Last Updated: March 2020
In 2018, Primerica was the #2 issuer of life insurance products in North America. But is Primerica one of the best options for life insurance in 2020?
Note: Primerica is often referred to as Prime America by consumers.
This Primerica life insurance review will expose the full picture, including how the company and their life insurance agency system work. This is very important to understand if you’re thinking about buying life insurance with Prime America.
Then, we’ll show you facts you should know about their term life insurance policies, and how to compare Primerica to other companies.
Specifically, we’re going to cover (click any of the topics to go straight there):
- Review of How Primerica Life Insurance Works
- 3 Facts You Should Know About Primerica Life Insurance
- Primerica Has Strong Financial Ratings
- Features of Primerica’s Life Insurance
- How to Compare Primerica Life Insurance vs Other Companies
- An Email from a Former Primerica agent (in her own words)
Life Insurance is Boring. Let’s Get To The Root Of It! Here are the key takeaways…
Primerica is a legitimate company offering term life insurance policies, but most people can find a better policy elsewhere. They have an A+ rating from A.M. Best. Primerica uses a marketing strategy to recruit new agents who aren’t always experts. Their rates are usually higher than the competition.
You may have been approached by a friend, family member, or colleague about buying a policy from Primerica Life Insurance Company. I encourage you to spend a few minutes with this article to get the facts about life insurance from Primerica before you make a decision.
We also recommend you look over our list of best life insurance companies to help with your life insurance purchase.
Review of How Primerica Life Insurance Works
Be aware that Primerica is built as a multi-level marketing business.
This means the agent who presented you this Primerica term life insurance will probably ask you to join their team in the future so they can make money on the life insurance policies you sell. Once you are a part of the organization, they will encourage you to do the same thing.
This doesn’t exactly scream “expert” life insurance agent. In fact, most recruits have trouble passing the insurance exam, according to the Wall Street Journal. While this might seem like some “scam,” it’s not.
Remember above how we mentioned they are the #2 issuer of life insurance in North America? Well according to public record sourced here on Business Wire (Primerica is a publicly-traded company) each agent averaged .2 policies per month. That means the average agent writes 2 life insurance policies EVERY YEAR. For comparison purposes, full-time agents write policies every day.
With that said, they are a legitimate company that offers credible life insurance policies.
The reason we present this information first is so you know that your Primerica agent is a recruiter first and life insurance agent second. For most Primerica agents this is a side-hustle, so you’re not getting the advice or help of a life insurance expert.
Sure your friend or family member that’s pitching you a term life insurance policy may be licensed to sell insurance, but that doesn’t mean they’re qualified to give you the best advice. They’ve likely only known Primerica and don’t know any better.
And I feel the need to add this – Primerica agents are good people trying to protect families. The point I’ll be making below is you can do much better than their term life insurance offering.
We always recommend reviewing other life insurance agencies that are independent and offer multiple quotes like Policy Genius, SelectQuote, or our own agency.
3 Facts You Should Know About Primerica Life Insurance
Now that you understand the marketing methods of Primerica life insurance, let’s get into the review of their actual life insurance offerings.
Fact #1: Primerica Only Offers Term Life Insurance
Primerica agents can only offer 1 life insurance product – term life insurance. They’re trained on blanket advice that “buy term and invest the difference” is the ONLY way to go.
We agree that term life insurance is the best option for most families, but there are situations where other products are better.
Since Primerica agents only offer Primerica Life Insurance products, this means they don’t shop the market for you. If you get a rate higher than you think because a Primerica underwriter thought your cholesterol was a little high, they’ll advise you to take the offer without checking other options.
Term life insurance the way Primerica presents it is a commodity. You should find the best price for the coverage amount and term length needed to protect your family. And every life insurance company will look at your risk differently, some more favorably than others.
For only offering term life insurance, we expect more from their term life insurance offering. The Prime America term life insurance offer has grown stale over the last decade and lacks 2 core features of newer term life insurance products on the market.
One of the biggest benefits of a term life insurance policy is its conversion feature. This is a feature that almost every other life insurance company on the market has, but “Prime America” does not.
A life insurance conversion lets you convert your term life insurance policy to a permanent policy without having to go through underwriting again. No one really plans on converting their policy to a permanent one when they initially purchase term life insurance, but it’s common for situations to arise throughout the term of your policy where you might consider it.
For example, suppose your policy is about to expire and you can’t qualify for coverage because of a health issue you developed. The conversion option lets you keep your coverage in the same health class that you applied. This can be a great option for your family down the road. Especially if you aren’t in as good health condition as you were when you originally applied for the term policy. The ability to convert your term policy could save you thousands of dollars on life insurance down the road, so we almost always recommend it.
You don’t know how much your life can change. You could have more children, change jobs, move states, etc. And because of this, your term life insurance policy needs to be flexible. There is no reason your term life insurance policy shouldn’t have this conversion option. Even if you don’t think you’ll ever need the conversion policy, it’s nice to have it there just in case.
The second core feature Primerica is missing is living benefits. The competitive term life insurance policies on the market are offering living benefits, which means you can access your death benefit if you get diagnosed with cancer, have a heart or stroke – among many other triggers.
Living benefits are one of the fastest-growing segments in term life insurance because it doesn’t cost that much more than traditional term life insurance. In fact, if you get quotes for term life insurance from companies like American National, North American, Foresters, and dozens of others you’ll see their rates are much better than Primerica and they having living benefits and conversion options.
Fact #2: Primerica has Expensive Life Insurance Rates
Run an instant life insurance quote and compare it to your Primerica life insurance rates. You’ll notice that there are much better life insurance options out there with the same financial ratings. The policies will offer the exact same benefits, amount of coverage, and length of terms, except for a lower monthly payment.
Primerica is a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock exchange (its symbol is PRI) and has investors to answer to. All that matters is profit and Primerica has an army of life insurance agents selling their overpriced term life insurance.
Primerica’s “Term to 95” Policy Rates
Let’s review the Primerica “Term to 95” product that most Primerica agents are selling.
Here’s a sample illustration from Primerica for a 35-year-old in the standard health class and a smoker.
- The annual payment of $855 is guaranteed level until age 55.
- At age 55, the rates increase every 5 years until age 70.
- At age 70, the rates increase yearly.
If you compared this same client to the open market and ran quotes for a 35-year-old male, standard smoker, you would get over 20 companies that are less expensive. Many of them would include living benefits that would let you access the death benefit if you had a heart attack, cancer, stroke, or another qualifying trigger.
So you could pay less and get more benefits.
You can typically beat Primerica for any age and health condition. In other words, you can find much better rates than Primerica for term life insurance.
Fact #3: Primerica Declines “High-Risk” Applicants
If you have any moderate to major health issues, it will be difficult to get coverage with Prime America.
We’ve helped many people find affordable life insurance coverage who were declined life insurance by Primerica.
Don’t let health issues hinder you from trying to obtain coverage. Check out companies who specialize in life insurance for people with health problems like Banner Life or AARP Life Insurance. Almost anyone will be able to get coverage, though there are disadvantages to them as well, such as higher rates.
Several different things could make you a “high-risk applicant”, things like having a preexisting health condition, using tobacco, or being obese. All of these would cause you to be declined with Prime America, but not with many other life insurance companies.
In fact, this is what prompted us to write this article. Too many people think they are uninsurable, but in reality, they just used the wrong company for their risk. If you’ve ever been declined for life insurance by Prime America, don’t worry. You can still find affordable coverage. It is easy to get quotes from credible companies.
If you find yourself in this category, we’re high risk life insurance experts, so please do not hesitate to contact us.
Primerica Has Strong Financial Ratings
When you speak with a Primerica agent, they will tell you about the A+ AM Best financial strength rating.
While this is true, know that almost all of their competitors have A or A+ ratings and still beat their life insurance rates. Their A+ rating is no better than the dozens of other companies that have received an A+ rating with lower premiums.
Features of Primerica’s Life Insurance
Primerica doesn’t sell a bad term life insurance policy. In fact, if you consider their financial ratings above, and the policy itself, it’s a good option.
The problem is, their policy offers the same benefits as others at a higher cost. Below are a few benefits of their term policies.
Primerica’s Living Benefits are Not Unique
Your Primerica agent will tell you about the “living benefits” of their policy which other life insurance companies with less expensive rates included with their policies as well.
