One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that enables a guardian to monitor a financial account on behalf of an account owner, such as a senior citizen. During operation, the system receives a request from the guardian to access the financial account. In response to this request, the system determines whether the guardian is authorized to access the financial account. If so, the system provides the guardian with read-only access to the financial account, whereby the guardian can monitor activity in the financial account, but cannot perform operations that modify the financial account.