World Financial Group
Reviews and Complaints
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- Liers
Preferred solution: Full refund
Read This to Learn How WFGers RIP YOU OFF!
In his “review” last week San Diego Anon oozes about “...a beautiful lifelong career…”
It’s “beautiful” all right. IF you love to recruit everybody in sight and personally break pyramid scheme laws, exposing you to prosecution. IF you love to cheat folks them by selling them spendy very high-risk products like Transamerica’s Financial Foundation Indexed Universal Life (FFIUL) policy--leaving you wide open to legal action. The FFIUL is a policy that, if you live a reasonably long life, is just about GUARANTEED to go belly up on you, causing you and your heirs to lose the Death Benefit and the $100,000s you dumped into it over your lifetime. For the depressing details on it, please see my 29 June review on the FFIUL.
How do WFGers get away with committing their de facto crimes? Go to “brokercheck dot finra dot org” and search on the names of some of this MLM’s higher flyers. You’ll find that only WFG’s most notorious actors have had many actions filed against them, and even then many are dismissed. For example, let’s look at EVC Guillermo Haro, a long-term WFG agent near the top of this MLM's pyramid(s). On the FINRA brokercheck site you find 13 actions against Haro going back to 1989--even before WFG existed. Click the down arrows to read the details of each action against Haro. Many include testimony from his customers who allege he sold them unsuitable insurance policies and securities and failed to fully explain them. Haro had at least four customers disputes filed against him before the SEC finally *permanently barred him* from acting as a broker or otherwise associating with firms that sell securities to the public.
Given Haro’s long rap sheet of alleged and proven wrongdoing, you’d think WFG would toss him out on his ear right? WRONG. Haro’s still very much part of WFG, still speaking at Momentum, WFG’s main yearly convention in Las Vegas. Haro’s still whipping up the adoring WFG crowds. Google “Haro 2016 Momentum” and go to 1:00 of the 5:22 vid clip that pops up. You see “Guillermo Haro Executive Vice Chairman” right on that stage at the MGM Grand.
To circle back to our question: How do WFGers get away with selling you exploitative and abusive insurance policies? Notably the FFIUL? For at least three reasons:
First, WFG agents sell lots of FFIULs to their recruits. During my time at this MLM, we were expected to recruit like crazy and push the FFIUL hard. Recruits are an ideal captive market. Many new agents, high on belief, low on facts, and dollar signs dancing in their eyes, tumble down like newborn puppies for this terrible policy. Over time many of them begin to learn the FFIUL’s true terrible nature. Alas, by that time their pride, and being trapped in the WFGers’ web, keep them from telling anyone they’ve been played, or even admitting it to themselves. My upline is a classic case in point. He’s a normally happy and gentle person who suddenly got spitting mad and lashed out at me when I showed him the math for Transamerica’s FFIUL. Totally out of his character, he very roughly ended our contact. He didn’t want to hear that the FFIUL is a terrible investment for nearly every human being--unless you plan to die young from causes the adjusters can't rule a suicide. The WFG agents that wise up to the FFIUL quietly dump it when they pass the commission chargeback period (1 to 2 years) so they don’t trigger chargebacks and upset their uplines. When you figure a typical ~$400/month premium for the FFIUL for up to 24 months, that comes to as much as $9,600--a big chunk of your true “cost of doing biz” as a new WFG agent.
Second, Transamerica and WFG depend on the vast majority of their customers to drop their FFIULs. Research points to that. Search on “US Individual Life Insurance Persistency - Society of Actuaries” There at the www dot soa dot org site you’ll find this PDF: research-2007-****-us-ind-life-pers-report.pdf. Go to PDF page 51 to the page titled:
“U.S. Individual Life Insurance Persistency — Observation Years 2007–2009 - Universal Life”
In there, you find that for the lapse rates average 9% for the first policy year--meaning that for every 100 people that buy a UL policy, like the FFIUL, 9 people will drop it within 12 months. By Year 6, per-year lapse rates settle down to ~4.5% per year. Doing the math on SOA’s data, if you carry out xUL ownership for 30 years, *only 1 of 5 people* who bought the policy will still own it. Remember, that applies to the UL market as a whole, the original Universal Life (UL) policies and their Variable (VUL) and Indexed (IUL) variants as offered by all carriers, collectively called xUL. We can expect FFIUL lapse rates to be much *worse.* Why? WFG markets to low- and middle-income market, people who typically have little or no disposable income. The FFIUL is one of the first things they’ll drop to pay for more immediate needs, like rent, car repairs, their child’s college tuition, even for food. Worst of all, the FFIUL’s Cost of Insurance (COI) charges blast into the stratosphere as you age into late life, and the policy gives you no real No-Lapse guarantees. If you live a reasonably long time, your FFIUL is virtually GUARANTEED to fail, causing you and your heirs to lose the Death Benefit and the hundreds and thousands of dollars you fed into it. Bottom line folks: WFG and Transamerica have it nailed. They know they're safe. They know too few policyholders will remain in 20 or 30 years to file class-action suits against these two companies for selling these awful policies.
