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World Financial Group [WFG]

World Financial Group [WFG] review: Be Careful 14

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Author of the review
1:06 am EDT
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They sell mainly Western Reserve Life's policies backed up by Aegon Bank, a dutch bank. They surely help people who don't have concrete future financial planning. There is nothing really wrong with it.

The issue is the way World Financial Group recruit. You have to know the followings:

1. You pay $100 registration fee
2. You pay 52 hr. life agent course study -- various schools are available online, you attend in person etc. etc.
3. Test fee
4. WFG's each office "seminar" does not offer product training.
5. Your commission is only 25 - 35% unless you have 3 agents beneath yourself
6. Multi Level Marketing plus pyramid scheme
7. To learn various kinds of financial products, you pay the tuition from your own pocket
8. Your mentor sells not only life insurance but also mutual fund

This model lures the agent by telling them that you would not only gain by sale of yours but also gain by sale of agents under you (Amway Model). The agent should understand that although they are earning bit of other agent's comission, a big chunk of his commission is also eaten by agents above him. Therefore, the commission that the agents get by WFG sales is quite less then the direct sale that they will do with channel other then WFG.

Because WFG believes in quantity more then quality of agents, the application filled quality & the quality of service given to the customers is really poor. This leads to lots of application entry errors, reduced customer satisfaction & at the end, lost customers.

Update by Georgio Armani
Aug 29, 2010 5:04 pm EDT

After you pass the test, they perform the background check. I worked for WFG as well.

Update by Georgio Armani
Aug 31, 2010 4:45 pm EDT

$100 described in no. 1 is for registration. I did not say it is for the background check.

Update by Georgio Armani
Sep 03, 2010 4:15 pm EDT

I think we're not communicating.

Yes, I took exams through third parties. After that, WFG retrieved information from Businnss Information Group for financial, bankruptcy, tax/attachment liens, federal criminal, county criminal, insurance licensing, and actions base.

Let's terminate the discussion on this point. I have got to go.

Update by Georgio Armani
Sep 05, 2010 12:25 am EDT
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

14 comments
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ghulera2938
Halton Hills, CA
May 15, 2010 2:26 am EDT

Thanks for the advice. I got approached by a rep a few days back, and he was talking about how WFG is the only way to make real residual income, and how leverage through a network was the only way.

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MyPerspective
Centennial, US
Jul 23, 2010 8:35 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

You are very correct when you said "WFG believes in quantity more then quality of agents." They do not perform any aptitude exams. drug exams, or criminal background checks like Prudential does. So if you are a criminal uneducated druggie, you are qualifiy to work for WFG.

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Bunny Pink
Livermore, US
Aug 04, 2010 8:24 pm EDT

Dear MyPerspective,

Actually, interestingly enough, they perform those exams, through criminal background checks etc.

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MyPerspective
Centennial, US
Aug 28, 2010 12:44 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Dear Bunny Pink,

I actually worked for WFG and not once had I performed any drug exams. When you become an agent and log onto their website, they clearly explanied that the $100 fee isn't for any background checks, that's a major misconception. The $100 is for basic administrative costs.

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MyPerspective
Centennial, US
Aug 30, 2010 7:36 pm EDT
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Dear Georgio Armani,

I never had to perform any background checks, drug exams, or any aptitude exams. I had my life insurance license before I joined WFG. Their $100 up front investment is for administrative costs not background checks. You can double check this youself when you log onto WFG using your associate ID number. Their website clearly states this.

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Bunny Pink
Livermore, US
Aug 30, 2010 11:32 pm EDT

Who said $100 is for background check? Please re-read his first writing:

1. You pay $100 registration fee

That's what he wrote.

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MyPerspective
Centennial, US
Sep 02, 2010 7:59 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hello Georgio Armani. Okay, you're right about how you said the $100 is for registration not the criminal background checks but you also mentioned in your later comments how they also perform criminal background checks after you pass their exams. My questions are where would they find the money to do criminal background checks when all you paid them was for registration/administrative expenses? What exams are you referring to? I never had to take any of their exams. The insurance licensing exams along with many of their other courses are done through a third party like Kaplan not WFG. WFG doesn’t have their own educational resources on getting licensing just like WFG doesn’t sell WFG products, they sell other companies products.

