Meet John Lohrenz: President of JKL Wealth Management
- JKL Wealth - John Lohrenz
- Aug 12
- 3 min read
"I began guiding families and planning for their retirement lifestyles 25 years ago. The principle of our firm is to develop and implement custom investment plans for a dependable income in retirement. This starts with a floor income plan that is stable and gives them confidence that their base expenses are comfortably covered. This frees them to enjoy hobbies, travel, purposeful relationships, and adventurous enrichment. The most rewarding part of my business has been to counsel families to truly enjoy a happy and healthy retirement together." - John
Beginnings
Born in Montana in trailer in the small town of Plentywood and then spending my formative years in Sidney Montana is certainly a unique part of my bio. Northeast Montana is close to Canada and the winters log -50 degrees for weeks every year. Ranchers and Oilfield are the primary professions to choose from and the tough characters with a sense of humor are the norm. Honesty is at a premium as everyone knows everything about each other in the county of less than 10,000 people. I had a paper route when I was 12 and worked at the gas station in high school between sports seasons and in the oil field from in summers for my fathers trucking company. Hard work ethic was part of the culture and you earned your reputation from your actions from a young age. I was a Jr. Olympic swimmer and played high school basketball. After graduating I worked in the family business moving drilling rigs for a couple years and then the oil business went bust. The family business was very stagnate and my father pushed me to go to college.
Transition
I moved to San Diego where I began my college journey. I graduated from San Diego State University with my finance degree and was able to start working on Wall Street for Smith Barney in 1993. Recruited to join Merrill Lynch in 1995.
From 1995-2009 I had a successful and very informative part of my career learning an incredible amount about the financial services industry and inside track on Wall Street. I fast tracked through the training program in ran the training program for new hires in the region in `1996-1997. I was promoted to Branch Manager in 1999 of the UTC office in San Diego. 2000-2009 was an interesting time to be a branch manager and financial advisor as we went through two very difficult periods for investors. First was the dot.com crash and loss of 50% over three years in the S and P 500. I had an incredible team and highly successful group of professionals that elevated me to be “Manager of the Year for Merrill Lynch” in 2006. Then came the “Great Financial Crisis” of 2008. Being in a position to oversee billions of dollars and 20 plus advisors during these very difficult markets gave me an education and experience that is both unique and valuable that helps my clients in their successful journey to this day.
I left Merrill Lynch in 2009 to start my own firm JKL Wealth Management. The firm has been a wonderful experience and continues to grow by helping a select group of families in their financial journey across the United States. I became an author in 2021 officially publishing my book “The Prosperity Project: Building Abundance and a Map for a Life Well Lived”.
I have been named 5 Star Wealth Manager 7 times by San Diego Magazine including 2024 and 2025 most recently.
JLK Wealth Management, founded by John Lohrenz, specializes in crafting personalized retirement plans to fulfill your goals and aspirations. Let us start working together to ensure you can retire comfortably without the worry of running out of money, support your children to meet the world head-on as adults, take care of aging parents any way you need to, and leave a legacy that has meaning and lasts for generations.
Comments