At NWM it was almost entirely sales training, and almost no product training, but the sales training was very good. You've been there a year now. Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries. You've been trained to know this. You haven't spoken to them in a long time, and maybe your career is slowing down a bit. They asked me how big my network is, how big my family was, etc..: I caught on that they just wanted to hire me for my network to sell insurance to. I wouldn't worry too much though, just keep prodding him with questions to get him to think (do you really like it there? The cons of pros Like a lot of financial firms, Northwestern Mutual is criticized for its aggressive sales tactics. Maybe one person who is still relatively new to the firm (like you) is doing a great job, but you're in a rut right now. The ending can change but for the most part it will be like that. Let me explain: He is trying to tell me that life insurance is an investment in and of itself, and that the most important asset anyone has, is their ability to earn an income. And some of the joint work partners make mistakes! Rinse and repeat. Now a guaranteed 7% in the current financial climate would be something! Best Cities for Jobs 2020 NEW! I think I have a basic understanding of financial planning. In firms like nwm the new agents are the prospects and the managers are the real sales people. Lasted 4 years, was in the management training program and felt enormous guilt for the "planning" I was doing for people. Most do not, and move along in their careers to something else. It was awesome. You've noticed that the really likeable coaches and managers aren't giving you as much attention anymore, but hey - if you fail it's your own fault. its more the business than anything. Life and disability insurance, annuities, and life insurance with long-term care benefits are issued by The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI (NM). He already went and took out a term policy for himself. You are completely right. Agree with them. 3 Real Estate Salaries and Bonus Data. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the personalfinance community. For myslef, I kept thinking I was going to leave the business one day, 1 year in, 3 years in, 5 years in, omg I be been doing this for over 10 years. He really believes his "friend" is really trying to help him. BEGIN YOUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AS AN INTERN WITH NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL – Wilmington, NC One of America’s Top 10 internships, Northwestern Mutual Financial Representative interns strive to understand their clients' goals and visions to uncover financial solutions that put them on a path to achieve their financial objectives. Time and time again, reps would bombard student org meetings and college classes to talk about finance careers (re: Northwestern Mutual internship program and recruitment). Some of them won't meet with you, even though you're just trying to help them. transfer my current Mutual Fund into a Variable Rate Annuity. Then I get home and I'm on my computer. Frustrating when it's not. Thank you! Advice on getting in with a good firm: honestly, I think you should get that CFP and make it a top priority. Northwestern Mutual Financial Representative Intern in the United States makes about $20.09 per hour. Pros. I've heard stories about Edward Jones, but I can only speak to NWM. To Apply: Please forward a copy of your resume to: Alexa Slack Internship Director Northwestern Mutual (954) 535-9136 alexa.slack@nm.com He says how can you believe those people, who are they? NWM disability insurance is actually pretty good, but it's certainly not worth the premiums. I'm glad you eventually made it with a good firm. Make a post, that night he called me for my bank account info. You don't want to give 50% of your money to the joint-work partners, so you've been doing more cases on your own, and you just can't close as much business. Some pros of working at Northwestern Mutual include their top training program, amazing mentors, and the way the managing partners of each firm allow you to make your own schedule. This just isn't the right career for you. Interested in becoming a financial representative? Note: this career path isn't all bad. Their employees generally are very young, without a financial education outside of what NWM tells them. He keeps talking about how term and especially whole life insurance, should fit in with everyone's budget, because they need it. Happy to help. And if those reps think NWM (or any) whole life insurance is good for even, say, 0.01% of the population they're fucking crazy. If you are an eight-figure multimillionaire and want to efficiently distribute assets to your descendants, a whole life policy can make sense, since it's distributed outside of the estate probate process. You know that. Which to be fair, in theory, should make him a better salesman. It is basically a pyramid scheme like Vector marketing (selling knifes door to door). He got our phone numbers and called us all several times. My other research kind of pointed to what you're alluding to and obviously I'll go into it with an open mind but I really appreciate the insight! I bet they wouldn't even be able to tell you specific details about the products, because they're just regurgitating bullshit their manager-coach (who failed out of the business and is now training them) told them to say. Or maybe you'll be one of the few people who actually makes it work at NWM. The new agents bring in friends and families until their network is exhausted and then they wash out. If you're thinking about going to law school, they'll tell you how law school is saturated whereas the financial services industry has a lot of people on the verge of retirement (this is true). Make sure the firms you're looking at are actually good firms. Please try again later. Good luck. Then check out this video about Northwestern Mutual's college internship program. It's a whole company based on the game of telephone, and by the time the information gets filtered down to you, it's not really true. It's time for your quarterly reviews with the Managing Partner who is never around. You realize that's not logical for reasons x,y,z, right?) I would suggest you go through the process before making a … They don't even pay him unless he sells X policies. Cons. You might be skeptical, but you also might be able to make a lot of money helping people