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suzy81
San Francisco, US
Sep 04, 2010 5:22 am EDT

ok. what i would like to know is, do they really let you withdraw the money from "saving"- insurece? Do you get any monthly stament?

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Nacho Libre
FR
Feb 09, 2011 8:22 am EST

Mr.Georgio Armani I believed you guys are not really communicating at all because you are in the Clothing Industry and WFG is in the Financial Industry : ( ( make sense ? )

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Nicole03
Yigo, US
Sep 19, 2012 8:15 am EDT

Funny how people's comments are if it didn't work for you it's because of YOU. I Have seen taxi driver joined the company within his 17months his first year he made half a million dollars. It didn't Work for you because you didn't give it a time. WFG is a financial services marketing organization aegon and now sister company of TRANSAMERICA. Mostly people making comments about how bad WFG is because they are Immatured and young...
A lot of 18 years old or have no vision nor family to support never survive in the company...

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Jerzy350Z
Long Valley, US
Sep 08, 2014 2:50 am EDT

This is a question regarding whether it not i should proceed with signing up with WFG base on my below circumstances!
I have a criminal background for forgery false issue (felony) and some drug charges (misdemeanors) that date back to 2003. I am being recruited my a WFG financial educator to work under him and to also get licensed. Is this something I should pursue considering my background is not pristine? Please help, I don't want to go through all this work to only eventually find out I am unable to get licensed and work for WFG.

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RECruz
San Jose, US
Sep 12, 2014 12:08 pm EDT

@Jerzy350z

"I'll list their major problems here: 1. As long as you don't have a
criminal record and have a US SSN, you can join.They don't care about
your resume or work experience at all. How would you feel if someone
that didn't even graduate high school was managing your money? 2. The
training sessions is basically all motivational speeches about really
vage and general stuff. No actual training about products or anything. "
-http://wealthmanagement.com/forums/rookies-trainees/world-financial-grouptransamerica-may-just-be-best-opportunity-indys

That link is also a review as to this man's experience with WFG and going through the whole process. As he stated, it's not for everyone and it doesn't always make money due to the whole "you have to go out and get your own clientele"
I don't know if there's anything about the whole "dating back to 2003" thing but i'd say your best bet is to ask a different Marketing Director/ Financial Educator instead of your own because yours might be biased to just straight out try to recruit you.

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Attorney-CPA
Oakland, US
Jan 12, 2015 11:44 am EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

CPA- Attorney,

My friend joined 2 months ago. He grad in high school, then worked full time to support family & took some part time college classes but no real opportunity to puruse a college degree. After he joined wfg, he studied the Insurance licening test online in the evening $29. (choice between 32 or 52 hours). Then he passed the Cal Dept of Ins exam in one sitting ($78 exam fee). Then Dept of Ins gave him the license after the Dept checked that he had no criminal records. He paid $100 to wfg, which he received a 30 page long credit & background check docs. His team leader makes > $1.5 milliion last year (award on public online posting). 80% commission if you have 10 downline agents & 65% if you have 5. He recruited 20 agents in 2 months. He attends 2 to 3 seminars/month, a few hours each, learned all about the financial/insurance products, trained by his team leaders and product providers. wfg website links to many insurance websites for learning (after he was appointed by each company). Being an attorney & CPA for 25 years, I will have to tell everyone that this seems to be a legitimate business model which provides a platform for the "hard workers" to make millions. There is no other platform that would allow anyone to invest only couple hundred dollars yet be able to generate millions within a few years.

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C
CFP, RIA, Stockbroker, Ins Lic., retired
US
Sep 21, 2018 4:37 am EDT

Or you could buy a lottery ticket and have about the same chance of attaining a million dollars. Read the book, "The Richest Man in Babylon" first. The FIRST lesson is to NOT TRUST YOUR MONEY TO BE ADEQUATELY INVESTED BY A PERSON WITH NO PROVEN TRACK RECORD. That goes for insurance and stock based investments, like mutual funds. A cab driver who understands the long term risks of insurance and investments? Why is HE still driving a cab?

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    11315 Johns Creek Pkwy, Johns Creek, Georgia, 30097-1517, United States
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