Well, the Atlantis trip has been cancelled. We blame it on that new man who just took office, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.Primerica has had a great year, and showed a profit every quarter ($121 million in profits for the 3rd quarter). But PRIMERICA is owned by Citi who, overall, had losses last year and is part of the government bailout. Because of the bad press other companies have had for giving performance incentive trips (think Wells-Fargo) the company cancelled our trip. (I'm not sure if Citi told us to cancel or if Primerica decided on their own, but really it makes good sense. *sigh*) The news media would be sure to report that Citi sent 1900 couples to the Bahamas on taxpayer money, which would not be true. Since Primerica's only advertising is through referral and word-of-mouth, we just don't want the bad-news-mongers to have anything to play with.
But here are some interesting facts about Primerica:
- Primerica Life made a $121 million profit last quarter, while the rest of the industry lost money.
- Primerica Home Mortgages is the ONLY Citi company that is taking new mortgage loans right now (Primerica ONLY ever did fixed rate loans, unlike competitors who started this whole mess).
- The NAIC (which oversees regulation of the insurance industry) requires companies to keep a certain risk-based capital ratio. Primerica Life is at 400%, which is eight times the regulatory minimum.
- Primerica gives Citi some of their profits each month; sometimes as much $50 million.
- Primerica makes money, and has zero debt.
I'd say Primerica is doing pretty darn well, and their sales force really has earned that trip [well, yes, especially Bruce! ;-) ]. But you know the press wouldn't report any of that. So, oh well.
On the upside, we'll probably get a bonus check instead. That's nice. (To be honest, we could probably use a check more than the trip, but it won't be as much fun.)
And now Bruce is really pumped-up to work hard; instead of lying around on the beach he'll be able to use the time next week to work hard and get some good things done for us. ($$$)
But here's my question: Now where will I wear my new swimsuit? (Which, by the way, I got at JC Penney and is very cute—black, in kind of a 40's or 50's-style/cut.) Shall I use it on the snowy beaches of the Great Salt Lake? What a bummer!
5 comments:
Well, bummer about your trip to the Bahamas....BUT!
CA is beautiful and WARM (Ok, if you wait till the Spring)! If you keep your eyes peeled for some airline deals, you COULD come out here!
Our house is always open to you! :D
I was pretty upset when they announced the cancellation. I pushed hard to win that trip! But it'll save a lot of grief for everyone in Primerica. The news media doesn't care for details, accuracy, or logic. They'll say anything to get a negative emotional response from their audience.
NOTHING about the bailout makes sense to me! How does it make sense to add all that debt... How big is a trillion dollars? WHAT IS GOING ON?
Ahem. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named announced that top executives of companies getting bailout money could not be paid more than $500,000 per year. A friend of mine questioned the wisdom of that. The country's best executives get paid much more than that, because they can wield influence that can bring in hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars of revenue to the company they work for. Their value to the company may be ten to a hundred times the cost of their compensation. If you were told that your income will be cut to 1/4th or even 1/10th of what you normally make, but you still have to do the same work you did before, would you stay at your job?
Then there's the fallout from pressuring big companies to drop excursions, to "save money." Maybe, in some cases, that is appropriate. But NONE of the bailout money is going to Primerica! The Bahamas trip was planned in April 2007. Of the 100,000 licensed reps in Primerica, 1900 and their guests--less than 2%--qualified to go.
That's still nearly 4000 cancelled flights in one week. How does that affect the airline industry? That's over 1900 cancelled hotel reservations. Have you ever tried to cancel a hotel reservation just one week in advance? How much do you think THAT cost? How does that "save money?" How does THAT improve the economy?
If you take away incentives for your best sales people to push and do their best, how does that affect sales, income, and the company's profit margin? Primerica has been EARNING PROFITS THE SAME WAY for 32 years! Maybe they know how to make money better than Citi and the US government combined.
I could get into this even more, but this isn't my blog. Forget bailouts--let companies fail and natural selection/capitalism work appropriately. That'll save on the national debt bill. And let's allow businesses to do business as they see fit. They'll work it out. We've survived for over 200 years on capitalism. We could make it through this--if our "leadership" would allow it.
I'm sorry you don't get to go on your trip! But at least you'll have a cute suit to wear to Marian's pool parties this summer! You could probably wangle a private invitation, too!
That's to bad about your trip. And a week before, the nerve. Stupid media. We'll just win the lottery and take everyone on a cruise with us.
Bruce- We agree with you about the bailout. And what they're doing now, no good can come from it.
That just stinks! Sorry about your trip. We also agree with Bruce about the bailout. It's completely idiotic.
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