't tried) but this business is not for everyone.

I enjoy helping people. It's not about the money for me, It's about helping people that are in same situation I was in, or even worse.

My mother pointed out something to me a few weeks ago, She said you know, "God, truly wants us to be successful in life, he is the King of Kings, we as his children should be able to live as a prince or princess, should we not? God gave someone the knowledge to build this incredible company, and offer them a chance and life they never knew possible.

I also want to thank you. I like your honesty and if you ever did do this business you would be bigger than those now. God bless and may all your dreams come true.

I am most likely the most skeptical person on this planet, but I didn't become that way overnight, I was ripped off a few years ago by a credit card scam, I have had financial difficulty most of my life (bankruptcy twice), I work hard and earn every penny, I learned not to "trust" anyone or anything.

So when I was approached about his "oppurtunity", my "fiancial analyst" said to me it cost nothing to look, I was sure there was a catch. When he told me that my finanical needs analysis was free, I knew there was a catch. But you know what? There was no catch, it was all free, then he explanined to me how he got into the business. I decided to try (after a really long discussion with my better half and she is twice as untrusting as I am).

I had no formal training in Life Insurance, Real Estate, or finacial analysis but this company was willing to teach me about money and how it worked. Primerica showed me how to get out of debt, stay out of dept, and gave me the oppurtunity to share it with others.

You would think that my friends would be against me, my family, I was wrong, they all supported my me to my surprize. I went through the training and no matter what you believe the $199.00 goes to state and Primerca picks up the rest, I say that because like you, I want to know the truth. I don't have anyone on my "team" (not that I haven't tried) but this business is not for everyone.

I enjoy helping people. It's not about the money for me, It's about helping people that are in same situation I was in, or even worse.

My mother pointed out something to me a few weeks ago, She said you know, "God, truly wants us to be successful in life, he is the King of Kings, we as his children should be able to live as a prince or princess, should we not? God gave someone the knowledge to build this incredible company, and offer them a chance and life they never knew possible.

I also want to thank you. I like your honesty and if you ever did do this business you would be bigger than those now. God bless and may all your dreams come true.

I am most likely the most skeptical person on this planet, but I didn't become that way overnight, I was ripped off a few years ago by a credit card scam, I have had financial difficulty most of my life (bankruptcy twice), I work hard and earn every penny, I learned not to "trust" anyone or anything.

So when I was approached about his "oppurtunity", my "fiancial analyst" said to me it cost nothing to look, I was sure there was a catch. When he told me that my finanical needs analysis was free, I knew there was a catch. But you know what? There was no catch, it was all free, then he explanined to me how he got into the business. I decided to try (after a really long discussion with my better half and she is twice as untrusting as I am).

I had no formal training in Life Insurance, Real Estate, or finacial analysis but this company was willing to teach me about money and how it worked. Primerica showed me how to get out of debt, stay out of dept, and gave me the oppurtunity to share it with others.

You would think that my friends would be against me, my family, I was wrong, they all supported my me to my surprize. I went through the training and no matter what you believe the $199.00 goes to state and Primerca picks up the rest, I say that because like you, I want to know the truth. I don't have anyone on my "team" (not that I haven't tried) but this business is not for everyone.

I enjoy helping people. It's not about the money for me, It's about helping people that are in same situation I was in, or even worse.

My mother pointed out something to me a few weeks ago, She said you know, "God, truly wants us to be successful in life, he is the King of Kings, we as his children should be able to live as a prince or princess, should we not? God gave someone the knowledge to build this incredible company, and offer them a chance and life they never knew possible.

I also want to thank you. I like your honesty and if you ever did do this business you would be bigger than those now. God bless and may all your dreams come true.

"As a representative of Primerica, I have personally helped to change the lives of many people."

That's unfortunate. I feel sorry for them.


" If the person with the bad experience could make an adjustment in their thinking and take that list of 100 people"

So how about those who have been ripped off by being deceptively sold a loan with a higher rate, huge closing costs, and a large prepayment penalty. Can they reverse that with an "adjustment in their thinking"?


