Olympian Sees Crossover Between Winning Medals and Ensuring Clients’ Financial Success

PORTSMOUTH — As a 12-year-old growing up in Pembroke, Mass., Eric Flaim watched speed skating legend Eric Heiden do the impossible: winning five gold medals in events as disparate as the 500-meter sprint and the 10,000-meter distance event at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics.

“I always loved the Olympics, loved watching the Olympics. And I was really engaged, really following it closely,” he said. “And then the Miracle on Ice hockey team won, and Heiden was winning one gold, then two-three-four-five, and it became a magnetic draw for so many people because what he was trying to accomplish had never been done before. And it probably will never be repeated. I was very drawn to that.”

At the time, Flaim was competing locally in both speed skating and hockey. “But after that, I decided to speed skate full-time and drop hockey,” he said. “There was something that was obviously more pure about speed skating. The most appealing thing to me about watching Eric Heiden was his combination of sheer power, endurance, strength, technique and fluidity on the ice. It was just something that I was really drawn to, I’ve got to say.”

He added: “So, I got involved and started at the bottom, and worked my way up, as they say.”

Flaim moved to Milwaukee at age 14, lived with a host family and trained hard, eventually participating in four Winter Olympics for the United States in the sports of long track and  short track speed skating. He won a silver medal in the 1500-meter middle-distance race in Calgary in 1988 and then in Lillehamer picked up a second silver in short track speed skating as the anchor for the 5000-meter relay team, earning him the distinction as the first American in Winter Games history to win medals in two different events.

Fast forward to summer 2013, Flaim, wearing a blue suit and red tie, looks very much the successful businessman that he is, sitting in his Chestnut Street office that has a view of Congress Street from his fourth-floor window. Flaim is a Certified Retirement Planning Consultant, and through Ameriprise he also serves as a Business Financial Advisor, a designation signifying that he has undergone special training and that he has experience working with retirement plans and small-business owners’ needs.

The key to his transition from athletics to financial planning was to apply the same determination he demonstrated when he won his two medals after years of intense, dedicated training. As it turns out, financial planning and speed skating have similarities.

“I think working in my field closely parallels the life of an athlete — setting out and achieving a goal, maybe six, seven, eight, 10 years away,” he said in a calm, friendly tone. “It doesn’t happen quickly. It takes a plan and a process, and simply repeating that and sticking to the process and the plan.”

As an athlete, Flaim I had to follow and plan a very strict regimented training program. It would start in April and go until the competitions were over in March. “A lot of people might just see the end result, which is the Olympics or the World Championships, but there’s so much preparation and training that goes on beforehand.”

He added: “And when it comes to my clients — the analogy is having a plan today, say starting at age 30 or 40 through for 20 or 30 years and into someone’s 60s and through retirement — it takes discipline. And it takes being able to not lose sight of your goal and to really continue to follow through and execute.”

He added: “And it’s really, really fun, and I have a passion for seeing my clients achieve their goals and make progress towards their goals. That’s the most thrilling thing for me and why I do what I do.”

Flaim isn’t your typical financial planner. Unlike many financial professionals who simply take your money and invest with the sole purpose of generating a gain, Flaim prides himself on finding solutions for small-business owners and individuals who take their beliefs, values and core principles into account.

There are some excellent investment options for his clients when it comes down to how important certain causes are to them. “Because, really, it comes down to the values of each and every client,” he said. “Their plan is in accordance to their values. And that’s important to me. I understand that and help them to execute on that.”

Flaim works with socially responsible managers who screen companies for, not only their sustainability, but also the way they work as a business with their employees, clients, etc. Some clients don’t want to be involved in certain sectors – arms manufacturing, alcohol and tobacco, for example. “We take all that into consideration when we are building a portfolio for my client,” he said.

And as a member of the Green Alliance, Flaim shares its beliefs and goals. The Green Alliance is a union of local sustainable businesses promoting environmentally sound business practices and a green co-op offering discounted green products and services to its members.

“I very much am aligned with the Green Alliance’s intentions of sustainability, of being involved in your community, giving back to your community, patronizing community services-businesses, and the fact that we all have a responsibility in protecting this earth for future generations,” Flaim said.

Flaim specializes on business owners, management, and what he calls “generational planning.”

“By ‘generational,’ I mean typically I’m finding that I work with parents, and then I work with their children. And if I’m working with clients who are in their 40s, then I also work with their parents, who are in their 70s. That’s one focus of my practice.”

The generational part is important because often, if a couple is investing and banking in a vacuum, if anything were to happen to them, their children would have no idea where to go, what to do, or know where their bank and investments accounts were. “So there are a lot of added benefits when you can work together as a family with that type of planning,” Flaim said.

Flaim finds that business owners tend to be busy and their time is better utilized running their business than trying to invest. “They realize the added value of hiring someone to help them with their responsibilities of planning their financial future,” he said.

Flaim’s typical business-owner client employs five to 50 employees: “A very important part of the benefits business owners supply to themselves and to their employees is the retirement plan,” Flaim said. “So I help business owners make important decisions creating the right plan because there are many different types.”

He cited such different types as 401(k) offerings, Safe Harbor plans, profit- sharing or Simple and SEP plans. He also helps owners to determine the proper amount and optimal way to fund buy-sell agreements or provide for Key-Man insurance.

“I don’t want to overcomplicate it,” Flaim said with a felicitous grin, “but there is a lot more involved than what business owners realize if they haven’t done a comprehensive review of what they have and what their needs might be.”

When should people start saving for retirement? As early as possible, Flaim said. Because of “tax-deferred compounding,” people starting to save in their 20s gain such a gap over people in their 40s that the older savers never catch up.

“And if you haven’t done much planning or saving until your 50s, you probably in most cases wont’ be able to retire until your 70s,” Flaim said.

Flaim suggests clients save between 6 to 20 percent of their income, the later they start saving, the higher the percentage.

At home, Flaim has been married to Marci, a Portsmouth Realtor with Keller Williams Realty, for 14 years. Eric and Marci met as athletes training in Lake Placid. Marci originally skied down steep, dangerous slopes before she decided to compete in the luge – “so 80 miles an hour down an iced track,” he said. “She is fearless.”

They have two sons, Colby, now 4, and Camden, a few weeks old. And the Portsmouth area is where they will continue to raise their family.

“We love the Seacoast area and don’t want to live anywhere else,” Flaim said. “Marci and I have lived together in Colorado, Utah, California, Wisconsin, Calgary, and New York — many, many places around the country — and we just love New England, especially Portsmouth.” 

For more information about Flaim, visit eric.j.flaim@ampf.com. For the Green Alliance, visit www.greenalliance.biz.