Primerica Guarantees

[Integrus Financial]

I don't think anyone has stated that whole life insurance is a panacea for all, so I'm confused as to why that is the focus of your discussion points. The industry has evolved and I'm not sure how relevant that youtube video is in today's market, considering it has to be about 30 years old.

If term is the best choice, doesn't it make sense to find the best product at the best price?

 

[critter]

I've often felt that the A.L. Williams story is one sided. I have never heard his father's agent tell his side of the story.

I have had many clients who have had their minds made up about what they want to buy, and it's possible that Williams' dad was no exception. Maybe his agent did show a term policy, but his dad figured he was superman and would never die. Maybe he felt that if he died his wife would simply get remarried or that the kids would take care of her.

We simply don't know what his dad was sold. We only know what he bought. If his dad made a decision to buy a policy with a lower face amount, then the predicament the family faced is his fault and not the agent's.

We don't know all the details of what happened in the transaction. There are so many possibilities that his father was the one who actually left the family underinsured, and A.L. Williams wanted to blame an entire industry for his decision.

 

[Robert Barney]

I don't think anyone has stated that whole life insurance is a panacea for all, so I'm confused as to why that is the focus of your discussion points. The industry has evolved and I'm not sure how relevant that youtube video is in today's market, considering it has to be about 30 years old.

If term is the best choice, doesn't it make sense to find the best product at the best price?

I think you are correct, the industry has evolved, but it's like watching molasses run in November (in a cold climate). It has gone from horrible to bad, but there are still too many agents who peddle whole life to anyone and everyone.

Term is a great product. This, from my latest magazine article:

I earlier said that the problem with term is that the
price goes up. That is not really a problem—it's a convenient
blessing. Most people need life insurance when
they are young, have a lot of dependents (young family)
and very few assets. To protect their family, they need a
lot of life insurance and term lets them buy a lot of life
insurance for a relatively small premium because they
are young. Those premiums only get bigger as they get
older but then their assets grow as do their children.
Eventually, once the kids leave home, and they have accumulated
enough money to retire, they can say goodbye
to buying term.​

I could not agree more with your last statement. But I think too many agents could care less.

And finally, this:

https://www.acli.com/Tools/Industry Facts/Life Insurers Fact Book/Documents/FB11LifeInsurance.pdf

which says:

The average size of new individual life policies purchased
has decreased since 2008 to $165,291 in 2010 (Figure 7.2).
The number of individual policies purchased also fell .2
percent in 2010 (Table 7.1).​

 

[DHK]

In fairness to Primerica, they have succeeded in making consumers much more aware of term life insurance, than say your average agent who has a CLU behind his name.

When you compare an entire firm vs a single agent... yeah, they do better in public awareness. That's what happens when you have an entire firm behind a single mantra and repeat it over and over again to 100,000 part-time agents.

I don't know of a single agent who is widely known in the public's eye about the good that they do with life insurance and annuities.

Sure, there are plenty of internal industry heroes - John Savage, Ben Feldman, Burt Meisel, Van Mueller, Guy Baker, Mehdi Fakharazadeh, and more... but no one who seems big in the public eye and mainstream media.

The closest that we have, are the annual celebrity spokesmen for Life Happens... and Ed Slott who mentions the tax advantages of life insurance and annuities in his annual "Retirement Roadmap" specials on PBS.

I think Tom Hegna, CLU, ChFC, CASL is starting to become that agent though.
Don't Worry, Retire Happy with Tom Hegna | Don't Worry, Retire Happy with Tom Hegna | Shows | KCET

 

[WinoBlues]

I think you are correct, the industry has evolved, but it's like watching molasses run in November (in a cold climate). It has gone from horrible to bad, but there are still too many agents who peddle whole life to anyone and everyone.

Term is a great product. This, from my latest magazine article:

I earlier said that the problem with term is that the
price goes up. That is not really a problem—it's a convenient
blessing. Most people need life insurance when
they are young, have a lot of dependents (young family)
and very few assets. To protect their family, they need a
lot of life insurance and term lets them buy a lot of life
insurance for a relatively small premium because they
are young. Those premiums only get bigger as they get
older but then their assets grow as do their children.
Eventually, once the kids leave home, and they have accumulated
enough money to retire, they can say goodbye
to buying term.​

I could not agree more with your last statement. But I think too many agents could care less.

And finally, this:

https://www.acli.com/Tools/Industry Facts/Life Insurers Fact Book/Documents/FB11LifeInsurance.pdf

which says:

The average size of new individual life policies purchased
has decreased since 2008 to $165,291 in 2010 (Figure 7.2).
The number of individual policies purchased also fell .2
percent in 2010 (Table 7.1).​

Bob, I sell a fair amount of term and GUL. And have for many years. I also sell my share of Whole Life to the Age 60 plus crowd. There are 100s of thousands that do not fit the "but then their assets grow" or "they have accumulated
enough money to retire" part of your statement. I have reviewed many Primerica policies. Very few are on people that are anywhere near debt free.