"and go help them get out of debt, protect their assets and save for the future,"

If this is what you think you're doing, well, think again. You will be using deceptive Primerica tactics to sell products to people. Period. Having only been around 25 years, it is highly unlikely that Primerica has seen very many people, if any, to retirement.


"Ask yourself...what are MY OPTIONS? I plan to build a professional and productive agency of my own in Primerica,"

Best of luck, with agent turnover being over 100% and so view making it to RVP. You have fallen for the dream they throw at you. The dream promised but never delivered by MLM.


", she introduced me to her hairdresser who referred me to her sister-in-law, who had the good sense to buy an adequate amount of term life insurance and make her mother the beneficiary, who, after her daughter was killed in a auto accident, asked me to invest it for her and we established a systematic withdrawl to supplement her retirement income and repair her beautiful country house where she lives today very peacefully."

Wow.. Congratulations. This proves that Primerica can pay claims. What a wonderful place.


"The hairdresser is also a client. The young lady who worked for the big company quit. It's deeper than that. Thank God for Democracy + Free Enterprise + Capitalism + Primerica! Thank you Art Williams!"

Thank you MLM brainwashing!

As a representative of Primerica, I have personally helped to change the lives of many people. If the person with the bad experience could make an adjustment in their thinking and take that list of 100 people and go help them get out of debt, protect their assets and save for the future, the not so polished introduction to this great company would be of little signifigance.

Ask yourself...what are MY OPTIONS? I plan to build a professional and productive agency of my own in Primerica, and I'll do that by asking that question of those I meet. Once, I met a young lady who worked for a big company downtown. In her attempt to get "trained", she introduced me to her hairdresser who referred me to her sister-in-law, who had the good sense to buy an adequate amount of term life insurance and make her mother the beneficiary, who, after her daughter was killed in a auto accident, asked me to invest it for her and we established a systematic withdrawl to supplement her retirement income and repair her beautiful country house where she lives today very peacefully.

The hairdresser is also a client. The young lady who worked for the big company quit. It's deeper than that. Thank God for Democracy + Free Enterprise + Capitalism + Primerica! Thank you Art Williams!

I have been licensed with Primerica as an independent agent for 8 years. I was in the process of looking for an older web site PFSnet.com, when I came across this article.
Being an Independent Businessman it is considered wise to find out how your Company is fairing, good or bad, in the industry. So I figured I'd take a look.

I would first like to explain what attracted me to this Company. Maybe that will help anybody else out there sift through some of the emotional confusion they might be experiencing after reading this article.

When I was introduced to this company I was given a truthfull and accurate interpretation of the rules of money which explained how my money really works. That's it. That's all I needed. Up untill that time, no one had ever explained these simple concepts to me. My next thougt was... if I had never seen this information, and the financial industry is a large industry right, how many other people had not seen and needed to see these important concepts.

So began my career in the "Financial Services" arena.

From that moment of learning the simple truth about money, I was able to make the decision to take the first steps towards a career venture into this vast financial services industry that needed my help.

From that point in time I have been to many different offices and functions associated with this company, and as some have already said, there are some good offices and some not so good offices associated with this company. Hense, though the foundation of this Company's Business Policy is to tell the truth, educate the consumer, and only provide the right products to meet the individual's specific financial needs, I have learned that people are still going to be people and there will always be an element of misinterpretation to all endeavors. I will say that when comparing this opportunity to others, the percentage is quite low do to the fact that we are compensated more for a job well done than on a job poorly performed.

That's why I titled my Response to these just but innacurate accusations, "Do Your Homework". I could sit here all day and list all the reasons why I feel I represent one of the best Companies in the world since the inception of the free enterprise system and that would mean absolutely nothing to you. But, when I have the opportunity to sit down with a family to explain the money rules, find out where they stand finacially, then use the rules to customize a program that will meet their financial needs, there is great joy and satisfaction in seeing people come from the despairity they have learned to tolerate and live with, to a new found hope in the fact that they, in their lifetime, have the opportunity to Dream again!

