Queen -- I'd say yes, overwatering. That and maybe a tad more light unless that is in front of a window?

For my jades, I keep the plant near bone dry until I water and repeat. In other words, if you took a spoon and scooped out a whole area, you would find the soil dry and crumbly in the top half. While I have now changed soils to gritty mix, when I used regular potting mix, my indoor jades got watered MAYBE once every two weeks. It was scary how long they go without water.

Hope that helps!

Grace

thanks. it is in a peat based soil and the last time i watered it was bone dry (tested with a dowel). I am upset because i think it is a really cool looking plant with the very thick base and big leaves on the bottom. I don't want it to get too stem-y at the bottom. I ned some turface and then i should be able to make gritty mix for it. When is the best time to repot.

I think maybe someone else is watering them.

Speaking from experience, your Jade does not like it's pot nor does it like it's soil. The soil is too organic, confirmed by the peat based soil. You're not over-watering, it's just that your medium takes too long to dry out. I repotted my very large Jade into a pot a few sizes too large, and it dropped leaves left and right.

What size was the pot you received the plant in? Your pot looks a little too large for a Jade of that size. They generally don't have massive root systems until they've gained some size.

Repot as soon as possible, if the root ball allows, use a smaller pot along with the gritty mix. Try looking over in the Cacti & Succulents forum, they're pros with these.

Good luck, it's a beautiful plant. If you want to keep it compact up top, give it more light.

p.s.
they naturally shed leaves this time of year, as well.
That said, more light, better mix...that'll help it hold leaves as long as possible.

Josh