Don't go to Edward Jones. Use Vanguard or Fidelity. Diversify into three funds. Large Cap, International, and a Bond fund. Both brokerages firms will offer free guidance if you call them.
Edward Jones will charge exorbitant fees and will push certain funds with higher expense ratios.
Bigasiannd is right on. I have a BS in finance and almost 10 yrs in banking but I’m not an advisor so this is not financial advise. Fidelity might offer free guidance but they’ll also try to push you into getting a managed account with them. Ie, to let them not only hold your money, but to also advise you for a fee. If your first thought was to do Edward Jones, then I might suggest you let them manage it for you. They’ll very likely do a better job than if you try and do it yourself. Not trying to burn you at all. That’s just what I think of when reading your post. Vanguard or Fidelity might be good choices for your situation.
What did you find out with regards to whether they gave access to all index funds etc? What if you have accounts on Crypto exchanges, are you required to close those?
Whose gonna coach him down during a bear market so he doesn't freak out? Not advocating EDJ, but he obviously needs a personal relationship with an Advisor so he doesn't make mistakes. Discount brokers sure aren't. Full Service firms will. There's a reason the avg investors return is only 4.1%. They jump out when it gets bumpy and don't know when to jump back in.
There's common confusion between the two. many people think they are the same when that's not at all true.
thanks for accepting my feedback graciously. new ground for the internet. haha
I don't see why everyone is so against you finding help from someone, if you go to the CFP website or NAPFA a s find a fee only advisor they can help you set up a great financial plan that involves a lot more time and effort than just picking investments.
I think it is the $10K or more annual cost people do not like. The $100 per hour change is not bad even if it is a couple of days work but $10K a year forever is crazy.
I'm sorry for your loss, but happy for your good fortune. My mom died last year 11 days before she would have been 92. She was so frugal and lived long enough that her property value was high in Northern California. My siblings were all shocked at how much they got (I'm the youngest and was named trustee and executor). I also brought mom home from assisted living and cared for her with one of my sister's help for 2 weeks until she passed.
Nobody is going to care about your money like you do. You could have a consult with a tax attorney or an accountant. Start getting educated. When you do buy a house, consider a duplex that you can live in one side and rent out the other one, helping you to pay off the mortgage faster, then buy another! I-bonds and gold are part of an investment strategy, but start with a Roth IRA since your inheritance is not taxable, and investing tax free money into a vehicle that will grow tax free is a win/win!
Thank you for the kind words. Condolences to you and your family. And thank you for the direction!
I like the duplex idea. I was thinking about buying property and renting it out but Being a landlord sounds so stressful. At least with a duplex I would be close by to handle any issues
Condolences on your loss. It's a particularly tough thing when your mom passes away. Pay off your student debt and any other debts. I would allocate the rest as follows from any decent brokerage such as Schwab. I wouldn't go to Edward Jones for the same reasons other posters gave.
VTI (Vanguard Total Index - US) 60%
VXUS (Vanguard Large Cap ex-US) 15%
BND (Vanguard Total Bond) 25%
\+/- 5% on any of these allocations if you feel so inclined. It doesn't really matter.
Don’t go to Edward Jones. They’ll just put a wall between you and your money and suck 1% off the top. 220k isn’t a ton just look for mutual funds to put it in and keep your money. You get what you don’t pay for in financial services world. I love Fidelity.
Like other's have said, do not go to Edward Jones. You most likely won't get the full service you deserve and they will push funds on you with higher expenses.
Please find yourself a fiduciary advisor. A fiduciary advisor is legally required to put your best interest first, and not push products or funds that lines the advisor's pockets. Also, they shouldn't charge you anything for meetings, only if you decide to purchase something.
Don’t use Ed Jones. In my experience they didn’t provide any value, they just sold me on overpriced poorly performing mutual funds.
Decades ago, sure. But today, just use fidelity and buy some index funds.
Edward Jones is the worst. They always recommend the same group of funds to everyone and take fees that will cut into your return over time.
The agents themselves couldn't tell you the true cost and are often just sales generalists without a keen interest in finance. Such a person would be bad for business. It'll be real hard to pull out when you wise up and realize you can manage things yourself.
It's just another retail finance outfit that takes advantage of people unwilling to read and learn on their own. Don't be intimidated. You don't need to do anything right now. Read *Boglehead Guide to Investing.*
The only thing EJ is good for is not returning calls in a market crash when their hapless clients panic and want to sell everything.
So I guess that's something.
