LEADING FROM THE FRONT
Time for ChangeWFG New Frontier for Financial Services Industry
By Xuan Nguyen
A friend of mine once made a trip to a Home Depot store because he wanted to paint his kitchen. When he arrived, he needed some help and ended up talking to a salesperson, who gave him a lesson about different kinds of paints and painting styles. This inspired my friend to want to paint his entire house, which he is now doing using paints from Home Depot.
"Wouldn't it be great if we could revolutionize the financial services industry the way Home Depot did the hardware industry? Before, when people needed to get work done in their house, they may have had to go to multiple places to get different supplies: a hardware store, a paint shop, a lumber yard, a tile store, etc.
However, now the consumer only needs to go to either Home Depot or Lowes to get all of the materials, as well as good advice, from their sales force. Before, most people who went from store to store were mostly professionals or trade people. Today, Home Depot and Lowes are user-friendly for everyday people who want to improve their homes."
That's what we are doing at WFG for the financial services industry.
Right now, we have these industries within the financial services industry - life insurance and securities - working separately. WFG's vision is to help our clients, through our affiliated companies1 navigate all three entities just like Home Depot brought together all of the major components of the hardware industry, from plumbing to decorating, in a user-friendly, consumer-focused environment.
There is a great need for a solution in this fast-changing world to help families reach their goals for financial freedom. Times are uncertain. People are worried about their future. Consumers are hurting and more confused than ever. Higher debt, bankruptcy, poor savings, as well as job insecurity, have created a very stressful situation.
But the financial services industry, unfortunately, is not providing the answers consumers need.
FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS FOR A CHANGING WORLD
Imagine building a house without a blueprint. In addition to that, the mason, carpenter, plumber and electrician working on the house do not communicate with one another. This is exactly what is happening in the financial services industry today. Financial, securities and insurance companies are not working together. We need a more coordinated approach to helping families plan for their financial futures.
Currently, we have too many people getting further and further into debt. At the same time, American families are not saving enough because they do not understand how money works. Most families do not have appropriate life insurance protection. People do not understand what they are buying.
Part of our job as financial industry professionals is to provide financial education to consumers, and that's exactly what we are doing at WFG. We are stepping up to the plate in the financial services industry and filling the void by connecting the dots between those three major industries.
We are helping families view the "big picture" of their financial futures by helping them, not only get adequate coverage and invest wisely1, but also plan for their retirements and their children's education funds, pay off their homes and become debt-free, and prepare for emergencies, such as job loss and natural disasters.
We are helping families to understand home, investment and insurance basics, create and work toward a financial goal and implement "financial check-ups" to help keep them on track.
At WFG, we have a chance to create a new revolution in the financial services industry. This is an important concept for our leaders to buy into, that we have a chance to do something BIG right now by doing the right thing for people.
1 World Financial Group, Inc. (WFG) is a financial services marketing organization whose affiliates offer life insurance and a broad array of financial products and services. Securities are offered through World Group Securities, Inc. (WGS), member NASD/SIPC. Insurance products are offered through World Financial Group Insurance Agency, Inc. (WFGIA). WFG, WGS, WFGIA are affiliated companies.