QU | Academic Feature
MORE THAN
NUMBERS by Megan Duncan ’14
HANK TAJKOWSKI,
CPA, CLU, CHFC
Tajkowski believes accounting isn’t just about numbers. “It’s communicating and being able to collaborate and solve problems. It’s not like you’re just sitting at a desk wearing a green visor.” After graduating in 1992, Tajkowski spent four years in St. Louis at Ernst & Young, one of the largest professional networks in the world. He then moved to Chicago in 1996, opening a firm with a former QU classmate as a CPA doing taxes and accounting. Then he transitioned. Using his accounting background as a foundation to help people and businesses plan for the future, Tajkowski became a legacy builder. For the last 20 years, he has focused on family estates and putting people in the driver’s seat for their investments and retirement. “I am looking outside my office on a busy street in Chicago, and people are walking fifteen feet away from me right now. Every single family, every single business, and every single person I see - no matter what age - I know I can help them because of my experience and because of what I studied. That is a good feeling.” Tajkowski appreciates the many professors who helped him find a home in the accounting department and the overall experience at QU.
CERTIF IED AT WEA FINANCIAL PL ANNER LTH LO ™ GIC SO LUTION S
“I think the support and opportunities you get at a small school are important ...There was just something about it. I’m very grateful for that opportunity. And I’m not the only one because, after 160 years, it’s still going.” 24
QUniverse | Fall 2021
