Complaints
This profile includes complaints for Principal Financial Group's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see
Customer Complaints Summary
- 318 total complaints in the last 3 years.
- 90 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
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Submit a ComplaintThe complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.
Initial Complaint
Date:06/12/2025
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I had a retirement plan through my former employer that used **************** Retirement. They issued a check in the amount of $******* that was never deposited. When I called ****************, they told me that all their funds were transferred to Principal Financial in 2020. I called Principal financial and spoke with Aryanna, she confirmed that my funds ARE WITH Principal Financial and that she would send me an "Unclaimed Distribution Request Form" to complete and return and the check of $******* would be reissued to me. Now I have requested in the messaging portal how long that would take to receive and the Principal representative is now trying to divert me to Empower, rather than issue me MY funds. They also have provided no information about an account there. I also inquired on this information back in 2024 and Principal tried to tell me to reach out to Matrix and ********** and quite literally anyone but Principal, and yet still no funds, no solution, no other Financial Institution has record of these funds. Principal also refuses to share any copies of checks issued to other institutions, which confirms Principal Financial DID receive my funds from **************** in ********************************** this amount plus interest is OWED to me. Principal needs to reissue my funds directly to me.Principal needs to urgently issue MY check to me in my name of ******** **** 1992 Leisure ************************ in the amount of $ ******* at an escalated level within 3 business days and with a 6.72% interest over 5 years. They have been hoarding my funds for 5 years now.
Business Response
Date: 06/12/2025
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Initial Complaint
Date:06/10/2025
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
This is in regard to my late husband's 401k account. My husband ***** **** ******** passed away on July 15, 2024. Principal is the account holder for his 401k. Upon Principal receiving the documentation from my husband's employer regarding his passing, I received documentation in the mail to complete and notarize in order to cash out the account. I completed and had the documents notarized and mailed them out in November of 2024. I have not received the cash out as of today. I called Principal today and spoke to a *** that told me that they never received the documents I mailed out. The ***resentative is asking me to complete the documents again and get them notarized, again. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and I was transferred to *******. ******* explained to me that they did receive documents I mailed but that I failed to disclaim how I wanted funds to be disbursed, and that since it has been over six months, those documents expired, and I have to complete the documents all over again. This information is really upsetting as I never got a call or an email regarding missing information. ******* put me on hold to verify the email address on file as I expressed concern regarding not getting a notification. Upon returning ******* confirmed that in fact my documents were not missing anything, they did not call me, they did not send me an email and there is no reason as to why funds were not disbursed but that since it has been over six months, I am required to complete a new set of documents. My kids and I are still grieving, trying to make sense of my husband's sudden and unfortunate death, and Principal is just adding more stress to our lives. I should not be required to complete a whole new set of documents, find someone to notarize the documents and wait once again for this to not be processed.Business Response
Date: 06/11/2025
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Initial Complaint
Date:05/27/2025
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
My submitted my request for a lump sum payout on my husbands account due to his death. I filled out the appropriate paperwork and submitted the required letter of the bank I wanted the funds to go to as a direct deposit. The letter was on Fidelitys letterhead, contained my name and account number proving I am the owner of the account. I received an email that I am receiving paper checks and a $20 in total fee was taken because I opted for paper checks. I called customer service who informed me that a representative of ******** is required to physically sign the letter in order for me to receive direct deposit. 1. The application does not say as such 2. The letter has Fidelity letterhead and it is electronically signed as such. This place (Principal) just found a way take money out of a surviving spouse funds.Business Response
Date: 06/03/2025
Thank you for forwarding the complaint. We will respond directly to the customer.Customer Answer
Date: 06/03/2025
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
****** ******Initial Complaint
Date:05/21/2025
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
On the 16th of May 2025 at 12:27pm , I called Principal Financial to inquire about status of my 401k withdrawal, submitted on the 30th of April 2025. The only step that was left was for my former employer to verify my last date of employment. The gentleman I spoke to on the phone told me that my former employer had submitted the required information on the 7th of May and that my funds would be in my account by the 22nd of May. I decided to go online and check the status of my account today, only to see that no information had changed. So I call into Principal again today May 21st to verify that my funds were processed. The agent proceeds to tell me that they had just gotten the verification of my final day from my former employer on TODAY. I ask how that was possible, when the previous agent told me that they had received that information on the 7th of May. Someone is obviously lying. I ask to speak to a supervisor. After 10 minutes I finally speak to one. She then proceeds to tell me that they still haven't received confirmation of my last day of employment, just the hours of service. At this point I'm livid. Clearly someone is lying. I purposely pushed my bills back to the 22nd of this month based off of what I was initially told. Now I have no time frame of when my funds will be available. I'm left in the lurch, because this company can't get it's facts together. Please HELP. The situation i have been in with my former employer has been stressful enough. It's not fair nor is it good business practice for a company to lie to a customer.Business Response