 

[Robert Barney]

Consider this.

Average policy face amount in 1990: $75,000

Average policy face amount in 2010: $165,000

Based upon this calculator:

U.S. Inflation Rate Calculator- plus Several Other Inflation Calculators

$75,000 in 1990 dollars, is equal to $125,127.77 in 2010 dollars.

So there is some progress.

 

[Cash]

Consider this.

Average policy face amount in 1990: $75,000

Average policy face amount in 2010: $165,000

Based upon this calculator:

U.S. Inflation Rate Calculator- plus Several Other Inflation Calculators

$75,000 in 1990 dollars, is equal to $125,127.77 in 2010 dollars.

So there is some progress.

mmm maybe.

Since less people are buying life insurance then it would make sense that less middle class/lower middle class have insurance, thus making the average premium higher.

 

[Denise in Florida]

Primerica's term product is for up to 35 years level term with automatic renewal without a medical. If the policy is for 35 years, the client is young enough. They write policies up to age 70 then the policies convert to either a lower benefit or an increase in premium and renew every 5 years from then on. There are good built-in features including being able to add a child rider for all the kids for almost nothing until the child is 25 and then they can write an independent policy at 25 for up to 10 times the original benefit without a medical. The policy also offers up ro 10% increasing benefit annually for a nominal fee until the insured decides they don't want to do it anymore. Primerica is focused on getting people financially sound so they don't need a big insurance policy. Insurance is only one facet of the Primerica approach. They create financial plans with retirement goals, fish through the client's expenses to find money they can use to invest and help people get out of debt faster or more efficiently. The clients become lifetime clients because the company provides them with a strategy including independent investment accounts so that their money isn't tied into a whole life product where they can't withdraw the cash unless they either cancel the policy or pay interest on a loan of their own money. When someone dies, their beneficiary gets the death benefit as well as the investment accounts - not one or the other like whole life and ULI. The strategy is geared towards middle class families and works extremely well but the agents don't make a bunch of money until they get securities licensed when they can capture residual and recurring income from the investments they write. I hope this helps.

 

[WinoBlues]

Primerica's term product is for up to 35 years level term with automatic renewal without a medical. If the policy is for 35 years, the client is young enough. They write policies up to age 70 then the policies convert to either a lower benefit or an increase in premium and renew every 5 years from then on. There are good built-in features including being able to add a child rider for all the kids for almost nothing until the child is 25 and then they can write an independent policy at 25 for up to 10 times the original benefit without a medical. The policy also offers up ro 10% increasing benefit annually for a nominal fee until the insured decides they don't want to do it anymore. Primerica is focused on getting people financially sound so they don't need a big insurance policy. Insurance is only one facet of the Primerica approach. They create financial plans with retirement goals, fish through the client's expenses to find money they can use to invest and help people get out of debt faster or more efficiently. The clients become lifetime clients because the company provides them with a strategy including independent investment accounts so that their money isn't tied into a whole life product where they can't withdraw the cash unless they either cancel the policy or pay interest on a loan of their own money. When someone dies, their beneficiary gets the death benefit as well as the investment accounts - not one or the other like whole life and ULI. The strategy is geared towards middle class families and works extremely well but the agents don't make a bunch of money until they get securities licensed when they can capture residual and recurring income from the investments they write. I hope this helps.

Middle-class couple. Say both age 45 and preferred health. Need $500,000 for 30 years to cover mortgage and family income. Let's say the kids have coverage somewhere else.

What would their premium be?

 

[Denise in Florida]

DHK

First wanted to let you know Primerica is a publicly traded company - not an MLM. Sorry but this is not accurate. As for joining associations, I'm sure you realize that Primerica is LOATHED by other agents! Why would they join an association? The products are nothing but amazing and their philosophy puts the client ahead of everything else - that's why they have the highest customer satisfaction rating in the industry. The insurance may seem a bit higher than other term products until you add all the riders that the other products need to add in order to offer the same coverage.

The biggest problem with the insurance industry is that the whole life agents don't need an investment license because they are allowing overpriced, underinsured policies to be written that will NEVER be enough for their clients in order for them to make a recurring income. This is SO very wrong! THAT's why Primerica doesn't join associations - because their purpose is to FIX all the misinformation and destruction that the whole life agents create.

Anyone who is willing to listen and allow a Primerica agent to review their whole life or ULI policywill be enraged and easily convert to a more sound strategy - buy term and invest the difference. Insurance and investments should NEVER be combined!