Bob & Saskia Padgett of Primerica: Helping Families Build Financial Freedom
- Words from 1201
- Jun 30
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 13
Please join us in welcoming Bob & Saskia Padgett of Primerica to this month’s Member Spotlight. After years of investing in the success of others, they chose to build a business dedicated to helping families achieve financial security, create generational wealth, and discover the opportunities that come through business ownership.
Common Ground: What inspired you to go into this business, and what keeps you passionate about it today?
BP: We had observed this business throughout our married life of 27 years, through
my father-in-law, Frank, a long-time Primerica Vice President in New York. His
standards and the company’s high standards and the value brought to clients were
obvious to us - we had watched it both as family and as clients. Meanwhile, Saskia and
I had both invested over fifteen years of our own professional lives pouring into others’
lives - with missional commitment - while growing someone else’s business or institution
- Saskia in healthcare, and I in education and ministry. The turning point came in the
form of a rude awakening. That within the confines of corporate or institutional America,
we would never be owners - we would remain employees renting our strength and our
time in exchange for a fraction of the value we brought.
It was clear to both of us that if we were ever going to flip the script and build freedom
we could own and share with others, it would require starting a business. We needed to
be owners. No more trading time for money, still alone, left holding the bag at the end of
the day. After puzzling over numerous opportunities, we realized we already had the
ideal opportunity sitting right under our noses. With Primerica, we could build a business
that would always be changing lives and solving others’ financial problems at every
stage of life, cradle to grave and even generationally - using a system that was
designed to help Main Street Americans scale financial businesses with unlimited
growth potential. If we could grow an organization designed for multiplication, there was
no limit to our impact and to the freedom built for our own and others’ families.
CG: What problem does your business solve and what makes your approach different?
BP: Yes, if you “look under the hood,” almost everyone needs help solving two potentially catastrophic problems – dying too soon, as my own father did, or outliving your retirement income and assets. As for the latter, you don’t have to look too hard to find people who are clearly coming back out of retirement in their 60s, 70s and 80s - reentering the workforce and often starting over in roles they are overqualified for. Two out of three current retirees are more worried about running out of money than they are about dying - and nearly as many folks who are not yet retired are more afraid of actually retiring than they are of eventually dying.
SP: I’ve heard it said that most people are spending 40 years of their life working 40 hours a week in a job that they really don’t like, only to retire on 40% of what really wasn’t enough when they were working. And yet, a real key to winning in this world is through business ownership - and especially, to get to a point where your business works whether you’re working or not. We are most passionate about teaching people how to step into a new opportunity in a great industry, earning as they learn, and solving people’s most pressing problems together.
CG: How do you build lasting business relationships?
BP: We’re blessed to be in a business where almost everything we do is a long-term
relationship - we walk with clients throughout their lives, and many of these relationships
span their close friends and cover multiple generations, children, grandchildren, and so
on. We observed recently that, even early in our professional lives, both of us had worked extensively in leadership development. And today, so much of what we do - including scaling an organization and raising up generations of advisors and business owners - is really all about leadership development, which is relational at its core.
SP: We find that most of success comes from real relationships; everything we do is rooted in really getting to know a person, so we can recommend great things for them and help them avoid big mistakes along the way. We are blessed to sit at the center of a distribution platform rather than offering just a single product, so we really never run out of ways to help families.
CP: What’s one thing most people don’t know about your business, but should?
BP: Many people think they are “all set” despite not being on track to reach financial
independence - let alone having accurate, realistic goals or targets of what that even
looks like. Perhaps they are scared to look at their financial future, and perhaps they
don’t think business ownership is possible for them. Our world is rife with limiting beliefs.
Middle America is really kept under the thumb of the very few, and most people do not
see a path to real freedom, until someone intervenes.
SP: Most people genuinely doubt that this is something they can do, but if they are
motivated and coachable, they can win here. Primerica has a 49-year track record of
helping people do just that.
CG: Can you share a recent success story or proud moment?
BP: Absolutely - these things are really so emotional, and it’s hard to capture it with words.
We seriously get to solve people’s most pressing financial problems, every day. I think of a widow who had no idea of when - and whether - she could retire, no clear vision for how to navigate and steward the assets and resources she had. Today, she is happily retired, knows she is in great shape, and is clearly having a blast volunteering, expanding her horizons, and living a vibrant life. I also think of a young man - actually a former student of mine - who had an old 401K that he’d left behind from a job ten years before. He mentioned that he had continued to add to his account over those last ten years. As he and I explored more deeply, looked at statements, and made some calls, we discovered that no one was minding the house, and the monthly contribution had been going into something with essentially no rate of return or growth potential. He and I went to work on that account and also started working on a real game plan for the future, and today, he has ten times as much put away and with excitement and vision for what’s ahead.
And I think we have just as many proud success moments as we train up and develop
this next generation of leaders, advisors, business leaders - seeing them hit professional milestones, earn their next professional license, grow more independent in their work - is such a joy. Particularly, there’s such joy in seeing teammates have breakthroughs in their own vision and mindset when it comes to business leadership and ownership. THAT’S exciting because now we’re talking about independent leaders who can help clients with their own success stories and build businesses full of others who will do the same!
CG: What are your plans for the future with your business?
BP: It’s really about extending our reach - to help more people, to develop financial
freedom for more clients and teammates, to train up not only the next generation of
agents and advisors, but the brokers, the leaders, the business owners who will expand
our impact exponentially. So we are laser-focused on scaling our business, growing our
distribution, and developing other vice presidents like us who can do the same.
CG: How can fellow members or readers best support you?
BP: Above all, we are always looking for sharp, ethical people who love helping others
and who are looking for an opportunity to build a business that can stand the test of time
and who want to build a legacy of financial freedom that can change their family tree and transform their communities. Introducing us to great potential leaders who get excited about all that is a huge blessing - it extends our reach and speeds our progress considerably.
Likewise, of course, we rely on fellow members and others to introduce us to friends,
family, and others who want to start working on (or restart, or repair, or perhaps reevaluate) their own financial strategy and game plan for the future. Seriously, who doesn’t want to get out of debt, protect their income, and get financially independent?
You’d be astounded by how many people tell me their financial game plan is to work
until they die or win the lottery.
CG: What’s a favorite quote, book, or piece of advice that guides your business mindset?
BP: Hands down, the Bible is my essential daily source - nothing else comes close. It’s
hard to beat the wisdom of the One who made everything.
I also read a lot of Benjamin Hardy (currently in the middle of Be Your Future Self Now), Bill Orender, Art Williams, Steve Siebold, and Richard Koch.
SP: I keep going back to Atomic Habits by James Clear and What to Say When you
Talk to Yourself by Shad Helmstetter, and anything by Corrie ten Boom.
CG: Anything else?
SP: We’ve been married 27 years, raised a son, had a lot of adventures, and love
working together. It’s a great journey! Connect with us: livemore.net/o/padgett
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