Principal Financial GroupReviews 

I want to close my account and withdraw the funds. Was put through to the Retirement Services to be told that this has to be done via snail mail and they have no electronic facilities. When I asked them to overnight the forms to me, he refused saying they will use the mail service as this was their process. I was told it will "get there when it gets there". Also said they take a few weeks to review the forms!

He then went onto tell me this was my employers fault, which I do not believe as I was in the IT department and the company was at the forefront of technology.

DO NOT invest with Principal.

UPDATE - I eventually made contact with a very helpful man called Zachary, who explained what the real process is and helped me get my money out electronically.

If I lose my $2 million in savings, the executives will likely hide behind a "dream team" of attorneys.

CLOSING MY ACCOUNTS:
The first chance I get, I plan on closing my accounts. A balance of $0.00. I'm doing this BEFORE their think tank comes up with a legal way to steal it.

TO THE EXECUTIVES:
Take a minute to think about all of the corrupt things any of you are into. The things that happen behind closed doors. The things that none of you will EVER admit to. How many of our lives will be erased by your bad decisions? This organization is throwing all of the same red flags that we see across the nation.

Those of you at the top have had 30 years to get your act together. It's just not going to happen, is it? There's just too much greed at the top, isn't there? That's how you make me feel. I think that you're all laughing so hard you have tears in your eyes.

"YOU CAN'T PROVE IT."
Yes, we know...everybody knows that. "You can't prove it" has been successful for the last 30 years. We know! Corruption wins!

CLOSING:
What's written here should surprise no one. Look at all of the things, happening RIGHT NOW!
I think that all of these little "road blocks" are on purpose. They are designed to make me give up.

FINAL WORD:
I would encourage all account balances to start hitting $0.00.

Get out BEFORE they get it!

Best Regards
The Free Market

1st Amendment

Principal Financial is the worst Financial investment company on the planet. Once they have your money it's almost impossible to get it back or transfer it to a reputable investment company. Forget about speaking to someone who speaks English, that will never happen as they employ a call center in India.

I have attempted six times over the last nine months to transfer my 401k account, and eachtime I've gotten transferred to seven different "so called" managers to no avail. Not until I threatened to get the U.S. Attorney's Office involved did I get anything close to a resolution.

It is truly amazing how a company like Principal can still be in business the way they treat their customers.

My advice, stay far, far away from Principal any of their related companies.

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE COMPANY.

Requested my ESOP to be rolled to my IRA during a disbursement period. Principal dropped the ball. The customer service team acts like you are supposed to understand their internal procedures. Poor service and long wait times for simple answers.

Trash company with no integrity or knowledge of how things work. Don't trust this morons..I will not go into detail. As lawyers are involved.

Very poor customer service - no response after multiple requests for confirmation of activity HORRIBLE HORRENDOUS customer service shuffling calls and constant holds…
Worst 401k administrator in my experience.

What a scam of a company. I was unknowingly auto enrolled in a 401k through an employer, and received no notice, statements, or invite to create an account. I only found out about it because when I left the employer, Principal closed the account and took a $50 fee for distributing the money, and taxes for it being withdrawn prior to retirement. I had no say in the matter and had no knowledge of the account existing. Stay away, they are in the business of taking advantage of people.

OMG - I put money in here via an employer, I terminated the employer and now they won't give me my money to roll into another 401K. They won't send me forms I request and respond with directions that don't work - their phone line is a joke. It's like they're out there just to steal money from people! They send me instructions to apply to get my money with like two steps - the first step says to choose a drop down that doesn't exist on their website - then they send me emails that don't have proper grammer and are full of spelling errors - are they even a real company? I just want to get my money out of there!

Principal Financial Group contact us for help number is frustrating! they are current promoting life alert system. they keep resending you to the main menu instead of letting you speak to a representative about your account. If you don't accept there free life alert they hang up on your. frustrated user can't wait to move my funds

The business is completely inept - both at managing and communicating with customers. They deserve a negative rating but the system only allows for a one-star rating.
Recent experience: Money was allegedly distributed from my Principal account - the money was not received at my bank. They claimed that the money was sent - when queried the stated sending the money to the wrong account. I asked them to re-send to the right account- they said they required' further information'. I have spoken to Principal on six occasions over the past 14 days -each time they ask me for information - each time they put me on hold for 20 minutes - each time they tell me that they will resolve the issue. NO ACTION ONLY INEPT MANAGEMENT AND HORRIFIC CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Have spent two weeks trying to set up an online account to view my accounts. It can't be done because they have an incorrect date of birth on the account. Efforts to get them to correct the DOB have been a joke. Promised call backs don't happen. Promised dates to have it corrected pass. Apparently they don't keep conversational notes from phone calls so each call is starting all over, and then what they tell me contradicts previous phone calls. When transferred to 'the person that can help', either the call is dropped or I have to go through the entire security questions process I just went through with the person transferring me, and then they can't 'help'. All I get are transfers and excuses followed by more excuses. No results. The incompetence is mind boggling.

