Team Member Profile

Professional Biography

Dan Edwards serves as the Director of Estate Planning as part of the Carlson Capital Management team, and as a Senior Tax Advisor as with CCM Tax & Trust Administration, a commonly-held affiliate of Carlson Capital Management. As the Director of Estate Planning, Dan works closely with the CCM advisory team to deliver estate planning expertise and proactive tax planning as part of the fully integrated wealth management experience. As a member of the Tax Team, Dan has responsibility for preparation, review, and completion of individual and trust tax returns and tax projections. Dan also participates in client meetings and serves as a tax resource for clients, providing service both individually and collaboratively with other advisors, to develop customized recommendations.

Prior to joining CCM, Dan spent 24 years in the Senior Tax Director role with RSM US, LLP, where he was responsible for leading the successful growth of the trust and estate tax practice for their Rochester, Minnesota, office. He has extensive knowledge and expertise in the tax planning and compliance sector through his service as the tax director for individual, trust, estate, and corporate clients. Dan is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as well as the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Dan is a graduate of the University of Iowa where he earned his Bachelor of Science in accounting. He enjoys volunteering and is currently supporting the Rochester Estate Planning Council and serving on the Board of Damascus Way. Outside of his work life and volunteer activities, Dan enjoys spending time outdoors and riding his bike. Dan and his wife Stacy reside in Rochester, Minnesota, and have three grown children.

Personal Thoughts

As soon as I started my first job after college my mother gave me some great advice–she said, “It’s not how much money you make, it’s how much you save.” Over time, I began to see the additional benefit of my savings from the compound growth of the interest and dividends.

Several years ago, I decided to run a marathon, but after committing to it began to question whether I could actually do it. A friend of mine advised me to start training early and to increase my training mileage by 10% each week. I wasn’t sure I could complete the marathon, but I knew I could run 10% more than the prior week. After about four months of weekly 10% increases, my training runs were long enough that I knew completing the marathon was possible. I also began to realize how many things in life increase by compounding: knowledge, learning, relationships, and building good habits, to name a few.

It’s important to take the time to make sure all of the non-financial goals in your life also compound in growth if you believe, “The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.”

The one thing that has impressed me the most as I’ve joined CCM is the collaborative team approach we engage in to serve our clients. Having six or seven financial advisors, each with different areas of expertise, work on a client’s financial plan is clearly the best approach – producing results similar to the concept of compounding.