Dan Johnson

Dan is a Principal based in the Chicago office, where he serves as the Director of Training and Development. In this capacity, he plays a pivotal role in running Cerity Partners’ internal educational program and upholding the firm’s established standards and requirements across its regional offices.

Dan also founded Principles Financial Consulting, LLC, where he provides specialized consulting advice to private advisors and develops educational webinars and content for financial education providers such as Surgent and Wolters Kluwer.

In addition to his professional responsibilities, Dan is a part-time instructor at UCLA Extension, teaching courses in tax, accounting, and financial planning to professionals pursuing CPA, IRS EA, and CFP certifications.

Before his current roles, Dan served as Program Director at the College for Financial Planning, where he created and directed the SE-AWMA graduate program, generating approximately $500K in revenue with a graduation rate exceeding 90%. The program’s major corporate clients included US Bank, Bank of America, Vanguard, Charles Schwab, LPL Financial, Merrill Lynch, and Wells Fargo. Simultaneously, at Kaplan Professional (the parent company of CFFP), he developed and conducted online training courses, CE webinars, and educational materials for financial professionals seeking to obtain or maintain licenses, certifications, and designations at both federal and state levels, including FINRA registered representatives, state insurance agents, and NASBA CPAs/EAs.

Dan started his career as a planning resident and later advanced to a lead financial advisor position in the Twin Cities region, where he provided financial guidance to a diverse clientele, including individuals, families, small business owners, and executives nationwide.

A graduate of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Dan earned his CFP^© certificate and a Master’s in Financial Planning from the College for Financial Planning. He also holds an IRS Enrolled Agent tax license. Currently, he is pursuing an MBA from Warwick University and working towards his Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) designation.