Matthew Laker

Meet Matthew Laker, an Independent Financial Broker in North Bay

When you book time with Matthew Laker, you sit down with Matthew. He is an independent broker with Experior Financial Group, licensed in Ontario and based right here in North Bay. He is also the lead pastor at Lakeshore Missionary Church, and that role is what brought him and his family to North Bay three and a half years ago.

Matthew has been a pastor for about twenty three years, in five different communities. Long before he was licensed, he was already sitting down with people to help them sort out their finances: building a budget, and coaching them through it. A fair amount of that came through his pastoral work.

From Pastor to Financial Planning in North Bay

Matthew has worked in the financial business for about five years, part time, and he still does both jobs. After slowing down a bit since coming to North Bay, he is now ramping up to serve more families and businesses.

Part of the reason he started was simple. His family has been a one income family for most of the way, and he wanted to provide a little more. The other part is that he has always been interested in money and how it works.

He sees the two jobs as closer than you might think. "Pastoring is very much like life coaching," he says. "Helping someone go from A to B. There's no difference with financing. Where are you at? Where do you need to go? How do you get there?" For Matthew it is not a transaction where he sells you something and says see you later. "I want to help you flourish."

An Independent Broker With Experior Financial Group

A friend introduced Matthew to Experior, a Canadian company based in Guelph. He likes the culture. There are no quotas pushing him, which gave him the room to build his business around his family. The company puts a strong emphasis on what he calls need based selling, with accountability behind it. The question is what you need, not what someone can sell you.

Working with Matthew costs you nothing out of pocket. The consultation meetings and custom financial plans are completely free. If you have a specific need, such as life insurance, Matthew shops around to find the right solution for your budget. If you choose to move forward, the insurance company pays him a commission directly, meaning his guidance comes at zero cost to you.

What to Know Before You Buy Life Insurance in North Bay

Matthew's first answer is short: get it while you are young, because it costs a lot less. In the last few months he has had three conversations with people who told him they need to get it done, and then everything else took priority. He understands how busy life gets. But thirty years can pass that way, and by then the price has gone up, or it is too late. "Life is fragile," he says. If you have a young family, you want to know your kids are protected and your family is not out on the street if something happens.

In his experience, people who go without life insurance do it for one of three reasons. They keep putting it off, they do not understand it, or they just do not care. The first two, he can help with.

His other advice applies to any advisor, him included. A good one asks questions that make you wrestle with what you actually want. "Every dollar has a purpose," Matthew says. "Either you tell it what its purpose is, or it will." What you want your money to do is different for everyone, which is why every plan should be different too.

Stewardship First Group Benefits for Charities and Small Businesses

Stewardship is a word Matthew uses a lot. A charity's money is not really its own. It is managing that money to accomplish a mission it believes in. He thinks the same idea works for a business, and for a household. Sometimes he asks people: if your personal life was a business, would you run it this way?

His Stewardship Audit is a conversation. Most charities do not know their options for group benefits, and neither do many small businesses. They often do not fit the categories of a traditional plan, but options do exist.

One concept he loves explaining to incorporated business owners is the Health Spending Account. If you pay a $200 dental bill out of your own pocket, you actually have to draw around $280 to $330 out of your corporation to cover it after personal income taxes. But through an HSA, the business pays the bill directly as a tax deductible expense, leaving more capital in your business. Growing this side of his practice, group benefits strategies for small businesses, is a primary focus for the year ahead.

Life Insurance, RRSP, TFSA and RESP for North Bay Families

For families and individuals, Matthew helps with life insurance, critical illness insurance, RRSP and TFSA, RESP for education, and debt solutions. The Registered Disability Savings Plan is on his list too. For now he refers it to someone on his team, and he hopes to offer it himself soon. For someone living with a disability, it helps build savings for retirement, and the government matches contributions three to one, with other grants on top.

He is licensed across Ontario, and with the phone and Zoom he can meet with you wherever you are in the province.

A No Pressure Financial Advisor in North Bay

Matthew's website promises no pressure and no sales pitches. Ask him how he keeps that promise when he is the one selling the policy and the answer is simple. "If the need's not there, then there's no need to sell them anything." If you already have coverage that does what you need, it stays.

Ask him what he would want a five star review to say and it is not about a product. He hopes it speaks to his character: that he is trustworthy, that he helped you understand where you are, and that he made the process simple.

Matthew Laker Outside the Office: Lake Nipissing and Family

When he is not with clients, you will likely find Matthew on Lake Nipissing. He loves fishing and the outdoors, and he is usually after walleye. He has done more ice fishing since moving north than he ever did in southern Ontario, where the water does not freeze as much. Last winter he found the ice over two feet thick in places. His spots stay secret.

He and his wife have four children: triplets who are now twenty, and a son they adopted who is now twelve. Matthew is a member of the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce and takes part in its 52 Coffees program. He believes in helping people, and in connecting them with someone who can help. "It's kind of like planting seeds," he says.

What to Expect When You Book a Free Analysis

The first meeting is a chance to get to know each other. Matthew asks a series of questions to understand where you are today and get a picture of your financial house. It is also your chance to learn how things work, so ask anything you do not understand. Then he takes that information and puts it in a document for you: here is where you are, here is how you can reach your goals, and here are some solutions to get you there. It costs you nothing.

This page is general information about Matthew and his business. It is not financial advice for your situation. For advice specific to you, book some time with Matthew.