There’s nothing special about their “living benefits” over other carriers’ benefits which you can get for cheaper.
Primerica has Quick Claims Paying & So Do Others…
Most likely, you’ll hear a story of how someone’s mother or father passed away and Primerica paid their claim within 1 week. I’ve heard the same story from several agents.
It’s a canned response they’re trained to give to sell you “peace of mind”. The truth is, if you’re outside the 2 year contestability period of a life insurance policy, almost every life insurance company will have a check-in your hand within a week.
How to Compare Primerica Life Insurance vs Other Companies
Primerica, aka “Prime America”, agents are masters at “spinning” the truth about their expensive life insurance offerings. They have to because it’s the only life insurance they can sell.
Our Primerica life insurance review is intended to get you the information your Primerica life insurance agent wouldn’t ever provide, similar to our Zander Life Insurance Review and Globe Life Review.
There is nothing inherently wrong with Primerica Life Insurance as a company. They are legit, they aren’t scamming anyone, but they are almost never the best option for life insurance.
With life insurance, there’s no reason not to find the lowest possible cost for your policy. Don’t waste money paying more for a policy that you could get for a better rate somewhere else.
Get Quotes from Primerica & Other Carriers Before You Decide
Contact an independent life insurance agent so you can compare policies from different companies. This will ensure you find the best fit for your needs and don’t overpay for a policy from Prime America.
The bottom line is before you decide on Primerica (Prime America), or any other company for life insurance, we suggest reviewing our 10 Best Life Insurance Companies.
Educate yourself on other options that could offer similar (or better) coverage at a lower cost.
Here are some other life insurance agencies to review along with Primerica.
Being Recruited by Primerica Life Insurance: A True Story
July 2016: A Real E-mail from someone being recruited by Primerica with information about their “Getting Rich” book.
Hello, I’m writing you to express my appreciation for your honest review of Primerica. I also appreciate the stellar interpersonal communication job you’ve done in the comments section. I recently became familiar with Primerica through an attorney that I work for as an estate planning paralegal. She mostly does family law but wanted to expand her estate planning practice, so she hired me.
Before I knew I was even hired for the paralegal position, she was talking to me about this “other aspect” she wanted me to try. That was Primerica. I was under the impression that this “life-insurance thing” was part of the estate planning gig. She then said she would pay for my $99 licensing fee right then. I had no idea that this was completely separate from the paralegal job. Once I realized that, I told her I really wanted to focus on estate planning and learning everything about the software, Wealthdox. But she kept reverting the conversation back to how I could pay for law school with Primerica… I wasn’t buying.
After going to a couple of meetings with her in order to get her off my back, I wanted to vomit. I don’t even know where to begin… but here’s some observations: I did go to one meeting with “third party authors” who wrote a book called “getting rich.” It was all about how other insurance companies are screwing people. They of course said that Primerica is the only company that will not. They then casually said that this book was written on request of the Primerica CEO!!!
Then they tried to equate themselves with consumer reports and the wall-street journal because they also advocated for Term and investing the difference. I couldn’t help but laugh! The wall-street journal didn’t recommend Primerica, they just recommend Term. They are a third party; these “authors” were not.
Then they went on about how if you buy ten of their books you’ll get 100 clients… And these books are only available to Primerica agents. (That’s not a red flag.) Yet, people lined up to buy…(Vomit-tears). The irony was palatable! After that I told my boss that I was very excited about taking the lead on building her estate practice, but had no interest in Primerica.
You are 100% correct!
Truth is, and the biggest issue with most or all companies is their agents. Most agents representing other companies would rather sell Universal Life, Index Universal Life, Variable Universal Life, and Whole Life because there is much incentives in doing so without looking into an individuals specific needs. Sometimes a person feels that cheaper insurance is better, but at the same time one may need to look at a company that is more conservative. Most life insurance companies are doing whatever in their power to create a product with cheap prices, but you have to consider the facts that as good as a promise is, is the company standing behind it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a 100 year old company compared to a young company like Primerica. What comes down to the bottom line is, which company will make it easier for a family when a claims arises regardless if it’s before or after the 2 year incontestable clause. That all comes down to friends or family experiences on claims and customer services from a company that will make an individual choose which company to do business with. Sometimes a person may preferred to choose Primerica over another competitive company and sometimes, not, but the question here is that the person has bought a policy that makes sense to them.
Customer service? Lets be frank here. When it comes to term insurance, its a one shot deal. Its not like there is a need for monthly followups with 99% of the clients. Its important to get the best value up front when the purchase is made. With only their in-house products, and up to 11 levels of commission paid off each policy, Primerica is almost always 30-100% higher priced, 100% of the time. And lastly, according to their own annual reports, their salesforce turnover rate is approx 35% annually, and the average policies sold per rep is a mere 2.28 PER YEAR (2014). That would hardly make them experts at anything, other than maybe recruiting.
I am interested in getting my Life insurance license. I am currently licensed in Health Insurance and specialize in Medicare. Please send me info on how your training process works and how to get assistance with the life insurance exam.
Thanks,
Merrissia
First off, the only people that ever refer to “Primerica” as “Prime America” are people that have no idea what they are talking about when discussing the company.
Second, the company has been in business for 37 years (starting as “A.L. Williams”, named after the founder) and has always held to the belief that selling insurance for the death benefit and investing money for retirement should be two different accounts.
Proponents of the “cash value” policies in all their various forms don’t tell you that you pay 6 times what Primerica will charge you for the same death benefit. What they will tell you is that their policy has a separate account that builds “cash value” and that you can access this money when needed. They leave out the part that says that you don’t get the cash value AND the death benefit. If you die, your family gets the death benefit and the insurance company keeps the cash value (that they have been investing and earning interest on all this time). If you have taken out the cash value (and your policy hasn’t died because of it) and you die, then your family gets the death benefit less the amount of money you pulled out of the cash value.
3. Yeah, as to that whole recruiting thing. There are two ways to earn money at Primerica, in sales or in management. If you want to do sales you make your commission just like at any other company. If you want to manage your own office and make money off what other people are doing in your office (you know, like real estate brokers do), then you will need to recruit people to work for you…just like at any other company.
It sounds to me that the author has an axe to grind.
Alistair,
No axe to grind here. Primerica is good for an independent agent’s business because Primerica’s policy holders eventually realize they can get a much less expensive term life insurance policy after having a conversation with one of us. Primerica offers term life insurance at inflated prices – any independent agent can easily offer the same thing you’re offering for less.
I say “Prime America” because a lot of consumers refer to it as that. Even your current policy holders. To say your clients don’t know what they’re talking about is a little harsh.
Being in business for 37 years doesn’t mean anything – I’d bet over 80% of the life insurance companies on the market have been in business over 50 years.
Lastly, consumers want to protect their family with life insurance. After they take care of protecting their family, they don’t want to be offered to come to a meeting about an “opportunity” and be sold into selling for you guys. There’s a great discussion of Primerica’s tactics here.
I have a friend from central america who is killing it selling Primerica, but she knows nothing about the business outside of what they teach her in those meetings. She got me to attend one, and its like any other multi-level marketing “scam”, they hype the hell out of how much money you will make and encourage you to get your friends to come to the meetings so they get in on it. etc. etc.
Actually Jeff, a lot of Primericans refer to their own recruits who decide to leave as losers. In a typical year, 84% of those who pay to join end up leaving before even getting their license. And 35% of their licensed reps also decide to leave. And we’re not talking about an unusual year there. Over the last 5 years, theyve recruited 1.04 million, so the dropout rate is huge.
I was recruited by Primerica 2 yrs ago I paid my $99 and $25 and went to my first meeting my recruiter and everyone else I met in management were very nice but after my first meeting I knew it wasn’t for me it was almost like a cult, about getting my family and friends involved and they way they told us how to do it was deceitful in my opinion, after deciding this was a no for me no one would take my calls but I was like a dog with a bone I called headquarters and I was able to get back my money as they had promised before I signed up, it’s not a scam but it’s not for everyone.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I love working for Primerica! I have learned so much about the business and we are very dedicated to educating and helping people with insurance and investments. I find it pretty unprofessional of you to bad mouth a company as large as we are knowing what you say you know. Do any companies have 100% perfect employees? I’ve not seen one yet, but I will say this, our Primerica group is dedicated to educating and helping people by not offering bad policies. Whole life, variable life, and universal life are not in people’s best interest……you should know this. If you sell it, it’s more about you than the customer. I was sold whole life years ago, I know why it’s a poor insurance choice. Not only that, but financial gurus like Dave Ramsey ad Susie Orman agree. Term life with proper investing, teaching self insurance, and building wealth for our clients is our mission. I am proud to be part of Primerica!
