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Ric Edelman, Founder Edelman Financial ServicesRic Edelman on visiting New York City after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks:\n\n"We got in a conversation with the waiter about it, and he was just describing what life was like in the city in the aftermath . . . the four of us decided we\u2019re gonna leave him a $150 tip. . . We got up and we left. He came running after us. He thought we made a mistake. He said, \u201cYou left me me too much money.\u201d He was trying to give it back. We looked at him and said, \u201cNo, no, no. That\u2019s for you.\u201d He started to cry, and so did we."\n\nA Ockershausen:\tThis is Our Town, and this is Andy Ockershausen. I'm so delighted for many, many reasons I'll get into to talk to our guest. I've known him for many years. I would say it's close to three decades, if not more. I can still remember listening to Ric Edelman as a guest with Trumbull and Core talking about Disney stock and what a great Christmas gift that would be, or about the value of 12 days of Christmas, or his fabulous Thanksgiving dinners with his wife, Jean. He was part of the WMAL family, a big part of the success of the greatest radio station in the world, at one time. He has the longest running show for cash paid for on WMAL radio in history. This man's a genius. He's an author, an innovator, a philanthropist, a visionary. He's my financial planner. He has the ear of so many important people in Congress and The Wall Street. According to The Wall Street Journal, he recently sold his company for $880 million, and he didn't have a mortgage, which pleases me no end. I use this all the time, Ric. It still stands, you made me a small fortune.\nRic Edelman:\tThat's because you started with a large one.\nA Ockershausen:\tSee, you remember that too. Welcome, my very dear friend, Ric Edelman. Welcome to Our Town, Ric.\nRic Edelman:\tThank you, Andy, and Janice, it's good to be with you both.\nJanice Iacona Ockershausen:\tYou too.\nA Ockershausen:\tYou were such an important part of Our Town, and Our Growth, and all those names that I mentioned to you.\nRic Edelman:\tCan I correct all of the mistakes you made in your intro?\nA Ockershausen:\tNo.\nRic Edelman:\tOkay.\nJanice Iacona Ockershausen:\tIt was actually $860 million.\nRic Edelman:\tWell, neither one of those numbers has been confirmed.\nA Ockershausen:\tNo, we heard.\nRic Edelman's First Broadcast at WMAL with John Lyon\nRic Edelman:\tMy initial broadcast was with John Lyon.\nA Ockershausen:\tIs that right?\nRic Edelman:\tNot Trumbull and Core.\nA Ockershausen:\tYou mean the phone in?\nRic Edelman:\tNo, my very first radio interview here at WMAL was with John Lyon.\nA Ockershausen:\tYou know, we hear about John all the time because of the girls. That story is still stirring around, as you know. But why do we get that as Trumbull and Core?\nRic Edelman:\tWell, because I was on with Chris and Bill, but ...\nA Ockershausen:\tOver the phone or were you in the studio?\nRic Edelman:\tBoth. I mean, I was on periodically and I had the back line, so whenever I heard them talking about something, I could get myself on the air to tell them they were crazy. But, it was John Lyon who discovered me.\nA Ockershausen:\tWell, did they come to you for this information you could provide, or they answer your questions about the market? How did that all begin?\nRic Edelman:\tYeah, John Lyon invited me on to the air one day. I think reluctantly, Rick Fowler, who's still on the air here at WMAL, I think, twisted John's arm and said, "You really gotta talk to this guy." John, reluctantly, I believe, agreed to put me on the air on a Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM in his final hour of his four hour show for a 15 minute interview, which meant a grand total of six minutes of air time. John was so impressed that he kept me on through the bottom of the hour, and then asked me to stay for the rest of the hour. I ended up staying the entire hour. At the end of the hour, he said, "Finally, you're the first guy I can understand about this subject,...