There are high odds you’ve heard of the Merrill Lynch Corporation.  They’re a front-runner in personal finance today.

Several factors play a role in Merrill Lynch’s success in today’s economy.  First and foremost, they’re owned by the Bank of America Corporation, which is another front-runner in the country’s wealth management field.  The pairing of the two has led to Merrill Lynch being the largest brokerage in the world.  Furthermore, Bank of America works with over 4 million small businesses in the US today.

Above and beyond the most promising factors, Merrill Lynch features a plethora of on-staff financial advisers.  They specifically pride themselves on helping their customers find the information that they need.  They work with their customers, outlining retirement goals and needs.  The Merrill Lynch approach attempts to bring the customer to an understanding of their own financial situation instead of straight-up trying to profit off of the customer.

As such, Merrill Lynch has a strong connection to the younger demographics in society.  Much of their approach is centered around educating those that are in their 20s and 30s on how retirement accounts work and what the smartest method of using one is.  Their popularity among this demographic is at least rising, although numbers on the matter have yet to fully surface.

Many retirement accounts have taken hits in the past few years as a result of the global economy.  But Merrill Lynch remains a strong option for small businesses.  Companies today take advantage of the several options for retirement accounts that Merrill Lynch offers.  When it comes to small businesses, Merrill Lynch even offers counseling on how to choose an effective plan for your company, wherein they walk you through the entire process and help you make an informed decision.

They also offer a wide variety of corporate retirement accounts which also feature the same counseling, but on a smaller scale.  This makes sense considering that corporations are likely more esteemed and have experience dealing with such matters.

Reviews of the Merrill Lynch 401(k) system vary, as is to be expected.  The company typically gets good reviews regarding accessibility and user friendliness.  Donations are fully outlined and confirmed, records are accessible and easy to follow.  But many people feel like there’s too much fine print involved with the company and that their advisers skim over it, not giving you the full run down.

On top of that, many people feel like the company is too flashy.  Many gave the review that Merrill Lynch is all bells and whistles and that they catch you with small print situations.

In many of the cases detailed online, the customer service surrounding an individual plan seemed to lack in comparison to those who were on a company plan.  Many people whose companies chose to take advantage of the Merrill Lynch services felt their representatives were well-informed and helped them make the correct choices with their finances.

In any situation, the approach for an individual plan versus that of a company plan is going to be different.  For example, companies often choose to match 401(k) contributions while individuals don’t have such a luxury.  This can simultaneously complicate things—as there’s an increased amount of input and vested parties—and to make things easier—your company will usually have an employee on staff who deals specifically with 401(k) questions or they’ll have easy access to a Merrill Lynch employee with the same priorities.

Although many reviews omit these specific details, it’s an inevitability that customer service reactions will vary.

That said, the company can’t be doing much wrong—they’re still the leader in wealth management and global lending.  And their 401(k) plans specifically drive in a large chunk of their business.