Now tell me, who couldn't get excited about that! I'll tell you. Right now, about 80% of the people that are invited to a Complimentary Financial Seminar don't show. Imagine knowing the proven financial concepts that have worked for so few for so long, and finally having a compnay that knows the Value of providing these financial concepts through the people we trust most to the rest of us, you would think that we would hire everyone we meet, right! Wrong. Only 10% of the 20% that show actually try to work with us in a business vehicle that has the potential to bring out the best in them, and allow them to be all they desire to become. Why?

Is it the Company? Is it the truth? Is it the rules we explain? Is it the presentation we use? Is it the people we train? Is it the trainers?...
Who knows. All I know is this, just like we can't predict the market, we can't predict the response people should have to such an incredible opportunity.

I will end with this. In our S.M.A.R.T. (save money and reduce taxes) program we put the best program together based on the client's credit history. So with the majority of the people today applying for loans in credit trouble, you can never compare an interest rate that they qualified for with a hypothetical rate they couldn't get. I would like to challenge anyone to explore all their options first, it's Your Future!

To the person who was forced to give up his organization I would like to extend my sympathy, and to encourage him and anyone else who would be put into such a comprimising situation, to immediately report it to the Company's Headquarters. The guildlines of this business have been established, and I have personally had a few people issues that I have had to respond to in this manner. They are more than willing to protect your business, and theirs, and solve any people problems in the field.

Finally, I would encourage everyone again to take an open minded approach to all their life's endeavors. You could be presented with the best opportunity in the world, but because of the bad experiences that we have all been through, we can easily develope a skeptical outlook to all opportunities in a time when we can't afford to miss the right ones!

Primerica's mission is to solve the fundamental financial problems that keep families from acheiving debt freedom and financial independence.
By educating you on the time tested financial concepts that you need to know, you will be able to make the right decisions with your money.

I'm in the mortgage business. I had a conversation with a Primerica agent whose manager structured his loan so that he could pay off his house in 18 years instead of 30.

A good deal you say?

After talking with him for a few minutes he said that he got a loan at 8.5%, with 3 points (thats a 3 percent charge on top of the loan, on a $200,000 loan that's a fee of $6000), and there is a 5 year pre-payment penalty.

Normal loans at this time are about 7% or less with no points and no pre-payment penalty. With those parameters he could of gotten a loan that would have paid off his house in about 15 years. I just wanted people to be aware of what a "good" deal they might be getting into.

THE TRUE STORY.....

Many years ago I joined PFS and became an agent. I started with a 50% contract.

At that time..., I had to quit my job and by the law ( in Canada, Alberta ) I had to work ONLY for Primerica !!! as a FULL-TIME agent with a lot of
agents and trainees in my group in about 3 months I was called by the SVP to his office with unbelievable news... He would like to HELP me !!! His offer was very clear: "my way or the highway" HE MOVED ALL MY PEOPLE UNDER HIS BEST FRIEND !!!

His best friend was on 30% at that time. His best friend could NOT hire a single person to train !!! HE WAS ALONE !!! He had NO trainees...
HOW CAN YOU DO THIS ????????

I asked SVP to transfer me to another office, leaving behind my people for his best friend (about 30 trainees + 5 agents at that time) My boss did not agree... he told me: "you are fired" << NICE... >> I had to wait for 6 months to join another PFS office... 1 year later I quit !!

P.S.
His best friend never became anybody in PFS.... He also QUIT and became enemy of Primerica... - he went to sell product threw another company, stealing customers from PFS << NICE... >> so much for friendship.....

All my downlines, sooner or later also quit.
I am also a witness of RVP's quitting << WHY ??? >> that's another story.....

I was always positive and hard working trainee - later agent for PFS, but I never could even imagine that some day s**t will happen to me !!!
Before you join... ask them if this could happen to you as well !?!?!?!?!

Also ask them if you are 5 minutes late for a meeting, they will force you to do 5 push ups - infront of all people ????? (each minute = 1 push up) Ask if they practice "PIE CONTEST" means: internal competition who hire more people or do better production, etc. if you lose you will get PIE on your face !!

