Smart Steps Wealth Management

Smart Steps Wealth Management

Joseph F. Darpel, III founded Smart Steps Wealth Management in 2024 as a registered investment adviser, but the practice is older than its filing date. Darpel began working as an investment adviser representative at his father's firm in the early 1990s and spent more than 30 years there before launching his own shop. He operates from Sunset Hills, Missouri, and holds the CFP® designation. Smart Steps positions its service set across the household balance sheet: financial planning, investment advice, retirement planning, tax-aware portfolio construction, college savings plans, and estate planning. The firm has not disclosed its assets under management or total deployment. The Ramsey SmartVestor Pro designation shapes its approach — advisors receive training in 'the Ramsey way,' and clients working through Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps are asked to identify their step at intake. The firm lists six Missouri locations — Columbia, Joplin, Kansas City, Poplar Bluff, Springfield, and St. Joseph — in addition to its Sunset Hills headquarters. No team headcount or adjacent vehicles, such as a philanthropic entity, are disclosed. The firm has not made a verifiable operational announcement in the last 24 months. Structurally, Smart Steps is a single-advisor RIA anchored by one named principal. The Ramsey designation provides a defined client-acquisition channel distinct from the open-market competition most Missouri RIAs face, but the firm has not disclosed an internal succession plan or partnership structure.