Meet Eric O'Neal January, CPA

Eric O’Neal January is a family man, person of faith, business owner, author, and farmer/beekeeper.  He was born in Texas but primarily raised on Chicago’s diverse North Side with his sister, Sonya, by their mother, Inez, until she married his pop, Albert, when he was in the seventh grade.

At Hirsch High School, he was a standout football player and wrestler, and senior class president. In 1987, he graduated third from Hirsch with athletic and academic honors.  Partially to get to know his biological father, Donald, and be around his Texas roots, he chose to continue his education at Sam Houston State University.  At Sam, he earned a full athletic scholarship after walking on and was the treasurer and senator of the Student Government Association, along with the captain of the 1991 Conference Championship football team, winning both academic and athletic All-Southland Conference honors.  In 1992, he graduated from Sam Houston State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Seven years after college and four years after going into a full-time business, he married his love, Andrea.  They have been married for over 23 years and have been blessed with three children. Each attended Merrillville public schools and participated in sports and honors classes. His two sons currently attend Howard University, and his daughter is a student at Merrillville High.

As an entrepreneur at heart, Eric has valued independence and never shied away from taking responsibility for getting the results he desired. As an adolescent, he recycled cans, collected coke bottles (to get the deposits), shoveled snow, walked dogs, and led a crew that cleaned the grounds of condominiums. After his NFL workouts did not result in making a roster, he read and believed “if a man doesn’t work, he shall not eat.” He took the first viable job offered as an assistant manager at Walgreens.

Eleven months after that first job, he took and passed several insurance and securities exams to become a registered investment advisor at Prudential. He then passed the Certified Public Accounting exam and worked for several local CPA firms and audit departments.  After satisfying the CPA licensing requirements of Illinois he hung his public accounting shingle.  For nearly 30 consecutive self-employed years as a Certified Public Accountant and financial advisor, he has been instrumental in helping clients with their accounting, taxes, risk management, and wealth-building investment strategies. 

Eric has been a frequent guest on many radio and TV shows.  His non-conventional Gainology book series have been so accurate since the initial 2005 publication that he’s also known as the Einstein of Finance.  He was previously recognized as the CPA Newcomer of the Year in Dallas.  Although he has lived in five states and traveled abroad, Indiana is his home.  For eight years, he has enjoyed the people, and the green acres of his property.  

Living and moving around the country and working with people of all stripes has made it easy for him to relate to just about anyone. He is running for Clerk Treasurer of Merrillville, Indiana, because he is not just one to complain about the problems he recognizes.  He knows that his insights, work background, and ability to lead and communicate will help his town operate responsibly while improving the amenities offered to its residents without taxing people to death. He is asking for your vote, volunteer efforts, and for you to spread the word.  

He is two decade long documented proponent of getting rid of the accredited investor definition and income tax code as we know it, because both are discriminatory and holding society back. He owns several trademarks, created a universal investment valuation equation that works, and has developed unique proprietary investment portfolio management tools. His formal education was obtained at Sam Houston State University, where he graduated in 1992 with a BBA in Accounting.

At Sam, he was the first walk-on football player to earn a full athletic scholarship, was a defensive line MVP, a two-time all-conference defensive end with academic all-conference honors, and a team captain on the 1991 nationally-ranked, Southland conference championship team.

After he couldn’t figure out how to get into the NFL, he obtained several securities and insurance licenses. Although his license allowed him to be called a registered investment advisor, he felt limited. Providing comprehensive solutions motivated him to take and pass the CPA exam in 1994.

In over 25 years of business, he’s been instrumental in helping clients become I’m Square by making and saving millions by acquiring real estate, and restructuring investment portfolios, debt, and balance sheets.

His non-conventional perspective is why Eric has been a guest of media outlets and organizations. It is also why he’s often excluded because media sensors don’t want his revolutionary perspectives shared. His Gainology books are based on physics principles, and since the first book was published in 2005, they have been so prophetic regarding banking, investments, trade, government, risk management, and the economy in general that he has been called the Einstein of Finance.