In1982, Dick left the employ of a major life insurance carrier to co-found FLAH & COMPANY on the belief that an independent firm, not beholden to any carrier, was critical to serving our clients’ needs. Dick asks incisive questions that get to the heart of what’s really important to each client. He leads a team that works collaboratively with the client’s key advisors to ensure that any life insurance solutions we craft will integrate with and even amplify the impact of existing planning.
An accountant by background, Dick admits that when he interviewed to become an insurance agent, he failed each of the sales tests…multiple times. Those tests are primarily based on ability to sell and memorize facts. FLAH & COMPANY has prospered and grown for more than 40 years under Dick’s leadership and direction due to his ability to analyze insurance contracts, and present options that are elegant in their transparency and simplicity. It’s clear to FLAH & COMPANY clients and their advisors that the value he brings to purchase decisions is not persuasive selling techniques but rather his ability to ask, understand and analyze.
Dick has authored and co-authored numerous articles and is a frequent speaker on many topics relating to life insurance including issues of life insurance policies; active policy management; engineering and reengineering in-force polices to maximize their ROI; fiduciary responsibilities for trust-owned life insurance; planning techniques utilizing life insurance. He has been interviewed by and quoted in local and National publications, including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Dick is an accredited instructor in various states for Bar, CPA and CTFA continuing education courses.
Dick is a former Board member of Partners Financial and related companies, an unlisted public company, and is a former advisory board member of multiple major insurance carriers. He is a member of numerous national and local professional and civic organizations. He is a Registered Representative with Lion Street Financial, LLC, and an accredited instructor for The American College’s “Charted Advisor in Philanthropy”; philanthropy being a basic tenet of the firm and Dick’s family.
Dick and his wife, Trish, have three grown children and enjoy being grandparents. A voracious reader, Dick is immersed in three genres at a time: non-fiction, business or tax, and a novel.
Dick has presented to the Florida Bar’s Tax Section, Attorney/Trust Officer Liaison Conference, Florida Tax Institute, Florida Bar & “Attorney-Banker Conference”, various Jewish Federations, American College, National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, Florida Bankers Wealth Conference, Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section of Florida Bar, various estate planning counsels & Community Foundations, among others.
