Guides › Financial Advisor Fees
Updated September 19, 2026. Quick answer: Edward Jones is less expensive at $500,000: $6,875 a year, versus $12,500 a year for Equitable Advisors, computed from each firm’s own SEC-filed fee disclosure. See the full side-by-side table below for $250,000, $1 million and $2 million.
What each firm charges, side by side
| Account balance | Edward Jones (annual fee) | Equitable Advisors (annual fee) |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $3,500 | $6,250 |
| $500,000 | $6,875 | $12,500 |
| $1,000,000 | $13,075 | $25,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $23,375 | $50,000 |
Edward Jones discloses a tiered schedule starting at 1.40% (Edward Jones Guided Solutions Flex Account Schedule of Fees, February 2025 (REV. FEB 2025, document IAS-10455O-A-FS)); Equitable Advisors discloses a maximum, individually negotiated rate of 2.5% (Equitable Advisors, LLC 2026 Firm Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A), March 2026).
What the fee includes, in each firm’s own words
Edward Jones (Edward Jones Guided Solutions Flex Account Schedule of Fees, February 2025 (REV. FEB 2025, document IAS-10455O-A-FS)): “The Guided Solutions Flex Fee is comprised of the Program Fee and the Platform Fee, net of any applicable fee reduction or fee offset. The Program Fee is assessed beginning at an annual fee rate of 1.35%, payable monthly in arrears: First $250,000, 1.35%; Next $250,000, 1.30%; Next $500,000, 1.20%; Next $1,500,000, 1.00%; Next $2,500,000, 0.80%; Next $5,000,000, 0.60%; Over $10,000,000, 0.50%. A Platform Fee is charged on accounts enrolled in Guided Solutions Flex. This fee is in addition to the Program Fee. The Platform Fee is assessed beginning at an annual fee rate of 0.05%, payable monthly in arrears.”
Edward Jones’s Guided Solutions Flex Fee is a marginal (tiered) schedule: each bracket’s combined rate (Program Fee plus Platform Fee) applies only to the slice of assets inside that bracket, like a tax bracket, not the whole balance. Arithmetic: $250,000 pays 1.40% on the whole amount ($3,500, since it fits entirely in the first bracket); $500,000 pays $3,500 plus 1.35% on the next $250,000 ($3,375) for $6,875; $1,000,000 pays $6,875 plus 1.24% on the next $500,000 ($6,200) for $13,075; $2,000,000 pays $13,075 plus 1.03% on the next $1,000,000 ($10,300, since $2,000,000 still falls inside the $1,000,000-to-$2,500,000 bracket) for $23,375. Edward Jones also offers a separate, generally non-discretionary brokerage-style program (Guided Solutions Fund, mutual-fund-only) that carries the identical rate table; this page uses the broader Guided Solutions Flex version, which covers stocks, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds.
Equitable Advisors (Equitable Advisors, LLC 2026 Firm Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A), March 2026): “The Account Fee is customarily negotiable (in whole or in part). Each LPL Program as its own maximum Account Fee; the highest account fee in an LPL Program is 2.5% of the client’s account value on an annualized basis, and is usually payable quarterly in advance.”
Equitable Advisors’ current (March 2026) Form ADV Part 2A explicitly states in its Item 2 material-changes summary that its old advisory fee chart ‘has been removed and language has been added to provide for negotiability of fees.’ No per-tier, per-dollar-bracket schedule is published; clients invest through LPL advisory programs and the brochure states only a ceiling: the highest Account Fee across LPL Programs generally is 2.5% of account value annually (Retirement Plan/ERISA services are capped lower, generally 0.75%). dollar_at values apply this 2.5% ceiling uniformly (250,000 x 0.025 = $6,250; 500,000 x 0.025 = $12,500; 1,000,000 x 0.025 = $25,000; 2,000,000 x 0.025 = $50,000) as the worst-case/maximum figure a client could be charged; actual negotiated rates are typically lower and are not disclosed in bracket form anywhere in the brochure.
How this compares
Our benchmark of published adviser fee schedules puts the weighted median annual cost near $2,000 to $2,500 on $250,000 (the benchmark). At $500,000, Edward Jones runs $6,875 a year and Equitable Advisors runs $12,500 a year: a difference of $5,625 a year at that balance.
Want the full breakdown for either firm on its own? Read the Edward Jones fee page or the Equitable Advisors fee page for the complete tier table and source citations.
Thinking about leaving one of these firms instead of pricing what you would pay to stay? See what it costs to leave Edward Jones or what it costs to leave Equitable Advisors, or read the general mechanics of switching financial advisors.
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- Edward Jones Guided Solutions Flex Account Schedule of Fees (February 2025 (REV. FEB 2025, document IAS-10455O-A-FS)): https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/disclosures
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (CRD #250): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/250
- Equitable Advisors, LLC 2026 Firm Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A) (March 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1036195
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Equitable Advisors, LLC (CRD #6627): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/6627
Methodology. This page was built September 19, 2026, re-pairing figures already archived and independently verified for Edward Jones and Equitable Advisors from each firm’s own SEC-filed disclosure; sources linked above. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.