Northwestern mutual financial representative salary or commission

3.0

Know what you're getting yourself into

I can only speak for the Walnut Creek branch. This isn't a "bad" job. However, the recruiters (and perhaps company) do a poor job of accurately explaining what your position truly is. They preach their advisors practice "holistic planning" through investments and insurance, but you really just sell life insurance. Even when you get your investment licenses, you are still judged and reviewed based upon your life insurance sales. If what I said above is true, to be honest, I can understand why. Few people really want to be a life insurance salesperson. They could be positioning their job titles as such to try and bring on new employees as so many leave within the first year. It is a tough, tough job. They also preach how you can work from anywhere, which is true to some extent, but you need to be working there a year or two before you earn that freedom. This 1-2 year period was not mentioned by the recruiters. To be fair, this job can be extremely rewarding. You have the ability to make a TON of money and IMPACT people's lives. The catch is that you have to work at Northwestern Mutual a long time as the rewards and benefits are extremely back-end heavy soyou need to grind through the first 4 or so years. If you can survive non-stop cold-calling and stay on top of your business 100% of the time, this will be one of the best jobs for you from almost any perspective. I believe Northwestern Mutual has some of the best products on the market and the corporate culture truly car

ProsExcellent co-workers, "limitless" income

ConsPoor management, lack of stability, tough industry

1.0

Don't work here - Not worth it and they take advantage of you

Northwestern Mutual promises no salary cap, appealing commissions, flexible hours and great products but they just make you push whole life insurance and disability insurance the whole time. The sales training you get is how to call people and read off of the scripts they give you so you can do "joint-work" with a veteran rep and split commission. Very minimal done in terms of "financial advising". In short: Overpriced product, just life insurance, they take advantage of you and will make money off of you regardless if you stay or go and they couldn't care less. They will charge you for everything possible if you leave(they intentionally don't fire you so they can charge you when you quit) and if any policy you had and gave to them when you left cancels/reverses then you have to pay them back your commission even after quitting (anything from a year back). I quit a few months ago and still owe thousands of dollars to them because of this. Advisors are very fake and disingenuous as are the Managing Directors and partners. Very high turnover rate and low satisfaction. I was hired with a group of 20, only 3 or 4 still work there after 6 months. If you don't have conviction in selling whole life insurance then don't do this job. They don't give you leads so you have to approach your friends and family.

ProsSales training (mostly just life insurance), Flexible

ConsMinimal training in actual advising, No leads, no benefits, you're just pushing life insurance

3.0

Difficult

Very difficult to develop a market in this industry. You are in a sales role also so don't let a recruiter convince you different. You are expected to make 40 calls a day and you have to find those people to call, the company doesn't do it for you. Starting off, you will be selling only life insurance, disability insurance, and long-term care. As you pass your SIE, Series 6, and Series 63, you will start to sell all different kinds of securities. You job duties will not change though throughout the years. You will still have to call a lot of people and keep finding more people. If you're going to work in the financial industry, this is the best company in the world. However, it is a difficult career and not for everyone. You will take a personality test upon hiring to see if your personality matches with those who are successful in the business. This does not determine your hiring, but will give both you and NM a good idea of what you'll do. The job is 100% commission based with no base salary. As you get more into the career you will have renewals and advisory cases which will be more passive income but not nearly enough to survive on without new commissions.

ProsMake your own hours, healthcare provided for a low cost, running your own business

Cons12 hour days, constant need for new referrals

1.0

Financial Advisor | Boulder, CO | Aug 8, 2020

Morally and Ethically Underhanded and Deceitful Practices towards Employees and Built into the Sales Culture

Sales experience is not necessary, nor is a clean drug test. The most important factors are: (1) Your ability to buy into the “ Company Line” that purchasing life insurance, or managing risk, is a crucial service that you are able to provide your clients. (2) Kind of a second part of number one is your willingness and ability to go to any lengths to “help” your loved one and friends by providing them this “service” so that you can get ahead. (3) Your ability to turn a blind eye, shut off that little voice inside yourself, look the other way, don’t ask to many questions, or simply filter out what information you hear and repeat such that you can continue to sleep at night and live with yourself despite what you are doing every day. You are not required to be smart or attractive or rich or anything to succeed at NM. You just have to be a tiny bit less than completely honest; just a wee bit less than totally forthright. Just keep telling yourself “it’s only a little bit wrong, right?”

ProsThe office was close to my house

ConsRidiculous required sales language, it will force you to tout products with false claims. Comply or watch out, that the door doesn’t hit you in the back, on your way to the curb.

4.0

Very motivating place to work, great training, but little security.