Karen,
I’m not being unprofessional. I’m educating consumers. Please correct any false statement I made.
As you said, you’re still learning the business. I know you’re proud to be a part of Primerica now (their kool aid is strong!), just ask yourself how it’s in your client’s best interest to offer only 1 life insurance company? How is it that we’re replacing Primerica life insurance policies just by using a different company? If you’re truly about helping your clients with term life insurance, you should highly consider going independent and contact your local IMO.
Karen, the term vs whole life argument is yesterday’s news, tho one which Primerica trains you on to avoid Term vs Term battles. In fact, Primerica only has a 3% market share of the entire term industry, and at least in Canada, the 20 or so spot checks I’ve done online, Primerica was between 67% and 107% higher in Premiums, and typically came in outside of 20th place, 100% of the time.
A whole life or “level” option policy pays cash or death benefit not both. But an increasing option pays both cash AND death benefit. Primerica agents DO NOT get full training on other types of insurances beside term insurance because they do not OFFER IT, so I forgive them for misunderstanding this.
Do you help client get out of debt? Do you really offer the lowest cost option, like term life for your clients, or do you get paid more to sell whole life aka convertible polices, and of they convert you get paid again ? Do you truthfully share details of how your policies can canabilize over time and become too expensive for clients to maintain for life? Do you share these detials?
Just saying our philosophies are to well educate clients to make informed decisions that make sense for them and their families not our pocket books.
As I’ve learned about other policies, I’m not sure how you feel good selling any but term and invest the difference.
Are you licensed to sell securities?
Have a wonderful day !!
Katie,
I won’t take your comments and accusations offensively – I know your hearts in the right place. So let me re-frame a few things for you:
Do you really think one company (in your case, Primerica) is right for everyone? Every day I get people contacting us because either (1) They were declined with Primerica for health reasons and I’m able to secure them coverage to protect their families OR (2) they see our instant quotes and we’re able to get them better rates. So to answer your question – yes, I do offer the lowest cost options…every. single. time. Do you?
If you want to talk about conversions – what happens if your client’s policy is about to expire and they were just diagnosed with cancer, heart disease or anything? With Primerica, there’s nothing you can do because there’s no conversion options. With conversion options, they can extend their coverage with no evidence of insurability. How can Primerica deny that benefit to your clients when 95%+ of term policies on the market have conversion options?
To clarify – we only offer term life insurance and guaranteed universal life insurance here. Both have guarantees so they won’t “canabalize”. Your accusations are simply that and nothing more.
I’m just happy that lots of people are finding this article so they know the truth.
Just to clarify, if your Term policy with Primerica is going to expire and you have health or medical conditions regardless of the severity, you are guaranteed insurability without having to requalify.
Nate – You’re not telling the whole story so let me elaborate. When a Primerica term life insurance policy expires, the policy becomes “annually renewable” to age 95. In other words, the price will continue to increase up to age 95. Annually renewable rates are rarely affordable and always increasing. If someone has a health condition that won’t let them qualify for traditional life insurance, it’s true they don’t have to re-qualify with Primerica, but they won’t be able to afford the premiums…so what’s the point?
This is not the same as having a conversion option where you can structure something with guarantees and within budget. For any Primerica term life insurance policy holders reading this – look at your policy. There will be a page with a chart of annual premiums for each year of your policy. Look at the cost of your life insurance after your term expires and see just how unaffordable it will be for you.
Hi Jeff,
I have recently received my insurance license and I am looking for a company that offers a win/win product and approach to insurance. Do you have any suggestions as to companies that I can contact to apply for appointments?
Thanks…
There is something they can do…..they renew the policy…no need to convert to something they don’t need.
You missed the point. The renewed premium can go from 100/month to 1000/month, so to ask your clients to keep renewing is unrealistic. A permanent policy could end the renewing cycle by keeping something stable at an affordable rate forever!
That sir is inaccurate. First you infer to Katie that if you get sick before your initial expiration of a Primerica term policy, you won’t be able to be covered by the company anymore. When Nate cleared the air that Primerica offers guaranteed insurability, you said our policies convert to annually renewable. That is also untrue. It is every 5 years before the attained age of 70 then annually thereafter to 95, again with no health questions. What is not being taken into account is that the financial experts like the ones mentioned by Karen above agree that Life Insurance was never meant to be a permanent need. It was meant to protect against a premature loss. We never claimed to be the cheapest, but you also don’t take into account the investment options we offer as well as the debt solutions and overall Financial Need Analysis we do for families. In other words, we try to help families get the coverage they need for now, all the while, trying to get them to a place in their lives when they don’t need it anymore. how can you recommend an amount of coverage for a family if you as the agent are not aware of where a family is financially and where they are trying to go? If you want to be transparent with the consumers, why don’t you explain to them how Whole and Universal policies work? Why don’t you tell them just how expensive those policies are per thousand of coverage? Why don’t you explain the “cash value” options in those policies? The devil is surely in the details of those. You say Primerica is spinning the truth, yet you don’t seem to disagree with what we’re saying (A+ rating, quick claims pay, etc). It’s not spin if its the truth. The true value in Primerica is the myriad of things we offer outside of the policy itself. I’m licensed in both Life and Securities and love what I do. If someone is declined coverage with me, I advise them to try another route because protecting their family is most important. Lastly, before I joined Primerica, I spent time with an independent Life company. I saw first hand and heard first hand how they brag about getting one over on a client. I’ve had experience on the “other side” so I’ve seen how both work. For my money, and integrity, I’m staying right here with PRI. We’re not perfect, no company is once you introduce the human element, but our model is legit and respectable.
BJ,
Correction. I said you couldn’t convert a Primerica policy. Every term policy will annually renew every year at expiration (at unaffordable rates) – that’s not a benefit unique to Primerica. I love that you guys spin it as guaranteed insurability – nice touch.
Are you referring to financial experts like Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman? You realize they’re financial entertainers, right? They get paid to say the things they say (Ramsey by Zander Insurance and Orman by SelectQuote). To say that life insurance was NEVER meant to be a permanent need is close minded. Primerica is teaching all agents to think the same way, so I can’t fault you for your beliefs.
You guys keep talking about whole life and universal life and we sell around 90% of our clients a term policy because it’s in their best interest. Many life insurance companies have much better products and pricing than Primerica term life insurance and we believe in giving the consumer the best policy they can qualify for. And the other 10% need permanent coverage because they have permanent needs. To answer you question, yes we explain everything in the illustration we have our clients sign and they understand everything before placing coverage in force.
The latest LIMRA stats show over 50% of consumers are purchasing life insurance online and over the phone. The way people want to purchase life insurance is shifting from belly to belly to online. Some want that convenience to just take care of their family and not go through a whole sales pitch for debt solutions and investments. I know because we talk to A LOT of consumers who are searching for Primerica reviews online, find our article and tell us why they didn’t purchase from their Primerica agent. While we offer a full needs analysis to all our clients, many don’t want one. We are serving 2 very different types of consumers.
Just because someone is paid to say something doesn’t mean they’re lying. I have NEVER walked into a home and had a client completely understand how their policy works. Most are shocked to find their whole life policies, which are usually very minimal amounts of face value, work the way they do. I never said Primerica is a one-size fits all company. I don’t know who you heard say that. You are broad brushing a company based on something you might have heard someone say. We never said we were the cheapest, but that we DO offer competitive rates. We have a target market of people that we attempt to help. Again, you are wrong about what happens at expiration. Check again. I can literally post the information from our company right here if you like. We are not mindless zombies brainwashed by Primerica. That’s pretty insulting. If a person is not interested in analyses, and just want coverage, that’s certainly their choice to do as they desire. If you want numbers, why don’t you look at the number of people who are in loads of debt with no help. Look at the amount of people that are NOT on pace to retire comfortably. We address these things because it is a genuine need that MILLIONS of people are dealing with in this country. when you say “sales pitch” its almost as if you’re devaluing the real need for services like we have. Now, if all they’re interested in is coverage, that’s fine. I’ll give you an example. I sat with a guy who was paying nearly $250/month for life insurance for himself, his wife and his kids. He had it for about a year and hadn’t developed any cash in his “savings.” I was able to give him much more coverage, save him over $100/month and then redirect that extra $100/month into a separate mutual fund investment to help supplement his retirement, all the while not taking a single extra penny out of his wallet. He was happy. Help me understand how that is a bad thing. And no, I didn’t ask him to work with me. By the time his term expires, his mortgage will be finished, his kids will be grown and he will be right at or just past retirement age with a nest egg from his current job and our mutual fund investment. And if anything changes, all he has to do is call me and we make alterations to his plan for no additional fees. Once he gets there, there is either no more need for coverage because his financial responsibilities are minimal, or he can greatly reduce his coverage amount as there will no longer be a need for a large policy. I really question your motives here sir.