This company, their policies, and their customer service are ABSOLUTELY ABYSMAL. It has literally been over 2 months of headaches,arguments,misrepresentation of facts, deflection, "dropped" calls, disrespect, and outright lies. All for trying to rollover money from a previous employer. Now they have "lost" tens of thousands of dollars that DO NOT belong to them, and they seem to have no concern or remorse for their mistakes. I would NEVER advise anyone to entrust their hard-earned money with these incompetent boobs.

I was required to transfer my 401K funds out of Principal due to a former employer's rules. Principal sent a notice. Nowhere did they indicate there was a fee to move MY funds. They charged a $50 fee to issue a check and would have charged an additional $25 to do an electronic transfer. When I asked to speak to a manager the rude rep was VERY resistant, He did finally transferred me to a useless manager. The worst customer service experience. Avoid this company.

I've encountered significant challenges while attempting to manage my retirement funds with Principal Financial Group. I made two separate requests for a distribution from my 401(k) account, one on December 19, 2023, and another on February 9, 2024. Regrettably, both requests were canceled by the company without my authorization or any adequate explanation.

These cancellations have not only barred access to my funds but have also left me with a considerable amount of stress and financial uncertainty. I expected a seamless and respectful process, as should be the standard with any reputable financial institution. Unfortunately, my experience was the opposite, with my direct inquiries and requests for resolution repeatedly ignored.

I had hoped to handle this privately and directly with Principal Financial Group, but after repeated attempts and no satisfactory response, I find it necessary to share this experience. Prospective customers should be aware of these potential administrative issues and the company's apparent disregard for customer-directed requests.

This is the worst company ever they tried to hold your money they don't want to give you your retirement or your 401k then they charge all these fees and then they dictate to you when they say that your transaction is fully processed they tell you that you will get it on a date they don't want to give you any information they don't want to give you a track number transaction number

This company simply REFUSES to give out tax documents until forced by the deadline. Just gross negligence for a company this large. Very disappointing! I'm glad I won't be doing business with them much longer. Fidelity would have never done this.

TOTAL BONEHEADS!!! My wife died early...about 9 years ago. Working for a few major corporations left a few residual pensions. One of them was held with Principal. It is a pretty straightforward process, since I dotted all my i's and crossed all my t's. I sent them very official paperwork by certified mail. Two weeks later they simply could not find it. It was deemed "lost". The tracking number indicated they had signed for it and they confirmed this. But they didn't know where it went. Finally after a month they found it. Next I sent them some additional paperwork to finalize their request for documents...again by certified mail. 3 weeks later I called them after not hearing from them and was advised that they sent back to me VERY PERSONAL information with the details of the pension, and for me to advise them how I wanted to receive the pension. AGAIN, after not receiving that information they said they sent me, I just talked to them to find out they mailed it to an address we left 9 years ago in another state. Not once did that old address ever come up in the filing of paper work, the return address on mailings or in any discussions we ever had. They tell me that they had mailed all the personal info to an address they picked up from some unknown search instead of using the official forms I had filed with them. All of my private personal information contained in that paperwork was sent somewhere just north of Baltimore. These people are totally incompetent and should not be trusted with anything of such importance. Unfortunately, that was who held the McCormick pension plan that is now so desperately needed. For those who have an option,...take the option and stay far away from these charlatans... unless you also know a good attorney!

I have various retirement products with them and live in the UK. Everything has been an issue. Money sent to the wrong place, money lost, lack of understanding of international transactions. Now my address changed without my knowledge to somewhere in the US - not anywhere I have ever lived and done by someone other than me. I have no confidence in them any more.

I have 13 bulging discs, spinal stenosis, sciatica, degenerative discs and arthritis all shown on MRI and 2 years of pain and suffering I’ve went through. The moment I start using Rife Frequencies and Binaural Beats alternative healing Principal said I no longer have a problem and stop my benefits for trying to heal myself in ways that do not benefit the financial interests of the medical industry. They called me and told me they were going to call a supervisor from the government and tell them they had an emergency after I said I was doing sound therapy and they did because I’ve been poisoned twice now. This company is corrupt and has truly evil and vile people working there and does not care to actually help people that need it. All they care about is their money and profits. No consideration for anyone going through a difficult time. Principal Financial Group ruined my life and now I can barely survive since wrongfully cancelling my benefits. Principal, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

My CD was up for renewal on 9/1. I was to get notice of the new offered rate and term. BUT DID NOT. Principal rolled this CD over on their own without following protocol for a 4 yr term at 1.7%. And now to get my money out and move to an average rate of over 5%, I will lose $186. Principal can NOT be trusted to follow their own rules