Is Financial Education Services A Scam? Credit Repair BS?
Welcome To My Financial Education Services Review!
A regular reader and subscriber shot me an email asking "Is Financial Education Services A Scam?", with that in mind, I have got down, got dirty, got to it and got detailed!.
I know I have only about 60 seconds to get your full attention so let's cut the chase and get straight to it!.
I am not connected to nor associated with FES in any way at all, so you can chillout and relax - no "Join my team" stuff here.
Instead,
What you will get is a highly detailed review including a full background check into the company and owner, details about their products/services and compensation plan as well all the answers to your VIP questions like "Can You Make Money With Financial Education Services?"
Before I get down to it...
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Are you ready to find out if Financial Education Services Is A Scam Or Legit?
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Financial Education Services Review
Product Name: Financial Education Services
Founder(s): Parimal Naik and Mike Toloff
Product Type: MLM Opportunity in the Finance sector.
Price: US$199 Or US$249 +US$89 Per Month.
Best For: Experienced Network Marketers.
Summary: The idea of financial education and helping people to repair their poor credit is great but when an opportunity gets bitch slapped with a US$1.75 Million fine, you know they were up to no good!.
Keep reading to find out why they got bitch slapped!
Rating: 10/100
Recommended: No!.
Because You KNOW You Deserve A Better Life. The Question Is: Will You Step Up And MAKE IT Happen?!?
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What Is Financial Education Services?
Financial Education Services Or FES for short is a privately owned multi-level marketing company owned and founded by Mike Toloff and Parimal Naik in 2004.
At first, Financial Education Services were launched as VR-Tech, their main products are insurance and wealth programs, including credit repair. The company headquarters are in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Other products offered include living trusts, wills and financial literacy training. Their Cornerstone and Flagship product appears to be Credit Repair.
Their Protection plan is available for US$188 one off fee with a US$89 monthly fee for their credit protection plan.
As of April 2018, their charges for this service sky rocketed to US$499.
Their compensation plan is not to complex or difficult to follow, with their consultants acting as and titled as "Independent Agents" and having only 9 ranks to their compensation plan ranging from Field Trainer to Senior Executive Vice President.
Similar Companies Include:
Financial Education Group is frequently said to be a mix of World Financial Group, Primerica and Motor Club Of America.
Who Is Parimal Naik?
There is very little known about Parimal, and information is scarce in regards to his corporate background and business experience.
He appears to be a very intelligent individual with an exceptional literacy in information technology holding a master degree and various Microsoft Certifications
It appears that VR Tech/Financial Education Services is his first venture in business and network marketing.
Who Is Mike Toloff?
As it is with Parimal it is with Mike Toloff, information about Mike is scarce with few details published regarding his background and experience.
He is responsible for the operation and daily management of Financial Education Services.
This also appears to be is his first venture into business and network marketing.
Financial Education Services Lawsuit
Finacial Education Services have been the subject of US$1.75M fine by the Attorney General Of The State Of Georgia.
Details of which can found here
It was ruled that they were "operating an illegal credit repair company" "using illegal and deceptive practices".
Prior to the ruling there is evidence of non-compliance with state prosecutors here. It appears they were attempting to use trade secret laws as a means to block investigators that were looking into their possible violation of fair businesses practice laws.
I get the feeling this may not be last lawsuit involving FES.
The Financial Education Services Product Line
Financial Education Services (FES) flagship product is their Credit Repair service which is within their Protection Plan.
This seems to be the main service advertised. The Protection Plan Includes:
- Credit Attorney.
- Credit Builder.
- Credit Education.
- Discount Shopping.
- FES Debt Zero.
- FES Travel.
- Financial Lockbox
- FRL Family Mint
- Life Insurance
- Lifelock
- MyCare Plan
- RX Discount Card
- Smart Credit
Their Life Insurance from what I have seen looks like it is provided by a 3rd party, Symetra Insurance Company.
What is clearly lacking on their details, I am a little devil for details! - there are no details regarding the other services offered.
The protection Plan currently costs US$499, which is quite a hike from the US$188 one time fee and US$89.
Other service available by Financial Education Services Are:
- FES Travel: A service to help you save on your travel costs for flights, hotels, car hire and cruises.
- LifeLock: ID Theft protection. No price provided.
- Merchant Services: Credit card and Debit Card Payment Services. No Price Provided.
- MyCare Plan: Their living will and life trust service, US$499.
- My HealthCare 2Go: A service for You and 6 immediate family members maximum. Allows you to get an appointment to consult with a Doctor Online, video call or regular phone call. Only for non-life threatening conditions. This is a health service and not health insurance. US$29 one off fee and then a US$24.95 monthly fee.
- Rent Reporting: A service to aid clients to build their credit rating score by rent payments. US$25 - US$145 +US$6.95 per month.
- Secure Card: A Platinum Mastercard credit card with a credit line linked to a security deposit. US$49 Per Year.
- Smart Credit: A Credit Report that comes with a money manager. US$14.95 monthly fee.
