Ric Edelman

Not to be confused with Rick Adelman.

Ric Edelman
Ric Edelman, founder and board member, Edelman Financial Engines
Born (1958-05-28) May 28, 1958[1]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[2]
EducationRowan University
Occupation(s)Financial advisor, media personality
TelevisionThe Truth About Money with Ric Edelman[3][4]
SpouseJean Edelman[5]
Websitethetayf.com

Fredric Mark "Ric" Edelman[6] is an educator, innovator, influencer, and philanthropist. He and his wife Jean founded Edelman Financial Services in 1986[7][8] because the financial services industry was failing to serve the vast majority of Americans. Vowing to fill this void, they emphasized serving all investors regardless of their investable assets, with a focus on financial education to help consumers achieve their financial goals.

Today, Edelman Financial is the largest independent financial planning and investment management firm in the nation, with $300 billion in AUM and serving 1.4 million households. Ric and the firm have won more than 100 financial, business, community and philanthropic awards. [9][10][11]

Ric's 40-year snapshot

Educator

  • For 32 years, hosted the #1 financial radio show with 1M weekly listeners; ranked by TALKERS as one of The 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts (4x). Produced/Hosted three television series and six PBS specials. Thousands of TV interviews on every major network. One billion spoken words across 4k+ broadcasts and 200k hours on-air
  • #1 New York Times bestselling, awarding-winning author of 13 books on personal finance; 1M copies in eight languages. Written 7.5M words across 360 newsletters and hundreds of articles
  • The Truth About Money received:
  1. the Excellence in Financial Literacy Education (EIFLE) Book of the Year Award from the Institute for Financial Literacy (March 2011)
  2. the Gold Medal Axiom Award (March 2012)
  3. an Apex Award (June 2011)
  4. Book of the Year Award by Small Press magazine (1997)
  • The Lies About Money received:
  1. the Axiom Personal Finance Book of the Year (March 2008)
  2. the Excellence in Financial Literacy Education (EIFLE) Book of the Year Award from the Institute for Financial Literacy EIFLE Award (October 2009)
  • Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth was a #1 New York Times bestseller (1999)
  • The Truth About Retirement Plans and IRAs, was a #1 national bestseller
  • The Truth About Crypto debuted at #1 on Amazon
  • 300+ seminars to 50,000+ people
  • Taught personal finance for nine years at Georgetown University. Lectured at Stanford University, GWU, Pepperdine, Roger Williams University, Brigham Young University and Smithsonian Institution
  • Distinguished Lecturer at Rowan University; received Honorary Doctorate 1999 [12]

Innovator

  • With wife Jean, founded Edelman Financial Engines, $300B AUM with 1.4M clients
  • Pioneered strategies now mainstream among advisors, including mortgages, municipal bonds, annuities, estate planning
  • Invented first exponential technologies ETF (#2 most successful ETF launch ever)
  • Earned two patents for financial product innovation; 5,000+ babies will be millionaires! Invention spurred the Baby Bonds movement
  • Founder, The Truth About Your Future, focused on longevity, aging and exponential technologies
  • Founder, Durin Life Sciences, a neurodegenerative diagnostics company

Influencer

  • In the 1980s, he pioneered the then-controversial position that consumers should carry a big, 30-year mortgage instead of paying it off.
  • In the 1990s, Ric invented the Retirement Income – for Everyone Trust®, a retirement savings tool for children that was awarded two patents. More than 4,000 children are now beneficiaries of RIC-E Trusts.®
  • In the 2000s, Ric was one of industry's early adaptors to the fee-based, passive investment model using exchange-traded funds, resulting in the launch of the Edelman Managed Asset Program[13] in 2005. Through EMAP, clients receive a globally diversified portfolio, with management based on Modern Portfolio Theory, behavioral finance and neuroeconomics. Today, EMAP is one of the largest turnkey asset management programs in the industry.
  • In the 2010s, Ric introduced the industry to exponential technologies, which are fast transforming virtually every aspect of our planet. A 2012 graduate of the Executive Program at Singularity University (where he was subsequently invited to be a guest lecturer and investor), Ric helped bring the Exponential Finance Conference to Manhattan, introducing Wall Street to these world-changing technologies. After determining that there is no investment product targeting exponential technologies available to retail investors, Ric asked BlackRock to create an ETF, which it did in partnership with Morningstar (who created the underlying index). The iShares Exponential Technologies ETF [14](ticker: XT) launched in March 2015[15] and became the #2 most successful ETF launch of the year, according to Morningstar; the fund was nominated for Best New ETF of the Year and Most Innovative ETF.
  • 2012: Founded the nonprofit Funding Our Future Coalition.[16] 75+ academic, non-profit and think-tank members work with Congress to help Americans achieve financial security.
  • 2015: Founded Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals[17] to advance advisors’ crypto knowledge. Created Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets,[18] attained by thousands of advisors in 37 countries.
  • 2025: Founded the nonprofit Personal Finance Institute, which chronicles the history of the asset and wealth management industries and offers financial literacy and education programs for the public.