Finally, the US insurance industry is relatively lightly regulated at the federal level. The insurance companies want to keep it that way. Aegon and other insurance companies make such fat profits on their products, they can afford to pay lobbyists to keep the Feds at bay, to stay minimally involved, to leave regulation to the states. This is a divide-and-conquer approach that limits plaintiff pools and thus limits potential contingency payouts for class-action suits, and makes it harder for smaller and less funded state reg bodies to keep up with the rapid changes in the industry, This makes it easier for unethical providers to stay a step ahead of the regulators. As soon as the reg bodies catch up with one terrible product--e.g. the Variable Universal Life (VUL) policy, the industry's already created and flogging a new terrible product, e.g. the Indexed Universal Life (IUL) policy, like Transamerica's FFIUL. For more on regulation, please go here: www dot researchgate dot net/publication/22834****_An_Overview_of_the_Insurance_Industry_and_Its_Regulation
If you insist on checking out WFG-offered products, *do your homework.* Before you sign anything or give WFG a dime, make sure your agent gives you *complete* docs to take home and thoroughly read over. If you are looking at any policy, especially one like the FFIUL with as many moving parts as a Swiss watch, demand a FULL QUOTE *including all the contract terms and the Policy Data.* If it’s the FFIUL, demand your WFG agent show you the real math--using a *calculator* to *prove* your cash will cover your all your premiums in your later life. Absolutely do NOT rely on your agent’s illustration software program, which fails to show crucial policy data. Before you ask your agent for his calculator math, do your own math first. This way you can double-check your agent's figures. I show you how to do the math in my 29 June review on the FFIUL. If you’re not good with math or English-language contract language, hire a fee-ONLY (not merely fee-based) financial advisor to thoroughly examine your FULL quote. That’d be the best $50--$100 you ever spent, saving you untold thousands in wasted premium payments. A fee-only FA sells no financial and insurance products and so has minimal conflict of interest and can keep YOUR financial interests uppermost in his mind.
If you have to buy life insurance, buy Term Life from any one of many online sites, like termlife2go, that sell them. Term Life is vastly cheaper than “Perm” Life like xUL. You can invest your massive savings in an ultra-low-load S&P 500 ETF in a Roth IRA. You’ll come out *waay* ahead in the long term.
In sum, WFGers combine two bad worlds. The agents operate within a multilevel marketing (MLM) structure, a structure that’s shown us time and again its great potential to abuse customers and newer agents. WFG agents sell you inferior and even harmful products from the woefully under-regulated insurance industry.
Your best bet folks: Save yourselves a lot of time, money and heartache. Buy *nothing* from WFG. Avoid this deeply dishonest predatory outfit like the plague.
- Inferior and harmful products
License
Unknown charged
WFG covers up for Sarula Larson who stole my money
I started investments via WFG 2013 and 2014, but had to returned to home country in March 2015 - to care for my 96-year-old mom who has Alzheimer's Disease. In June 2016 I went back to Calgary, Canada and asked for some money pulled out.
I was given 2 funds from IA Clarington, and was told that was the only money left in my account. As I was back for only 2 weeks and did not have original papers with me, I got back those 2 funds. In Apr. 2019, I was back to claim tax and clarify problems with Canada Revenue Agency - to reset my account and was asked for fine of over $4500 which I don't have.
Going back to ask for the copies of my files so I can explain to CRA, my former team leader Sarula Larsen (Sart before 2015) told me she did not have anything on the file. In shock, I got onto to my CRA account, just to realize "Sarula has been moving my money since 2014 and hide my money away which explains why she did not want to give me back my files. I downloaded all the transactions done when I was not in Canada and could not sign the papers, and did not authorize anyone to buy or sell my funds. Printed out the copies of T-slips from transactions from Mar.
2015 to Apr. 2019 and asked those companies "not to allow Sarula to transact my money any more". Only two companies responded and one promised to block my account. I reported the cases of theft and forgery (fake signature) to WFG and MFDA in May 2019, which WFG told me "it will take 90 days to investigate".
But by August 2019, when WFG finally sent me 'reports of investigation', they did not seem to show any responsibility to ask Sarula to return my money. As I need money to care for my mom desperately, I could not afford to wait any longer. I hope the top management of WFG Canada can seek the justice for me and ask Sarula to return me about $ 120,000~130,000 that I invested to INvgesco, Manulife, IA Clarington and Equitable Life through her (I did not have licence to operate myself). Sarula has been million dollar sales since 2012, so she is very rich but the amount she stole from me is huge money for me (for mom and my own retirement).