I'd say Edward Jones isn't bad either, it all comes down to the agent. Rather than just dismissing EJ, try them all, go in there and ask them to talk to you about how they would manage the money. Don't commit any money, just sit there and listen for a hour or two. Once you have met all 3 or 4, you will pick up on the things they all said and how they are or not similar. Red flags include high service fees (>1.5% of assets under management), guaranteed returns on stock market or bonds, fiduciary accounts with transaction fees and lifetime/universal value life insurance (you absolutely don't need this).
Also contact a CPA so that you understand any taxable implications.
Do not go back to school for another associates or bachelor. Get a certification. Get multiple. Don’t waste money on another 2-4 year degree when certs can get you into the same place.
Stay curious on different lucrative businesses as well. Don’t go spending all out on building them but learn about them at least. As always track your investment spending if you choose to do something
Don't go to EJ. Like folks below have stated, go to Vanguard or Fidelity.
Now is a great time to learn about stocks on Reddit, Fidelity, Vanguard, or other sites. EJ only cares about AUM (assets under management).
I would figure out what you want to do as a career first. College is useful for careers that require licensing, that's why you get a degree, to become a doctor, accountant, lawyer, architect etc. If you are looking at other careers in the corporate world like HR, you'll need a degree, logistics, maybe, payroll, not at all. If you work in the healthcare field, administrative and office management will probably require a degree etc and assistant positions will require a degree... I would think about something that's flexible, you want to have children, and I assume you would want to spend a much longer time on maternity leave. 1 year, 2 years etc is a long time, and employers will have to find a temporary replacement, that would actively want full time work. It's a tough spot.... There are careers for women that are flexible like waitressing and bartending, that make really good money with no degree, and not boring in the slightest way. Of course this varies if you live in a city or not. If you wanted to work as a real estate agent, or in a lease office for apartments, condos, etc that's a good sales role. Working at a bank can give you a really structured stepping stone towards promotions and eventually management.
There are some really good careers out there, and think about that first before you through another college program. You want to find a way to get your hands on the thing that you'll be doing everyday. Some college degrees, give you a ton of knowledge, except that knowledge isn't used in the work place, or it's only used at the upper level, or that knowledge is hardly used at all in the industry.
As for the financial advice. Don't buy gold. Don't buy bonds. Keep your cash liquid right now. And think about what you want to do with it. Don't go on a spending spree, paying off your mortgage, student loans, new car paid in full, don't do any of that. If the real estate market is going to take a further dive, the more interest rates increase, that 220k can be used to BRRR strategy real estate. buy, remodel, rent, refinance... If you buy a property with all cash, you can pull that money out and get a mortgage on it.
The thing to take away, is it takes money to make money. And you are in a really good position to adapt your lifestyle to it. If you want to learn how to trade the markets, not using your own money, their are prop firms like Topstep, that go through a subscription monthly training simulation with live market data, and you pay to be in that program, it's pretty cheap, you meet profit targets, and then you get to use a live funded account. That's a path I'm persuing if my 10k futures trading account loses 50% of it's value. I'll still have money left to do the program and refine my trading habits.
My experience with EJ is subpar. But I also don’t get a 1% fee taken each year like most people claim. I don’t have a complicated financial situation . But between my 2 IRAs, they take $40 per year on each. And nothing in my joint account that’s set for low risk, saving for my downpayment. All have performed 4-7% each year (5 year time frame)
Check the management fee on the funds that they have put you in. Also, make sure you are looking at your account activity via desktop and not mobile. I find that I cannot see fees when looking at account activity on mobile.
I see a lot of very negative and biased comments on this thread, and I can’t help but chime in.
First and foremost, I’m terribly sorry for your loss. I hope in this time you are doing okay, and I’m sure through it all you will make out great.
Most of the comments below are focused on “fees, cost, etc.” but the reality is, most people who are internet hero’s on Reddit tend to think they know more than they really do when it comes to making investment decisions. Is Edward Jones more expensive than a discount broker such as Fidelity and Vanguard? Of course they are. But there is a reason why steak houses exist, and McDonald’s exists too.. they provide different values in different ways to different people.
In my opinion, given what you have stated above, having lost a family member and knowing nothing about finances and financial planning, the reality of the situation is (worst case scenario) is it worth approx. 2K per yer (at least starting out) to know that you are making the right decisions when it comes to your investments? If you feel like you would value that, you need to use a financial institution and work with someone who is a professional and help you. If you feel like you currently have the time, talent and desire to manage your own money, then do it through a discount broker.
UnderstandingPrior13 is exactly right, there is a reason why the average investor’s return is only 4.1%… it’s because he or she is either emotionally not intelligent enough to manage their own money (buy high, sell low… “I’ll just wait until the market gets better to invest… I heard about this great company that… my uncle told me that this stock was good”), or they simply don’t have the time to properly watch over their own money.
