 |
| Senator Warren |
It is so rare for vulture capitalists to surface and be harpooned, but this is what happened when the President of Primerica was called to testify before a Senate Committee and Elizabeth Warren went to work on him.
His company advised 238 Florida firefighters who were nearing retirement and about to begin getting their lifelong, reliable, predictable pension payments to forgo those payments and that security in order to buy plans for which Primerica sales people would reap commissions. These plans which were not guaranteed and much riskier. The Primerica agents dangled the prospect of much richer rewards in front of the fire fighters, who probably should have known better, should have smelled a rat, but did not.
This, of course is what Republicans have advocated for Social Security--privatize it, because, of course, rich advisers who know how to make money will inevitably do better for the average fire fighter than that drab old Social Security administration ever could.
The President of Primerica, a fair haired boy named Peter Schneider, said that if a person were about to die, he could leave his new, cashed out pension, bought through Primerica, to his family but his monthly paycheck would end with his death. Warren leaped all over that: So these 238 people were all near death and you are saying they got good advice from Primerica?
 |
| Nice Guy Wants Your Pension Plan So He Can Drive a Mercedes |
Well, it was legal, the President of Primerica said, in his best Fred Rice mode. We violated no law when we gave that advice.
 |
| What A Senator (Or a President) Should Be |
Yes, it was legal, I agree with that, Senator Warren said. And that's what we are talking about today--we should make it illegal. It should be illegal for fat cat Primerica agents to prey on the ignorance of firefighters and teachers who have earned reliable and safe pensions. We sometimes have to protect people from their own stupidity and greed. Republicans hate that; Democrats know it's necessary. That's why Democrats voted in Social Security lo these many years ago, because people are fools, when it comes to planning for their own financial security. And we have to make them behave in a way which will insure they do not go broke and become a burden to the rest of us.
I once had a secretary, who never got past fourth grade in her West Virginia hollow, but she was smart and hard working and she learned our computers lickedty split and she cared about our patients and she was invaluable to my medical practice. I set up a pension plan for her. Her husband, who could never keep a job, and who she supported, discovered she had accumulated $40,000 in her plan and convinced her he needed a new truck and he drained that account and bought himself a truck. What he needed that truck for, I could never understand, since all he did was sit home and watch T.V. She was a smart lady, but she was stupid about her choice of husbands and about planning for the future.
There shoulda been a law.
Phantom,
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Warren is indeed what a Senator should be-someone doggedly watching out for the public good-and perhaps for now her skills are put to the best use on Capital Hill rather than chasing after the Oval Office..
It seems hard to believe that companies like Primerica can operate so clearly NOT in the best interest of the public, but only with their own profit in mind and still not be breaking any laws. What I didn't realize is that the vast majority of Primerica financial consultants are not seasoned, experienced financial people, but rather newcomers to the field, with the average sales employee's yearly pay around $6000 . Primerica works a lot like Herbalife and Amway--the main people making big money are those at the top, like the morally challenged Mr. Schneider.
This is just another example of why middle class people aligning themselves with the Republican party is such a self defeatingly bad idea..the Republicans in Congress are not supportive of legislation to rein in the financial industry and bad apples like Primerica-they are far too busy protecting the wealth of the top 1%. Looking after the interests of the uninformed masses falls on people like Elizabeth Warren, who takes on her powerful opponents with such relentlessness and gusto she makes some fellow Democrats wince. She consistently goes after the same targets-financial institutions that are dangerously damaging to the financial welfare of the general public-a public that unfortunately has little understanding of what she is up to and why..you're right-there oughta be a law..
Maud
Ms. Maud,
ReplyDeleteOh, it's such fun to stoke you up. I just knew you'd go to the youtube video, but, of course, good student that you are, you googled Primerica as well.
What amazes me is you actually believe there is such a thing as "seasoned, experienced financial people."
Well, maybe you're right.
When I ran a small business, I was astonished by the legal scams out there--charges which appeared on my phone bills for internet services from companies I never heard of which had "sold" me services by calling the office and asking my secretary's name. And the phone company said they could not remove these automatic charges because the company had the legal right to append them to my bill. Lawyer's bills which simply appeared on bank statements. All sorts of computer related companies and charges you'd need a workforce to defend yourself against.
One of the many reasons doctors have opted out of being shop keepers.
I can only imagine what retail businesses must endure. And this is not "government regulation;" it's predatory activity by legal companies doing nasty, deceptive, self serving things to extract money from unsuspecting or unsophisticated citizens. Mark Twain would have smiled knowingly. We are all fools who will be parted from at least some of our money, and vigilance is a full time job.
Phantom