When You Think It’s a Tech Event but Walk Into a Financial Pitch: My Primerica Experience
As a coding bootcamp student, I’m always on the lookout for tech events to network, learn, and stay inspired. So when I heard about an event that promised opportunities to “change your life financially and professionally,” I thought it might be a workshop on financial tech innovations or a talk on budgeting as a freelancer. Excited, I grabbed my laptop, notebook, and my hydroflask, ready to soak up the wisdom.
I walked into a room filled with smiling faces, stacks of pamphlets, and a stage with “Primerica Financial Services” emblazoned on the banner. My heart sank. This wasn’t a tech event. It was a financial pitch.
The presentation started innocently enough, with a polished speaker talking about financial independence and achieving dreams. But as it went on, it became clear this was less about personal finance tips and more about recruiting. Primerica’s model involves selling insurance policies while encouraging agents to recruit others into the system—a classic hallmark of multi-level marketing (MLM).
The audience was encouraged to “take control of their financial futures” by becoming insurance agents, but the focus felt more on recruitment than real financial education. Alarm bells went off for me, as the model resembled something closer to a pyramid scheme than a legitimate career path.
To make matters more complicated, my cousin works for Primerica as an insurance agent. He’s enthusiastic about the company and swears by its mission to help families secure financial stability, although he has yet to. I wanted to support him and remain open-minded, but as someone who values transparency, I had questions.
Why were the details about commissions and earnings so vague? Why was the emphasis placed on recruiting new agents rather than developing financial expertise? And why were so many Primerica “success stories” framed as rare achievements rather than typical outcomes?
Walking out of that event, I couldn’t help but feel disillusioned. Primerica might technically sell real products such as life insurance policies, but its business model left a sour taste in my mouth. For people looking to build genuine careers in finance, it felt like there were better, more transparent paths to success.
I still admire my cousin for his dedication, and I know he believes in what he’s doing. But for me, Primerica isn’t the solution for financial or professional growth. Instead, I’m focusing on building my coding and design skills, chasing opportunities in tech, and creating a future grounded in transparency and real value.
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