primerica...what to do....

[rachelMcK]

So my DH works with this guy who also works for primerica. I've heard some very questionable things about the organization from several people so I'm very skeptical about what he is telling him. He keeps pestering my husband to get me to come to a "meeting" with him to talk about our finances. I think its because we're young (23 and 24), he thinks we are gullible and irresponsible with our money. Nope. Anyway, he told him to give me this chart to look over. He wants us to put $20K down on an RRSP investment with a 18% interest rate so we'd have a million by the time we are in our 50's. Thats all well and good, but we don't have $20K to just drop on a whim. No problem, he says. Take out a $20K loan at a medium risk. We already have $30K in student debt, I don't want another 20. We dont even have a house yet, but we're saving for a down payment. I want to be out of debt in the next few years so we can start a family. I told DH I would rather open up an RRSP with a bank and start contributing from the beginning and have a humble savings. I don't care to be a millionaire, I just want to be able to retire and live decently. Anyway, what do you guys think. I don't trust this guy for several reasons. 1) he just started working with DH and his second day there he started grilling him about finances. 2) He won't stop pestering DH about it, he always sends him home with sheets of info 3) If primerica (his first source of income) is so good, how come he has to work 2 jobs to make ends meet? 4) I've heard way too much bad stuff about the company.

So what would you do? Would you go for this or stay away?
Also, I'll be meeting him at the company x-mas party in a few days and no doubt this will be brought up, so if I'm correct in assuming that this is not a good idea, how do I tell him politely to leave us alone and stay out of our financial business??

Thanks for you're help!!

[mommy4ever]

Primerica can be good. However their brokers only get paid by commission so they can be very pushy. I personally wouldn't invenst at 18% as it would be a high risk investment usually, with the potential to lose a fair amount before it grows. AND you'd be making payments on a loan.

I find it distasteful that he's pushing like he is, and would tell him that you aren't interested. The promise of million by 50 is sweet, but can he guarentee? My personal experience with primerica is there is alot of transition. With our account, we were shuffled through alot of people, then I got upset as alot of people were privy to our finacial info and the franchise owner, took over our account. He just lets us contact him as needed. He doesn't call a bunch. He did when my cousin signed up, she wanted to come talk to us, and i told her we already were, so he called to ask us to meet with her. I told him point blank family and finances DON'T mix. And we weren't interested in being shuffled around any further.

That is the tough thing with them. You never know how long the 'broker' will stay at it.

[Cricket1]

Don't do it! I used to work for a brokerage firm and it was well known (at that time, not sure if it's still the same)that Primerica was sketchy. They would always have all of these new brokers praying on friends and family. And they target people with low or low/mid income. I would be VERY careful.....and atleast wait until the guy has more experience.

[Moor]

Primerica, can be a good thing. But only for those who are extremely knowledgable about finances.

here is the deal with them, they get you in there as a client, but then they try and get you to become a rep. it sounds all great, but it's hard to get clients to become reps. also, you have to continually get customer's to be able to make money. it's a mlm scan, that can help people.

what they do, is give you a plan to get out of debt, but they sell you things in the meantime, like life insurance, money markets, and such. to be able to make money, people have to pay their bills.

so please, just tell the guy, that while you appreciate the interest, you don't want to do that. just tell him that you would prefer that he not become involved in your personal finances!

[Moor]

ps. forgot to say, that i was lured into working for them. i left because of the shadiness of it. duping people who really didn't have the money to be duped!

[monkeywrangler71]

Unless you are reasonably high income, making a substantial RRSP contribution at this point in your life probably a very bad decision. You have to pay taxes on that money when you take it out at retirement. If you are in a low tax bracket now, you are deferring your taxes for no reason. Chances are, you'll be in a higher tax bracket (given your youth, education and determination) later in your life and you will end up paying a higher rate when you withdraw. Plus, anything earning 18% is capital gains only - extreme high risk - which you will be charged full tax on when you take the money out, whereas with unregistered capital gains you will only pay 1/2 the tax.

You do not have 20K to invest, and your current situation is not stable enough to be suggesting you borrow that kind of money. You have a substantial debt load, no financial assets, you just started a new job. No responsible financial advisor would make a suggestion like this. This guy does not care about your financial future, he is trying to make a sale. Absolutely nothing that he is suggesting makes any sense whatsoever for your situation. There are rules for financial management, and he is breaking most of them. If he worked for a reputable firm, he'd be fired and probably have his license revoked. Financial advice needs to fit the individual's situation, this guy is just feeding everyone the same line and it is all lies. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but my husband works in the investment industry, and this kind of garbage infuriates me, because it makes the entire industry look bad.

RUN RUN RUN - do not even discuss it with him.

[kittykatstrong]

With Primerica you have to bring in friends and family to sell them things. I would tell him you are happy with what you are doing with your money and don't let him talk about it anymore. If he brings it up change the subject.

Sometimes if I don't want to do something I blame it on the Dh.
"Oh, I would love to but the Dh doesn't want to."
"gosh, I would love to but my Dh is not feeling well."

[rachelMcK]

all of this is exactly what I thought. I knew the taxes would be the big catch. Would you suggest starting an RRSP with a bank with a smaller contribution such as $500 with a regular deposit every month as a better alternative? Given how pushy this guy is, I want to make my rebuttal perfectly clear to him, since this x-mas party gives him the perfect chance to corner the both of us.

[redhead68]

I don't know a whole lot about Primerica, but my red flag went up when you said that he was your husband's coworker. I don't think it's wise to share personal financial information with someone in your work circle. I value my privacy, and I can see all sorts of conflicts of interest arising as a result of your involvement with him. Do you really want him privy to your personal affairs?

