In early 1999 I found myself in a very frustrating situation. I was 29 years old. I was working extremely hard as a fiber optics salesman… and I was broke. My wife and I had been married for over six years. We’d just had our first child, whom we were thrilled about, however, when it came to work, money and time, we were struggling. We started praying for a better way.
My wife received a phone call one evening from a lady she had met recently. She said that she was in training with a company that was expanding, and that we should take a look at it. She said this company, Primerica, might be able to help us. We decided to meet up with her and see what this company was all about.
Neither of us had ever even heard of Primerica and I admit we were skeptical. After about 30 minutes into our meeting with the Primerica reps, I began to realize that what they were saying actually made sense. They spoke about developing “a written program to monitor and eliminate debt, term life insurance being the foundation to your financial house, and the basics of successful investing.”
At 29, I’d never been taught these principles before. I never finished college and I had no experience with “financial stuff.” He assured me that they could help educate us about our finances. The first step would be to fill out a Financial Needs Analysis (FNA) and based on where we stood financially and what our goals were, we would see what could be done.
We met again two weeks later and went through the results. It was simple: Follow a plan to pay off credit card debts, put some term insurance in place to protect my young family (we had no insurance at that time) and find a way to make more money. They said that Primerica would teach us how to do all of the above. They would even offer us an opportunity to start part-time and show us how to build a business by teaching other people what they taught us.
I guess we were just so eager to change our lives we believed them. We paid a small start-up fee, started the training process, and moved forward in faith.
Now it’s 10 years later and I’m 40 years old. I can’t help but think about how different my life could’ve turned out.
What if I hadn’t agreed to that appointment? What if I trusted my initial skeptical feelings? What if I’d listened to several friends who insisted Primerica had to be a scam? What if I believed Internet chat rooms, unregulated Web sites, and less than credible sources?
Well, my family’s life would be a lot different. See, what’s happened in the past 10 years is that we have grown tremendously — as people and as leaders. We have built amazing friendships. We’ve helped thousands of families get back on track financially. We are financially independent and have been able to give away more money each year than we used to earn before Primerica. The opportunity turned out to be a bigger blessing that we could have ever imagined.
Primerica helps Royce enjoy the riches of family, relationships and people. Watch the video to find out how Primerica helps him “have it all.”
We now have seven offices across upstate New York and many great people working with us. We love what Primerica does for families and we love the freedom we now have. We don’t punch a time clock. Each day is our own. I’ve spent countless mornings with my children. When my son turned one, I took each Friday off and we spent the day together. We did that for four years until he went to kindergarten.
We’ve traveled together as a family to so many amazing places all over the world, and created lifelong memories. My children are so much more confident because of the “family” business. We just returned from a trip to Montreal together where we spoke to over 500 people about changing their lives through this great opportunity.
The most amazing part about that is that my 11-year old daughter spoke in that meeting about how the business has impacted her personally. Imagine an 11-year old speaking to 500 people with confidence and grace so she could impact their lives. The list of benefits of winning in Primerica is extensive.
I have found tremendous success with Primerica and so have countless others. But that is not to say that Primerica is easy. It is not a “get rich quick” scheme. It would be ridiculous to think so. But to say it is a scam, or a pyramid, is far more ridiculous. My life is proof that it is real, and there are thousands of other people around the world who would laugh just as hard at the thought of Primerica being called a scam.
The Federal Trade Commission doesn’t call Primerica a scam. Neither does the Better Business Bureau, FINRA or any of the other regulatory agencies in this country. I encourage you to check the facts and to get your information from these credible sources.
I am living proof that Primerica is real. I was a skeptic who is now a successful businessman with the freedom to live the life of his dreams. There are a lot of scams out there you should be aware of. Primerica is not, and has never been, one of them.
I think we have to create our own experience in life, and we have to move forward in faith. When we do that, put forth an honest effort, and do the right things long enough — only then can we look back and really see the “real picture.”
A decade ago, Primerica representative John Roig was enjoying a night out with his wife Gloria near his hometown of Miami, FL, when he was stirred by old emotions he had not felt in many years. As he sat in the audience of the Coconut Grove Playhouse watching a performer singing an old Cuban melody, John began to yearn for his homeland.
John had not been back to Cuba since the summer of 1960, when Fidel Castro came to power. He was 15 years old then and had been spending his summers there since 1953, when his parents left Cuba to settle in America.
Since that summer so very long ago, John had lost touch with his many aunts, uncles and cousins with whom he had been very close as a child. Then, sitting in the playhouse in 1999, at 55, a successful business owner with Primerica earning more than $500,000 a year, the memories came flooding back. He turned to his wife with tears streaming down his face and said, “I’ve got to go back to Cuba.”
Since that time, John has not only returned to Cuba many times, but he has been able financially to help his many relatives who have been impoverished as a result of Castro’s regime.
Before the trip, he called his favorite aunt from childhood, the one with whom he had always stayed as a child, to ask if he could bring her a special gift. She requested a toothbrush. He promised to bring all his relatives toothbrushes and asked her again if she would like something special from America. “Well, it’s been 35 years since I last tasted peanut butter,” she answered.
