Ric Edelman is ending the weekly radio show he has hosted for the past 30 years but fans need not worry. The veteran wealth manager will replace it with a new nationally syndicated show in January that will debut in 24 radio markets nationwide and all major podcast platforms.
His new show, which shares the title of his New York Times bestselling book, The Truth About Your Future, will focus narrowly on the five personal finance subjects – longevity, retirement security, exponential technologies, digital assets, and health & wellness – that matter most, he said.
Edelman noted that when he started out in the 1980s not many people knew about personal finance. “Most people never even heard of a financial planner, let alone had a financial plan, and they didn’t understand the importance of saving or how to go about doing it."
Today, he said, there has been an explosion of available information such as entire TV shows, newspapers and books devoted to money, and everyone now knows the importance of savings, and those who can afford to save are doing so. “But what people don’t realize is how the future is going to change even further.”
And so, Edelman said he wants to help people learn how they can improve their wealth, health and lifestyle for the rest of their lives. Starting with longevity, he said the odds are very high that people are going to live to 100 or beyond, which means more focus will need to be on retirement security.
“We have a retirement crisis in our country with millions of Americans reaching age 65 with too little money,” he said. “What happens if you live another 40 years?”
The answer, Edelman said, is to help more people generate lifetime income that will last for as long as they live, and the best way to do that is through investing in exponential technologies such as AI, 3D Printing, big data. “And launching digital assets are the most opportune of all the exponential technologies,” he said, adding that the investment opportunities in this new emerging asset class are unprecedented and exciting.
Finally, he said if people are going to live to 100, they better take care of their bodies, and that means health and wellness.
Edelman, who founded Edelman Financial Engines in 1986, announced in June that he was stepping down from his role as chairman of financial education and client experience, and transitioning to a new role as strategic advisor to the firm, beginning in January. He also at that time said he would leave The Ric Edelman Show.
Although he is no longer involved with the day-to-day operation of the firm, he remains on the board of directors, and he continues to be the firm’s largest individual shareholder. Edelman Financial Services merged with Financial Engines in 2018 to create the nation’s largest independent financial planning and investment management firm, which serves 1.3 million clients, and manages $291 billion in assets.