M.A. Whelan Financial Planning

The firm provides financial planning and discretionary investment management primarily for individuals and families who are approaching or in retirement, and it also prepares income tax returns for a subset of clients. It offers one‑time “Retirement Reviews” that produce a written plan addressing goals, cash‑flow projections, Social Security timing, and tax‑aware withdrawal strategies, with optional periodic updates.

Its investment approach emphasizes asset allocation and cost control, constructing diversified portfolios mainly with mutual funds and ETFs and relying on research from third‑party providers and its custodians. The firm typically manages accounts on a discretionary basis with quarterly reviews and uses flat annual management fees and fixed fees for planning projects rather than charging percentage‑of‑AUM advisory fees, a fee arrangement that differs from many peers.

Compared with similar independent advisers, the firm manages a relatively large pool of discretionary assets for a modest number of clients (over $77 million in assets for roughly 46 clients), and tax return preparation represents a meaningful portion of the practice’s business. It custodians client assets through Charles Schwab and Altruist, receives limited practice‑support benefits from Schwab, and does not vote client proxies, leaving voting responsibility to clients.