which is a win-win, so you might check it out further. As a financial representative intern, you’ll have meaningful mentorships, access to strong professional networks, and immediate career opportunities with virtually unlimited earning potential. That will earn your friend a big commission. They target these employees because they swallow the pitch hook line and sinker. There will even be one or two in your office who are Gods to everyone that trained you (except for some of the people who have been there for a while and who will tell you all sorts of bad things about these legends...after all, you should be doing joint work with this guy, not that guy, if you want to close business, and anyway this guy is nice...you'll thank him for helping you). This is a solid review for this firm. I thought he would get an understanding of setting up a plan to reach financial goals, investments, and insurance. They have graphs and shit. And you'll know all about how the dividend of NWM whole life fucks the ass out of any other investment product...tax-free!! Stay calm. You've even checked it out, and it's really, really good. If you're new to the industry and have any questions feel free to hit me up! I've seen a few posts asking about working as a financial rep at Northwestern Mutual, so I thought I'd write about my experience there. Press J to jump to the feed. It's not a sales pitch but a sob story. I realize after two meetings only he got me to sign. Soon enough, you'll meet with one of the most affable people you've ever met. He tells you it's time to move on. He calls you on the phone to go over your numbers (you were supposed to meet in person, but he left the office for the day). Most of the ongoing training sessions are still just about how to sell, not about what it actually is you're selling. I signed, and was glad to start on the road to saving money. That said, I don't think most people on this sub meet that criteria. NWM is talking advantage of my naive hard working brother, but I guess this is just going to be a hard learned lesson about the real world. I worked there straight out of college in 2012. At the time I thought it might make sense for some people, but not for me. 90 reviews from Northwestern Mutual employees about working as an Intern at Northwestern Mutual. NWM focuses on teaching a very narrow sales pitch to sell high fee life insurance products, more often than not crappy for their clients. You started strong, but now you haven't closed much business. When I quit after getting a job at a good independent firm, the joint-work partners I worked with (who got to keep all the clients) were concerned about one thing and one thing only: "can I still call that [insert high net worth position here] we tried to make a client together?". I promise my experience was exactly like this. 278 Northwestern Mutual Financial Representative jobs available on Indeed.com. So from what it sounds like, your brother has been sold. They all own it. Send him to this topic. I have no idea how he was talked into a term life insurance policy at 19. If you want to try again to get him to figure it out, go along with his idea to "help you". I did some IT consulting at NWM like 10 years ago and got the same spiel. The ones that are still there, struggling just like you, have the same concerns you have. But I would add that the fail rate is high because of the reason you stated but also because a few people realize what they're doing is wrong. There was a guy in college I knew that got a job with Northwestern Mutual and kept trying to sell me and my friends insurance policies, and it was annoying to say the least. They pay you no base salary its 100% commision and if someone cancels you have to return money you already used. I have had the enormous privilege of working with the Northwestern Mutual as a sales representative and now in management. They tend to reel in fresh graduates who are interested in finance and make it seem like a very prestigious place to work with. This is just a tiny bit of what he talks about all the time. This feature is not available right now. The hope here is he'll eventually see the light- logic inevitably leads you there, and in the meantime try your best to tolerate is abysmal table talk. 426 reviews from Northwestern Mutual employees about working as a Financial Representative Intern at Northwestern Mutual. Anyone who says whole life is a great investment is either misinformed or getting a cut. Not many downsides, but it is a very demanding job especially early in your career. Most permanent life insurance really is dogshit. Jobs. In short, the answer to your question is yes. They'll all seem very happy. Definitely glad I avoided it. Many, such as Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER), even … All you have to do is do it. You'll have to split commissions with them, but "it's better to get 50% of something than 100% of nothing." You might even buy some, too! Also I feel really ashamed I fell for this at all. Pros. You're also kind of frustrated, because you still don't really understand the nuances of the products that well. Some become successful salespeople, and drink the insurance Koolaid. As someone on a career search, this was very insightful. A free inside look at company reviews and salaries posted anonymously by employees. Term insurance is just fine. It sounds like your brother is an insurance agent with some weak technical training and lacks a silver tongue too. I interned at Northwestern Mutual during the summer of 2009 then through the following school year part-time and then again during the summer of 2010. At Northwestern Mutual ®, success is mutual.When you intern with us, you’re opening the doors to your future career. The world is an uncertain, uncertain void, and no one knows where the market goes, right? Insurance has its place but not the whole profile. If you play your cards right, you can end up at a good, fee-only firm that doesn't rip off their clients. Might as well keep at it. You are unfortunately missing nothing here. This career offers flexibility at a company where hard work is valued and rewarded. It was a relaxed meeting, then the next meeting he's got me on a life insurance plan. It's a difficult thing to confront, especially when the management level has bought into the con, but there were several cabals of new reps at my office. Wow, I literally posted about interviewing with Northwestern Mutual yesterday, that's interesting. They said I'd learn