How Working With Edward Jones Investments Goes, Step by Step
Working with Edward Jones Investments on investment management follows 5 steps, from a first call to reviews after your playbook is in place. Each step has a clear output you can read, question and approve.
This page is written for tech employees holding RSUs, options and ESPP shares, where one stock often drives most of the net worth. Meetings happen by video or phone, so location doesn't matter.
Step 1: Talk through your situation and the fee
The first conversation is a call or video meeting, and you do most of the talking. We ask what your employer stock is worth, when RSUs vest, which options are underwater, and what you want to spend each year.
We also go over how Edward Jones Investments charges for its work, and you get that confirmed on paper before anything starts. You'll hear the $500,000 investable-asset minimum here too, so nobody wastes an hour.
One honest limit: if your stock is a small slice of your net worth, you may not need much from us.
Step 2: Gather the grant paperwork and statements
Edward Jones Investments asks for a short list of documents, and you send them securely. Grant agreements matter more than people expect, because vesting dates and exercise windows drive the tax timing.
Equity portal export showing RSU, option and ESPP holdings
Latest brokerage, 401(k) and IRA statements
Last year's tax return
A rough number for annual spending
Step 3: Set the loss limit from your spending, then write the playbook
Before Edward Jones Investments suggests selling a single share, it estimates the tax cost of each sale. We start with risk capacity, not a questionnaire score: how much the portfolio can lose before your spending breaks.
Take a hypothetical engineer with $1.5 million, of which $900,000 (60%) is one stock. If a 50% drop in that stock would cost $450,000 and her spending needs only $1 million to hold up, she can't afford that drop. Her comfort with risk doesn't change the math.
Nothing happens until you say yes. You can approve the whole playbook, one piece, or send it back with changes.
Sales are usually spread over several tax years, timed around vesting dates and your income. Edward Jones Investments tells you which trade comes first and why.
Expect a few forms and account transfers. Those are the slow part, not the decisions.
Step 5: Review after every vest and every big change
Reviews follow your calendar, not ours. A new grant, a job change, a tender offer or a sharp move in the stock each calls for a check.
At each review we compare the stock's share of your net worth with the target in your playbook and update the next sales.
Your questions about Edward Jones Investments, answered
What documents do I send before the second meeting?
You'll need recent pay stubs or an equity portal export showing RSU, option and ESPP holdings, plus your latest brokerage and 401(k) statements. Last year's tax return helps too. If you don't have everything, send what you have and we'll tell you what's missing.
Will anything be sold before I approve it?
Edward Jones Investments sets no trades in motion without your approval. The written playbook lists each recommended sale, exercise or gift, with an estimated tax cost beside it. You can approve all of it, part of it, or ask us to rework the order.
Do unvested RSUs count toward the $500,000 minimum?
Edward Jones Investments asks for $500,000 in investable assets. Unvested RSUs generally don't count until they vest, but vested shares, exercised options and ESPP shares held in your accounts do. Ask during the first call if you're near the line.
