About ClearWise Tech
Why this site exists
I’m an IT architect. For the last several decades, evaluating systems, spotting security gaps, and figuring out which tools actually do what they claim has been my day job — not a hobby I picked up from a YouTube video.
A few years ago, I started noticing a pattern. People I care about — parents, older relatives, friends approaching retirement — were navigating an increasingly complicated digital world with almost no guidance built for them. The advice that did exist usually fell into one of two camps: generic “best of” lists written by people with no real technical background, repeating the same five products everyone else was already recommending, or dense, jargon-heavy technical writing that assumed a level of comfort with computers most people simply don’t have, and shouldn’t need.
Neither felt right. So I started writing the guides I wished already existed — for the specific stage of life where staying secure, organized, and independent matters more than ever, and where the cost of getting it wrong (a scam call, a lost password, a fall that goes unnoticed) is genuinely higher than it was twenty years earlier.
That’s what ClearWise Tech is. Technology and tools for an independent, active life after 50 — explained plainly, by someone who actually understands how the systems work underneath.
What I actually cover
Everything on this site falls into one of four areas:
Security & privacy — password managers, VPNs, and the practical steps that make you a harder target for the scams and data exposure that disproportionately target people over 50.
Planning & organization — the software side of retirement and estate planning: digital document systems, online will-makers, and the often-overlooked question of what happens to your accounts and passwords when you’re no longer the one managing them.
Smart home & aging-in-place tech — the systems that let you stay independent in your own home longer, evaluated the way an architect evaluates any system: for reliability, not just features on a box.
Travel & connectivity — staying safely connected, navigable, and reachable while traveling or out on a trail, without needing a computer science degree to set it up.
How I actually evaluate things
I don’t recommend a tool because it pays the highest commission. Where this site earns money is through affiliate partnerships — if you click through and sign up for something I’ve recommended, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That’s a normal, transparent way for independent sites like this one to stay running without charging readers directly, and I’d rather be upfront about it than pretend it isn’t part of how this works.
What that arrangement doesn’t change is the recommendation itself. I evaluate tools the way I’d evaluate any system professionally: does it actually do what it claims, is the setup process reasonable for someone without a technical background, and would I tell my own family and friends to use it. If something doesn’t hold up under that question, it doesn’t get recommended here — regardless of what it might pay.
A note on who this is for
This site isn’t written for “seniors” as an abstract category, and it’s not written with a tone that assumes you can’t handle a few technical steps. It’s written for capable adults who have better things to do with their time than spend an afternoon untangling a confusing settings menu — which, frankly, describes most people, regardless of age.
If that’s you, you’re in the right place.
Get in touch
Have a question, a tool you’d like reviewed, or something on the site that wasn’t clear? Visit the Contact page — I read everything that comes through.