Erik founded Chessie Tax, LLC in 2014 after more than a decade in the financial planning and tax industry. Throughout his career, he has provided financial counseling and tax preparation services to clients from all walks of life, from assembly-line workers to teachers to mid-level engineers to high-level corporate executives and everything in between. With Chessie Tax, LLC, Erik wanted to create a different kind of tax firm that embraces technology, keeps costs competitive and is more accessible than the large national tax chains.
Erik spent a year test-driving a mechanical engineering degree at Kettering University before going on to earn his bachelor of science in Finance from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. After graduation, Erik worked with a number of Michigan’s top registered investment advisor firms and the largest accounting firm in Michigan before founding Chessie Tax, LLC along with Chessie Advisors in 2014. Chessie Advisors provides independent, objective financial planning and investment management services. In 2019, Erik co-founded Student Loan Tax Experts™, a specialized online income tax preparation firm exclusively serving student loan borrowers’ tax filing and tax planning needs. He stepped away from Student Loan Tax Experts in 2021 to focus on Chessie Advisors and Chessie Tax. Erik is an Enrolled Agent as well as a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) professional.
Erik grew up in northern Indiana, but now resides in Rochester Hills, Michigan with his wife, two sons and his Chesapeake Bay Retriever (the firm’s namesake). When he’s not helping clients, he can be found at his wife’s school cheering on the Troy Athens Red Hawks, attending the ever-growing number of sporting events for his sons, perfecting his homemade sourdough pizza dough recipe (he’s a self-proclaimed pizza connoisseur), or listening to Jimmy Buffett music. Erik is passionate about Indiana Hoosier basketball, Notre Dame football, the Detroit Tigers, and whichever sports teams his sons are on.