Recent Posts
Your text goes here
be very careful signing a contract. i am not working with my bank to nullify the debits from fitness first. I signed a 3 month contract...and 5 months later they are debiting my account. they are liars. scammers. the sales guy is so nice! he will tell you anything...and they say its your word against his. spread the word...don't get scammed by fitness first. st germain. paris, france
September 28th 2008 22:54
So, the US government is on a massive bail out frenzy. I'm not going to discuss all the why's because there are plenty that have already done that. What I do think is necessary is that FINRA should require anyone in banking to have a license. Currently those selling investments need to be licensed and those selling insurance need to be licensed by their individual states. Realtors need to have a license which is also covered by states. BUT, the people in the bank that you talk to when you enter a branch....do not necessarily: only if they are licensed to sell investments and insurance which many are not. But there are still issues with the licensing itself.
I'll tell you my views through my prior experiences.
At Wells Fargo Bank, I wanted to obtain a Series 6 or 7 license. I was denied the opportunity to better serve my clients by my manager: scheduling reasons were cited. That aside, I was often working with a dubious group. I was hired, and given little training before being expected to open new accounts on my own. I was given lists of clients with significant balances to call about making investments...even though I had little experience or knowledge of them....and no licensing. I had a HELOC quota, again with no experience and little training. I was given FARM lists of properties that likely had significant available equity to call on. Where the CONSUMERS failed themselves; signing documents without fully understanding the terms. They trusted the banks. Why?
At Citibank, to be a business banking officer, I was required to get Series 6 and 63 licenses and a CA insurance license. To me, an interesting observation was that people that failed the exams on their 2nd try, and fired by Citibank, were able to find other positions at banks. With intense sales quotas looming we were given a freebie on our continuing education studies. We were offered cheat sheets. Hmmm. It seems that cheating circumvents the point of CE. But thankfully at Citibank, when it came to signing documents, we were left to our own specialties.
I left Citibank to go to Mutual of America for several reasons. First, politics were keeping me from significant commissions that the rules said I should have received. Secondly, the operations were so ancient - as was my office...rats in ceiling and all...unprofessionally dressed tellers, manager, bankers, etc.; it just didn't seem to represent the brand. I was not proud to find new business for my branch even though Citibank offers many great products. But I saw many ridiculous behaviors; bankers selling insurance to employees in order to make their quotas, non-disclosure, lack of knowledge, lack of training....and certainly the tellers often looked like they were better suited to McDonalds. It was embarassing.
At Mutual of America, I was told to study a Product Manual and was given pop quizzes by the VP of my office in Long Beach. Then, without any formal training on 401(k) or 403(b) plans I was given call lists to prospect for new clients by phone. My goal? Get clients to transfer their employee retirement plans. The more I learned about the complexities of plans the more I couldn't believe what the VP asked me to do. I was also given lists of clients who were nearing retirement or had changed employers, giving them to opportunity to transfer funds to an IRA. Yes, to transfer money within the company. LOL. AND, without very much training on the rules. It basically went against everything I had been taught about ethics in financial services. AND it was my rent check. Hmmmm. I later discovered that one of my colleagues who had been promoted was signing of on annuity contracts without a California Insurance License. I called my peeps at other companies, and they all agreed it was against the rules. So i called the CA dept of insurance out of curiosity: they concurred. After 18 months I was let go for a lack of production just as a client alleged they would likely transfer over 2.5 million. Oh well. I had already paid for my Masters degree tuition abroad. No major problem. I mean, just a few months before I saw ethics pushed a little. We had a sales incentive trip to Scottsdale, AZ. We were allowed to buy whatever drinks we wanted so long as we ordered a food item so the bill would qualify as a write-off. Apparently or trip to the Four Seasons was a tax write-off as long as we were doing a certain/substantial amount of business. We received a sort of schedule to commence meetings around 8am/8:30am I don't remember exactly. But the meetings were always dismissed after we ate breakfast. So really the tax write off was for our adventures hiking, touring in Jeeps, playing golf, lounging around the pool and drinking up a frenzy. It was significant to me, because my colleagues at Citibank had a completely different experience: they really had meetings with Senior Management....and did significant business. I just find it all funny considering that Mutual of America's roots lie in Not-for-Profit/Non-Profit.
So yes, the sub prime mortgages were a big problem. But not the sole problem. The people in front of the client are pushed to sell to the client. As a smart admin assistant once said...its much like the film, The Firm. As an employee, you have to play the game. But there should really be more licensing, more due diligence and recourse for employees that see the rules are a-miss.
But I will add this. If I ever returned to financial services, it would be to work with Michael Crupi who is an estate planner in the Los Angeles area. The ethics and knowledge he taught me...his dedication to clients...his humility...and his dedication...would all make it worth going to work. You can find him at www.michaelcrupi.com. He's the most educated and ethical financial services guy I know. And how I wonder....why did Michael go out on his own? He was working for Fortune 500 companies? Why? He saw the limitations of a big corporation's sales goals.
This morning in Paris, (in "quiet" August) I was awoken at 6:08am by the street cleaner. I tried to go back to sleep. It didn't happen. I finally got up and downloaded a rental on itunes (nothing on TV to watch). Then at about 7am began the racket of the tow truck.....that seemed to go on forever. Then came the noise of the garbage trucks. Then came the noise of the recycling truck - the crashing of glass being dumped into metal, over and over again. Then of course at 8:23am the hammering began outside of my window. I'm sorry, did I forget to mention that I went to bed at 1:45am...nice 4.5 hours. And can you believe people sometimes ask why I'm tired.....