The fact that you only offer Primerica term life insurance means you’re “1 size fits all”.
That example you give, I would recommend term as well.
Look, I don’t think Primerica agents are bad people. We disagree on a lot of things which is fine – it’s good discourse. From what I’ve seen:
1. Anyone with a Primerica term life insurance policy can do much better.
2. Anyone using your DebtWatchers program should cancel. That shouldn’t be a monthly fee – it should be a free service.
3. Anyone with Primerica Mutual Funds should look at no load alternatives. Primerica is extremely limited.
I don’t see a reason to ever work with a Primerica agent. No offense to you or any of the Primerica agents reading this, but I would never let any of my family or friends keep any of these products. You’re all doing the right thing for your clients, but you’re not doing the “best” thing.
Here’s a story of an ex Primerica Agent who took 16 years to see the light (FFC in the article is Primerica): https://sites.google.com/site/ffccloaked/
Really BJ? So Primerica would actually pay a celebrity who’s going to say “Primerica overcharged me”??? You’re correct in saying paid endorsers wont necessarily lie, but I can guarantee Primerica wouldn’t pay them if they didn’t like their opinion, and if you ask enough people, someone is going speak on your behalf!
Hi Jeff, I’m so glad I found your post.
I was recruited by Primerica by a family friend recently and I am currently studying to get my license. I walked into Primerica believing it was an office job, but since the very first interview, I had my doubts. Although everyone was very nice to me and are really passionate about helping people, they all seem to repeat the same information over and over again. I feel like i’m in a cult. I am required to attend a 1 – 2 hour meeting via Zoom 5-6 times a week and all my family has been contacted by my upline to be sold insurance or recruited. They also contacted my references on my application in an attempt to recruit my previous managers to work for Primerica! I have a cousin whose family sort of cut us off because of being contacted repeatedly for an appointment.
So far, because my relatives have not cooperated with Primerica, my upline decided to teach me to cold-call by taking me to several gas stations around the area and showing me how to recruit unsuspecting people. I don’t know a thing about insurance and since i’m young, I feel like i’m being taken advantage of. I really don’t like recruiting people, and it gives off predatory vibes the way Primerica preaches to new trainees that they will earn lots of money, but don’t explain that they have to continuously recruit people to get a share of whatever the person they recruited sold.
I would like to know if it is normal for insurance companies to recruit and sell insurance at the same time. I would gladly work selling insurance, but i don’t want to recruit people or screw people over financially in order to make a living.
I just want to know if there are honest insurance companies out there that I could work for.
– A troubled millennial
Brittany, thanks for sharing your experience.
This is not how normal life insurance companies operate. There are much better options to sell life insurance than Primerica.
Good read
I am glad that I found this. I went yesterday to a Primerica “interview session” and from the start I felt uncomfortable and questioned there methods and what they were trying to sell. Yes I am desperately seeking employment and when they called me I was under the impression that they were interested in me because I am studying accounting and seeking an entry level position to get my career started. Was I in for a surprise. First off the people that were in the session were the absolute most unprofessionally dressed group of people I have ever seen in my entire life. I already felt out of place and was feeling uncomfortable about the whole gimmick. So they go threw the presentation showing you the whole rule of 72 and explaining that there goal is to help middle America become financial stable and competent. Which to someone hearing it for the first time along with all the other information in the session sounds great. Not my first time hearing or learning this so I grew even more weary about the whole thing. After that I met with the agent or recruiter. I handed him my resume and military service record as I would any other interview. He didn’t even look at it. He didn’t seem interested that I have an accounting background and was looking to use my knowledge to the benefit of the company. I knew about the $99 for the state licensing but was not told about the $25 monthly charge. They gave me the impression that they were the best, which is cliche of course, and they will help families get out of debt and prepare financial stability for retirement. I am all for that. But the recruiter just continued to tell me go after people I know and get them on track. Absolutely not. This along with other reviews I’ve seen has given me everything I need to know. I couldn’t agree with you more with people purchasing insurance and doing research online to see what best fits them. I see there pitch is to go after middle America because that’s the target group that really doesn’t have financial education at all. Thank you Jeff for posting all of this. You really saved me a lot of time by not wasting my knowledge and potential on a company of this nature.
You’re welcome. Best of look finding employment and thank you for your service.
Jeff Root,
I am having second thoughts about joining Primerica now after reading most of the negative comments and family members telling me not to join. They made everything sound so legit by hyping the product during the first meeting. I’ve been scammed before and I don’t know if this company will do the same. Seems like a pyramid scam to be quite honest. They are holding another meeting on Saturday and they want me to come. But I’m not sure.
My advice is to trust your instincts.
Hello, me and my wife recently got a 30-year fixed term life policy with PrimeRica. I am 38, non-smoker with monthly premium of $39 . . she is 37, “preferred member status” with a monthly premium of $29 . . our policies are for $200K . . . the rates seem very competitive, but I was a bit bothered today when I received the policy details. When they came to our house, they provided us a rate sheet that showcased premiums that were “guaranteed for 20 years”, so I asked “what about the other 10?” , as I wanted to get a rate that was fixed over the entire 30-year term. She replied by stating “Oh, don’t mind that . . your scheduled premium will never go up for the entire 30 years . . .HOWEVER, upon reading the detailed info I received today, the “scheduled” monthly premiums are the same for all 30 years, but the “Maximum Monthly Premiums” start going up in year 21 — in year 21, they rates jump by a total of $500 a month!! (and only go higher from there) . . . . Is this normal practice? Technically, the rep did not lie to me, but she damn well knew what I was trying to ask . . she knew I wanted to know if the rate would ever go up — by the looks of this sheet, it can go up TREMENDOUSLY after the first 20 years is up. I feel agitated. Should I be angry, or is this normal practice for most insurance companies??
Brian, this isn’t a normal practice for life insurance companies or agents for that matter. Most 30 year term policies are guaranteed level for 30 years – both the premiums and the coverage, no exceptions. Your rep is just trying to make a commission by not telling you the full truth. I’d bet your rate will go up after 20 years.
I ran rates at preferred for your wife at 30 year term and she can get it for $22/mo with preferred rates (I didn’t run your rates because I don’t know your health class). Less expensive, with better guarantees. If you truly want 30 year, level coverage go with any of the companies that our internet quoter displays.
Also, if you don’t want to take a medical exam again, ask us or any other agent about Transamerica’s TOP program. They’ll take your approval and offer the same health class. They’d be around $28/mo for her for a $200k 30 year term.
Jeff, thanks so much for the reply.
I sent the Primerica agent an email, asking her to clarify how the rates worked and if I would end up paying hundreds of dollars more at year #21 . . . at the end of the email, I asked her not to reply by phone. I requested that she respond by email so I can read everything clearly without any misunderstandings AND so I could have her reply on record.
…two days later, I get a response via TEXT asking me if she can give me a quick call because it will only take a “couple minutes” to clarify everything
I responded to the text by stating that I was too busy tending to crying babies, so I once again requested that she send an email.
Five minutes later, she replied with another text . . “Well, what about the evening? Can I call this evening if that is a better time for you.”
…I replied by stating “I would really prefer an email response”
Minutes later, she replied again via text: “It would be a bit much to address all of your questions via email. Do you think you and you wife would be free to talk on the phone any day this week or next week?”
….I gave up on her after
Unbelievable, right?? You are happy to sign me up for 30 years of payment premiums, but won’t take 5 or 10 minutes to write me an email. WOW!
I am looking for a good term life policy. I have no health issues.