“I was really in a dilemma,” he says, “because I wanted to bring her something special and all she wanted was peanut butter, which is nothing here. I went down to the local food store and cried like a baby when I looked at all the brands and styles of peanut butter so readily available on the shelf. It made me realize how much we take for granted in America.”
Upon his arrival in Cuba, John was surprised to see more than 50 relatives, most of whom he no longer recognized, waiting to greet him. He and Gloria brought the most goods they were allowed to bring into the country — 40 pounds of clothing and 20 pounds of medical supplies, as well as 60 toothbrushes and enough peanut butter to last his aunt a long time.
After all the introductions, hugs and tears, John was shocked to discover that none of his relatives owned a car. He had sent money to his aunt for a rental car to pick him up, but the rest of his relatives had walked five miles to the airport. And his aunt’s home, once the nicest on the block, was rundown. It had not been painted in years, and the plumbing no longer worked. The $110 water pump had broken three years before, and the family could not afford to replace it.
Not only was John able to help with the water pump, but on later trips, he bought refrigerators and stoves for all his relatives and financed improvements to their homes. He made a decision to return there every year. Later, he helped one of his cousins move to America, find a place to live and a job, paying more than $10,000 to make it happen.
“Because of our business with Primerica, we were able to do so much for my family,” he says. “Not only could we help financially but we could afford to give the time. We could get away so easily. On my first visit, I was able to stay for 10 days. There is no doubt in my mind that the money we’ve spent has come back to us. Our business has gotten even stronger since we decided to go to Cuba. Without Primerica, I couldn’t do this for my family. I’m no hero. I’m just doing what anybody would do for their family.”
For more than 32 years, Primerica has advocated its philosophy of “Buy term and invest the difference.” As for the rest of the life insurance industry, they just keep changing their approach to the marketplace by creating and re-inventing life insurance policies that don’t work.
In the 1970s, other life insurance companies were selling Whole Life insurance.
In the 1980s, Universal life insurance was created.
In the 1990s, Variable Universal Life was created.
In the 2000s, Return of Premium Term Insurance was created …
… and now they are going back to selling whole life insurance again.
Would you put your financial future in the hands of a company lacking a clear direction?
Three decades. One timeless principle. We stand for something!
Primerica has always believed families need affordable protection for today and control over building wealth for tomorrow. Our “Buy Term and Invest the Difference” approach to personal finance puts families in position to achieve their goals in life. We’ve never had to change our approach in the marketplace … because it works!
Primerica has been helping middle market families with their finances for more than 32 years. Our company is financially strong and, while other companies are struggling in the current economy, we’re thriving. And that’s not so easy in this economy!
Everywhere you look you see headlines about mass layoffs and company closings. Companies once thought of as “rock solid” are crumbling before our eyes. Not Primerica. Why? Because no matter what state the economy is in, people still need our solutions.
How many companies today can say they’re debt-free? Primerica can! We have no debt whatsoever. Our life insurance companies hold a conservative investment portfolio of $6 billion. Plus, for the last seven consecutive years, Primerica has reported greater than $2 billion in revenue each year.
One of the largest marketers of term life insurance for more than two decades, Primerica’s life companies paid out more than $958 million in death claims in 2008 and have nearly $639 billion of life insurance in force. Want further proof of Primerica’s credibility? Primerica Life Insurance Company (PLIC) and National Benefit Life Insurance Company are both rated “A+” by A.M. Best and PLIC is rated “AA” by Standard & Poor’s. (A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s are two independent rating firms that assess a life insurance company’s financial strength and ability to meet its ongoing financial commitment to policyholders.)
While other companies are cutting back and struggling to meet their obligations, Primerica is thriving. We’re continuing our three-decade track record of growth, and are on track to dominate the financial services industry.
Primerica Life Insurance Company’s insurance financial strength and claims-paying ability and National Benefit Life’s ratings of A+ by A.M. Best are considered “Superior.” This rating is assigned to companies that, in the opinion of A.M. Best, have a SUPERIOR ability to meet their ongoing obligations to policyholders. Primerica Life’s rating of AA by Standard & Poor’s is considered “Very Strong.” This rating means, in the opinion of Standard & Poor’s, that an organization’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on obligations is VERY STRONG. (National Benefit Life is not rated by Standard & Poor’s.) Primerica Life Insurance Company (Home Office: Boston, MA) is rated by A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s.
A.M. Best ratings range in order from the highest ratings as follows: A++, A+, A, A-, B++, B+, B, B-. C++, C+, C, C-, D, E, F. Standard & Poor’s (S&P) ratings range in order from the highest as follows: AAA, AA+, AA, AA-, A+, A, A-, BBB+, BBB, BBB-, BB+, BB, BB-, B+, B, B-, CCC+, CCC, CCC-, CC.
Primerica representatives market term life insurance underwritten by the following affiliated companies in the following jurisdictions: National Benefit Life Insurance Company, Home Office: New York, in New York state; Primerica Life Insurance Company (PLIC), Home Office: Boston, MA, in all other U.S. jurisdictions and Primerica Life Insurance Company of Canada. Each company is responsible for its own obligations.
