Hi my names Jay and a i'm currently a College student, i joined WFG for about two Months. My Friends Sister Recruited me, and before i say anything else, if i had only said NO to her face i would have never had to gone thru this ordeal. she came to my house knowing i needed a part time job and introduced me to this company called "World Finance Group" and said you know that big pyramid building in san francisco, well this is the company. (Totally false WFG is apart of Transamerica Not Transamerica itself, So Them saying they are transamerica seems wrong.) This Explains my experience with this company, and i'll be reviewing there company. this is not a bias report, because believe it or not WFG is not a scam, however they are a multilevel marketing company. thats a Legal Pyramid Scheme, you can make money with this company without Recruiting, But Highly Doubtful With the system they use, when you pay $100 you're a trainee recruit. your job is to recruit 3 friends, and family, you're warm market. (pretty much people that respect you enough to even show up) And to get them signed up and under you. and you have 30 days to do it.

What to Expect? When you get to wfg for an interview or group interview they have a mofunzone, an artificial motivation zone to attact and keep recruits. many of the presentations are repeated over and over again. there was a guy called eric cohlet and he went on about how he was a immigrant > went to jail> dedicated to be a millionare > Joined the company 20 years ago> rich and owns houses and drives a nice car. they sell you a dream, your recruits are brought downstairs and lectured about basic mathematic formulas like compounding intrest, and wfg's mission. After you think you're going to work for the company they hit you with a $100 "BackGround Check" which simply goes to there mother company aegon. (it says be an aegon agent pay our $100 start up fee on the main website)

1. System Flaw

this system they call 3-3-30 that's Three Recruits Three Sales within 30 days *Note if you don't do your 3-3-30 you will not make any money, and you are given another month to get the 3 sales and recruit. Your 3-3-30 you will make $0 on this commision. because your upline gets your first 3 sales (Thats right, you don't make any money until you pass your 3-3-30 and you're promoted to a official Associate) After passing your 3-3-30 You'r an associate and can start making money.... Off the people you recruited. thats right ladied and gentleman thats how these snakes operate, recruit your friends that trust you, use them and make money. They also make you give them a 25 Personal Prospect List, Do not give it to these people they will have your phonebook from your cellphone and Constantly call the people you put up to recruit them. so even if you quit ahead of time, they still win because they have your list of sale potentials.

2.It's only $100 to sign up, NOT

When i joined WFG i was told it was "only $100". thats how they get you hooked. when you invest $100 for a shady "back Ground Check", its really just a sign up for your online WFG account. Now you can't back out or you'll feel like i just lost a hundred dollars. Then theres the Licensing Fee's for a online class (seriously to work with these people you take a 52 hour online Insurance Class and get certified) the class itself was $80, Plus the Actual Life and Health insurance Test Cost $100, Followed by Finger Printing $80, Every Single Convention/Big Events are paid out of your pocket. I got suckered into going to the convention of champions because everyone on my team "pressured me into going" "You'll never make it in this buisiness, vivian's groups bringing 60 people we need that many to go" "its just 3 days that'll change your life forever". i lost about $800 On my trip to the convention of champions. (please note i am a student that works part-time spending this much money on this company instead of spending it on school for classes and books was the worst, most retarded mistake of my life). After getting Licenesed you have to go thru a process called appointing. you pay WFG to be able to sell the products they offer... Initially i was told it was only $40 So i coughed up the money and paid only to find out i had to pay EVERY Month Because selling life insurance you need insurance for yourself, if your clients sue you or anything you'll have protection. This $40 also goes to your Online Wfg Account, if you stop paying the account is terminated I quit after 2 months afterwards... and i was charged $80 for 2 months because my WFG online account was still open, even though i left i was still charged for something i never used. my upline Agent Jill threatened that it would keep growing and ruin my credit if i didn't cough up the money. so i did and i sent in my letter of resignation i never ever want to deal with these people again.

