Primerica IRA Overview
Primerica is described as a multi level marketing company that sells both insurance and financial services. The company works
with clients through representatives. The Primerica representatives know their facts: they make sure you leave your meeting
feeling educated and comfortable with your financial future. They make it easy for people who do not have a strong background
in finance to understand what’s happening with their money.
The Primerica IRA Account
There are a lot of customer service options should you have any questions regarding your account. It is important to be able to reach a human being in the event you need help. Their website is extremely helpful. You are able to view the following on the website: view transaction details, statements, account balances, investment allocations, fund pricing, view tax forms and process financial transactions.
Their eServices is great as well - you receive notifications for everything on your account. It’s easy to track digitally as
well. Their Quarterly Statements are extremely detailed and easy to read and understand. For people who do not have a background in finance this is important.
Portfolio Information
The Primerica invests only in mutual funds selected by Lockwood (the “Program Funds”) from mutual fund families chosen by
Primerica Advisors. To meet your investment objectives, the firm offers ten asset allocation models designed by Lockwood.
Asset allocation is the process of apportioning investment funds across several categories of assets in an effort to maximize
returns and minimize risk. Each client in the program will be invested in a portfolio of mutual funds designed around one of
the ten asset allocation models. The ten models represent various levels of risk and potential return.
The Freedom 20 Portfolio and Freedom 20 Tax Aware Portfolio are the most conservative, and the Freedom 100 Aggressive Equity
Portfolio is the most aggressive.
Fund Pricing Information
It’s easy to follow Fund Pricing as well. It is updated daily on their website under the Fund Information tab. They let you know the Net Asset Value – which is the price that you can redeem your shares – should you choose to do so. They also let you know the change in Net Value Asset so you can calculate the daily value of your account. Lastly is the year-to-date rate of return.
Primerica Account Fees and Cost
According to the packet of information received upon opening the account the following fees are charged to your account:
Annual Advisory Fee – this is based on how often you use their advisory service. The Program is a mutual fund wrap-fee program. “Wrap-fee” means that you will pay a single, annual fee (assessed monthly in arrears) for the services provided by the Program, as opposed to purchasing and paying for the services separately. The fee schedule given is listed below.
|
Average Daily Assets |
Program Fee (Maximum) |
|---|
| First $250,000 |
2.24% |
| $250K - $500K |
2.21% |
| $500K - $1MM |
2.02% |
| $1MM - $3MM |
1.88% |
| $3MM - $5MM |
1.7% |
| $5M - $10M |
1.55% |
Primerica Retirement Plan Account Fees - For IRA accounts, there is a custodian fee of up to $50 per year that is deducted from your account and paid as compensation to PFS Investments Inc., for the services it provides as the IRS approved non-bank custodian.
Closed Account Fee - there is a $95 termination fee charged at the time a full withdrawal is taken from an account.
Returned PAC Purchase Fee – up to $30 for each regularly scheduled PAC returned by the shareholder’s bank.
Find a Financial Advisor
If you are looking for a professional money management service in your area, you can
find a Financial Advisor on the Wiser Advisor
(or read
Wiser Advisor review).
Visit Wiser Advisor
Primerica IRA Pros
In a few short months the account has grown by a few hundred dollars. The website makes it easy to track your investments. Financial advice is a phone call away. They offer other services like insurance as well – it’s nice to have one broker.
Primerica IRA Cons
It’s an MLM and they get a bad reputation as a pyramid scheme company. Just because the representative I dealt with knows his stuff doesn’t mean all representatives do. They are on the higher end of the fee spectrum.
Primerica IRA Review Summary
You can go with a
Charles Schwab to pay lower fees
if you are looking to start saving for your future and not get hit with a lot of fees. The overall experience over the last few months has been one of making money. Perhaps
maybe after a year or two of seeing some significant changes and seeing what fees are associated with it would serve for a better analysis. Aside from that minor banking
glitch during the initial rollover the experience has been a positive one.
Updated on 2/11/2025.
Arthur Chachuna is a professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of Brokerage-Review.com.
He has been an avid investor for 25 years, and has a background in both applied math and programming.
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