This type of thing freaks me out. I don’t use monarch but I use something called Lunch Money. This app in a way forces you to approve every transaction. It takes literally seconds, especially when you know what you’ve paid for to approve them but when you see something that doesn’t make sense, it’s something to focus on. I connect all my checking credit cards to this Lunch Money app so I can make sure money that’s going out has been looked at by me.
I realized that working for a jerk CFO at the age of 55 made me pull the retirement rip chord earlier than I expected. I spent many years working for smart and driven CFO, but never a jerk.I spent the next year figuring out how we were going to make it with our current assets and my wife’s part-time work. It honestly wasn’t that hard and I never went back to work. I’ve read many times how people should retire to something and that’s always been frustrating for me. I realize that retiring to something like that extra cup of coffee or just not knowing what the day was gonna bring is just as rewarding as actually having something planned.
I can tell you are a process person. The one thing I would highly recommend to others is to get your wives or significant others comfortable with a password manager. By combining all of our passwords into one password manager and organizing them by subject it has made both of our lives much easier. It also makes it easier if one of us passes so that she can share with our children if needed. I would also say if you use a Mac as an example to make sure that you turn off apple‘s password manager so that everything resides in one password manager. You can also use apples if you don’t want to use a separate one, but I am very comfortable with the LastPass.
Unfortunately, more layoffs keep coming and from what I'm reading, it can be skewed towards Gen X (my generation). I figured out a long time ago that loyalty means nothing to Corporate America and once I figured this out, I didn't take anything as personal. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt or impact your family - for this, I'm sorry. Reality is that this will happen more and more unfortunately.
I went down a ChatGPT rabbit hole on this as I've seen too many articles or news clips on people losing their life savings. Chat helped me by keeping a list of things and prioritizing which things needed to happen first. For example, LastPass should have 2FA and a printed version of our password in a safe. Then it was fortifying emails with 2FA. I think you get the gist. It's great and part of my monthly subscription.
I think the difference between you and many is how much you helped your children and it didn’t impact your retirement. Many can’t afford to do so. Having said all this, I believe my wife and I feel similar to you. Travel won’t be that big of a deal if we go or don’t. We’re in our fifties and can’t stand a flight longer than 5 hours. As long as we don’t have to take a lifestyle cut, anything more is gravy. Lucky, I believe this is more than possible for us based on our saving and future pensions like you.
Comments
I don’t allow overdrafts. It’s one way to remove a little risk.
Post: Financial Fraud
Link to comment from September 5, 2026
This type of thing freaks me out. I don’t use monarch but I use something called Lunch Money. This app in a way forces you to approve every transaction. It takes literally seconds, especially when you know what you’ve paid for to approve them but when you see something that doesn’t make sense, it’s something to focus on. I connect all my checking credit cards to this Lunch Money app so I can make sure money that’s going out has been looked at by me.
Post: Financial Fraud
Link to comment from September 5, 2026
I realized that working for a jerk CFO at the age of 55 made me pull the retirement rip chord earlier than I expected. I spent many years working for smart and driven CFO, but never a jerk.I spent the next year figuring out how we were going to make it with our current assets and my wife’s part-time work. It honestly wasn’t that hard and I never went back to work. I’ve read many times how people should retire to something and that’s always been frustrating for me. I realize that retiring to something like that extra cup of coffee or just not knowing what the day was gonna bring is just as rewarding as actually having something planned.
Post: What I Retired To
Link to comment from August 1, 2026
I can tell you are a process person. The one thing I would highly recommend to others is to get your wives or significant others comfortable with a password manager. By combining all of our passwords into one password manager and organizing them by subject it has made both of our lives much easier. It also makes it easier if one of us passes so that she can share with our children if needed. I would also say if you use a Mac as an example to make sure that you turn off apple‘s password manager so that everything resides in one password manager. You can also use apples if you don’t want to use a separate one, but I am very comfortable with the LastPass.
Post: Simplify Everything
Link to comment from April 6, 2026
Unfortunately, more layoffs keep coming and from what I'm reading, it can be skewed towards Gen X (my generation). I figured out a long time ago that loyalty means nothing to Corporate America and once I figured this out, I didn't take anything as personal. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt or impact your family - for this, I'm sorry. Reality is that this will happen more and more unfortunately.
Post: Laid Off
Link to comment from February 8, 2026
"To rectify... ALL income." You taking money from a cash account or a Roth isn't income. Am I missing something?
Post: The ACA Financial Cliff … some helpful visuals (and hope for continued dialog)
Link to comment from February 8, 2026
I went down a ChatGPT rabbit hole on this as I've seen too many articles or news clips on people losing their life savings. Chat helped me by keeping a list of things and prioritizing which things needed to happen first. For example, LastPass should have 2FA and a printed version of our password in a safe. Then it was fortifying emails with 2FA. I think you get the gist. It's great and part of my monthly subscription.
Post: Beefing Up Security
Link to comment from November 15, 2025
What a great story. I’m glad I clicked on it. Gave me great feelings of what life can be with good friends.
Post: After All These Years
Link to comment from June 26, 2024
I think the difference between you and many is how much you helped your children and it didn’t impact your retirement. Many can’t afford to do so. Having said all this, I believe my wife and I feel similar to you. Travel won’t be that big of a deal if we go or don’t. We’re in our fifties and can’t stand a flight longer than 5 hours. As long as we don’t have to take a lifestyle cut, anything more is gravy. Lucky, I believe this is more than possible for us based on our saving and future pensions like you.
Post: Not That Person
Link to comment from June 26, 2024
Your situation sounds amazing even for someone that drives.
Post: Life After Cars
Link to comment from June 22, 2024