The First Meeting

Whether in your home or in a local Edward Jones branch office, your financial advisor will begin by describing how Edward Jones does business and how it differs from many other investment firms.

Once you understand our investment philosophy and feel comfortable with the idea of long-term, buy-and-hold investing, your financial advisor will probably want to discuss many questions to get an idea of how familiar and comfortable you are with investing. This is also helpful when it comes to defining your specific goals.

Some of the questions are simple and you'll have the answers right away, and some may require you to refer to your records, but all of the information is an important part of understanding how you prioritize your financial needs, what goals are most important to you, and how we can help you reach them.

Here are some examples of the information we'll need:

General:

• Age
• Current income
• Expenses (monthly output including mortgage or rent, utilities, car payment, insurance premiums, other bills and food)
• An idea of your current tax situation

College Savings:

• Do you currently have or plan to have any children? If so, how many?
• Do you plan to send or help send your children to college?
• Is anyone else planning to contribute to your child's college tuition? (Grandparents, other family members, etc.)
• How much are you currently saving for college purposes? Do you think that will be enough?

Mid-range Goals (large purchase: boat, vacation home, etc.)

• What is your projected timeframe for this goal?
• Do you currently have a plan in place?
• If so, what does that plan consist of? (savings account, money market account, investments, etc.?)

Retirement Planning:

• At what age do you plan to retire?
• What do you currently have in place in terms of retirement savings?
• What do you contribute monthly/annually to your retirement? (include company plan, IRAs, annuities, etc.)
• When you get a bonus or commission check, what do you typically do with that money?

Insurance:

• Do you currently have enough coverage to protect your assets and your family members?
• Is it possible that you're over-insured?
• Are you covered by disability insurance? If so, have you ever checked to see whether it would be enough to take care of your bills should you be unable to work?
• How much life insurance do you currently own?