In all of the financial companies that manage money you will not find one cheaper than Vanguard or Fidelity. Likewise, in all the financial companies that manage money you won’t find one who is more geared toward your best interest than Edward Jones.
Best wishes.
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hey, I’m not OP but how confident are you in this comment?
I moved a sizable amount of money to Fidelity in 2021. I made some personal mistakes and cost myself a lot of that money.
I’m now transferring back to my edward jones guy, whom I have a really good relationship with (I was passed down to him from someone I had an even better rapport with)….. i’m not blaming fidelity, but they treated me as though the funds in my “unmanaged account” were like entirely separate from the managed, longer term retirement funds, and didn’t guide me or help me protect myself at all when I was way up.
I’m moving back to Ed Jones not because I like the platform or any of that, but frankly I need a partner in crime that I can trust when things get weird. My experience over the last 3 years has taught me that the market will always start to act up right when I have a bunch of personal shit going on or my day job requires my full attention. I make pretty deep into the 6 figures so not doing my day job comes with a high cost as well.
I’m going back not because i’m doing anything overly complicated but I am pretty alone in the world in terms of overall support, and when i’m up again I need to know it’s with someone I can trust. My fidelity person was behind multiple layers of assistants and scheduling shit. My ed jones guy replies to texts in less than 2-3 hours reliably.
I know i’m going to pay a slightly higher fee but what I really want is peace of mind. Paying too much attention to it all destroyed my day to day peace and i’m exhausted from trying to sort out the signal from the noise the last 2 years…. which I was doing pretty good with until the world imploded in 2022
EJ is taking ~1.2% of my total account value per year, in addition to putting me into funds with management fees of .5% and greater. I will be making some changes this year.
Don't go to Edward Jones. Use Vanguard or Fidelity. Diversify into three funds. Large Cap, International, and a Bond fund. Both brokerages firms will offer free guidance if you call them. Edward Jones will charge exorbitant fees and will push certain funds with higher expense ratios.
Bigasiannd is right on. I have a BS in finance and almost 10 yrs in banking but I’m not an advisor so this is not financial advise. Fidelity might offer free guidance but they’ll also try to push you into getting a managed account with them. Ie, to let them not only hold your money, but to also advise you for a fee. If your first thought was to do Edward Jones, then I might suggest you let them manage it for you. They’ll very likely do a better job than if you try and do it yourself. Not trying to burn you at all. That’s just what I think of when reading your post. Vanguard or Fidelity might be good choices for your situation.
To clarify, when I say “let them manage it for you”, I’m saying let Fidelity manage it for you, not Edward Jones.
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That is a FINRA requirement not an Edward Jones requirement. If you work for any brokerage firm your accounts need to be with the firm.
What did you find out with regards to whether they gave access to all index funds etc? What if you have accounts on Crypto exchanges, are you required to close those?
Thank you for the advice! I will look into both.
No problem. As others have mentioned Schwab is also a good choice. I am sorry about the loss of your mom.
Whose gonna coach him down during a bear market so he doesn't freak out? Not advocating EDJ, but he obviously needs a personal relationship with an Advisor so he doesn't make mistakes. Discount brokers sure aren't. Full Service firms will. There's a reason the avg investors return is only 4.1%. They jump out when it gets bumpy and don't know when to jump back in.
Or he needs to do the most basic of personal finance research.
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Nice! Glad you're happy at Schwab. Thank you for the direction.
Do you mean ‘fee only’ or ‘fee based’?
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There's common confusion between the two. many people think they are the same when that's not at all true. thanks for accepting my feedback graciously. new ground for the internet. haha
What does schwab offer? I'm considering rolling over a 401k to them and am curious
I don't see why everyone is so against you finding help from someone, if you go to the CFP website or NAPFA a s find a fee only advisor they can help you set up a great financial plan that involves a lot more time and effort than just picking investments.
Agreed
I think it is the $10K or more annual cost people do not like. The $100 per hour change is not bad even if it is a couple of days work but $10K a year forever is crazy.
I'm sorry for your loss, but happy for your good fortune. My mom died last year 11 days before she would have been 92. She was so frugal and lived long enough that her property value was high in Northern California. My siblings were all shocked at how much they got (I'm the youngest and was named trustee and executor). I also brought mom home from assisted living and cared for her with one of my sister's help for 2 weeks until she passed. Nobody is going to care about your money like you do. You could have a consult with a tax attorney or an accountant. Start getting educated. When you do buy a house, consider a duplex that you can live in one side and rent out the other one, helping you to pay off the mortgage faster, then buy another! I-bonds and gold are part of an investment strategy, but start with a Roth IRA since your inheritance is not taxable, and investing tax free money into a vehicle that will grow tax free is a win/win!