Also ask them if they will PUSH you to buy PFS product (insurance) ????? They PUSHED me to buy it !! so I will be a good example to my downlines as a good leader.

I still believe they help a lot of people with insurance or mutual funds....
Question is: How do they treat their agents ???

Advice: READ PFS RULES BEFORE YOU JOIN !!!

And I wish you success, - only if you ready to do this !!!

GOOD LUCK !!!

P.S. I wish this report can read RANDY GO.....EY
I know that RANDY G. is a good person... he should know about his SVP, who
did that to me...

Today, for sure that SVP is NSD or higher....
Dear RANDY, make your response and ask me to call you.... I know your phone number !!! response only if you would like to hear more details about this story.

In response to the bad hype about Primerica, i have put my future in this company, if you think Primerica is a rip off check with standard and poors. Primerica is rated pristeen with standard and poors. and check out last months issue of money magazine. also Citigroup is the most profitable company in the world. The CEO Sandy Weill is the best leader in the world.

ALWAYS be suspiscious of someone trying to blow sunshine up your butt! 99% of the time their shtick about 'retiring early' and 'financial freedom' is true - THEIR OWN from your hard-earned money!

I've seen NUMEROUS incidents on Rip-Off involving Primerica so all is NOT well in their backyard.

Although I am not involved in the business side of the company, my brother is a mid-level manager there and he is also our Personal Financial Analyst. He went through two or three fairly significant career changes, trying quite a few different things including real estate, before he landed at Primerica. He came over to our house and shared some pretty basic concepts which we were vaguely aware of, but doing nothing about. He provided us with something they call a Financial Needs Analysis, which was well done and for him, pretty well presented. (I should know, I am a financial analyst for a computer manufacturer).

Anyway, I was impressed that he was even able to go to work for a company who is in a field that he knew nothing about previously, and be trained to competently assist clients with their debt and savings issues.

He did attempt to "recruit" me to come in and go into business with him, as they apparently can build sales teams once they are on board with the company. I wasn't really interested, but my wife (who had never really been favorably impressed with my brother up to this point) was intrigued and decided to explore the business side of Primerica. I cannot comment on what others' experiences have been, nor will I try to refute or confirm any of those. All I can say is that she has now been with the company for 14 months, works there part-time, and she is making more money than she did at her full time clerical job. Plus, she really does seem to enjoy the work and is learning a great deal. We invested $199.00 for this experience, which was reimbursed to her after she finished some basic training requirements.

That seemed like a pretty reasonable investment, given that I would have had to spend about $15,000-$20,000 to send her back to school to get a Master's Degree. I have been to a few of her company "meetings" with her, and they do seem a bit "rah-rah" at times, but the enthusiasm of the people who are there appears to be genuine and maybe having something to do that they enjoy, with a chance to make some significant money, is enough to give these people hope for a better future.

Life doesn't carry many guarantees, and corporate America offers almost none nowadays. My only complaint is that most of the work she does is in the evenings and on weekends, and that is when we used to be able to spend some time together. Maybe she'll do really well in Primerica and we can both retire early.

As a client of Primerica Financial Services(PFS) with a refinanced mortgage, term life insurance, and investment portfolio, I can ONLY state that I was always treated with the utmost in profession-alism and courtesy from this financial GIANT. Perhaps those with a contrary opinion only need to review the JUNE issue of MONEY magazine and the 10 ten page spread on CEO Sandy Weill and Citigroup -- the largest financial supermarket on this Earth.

I noticed the complaintant did NOT identify self? Has Rip-Off even contacted the Primerica Toronto Office and its upline management for a REBUTTAL?? Further, Rip-Off should be informed that Pri-merica/Canada offers ONLY Fulltime positions and is licensed by the gov't in a very regulated industry.

