Principal Financial Group IRA Reviews

Overall

2.25 of 5 (by 8 users)

Principal Financial Group IRA Review Summary

Individual Retirement Accounts are a great way to save for savings, but the Principal Financial Group IRA is a company with its share of flaws. Reviewers point out the ease of transferring their 401k to this IRA plan and they like the automatic payroll withholding plan, but the feelings are mixed overall. “Kudos for Principal Financial Group”, says one investor, but another responds strongly by saying Principal Financial Group is the “Worst Company to Manage Your 401K Savings”. Problems with customer service are the primary complaint with Principal Financial Group IRA, and the negative talk makes this 401K/IRA Plan one that may not be the best place for your IRA or 401K retirement savings.

	13%
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	26%
	25%
	38%

29%

71%

Principal Financial Group IRA Comparison

Most Helpful
Favorable Review

Cudos for Princiapl Financial Group

DEC

2007

I had a 401k through my employer which was invested with Principal. I could go online and check my investment activity. That is a MUST for me. I can makes changes when I please from one type of investment to another. Still, there is always my appointed reliable and knowledgeable investment...

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a novice investor, a numbers person

diamondsandrust3
Ripley, OH

Most Helpful
Critical Review

Worst company to manage your 401K savings

JUN

2008

I have a current 401K with Principal Financial Group. Have already contacted them 3 times about funds not being available in my acount. They sometimes block your funds and make it impossible for you to protect yourself in a going down market. So even if you predict the market is going down you cannot... review »

an aggressive investor

plz
Bloomington, IL

Principal Financial Group IRA Ratings and Reviews

items/page: 15 | 30 | 50 displaying 1 to 6 of 8 sort by: most helpful | date | rating

helpful
votes

Not very good

an moderate investor

OCT

2008

They are front loaded. Your employer pays them to manage your 401k. They say there are no fees, but they do have "Managment Expenses" which are the same thing. Those are on top of what your employer pays them. And they do hold money and not let you transfer it. At work a friend had a lot of money in their Real Estate fund. It was going down. He wanted to transfer it to Money Market. They put him in a queue to wait to be able to transfer. They said it could take up to 3 months.

There are a lot better. Avoid Principal Financial Group if you can.

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JoeLansing
Lansing, MI

helpful
votes

Don't use them!

an moderate investor, a low risk investor

DEC

2008

This company doesn't honor their group LTD policies. I breezed through Aflac claiming on my STD benefits. I even breezed through the Social Security Administration and got approved for disability on my initial application. The Senior Claims Rep., Justin Schaack, assigned to my LTD claim with this company was rude and discouraging when I applied for benefits under the policy I had with them. And I STILL haven't collected any money on the group LTD policy I signed up for through my employer years ago! My LTD policy through this company was supposed to start paying me 90 days... review »

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scounselor
Jacksonville, AL

helpful
vote

Customer service and financial advance are not priority #1

an aggressive saver

AUG

2009

Principal Financial Group as a 401k administrator

I recently started with a company that uses Principal as its 401K admin. I knew trouble was afoot when I started reviewing the funds in which I was going to invest my 401K contribution. All the funds are 'private', i.e., not regulated by the SEC, and they do not provide a prospectus (nor offer much information about the funds). The pool of funds is small - about 2-dozen. No money market funds. One fund is a real estate fund that has a history of refusing sell orders until months have passed. The expenses for their funds are 2-3 times higher...

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read 1 comment

nova-sys-eng
Vienna, VA

helpful
vote

it is not good, stay away

Invested in my future, an moderate investor

JUL

2009

see about other reviewers. it IS not good

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biopku
Saint Louis, MO

you have to plan for the long haul....diversify

Invested in my future

Rated on January 1, 2009

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hacton
Albuquerque, NM

I have a IRA with Principal and the wed site could use some work

saving a little

NOV

2008

The company is not bad.

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catzjenn
Eden, NY

Reviews of Principal Financial Group IRA

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Business Name	Principal Financial Group
Program Type	IRA
Minimum to Open	$1 - $500
Program Features	Confirmation Statements Fund Summaries Investment Tracks Online Account Access Quarterly Statements Rollovers Accepted
Tags	Confirmation Statements