How to avoid high fees on an inherited Edward Jones account
Accounts managed by traditional brokerages like Edward Jones often carry high fees and nickel-and-dime charges when transitioning to a beneficiary. For college students and inheritors, these unexpected costs cut into the balance and complicate account management before the transfer is finalized.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Cashing out the account and paying potential capital gains tax, then using the funds to open an account at a low-cost or no-cost brokerage like Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard.Did this help you?
- 2paying the surrender charge and ordinary income taxes upfront to liquidate immediatelyDid this help you?
- 3utilizing annual penalty-free withdrawal limits (typically 10 percent) to phase out over timeDid this help you?
- 4waiting until index terms mature to pull out penalty-free tranchesDid this help you?
- 5Instructing the current managers on what to invest in and telling them not to make further tradesDid this help you?
- 6Porting or transferring the account to an inherited IRA at a preferred financial institutionDid this help you?
- 7Closing the account, taking a tax hit, and moving the remaining funds into a personal brokerage accountDid this help you?
- 8Contributing only enough to get the employer matchDid this help you?
- 9Checking plan documents for a brokerage window or in-service rollover optionDid this help you?
- 10Waiting until retirement to move the account to a retail brokerageDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My "problem" is this: it's actively managed at an investment firm.”source ↗
“Plus, it's no fun getting hit with the trading commissions that I pay to the managers of the fund while they make trades for me.”source ↗
“The problem is that it’s with Edward Jones, and have been seeing some negative stuff about them nickel and diming their customers, the accounts transitions into my name in may of next year, and was wondering what yall would recommend.”source ↗
“I’m currently a college student and take advantage of the American opportunity tax credit, and that should take care of any tax burden.”source ↗
“Looking for advice on how to help clean up an estate planning mess for my 81-year-old mother.”source ↗
“Unfortunately, an advisor from LPL Financial convinced her to move a large sum into a Prudential FlexGuard Registered Index-Linked Annuity (RILA).”source ↗
“I looked at his funds and he is only allowed Mutual Funds through this company that he is using. The Fund manager is a small company and all of the funds have close to a 1% expense ratio.”source ↗
“These funds are very significantly underperforming the SP500 and have ridiculous overhead costs.”source ↗
“They specifically lock him out of basic ETFs that mirror the SP500.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 16What do I do with an inherited IRA?
- 3How to move investments into an ISA without paying a huge tax bill
- 11Is paying a 1% wealth management fee actually worth it?
- 2Why did my tax bill jump so high after selling stock?
- 3How to cash out an inherited IRA without paying huge taxes
- 5How to invest an inheritance when you have no idea what you're doing