I found that Northwestern Mutual is a very honest company and do take very good care of their clients. However, I do not feel that they really take too much care about their employees unless you are the top 3 producers of the firm. At least where I am at in the Capital area. I am not sure how it is at other firms but the atmosphere was great for the most part. But the support from upper management seemed to be lacking. Overall, I understand. To rid the company of the lower producers to make room for more, but that shows in the high attrition rate. People are being interviewed everyday and it just seems more like a churning machine rather than a solid and secure place to work. Long work hours and constant expenses to the office leave you working a lot and getting paid less than you think you will be at first, but after 5 years average the numbers will tell you that it begins to pay off. Although they tell you this upfront, they also empower you to believe that you can break the mold. Which many have, but most, don't. Overall a great company, but I think you can easily find better employee appreciation/compensation elsewhere.

ProsAutonomy

ConsConstant urgency from multiple directions.

4.0

Challenging career with good opportunity and freedom

A typical workday at Northwestern Mutual is to meet with potential clients and discuss financial situation and goals. Along with meeting clients it is imperative that you acquire referrals and reach out to qualified suspects to try and set new appts (5/day). I learned a lot about the financial services industry, its products and how the general public handles their own financial situations. Colleagues are very helpful and it is common to work jointly early on in the career to make sure clients needs are being handled appropriately. The hardest part of the job is cold calling and persuading potential clients to take time out of their day to sit down with you and discuss their financial situation. The most enjoyable part about this job is when you are able to have open dialogue with potential clients about their situation, provide recommendations and build a financial plan that fits their needs. Furthermore, and most importantly to get the clients to take action on achieving financial security and providing a sense of relief in their minds that they are working on a systematic savings plan that will benefit them and their families for a lifetime.

3.0

Financial Advisor | Ohio | Jun 20, 2022

Your Experience Will Vary Based on Location

The company itself is wonderful, but your particular experience will depend on what network office you join. I have colleagues in different states whose experiences are completely opposite and better than the one I had. For our region, hustle culture and always being pushed to do more despite of your accomplishments (which, by the way, were nearly never celebrated) was the name of the game. Towards the end of my tenure with NM, my immediate manager cared much more about bringing in money than he cared about the reps doing what was right by the clients, and it was an easy decision to leave. Again, this is a tremendous opportunity if you don't have a family, and if you're the type of person who wants your work to really define who you are as a person. If you value your time and a life outside of the company, you will fight an uphill battle. I think the biggest downside that I've seen was that a recruiter will sell you "the dream." They'll tell you all about the freedom you can have, and that you'll run your own business...and then very early on it becomes apparent that you do NOT run your own business -- you will do what you are told or your contract will be terminated. At best, it's a bait and switch.

3.0

As an intern, this is a huge step into insurance sales but requires a lot of time and strong network.

The culture is professional and my advisor was very helpful and pushed me outside of my comfort zone in order to succeed. This experience was an amazing start to learn about sales and finances, but does require A LOT of work. I will warn this internship is not for everyone. To succeed you need to have a strong network before you start or ability to meet a lot of mew people. It definitely takes GRIT to keep at it because you need continuous referrals in order to stay in business. There are factors that make this position more difficult for some specifically age, race gender, etc. This is more about the prospect clients and people you will meet networking. As a young professional it was difficult to connect and set meetings with Boomers and overconfident men. I have found people are uncomfortable talking about their personal finances. Overall, I enjoyed the company and my advisors but it does require a lot of work and may not be for everyone.

ProsStrong Sales experience, Helpful Advisors/culture, Networking Sales

ConsCommission only internship, A lot of work, can feel like you are struggling

5.0

Best place to start a practice

NM STP is a great place is you know you want to own your own planning practice. Training was helpful and a little annoying over the first 5 years but now that I'm over 5 years, I am completely on my own and all the development is optional. I'm grateful I moved my financial planning practice her. Earning income off of my AUM and the risk management products was helpful for quicker income growth initially and now I have a built up clientele with stable income on top of the new income generated from new clients. Also, since I am my own business I have no limitations around work scheduling and vacations which has been great for my family. Lastly, the duel pensions, renewals, AUM fees, ability to sell my book of business, and deferred compensation is making my retirement easy to plan for. You are your own business owner so if you don't work, you don't make money. You do have to work with the public and be a likeable person or people won't work with you. Also, they will tell you not to cold call or call friends/family BUT they won't stop you if you choose to do it. Just don't do it. Learn to network/prospect and get referred based on the job you do for clients.

4.0

Financial Advisor | Miami, FL | Jun 10, 2021

Great Learning Opportunity but must fit into their system for it to work

Northwestern will pay for your licenses and designations and has a great training program. You will receive no support in terms of lead generation, so be prepared to potentially ruin relationships with friends and family. Since it is a commission only role, you need to make sales just to put a roof over your head and food on your table. This can lead to you compromising your morals just to make a sale. As much as they can claim to be a comprehensive planning firm, their payment structure and business is based off of permanent (all base) insurance sales. You CAN have a solid career here, however you need to be someone that does exactly what they are told. They do a good job of training you to a certain point, but they only want you learning a certain amount of information so that you still have to bring in a senior advisor into a case just to split commission with. You also are fully captive, if you leave northwestern mutual you lose all renewals and revenues.

ProsGreat People

ConsPoor management, A LOT of micromanagement for not receiving a salary