Should I move my money out of Edward Jones?

General
1

My parents were with Edward Jones for about 40 years, so when I started investing, I went with their advisor because I didn’t know much and wasn’t that interested in learning. Now my parents have passed, and I’ve inherited their accounts on top of my own. That’s nine accounts in total—six of them IRAs.

I’ll need to start withdrawing from the inherited IRAs soon, which will get taxed heavily because of the 10-year rule. My advisor is a nice guy who was close to my parents, but I’ve been looking at EJ’s fees. Two of my friends who manage their own investments told me I’m paying way too much and should switch to Vanguard or Fidelity. My company uses Vanguard, so it’s easy to move there.

Should I make the switch, or are good Edward Jones advisors worth the fees?

2

The answer is almost always yes. If you can pick a couple of index funds, you’ll save a lot on fees and get the same results.

3

Hayden said:
The answer is almost always yes. If you can pick a couple of index funds, you’ll save a lot on fees and get the same results.

And yes again.

4

I’m in the process of moving my account out of EJ. My returns have been awful—just 8% this year while paying hundreds in fees every month. Over the last five years, my account only grew by 3%. I’ve tried asking my advisor to put my money in better funds, but they ignore me. It’s cost me tens of thousands of dollars.

5

Yes. I switched from EJ to Fidelity and I’m much happier now.

6

Lin said:
Yes. I switched from EJ to Fidelity and I’m much happier now.

Same here.

7

YES. EJ advisors are basically salesmen with outrageous fees. If you have $500k with them, a 2% fee is $10,000 a year—that’s $833 a month! Do you really think they’re adding that much value? No way.

8

I keep my money with EJ because they protect me from myself. I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to investing.

Their job is to stop me from making big mistakes that could lose me money.

9

Hayes said:
I keep my money with EJ because they protect me from myself. I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to investing.

Their job is to stop me from making big mistakes that could lose me money.

That’s fair if you’re prone to panic selling or gambling. But otherwise, you’ll do better just sticking with something like VTI and bonds and ignoring your portfolio.

10

Hayes said:
I keep my money with EJ because they protect me from myself. I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to investing.

Their job is to stop me from making big mistakes that could lose me money.

I’ll do the same job for half the fee.

11

@Hal
I’ll do it for half of what this person’s offering!

12

Robin said:
@Hal
I’ll do it for half of what this person’s offering!

Let’s not turn this into a race to the bottom!

13

Hal said:

Robin said:
@Hal
I’ll do it for half of what this person’s offering!

Let’s not turn this into a race to the bottom!

How about this—I’ll do it for a cheeseburger, but that’s my final offer.

14

@Robin
Truce? Let’s start a partnership and aim for steak dinners instead!

15

Hal said:
@Robin
Truce? Let’s start a partnership and aim for steak dinners instead!

Deal, as long as it’s medium-rare!

16

Hayes said:
I keep my money with EJ because they protect me from myself. I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to investing.

Their job is to stop me from making big mistakes that could lose me money.

My EJ guy has helped me make more money than I would’ve on my own and stopped me from making dumb trades. For now, I’m staying with them since I’m young and willing to take risks. But as I get older, I’ll probably move everything to Fidelity and invest in VOO or VTI.

17

@Rohan
So you’re paying more in fees during your peak earning years? That seems backward.

18

Jai said:
@Rohan
So you’re paying more in fees during your peak earning years? That seems backward.

My EJ account has done way better than my retirement accounts in index funds, though.

19

@Rohan
Could you share what your EJ account is invested in and what’s in your retirement account? It’s rare to hear someone say EJ beats index funds.

20

Paxton said:
@Rohan
Could you share what your EJ account is invested in and what’s in your retirement account? It’s rare to hear someone say EJ beats index funds.

Sure! Current positions are Google, Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA (biggest gainer), DON, DEF, VOO, and VTI. We sold others recently for my house down payment, like AT&T, Deere, CVS, and a toy company.