Can people make money through Retiring America?  This company based in
Bakersfield California and branching into Los Angeles sells retirement
plans that are a combination of investments, mortgages and insurance. 
However when I attended a business meeting it was really all about
recruiting people to sell the plans because your real profit comes
from the people you recruit and the subsequent people they recruit. 
There was never any clear explanation about the actual retirement
plans themselves.  Is this a pyramid scheme and can people who join up
make money or will they lose money?

With all Pyramid Schemes, the people at the very top of the Pyramid
make LOTS of money and the people below lose it.

The mathematics just don't add up.

There is a fine line between Pyramid Scheme and MultiLevel Marketing ...
A Pyramid Scheme will pay you commissions for finding new recruits
(paid out of the new recruit's fee for 'joining') where an MLM will
pay you commissions based on your recruit's SALES.

From your blurb you say 'recruiting people to sell the plans because
your real profit comes from the people you recruit' ...  this sounds
like MLM and not a pyramid scheme.

Perhaps a researcher can check out the BBB and States Attorney General
for California on your behalf, if not, that is what I recommend you
do.

Here is some good advice from the FTC:

Multilevel marketing plans, also known as "network" or "matrix"
marketing, are a way of selling goods or services through
distributors. These plans typically promise that if you sign up as a
distributor, you will receive commissions -- for both your sales of
the plan's goods or services and those of other people you recruit to
join the distributors. Multilevel marketing plans usually promise to
pay commissions through two or more levels of recruits, known as the
distributor's "downline."

If a plan offers to pay commissions for recruiting new distributors,
watch out! Most states outlaw this practice, which is known as
"pyramiding." State laws against pyramiding say that a multilevel
marketing plan should only pay commissions for retail sales of goods
or services, not for recruiting new distributors.

Why is pyramiding prohibited? Because plans that pay commissions for
recruiting new distributors inevitably collapse when no new
distributors can be recruited. And when a plan collapses, most people
-- except perhaps those at the very top of the pyramid -- lose their
money.

The Federal Trade Commission cannot tell you whether a particular
multilevel marketing plan is legal. Nor can it give you advice about
whether to join such a plan. You must make that decision yourself.
However, the FTC suggests that you use common sense, and consider
these seven tips when you make your decision:

   1. Avoid any plan that includes commissions for recruiting
additional distributors. It may be an illegal pyramid.
   2. Beware of plans that ask new distributors to purchase expensive
inventory. These plans can collapse quickly -- and also may be
thinly-disguised pyramids.
   3. Be cautious of plans that claim you will make money through
continued growth of your "downline" -- the commissions on sales made
by new distributors you recruit -- rather than through sales of
products you make yourself.
   4. Beware of plans that claim to sell miracle products or promise
enormous earnings. Just because a promoter of a plan makes a claim
doesn't mean it's true! Ask the promoter of the plan to substantiate
claims with hard evidence.
   5. Beware of shills -- "decoy" references paid by a plan's promoter
to describe their fictional success in earning money through the plan.
   6. Don't pay or sign any contracts in an "opportunity meeting" or
any other high-pressure situation. Insist on taking your time to think
over a decision to join. Talk it over with your spouse, a
knowledgeable friend, an accountant or lawyer.
   7. Do your homework! Check with your local Better Business Bureau
and state Attorney General about any plan you're considering --
especially when the claims about the product or your potential
earnings seem too good to be true.

So RetiringAmerica.com may be an MLM, but it is a very thin site.  The
advertising of its services to clients is negligible, clicking just
leads to an email access.  Some of the links on the left haven't been
activated, even "getting started".  I wouldn't open the videos.  The
"contact us" led to a page that showed the same person as office
manager for two addresses.
Incidentally, the full name, Retiring America and Insurance Services,
Inc., only shows up on one site, used in the text of a sample website.
The site does not reveal anything about its methods or terms of
service, which leads me to suspect that they don't bear website
disclosure.  Leaving my name, email address and telephone number with
them also doesn't seem advisable, but acquisition of that information
may be the main purpose of the site.

Also, it is strange that there seem to be no other websites mentioning RA.

In order for there to be real profit (not just a transfer of money
from the bottom of the pyramid to the top), there must be sales. 
Either you or your downline will have to make sales in order for you
to make legitamit money.

You should ask (and get direct answers) about their payment plan.  You
should know exactly where your money will be going (any money that you
pay to join the program) and where your pay will be coming from.  You
should fully understand the commission schedule before joining.  Is it
fair?  Will you really be able to make sales?  Will you really be able
to recruit?  Will your downline really be able to make sales?  Will
the time recruiting/finding customers/selling be worth the pay?  How
many people leave the organization within their first year?  How much
do normal people there make? (it is likely that they show you examples
of very successful people, but that is clearly not the norm)