Home : Blogs : Artur Urbanski : Cimpler Blog

What do you think about the future of Primerica?

For those who don't know who Primerica is, the following text is taken from their website:

"Primerica’s roots date back to 1977 when the company embarked on a crusade to transform the life insurance industry. Primerica’s “Buy Term and Invest the Difference” philosophy encourages middle-income families to purchase affordable term life insurance so they can have more money to invest in their family’s future. Later, Primerica expanded its crusade to address the number one financial disease facing families today: debt. Primerica offers solutions to help families eliminate crippling debt from their household finances and save more of their hard-earned money for the future."

They use the multilevel "Amway" like marketing approach to selling financial services. Just by curiosity I "googled" - Good and bad about Primerica. Here are links to several posts trying to answer this question:

There are many, many more.

Here is my question (please forgive my an exaggeration): "Can company like Primerica, which markets to primarily "underinformed" clients using "underinformed" agents survive and prosper in the Internet age? What do you think? Will they have to change the way they do business or people always will believe things they might here from other people than they read on Internet?

Posted by Artur Urbanski on 04/14/2008 01:58 AM

Comments (14)

pirmerica, good and bad about primerica, financial services, amway

Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: Mortgages
Post is included in group: All About Mortgages/Mortgage Networking
Post is included in group: The Lounge at Active Rain
Post is included in group: Real Estate on the Peninsula

14 Comments on What do you think about the future of Primerica?

APR

2008

I imagine it would be important to know what their demographic area was..........if its over 60 lower to middle class people...I imagine they might have some success? Sad to say..........

Liz,

That's a good point. There is still a lot of people out there who don't feel comfortable looking for their information. Thank you for your reply.

I had gotten involved with primerica about 20 years ago, I actually got my life and health license in NY and tried selling the product. There were several major hindrances to success. First I was an accountant at the time and had no sales skills - like most associates I had no clue about what the term "cold calling" really meant. Second the products were great in concept, but poor in performance. The life insurance was priced higher than most other companies, and the Mutual funds were all front loaded. Inexperienced sales people relying on SOI - friends and relatives to make sales of products they had little product knowledge of and could not answer the questions CNN and Money magazine were saying should be asked. Add to that the fact that an insurance agent with any other company was getting a far better split and much more company support. I am surprised that they are still in business.

Hi Dan,

Thank you very much for your reply. As usually - very informative. it would be interesting to see how the age of their clients and agents is changing - they might be moving "towards the point of no return".

MAY

2008

Primerica helps people in an industry that has always acted like you had to be inteligent to sell insurance and securities.

The search for virtually all people is to pay off their current debt and get the best bang for the buck they cqan invest

Primerica, AL Williams cut to the chase and help people do just that.

Financial services is far from rocket science. Dollars are involved so people naturally are impressed by the industry because of the potential to be wealyhy. Remember the horse race track also has the same potential.

People should stop looking for fault with PRIMERICA and listen to the COMMON SENSE they offer. It is possible you wasted your time with a businessinvestement or fince degeree.

I do not sell for primerica. I listened to their logic. My house is paid off. My kids college education has been paid with no debt. for my kids . I will retire at age 55 in 5 years with a cool million to live on

Thank you very much for your input. I really appreciate it. I certainly believe that it is very important to show different points of view. It helps people in doing their homework and making their own decision. Thank you again for sharing your opinion with us.

JUN

2008

Primerica is a really great company for the right person. Their producs logically make sense and the knowledge I learned from my brief time as a PFS rep is invaluable. True, I did come out in the red, but the experience has allowed me to earn that money back with the life skills and knowledge I learned from PFS. For me, PFS wasn't my career calling. I wrote an article on PFS ifyou want to know more of what I learned from my experience. It is totally free to read and is found at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/777477/the_pros_and_cons_of_becoming_a_primerica.html?cat=3

Thank for sharing Dave. There is definitely a lot to learn from. I wish all agents were required to do it for a few months to learn basics about key financial products one might need during the life time.

I love watching the world and the people in it. Because of this, I've come to some conclusions that are not necessarily popular. I believe the masses will almost always be uninformed because it's easy. It often takes at least a small amount of effort to become informed, to be educated about a specific thing or event...therefore they remain ignorant.

I'm sure there are just as many horror stories about any company as there are about Primerica. I would also agree with the previous post. You don't have to be intelligent to sell anything, you just have to be good at selling and selling is much easier when one is dealing with the uneducated.

JUN

2008

Thank you for your comments Guy. Primerica is simply not for everyone. For some it serves well and it disagrees with others. The company does some good things for clients who might not have other options otherwise.

JAN

It is as simple as Math & common sense. Trust companies that have made profit by taking advantage of consumers for over 100 years. Or trust a company that has taught it's consumers to do the math and with the math make wise decisions. Trust a company that teaches get out of debt, save for the future & emergencies. Protect your family, etc. 31 years ago this company started teaching these principles and more, not just when it became popular. A company that has spent 31 years educating others and teaching consumers to do their home work when it comes to making financial decisions. A company that has been innovative in the industry and introduced products that no other are willing to offer but can. What's wrong with the world, have we all forgotten what integrity is that we can't see the truth for the truth. Well, you can do as you wish, but as for me and my family, we will follow the truth. Sincerely, a client and agent of Primerica Financial service for over 7 Years.

JAN

Interesting articles on Primerica's roots as A.L. Williams:

http://everything2.com/e2node/Primerica

http://www.businessweek.com/archives/1998/b3571114.arc.htm

I've yet to meet a Primerica rep that impressed me with their knowledge. Most just repeat what trainers have drilled into their heads and quickly move into recruitment.

I've gone up against several Primerica reps trying to give mortgage advice. They are clueless there as well, just pushing 15 years loans. When I ask why, I usually get the drilled in response that it's what everyone should do. Asking what analysis they did for the client, is a waste of time as they just follow the company line like lemmings.

In spite of all these shortcomings, they survive and prosper. Because, as the Madoff Ponzi scheme shows, a sucker is still born every minute, as P.T. Barnum Bailey once said.

MAR

Hey let's face it. Everyone here is on there own soap box. Primerica is a nuetral vehicle just like Metlife, Ameriprise etc. It's these self-serving idiots who have hidden agenda's that spend time bashing companies on these blogs. Get A F****N life!

JUN

No editorial comments. Just a couple of facts about Primerica. TheStreet.com rated the top 22 insurance companies last month. Primerica made the cut AIG, Met Life, and Prudential didn't.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10503052/1/the-22-strongest-life-insurance-companies.html

http://www.askprimerica.com/primerica-is-strong/

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?