I am also a Primerica independent agent in Dutchess County, NY, our TEAM offers the commun-ity weekly seminars on Money and Financial mgt; offers to show families how to get out of debt and how to become financially independent as well as offering a superior line of financial products to our clients. I will echo the support infor-mational comments of C. Smith and C. Cheramie about PFS (though I have no knowledge of their being clients or comrads). However, they are right on. Of course every company has a few over zealous reps. and sometimes a potential client needs a jolt to wake them up (financially). To that Toronto Primerica Office -- let's clear the air on this matter. Perhaps a contrasting viewpoint would put this complaint in perspec- tive. "Eh, Canada!!"

If we at Primerica had that bad of a reputation why haven't "WE" been exposed in the press, media, 60 mins. etc and NOT just a sole incident reported in Rip-Off??

This proud 25 year old company with thousands of ind reps in US/CANADA/WORLDWIDE surely polices its own. So does each state as each indep rep is licensed for insurance and securities. The com-plaintant should know that some 30,000 NEW recruits come in to the business each month on a P/T or F/T basis. Nobody 'forces' the $199.00 registration fee on anybody. I don't know too many opportunities today that you can own your own business, get licensed and the financial education that is available for that price. For the record, most agents learn, grow, and advance through the business system.

Many leave their corporate pyramid/professional jobs because of the benefits to both family, life style and financial gains. And, yes sadly some agents do quit. The complaintant should also be aware that of 100 people, aged 65 yrs old -- which include post war "Baby Boomers"; 54% will be supported by someone else, i.e. family; 36% will continue to work after age 65; 5% will die; 4% will be finan-cially ok;and ONLY 1% will be RICH. Perhaps if the complaintant reported the "true" pitcure of the "WEEKLY" Opportunity Meeting he/she attended it would have revealed how Primerica offers to help families to be better advised about MONEY matters; how to better PLAN their lives and be better prepared for their present and future financial challenges. That there is an alter-native to single minded thinking and that through financial education some of our fellow Americans/ Canadiens WILL actually acheive their GOALS and DREAMS well BEFORE retirement.

What has become of corporate America/Canada and 'THEIR' offered pyramid "scheme" with 3% raises and wait 5 years or more for promotion, lmtd middle mgt positions NOT to mention that state of our unions. The complaintant comments on "..being an ENTREPRENEUR was the only was to go". Thank God for the Mike Dell's, Bill Gates's, Henry Ford's, and oh YES, the Sandy Weill's and Art William's, Primerica founder. Entrepreneurship is NOT for everyone. But it sure is funny that 74% of the previously mentined 1% of the extremely rich come from the entrepreneur ranks. These are the goal setters, planners and DREAMERS that make things happen.

When is America/Canada going to wake up and learn that you will NEVER attain any REAL wealth unless you are in business for yourself. With LEGITIMATE OVERIDES, RESIDUAL INCOME and TAX DEDUCTIONS just like the big Corporations.

How do you think the rich get RICHER? Everybody is trying to get to the top and ONLY a scant few will ever make it $$. What ever happened to the America/Canada of yesteryear, where the entrepreneur was the back-bone of the country. I say,h*o-ray for Primerica. Opinions expressed are my own and not of Primerica

I am so tired of you unsuccessfull people who have tried or knows someone who has tried Primerica. If you really knew anything about the company or the people in the business you would not be saying it was a pyramid scheme or a scam. Most people who are successful with Primerica are honest and are in the business to help people get out of debt. Maybe if you were not so lazy you could too be successfull and not bitter towards people who help people.

So you are happy with the company, yet you're on a web site called RipOffReport, looking for things about Primerica? Interesting!

we all cant be the president of the USA or a doctor or a lawyer for many reasons . maybe money to be educated or the ability to obtain it scholasticly.

so for all of us who are not happy with our current lifestyle what is it you could do to change that? well maybe go back to school get trained for something else or perhaps a part time job. those are options right?

i see primerica as a company willing to give every day people hope and oportunity .
it may not be for every one but if you are willing to invest your time and energy to the primerica plan there is a good chance you will make very good money weather it be part time or a career change.

like any business that you have a personal intrest in, you would work hard to make it profitable right? sure you would .well its no different at primerica,and besides the licenses that the primerica folks have are the same as any insurance angent or wall street investor would have . they take the same courses and have to pass thier exams like everyone else so why would anyone feel that primerica is a ripoff. two reasons

1)its not for you for some reason or another
2)or your an agent of another company not happy about a company setting industry standards(Primerica) so you must save your life and business in such avenues such as this. well if thats you to bad competition is good especialy when Primericas intrests lay with the client not an angent pocket. so as i have always been told and feel if you cant say anything good dont say anything at all.

