Podcast Summary: BiggerPockets Money Podcast

Episode: Mindy Tracks Her Net Worth Live w/ Monarch Money

Date: September 2, 2025
Hosts: Mindy Jensen & Scott Trench

Episode Overview

In this episode, Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench give listeners a practical, step-by-step demonstration of setting up a Monarch Money account. Using Mindy's own finances as a case study, they show how to connect bank, credit, and investment accounts, categorize expenses, and create a budget—all live, in real time. The conversation dives into the importance of regularly tracking your net worth, the pros and cons of various financial tools, and strategies for building better financial habits.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of Tracking Net Worth

• Scott: Regular net worth tracking is vital for financial health, regardless of income or expenses.
  • "You cannot play the game of finance if you can't keep score." (03:03, Scott)
• Mindy and Scott compare manual tracking versus using automated apps, stressing the benefits of automation in modern finance due to the sheer volume of transactions.

2. Healthy Cadence for Checking Finances

• Scott: Prefers daily tracking, comparing it to monitoring fitness or other life priorities.
  • "I check it every day. I see no problem in tracking it every day.” (03:46, Scott)
• Mindy: Rarely checks her net worth, unlike her husband Carl, who checks daily.
• Discussion about how frequent checks can become unhealthy if they’re not paired with actionable plans.
  • “It’s really unhealthy to check something without a plan in place… if there’s no activity that could possibly be leading to the change, then just relentless checking I think is very unhealthy.” (03:46, Scott)
• Both agree at minimum, a monthly check-in is recommended to review spending and net worth.

3. Getting Started with Monarch Money

• Mindy shares her screen as she signs up for Monarch Money, walks through entering the discount code, and connects her accounts.
• Security Concerns: Scott acknowledges the common fear about sharing financial data with aggregators but believes the benefits outweigh the risks for most people (07:07).
  • "If you're not willing to share the data from your credit card statement or your bank accounts... do not use this app." (07:07, Scott)
• Account Separation: Scott highlights the importance of separating personal, business, and tax accounts.
• Both reinforce adding every relevant account for a truly holistic overview.

4. Categorizing and Reviewing Spending

• With accounts linked, Monarch auto-categorizes transactions using AI.
• Mindy and Scott test the accuracy of Monarch’s auto-categorization in real time, reviewing categories like shopping, medical, entertainment, and restaurants.
  • “I like how easy this is to just click on it and see… it tells me you did something wrong or you went over budget.” (21:16, Mindy)
• Scott points out occasional inconsistencies, especially with business expenses, but overall finds AI tags reasonably effective (16:04).

5. Building and Adjusting a Budget

• Mindy sets up her budget categories and values.
• Discussion about budgeting approaches:
  • “Zero-based” budgeting (accounting for every dollar) vs. including a “miscellaneous” buffer.
  • “I would suggest… you put in $2,000 into miscellaneous... my actual spending is at least that much higher in a given month because of all the quirks of life…” (20:16, Scott)
• The value of flexibility, easy budget adjustment, and considering life changes (e.g. Mindy's new clothing budget after weight loss) is highlighted.

6. Tracking Investments & Net Worth over Time

• Mindy adds investment accounts and discusses manual entry for private equity or real estate not auto-linked.
• Real Estate & Asset Valuation: Monarch allows integration with platforms like Zillow or manual entry for alternative asset types.
  • "You will have to update this value periodically… but it becomes a chart the longer you have this." (35:35, Scott)
• Liabilities: Including mortgages or loans is crucial for true net worth calculation:
  • "This is only going to be as accurate as you entering all of your accounts." (36:19, Mindy)

7. Ongoing Use, Maintenance & Limitations

• The first setup may take under an hour if you have logins ready; ongoing maintenance is mostly reviewing, tweaking, and adding new or forgotten accounts.
• Monarch is best suited for people with mostly standard public investments; less ideal for those with sprawling private investments.
  • “If you have mostly publicly traded investments… this is a very, very powerful way to track your finances.” (40:46, Scott)

8. Personal Reflection and Transparency

• Mindy reflects positively on the clarity of having everything in one dashboard and the value for money meetings with her spouse.
• Both Mindy and Scott praise Monarch for speeding up monthly reviews and making financial trends much more visible.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You cannot play the game of finance if you can't keep score." (03:03, Scott)
• "I check it every day. I see no problem in tracking it every day.” (03:46, Scott)
• “It’s really unhealthy to check something without a plan in place…” (03:46, Scott)
• “I'm balanced out by Carl, who checks it every single day.” (06:23, Mindy)
• "If you're not willing to share the data... do not use this app." (07:07, Scott)
• “I would suggest you put in $2,000 into miscellaneous... my actual spending is at least that much higher in a given month because of all the quirks of life…” (20:16, Scott)
• "This is only going to be as accurate as you entering all of your accounts." (36:19, Mindy)
• "This is going to consume the rest of my day… I am just going to be fascinated and play and tweak and move things around." (39:12, Mindy)
• "If you have mostly publicly traded investments in retirement accounts... this is a very, very powerful way to track your finances." (40:46, Scott)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Action | |-----------|--------------| | 00:00–03:03 | Introduction; importance of tracking net worth | | 03:46–06:07 | How often should you check your net worth? | | 06:58–10:54 | Setting up a Monarch Money account live | | 11:13–16:55 | Categorizing and tracking spending; AI accuracy | | 16:55–26:19 | Budget setup, review, and real-time adjustment | | 30:32–35:42 | Connecting investment accounts, asset tracking | | 36:08–40:46 | Adding liabilities, accuracy, ongoing maintenance | | 40:46–43:49 | Final thoughts, best uses, Monarch’s strengths and caveats |

Closing Thoughts

Mindy and Scott provide an honest, detailed look into how Monarch Money can streamline net worth and expense tracking, advocating for total financial visibility as foundational to building wealth. They stress the value of automating financial management, regularly reviewing trends, and adapting budgeting tools to personal habits. Both hosts reinforce the message that modern tools like Monarch are worthwhile investments for most people—so long as they’re willing to connect every account and commit to periodic reviews.

Contact:

• Mindy: mindy@biggerpocketsmoney.com
• Scott: scott@biggerpocketsmoney.com

Special Offer: Use code 'pockets' for 50% off your first year of Monarch Money.