Monarch

Thank you Lucinda Shen and Axios for the coverage today, and for going a few layers deeper on what the MBI team joining means for our future. https://lnkd.in/e2aRfyGa

All of us at Monarch have our own unique money stories. The stress that kept us up at night, the aha moment where something finally clicked, the debt we finally paid off, or the milestone we thought we’d never achieve. The work we do feels deeply personal because it is. Today is a proud day for us. This year, we’ve reached 1 million members and crossed $100 million in ARR, giving us the scale to invest even more ambitiously in helping people understand their finances, make better decisions, and build healthier financial lives. Acquiring MBI, the team behind HMBradley, is an exciting part of that next chapter. We have welcomed in a team that is chasing the same thing we are, with the same energy, and the same bar for getting it right. Zach Bruhnke and his team will lead Monarch Labs, exploring new ways to help people with their money. All of this points to the goal we've had since day one: better financial health for every household, and a lot less of the fragmentation, stress, and confusion that comes with managing money. We want Monarch to be the one place that helps with all of it, which means building what's next while continuing to make the Monarch you use every day even better. To our members and our team: thank you for being part of this!

Money is never really just about money. It's wrapped up in the choices we make about our families, our careers, our relationships, and the kind of lives we are all trying to build. At Monarch, we build with a simple rule: the people making Monarch stay close to the real lives of the people using it. Our co-founder and Head of Engineering, Osman (Ozzie) Osman, dove deep into this recently on the Engineering Leadership podcast (ELC) including the specific tools we've built and how we are using them. Thanks for leading the way, Ozzie.

Each month we ask our team: what’s your favorite thing about working at Monarch? This month, Shane Shields and Luke Tyhurst share their perspectives. Want to learn more? We’re hiring: https://lnkd.in/gbGWDKsB

I'm breaking the fourth wall for a second. Kait here, Community & Social Engagement Manager at Monarch. We were named to Fast Company's 2026 Innovation by Design list, for User Experience Design. I've recently learned how competitive and prestigious that list is, and I'm a little giddy about it. I'm not a designer. However, I can appreciate a clean screen and a polished visual, and I know enough to know when something feels off. Over the last nine months here, I've gained a lifetime of respect for the product design team. They design for a version of you that's busy and overwhelmed, but still curious, still eager to know more and feel steady about what's happening in your financial life. Dare I say they're a little obsessive about it? I get to see what happens when they nail it. You open the app, you find what you came for, and you close it a little more sure of your next move. And when we're lucky, I get a little glimpse of that showing up in social or community spaces. A huge congratulations to the entire product design team. And thank you to the members who push us to strive for the very best. Each callout in this video came from a real member. We really do read every review, comment, and tag.

Your budget doesn’t always have to be perfect. Rachel Lawrence, CFP®, MSFP, our Head of Advice & Planning, spoke to The Purse about why your financial plan should be flexible enough to work in your real life and how tracking each dollar can actually create stress rather than clarity. Rachel's advice: focus on your fixed expenses and savings first, then give yourself one set number for flexible spending each week. Do you have both a fixed and flexible number in your budget? Read on: https://lnkd.in/evQCYypb Thanks to Alicia Adamczyk and The Purse for including Rachel!

We often talk about financial wellness like it's a destination. Maggie is living it like a journey. Her household income dropped to 25% overnight after a NICU baby and a layoff hit at the same time. Three years of credit card debt followed while she opened a home daycare because she couldn't afford childcare, got her real estate license, and started a home bakery. She said the goal out loud on the internet for the first time this year: debt free by March 2027. She's not there yet. Neither are a lot of people reading this. Read Maggie’s work in progress story: https://bit.ly/3SKtHts

I’m helping a reporter for a large, highly-respected news outlet with a story about families getting creative to make things work financially, and we’re looking for a Monarch member whose parents have helped support their family financially. Specifically we're looking for families with grandparents helping cover childcare or school for grandkids, contributing to a wedding, car, or home purchase of a grandkid, paying for a multi-generational family vacations, or something similar. The parents in this situation should be the Monarch members - the grandparents and/or grandkids do not have to be. If this sounds like your family (or the family of a client of yours if you are a coach!) and you or they would be open to sharing your experience, send me a DM.

This is our official post that Treemap is now available in Reports on mobile. Thanks for the incredible mental image Colleen Purdy!

Behind every product decision is a teammate who genuinely cares about the outcome. This month, meet Steve Razzano and Emily H., and hear what keeps them energized at Monarch. Want to learn more? We're hiring: https://lnkd.in/gbGWDKsB