- Ultra Score: This is a Credit rating potential guide, US$149!.
From what I have seen on the Financial Education Services site none of their products and services are their own, as they are all 3rd party services.
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The Financial Education Services Compensation Plan
Financial Education Services are a network marketing business which means you have 3 main ways of earning money with them which are:
- Direct Retail Sales: You sell Financial Education Services and earn a commission. As simple as sounds and as simple as it gets!
- Recruitment: You recruit others to take part in the business opportunity and join your team. You earn pass up commissions based on their efforts.
- Bonuses And Incentives: You work well and work hard, rise the ranks and get your hands on some lovely bonuses!.
Before I get on and explain the finer and more important points of the compensation plan lets talk about how much it costs to join Financial Education Services.
How Much Does It Cost To Join Financial Education Services?
To get started with Financial Education Services As An Independent Agent it will cost you US$89 per month and then either US$249 of a US$199 one off fee.
The purchase of a Protection Plan is obliged in order for you to become commission qualified which raises questions over the US$249 fee to become an Independent agent.
Your Financial Education Services Website
It is very common for network marketing companies to give you replicated website.
And replicated means replicated!.
By that I mean, your website will be a carbon copy clone of the one that all FES independent agents get.
It is as a best as I can describe it, is a dead duck!.
You will get some traction promoting it on Facebook and Instagram to an extent, but as a brand with duplicated website you just won't stand out from all the others that are exactly the same as yours.
Plus,
You won't get any free organic traffic from Google due to the duplicate content issue.
If you want to succeed with network marketing, do what all the other successful network marketers are doing and build your own site.
The Financial Education Services Compensation Plan Explained
This compensation play compensates Independent Agents for the sale of 3rd party products and services.
The harder and more effectively you work, the quicker and greater you will rise the ranks and earn more money.
Financial Education Services (FES) Independent Agents Ranks
This compensation plan has only 9 ranks to their plan which are:
- Agent Rank: Join up and become a FES Independent Agent and maintain your subscription to the personal protection plan.
- Field Trainer Rank: Generate at least US$1600 Group Volume per month.
- Senior Field Trainer Rank: Generate a minimum of US$5000 Group Volume per month.
- Sales Director Rank: Generate At least US$10,000 Group Volume a month.
- Regional Sales Director Rank: No details provided.
Is Financial Education Services A Scam? According To The Attorney General..Yes!. #MLMSuccess #NetworkMarketing Please Retweet To Help Warn Others!.
- Executive Sales Director Rank: No details given.
- Ambassador Rank: The compensation plan provides no details.
- Regional Ambassador Rank:– The FES compensation provides no details.
- Executive Ambassador Rank: No details are provided.
Group Volume: This is the total sales volume generated by your downline team.
Qualifying For Commissions
Commission qualification for all FES Independent agents: its is obliged to maintain a subscription for the Protection Plan.
Direct Retail Commissions
Independent agents earn a US$165 for every US$499 service that they sell. Your first sale must be made during your first 30 days as an agent.
Customer Acquisition Bonus
If you recruit a new Agent who in turn generates US$399 in their opening 70 days as an agent, as the referring agent you will qualify for a Customer Acquisition Bonus.
How much you can earn is dependent on your rank as follows:
- Agent Rank: Can earn a US$100 bonus
- Field Trainer Rank: Can earn a US$160 bonus
- Senior Field Trainer Rank: Can earn a US$240 bonus
- Sales Director Rank: Can earn a US$380 bonus
- Regional Sales Director Rank: Can earn a US$430 bonus
- Executive Sales Director Rank: Can earn a US$480 bonus
- Ambassador Rank: Can earn a US$510 bonus
- Regional Ambassador Rank: Can earn a US$530 bonus
- Executive Ambassador Rank: Can earn a US$550 bonus
The customer acquisition bonus for residual clients is calculated using the unilevel compensation model.
The Unilevel compensation model places you at the top. When you recruit others into the program they are placed below you on your level 1.
When your level 1 recruits, recruit others they are placed below them and on your level 2.
The unilevel compensation plan continues in this fashion for all subsequent levels.
If you are at not at the Executive Ambassador Rank, your bonus goes
They then get the difference between their rank and the rank of the agent that made the sale.
If
The difference earned for each rank continues until a rank of Executive Ambassador
Recommended: Learn How To Increase Your MLM Sales
R&R Club Bonus
FES Agents that have a minimum dowline of 500 commission qualified agents qualify for this bonus.
The Bonuses Listed Are:
- Monthly Audi Car Bonus Payment
- An Upgraded Monthly Audi Car Bonus Payment
- A Monthly House Bonus Payment
- A monthly Retirement Bonus Payment
- One-Time Cash Bonuses Payment
- Additional Extra Cash Bonuses Payments
No details about qualifying for these bonuses
For a beautiful and well explained presentation of the compensation plan, watch the video below.
Is Financial Education Services Accredited By The BBB?
I have already briefly covered a look into the background of Financial Education Services having detailed their legal encounters, the founders and a brief company history.