through joint work, but I still haven't learned enough. I tried talking to him about it tonight but he just won't listen. Time and time again, reps would bombard student org meetings and college classes to talk about finance careers (re: Northwestern Mutual internship program and recruitment). Maybe he will realize, but I doubt it. He's also incentivized to hire you, but he'll make it seem like they don't just hire anybody - and they don't...technically - and even though he'll tell you this business isn't for everybody, you'll realize that this business is for you. My DD included going through the process of becoming a client and reading their ADV Pt 2. Now you're actually kind of excited. I put all these things in quotations because when I looked at the whole life policy document he had, it said it pays back "dividends" out of the over payments from collected premiums. I guarantee those reps have never worked for a different firm, nor have they ever looked at what else is out there to compare NWM products with other products. Some of the reps you came up with are already gone, and maybe you miss them. You are not missing anything here, but your brother has drunk the koolaid. Once you pass the extensive background check (and believe me it's thorough), study for and pass your Life & Health exam, you're good to go! She's trained to gauge your personality, and as long as you aren't a completely wet blanket, you'll be qualified to move on to the next round of the interview process. My biggest problem with Northwestern Mutual is the disdain college reps had for the fiduciary standard. Term life insurance is not an investment. He doesn't know what an IRA is. Check out the surrender charges on that annuity, and make sure you're sitting down first. He presses me, I give it to him. If you're at NWM, or if you really want to do this, focus on getting your Series 7 & 66 instead of your Series 6 & 63 like they recommend, and then leave. They'll tell you all their secrets. All ratings are subject to change. granted it's a bit more legit since it's selling insurance instead of fire/ice goat skin condoms for frogs, but it's still an mlm. Wisdom does not come easily. The recruiters are incentivized to bring you on board, of course, so they'll tell you about all the money you can make (which is true, in theory), and since they've already drank the kool-aid or they wouldn't be there, they will be very excited about NWM. "Geez, this product sucks, but Timmy needs this sale...it's tough being a good grandparent these days". Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Press J to jump to the feed. You’ll gain exposure to modeling, pricing, products, reserving, and marketing, and receive support as you prepare for your actuarial exams. They say they value diversity and inclusion, but the moment you don't "fit in" they make you an outsider. As an Actuary, you’ll help solve some of our company’s toughest problems by drawing upon your analytical and technical skills. My brother took an "internship" this summer with Northwestern Mutual. And not only that, but you're making money by giving them access to the single most important, wonderful product of the modern world: Northwestern Mutual's Permanent Life Insurance. He is committed to his path, and doesn't want to admit that he made a mistake. I interviewed only where I had an in through a friend in the business or an internal referral. You'll spend the next three months doing lots of joint work, calling everyone you know trying to get meetings with all the people you love and care about. Northwestern Mutual is a big recognizable name and therefore most people trust them implicitly, but it's a shit company. Buy term and save the difference between the term premium and the whole life premium. The attrition rate in this industry is huge even at older established firms with good reputations like Northwestern. The management in my particular location/agency was absolutely heinous. Northwestern Mutual Financial Network is the marketing name for the sales and distribution arm of The Northwestern Mutual Life I don't know how you'll sleep at night knowing that you're giving the people you know and love (and the people they know and love) an overpriced product with high commissions. You're HELPING them! Left NYL and now am a private wealth manager. As far as how to let your brother know, that's though. I told my brother who has a plan with them. View Disclosures Hide Disclosures . Am I missing something here or how do I gently let him know what is really going on? They were good dudes. I trust my brother, but I think he's fully drank their cool aid. You can lead a horse to water, but he doesn't want to drink. It seems he is getting a crash course in life insurance. High level sales training course, excellent culture, plenty of resources for product knowledge and business support. Plan your career in the wide world of finance. Learn about Northwestern Mutual culture, salaries, benefits, … Helpful full-time advisors come along side to offer experience, advice, and leadership in meetings with potential clients. He is 19 years old with no dependents. They'll have scripts - language that you'll have to memorize, and a time-tested strategy based on a scientific method. It's at least worth googling, and it actually doesn't look too bad when you search online! People just make this business too hard. Not bad!! New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the FinancialCareers community. I'm partway there with a career change through taking CFP classes but I'm not sure if I'll follow through. my friend told me he got an internship at northwestern mutual as a financial advisor and i was happy for him until i looked it up and realized it's a sales position and more importantly, a disguised mlm scheme. Job Description. She'll tell you about how NWM is one of the top-rated companies out there with the highest financial strength ratings available (also true), and you'll think it's a pretty good company! The poor kid spent a ton of money on suits, fancy shoes, and a new watch so he could try to look the part. Northwestern Mutual is the only company to be recognized as a top 100 internship program 1 for 24 straight years. You'll use these new tactics to convince people you know who are "centers of influence" to meet with you and let you pick through their network so you can help all of their friends with this great new career you've started. 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