I hope top management of WFG takes this matter seriously and remain doing business honestly.
Please give me back my money before you kill two lives soon. Beryl Kuo
Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution
Trying to recruit unsuspecting Teenagers!!
A man approached my just turned 18 year old daughter, and gave her his card, she was reluctant to call, so she did not. He pursued calling her over the next several months until she finally agreed to meet with him...wow dangerous enough...He gives her this spill about not needing a college degree, which is another problem!
My daughter has been already registered for college and it is paid for the first year! Then he proceeds to tell her it is $100.00 for a background check I know for a fact you can get for anywhere between $14.95 and $29.95. Then it is another $200.00 for all kinds of training materials... I see scam already!!!!
Leave the teenagers alone go after adults if you wish!!! A very upset and concerned parent
- Asking teen for money saying no degree needed
- Scam
Preferred solution: Leave my kid alone
My Friend exhibits cult-like behavior since working for WFG.
My dear friend invited me to what she called a training. When I got there, I had to go to a room with a director or higher position.
I was under the impression that I was going to learn about WFG products, but it turned out to be a recruiting session. Later, I asked my friend to show me how the IUL worked for my daughter. I asked her questions that she was not able to answer, so, instead of sitting down with me, she sent me a brochure, then called me to ask if I had any questions. Her next step was to get in front of my daughter.
She exhibits a cult-like behavior hyping the products, going off on a rant, but answering no questions while mimicking verbatim, the words I heard in the meeting. The numbers in the IUL did not add up in terms of providing a retirement income, long term care, and life insurance based on $300 a month.
For this cult-like behavior I might have lost a friend, but I still want to know how IUL works. Can anyone explain?
- Fake sense of value
- Lack of product training for new trainees
- Cult-like
What is the wfg email addres
World Financial Group Work Experience Review from Vancouver, British Columbia
I guarantee that each person who became successful in WFG became good at hiding the truth from people, and also good at ignoring the truth for themselves. The whole history of the company is based on making more commissions and taking advantage of the consumer.
If you are willing to become successful at the expense of your clients, with the consequences to appear decades later, than WFG is the right place for you. If not, email me at saynotowfg@***.com and I would be happy to share my experiences within WFG.
HAVE A LIVE AGENT ANSWER THE PHONE
Preferred solution: Full refund
Locked out of WFG
- Good mentorship
Really good business you make more money if you are working hard
- Professionalism
- Everything about their business model
Is WFG a Pyramid Scheme? Read these -New!- FTC Guidelines. Decide for Yourself!
Good day good people. Only -three days ago- the FTC posted fresh guidelines to help you decide if a multilevel marketing (MLM) company such as WFG--or at least how its contractor recruiter/agents typically behave--constitute a PYRAMID SCHEME:
Www dot ftc dot gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/multilevel-marketing
Here are key points I quote DIRECTLY from the FTC document. How you answer them will help you decide whether or not WFG recruiter/agents create a PYRAMID SCHEME:
“If the money you make is based on the number of people you recruit and your sales to them...it could be a pyramid scheme.” Folks, do the less than 1% of the WFG recruiter/agents who makes a living in this career--who earn $50,000 per year or more--make most of their money as a direct and/or INDIRECT result of their recruiting efforts? If so, this suggests WFG recruiter/agents create a PYRAMID SCHEME.
“...Pyramid schemes are illegal, and the vast majority of participants lose money…” Folks, do the vast majority of WFG recruits make money, break even, or lose money? If the vast majority of WFG recruits LOSE money, this suggests WFG recruiter/agents create a PYRAMID SCHEME.
Are some or most of WFG products “...overpriced, have questionable merits, or are downright unsafe to use…”? Folks, e.g. Transamerica’s FFIUL, as WFGers tool it, does it represent a solid, safe and competitive product? Or is the FFIUL overpriced and have questionable merits? If the latter, this suggests WFG recruiter/agents create a PYRAMID SCHEME.
“...Can your sponsor — the distributor who is recruiting you — support the claims about the product’s performance?...” Folks, when your WFG recruiter/agent pressed you to buy a product, like the FFIUL, did he give you a full copy of the policy for you to read to your satisfaction before you signed anything or paid him a dime? Did he show you actual -realized- LONG-TERM performance--going back to 1997 when Transamerica issued the first Indexed Universal Life (IUL) policy--on actual live policies? When your recruiter/agent used his Illustration software to project your FFIUL’s performance, did he show you ALL the policy data he uses in his illustration software? Especially the all-important COI charges which explode into the stratosphere in your late life? Which, if you live a reasonably long life, can force you to GIVE UP this policy and you and your heirs LOSE EVERYTHING? If he failed to do one or more of these things, this suggests your WFG recruiter/agent helps create a PYRAMID SCHEME.
