Matt is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PrairieFire and husband to the Operations Manager, Lisa Meline.
Matt founded PrairieFire in 2019 on the belief that financial planning and objective advice can only come from an independent team. For the last 21 years Matt has been striving to be a trusted resource, coach and partner to his clients and friends. Delivering on the promise to proactively defend his client’s interests is his daily aspiration.
During a period of transition in his life, Matt completed a unique program aimed at rediscovering core values. Transitioning the planning focus onto a client’s life, not just their money, is how he aspires to improve both returns on investments and returns on “life.” Building the components to help families prepare for children leaving the nest, building an exciting empty nest lifestyle along with a second half of life financial plan is where PFW does its best work.
Matt loves the community of Des Moines. After relocating here in his high school years from Omaha he graduated from Lincoln High School on Des Moines’ south side. Following graduation from the University of Northern Iowa he traversed the Midwest primarily as a senior manager for various banking organizations. He decided to leap from the safety of that career and became a full time financial planner in the mid 1990’s.
Matt, and his wife Lisa, have raised four children that are now living their dream lives in Chicago, Denver, graduate school in Rhode Island and graduate school in Ames, Iowa. Yes, they put four kids through college, so they speak from experience (not all of it good!)