3. How the company makes so much money.

Every Recruit asked to buy the overpriced life insurance policy. therefore if a client ask's if they own the product the WFG agent is able to vouch for the insurance because they own it. so who makes commision on the insurance you bought? Your upline does!!! also because you own it, your friends, family and acquantances. when i bought my 500k policy i was told it was only going to be $100 a month, however the premium went up to $250, that was over twice as much as i expected to pay. thats not all. my upline signed my mother, father, and little brother up. she would have made at least $8000 on our sale alone. plus She first stated it would be less than $400 for my parents, she called week after week adding at least $50 each time till there bills were up to $800 each. she kept saying the money you pay and put into this doesn't go to me, it goes to your retirement. When my mom decided to downgrade her insurance Agent Jill States "Tell her is she serious. she needs more for her protection and told me to tell my mom if she was "Serious" with her final decision. She Tried to use me to guilt out my own mother... but honestly she just wanted to make a bigger commision . my parents had there policys for a month and cancled. after they cancled i decided to quit as well, however now i had lost over $2000 and i feel obligated to pay my parents back.

4. Aftermath

When i was done with WFG my upline called me Twice (span of 2 months) Only to tell me that i had to pay $80 for my internet account, (which i never even looked at since i felt hurt and scammed and honestly wanted to get the hell away from these people) The second time she said i quit because its my own fault. that there system is flawless and the only people that quit are lossers. so to summarize

*Reading This will save you time. if you can't be f**ked with reading my whole review

- losses $2,000 to this company

- theres no training all the meetings are scripted repeats and the only time you actually learn something is on super saturday, because its a public event.

-Overpriced insurance, and inconsistant premiums.

- Associates only start at 35% compared to other companys which offers you 80% - 95%

- The companys policy is no Money Made Until This 3-3-30 was completed. (3 sales 3 Recruits in 30 days) if you do not do 3-3-30 the only option is to get 10 sales to advance to 45% ( Goodluck on that)

DO NOT JOIN THERE SCAM, you'll be left to pester your friends and family to buy life insurance, which none of them needs if you're alright with Feeding off peoples fear of drying early, or telling yourself you're helping people and doing good. BE MY GUEST, but you have been warned.

-Jay

Click Here to read other Ripoff Reports on World Financial Group

5 Updates & Rebuttals

lenfranc

L.A.,
California,
USA

Sounds Personal

#2UPDATE EX-employee responds

Tue, October 27, 2015

I remember things a little differently. 1st of all you get paid once you pass your State Health & Life licence. Secondly it is one of the few and I mean few companies that can provide a full financial spectrum of financial products. They do 401K Rollovers, IRAs both Roth & Traditional. They do college 529 plans, annuities, whole life, term life, and IULs. Don't get me wrong I no longer work there but it was a personal decision. It had nothing to do with the creditably of the company or their practices. I work there do to the flexibility of my school schedule. I still have one of the products. With WFG representing companies like Nation Wide, PAC Life, ING, Prudential, & their sister company Transamerica I think anything less than would cause those companies to cut ties. As far as price you get what you pay for we all know that. As long as you are comparing apples to apples I don't understand the complaints about products and service. Last I heard everyone dies and someone has to pay. Even if you do have a car wash or bake sale.

notnecessarily

Los Angeles,
California,
USA

You're so confused!

#3Consumer Comment

Mon, September 28, 2015

It appears to me you're so confused, unfortunately!

You did not make any money because you did not obtain your license timely. W/O license, you cannot legally sell insurance, hence you won't inherit any money. Once licensed, you're contracted to get 30% on every sale.. The 3-3-30 will get you 45% once accomplished and the next steps will ultimately get you 80% .. along the way, you learn how to recruit the right people for your team and at the end of the day, you are the one responsible for their success, In return, you get some commission on their sale effort. so instead of capping at 80%, you'll potentially earn over 200% in total team sale effort and everyone is happy... and the success will be duplicated down the line and every recruit can even be more successful and making a lot more money than you or even the guy(s) way above... limitless potential!