“...Do an internet search with the name of the company and words like review, scam, or complaint. Look through several pages of search results…” Folks, please go ahead and search on “WFG review,” “WFG scam,” and “WFG complaint.” What do you find? How many of the search results complain about WFG and call it a scam? The higher the percentage of the total of such search hits, the more it suggests WFG recruiter/agents create a PYRAMID SCHEME.
Does WFG have “...a positive reputation for customer satisfaction…”? Folks, how much feedback have you seen just from *customers*, not customers who also became WFG agents and so now have a vested interest to promote WFG? The less such feedback you’ve seen, the more this suggests WFG recruiter/agents create a PYRAMID SCHEME.
“...Get … information in writing…” Folks, do WFGers put in writing all the important information they tell you? The less they give you important info in writing, the more this suggests your WFG recruiter/agents create a PYRAMID SCHEME.
“...Your sponsor and other distributors should be willing to answer your questions…” Folks, are your WFG recruiter/agents willing to answer ALL your questions? If not, this suggests WFG recruiter/agents create a PYRAMID SCHEME.
“...get a complete picture of how the plan works: not just how much money distributors make, but also how much time and money they spend on the plan, how long it takes before they’re earning money, and how big a downline is needed to make money. One sign of a pyramid scheme is IF DISTRIBUTORS SELL MORE PRODUCT TO OTHER DISTRIBUTORS than to the public — or if they make more money from recruiting than they do from selling...” Folks, is your WFG recruiter/agent willing to tell you what percentage of product purchasers are also distributors? If not, this should make you seriously wonder if WFG recruiter/agents create a PYRAMID SCHEME.
Finally gentlefolk, the FTC document offers you these four valuable pieces of advice:
“...Keep in mind that when you recruit new distributors, YOU are responsible for the claims you make about how much money they can earn. Be honest, and be realistic. If YOUR promises fall through, YOU could be held liable, even if you are simply repeating claims you read in a company brochure or heard from another distributor…”
“...Remember that your sponsor (and others above your sponsor's level) will make money if you join the program. So TAKE YOUR TIME, and RESIST PRESSURE to join. Be aware of shills — fake references paid by the company or distributor to pretend they were successful earning money through the plan…”
“...Ask a friend or adviser to read the materials. You may want to consult with an accountant, a lawyer, or someone else you trust who is not affiliated with the plan to review the terms of compensation, determine whether the plan can back up its claims about the amount of money you can make, and analyze the information you’ve been given…”
“...Ask your sponsor and other distributors tough questions, and DIG FOR DETAILS. Don’t consider it nosy or intrusive: you are on a mission to check out a potential business deal that will require your money and your time…”
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope it helps you!
- Cult-like environment
- Deceptive practices
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Nonsense
This is absolutely wrong. I don't know if they did it before but now right now the products are top class.
I believe you are misinformed and incorrect in some of your statements,
Prudencio you are seriously misinformed and are taking SOMEONES reputation down more than we know, We are not entirely aware of all the details. In other words stop exaggerating and misinforming people.
You focused one one person out of 45, 000 in the company. He may have made some mistakes and perhaps may even be a Jerk. But to rthrow the ENTIRE company down with him is just a dishonest as you claim he is, I know this because I know the Company, I know Mr. Haro and I know over 100 WFG agents that are the Best in the Industry.
Good Luck in your Life. GV
Lol
This is completely inaccurate. I was part of WFG and the policies they have is great if the agent designed it properly.
I have their policy for 15 years now and I am getting returns much higher than promised. Please do more research on the agent and the product so you will get a well designed program.
thank you
If you max fund from the get go everything you said is incorrect
I am not so well informed of WFG but got my FFIUL anyways from transamerica and have been very satisfied. I obtained my insurance sometime 2007 during that time was still western reserve then Became transamerica.
The cash I have invested into it actually grew. At one point, I was short of cash and needed additional emergency funds and managed to get some of my money from it. Now, they have a LTC rider that comes with the FFIUL. Nowadays, the cost of long term care is so grave as not every thing is covered by your health insurance.
Do you know how many people just got bankrupt Because of long term care? I’ve seen a lot as I work in the health field.
For me knowing I have this coverage gives me peace of mind coz I know I won’t let my family shoulder the finances or even just the mere thought of taking care of me if worse comes to worse. I am sorry you feel that way with WFG, but I cannot agree with you on this.
This is erroneous. Do you honestly think companies such as Fidelity, Voya or Nationwide would want to be associated to a company that scams people?
They have a reputation to uphold themselves. Companies do their homework.