There are supposed to be some kind of noise restrictions in Paris...yeah right. The construction outside my window has been going on for more than a year. Does that seem reasonable? Every day between 8:30am the hammering continues until 5am. It could be okay if I were working - but I'm home every day looking for a job...and some days when you've only had a few hours sleep..its not a very nice way to start a day.....
Dear Prince Al-Walid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud,
As you are such a great investor of Citigroup I thought it only fair that you should know how bad Citigroup's Student Loan Corporation is at handling debts. As a student loan participant I was initially never educated as to any of the details of repayment. I was just handed the money at a student loan office. Years later, and still studying, I have moved abroad. I have been asking Citi for months to provide me with information to defer my loan while I complete my masters and they have ignored or sent standard responses which have not answered my questions. I can only imagine this is how, in a global economy, it becomes harder for Citi to collect on loans. Oh I assure you, I have many horrible stories of customer service. I'm not imaginging things. I also have student loans with another lender and they are absolutely 100% responsive to my requests or needs. It's like night and day
[ Click here to read more ]
I sent a letter to citiassist explaining that while studying my master abroad i was shocked to discover that my student loans came out of deferment 3 months ago and without them pounding down my door. I searched my email and received one message saying - you have a payment due. that was less than 3 weeks ago. today I logged in to see that there was a whopping payment due. so i emailed them to say - hmmm i see I requested deferrment and nothing was done, i see that I have only received one email, I see that I cannot request deferrment / forebearance online. But at Nelnet you can. So i will see how to consolidate - I should have done it long ago. in the meantime can I postpone a payment until Jan and is there some faster way of applying for forebearance.
The nimrods wrote back to say you need to fill out an in school deferment application. We mailed you one. Well actually the funny thing is that i'm studying in a foreign country and very few foreign schools are''qualified" by IRS purposes. So actually you idiots I need forebearance. LOL
[ Click here to read more ]
I'm tired of the phrase, "He/She has issues." Duh. Welcome to the human race. We all by nature have issues. We are imperfect. The way I see the world, there are two kinds of people: those trying to do better and those who are just pissed that some people remind them the world is a crazy place and not always blissful.
I am happy to lend an ear to someone who is trying to breakthrough the next obstacle. Or someone who is racking their brain trying to figure things out. I am however frustrated by those who think people with "issues" are somehow lesser. Oh sorry. Forgive me. I didn't get the silver spoon! As a friend recently said, "It's not where you are. It's how far you've come
[ Click here to read more ]
The debate about Global Warming / Global Climate Change is something we're all familiar with. Greg Craven, a 38 year old teacher in the U.S. has made some short videos posted on YouTube that make a compelling argument: the risk of doing nothing is too great.
Does it really matter whether which scientists or policy makers are right? Do we need to find a solution to decided whether or not we should take efforts to protect the environment? In Los Angeles, for example, it seems contradictory for parents to take such huge efforts to find the RIGHT car seat. They're concerned about the safety of their child riding in the automobile. The contradiction begins when its a gas guzzling vehicle that spews out a bunch of toxic fumes for all those around us. Another contradiction? People focused on banning smoking becuase of the effects of second-hand smoke while burning up a whole lot of fuel and/or refusing to recycle etc etc etc
[ Click here to read more ]
Berthomé, I am so sorry for your plight as a transit worker caught up in the strike. But let me tell you a little about me. I am a Canadian, who worked REALLY hard to have the money to pay for tution at a Paris based school to pursue a Masters degree. Our exchange rate makes it even more expensive.
For a week, my classmates and I missed classes, took long trecks....and have no reimbursement for our Navigo/ImagineR/Carte Orange
[ Click here to read more ]
This is a great story! I don't have a child..but I have come to care more about services provided for them...as my friends become parents.
Thank you to all the optometrists who have selflessly agreed to provide this service. It's a great story to hear when the U.S. is confronted with expensive healthcare and many uninsured or underinsured children
[ Click here to read more ]
|
|
|
Add Comments
Read More
Comments (1)
Comment by Kimberly McCabe
on Planned Parenthood Endorces Obama
another day on planet earth
Moving to France
From another perspective it is other people telling other people not to trust their instinct. When my cat had kittens and one was born sick - she put it out of its misery and made it easier to protect and care for the other two. Sometimes I think wildlife are here to teach us. I'm not saying I believe in only survival of the fittest. But I think we each have the right to make decisions about procreating.
There are so many sides to the issue that I strongly feel people should be able to make their own decisions without the law interfering.
If a 12 year girls is raped (like recently in Romania) by a cousin, is she obligated to have this baby and ruin her childhood even more???
I was born 2 months early, 2 weeks after my mom turned 14 years old. She was raised catholic and from what I understand, is strongly against abortion, and didnt have a great maternal instinct. I was put into foster while in an incubator. I grew up in a physically abusive environment. I found half siblings and my natural mother....and she's at some point left all her children. And she's horribly depressed by the mess of her life. It took me a long time to get my life together. People who knew me 10 years tell me they never thought I would be able to get where I am. But in your mind its better that someone endure a whole lot of pain. Nobody has a crystal ball. And we all have our own ideas about our own spirits. I believe we live more than once. Does DNA makeup our spirit? Does are spirit and personality arrive at conception? I think the jury is still out on that one.
So the moral of the story to me, why do others get to choose someone's quality of life? I'm in my 30s and I just finished grad school in France....if I got pregnant sometime in the near future...I would probably not want to go through with it. And THAT is MY maternal instinct. Don't have children until YOU are confident in your own ability to be a good parent.