Posted on 03/13/2015 10:19:39 PM PDT by Falconspeed
The question is whether the World Financial Group (WFG) is a good and trustworthy manager of wealth? I accept, allow and approve this question, because I am convinced that the WFG is an incompetent and untrustworthy overseer of a person’s wealth. Here are fifteen reasons why.
The final cause and goal of the WFG is confusing. I was told to meet “the manager” at the WFG office in Encino at 10:00 am on a morning in December. When I arrived early at 9:30 p.m. and sat in the waiting room for thirty minutes, two people kindly asked me who I was visiting. I said, “I am visiting ‘the manager’ and both people smiled at me and said, “He is on his way.” Does he have a name?
The material cause and stuff of WFG involves two things: Index Life Insurance and Variable Insurance Annuities. My meeting with ‘the manager’ turned into a forty-five minutes monologue from Mr. John Smith who talked at me the entire time. When I interrupted him once with a question, he paused, looked surprised, and then went back to his illogical script.
The formal cause and unique feature about WFG is the regular announcement of lies and falsehoods. I detected numerous lies in the forty-five minute monologue. So I folded my hands, smiled, leaned forward in my chair, and listened while the Manager talked about the Index Life Insurance and Variable Insurance Annuity.
The person in charge of my meeting with WFG was Mr. Smith, “CEO Marketing Director, Registered Representative,” the manager, the boss and the capo. He wore a wrinkled white shirt and a nice green tie. He told me that he was “listening to the radio this morning and heard that one out of two people live below the poverty line.” This is a lie, since a thirty second search on Google will reveal that, according to a recent study by the School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, “In 2010, 15.1 percent of all persons lived in poverty” In other words, it is not one out of two that live below the poverty line but three out of twenty.
Mr. Smith also stated that he “received in the mail this morning” a set of two portfolios: one for his mother and one for Jane's mother, Edith. These are the second, third and fourth lies, since I saw the USPS truck drive into the parking lot after our meeting at 11:00 a.m., since his mother’s portfolio should not be made public, and since the two portfolios for two different people were the same size, color and volume. And why is it that he did not allow me to read the names on the two documents when I squinted to read the covers?
The preparing agent is a friend who emailed me, met me for coffee and talked about the value of trustworthy financial advice. I told him that everyone needs trustworthy advice. He then told me that he is working with nice manager of wealth and I agreed to meet with the manager. I was a little disappointed to meet an unethical pirate of wealth who lies and cheats young people who are ignorant of economics.
Mr. Smith's notes assisted him as he explained both Index Life Insurance and Variable Insurance Annuities. He talked at me for forty-five minutes and drew graphs, numbers and charts on four blank pieces of 8.5 x 11 paper. When I asked him if I could have his notes, he said, “No.” Then, I thought, why present them to me in the first place? The tools and instrumental agents for WFG involve a nice office, cubicles, desks and a coffee pot. Three people kindly asked me if I wanted coffee while I waited.
What do trustworthy and competent wealth managers say about WFG? Again, a thirty-second search on Google reveals the following. According to Clark Howard, variable annuities are a rip-off. He writes, “First off, let's clarify the definition of a variable annuity. It's a mutual fund wrapped in an insurance policy that requires you to put in money. But you pay a variety of insurance charges, a mortality charge and other fees. By the time it's all done, you pay 25 times the expense of the [other] ‘no-load funds.’ Even worse, if you try to get out of an annuity, you pay massive fines. Variable annuities are often pushed by salespeople on elderly folks during free meal seminars. The commission they receive on a sale is huge.”This leads to the fifth lie announced by Mr. Smith who told me that if you wish to get out of an annuity early, then there are no fees or penalties.
According to “Meggwhat” at Scam dot com, “World Financial Group a Multi-Level Marking scheme selling overpriced junk. Just like Amway but with insurance instead of household products.” Linking WFG with Amway is a good analogy. According to Mike from California, “You will surely lose a lot of money with them. While not technically illegal, the incentive structures very strongly encourage unethical and illegal behavior… They like things like variable annuities and really anything that has sky high commissions.”And according to “Alex from Woodland Hills, CA”, “I received no real training during our meetings. Meetings were more of a pep-rally, or what they call the ‘mozone’ or motivational zone.” This leads to the sixth lie broadcast by Mr. Smith who said, “One hour of our training equals about nine hours of classroom learning.” I kept a straight face when he said this because I learned more from listening to a professor at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley for ten minutes than I did after listening to Mr. Smith for forty-five minutes.
Lastly, an “Ex-employee of WFG” in Alberta, Canada wrote, “Customers are not yours until you reach the title ‘Qualified Marketing Director’ (QMD) where you make 65% commission. Any financial company that ‘keeps your clients’ for any time period, is one you should avoid.” I agree with the conclusion that WFG should be avoided.
What does a person see, hear, touch, taste and smell when entering the WFG office in Encino? I saw a clean, boring waiting room with tile floors, three chairs, a coffee table with magazines and an empty desk. I saw Mr. Smith walk in with a wrinkled shirt. It looked as if he just woke up from sleeping. He told me that he just flew in from New York. I thought to myself, if he was recently in New York, then 10:00 a.m. would be 1:00 p.m. for him and he should look awake and alert. Thus, I detected a seventh lie. After all, who cares if he was just in New York? Would he care if I recently arrived from Santa Barbara?
