Five Star award winner Mark F. Swingle, CFP®

Passionate About Your Financial Health

Written by: Jackie Lieberman for TAPIntoWestfield

When he was 8 years old, Mark Swingle took the money he saved from doing extra chores around the house and invested in the stock market. The Westfield boy didn’t get rich off of his first investments, but he sure learned a few things.

“That was my first experience with stocks,” said Swingle, who now runs Westfield Financial Planning with his team on East Broad Street. He is a Five Star Wealth Manager, a designation based on client retention.

Highly involved in the community, Swingle is the president of the Westfield Foundation, and a past president of the Westfield Area YMCA. He was active for many years in the Westfield Rotary Club.

Swingle is passionate about helping others, and financial planning is how he does this every day.

“I always wanted to be a financial planner,” Swingle said.

The Westfield Financial Planning team consists of two CFPs, Swingle and wealth advisor Tim Huynh; the portfolio analyst and CFA Daniel Song; office manager Mary Caye McCourt; client services director and compliance officer Denise Colleran; and marketing expert Mary Harris. Swingle credits the mix of wisdom and experience with the younger employees’ youthful energy for bringing the best service to their clients.

In addition to working as a team at the office, Swingle believes in using a collaborative approach with other highly skilled professionals around the country, including those who specialize in direct investment management, life insurance and long-term care insurance brokers, estate attorneys, group insurance brokers, tax professionals and actuaries.

The pillars of financial planning are core to Westfield Financial Planning’s expertise: investing, income tax, estate planning, insurance, and financial planning for retirement, college and other life events. They are an independent Registered Investment Advisor registered with the SEC and their services are provided fee only as a fiduciary.

Customer service is paramount, and Westfield Financial Planning makes it a point to meet with clients at least twice a year.

The COVID Leap

Financial planning is top of mind in these uncertain times.

“Because of the health situation, with the downturn of the markets, people got more nervous than they did in ’08, ’09, so we’ve had a tremendous influx of business this year,” Swingle said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed much of how the world does business, and Westfield Financial Planning was ready.

“We were well prepared for a business interruption, although we never expected it to be a pandemic,” said Swingle. “When COVID happened, we were all set.”

The team quickly adapted to working from home, routing calls to their cell phones. Video conferencing was already an important tool, Swingle said.

“We had already been meeting with clients all over the country and all over the world,” Swingle said. “With Zoom, you really can see people’s expressions, and that helps establish a personal connection.”

Find out how Westfield Financial Planning can help you by calling 908-379-2706. Visit their website at WestfieldFinancialPlanning.com.

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This award was issued on 12/1/24 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 3/13/24 through 10/7/24. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 7425 New Jersey-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 431 (6% of candidates) were named 2025 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2024: 6,515, 462, 7%, 12/1/23, 3/13/23 - 9/29/23; 2023: 6,606, 407, 6%, 12/1/22, 3/21/22 - 10/18/22; 2022: 6380, 431, 7%, 12/1/21, 4/12/21 - 10/15/21; 6123, 459, 7%, 12/1/20, 3/30/20 - 10/23/20; 2020: 6210, 480, 8%, 12/1/19, 3/1/19 - 10/16/19; 2019: 6097, 477, 8%, 12/1/18, 3/21/18 - 10/12/18; 2018: 4383, 415, 9%, 12/1/17, 2/21/17 - 10/12/17; 2017: 3868, 664, 17%, 11/1/16, 2/25/16 - 10/7/16; 2016: 4143, 626, 15%, 11/1/15, 4/15/15 - 10/16/15; 2015: 5063, 672, 13%, 12/1/14, 4/15/14 - 10/16/14; 2014: 3315, 646, 19%, 12/1/13, 4/15/13 - 10/16/13; 2013: 4049, 733, 18%, 12/1/12, 4/15/12 - 10/16/12; 2012: 1312, 400, 30%, 11/1/11, 4/15/11 - 10/16/11.

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Westfield Financial Planning (“WFP”) is an independent Registered Investment Adviser (“RIA”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). WFP is a privately owned, independent asset management and wealth advisory firm. Any reference to advisory services refers to WFP. SEC registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The data presented herein has been gathered from sources believed to be reliable, however WFP does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a WFP and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria - required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria - considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients' assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.