Hi Mr. Charles, we’ve sent you an email.
Can you tell me if this is the company that will pay a agent 50% of commissions and pay for the E&O to use his license? Is that even legal?
I’m not sure what Primerica pays their agents, maybe a Primerica representative can chime in.
From what i know, a street rep gets 25% of the first years premiums. As he moves up a level he gets 35% of personal sales and 10% override of downline sales. An RVP gets about 100% on personal sales, and overrides on all downlines. These are all payable against the first years premiums only. After that, Primerica corporate gets everything until the policy expires. If a policy gets cancelled during the first year, the rep has to repay all commissions received. Ultimately, there are up to 11 levels who receive a cut of every policy sold, hence why theyre so expensive.
I’ve been heavily recruited by Primerica, but have ran into this website, I’m very interested in becoming a financial advisor, but i am concerned after reading this.
I found this Forbes article most enlightening;
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamtanner/2013/05/09/love-it-or-hate-it-ripoffreport-is-in-expansion-mode/
It appears Primerica actually pays a fee to subvert popular opinions. If they stoop that low, what else are they hiding?
I’ve found this to be quite helpful w/my decision on if I should use Primerica or not. Can you, please, send me an email with more information about the term life policies that your have?
I’m not even sure if you still get anything from here, since the last comment was a little over a month ago.
Thank you!
People from Primerica are so brainwashed. They act like they’re these crusaders that are going to help everyone save money and get out of dept with their product. If you’re in Primerica and you want to help people you’re working for the wrong company.
Thanks for the information. I am still confused about (2) things: their claim of “renewable term policies without proving Insurability” and their argument against Whole Life that the Insured’s beneficiaries do not receive BOTH the death benefit and the Cash Value. To keep this addressable and brief, I will divide this into (2) separate posts.
First off, I am still pretty new at learning about Life Insurance and the various products. *Whew* there is a lot to learn.
One of the things I have learned (so-far) about Term Insurance is the policy renews annually without proving Insurability (passing a physical) within the Term of the policy. IE: if you have a 20-year Term, the policy automatically renews each year (providing you continue to pay the premium) and you do not have to have a physical exam every year throughout the 20-years.
Now Primerica Reps claim that once the policy’s Term expires, in order to reapply for another Term policy the client will NOT need a new physical exam. They will only need to pay the premiums. Is this correct?
This seems to describe a Level Term policy. Or does a Level Term policy also require a medical exam at the start of an additional Term of coverage?
Part 2: Primerica’s argue against Whole Life because the Insured’s beneficiaries do not receive BOTH the death benefit and the Cash Value…as if this is bad business practice.
When someone has a Whole Life policy, doesn’t the insurance companies carry the risk? So if I have 40K of Cash Value in my Whole Life, and I die that’s 40K less that the Insurance Company has to pay out for my death benefit.
Win for the insurance Company!
Win for me since my beneficiaries still receive the face amount of the policy.
So why is this bad?
Now, if I borrow 10K from that 40K Cash Value, my death benefit will be 10K (+ interest) LESS than my death benefit.
Why is this bad? Money borrowed isn’t interest-free.
So can someone please tell me why Primerica reps even bring these points up?
I can only assume it’s because “the greedy life insurance agents only care about commissions”.
If those are the only reasons Primerica Reps bring it up, all I can do is hope and pray I stay true to my good morals and honestly care more about serving the clients than profiting from them.
Thanks for taking the time to read and answer…
Just a thought: Doesn’t Universal Whole Life have an Option B to receive BOTH the death benefit AND the Cash Value?
In your experience, Jeff, how often are these sold?
Primerica is a legit company but their recruiting approach is a scam. They convince people to come to a financial presentation or for a job. Why not ask them at front if they are interested in selling life insurance?.. Then they do this good presentation about savings, investments, retirement, debt, credit cards and life insurance. At the end, it is just about selling Life insurance!! The rest of the stuff (5% of the presentation was about life insurance) you cannot sell easily because you need to pass FINRA exams which are difficult and need 1 or 2 years of study. They will keep on pushing to recruit people….???. why? It’s a Pyramid scheme! My recruiter said no, but it is. Otherwise they should not insist so much on recruiting people. Conclusion Primerica is a legitimate company with legitimate products and a deceitful selling approach. Do not do it.
Well, my husband and I have no savings and we have never bought a house. We are in our early to mid 60’s and our term life insurance will end in 3 years. I was not aware of no conversion with Primerica and I don’t know how we will survive with a higher renewal insurance with them. I feel like it is money wasted. I guess I will start to look for another ins co. before ours expire. I’m saying this because a few of us need our insurance to be for the rest of our lives.
Claudette,
Your Primerica agent should have made that clear to you. You have options though. You can look outside of Primerica and purchase a small coverage amount policy guaranteed level for the rest of your life so at least your final expenses will be covered. We’d need to know more about your situation – feel free to give us a call. Best of luck.
If you have a Prime America insurance policy and cannot afford to re-new does the policy have a cash value?
Jean, no the policy does not have any cash value.
Jeff Root
I have been paying Primerica premiums for most of my life. I am 73 and fully intend to live to be 100. My health is perfect, work two jobs, do not take any medication. So when I turn 95 my insurance is cancelled and I lose all of my money?
Unfortunately, that’s correct. You’re still young enough to purchase some permanent coverage if you’d like to supplement. I’d price it out if your intention is to leave something behind.
Alright my two cents. Life insurance is very dependent on each individuals net worth, needs and usage for what its protecting. Any high end life insurance policy//case should have a high in depth analysis which gives multiple options and explanations to a client. Primerica has a market and place for the lower-mid end clients who have basic needs but believe me when I say this (no offense to Primerica agents) you have to be out of your mind to go to an institution that offers only term insurance with the inability to “truly” shop around or quote other carriers for comparisons to give a client options and an unbiased analysis… That’s my biggest problem. Primerica is a real company but it specifically targets lower income “uneducated” (for lack of better word) individuals. For my entire career running quote comparisons I have never seen Primerica even in the top 10 when running comparison quotes. Primerica agents are term insurance agents. However they’re in no way shape or form experts in the field of life insurance. Also if you’re in the financial services//insurance world being an advisor and getting clients is your number one priority… not recruiting for the company. In today’s day and age you have to be able to provide a value for a client. It’s ironic when Primerica reps think its ethical selling a term product when extremely competitive and usually better alternatives exist… they simply do not have access to them.. Both term insurance and perm insurance have bad products and great products, having a philosophy of selling only proprietary owned term insurance makes me smile because it ignores so many variables. Sorry for the rant but so many bad insurance reps put a tarnish on the industry and the problem is they don’t realize it. Passing the life & health exam is the baby exam allowing you access to sell. The real insurance world is vastly more complex and requires way more knowledge. If you plan to stay in the industry long term get yourself credentials like the CFP & CLU and constantly keep learning by attending carrier meetings along with reading up on any potential changes and news that occur at companies. Invest in yourself and invest in your clients.
Best of Luck
Hi,
After reading these comments a few things come to mind:
I was once with Primerica and allowed my license to expire because life got in the way. I learned over time how some financial products work which hurt people. Companies selling products and keeping the fine details from the consumers. Whoa! It happens consistently, all the time. As far as I can see, no company in the market place is out shining the others. Financial services is truly a business of skullduggery.
Please, correct me if I’m wrong. (As surely you will) what about All State, Travelers, Farmers, Geico, AAA and the like. Don’t all these guys sell their own line of insurance? I’m surprised no one has mentioned this, as if Primerica’s the lone rider. They’re not. Sure they aren’t offering all lines but Travelers never offered me alternatives and neither did USAA!
Also, I haven’t heard a word about my Primerica policy which offers increasing coverage for both of us yearly, without medical exams, unless we decline it. In my opinion the policy’s aren’t over priced, mainly, and because we bought them over 10 years ago. Haven’t heard much about age either but all this about cost, cost, cost, isn’t age highly important? We’re typically healthier when young so that factors in too. (So get them when they’re young)! My Primerica life insurance policy is one of my favorite financial products owned. I really dig and appreciate that increasing coverage. As far as I know, I haven’t heard of any other insurance company offering that benefit. But I could be wrong…
I’m thinking about reentering the business and as far as I can see with all the contempt in the marketplace (sorra like this), I’m not sure there is any place I’d rather be then Primerica.