Let's now check how they fair with some professional organisations and associations starting with the Better Business Bureau.
Financial Education Services
The BBB list the Government imposed US$1 million fine.
Is Financial Education Services A Member Of The DSA?
The Direct Sellers Association is an organisation that seeks to clean up the appalling public image of the MLM industry by imposing a strict code that all members must adhere to or face getting kicked out!.
Having checked the DSA members list, I found there is no listing for Financial Education Services as a member or have their membership pending the completion of an audit.
The Truth In Advertising & Marketing
There is no listing for the Truth In Advertising Website For Financial Education Services.
This indicates that FES do not participate in illegal, prohibited misleading, false or deceptive advertising practices.
Common Complaints
There is no shortage of complaints lodged about FES at the Better Business Bureau alone.
I have reproduced just a few of them below as evidence and proof of how the company operate.
Are Financial Education Services Registered With The SEC?
No.
Having done my homework I have not found Financial Education Services to be registered with the SEC.
Tread carefully!.
How Do You Cancel Your Membership To Financial Education Services
There is no official information on the Financial Education Services website on how you can cancel any of their services.
I suggest Calling them on 248 - 848 - 9065 or emailing Info@FinancialEduServices.com
However, their services are provided by 3rd party organisations you can try cancelling directly with the actual provider of the service you are signed up with.
Smart credit make it clear that you can are allowed to cancel at any time using their notice of cancellation form here.
You can also cancel by logging into your account or by calling their customer service hotline on 877 372 3895.
How Much Do Financial Education Services Agents Earn?
The most common occurring income for all active commission qualified Financial Education Service Agents Earned US$3, 739.64 per year.
Source: Financial Education Services Income Disclosure Statement
Note: The average distributor spent up to US$2,500 to get their business up and running.
Must Read: Multi-Level Marketing Vs Affiliate Marketing
What I Liked About Financial Education Services
There were some things that I did like about Financial Education Services, which were:
- They were reasonably rated at B+ with the Better Business Bureau.
- They have a wide range of products available to suit most peoples needs and requirements.
- Their products do help people.
What I Did Not Like About Financial Education Services
There are a few things that I did not like about Financial Education Service, which were:
- Not Accredited with the Better Business Bureau.
- Not Members Of The Direct Sellers Association.
- Not Registered With The SEC.
- They Have Some Very Questionable Legal History With The Attorney General Fining them for running and illegal credit repair agency!.
- Their have no products of their own!.
- Lot of complaints some 150+ at the time of writing at the BBB.
Can You Make Money With Financial Education Services?
It is very unlikely that you will make money with Financial Education Services. This is easily proven thanks to their Income Disclosure statement.
Only 129 out of 51,704 agents made it to the rank of Regional Sales Director Rank and earned US$26,858.20 per year and taking 11 month on average to reach that rank.
Meaning 99.77% off all agents failed to make a a reasonable income.
Note: Not calculated into the income figure is the average of US$100 to US$2500 to build business, running costs and taxes.
Note 2: I am unfamiliar with cost of living in the US or average salary, as I am from Europe and more familiar with Southern Europe and Asia, where I am based.
There figure fall perfectly in line with Dr. Jon Taylor's Study of 250+ MLM Opportunities where he uncovered that 99.7% of all participants of network marketing opportunities end up losing money.
Is Finanical Education Services A Pyramid Scheme?
Financial Education Services in the damning report by the Attorney General of using illegal and unlawful deceptive practices in the MLM structure.
I am not clear if this was in relation to Pyramid Scheme or not.
From what I understand and since they don't sell their products or their services but that of a 3rd party, my own interpretation and opinion is theses guys are on a boat trip the Nile staring Pyramids in the face to the delight of Tutankhamen and Cleopatra!.
Is Finanical Education Services An MLM Business Opportunity?
Yes,
It is very clear that Financial Education Services Are A multilevel marketing business opportunity due to paying compensations and commissions on more than one level.
Is Financial Education Services A Scam Or Legit?
In my opinion I can only say yes, I do think these guys fall in the category of scam.
A scam is the act of deception or fraud that results in a financial loss.
As far as deception goes, that is how the company were described by The Attorney General and who am I to disagree?.
Financial Education Services Alternatives
There are a number of similar companies that have not had their reputation tarnished by authorities as high at the Attorney General!.
Here are some alternatives to FES:
These are all network marketing opportunities.
Due to the difficulties associated with network marketing and the low success rate across the industry as a whole (99.7% off all fail to break even!), you should have a good deep thought and consider other ways of starting a business out with MLM's.
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My Financial Education Services Review - The Final Conclusion
There in nothing wrong with getting a good education in Finance and understanding truly how money works.
I agree, completely agree that financial literacy should be taught like maths and sciences do in our education system.
There is far too much controversy around FES and their legal history alone for me to recommend them to anyone!.
My own reading of the A.G's report and the fine imposed is he stopped short just a little bit short of calling them a scam, skirting around the words (and a libel lawsuit themselves).
You are best to leave this one out!
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