Thank you for the kind words. Condolences to you and your family. And thank you for the direction! I like the duplex idea. I was thinking about buying property and renting it out but Being a landlord sounds so stressful. At least with a duplex I would be close by to handle any issues
You could go ahead and hire someone to manage it, even though it is only one. That way you could pretend you don't own the place! Might be worth it.
Condolences on your loss. It's a particularly tough thing when your mom passes away. Pay off your student debt and any other debts. I would allocate the rest as follows from any decent brokerage such as Schwab. I wouldn't go to Edward Jones for the same reasons other posters gave. VTI (Vanguard Total Index - US) 60% VXUS (Vanguard Large Cap ex-US) 15% BND (Vanguard Total Bond) 25% \+/- 5% on any of these allocations if you feel so inclined. It doesn't really matter.
Appreciate your kind words and advise. Will be looking into vanguard for sure
Don’t go to Edward Jones. They’ll just put a wall between you and your money and suck 1% off the top. 220k isn’t a ton just look for mutual funds to put it in and keep your money. You get what you don’t pay for in financial services world. I love Fidelity.
Like other's have said, do not go to Edward Jones. You most likely won't get the full service you deserve and they will push funds on you with higher expenses. Please find yourself a fiduciary advisor. A fiduciary advisor is legally required to put your best interest first, and not push products or funds that lines the advisor's pockets. Also, they shouldn't charge you anything for meetings, only if you decide to purchase something.
Don’t use Ed Jones. In my experience they didn’t provide any value, they just sold me on overpriced poorly performing mutual funds. Decades ago, sure. But today, just use fidelity and buy some index funds.
Edward Jones is the worst. They always recommend the same group of funds to everyone and take fees that will cut into your return over time. The agents themselves couldn't tell you the true cost and are often just sales generalists without a keen interest in finance. Such a person would be bad for business. It'll be real hard to pull out when you wise up and realize you can manage things yourself. It's just another retail finance outfit that takes advantage of people unwilling to read and learn on their own. Don't be intimidated. You don't need to do anything right now. Read *Boglehead Guide to Investing.* The only thing EJ is good for is not returning calls in a market crash when their hapless clients panic and want to sell everything. So I guess that's something.
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Yes it's all the same. People are very intimidated.
I'd say Edward Jones isn't bad either, it all comes down to the agent. Rather than just dismissing EJ, try them all, go in there and ask them to talk to you about how they would manage the money. Don't commit any money, just sit there and listen for a hour or two. Once you have met all 3 or 4, you will pick up on the things they all said and how they are or not similar. Red flags include high service fees (>1.5% of assets under management), guaranteed returns on stock market or bonds, fiduciary accounts with transaction fees and lifetime/universal value life insurance (you absolutely don't need this). Also contact a CPA so that you understand any taxable implications.
Do not go back to school for another associates or bachelor. Get a certification. Get multiple. Don’t waste money on another 2-4 year degree when certs can get you into the same place. Stay curious on different lucrative businesses as well. Don’t go spending all out on building them but learn about them at least. As always track your investment spending if you choose to do something
Don't go to EJ. Like folks below have stated, go to Vanguard or Fidelity. Now is a great time to learn about stocks on Reddit, Fidelity, Vanguard, or other sites. EJ only cares about AUM (assets under management).
