Monarch Money Review
Monarch Money is a paid financial management tool that offers a comprehensive and ads-free experience. As an alternative to Mint, it provides automated account tracking, net worth tracking, and customizable budgeting categories.
Overview and Pricing
Monarch Money operates on a monthly or annual subscription model. Unlike Mint, it does not display ads, making for a cleaner and more distraction-free experience.
Core Features
The tool offers an account tracker that connects to multiple bank accounts, investment accounts, and custom assets. It also tracks net worth in real-time, providing breakdowns by category and overtime tracking. Additionally, it features cash flow budgeting, which tracks income and expenses, allowing for customizable budgeting categories. Detailed reports on account activity, income, expenses, and net worth are also available.
Pros and Cons
The pros of Monarch Money include automated account tracking with multiple connectivity options, comprehensive net worth tracking and breakdowns, no ads, and customizable budgeting categories. However, the cons include a paid subscription model and potential connectivity issues with smaller banks or businesses.
Personal Experience
The reviewer has been using Monarch Money for about 9 months and has found it to be a solid experience. The account tracker has worked well, with only occasional connectivity issues with one small bank. The net worth tracker and breakdowns have been particularly useful.
Migration from Mint
Monarch Money offers a migration system to help users transition from Mint. The app promotes itself as a great option for those looking to switch from Mint.
Additional Features
A web version is available on the Monarch Money website, and an iPhone app is available for on-the-go access.
Conclusion
Monarch Money is a comprehensive financial management tool with a paid subscription model. It offers automated account tracking, net worth tracking, and customizable budgeting categories. While it may have some connectivity issues with smaller banks, the reviewer has found it to be a solid experience overall.
Features and Functionality
The website version of Monarch is recommended for most users due to its additional features and ease of use. The iPhone app is decent, but the website is still superior. The app is available in the US and Canada, with plans to expand to other countries in the future. Monarch uses multiple data aggregators to connect to user accounts, which can lead to connectivity issues at times. Users can set rules for specific transactions and dollar amounts to automatically categorize and log expenses.
Automated Transactions and Logging
Automation can lead to mis-categorization of certain transactions, requiring manual review and correction. Users should regularly review transactions to ensure accuracy and categorization. Monarch allows users to set up automation rules for specific transactions and dollar amounts to reduce manual work.
Budgeting Tools and Features
Flexible budgeting tools allow users to set planned and actual expenses, as well as track progress. The "Remaining" category can become cluttered if not regularly cleaned up. Budgeting plans can be set up to send notifications when expenses exceed planned amounts. Cash flow-based budgeting is a useful feature for tracking income, savings, and expense percentages.
Cash Flow-Based Budgeting
This feature provides a detailed view of income and expenses, including percentages and charts. Users can split the cash flow diagram by quarter, year, or month for a more detailed view. The "Sankey diagram" is a unique and useful feature for visualizing cash flow.
Recommendation
Regularly review and manage budgeting plans to ensure accuracy and effectiveness. The website version is recommended for most users due to its additional features and ease of use. The cash flow-based budgeting feature is a useful tool for tracking income, savings, and expense percentages.
Monarch App Features
Monarch offers a range of features, including transaction monitoring, reports, collaboration, investment tracking, financial goals, and custom dashboards and reports.
Key Features
Key features of Monarch include expense categorization, automated categorization, bar charts and graphs, net worth tracking, debt tracking, and spending tracking.
Additional Notes
The investment tracking tool is not a crucial feature for the author, who prefers to track investments within the app's regular investment section. The author does not find the spending tracking feature to be super useful, as expenses can vary from month to month. The financial goals feature can be used for a variety of goals, including a home purchase, retirement, or small goals like saving for a specific expense.
Monarch Money Review
Monarch Money offers a range of features, including cash flow reports, custom categories, merchant search, net worth tracking, and account security.
Pros
The tool provides accurate and detailed reports of spending, is easy to use and set up, and has no advertisements, making it a clean and distraction-free experience. It also offers a 30-day trial period.
Cons
The tool is a paid service, with a subscription fee of $9 per year or $14.99 per month. The budgeting side of the platform may not be as useful over time.
Overall
Monarch Money is a useful tool for tracking cash flow, net worth, and transactions. The cash flow reports and merchant search features make it easy to identify areas where you can improve your financial situation. The read-only account security feature ensures your financial accounts are secure. While the budgeting side of the platform may not be as useful, the overall tool is still a great option for those looking to track their finances.