An Edward Jones exec lives in the biggest mansion in my neighborhood which reminds me constantly how I want no part of full service brokers. Especially irritating is that none of his four luxury cars is made in the U.S. For all their fees, it's amazing how many complaints I see online about EJ door-knocking stock- pushers, especially about churning.
Edward Jones lucked into a sweet spot in "servicing" America's blue collar, middle class who still buy outrageously costly funds, while entertaining fantasies of 10-baggers. OTOH, wealthy and educated investors have mostly moved to passive investing and deep discount brokers. I owe a lot to John Bogle and Vanguard, and to a lesser extent Fidelity that ran my first MM fund ages ago.
I did a double take when I saw that $4 Trillion figure a few days ago. Not billion but trillion! I have a conventional brokerage account that I use nowadays only for a bit of muni bond business. And I also have a Vanguard brokerage account. Guess which account has profits "rolling in?"
My full service broker is a genuinely nice guy who sends me a Christmas card every year. I'm not sure my business with him even covers his cost in that!
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Because the Good Life is Just a Pump or Two Away
