At age 19, while attending Stanford University, Dan was asked by his parents if he'd like to attend their meeting with their retirement financial advisor, and Dan not only gladly went along, he decided to become a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.  What he learned was that there are two routes for retirees: one for the Informed and one for the Uninformed. The Informed were getting ahead, building wealth, protecting what they had. The Uninformed, often transfixed by the double talk of untrained, unregistered financial advisors or advertising driven media sources, were subtly, and inevitably, going down the rougher road - a path towards increased taxation and financial hardship in their later years.

Dan decided to dedicate his life and career to his inherited gift for clarifying potentially complex ideas (his mom and dad were both educators and were among his first clients and remain his most important clients). Over Dan's 20 years of educating and advising clients, Dan has zeroed in on eight proactive strategies with related questions, which answered in the affirmative each year are sure to give a great sense of relief, confidence, and security about a retiree's financial future. The problem is, most people answer "No" to all or most of the questions. So Dan's mission is about giving people the knowledge they need to obtain that essential peace of mind that their retirement dreams will be a reality.

Dan married Kathryn and began the business in their home in the late 1980's and they now have 9 children. Dan and Kathryn founded the Idaho Character Foundation in 1996. They helped found the Idaho Character Council, Inc in which Dan is Chairman of the Board and Kathryn is the Treasurer. They are an active part of the body of Christian believers in Coeur d'Alene and are life members of the Gideons.

Mr. Pinkerton graduated from Stanford University in 1987, with a B.A. in International Relations with an emphasis in Economics, and is a life member of the Stanford University Alumni Association. August, 1987 is considered the founding of Pinkerton Retirement Specialists when he entered the financial planning profession and then incorporated Pinkerton Retirement Specialists, LLC in 1996. Mr. Pinkerton is well known for his speaking abilities and his copyrighted educational financial workshop--The Retirement Strategies and Asset Protection Workshop--with which he continues to train financial advisors nationwide to effectively educate the public. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, a Registered Financial Consultant, and the Branch Manager, Registered Principal for LPL Financial, which manages over $250 billion. He is a member of LPL's Executive Council, limited to the top 1% of LPL representatives nationwide. In January, 2006 he was named part of the "Winner's Circle" in Research Magazine, an elite group of financial advisors recognized for "not just meeting client's needs, but for fulfilling their dreams." In August, 2007, he was ranked in the top 100 Independent Advisors in the nation by Registered Rep. Magazine (based on client service and revenues). In 2010 and 2011, Barron's Magazine ranked Mr. Pinkerton as the #1 Financial Advisor in Idaho, and was the only advisor in the nation specifically described as "Extraordinary" (rankings based on client retention, quality of services, assets under management, regulatory records, and revenues).