Dan Miller, CFP, CEPA - President & CEO

Dan Miller is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP®) professional and Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) in Red Oak, Iowa, where he serves as President and CEO of Milestone Financial Group, Inc., specializing in tax-focused retirement income planning and business exit planning — and acting as a fiduciary at all times.

Dan has been part of the firm since 2004, and he concentrates his practice in four areas: tax-focused retirement income distribution planning, business exit planning, small business planning, and next-chapter life planning for business owners and retiring executives. His clients are rural business owners, professionals and executives — typically within five years of retirement — across rural America, particularly Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri, including Omaha, Des Moines, Maryville, and communities throughout the Midwest. They come to him with questions that don't have textbook answers: Will we overpay in taxes if we take our income the wrong way? We need help with our retirement plans and my husband's company pension. If we sell the practice to our son, will it bring enough for us to retire? What are the tax implications if we sell to a competitor instead? And how do I stay relevant in this community since I no longer own the business?

Dan's answer to those questions is a process, not a product. Milestone Financial Group utilizes the 7 Pillars of the Milestone Planning Process, a team-based framework that incorporates every facet of a client's financial life — income, tax, investment, business, and legacy — into a single coordinated plan. Investment recommendations and portfolio design follow from each client's individual financial and business plan rather than the other way around. A version of the same process anchors the firm's business exit planning framework. In every engagement, Dan's role is stewardship: providing clarity, direction, and a guide through decisions most people only make once.

Dan holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP®) certification, earned through the College for Financial Planning, and the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) designation from the Exit Planning Institute. He holds the FINRA Series 6, 7, 63, and 65 licenses, as well as Iowa life, health, and disability insurance licenses with multi-state reciprocal licensing. He earned a B.S. in Animal Science with a minor in Business from Kansas State University after beginning his studies at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. He is a member of the Financial Planning Association, the Exit Planning Institute, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and the Better Business Bureau, and is certified by the CFP Board of Standards.

Dan is the author of Retirement Built to Last: Planning for When the Paychecks Stop. He has been published and quoted on rural business and farm family planning in The Wall Street Journal, and quoted on financial topics in Financial Advisor IQ, The Hill, Successful Farming, Investopedia, and Bankrate.

Dan's approach to planning traces directly back to the farm he grew up on in rural northwest Missouri, near Graham. There, no one started a new venture without first working out what resources it would take and what the potential margin could be. He carried that habit into college and into every decision after it — weighing not just the financial return but the personal one. He has always liked numbers and liked figuring out how things work and where they could be improved, which is exactly what a financial plan is: someone's current picture, examined honestly, with a path toward a better outlook. Acting as a fiduciary and a steward of someone else's resources is, to him, the whole point of his work.

That path ran from the family farm back home after college, then into community banking — the profession that brought Dan and his wife, Denise, to Red Oak, Iowa, and eventually into financial services. In 2013, they purchased the firm they now lead together, building on a practice whose Midwest roots reach back to 1963. Dan is a member and former Elder of Red Oak Presbyterian Church, a strong supporter of Red Oak High School athletics, and a former volunteer coach at the Montgomery County YMCA.

Ready to talk? Schedule a complimentary introductory call with Dan to walk through your retirement income, your business exit, or whatever comes next. Call 712-623-5726, email dan@milestonefinancialgroup.com, or schedule a time directly.