Furthermore, as a veteran and ex EMT (first responder) one of my fav facts about this terrible villain multi-level company is that after 9/11 they were among the first (if not the first) to pay out death benefits to survivors. With that, Bravo Prime America!
In short, it’s always interesting to observe how a business grows on the expense of putting another down. Hopefully the American people are slick enough to see these things for themselves.
For what it’s worth
HEG
Hilary
Geico and Allstate don’t have life insurance offerings.
If we’re going to go into benefits like the option to increase coverage (including your premiums – it’s an upsell), lets talk about other benefits where you can get a term life insurance policy for the same amount as Primerica and get living benefits. Meaning you can access your death benefit for cash in the even of a cancer diagnosis, heart attack, stroke and other triggers. That’s much more value than the option to increase since one can just buy more coverage.
Regarding, paying after 9/11. Almost every life insurance company paid claims within 2 weeks and they all advertised it – there’s no data on who actually paid the fastest. I know it’s something Primerica may be telling their agents and I’m sure they paid quickly, but this isn’t unique.
You may perceive this as putting Primerica down, but I’m actually advocating for consumers and showing that there’s better options out there.
I have had a Primeamerica life insurance policy for 24 years. It only covers me for 15,000 and my wife for 14,000. When I turned 60 (18 years ago) the premium has been 127.00 per month. I received a letter last week that my cost will be increased to 383.00 per month starting in June. Since we are both retired and I am disabled, this amount of premium will cause us great hardships due to the cost of all of our medical expenses. Do you know how we can contact an agency to see if what they are doing to us is legal?
Hi Fred,
That’s unfortunate to hear. And yes, it’s legal what Primerica is doing. You have a term policy with Primerica that increases. If you can qualify, I suggest you look into purchasing a final expense policy at a lower coverage amount – say $8,000-$10,000 each to keep it affordable for both of you. Final expense policies are guaranteed level for the rest of your life so you don’t have to deal with this again. I can help you with that if you’d like – just fill out a contact form and I’ll be in touch with your best options: https://www.rootfin.com/contact/
FYI – Your agent should have moved you to a guaranteed policy a long time ago, but Primerica doesn’t have anything permanent or guaranteed in your golden years.
That’s fair Jeff but please tell your clients ALL the down sides of whole life insurance of which there are plenty, before selling it so they don’t get surprised or hurt on the back end. Again financial products are full of nasty surprises, it’s so important for the consumer to keep their wits about them.
I’m an advocate just as yourself and have seen plenty of people get hurt by insurance companies BESIDES Primerica. I myself just changed insurance companies (Travelers) for home and life after years of premiums paid and no claims because I was sick with their inability to help my family in a serious situation.
There’s not one good insurance company out there – no, not one!
I was a rep with Primerica for a few months and had their Term Insurance and found a site that gave Insurance rates. Primerica was much higher for what I needed. I dropped their Insurance and left the company. A lot of hype at meetings. A number of people made a lot of money but none that I knew of by actually selling insurance.
So I have had primerica for about 3 years for me and my wife. If I cancel and go with a different company do I lose all the money that I have invested or is it transferable? Just not sure how this works
Yes, you “lose” that money. But you were covered, so don’t think of it as a loss.
Thanks for this site. I’ve been an agent for 7 years I sell mostly one company but I do have others that I go to if the need is right. I have a friend of the family that is a agent with Primareica he has been selling for a few months and is an expert on everything with life insurance… he keeps asking me to sit down with him we can “Partner up” I can continue to screw people with my whole life, and refer term people to him… I sell a lot of term I also sell a lot of whole life. I think I’m going to sit down with him just to so I don’t have to hear it every time we play cards and all that…
I know my term rates beat theirs based on the above (couple that had a dispute over if it is 20 year or 30 year) Thanks for all this info. This will help when I sit down with him and say why would I refer clients to you when my rates are better. I am not interested in Primerica I just wanted to be educated for when I talk to him.
I really don’t think that its all about having 100 companies to compare (not saying its bad to have more companies) it’s about having different policies to look at. There is no one size fits all and it seems Primarica only has a few options.
There is a lot more to life insurance than just death benefits. If you are a true agent you should be looking at things like estate planning, tax avoidance, all of those things (yes I’m not a tax attorney I can’t give tax advise but I can help lead in the right way)
I’m a big fan of continued education and I’m not talking just the 24 credits you need ever year. While most clients really don’t care about all the letters behind my name I care about it because I understand more and can point them in the correct ways.
I read (I don’t remember if it was on here or a different place) a Primerica agent talking about life insurance shouldn’t be permanent the goal should be to build assets and pass them on to family.. (right along Dave Ramsey thinking) I agree build assets but what are the tax implications of passing cash on to your children? compared to passing on life insurance (I know do some of the others?)
I work with a lot of older clients Single premiums can be a great fit for some of these people.. It’s cash value will grow it has a larger death benefit… why put a 80 year old into the market with the ups and downs.
Again thanks for this article it was very good.
I hope I didn’t ramble too much on here the kids keep interrupting me and I lose track of what I’m typing.
One more thing as I was talking to this other agent I was talking about a case I had and said “why wouldn’t a SPUL be the right thing to do for her?” He told me “whole life and UL’s don’t pay out for 2 years” I said ours do I’ve never heard of one that doesn’t. (of course there are graded polices) but this blew my mind. Does he know that little of life insurance? Has he been mislead by his “upline”? I guess I’m just baffled that some one could really believe that.
first of all, primerica is primerica not prime America. Second of all, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re trying to twist people’s arms to have a negative view on primerica so they will get your insurance. Which is actually against the law to defame another company. Also, term is the best way to go because after a certain point in life you don’t need insurance anymore. You buy term and invest the difference of the over expensive shitty whole life. The cash value portion of whole life insurance is a trap in of itself. You have to borrow against your own money and double your interest rate that you get in return, they have up to 6 months to give you a loan again which is your money in the first place, when they pay out the benefit of the insurance they only get the death benefit or the cash value but if there’s a loan taken out of the cash value that gets subtracted as well as the interest rate on the loan. Whole life is absolute garbage
I know it’s Primerica, however many consumers search “Prime America” and this is an article for consumers and I want them to find it so they know the truth. Also “comparative advertising” has been protected by the courts as a 1st amendment right and is not illegal. Also, I’ve never promoted whole life beyond having the conversion option at the end of your term just in case you need the coverage and can’t qualify for anything else.
And you get paid to talk shit about us. It’s disgusting how you can sit there and veer people away from what’s right simply because you’re greedy and don’t see the value. I hope all that money you’re being paid by whatever company is worth it. shove it up your A-hole, Jeff. You look like the typical douchebag life insurance salesmen that just talks a whole lot but ain’t about nothing. Forbes trusts Primerica, and Primerica has the largest sales force in place because they do what’s right. They haven’t been sued, but the whole life companies you seem to protect have. So wassup? You ignore everything else BJ and others are saying and sticking to “but people need whole life. And Primerica doesn’t offer it”. That’s your basic argument and you sound so redundant and it’s just sad. You write a whole lot of words to just go in circles. Go marry whole life for goodness sake. Don’t bother responding to me because your page is trash and this is clear defamation. Primerica shows people how to avoid needing life insurance. Because when you’re old and gray and still alive, you need actual money in your pocket. These cash value policy’s are doing nothing for people. I’ve seen friends and family get screwed over because of the same companies that you were defending. You’re sick and twisted. I hope you get help
Nice representation of Primerica right here.
I don’t promote whole life or cash value life insurance anywhere on this article. I’m simply saying there are a lot better options than Primerica term insurance. Also having the option to convert your term life insurance to permanent one is a massive benefit you won’t realize until you spend more time in the business. It’s unfortunate Primerica doesn’t have this option.
It’s interesting how little you actually know of Primerica. #1. You skip the fact that 90% of insurance companies have exclusions and Primerica has none. They pay the death claim unless the person dies by suicide (within two years). Does Primerica offer a client to come to a meeting? Absolutely because most people are not making the money they need to retire so Primerica offers that Opportunity. They pay for your licenses (which would normally cost over $2,000). I think you’ve wasted time offering incorrect information about a company that has done nothing but good for people. Yes, the sales part is tough but it’s only tough because of people like you who don’t understand the value of Primerica and go on the internet and write a bullshit article that lies & degrades the company.
