So, its time to go back to James’ regular pontifications about personal finance gurus. Todays guru is Ric Edelman. Ric is the Chairman of Edelman Financial Services, which is a one stop center for financial advice and mortgage products. Ric has gotten a lot of press, has published four books on personal finance and you can find his stuff in just about every bookstore.
I’m giving Ric a solid B+. I’m awarding Rics grade based on the following factors. First, his advice is good. His books give the impression of being thoughtful, practical and they speak with the voice of experience. Specifically, if you are a beginner I recommend his book “Ordinary People: Extraordinary Wealth“.
Second, Ric has his own bobblehead. That means he is far cooler than you or I.
Third, I can’t give Ric the top grade because I’m a bit concerned about Ric’s decisions to avoid doing business in Montgomery County, Md. The story is that county passed a law against predatory lending back in February. In response, Ric (and a LOT of other lenders) decided to stop selling loans in Montgomery County. Specifically, Ric was mad because he felt the law was overly broad and improperly punitive towards offending businesses. Click here for the news report.
While its easy to appreciate the reasons why his outfit stopped selling loans, I’m left with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. If he isn’t making money from predatory lending, why does he care so much about the law? Sometimes finance brings out the worst in us.
So, is Ric Edelman any good? My final grade is B+ 
Enjoy your weekend!
Best,
James
DINKS (Dual Income No Kids) Finance is a blog discussing personal finance for couples. While by no means financial experts, we own a variety of assets including real estate and stocks. We've both been up to our eyeballs in debt and have made tons of financial mistakes. However, we've both successfully retired that debt and we both do learn from our failings. We hope that our voice in this blog can help others in achieving their goals!
