Man Shocked by $15,000 in Edward Jones Commissions Switches to Schwab: 'This Is a Complete Scam'

An Edward Jones client made a shocking revelation: he lost nearly $15,000 (about £11,000) in commission charges, all of which came out of his and his children's savings. The client has transferred the remaining funds to a rival, Charles Schwab, after no one told him the cost of each trade at Edward Jones.

The client shared his experience publicly online, and Edward Jones has not responded.

Investing through Edward Jones operates in a loop: a customer deposits money, an adviser recommends investments, and Edward Jones takes a fee with each buy or sell. This fee is a commission.

A trusted friend who worked at Edward Jones was managing the client's money. According to the client, Edward Jones never disclosed these charges individually. When the client called to sell an asset, the colleague who answered quoted a commission of $472 (about £346).

What the Charges Added Up To

The client reviewed his records, where every purchase and sale is listed with its cost. The total charges amounted to nearly 4% of the total invested, or close to $4 for every $100 invested.

The client, who describes himself as heartbroken, says the charges would never have come to light if his friend had not left.

'This is a complete scam,' the client wrote about Edward Jones.

What Edward Jones Charges

Much of the money was invested in funds. A fund is a pool built from thousands of savers, managed by a professional who uses it to buy company shares. Joining a fund requires an upfront fee before any money is invested.

Edward Jones charges a joining fee between 3.75% and 5.75%. For example, if someone invests $5,000 in a fund at a 5% fee, they do not get the full $5,000 invested. Instead, they receive $4,750, as $250 is deducted first.

Advisers are paid 36% to 40% of the charges Edward Jones collects, so higher charges result in larger commissions. The Edward Jones document states that this may create a conflict of interest between the adviser's incentives and the client's best interests.

Why the Charges Were Not Obvious

The price list Edward Jones publishes spans 49 pages, and it provides ranges rather than the exact cost of any one trade.

This gap is at the centre of the Edward Jones complaint. The client says no specific charge was disclosed at the time of the transaction, and a published range is not the same as being told the exact cost of a sale.

Two Kinds of Account, and Who Decides

Edward Jones offers two types of accounts: Select Accounts and advisory programmes. A Select Account charges the customer for each purchase and sale, so the fee varies with trading activity. The advisory programmes, sold as Guided Solutions and Advisory Solutions, charge a yearly percentage of the total assets.

Edward Jones states to the US markets regulator that a Select Account is non-discretionary, meaning an adviser can recommend a trade but the customer must approve it before execution. Edward Jones also says it does not routinely monitor these accounts.

The advisory fee can be up to 1.35%. On a $100,000 account, that amounts to $1,350 annually, with buying and selling costs included, and the account is actively monitored.

The client claims the transition into a Select Account was made without warning, and that subsequent trades were neither disclosed nor approved.

What Regulators Found in 2025

Edward Jones has already been fined for its charging practices. In January 2025, the firm agreed to pay $17 million (about £12.5 million) to investment regulators in every US state. The announcement was made by the North American Securities Administrators Association.

A charge paid upfront is intended to cover years of holding an investment. Regulators found customers who paid this fee but then moved their investments early, effectively paying a long-term price for a short-term holding. They also identified gaps in how Edward Jones monitored its own advisers.

This fine covered customers who switched from a pay-per-trade account to a yearly-fee account. Since this client switched in the opposite direction, the fine does not directly relate to their case.

How Anyone Can Check the Same Thing

Every buy and sell generates a receipt called a trade confirmation, and Edward Jones says the commission is printed on it. This receipt arrives after the money has been transferred, but the charges have already been paid and remain on the receipt.