Karen J. Ellenbecker

Karen founded Ellenbecker Investment Group, Inc. because she was fortunate to have mentors in her life that saw in her what she often failed to see in herself. Most importantly, those mentors encouraged her to listen to her intuition and follow her dream.

Karen was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the oldest of four children. Her parents modeled a strong sense of family pride and work ethic throughout her life. Her father, an entrepreneur and business owner, and her mother a stay-at-home mom with a very entrepreneurial spirit, influenced her desire for a balanced life of family and career.

Karen’s first work experience set the stage for her career today. While living in Glendale and going to Nicolet High School she found working at the Glendale Nursing Home a great fit. In her job description she was able to spend hours assisting and talking with older individuals and learning about their lives from a very compassionate and safe place. Her connection and comfort level with older individuals developed the tools and positive attributes that help her in business today. Appreciating the importance and unique nature of each individual was a byproduct of learning to take time and listen to the needs and wants of others.

When she began her financial career at Robert W. Baird Company she immediately found her niche working with retired individuals. In her first year as a stockbroker she was honored with "Broker of the Year." Shortly after that the M&I Bank offered her a position as Vice President in their personal trust department. As a single mother raising three young children she was enthusiastic about the opportunity to stabilize her income and learn something new. It was there that she realized the importance of looking at the whole picture and incorporating estate planning with investment planning.

At Robert W. Baird Company she was a traditional stockbroker compensated by commission based transactions. The M&I Bank exposed her to a completely unique and different way of being compensated for the services she was providing, fee-based. Her responsibilities were a blend between estate planning and investment planning; a more whole-life approach. Her experience at Robert W. Baird taught her about the investment world and her experience at the M&I bank taught her about people. She witnessed the power of relationships and the value of comprehensive planning. She very much enjoyed what she was bringing to clients at the bank; however, she missed not using her expertise in investment planning. In order to incorporate everything she loved to do and to bring a new service to her clients she followed an old friend and boss to Dain Bosworth and really began to develop a way of doing business that would naturally lead to beginning Ellenbecker Investment Group.

Dain Bosworth provided the opportunity to develop a unique practice in a very traditional setting. It was there that she started to fully engage her skills in working with individuals from a holistic approach rather than from a sales approach. The last piece of the puzzle was incorporating a fee-based practice into the way her business was being done.

She began Ellenbecker Investment Group, Inc. in 1996 to build a company on the principle that cares about the whole person; not just financial performance. Ellenbecker Investment Group is a company that provides exceptional planning and extraordinary service every day.

Karen holds the following securities registrations:  Series 7 (General Securities Principal), Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent State Law), 65 (Uniform Investment Advisor Law), Series 24 (Supervisory Compliance) and Series 51 (Municipal Fund Securities Limited Principal)with SII Investments, Inc. as well as Life and Health Insurance licenses.

Karen has three grown children and six outstanding and spirited grandchildren. In her free time she loves to travel, read, boat, cook, exercise and spend time with her family and friends.

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