I'm having a financial plan done by Primerica.

What do you think of the company?

but when it comes to financial planning, incompetence aside, the assumptions you make can have HUGE differences.

you might assume 2% inflation and 8% investment rate of return and think you'll retire a multimillionaire.

then assume 5% inflation and 7% rate of return and suddenly you're going begging.


for most financial planners, the plan is based on projections, and the projections are based on a near-worst-case scenario, designed to scare you into buying the most product they can foist on you.

my rule of thumb for financial planning is this: put the projections aside, just save until it hurts, and then sock away just a little more.


do not sock away anything until you've paid off high-interest credit cards and loans (basically, anything except mortgages). paying these off is the best investment you can make.

then max out your 401(k) or any equivalent plan, especially if it includes an employer match. employer matches are FREE MONEY. take it.

if you can, then turn to the iras. max out your roth ira, if eligible, or your deductible iras/spousal iras.

finally, go for life insurance/annuities. the cash value growth here is tax-advantaged, but it grows slowly because the investments are usually too conservative. it's only a good idea if you're close to retirement age already or you've got enough of a portfolio in aggressive investments that having a conservative portion would be good balance.

remember that you want to be 100% invested in aggressive growth until you're within 20-25 years of retirement. prior to that, "conservative" just means locking in lower returns without any significant decrease in risk.

but something inside me tells me to buy some gold. I'm totally out of debt except for mortgage and utilities. I have a 401k thats all cash except my employer contribution and recently purchased my first $50 gold American Eagle. I'll probably go with an annuity but I'm thinking having a modest investment in precious metal along with it is a good move.

All an annuity is is a retirement plan sold by an insurance company that invests in the same kind of vehicles mutual funds, 401(k)s, etc etc etc invest in.

please check up on these guys before you do anything. My sister was about to sign up for an insurance policy, until I warned her about Premerica. I had heard some criticism about them, that they are more or less a multi-level marketing company. They were also trying to pressure her to refinance her house with a new mortgage loan.

I printed some stuff for her on the Internet about Primerica which warns about these guys.

I think Clark Howard has some info on them on his web site. I think it's called http://www.clarkhoward.com.

Caveat Emptor!

When I had my resume on Monster.com I got calls from them offering me a job. I'm a recent liberal arts grad, and absolutely nothing in my resume says "financial planner" nor "sales"

I went to an "interview" and it was basically a cattle call presentation. I would pay them money, get a license and start selling stuff. No salary, just commission based.

It reeked of MLM. (Multi-level marketing)

The slaes person will be able (assuming he knows how to use the system) to prepare you a multi page document explaining your true financial situation... and some examples of where you can go from here.


The problem? A couple previous posters got it... They are a MLM group... there is not necessarily ANY professional education on the markets or investment specialization and they aren't THAT much cheaper than hiring a real professional.

And in the long run they are likely to be far more expensive due to underperforming the professionals.

Now there are exceptions. Anyone can join this organization, so in theory you might get a real pro... But don't count on it. I too have been invited to one of their meetings by a friend who was considering a "new career". I've had enough training and education to pass the Series 7 test, but hardly more than that and I knew more than the guy running the show for that "branch".

The plan isn't a bad idea if you're confident that you can say "no" to the salesman afterwords... but why waste his time?

Start with one of the financial planning websited out there. They usually have dozens of tools to help you do your OWN financial plan. And you can judge how well they assist their clients by how solid their education is. Most of the big firms hove online tools now: Fidelity, Vanguard, etc... (I don't work for any of these firms)

OR start at a site like SmartMoney.com - They've got tone of tools and investor education.

My brother got his insurance license through Primerica. Their scheme is to liquidate customers' Whole Life policies, sell them a Term Life policy, and use the accrued equity in the whole life policy to retire credit card debts and other debts.

I started my personal financial planning in the public library. I had to sift past the "get rich quick" books to find real good advice.

The "handbook for no-load mutual fund investors" is a good book. I cannot recall my favorite authors.

I will look up the authors if you care. PM me. I may not get back to this thread.

I administer my own finances, but I've heard some planners say that this is what you should have in mind:

1) Your goals
What are you looking to do? Retire a billionaire? Retire comfortably? Retire early? Retire to the south of France? Work part-time in your own business after "retirement"? What your goals are affect greatly what your plan should be.

2) Your age/status
Obviously, a 25 year old bachelor is going to have a different plan than a 40 year old married couple with two teenagers, or a widow with three grown children.

3) Your general financial situation now
Do you have cash reserves? Are you carrying massive amounts of debt? Do you own or rent? Are you looking to further your education? Have children headed for college? Do you particpate in your employers retirement plan? Are you helping care for an elderly parent or relative?

All of these should be discussed with your planner, and there's probably ore that I've left out. But I think these can be considered pretty important, and it should be a red flag if they don't come up.

for about three months.

Took the opportunity to get my licenses reactivated and bailed out fast.

Their financial plans are medicre but a lot depends on the quality of the information and the quality of the representative.

Remember this, however, The financial plan is primarily a MARKETING TOOL to sell Primerica products, annunities, life insurance and loans/mortgages.

I left primarily because of the MLM aspect. Also, I attended relicensing school with some of their other recruits who didn't give a rip about the products but were hell-bent on selling the dream ! One of them even brought his dream book to class with him. (a dream book is a folder where you collect pictures of your dream purchases like a yacht, or a multi-million dollar house, and pull it out before prospecting or appointments to remind and motivate yourself) I've been around the block too many times for that crap.