My advice, since you asked for input, is that your husband firmly tell him that you prefer to keep your relationship centered around work, and if the haranguing & pressure continues, let him know that you will speak to HR or a manager about his solicitations. I doubt your employer would be happy to know that he is doing another company's work on their time.

If you are interested in financial advice, your best bet is to find an independent Certified Financial Planner (CFP) in your area.

[pkellyc]

I had primeamerica account at one point years ago. We lost money and it cost us quite a bit. I took what I had out and invested somewhere else. Everyone is taking a cut of your money. Invest somewhere else. What to say? No. We are not interested.

[monkeywrangler71]

all of this is exactly what I thought. I knew the taxes would be the big catch. Would you suggest starting an RRSP with a bank with a smaller contribution such as $500 with a regular deposit every month as a better alternative? Given how pushy this guy is, I want to make my rebuttal perfectly clear to him, since this x-mas party gives him the perfect chance to corner the both of us.

The amount you should put into your RRSP (if any) depends on your individual tax and financial situation. IMO there are a lot of people out there who probably shouldn't be contributing at all - that doesn't mean they shouldn't save or invest, just that not everyone benefits from having their investments registered. Personally, I think you're already on the right track, just paying down debt and saving for a house. But if you decide you can handle it, a small monthly contribution is a great way to start - keep in mind that this is a possibility even if you don't want an RRSP, you can open an unregistered investment at any bank and it will have the same range of options as a registered account (GIC, mutual fund, bond, etc.) Generally, the less stable your finances, the more liquid and lower risk your investments should be.

I don't think you need to come back at this guy with a clear statement of your investment plans. It's none of his business. Just tell him you've thought about it and you aren't interested. If he asks for details or reasons, just keep repeating that you aren't interested until he leaves you alone.

[yonksgirl]

I am a Primerica rep, and I can tell you with at least me I am not pushy at all. I go into peoples homes that need help. I do a Free FNA which shows people a snap shot of what there situation looks like, how much money they will need to retire, how to get out of debt and acieve their goals and dreams. I show them what products that we have that can help them.
The other week I showed someone how to pay off over $50,000 of consumer debt, pay off their mortgage and have 250,000 in the bank in 11 years. Then they could keep investing their money and have $900,000 in the bank at retirement. THere is no new money in this, it is all the money that was coming in the front door and out the back. We just needed to move it around.

I do not have my securities licence yet but I do know that at least in PA we have a program that you can start investing with only $25@ Month. If you go to Smith barney you better have at least $100,000 to start to invest. What we do is bring Wall street to main street.

There is nothing shady about our Company we are backed by citi-group.

As for privacy, we hare under the same strick rules as any other finacial person. I worked way to hard for my licence to lose it over a "OMG They are in this situation" convo.

I can not speak for the guy to are talking about, but I always do what is right for the client. I have gone on many app. that I do not make any money, but I do empower these clients with a way to get out of debt and that I am very passionate about!

In closing I just want to ask you all to make sure you have enough life insurance and the right kind! Remember Insurance is not an investment, always buy term insurance and invest the rest!

Also always invest in so called "high risk" Growth and equity mutal fund have averaged 12% in the last 60 years. yes bad thing have happened in those 60 years the market has gone up and down but it average sout! This in not next weeks grocery money it is a long term investment. with 12% you could have your money double every 6 years insread of every 24 years with an 3% intrest rate.

OK I am off my soap box! LOL!

[redhead68]

As for privacy, we are under the same strict rules as any other financial person. I worked way too hard for my license to lose it over a "OMG They are in this situation" convo.

I'm happy to read that; however, that wasn't my primary concern when I wrote my response to the OP. The Primerica rep wouldn't have to share the information with another person to have a conflict of interest. It could cause problems in competing for promotion or raises, once the he has access to the client's financial information. If it were me, I would steer clear of working with the co-worker.

Additionally, this person is working for Primerica on a second company's time. If I was his employer, I'd tell him to pack his bags.

[rachelMcK]

Thanks for all your responses. I don't plan on giving this guy any information about our finances, and DH hasn't either. I just wanted some info just in case he persists. I really don't have any plans to invest my money as I have absolutley no faith in the economy (and I don't know enough, my money is fairly valuable to me). I'd rather just throw my money into a high interest savings account to be honest. The thing that bugs me is that is guy is only "targetting" people who have just started out. The ones that don't own a house, the ones still driving used cars, the young ones with new babies etc. He doesn't even ask the older guys that own houses and have new cars, doesn't even bring it up. Its like he's preying on us because he thinks we're niave with our spending and will just sign for the loan because we don't know. It really irritates me that he thinks we're just that stupid. He even told DH yesterday that he also has mutual funds or something (DH doesn't remember the exact term he used) that would get us out of debt, we'd just have to sign for a $10k loan. IS THIS GUY NUTS??!!! Simple mathematics tells us that you don't go further into debt to get out of debt. UGH...anyway, I told DH not to talk to him about any of this, don't even bring it up and if he does, just tell him he doesn't want to talk about it. Its none of his business, I've never even met the guy...
No offense to anyone who works for Primerica, but my friends got involved with it a few years ago, and they tried to push us into life insurance and all that other stuff we don't have (actually we have through our jobs), they wouldn't back down, we ended up stopping being around them because they wouldn't leave us alone. My experience with this is that people are too pushy for it to be a good thing...

[yonksgirl]

I am so sorry to hear that he is targetting those people. I really only help people that know what I do and ask me I do not push it in any way. I am really thinking about stopping, but that is a whole other post.