Put Your Money Where Your Values Are: Personal Finance & The Planet

Given this fiscally-uncertain world for the 99%, how can we put our money where our values are? For the best answers, I made a 2 part episode on the topic. I teamed up with Joelle Sostheim of the Joelle Show. She gives us a step-by-step lesson on personal finance and shows us how we can use this important practice as a tool to make alternative spending and investments through a climate change- and global pandemic-conscious lens. For those able to invest, we’ll have our conversation follow with As You Sow’s Energy Program Manager, Lila Holzman (Part 2 begins at 55:00). Lila tells us how we can place our accrued wealth into environmentally-friendly funding sources in order to stray away from the investor’s status quo, which typically takes company means to contribute towards fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions and practices.

**In this podcast episode, you’ll learn: **

• What personal finance looks like in an ideal world and practical steps to get there. We’ll discuss ways to bravely confront the oftentimes-uncomfortable dichotomy of variable spending and challenging our behaviors.

• How we can navigate a crisis -- today’s current Recession and global COVID-19 pandemic -- when we’re already in the middle of it. We’ll learn more about emergency funds and sustainable, environmentally-conscious budgeting practices.

• The reality of big financial institutions investing in fossil fuel emissions and the solutions that can work as alternatives to policy change, which can oftentimes take too long before it’s much too late.

1. “It won’t get better unless you confront it.” Joelle Sostheim We begin this episode asking Joelle, “In a perfect world, how does someone’s personal finance change from start to finish?” Joelle gives us her answer in two parts: i) your current self and ii) your future self. Asking ourselves what we want in the future works as a motivator to challenge our current behaviors and modify accordingly in order to push our goals forward.

2. “Given the circumstances of Coronavirus, I would highly recommend putting down your expenses so you can save an emergency fund… made up of 3 months, up to 6 months, of monthly expenses -- what you spend every month. A good place to start is next month’s rent.” Joelle Sostheim

We haven’t been in a Recession + global pandemic in modern history… how many of us had the means to prepare? The answer -- hardly any -- brings us to problem-solving. Joelle talks us through how to mitigate today’s crisis for the common person and average listener in order to come out of this pandemic with the tools to save and, eventually-speaking, grow wealth in the future.

3.“If you cut out the labor it took to make that… small unit item and you, instead, budgeted out your time… time is just as important as budgeting your money.” Kristy Drutman

We begin thinking about everyday ways to save and follow our budget, the tactic mentioned being one of my favorites-- investing in reusable materials, as opposed to disposable ones. Using the framework, “How can I squeeze the most juice out of an item before I dispose of it?” works as just a starting point for this part of our conversation. We go back-and-forth on how wallet-saving practices ultimately reduces unnecessary labor and the annual amount we waste.

4.“What we’re starting to see too is that this is not just about doing the right because it’s good for people. It’s good for profit as well. We’re starting to get the data, especially now, that the space is getting a little more mature and that companies and investments that prioritize ESG (environmental, social, governance) factors over the long-term end up performing better.” Lila Holzman

Moving forward from Joelle’s personal finance expertise, we meet Lila’s knack for advising large financial institutions to allocate their funds towards sustainable investments that value ESG factors. As mentioned above, the quid pro quo demonstrates that shareholders who follow through with ESG practices will have their companies succeed further than they would have by pushing their money into fossil fuel emissions and infrastructures. Given the data, Lila emphasizes the importance of asking and pushing for sustainable investments.

Places you can consider donating your stimulus check to: 805 Undocufund https://www.805undocufund.org

CCAEJ (EJ group in southern CA) https://www.ccaej.org/covid19-fund

CDC Foundation

Feeding America

Asian Pacific Environmental Network Emergency Stablization Fund https://donate.apen4ej.org/covid

Learn more about personal finance and sustainable investing

As You Sow works to empower shareholders to turn their corporations towards sustainable investing. If you want to learn more about this company, where Lila Holzman works, then check out their website. https://www.asyousow.org/

Fossil Banks No Thanks shows what happens when shareholders invest in fossil fuel infrastructures and emissions. On their website, you can find a link to join their campaign and take action. https://www.fossilbanks.org/

If you’re looking to invest, then Fossil Free Funds serves as the space for you. This non-profit, created by As You Sow, can give you the resources for mutual funds and ETFs that avoid fossil fuel investments, in addition to looking at funds from your 401K or retirement plan more closely. https://fossilfreefunds.org/

Continue to learn from Joelle’s financial expertise through “The Joelle Show.” Her most recent content includes more details on how to keep your wallet healthy during COVID-19. https://linktr.ee/the.joelle.show

CC:August Jay, Content Operator of Brown Girl Green

Find out more at https://brown-girl-green.pinecast.co

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