I live in a city with a population of 14,000. Have 7 EJ offices in town!
Would be fascinating to learn EJ's selection criteria for where to have offices. No doubt some combination of age, HH income, home values, etc.. An office recently opened in my neighborhood too, right next to Trader Joe's. Wouldn't surprise me if there's high correlation between customer base of TJs, Starbucks and EdwardJones.
On a recent outing we drove through a small town about 40 miles east of Portland, population ~2,000. Used to be a blue collar timber town but now there are lots of vacation homes there and I suspect also high earners who work remotely (this was WA state, so no income tax). EdwardJones office on the three block long main street through town. That's gotta say something about the demographics.
OMG, that is hilarious! And scary.Found out he was a prison guard prior to joining EJ.
A woman friend who's in her 60's sold a home last year and is sitting on the proceeds because financial stuff is both boring and scary to her. The other day she said "Maybe I'll just go into that Edward Jones office and have them help me." From the other room I cried out "No, no, no, no, no!". My reaction was so spontaneous and from the gut that my friend took notice. I explained many of the points folks have made here, and suggested she go to Schwab or Fidelity instead (which both have offices here). Think I managed to talk her down If she mentions EJ again, think I'll print out this thread transcript for her.