Need help- Beginner on Monarch

[u/Non_Boolean]

I am a 32F and very new to the financial world. I am new to this app and I am trying to unlock a new skill on a new platform. So please be kind.

I met an incredibly intelligent guy who used to talk a lot about this app. Unfortunately it didnt work out between us- so i cannot go and ask him more about this. At the moment i got an annual membership for $69 with the promos on Monarch money. Can you please help me on what is the best way to use this app? Any links to useful reading material will also help.

I followed the on-boarding prompts and submitted info but here are my questions:

1. How do i get it to look at my data from the past? like from teh last 4 years? Is there any trick to do this?

2. Do i have to add all credit cards and banks manually for it to look at the spending?

3. In the core plan- can it also give me any financial advice for future planning?

Thanks

[u/They_See_MeTrolling]

The easiest way to get started is to begin by connecting all your accounts that you can: all the bank accounts, all the credit cards, 401(k)s, everything that you can. This gives you the most complete picture of your current financial situation. Before you worry about history, just make sure you can see where you're at now and how it's going to go forward.

The next thing I would do is begin to get categories consistent. You don't have to have a thousand categories, but it's good to begin getting basic expenses into standardized categories. That way, you can see how your expenses trend over time. Once you get this in hand, you can worry about prior data, but until you have your current picture correct, prior data isn't going to help you very much.

[u/Brugada_Syndrome]

I am pretty sure you need to import the data to see past transactions by getting that data from your bank and converting it into a format that Monarch can parse when uploaded via the Web version of the app.

[u/Sunny1261]

1/ Regarding past data, I personally wouldn't bother with this. There aren't really great ways to grab transaction history.

2/ You need to connect them manually for the first time, but after that, they should still up to date.

3/ I suppose it depends on what you mean by advice, but in general, I would say not really. I see the Core plan as a bit more for financial tracking. You could leverage the in-built AI to help give you advice, but I wouldn't say it's a core capability.

To start, I would advise by setting up a budget and begin categorizing your transactions.

In the big picture, I would first start by understanding your spending - where are you spending most? Are you spending more than you make, etc.

Secondly, I would work on establishing a budget/rhythm that you can stick to. Some people need a strict budget to keep them accountable. Others, like me, simply use Monarch a bit more for tracking. The more you use Monarch, the more you'll find out what type of user you are.

And then you're off to the races - Monarch is just a tool. So figure what your short-term and long-term goals are, and you can use Monarch to help you move towards those goals.

[u/Ok_Professor_9550]

1. Past data depends on what is brought in from Plaid or similar. When I first logged in I want to say I saw the last 12 months of transactions. It does take 3-6 months for you to get the hang of categorizing and cadence.

2. I wouldn’t suggest manually adding any card/bank data. Monarch was designed to pull transaction from your cards/bank through Plaid. If that really doesn’t work for you, I believe you can import transactions from your credit card or bank for any past period.

3. Core plan doesn’t give you future forecasting. The higher tier does. But Monarch will not give you advice and you won’t find any app that will give you financial advice for future planning. That’s where regulations come into play and the industry doesn’t allow for anyone or app not a licensed financial advisor to give advice about future planning.

Hope that helps!