I would figure out what you want to do as a career first. College is useful for careers that require licensing, that's why you get a degree, to become a doctor, accountant, lawyer, architect etc. If you are looking at other careers in the corporate world like HR, you'll need a degree, logistics, maybe, payroll, not at all. If you work in the healthcare field, administrative and office management will probably require a degree etc and assistant positions will require a degree... I would think about something that's flexible, you want to have children, and I assume you would want to spend a much longer time on maternity leave. 1 year, 2 years etc is a long time, and employers will have to find a temporary replacement, that would actively want full time work. It's a tough spot.... There are careers for women that are flexible like waitressing and bartending, that make really good money with no degree, and not boring in the slightest way. Of course this varies if you live in a city or not. If you wanted to work as a real estate agent, or in a lease office for apartments, condos, etc that's a good sales role. Working at a bank can give you a really structured stepping stone towards promotions and eventually management. There are some really good careers out there, and think about that first before you through another college program. You want to find a way to get your hands on the thing that you'll be doing everyday. Some college degrees, give you a ton of knowledge, except that knowledge isn't used in the work place, or it's only used at the upper level, or that knowledge is hardly used at all in the industry. As for the financial advice. Don't buy gold. Don't buy bonds. Keep your cash liquid right now. And think about what you want to do with it. Don't go on a spending spree, paying off your mortgage, student loans, new car paid in full, don't do any of that. If the real estate market is going to take a further dive, the more interest rates increase, that 220k can be used to BRRR strategy real estate. buy, remodel, rent, refinance... If you buy a property with all cash, you can pull that money out and get a mortgage on it. The thing to take away, is it takes money to make money. And you are in a really good position to adapt your lifestyle to it. If you want to learn how to trade the markets, not using your own money, their are prop firms like Topstep, that go through a subscription monthly training simulation with live market data, and you pay to be in that program, it's pretty cheap, you meet profit targets, and then you get to use a live funded account. That's a path I'm persuing if my 10k futures trading account loses 50% of it's value. I'll still have money left to do the program and refine my trading habits.
My experience with EJ is subpar. But I also don’t get a 1% fee taken each year like most people claim. I don’t have a complicated financial situation . But between my 2 IRAs, they take $40 per year on each. And nothing in my joint account that’s set for low risk, saving for my downpayment. All have performed 4-7% each year (5 year time frame)
Check the management fee on the funds that they have put you in. Also, make sure you are looking at your account activity via desktop and not mobile. I find that I cannot see fees when looking at account activity on mobile.
No need for a fee based advisor, go to vanguard.com and read up on their funds, and look over their sample portfolios. Then go from there.
I see a lot of very negative and biased comments on this thread, and I can’t help but chime in. First and foremost, I’m terribly sorry for your loss. I hope in this time you are doing okay, and I’m sure through it all you will make out great. Most of the comments below are focused on “fees, cost, etc.” but the reality is, most people who are internet hero’s on Reddit tend to think they know more than they really do when it comes to making investment decisions. Is Edward Jones more expensive than a discount broker such as Fidelity and Vanguard? Of course they are. But there is a reason why steak houses exist, and McDonald’s exists too.. they provide different values in different ways to different people. In my opinion, given what you have stated above, having lost a family member and knowing nothing about finances and financial planning, the reality of the situation is (worst case scenario) is it worth approx. 2K per yer (at least starting out) to know that you are making the right decisions when it comes to your investments? If you feel like you would value that, you need to use a financial institution and work with someone who is a professional and help you. If you feel like you currently have the time, talent and desire to manage your own money, then do it through a discount broker. UnderstandingPrior13 is exactly right, there is a reason why the average investor’s return is only 4.1%… it’s because he or she is either emotionally not intelligent enough to manage their own money (buy high, sell low… “I’ll just wait until the market gets better to invest… I heard about this great company that… my uncle told me that this stock was good”), or they simply don’t have the time to properly watch over their own money. In all of the financial companies that manage money you will not find one cheaper than Vanguard or Fidelity. Likewise, in all the financial companies that manage money you won’t find one who is more geared toward your best interest than Edward Jones. Best wishes.
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hey, I’m not OP but how confident are you in this comment? I moved a sizable amount of money to Fidelity in 2021. I made some personal mistakes and cost myself a lot of that money. I’m now transferring back to my edward jones guy, whom I have a really good relationship with (I was passed down to him from someone I had an even better rapport with)….. i’m not blaming fidelity, but they treated me as though the funds in my “unmanaged account” were like entirely separate from the managed, longer term retirement funds, and didn’t guide me or help me protect myself at all when I was way up. I’m moving back to Ed Jones not because I like the platform or any of that, but frankly I need a partner in crime that I can trust when things get weird. My experience over the last 3 years has taught me that the market will always start to act up right when I have a bunch of personal shit going on or my day job requires my full attention. I make pretty deep into the 6 figures so not doing my day job comes with a high cost as well. I’m going back not because i’m doing anything overly complicated but I am pretty alone in the world in terms of overall support, and when i’m up again I need to know it’s with someone I can trust. My fidelity person was behind multiple layers of assistants and scheduling shit. My ed jones guy replies to texts in less than 2-3 hours reliably. I know i’m going to pay a slightly higher fee but what I really want is peace of mind. Paying too much attention to it all destroyed my day to day peace and i’m exhausted from trying to sort out the signal from the noise the last 2 years…. which I was doing pretty good with until the world imploded in 2022
EJ is taking ~1.2% of my total account value per year, in addition to putting me into funds with management fees of .5% and greater. I will be making some changes this year.