North Reading, MA Office

Whitman Financial Services provides financial planning and consulting to individuals — including trusts, estates, retirement plans and certain high‑net‑worth clients — rather than offering discretionary portfolio management or custody of client assets. Engagements range from comprehensive plans covering retirement, estate, tax and investment matters to limited-scope consulting, with periodic reviews and implementation coordination handled through separate arrangements.

The firm’s approach relies on fundamental analysis and the selection of mutual funds and exchange‑traded funds, with attention to manager tenure, expense ratios and performance metrics, and typically recommends long‑term target asset mixes with periodic rebalancing. Whitman also analyzes municipal securities and variable annuities when appropriate and uses third‑party custodians and broker‑dealers (including LPL Financial) for execution and account reporting.

Distinctive features include that Whitman does not charge percentage‑of‑assets fees; instead it bills planning clients on an hourly or fixed‑fee basis, and it may receive brokerage or insurance commissions through associated persons who are registered with LPL Financial. The firm’s brochure also discloses that associated persons perform tax services as Enrolled Agents and that an associated person is an attorney and owner of a law firm, which are atypical affiliations for peers and introduce additional disclosed conflicts of interest.