LETS FACE IT IF YOU HAVE A LARGE COMPANY YOU ARE GOING TO HAD SOME BAD APPLES. I HAVE BEEN TO A PRIMERICA OFFICE AND BECAME A CLIENT SINCE. I NEVER EXPERIENCED ANY WRONG DOINGS FROM ANYONE AND NEVER HAVE BEEN PRESSURE. I OWE ALOT TO PRIMERICA I HAD ALOT OF DEBT BUT NOW ILL BE DEBT FREE MARCH 2014(HOUSE AND EVERYTHING)AND I OWE IT ALL TO THEM. IF SOMEONE HAS A COMPLAINT AND IS SO UPSET ABOUT A COMPANY FORWARD THERE COMPLAINTS TO THE BETTER BUSSINESS BERAUL. CHECK THE YELLO PAGES FOR A LOCAL LISTING.

Primerica Financial Services recruiting scam * REBUTTAL *EDITORS NOTE: some high paid lawyers interpretation BULL

WELL EDITOR WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THEM THEN. THEY MARKET CITIGROUPS COMPANIES PRODUCTS. WWW.CITIGROUP.COM WAS HELPFUL TO ME WHEN I RESARCH THERE COMPANY

This email is a rebuttal to RipOff #4342.
It was sent by Corby Smith at [email protected].

Primerica Financial Services recruiting scam * REBUTTAL *EDITORS NOTE: some high paid lawyers interpretation BULL (#4342)

They filed the following rebuttal to the above Rip-Off Report:

Their email: [email protected]
Their name: Corby Smith
Their phone number: 281-604-5904
Their relationship to the company: Supporter

Rebuttal:
I happen to think you would be skeptical if your own Dad gave you $10. Primerica Financial Services happens to be in the business of getting people debt free and financially independent via a confidential and complimentary financial needs analysis. They are the marketing arm of Citigroup, the largest financial services company in the world and utilize products such as home equity loans,long term care,varied investment vehicles,income protection ,etc.

Every company in the world of their size probably has a few bad apples. However, not all Primericans are like this.

I suggest you try another office and give this company another chance.

::::::::::::EDITORS NOTE:::::::

We certainly can agree with you on that, "Every company in the world of their size probably has a few bad apples."

BUT, when the company learns about misbehaver or wrongdoing, what is it they do about it? From the looks of the complaints, it's nothing!

This email is a rebuttal to RipOff #4342.
It was sent by Christi Cheramie at [email protected].

Primerica Financial Services recruiting scam (#4342)

They filed the following rebuttal to the above Rip-Off Report:

Their email: [email protected]
Their name: Christi Cheramie
Their phone number: 281-461-7900
Their relationship to the company: Supporter

Rebuttal:
Primerica - A member of Citigroup
Primerica is the marketing arm for Citigroup, which is #7 on the Fortune 500, #1 on the Forbes Super 50 and one of the Dow Jones 30 companies.

The $199 pays for half of their Group 1 Insurance License and the state requirement of a 30-hour training class (Primerica pays the other half).

The "list of names" is no different than any other industry, including agent/broker/sales offices,these are their client base.

For validation, refer to The Wall Street Journal article dated April 19, 1999: "Primerica's ability to sell products generated by other Citigroup units means its success creates ripples throughout the corporation."

::::: badbusinessbureau.com EDITORS NOTE:

My guess is, the above company description you describe is some high paid lawyers interpretation of what they have portrayed the companies operation is all about. One day, somehow, some lawyer will undoubtedly prove differently.

Is there anything more current from the Wall Street Journal than an article from April of 1999?

Why is the Internet flooded with complaints including this web site on Primerica Financial Services? Something must be wrong?