Date: 05/21/2025
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Initial Complaint
Date:05/20/2025
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
Principal Bank was paid $150 to rollover my retirement account which had both **** and *** balances. They entered the incorrect account number or the wire transfer which resulted in **** funds being deposited into an *** (Pre-Tax) account. Was told that this needed be be transferred to an admin for correction and this would take 5 to 7 days. No contact at all after this time period. Called several times after this and was promised a next day call. Nothing happened. Something is wrong with **** company that is handling retirement accounts. Please investigate.Business Response
Date: 05/21/2025
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Customer Answer
Date: 05/21/2025
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
******* ****Initial Complaint
Date:05/19/2025
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I was hired at a business called *************** where it was their standard practice to automatically withdrawal 1% of everyones ******** to put in their sponsored 401k accounts. So this account got set up for me, and then after 30 days I was fired. I got no notice in the mail about what would happen to my money or what my choices were to do with it. I finally was able to call them and they told me that that was a fee that was more than the amount in the account so I would not get any money from it. I was told there was nothing they could do about this, there was no supervisor or another department my complaint could be escalated to. I was told I could simply leave a review and that the fees were laid out in the account so that I could see them even though I did not get to chose this account. I feel that Carolina ****** and principal stole this money from me and it does not seem accurate that there is no solution as the girl on the phone told me.Business Response
Date: 05/20/2025
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Initial Complaint
Date:05/19/2025
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I paid for short term disability insurance for over 1.5 years through my employer when it came time to use it took them 4 months and principal denied my claim told me that they would send me a check for ***** and if I cashed the check that would be me agreeing with the denial and they-would refund all my prior payments since the beginning of the contract and I never received a refund for the rest of payments received unless you believe ***** covers me for 1.5 years.Business Response
Date: 05/19/2025
This is a response to complaint ID # 23347587. Principal Life Insurance Company takes our responsibility to protect our customers confidentiality very seriously. Therefore, we will respond to the claimant directly either telephonically or in writing to address his concerns. Please let me know if you have further questions.
Initial Complaint
Date:05/19/2025
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
In 2020 my brother in law ******* ******* became disabled in 2023 we started trying to get all his accounts closed as my husband has POA of him. We fought with them for a year and a half in which we were told they would send the check closing his account. Never happened, we called again and were told we needed to resend the paperwork that the paperwork they had on file was incorrect, we turned it over to Woodrows attorney. She fought with them and finally told us call this number and they will get you all squared away but it shouldnt be this hard and she filed against with with BBB. We called the number and we were sent paperwork, filled it out then were told the forms they had sent us to fill out were outdated and fill these forms out, filled them out and then got an email saying missing information to call them. Called and was told they need more information. At this point they have all the paperwork and its been 2 years and they still will not release his money. It should never take this much.Business Response
Date: 05/28/2025
Thank you for forwarding the complaint. We will respond directly to the customer.Customer Answer
Date: 06/05/2025
Complaint: 23339942
I am rejecting this response because: they have not reached out to us at all. I have resent forms which we sent in 4 times already today and will await response. They never contact us like they are supposed to. Hard to work with and make you do repeated steps of paperwork which is time and money.
Sincerely,
******* *******Business Response
Date: 06/11/2025
Thank you for forwarding the complaint. We will respond directly to the customer.Initial Complaint
Date:04/28/2025
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I am needing to cash out my account to pay medical expenses. I had resigned from the position as Master Scheduler on May 4th of 2020 and resigned from the company on March 13th 2021. Principal claims they have been trying to contact my past employer to confirm the last day of employment, which they already have on file. On their website it states, There haven't been any recent contributions to your account. When you are actively making contributions the last five will show in this space and it show zero, also, Your plan does not currently eligible to make contributions based on the provisions of your employer's retirement plan. I believe, even if I kept this account open upon retirement, I would not receive these funds.Business Response
Date: 04/28/2025
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainantCustomer Answer
Date: 05/02/2025
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
****** ********Initial Complaint
Date:04/25/2025
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I put money into a 401k at my previous employer 1 year and 5 months ago at Lowes Home Improvement. I have been waiting since october to receive my money. First they sent me the check to the wrong location which I have not been residing at for a year. Then I got tax documents from them saying i owe them money.Then after calling them and getting everything notarized and sending out every form. They then call me and say it has been canceled. I had called them back three separate times and they literally all gave me different answers. This money is almost $1k. Still no check. I called them one last time last week and they said i will get an email this week. Its April 24th, 2025. I still have not recieved my check. They are criminals. I would really like to sue them but I cannot afford a lawyer.Business Response
Date: 04/25/2025
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Customer Answer
Date: 04/25/2025
Complaint: 23247943
I am rejecting this response because:
I do not trust them to actually take care of this situation.
Sincerely,
******** ******Business Response
Date: 04/29/2025
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.
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