Philanthropy

Accolades

  • Ranked the nation's #1 RIA for Quality by Consumer Reports[23]
  • Ranked the nation's #1 RIA by Barron's (8x)[24]
  • Named one of the “10 most influential figures” in the investment advisory field[25] and among the “15 most transformative people in the industry” by InvestmentNews.[26]
  • Voted by readers of Wealth Management as one of the “four most influential people in the financial services field.”[27]
  • Ranked the #1 Independent Financial Advisor in the nation three times by Barron's[28]
  • Forbes ranked him among the Top 10 Wealth Managers in the country in 2016.[29]
  • Awarded two patents for financial product innovation
  • Ranked the nation's No.1 Independent Financial Advisor by Barron's (3x)
  • Inducted into Research magazine's Hall of Fame
  • Inducted into Barron's Hall of Fame[30]
  • Recipient of the IARFC's Lifetime Achievement Award[31]
  • Recipient of InvestmentNews’ Lifetime Achievement Award[32]
  • 7 professional designations: CFS, CMFC, RFC, CRC,® QFP, BCMF, CBDA

Corporate Boards

  • Edelman Financial Engines[33] – Board of Directors
  • Colossal Biosciences, Inc[34] – Executive Advisory Board
  • TaxStatus[35] – Advisory Board
  • Contio[36] - Advisory Board

Non-Profit Boards

  • Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation[37] – Board of Governors
  • Davis Alzheimer's Collaborative[38] – Champions Cabinet
  • Museum of American Finance[39] – Board of Governors
  • Personal Finance Institute – chair, Board of Directors

Books

References

  1. ^ "Edelman, Ric 1958–". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  2. ^ Wollman Rusoff, Jane (May 12, 2014). "Ric Edelman: What's Wrong With IRAs, 401(k)s, and the Industry That Sells Them". ThinkAdvisor. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  3. ^ "The Truth About Money with Ric Edelman". IMDB. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  4. ^ Robinson, Jennifer (March 24, 2017). "Ric Edelman's The Truth About Retirement". KPBS. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  5. ^ Wenik, Ian (June 27, 2018). "'We will see a $1trn RIA': Ric Edelman is taking advice mainstream". Citywire. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  6. ^ "Fredric Mark Edelman: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg L.P. June 2023.
  7. ^ "Part 2A of Form ADV: Firm Brochure" (PDF). Edelman Financial Engines. March 30, 2020. p. 4. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  8. ^ Thrasher, Michael (January 23, 2020). "Edelman Financial Engines Names Head of $40 Billion, 320-Advisor Retail Business". RIA Intel. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  9. ^ "Edelman Financial And Financial Engines Complete Merger". November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  10. ^ Din, Suleman; Paikert, Charles; Allocca, Sean (April 30, 2018). "$3B deal of Edelman, Financial Engines puts other RIAs in the hot seat". Financial Planning. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  11. ^ Hallez, Emile (June 7, 2021). "Ric Edelman to step down as chairman of Edelman Financial Engines". InvestmentNews. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Rowan alumni Jean and Ric Edelman commit $25 million for University's Fossil Park". Rowan University. October 17, 2016. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  13. ^ https://media.regcompliancewatch.com/uploads/rcw/media/260775/Edelman2011Brochure.PDF
  14. ^ https://www.ishares.com/us/products/272532/ishares-exponential-technologies-etf
  15. ^ https://stockanalysis.com/etf/xt/
  16. ^ https://fundingourfuture.us/
  17. ^ https://dacfp.com/
  18. ^ https://dacfp.com/certification/
  19. ^ "Edelmans Donate $1 Million to Nursing Program". Inside NoVa. February 10, 2008. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  20. ^ Chang, Kenneth. "A New Dinosaur Museum Rises..." nytimes.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  21. ^ Bader, Emily (February 14, 2020). "Rowan University renames creative arts school". ROI-NJ. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  22. ^ Rothauser, Corey (February 12, 2020). "Rowan University approves name change for Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts". The Whit Online. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  23. ^ https://finance.yahoo.com/news/edelman-financial-engines-marks-seventh-163000034.html
  24. ^ https://www.edelmanfinancialengines.com/press/top-advisor-7-years/
  25. ^ The RIABiz listing of the 10 most influential figures in the Registered Investment Advisor industry is in recognition of notable, driven and influential executives who are advancing their firms and are considered to be influential in the RIA business. Investor experience/returns were not considered as part of this ranking.
  26. ^ InvestmentNews 15th Anniversary Issue. June 23,2013.
  27. ^ WealthManagement.com/WealthManagement Madness, March 2014.
  28. ^ According to Barron's, "The formula [used] to rank advisors has three major components: assets managed, revenue produced and quality of the advisor's practice. Investment returns are not a component of the rankings because an advisor's returns are dictated largely by each client's risk tolerance. The quality-of-practice component includes an evaluation of each advisor's regulatory record." The rankings are based on the universe of applications submitted to Barron's. The selection process begins with a nomination and application provided to Barron's. Principals of Edelman Financial Services LLC self-nominated the firm and submitted quantitative and qualitative information to Barron's as requested. Barron's reviewed and considered this information which resulted in the rankings on Aug. 27, 2012/Aug. 28, 2010/Aug. 31, 2009.
  29. ^ The 2016 Top 20 Independent Advisory Firm Ranking issued by Barron's is based on a number of criteria, including assets under management, client retention, and various factors that speak to the firm's ability to provide broad and consistent services to their clients. Investment returns are not a component of the rankings because an advisor's returns are dictated largely by each client's risk tolerance. The rankings are based on the universe of applications submitted to Barron's. Edelman Financial Services, LLC self-nominated the firm and submitted quantitative and qualitative information to Barron's as requested. Barron's used the firm's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission to review and consider this information, which resulted in the ranking on Aug. 27, 2016.
  30. ^ https://www.barrons.com/advisor/summits/hall-of-fame
  31. ^ https://www.iarfc.org/events/awards
  32. ^ https://www.investmentnews.com/practice-management/winners-of-the-2025-investmentnews-awards-revealed/261060
  33. ^ https://www.edelmanfinancialengines.com/
  34. ^ https://colossal.com/
  35. ^ https://www.taxstatus.com/
  36. ^ https://www.contio.ai/
  37. ^ https://www.alzdiscovery.org/
  38. ^ https://www.davosalzheimerscollaborative.org/
  39. ^ https://www.moaf.org/
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