Mike,
Simply not true about other life insurance companies having exclusions. Your recruiter is feeding you lines. Every company on our quote engine doesn’t have any exclusions. Do some research on your own, you’ll see.
Also, getting your license costs less than $200 in most states – again, you’re not getting the truth.
Everything in my article is the truth or else Primerica would have asked me to take it down with their legal team. Comparative advertising is routinely protected under the courts as free speech…as long as the truth is being presented.
Jeff,
I am so glad I came across this review- I just received a notice from Primerica that my premium is going up more then half in May. Looks like my Custom 20 term is coming to an end. At the time of purchase I was young and really didn’t pay attention to the details I just wanted life insurance. Looking at my policy I just realized that it is TERM-I can continue with the same coverage at a higher premium for the next 5 years. premiums for this coverage will then continue to increase every 5 years until you are age 70 at which time the premiums will increase every year until expiry or Exchange to option 1-custom exchange term insurance coverage with the same initial coverage amount and new scheduled premium of 100.07. coverage remains level for ten years then decreases every year until age 100 or policy expiry.
I don’t think I want to continue with Primerica-
any suggestions? Whole life insurance maybe???
Hi Ingrid,
It all depends on your situation and why you need the coverage. Likely not whole life though. Sent you an email.
I have had Primerica since I was 17 yrs old. I am now 58 and received a letter my current is $265 semi annual, my new premium rate is $1077.18. That’s what I get for paying them every year an increase of over $800
A person can reduce the coverage ( face amout ) to make it more affordable.
Term is always less money.
Consider making an annual premium also a cost savings.
Permanent insurance is much more money for the same face amount.
Don’t ever cancel a policy until you have several people look them both over and you have no questions left un answered
I invested the difference that was saved in premium separately and reduced my coverage
Yes, term is always less money and we write primarily term life insurance. However, people’s needs change over time and many want to carry some permanent coverage when the term runs out – it’s not always about price. And most people don’t actually save the difference.
And it’s true, you can reduce the face amount on any term life insurance policy from any company to make it more affordable, but after the term ends your face amount will go down every year until it’s to the point where a small whole life insurance policy that’s guaranteed level will have been a better choice. Nothing wrong with updating your life insurance as your needs change or your policy nears expiring.
Jeff, with most of your term companies if a policy owner converts their term policy how much coverage do they get for the same amount of premium; example if they convert a 200,000, 20 year term? my guess is that they are not getting the same amount of coverage for the same premium amount right? I believe Primerica allows you to decrease the coverage amount and attempts to keep the premium around what you were paying. How does this compare? I’m not sure
Steve,
It depends on the carrier. For example, Protective Life lets you do the same – keep the same premium and lower the face amount after the term expires. That’s not considered a conversion though since you’re keeping the same product.
We do recruit, because we believe in what we do! My question is how were you recruited to do what you do? We are not the only people who believe in “buy term and invest the difference” Suze Orman, Dave Ramsay just to name a few. We feel there is no need to convert, because all that does is make money for insurance co’s. People have to convert to permanent because those companies jack rates exponentially. One client of mine came to me because her company raised rates from $60/mo to $600/mo to continue with term. This essentially forces people to convert. That is the scam. Our philosophy is to help people to become self-insurable, where they don’t need insurance.
George,
You recruit to make money off of others when most Primerica agents don’t have the knowledge/experience to train someone – nice spin though.
I believe in buy term & invest the difference in most cases – I’m not against it…but it’s not for everyone. Please educate yourself on conversions – what you said is simply untrue.
I had a friends Son who started selling life Insurance. I wanted to help him out bought two policies. My hubby an me. A couple of weeks later they call said hubby needs dr clearance for heart murmur or rate will triple. We went to doc they would not clear it so we told him we did not want policy. About 10 months later notice a $500 deduction on checking an it’s been going on for 10 months. (We have lots of money coming in going out so not noticed). Well I call to tell Primerica this was not authorized they just said sorry. Then I recalled 1/2 the paperwork I signed for hubby so he wrote letter saying he did not sign all paper wanted refund an they gave us back every penny. Now sat there is a costume party I am invited to an I know my ex friend will be there! What happened to her son did he have to return his commission. They never called us to congratulate us on getting money back. Just feel that was such a sleazy move.
Hi Valerie – I’m sorry your experience costed you a friendship. Not to make matters worse, but your friend’s son (the agent) was receiving commissions every month on that policy you requested to be cancelled and it’s a substantial commission knowing you’re paying $500/mo. I’m surprised he didn’t say anything. When you were refunded your money from Primerica, they rescinded the policy and he likely had to pay back every penny of that commission. Best of luck to you in the future.
Thank you for this article. It was very informative! So a friend of mind works for Primerica and invited me in for a financial meeting and now wants to me to buy life insurance and all this stuff… I don’t have any other than what I guess I have through my job. But now, after doing literally 5 minutes of research on the company, I’m kind of terrified to go through with this and give him my details. I’ve read reviews from people who were pretty much swindled, lost money, couldn’t cancel anything, and now I’m seeing articles like this suggesting that there are much better options out there. I kind of really want the financial needs analysis because if someone else can see ways for me to get out of debt sooner than I thought possible, and get me into homeownership before I’m a grandmother, then I’m all for the help. However, if it means locking into a sale that I’m just not at all confident in, then I’ll have to give it a miss. What should I do?? I just really have a bad feeling now about this whole thing…
Thanks!
Hi Amy,
You don’t have to worry about being swindled or not being able to cancel anything. If you want a financial needs analysis or financial plan, I recommend going to Certified Financial Planner (CFP), definitely not to a Primerica agent. I’m sure your friend has your best interests in mind, but they don’t know what they don’t know and aren’t professionally trained in giving financial advice. If its free, might as well hear your friend out though.
Article is a few years old, but I saw you were still replying to comments.
In response to Fact #1: This might be a new change and they don’t call it a “conversion feature,” but they currently offer Guaranteed Renewable Policies. When you want to renew your policy they don’t require additional underwriting. Once qualified, always qualified.
Thanks for the info.
Jeff,
First let me say…thank you, thank you, thank you…(3 times) for taking the time post your opinion and experience with Primerica…I was pondering signing up because I genuinely love helping people in life. I have insurance with my job but if I leave, I will no longer be insured. I want to have a second life insurance policy. Most importantly, I want the right one. I heard great thing about whole life, and I’ve also heard great things about term life. I totally don’t know what to do. I just want the best policy for me and be dooped because someone is trying to a commission off me. Im 33, high blood sugar levels, and obese. Please im asking with sincerities….point me in the right direction.
Hi Kris-Ann,
You’re welcome. If you fill out a form on this site, someone will be in touch, gather some details about your blood sugar levels, a1c’s and build and provide you with your best options.
But how many exclusions are there on those other companies?
None. No exclusions.
I don’t know what your Primerica upline is telling you but 95%+ of life insurance companies only have a suicide exclusions for the first 2 years and that’s it (Primerica has this too).
I have read most of the comments from this article. I am 49 years old and was in the Insurance business many years ago. I am a 2 x cancer survivor as well. I give the author credit for not bad mouthing Primerica as many commenters claimed he did. He simply has a perspective and opinion that differs from others about the company and from what I can tell, feels there is no cookie cutter approach to the various needs and financial circumstances of millions of people. Insurance and investments are complex to the vast majority of Americans. Primerica is a good company that has helped millions of people. The author doesn’t come across to me as someone who wishes to bash anybody, only as someone who wants to illustrate there is more than one way to skin a cat. Always remember, there’s 3 sides to every story, mine, yours, and the truth. And nobody’s lying!
I have a policy with Primerica and the premium is higher than other companies. The reason I’m hesitant on replacing this policy is that I know they were one of the few companies that paid all their death benefits for 9/11. The other company that I know paid was New York Life which also is pricey. Shouldn’t we pay a little more knowing that a company is not going to hold out on us when something tragic like 9/11 happens.
Erik,
Every life insurance company paid their death claims from 9/11. I remember that day and following months clearly as we had some clients death claims from MetLife that were paid out. I remember companies like MetLife, Prudential and AIG began searching their records to proactively see if they had customers in the building or the flights. Their reputations were on the line and every life insurance company paid their claims on time. Over $38 Billion dollars ended up being paid out from the life insurance industry.