There's no ecret to this as WFG encourages every new recruit to obtain their license within 3 weeks. You need to sign up and complete a 52-hr course (on-line is best) before you can register for the California Life Agent test. Through WFG, you get some discount and pay less for the course... I paid $26 because it was on promotion ($14 off from regular WFG price, and $54 saving off from everyone price)

This is what's great about WFG; they call themselves System Builders and this is what you will become if you follow the steps. If you are slackers, you can simply be happy with your 30% commission ... then sell, sell, and sell do not build, build build!!! As much as WFG wanted you to succeed, they can't and won't force you to follow the system because you are an INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR to WFG, not EMPLOYEE... It's your business, do what you want or don't do what you don't want)

They offer guidance, mentor, and support. Through WFG, I learn leadership, public speaking skills, and most important of all, how to secure my financial future... all for FREE (not counting the $100 membership fee, of course! haha but it was a small price to pay) NOW I'm ready to assist my friends and family and the rest of the people ...

btw, you can make money while working on your license by referring potential customers needing home/auto/business insurance, creating living trusts, or debt management to affiliated companies, so basically, you can start making as soon as you join.

Cheers

Byanyothername

Oxnard,
California,

Well Stated!

#4UPDATE EX-employee responds

Wed, July 23, 2014

I had almost the identical experience with this company, down to the hidden fees and 3 day seminar. I was also unemployed so they do prey on people that are going through financial hardship. Your story is my exact story almost to the T. The last straw was the E&O fees or monthly insurance, after spending time getting licensed, going to meetings twice a week, and a lost of a cuople thousand dollars I did not want to lose my family and friends. if you look at this company thier whole life is just each other, they have no outside friend and if their family is not part of the company then they are not part of their lives.

concerned citizen

California,

Be Careful

#5Consumer Comment

Fri, May 16, 2014

Just make sure what you do is the best thing for the consumer and not ripping off just for the sake of getting big commission. Tell your client what you are selling and the fees associated with it. Check the link for the latest fines of the company and the agents.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/ex-mutual-fund-sellers-fined-suspended-257104451.html

There are other companies that will pay for your license, you just have to look for them.

maycee

La Quinta,
California,

You should have definitely "NO"

#6Consumer Comment

Fri, March 28, 2014

That sounds like a very unfortunate experience, for sure. However, I would like to clarify some things and not just for the person debating on whether to join WFG or not but mostly for the potential customer out there who would be very possibly turned off by you misleading account. First off, the products are real and legit and are insurance products from big named companies such as ING, Nationwide, Transamerica, etc. There are many to choose from as WFG is an independent agency and doesn't represent just one insurance company. Thus, those licensed agents at WFG have a myriad of insurance products available for them to sell from a myriad of insurance companies, thereby significantly increasing the policy options for the customer which is a good thing.

Aegon is the parent company of WFG. They bought Transamerica several years back and WFG-USA and all its affiliates technically roll up to Transamerica (I believe) which then consolidates into Aegon, a publicly traded company that is regulated and audited.

The gal should not have recruited you in the first place as you seem to have no interest in Financial Services. The online course and the test and the actual license itself is what is required of everyone to get licensed by the State of California (or whatever state you live in) to sell insurance products. The insurance industry is highly regulated in every state. So this was not some proprietary test they made up to extort money out of people. And btw, I paid only $39.99 for the California online approved 52 hour course which is about 25% of what it can run you if you want to register for a course on your own. A significant savings for the person who like myself has worked in Financial Services since.....well, I think I can safely say since before you were born and was wanting to get licensed anyways. I didn't even mind the $100....called an administrative fee.

I think people at WFG can be put in two buckets......those that are more insurance producs oriented and want to help families financially plan for their futures. The other bucket are those people who focus more on the recruiting aspect of company to build their "business". I am the former because it seems that if you know the products, are professional and genuinely care about helping your customer.......and you have a satisfied clients when all is said and done, the recruiting automatically happens. Who wouldn't want to join an organization that just displayed itself like that. You don't have to be incredibly financially savvy but your should at very least, have an interest in financial services and helping others. If you don't you are in the other bucket where you are forced to focus on recruiting, etc., etc. (and it bugs me too) While important, I don't think it can be your main focus if you want to be successful at WFG.

Thank you, Cindy

Reports & Rebuttal