I knew up front that Edward Jones’ fees were way too high. For instance, I paid over $200 to do an AAPL trade that I could have done on my own for $4 through my online brokerage account. I made this decision for two reasons. One, my friend’s brother was trying to start his own EJ office, and two, I bought into the sales job that I would have someone looking at my account and advising me at least once a quarter.
Well, since I’m really good with other peoples’ money (I am a CPA, licensed attorney, and former CFO), but my own account seems to be the last thing that I look at, I decided to go for it. Long story short, two years later, I never received any additional input or advice from my broker, and when I decided that I was better off managing my own money, I requested that they send a wire transfer to my online brokerage house and close my account. This was on a Friday. HOURS of phone calls, faxes, and emails later, by TUESDAY, I was informed that the wire transfer was rejected and I would have to pay a $40 rejection fee and another $25 resubmission fee. THE INFORMATION THAT THEY USED TO SEND THE CORRECTED WIRE WAS EXACTLY THE SAME INFORMATION AS IN THE FIRST REQUEST. They just filled out the form wrong, and are requiring me to pay for it.
Basically, this “financial manager” or his office staff didn’t know how to send a wire transfer, and instead of admitting that, they blame me for the fact that they filled out the form wrong (my mistake, I did sign the authorization without double checking their work…) and refuse to refund my $65. So after HUNDREDS of dollars in fees, two years of little to no financial advice, and three business days of waiting (opportunity costs?), I finally got my wire transfer submitted for a total of $90 in fees. Some customer service that is!
Unless you are someone who has never used a computer, and knows NOTHING (I mean literally nothing) about investments, EJ is a complete rip-off. Their brokers are licensed yes, but they know very little about even the basics of running their own offices. They are definitely better sales people than financial advisors. The two brokers who I know both have a background in sales, not finance. One was in retail and the other was in real estate. They were both recruited by EJ for their history of success in sales, and then given the training to pass their Series 7 Exam. One has a decent head for finance, from what I can tell, and the other is 100% a sales guy.
Edward Jones Reviews
I knew up front that Edward Jones’ fees were way too high. For instance, I paid over $200 to do an AAPL trade that I could have done on my own for $4 through my online brokerage account. I made this decision for two reasons. One, my friend’s brother was trying to start his own EJ office, and two, I bought into the sales job that I would have someone looking at my account and advising me at least once a quarter.
Well, since I’m really good with other peoples’ money (I am a CPA, licensed attorney, and former CFO), but my own account seems to be the last thing that I look at, I decided to go for it. Long story short, two years later, I never received any additional input or advice from my broker, and when I decided that I was better off managing my own money, I requested that they send a wire transfer to my online brokerage house and close my account. This was on a Friday. HOURS of phone calls, faxes, and emails later, by TUESDAY, I was informed that the wire transfer was rejected and I would have to pay a $40 rejection fee and another $25 resubmission fee. THE INFORMATION THAT THEY USED TO SEND THE CORRECTED WIRE WAS EXACTLY THE SAME INFORMATION AS IN THE FIRST REQUEST. They just filled out the form wrong, and are requiring me to pay for it.
Basically, this “financial manager” or his office staff didn’t know how to send a wire transfer, and instead of admitting that, they blame me for the fact that they filled out the form wrong (my mistake, I did sign the authorization without double checking their work…) and refuse to refund my $65. So after HUNDREDS of dollars in fees, two years of little to no financial advice, and three business days of waiting (opportunity costs?), I finally got my wire transfer submitted for a total of $90 in fees. Some customer service that is!
Unless you are someone who has never used a computer, and knows NOTHING (I mean literally nothing) about investments, EJ is a complete rip-off. Their brokers are licensed yes, but they know very little about even the basics of running their own offices. They are definitely better sales people than financial advisors. The two brokers who I know both have a background in sales, not finance. One was in retail and the other was in real estate. They were both recruited by EJ for their history of success in sales, and then given the training to pass their Series 7 Exam. One has a decent head for finance, from what I can tell, and the other is 100% a sales guy.