The history of WFG cannot be found on its website. The “About” page simply states that the “World Financial Group is one of the few companies of its kind in the industry today.” The question is what makes WFG different from the majority of all other “companies of its kind?” The website answers this question: “WFG is dedicated to serving the financial needs of individuals and families from all walks of life.” This is odd, since it seems like most and not just a few wealth managers serve “the financial needs” a variety of people. It would be like a dentist who states that he is ‘one of the few dentists who cleans teeth’ which is silly since all dentists do that.
WFG is analogous to Amway, according to one statement above. Plus, WFG is analogous to Mormonism which teaches that no true religion exists except theirs. Similarly, Mr. Smith was promoting WFG and downplaying Charles Schwab and other large wealth managers. Also, WFG seems to suggest that they have the final analysis of the wealth management. Its website states that WFG is “Unlike other insurance and financial services.” I would also say that WFG is analogous to Scientology, since both groups tell lies, focus on recruiting and force the members to pay dues. Both make money by forcing new recruits to pay fees. On the contrary, I have a true financial advisor and he has never charged me dues or fees to become his client. He simply invests my money in a mutual fund and takes a just, agreed upon percentage as his cut.
A sign that WFG is bad and not trustworthy is the forty-five minute monologue involving falsehoods and the sketching of meaningless and useless graphs. WFG’s web site states that “its clients never feel like a number.” I felt worse than a number. I felt like a wall that a person was talking at. Not once did he ask for my personal strategy for wealth management. He simply did not care and just looked at me as a potential source of his pirated income.
The motive for going to WFG in Encino is to observe the activities of this unethical company. A woman named “Sarah” talked at me about movies for ten minutes while I was waiting for ‘the manager’. Mr. Smith then gave me a tour of the office where I saw a big room with seven people inside who were wearing nice suits and conducting a hyper “ozone”.
I felt sad that lies were being broadcasted by a manager to ignorant clients who were simply getting ripped off. Many people in the United States are really hurting and WFG does not seem to care. I felt despair listening to Mr. Smith in the first five minutes since I knew his script probably lasted an hour and I was stuck. I felt joy when I exited the building, saw the sun light and knew that I would be leaving in my car soon.
After reviewing the above deliberation, I choose the expert advice from Clark Howard and my forty-five minute feeling of despair as two reasons why WFG is is bad and untrustworthy. Howard states that variable annuities are twenty-five times more expensive than other annual annuities. Also, being forced to listen to a forty-five minute script containing lies is a real way to break someone’s trust. Thus, I now have the power to form the following command: WFG is a bad and untrustworthy thief of a person’s wealth, because it promotes products that are twenty-five times more expensive than others and the manager rudely recited a long script containing numerous lies. Thesis: Every company that sells products that are twenty-five times more than others and promotes lies is a bad and untrustworthy thief of a person’s wealth. But WFG sells products that are twenty-five times more than others and promotes lies. Therefore, without a doubt, WFG is a bad and untrustworthy thief of a person’s wealth.
The first objection is that WFG is a good company and “It's not for everyone." The response is to say that WFG is a bad company and no one should be selling variable insurance annuities. The second objection is that complainers “don't want to spend anything and want everything for free from the company." That is false. Complainers are justly stating that selling a product twenty-five times more than it is worth is unethical. The third objection is that a person can obtain certificates and licenses from WFG. The response is to say that Kinko’s gave me nice certificates for cleanliness and promptness after working there for six months. And an honest wealth manager simply needs an advanced degree from a top business school along with State of California Business license. Lastly, a person may object that WFG has good and ethical wishes for its employees. “You can help others reach theirs by educating them on the financial fundamentals that can lead them there.” The response is to state that WFG is unethical because it helps others by ripping them off, has information that is inferior to what can be learned at the Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley or the School of Public Policy at Univ. of Michigan and leads associates to massive debt.
Ben Affleck’s ‘Boiler Room’ Speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4Pu_JuPILw
Hang on a sec. I’m gonna get a drink and ill be right back. This might be a good thread.
Why do you want someone else to manage your money?
If you can’t roll around naked on your wealth then it ain’t real.
I am having just a little trouble getting a callback from them, but I think that's just due to the time zone difference. 😄
If you do get a call it will probably be from a guy with a Nigerian accent whose name is David MacDavid or Robert Johns who will need your bank account number and social security number to set up direct deposits so you can receive your bountiful investment returns...: )
My pitch is short. “Give me your money”.
Thank you. Ben Affleck gives an excellent portrayal and depiction of slick operators who take advantage of young people who lack confidence with money.
Thanks. True. WFG takes advantage of innocent young people with big words and empty promises.
I always thought that scene was a lame attempt to copy Alec Baldwin’s speech in Glengarry, Glenn Ross.
I mistakenly worked for AmeriQuest mortgage for about six months since I really needed a job at the time. My young manager used that movie as a training video.
So this is the new iteration of Primerica, which was the new iteration of A.L. Williams?
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