Is Northwestern Mutual a pyramid scheme?

It feels a lot like those companies where you sell to your family and friends and then get them to sell too.

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No, it’s not a pyramid scheme are you kidding me? Bythaway is a financial advisor who works for a competitor. I hate societal misconceptions but I will try my best to explain it the easiest way possible. There’s a difference between a pyramid scheme and a Ponzi scheme and an MLM and a brokerage. A Ponzi scheme is our social security system where the people who are working right now are essentially funding the paychecks of those who are already retired because the government keeps siphoning off money to pay for other stuff eventually when there are no new workers the scheme collapses. A pyramid scheme is ILLEGAL and it’s when you pay for the opportunity for people to give you money then you get more people to give you money and they get people to give them money the hallmarks of a pyramid is that no legitimate products or services are being offered. That brings us to MLMs which add the legitimate product and service requirement so they can avoid being illegal. Ie: Avon, Mary K, and Amway Then there are brokerages that parallel MLMs but they are not. The best example is a real estate brokerage you can make money selling real estate or you can be a broker and recruit train and develop other agents to deal with you and make an override from their sales in the case of Northwest Mutual and real estate broker you need a license to do both they both recruit and receive overrides and if you had a real estate license is it easier to try and sell a house for your family or friends to get started or a starter? That’s why these companies have you start with family and friends but the goal is to tap into their network and have them on board to give you referrals not necessarily to sell to them per se. I hope that helps

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I was wondering the same thing.
They really push you to get you to ask about friends, make them some money first :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

It’s a multi-level marketing company, where success relies heavily on building your network and recruiting others to sell the product.

They focus on direct sales, encouraging you to reach out to your social circle to promote their products.
It’s a referral-based business, where you earn commissions by selling products to your network of contacts.
The company emphasizes building relationships and personal connections to sell their products.

This might be a good fit if you enjoy networking and have a large social circle.

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It’s definitely not a pyramid scheme, but it involves a lot of reaching out to your network to sell insurance products.

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You’re right. I was using the pyramid scheme and MLM interchangeably. Not a pyramid scheme, but the parallels to MLM seem undeniable. :grinning: :grinning: :grinning: :grinning:

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They will be interviewing me shortly. Before NWM, I only had one job as a financial counselor (using the same technique as NWM), and that job was challenging for me.

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What licenses do you have?