Primerica acts as if they’re one of a few when in fact everyone paid their claims.
Jeff thank you for all this information you’ve posted. I recently was about to sign off on a policy for my husband and I but told the lady I was not 100% sure. I did give her all the info and both agreed to hold on to it till I was sure to get this policy. Its been a wk and she sends a msg saying I will go ahead and send your application like we said today, I told her to hold on to it still because I still wasnt sure. She txts back saying whats holding you? Remember this is a good coverage for you and your family, “of course if your family is important to you”
Now that part made me mad!! Now after reading all this I am NOT going with them…. But I do have a question, She sais their policy covers even if youre outside US… Is that true? Is that all companies have?
I need a term life for husband (36 and I (34) yrs old.. Non smokers.. No health issues that we know of… Can you help me out? Thankssss
Yes, all companies will cover you if you go outside of the US. It’s not exclusive to Primerica.
Fill out the form on this page and you’ll see quotes from a lot of A+ rated life insurance companies. Best of luck!
I appreciate this review. I currently have Primerica Life insurance for myself and husband. I definitely will be looking it over, I was considering changing it to USAA because I currently have one for myself with them $250K Term life insurance and I have been paying about $22.00 per month for many years.
I currently pay $96.40 per month with Primerica but when I first signed up in 2016 it was $78.95.
2016 – $78.95
2017 – $84.55
2018 – $90.13
2019 – $96.40
I appreciate the reply Marcia. If you plan to keep your coverage, I highly recommend securing a level premium term life insurance policy so you can lock your rates in (and likely save a significant amount of money).
Hey Jeff,
You saved another one here sir! Almost went to one of their hype you up meetings. Smh! Now I will be forwarding this link to my buddy who recently got drunk off primerica’s kool-aid. Take care!
Hi Jeff,
This article is masterfully written combining some truth, some half-truth and some manipulated information with strait forward lies. As an insurance producer you must be aware that defamation is punishable by law and there is no other way to interpret your review other than “ the action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.” I hope you purchased a defamation insurance policy before publishing this review as I am planning to report it to all insurance commissioners and Primerica’s legal department.
Being a broker with Primerica for 11 years, i can attest that it is a phenomenal company that puts the clients’ interests first. Whereas Some of the companies on your Top 10 list were sued for non-payment of claims by the insurance commissioners as recently as 2017.
Anyways, Just wanted to give you a heads up about the reporting of your post to insurance commissioners countrywide. The fines for defamation vary from state to state, so you better save some of the insurance commissions for that.
Comparative advertising is protected by our 1st amendment right to freedom of speech.
I welcome Primerica to contact me and will gladly change anything that’s not the truth. Many insurance companies do contact me to change any outdated information – even if it’s a scathing review. They can’t do anything if I’m posting the truth, which I am here.
Instead of threats, I’d like to hear from you what you think is a lie. I’ll fact check with my contacts and will change if there’s anything in my article that’s wrong.
To you it may seem like I’m attacking Primerica. I’m actually advocating on behalf of consumers and making sure they know everything.
wow thank you Jeff Root ! I spend like 2 hours reading all of this ! I am still confused.
this is my personaI experience: I just purchased a term life insurance with Primerica, a 30 year term (500k) if I died that is for my wife and if she dies I get ( 150k ) + 10k addition for daughter- ( those are the terms of it ) that is how I understand it. ?? tell me please if I am wrong.
term life insurance are for ?? justing case something bad happen. dead . health issues etc .
we are suppler healthy thanks to god. I am 3o years my wife is 35 and we are going to pay around 72 a month. tell me if there is something wrong with this, or the prices are going to change over time ?? I’ve read all your comments and I just want to make sure I am getting what I need ?
thank you again for your advice VERYYYYY HELPFUL for all of us.
I aslo paid 99$ for the license lol, just want to make some extra money because people need Insurance , not ?? 🙂
Best ,
Santiago – your Primerica life insurance agent should be explaining all of this for you. You will get the full face amount tax-free if you passed away, yes.
If it’s a 30 year term, your policy will remain level for 30 years.
If you’re “super healthy” as you describe and can qualify for preferred plus rates, you can get a 30 year term $500,000 for $38/mo right now with a $10,000 child rider from at least 5 other life insurance companies. Your wife can get $150,000 for $16/mo. So for around $55/mo, you can get the same coverage.
There’s nothing wrong with what you purchased, you can just get it cheaper elsewhere. I’m glad you got your family protected. Best of luck!
I agree with this article 100%
A person who sells banana will always say banana is good for you. But that doesn’t mean an apple is not.
A real financial advisor will give you all the options depending on your financial status, age,health, short and long term plans. No 1 kind of policy fits everyone.
I think this is the intent of the article.
P.s. Those of you who say he is bad mouthing primerica.
This is a review. A review may be bad or good but it is upto the person reviewing it to express his point of view.
**there are so many options out there. whole life/permanent life is sold by many companies and many diff agents; unfortunately if you dont design it well, it really can hurt the clients.
**what is the point of financial analysis if in the end you only offer 1 option?
**insurance companies are regulated by states. there will be just 1 type of insurance in this world if it benefits everybody.
Question for you Jeff. What are the conversion options on the term policies you sell?’ How many allow the client to convert a term into another term?
It depends on the product. Almost all of them allow you to convert to permanent insurance.
Why would you convert from term to term? I can see to extend the term length, but it’s just not usable for the situations that need it most.
Just last week I was on the phone with an agent trying to help his client who was trying to help a 70 year old who was just diagnosed with ALS (1-5 year survival rate) and has a $500,000 AL Williams (Primerica) term life insurance policy that is annual renewable and he’s paying $1000 every month and it’s rising every year. He is close to lapsing his policy due to affordability. If he had any other company, I’d look at converting to permanent insurance – even if it’s a lower face amount to make the payments lower. You’re saying Primerica would convert to another term policy? Doubt it.
What company do you work for, Jeff? How many life insurance companies do you compare for a person to get the best one for their needs? I think it is okay to have access to various insurance companies and their various products to find what best suits your client. I have a group term life insurance policy and I am turning 60 in a few days. I need a 30 year term life insurance to cover me until I am 90 because I’d like to leave something for my family.
Hi Ruth,
I’m independent and represent dozens of life insurance companies. You should look into a guaranteed universal life insurance policy instead of rolling the dice on a long term policy. It’s the cheapest life insurance you can get that’s guaranteed level for the rest of your life (to age 121).
Good read. I have IUL at the moment. When I purchased my product ( 2016) my agent told me that when I hit 60 (currently I’m 42) I can take out the cash value that my money gained that I can use as part of my retirement and whatever money left in their ( money gained) will suffice to pay for my monthly premiums. I’m paying $287/mo ( preferred plus) covered for 1 M . As of now my money gained $8,000 .
On the other hand a friend from Primerica told me that I’m throwing money away that I should take the extra $100 and invest it. Since $180/mo will cover me for 35 years same coverage.
Please advise Jeff. Should I cancel my IUL and convert to term and invest the difference?
Hi Emy,
Here’s the deal. Primerica’s only strategy is to buy term and invest the difference. For every situation.
The thing is, not everyone invests the difference and your friend may think he has your best interests, but life insurance isn’t one size fits all.
I like IUL’s that are structured correctly especially in this volatile market we’re headed into because of the downside protection that a Primerica investment won’t have.
Just make sure to do a policy review with your agent (or a 3rd party) EVERY YEAR. Get the “inforce illustration” and have your agent go through it with you. It sounds like your policy could be structured A LOT better performance-wise. If you’re paying $287/mo for $1M, it’s not efficient enough if you’re doing this for retirement. More of your payments should be going to cash value and you can do that by lowering the death benefit. Hard to analyze on the information given, but I highly recommend doing a policy review with a 3rd party to see how much better you could be doing. I’d be happy to do that for you and get your carrier on the line and ask them the hard questions so you know exactly what you have. Call 888-430-7668 or fill out our contact form and we’ll be in touch.
It is amazing to me that an actual Primerica agent would even mention the fact that they are founded by A L Williams. He must not know the history of his own company and that A.L. Williams was told to cease and desist which cause the company to split its company into to 2 “Primerica” and what is now called “World Financial Group” aka “WFG” they were over rated and aggressively recruiting agents harvesting they’re leads and living them venerable and desperate then and are still doing the same thing now.