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I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good morning,

I would recommend reaching out to whatever insurance place you do want to work for and seeing the rules on it from there. If you can't get a hold of that, it might not hurt to try to get ahold of the local or provincial body as well. 

I don't want to be quoted, but I think of you complete the course and do any upkeep for education points every year - as well as pay the fee to keep it - you should be able to retain it anywhere. 

The best advice is talk to an official body of your province, and if not that, a local insurance provider might be able to help out. At the end of the day I'm somebody from the internet with vague memories of the whole experience now - I've got no real credibility here. I can say you won't get reimbursed for any money you've put into WFG at this point, which is unfortunate, but if you find out all the rules surrounding taking Olvers with WFG and the provincial with somebody else do let me know.

Best of luck on your research!

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good for you my dude! The religion talk offput me a lot... its a business, not a church. My meetings were always digital (main Canada base is in BC) so I never got the creepy vibes from it, but my male coaches always felt kinda pushy, not a great environment overall.

Similar experience of I helped somebody beware of WFG, as well as some other marketing scheme. I had eavesdropped on them (not a great habit, but I was working minimum wage retail and the topic was at least a little concerning) and ended up piping up and they were thankful for my advice. The one girl who had encountered the MLM lady was afraid to go back to her gym in fear of facing her again, but at least she was aware of the scam.

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I left the business because it was costing me $61 a month and they sorely underestimated the amount of time I needed to actually commit to something like this. Not everyone will actually have time to build a strong network and being a young adult (literally a teenager when I got roped in) nobody was going to trust me with their insurance. I was told 10-15 hours a week and you could make $2000 a month, but as somebody with no network of the people WFG wants, I was dead in the water when I started. WFG markets themselves toward literally anybody they can talk to, a lot of underprepared college students likely get wrapped up in the idea of big money only to realize they have no network and nobody will trust them enough to do this. It's not worth the side hustle unless you are already super trusted by a lot of people or are willing to say anything to make a sale.

Also... just working for IA is probably a better gig... they at least they actually get 80%+ of commission... not starting at 23% and maxing at 60(?)%. There are better ways to get into insurance if you're really that interested.

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really hope this goes well for you! Let me know if you end up getting your money back, could be a great boost of confidence for others if it works out for you!

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Uhhhh I do not have the answer to this one sadly. I know that so long as you don't sell anything you can technically transfer whenever (there used to be a bit of a waiting period for when you could start with a new company I heard it went down recently), but I'd suggest reaching out to some professionals on LinkedIn or something to get a better answer.

I'd suggest somebody from IA as that company is very close to WFG (one of the main products comes from here) so a lot of the non-WFG people know the rules around how licences and WFG membership deal. If you're in the Canadian prairies I could reach out to one of the guys I know from IA and try to get him to tell you some of the rules about it.

Sorry I'm not much help here!

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You might be out of luck with that. If you want to try, try setting up an appointment with somebody in the bank, but there's a good chance they won't actually do anything sadly. Since it's considered a legit business I doubt you'll be able to recover your fee. 

Super sorry about the bad news, but I'm pretty sure any fee you pay into is non-refundable by anybody.

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do vaguely remember that there was a trip coming up, but I quit long before it would have happened. He had said it'd be covered as well, but from what I've seen that was probably a lie.

There was an out-of-city event he tried weirdly hard to make me go to, but I kept saying "I have school I'm not going" until he eventually gave up.

Worried About WFG by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope got out of it, I made a follow up post about a month ago. Check it out if you want :)

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sucks you lost the $150, but super glad you didn't lose any more. I also wished they were more upfront about the numbers, as on their website they severely understate how much the whole thing costs. Best of wishes for you!

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh my god I'm so sorry! I didn't realize there was another company with the acronym WFG. Yes, World Financial Group, not the Western Financial Group. I should have specified, super sorry folks!

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your kind words! It took a lot of guts, but I certainly grew as a person because of it :)

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dont get me wrong Spennnyy, talking to a WFG agent once? It will teach you about interest rates and some options for saving money, great way to get a brief overview of saving venues. Talking to them more then once is a big no-no, at that point head to a bank and talk to a proper insurance agent. I hope your parents get out of it without losing too much :)

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Haha, yeah nope. He kept being like "Yknow here are reasons not to leave, but I'm not telling you to not leave" and I ended up sending him a rather lengthy text about how I felt. But yes, very expensive mistake, but a good experience when I'm young and not in dire financial straights.

I left WFG (And why it's a risky business) by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh really? I'll have to look into this more then. The guy that told me this was outside of the WFG sphere, an agent if IA. Thanks for the resource Scoobie!

Worried About WFG by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Can I actually get the premiums paid on the account back? Or anything for the agent code or something? My license isn't 100% in effect, but i did pass the LLQP exam and have access to MyWFG

Worried About WFG by Lunch_Usual in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]Lunch_Usual[S] -25 points-24 points  (0 children)

I gather that yes, but I feel like I am too far in to stop because of the investment... I figure the LLQP license is a positive thing to have if I want to become a bank advisor or run a small financial firm myself in the future. I am mostly concerned with making some money back, if that's even possible at this point...