Friday, March 13, 2009

The Color of Money... Green

Don't despair - this is not another blog about the state of the economy. I claim no expertise in that area! Rather, it is simply a reminder that one way we can all focus our investments in the right direction is to ensure that they are in line with our personal views.

Many of us try not to support companies with activities we disagree with, but if you have money invested in any type of mutual fund, you may be doing it unknowingly. Dig a little deeper in your financial statments to see exactly where your money is invested.

When I first thought about this last year, a call to my financial advisor revealed that I could simply request that certain restrictions be placed on my account. For example, I can block my money from being invested in a particular company or an entire industry. I won't name names, but I did have one particular company and another entire industry in mind when I went through this exercise.

While there may be no magical wand to wave to ensure that our investments are profitable these days, we can at least sleep better knowing that our money is not supporting some of the more destructive companies of the world.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Erika,
    Your relative, the Financial Planner, has often been asked about not investing in certain
    companies/industries that you are not in favor of.
    It is a tricky question and it depends on how you look at things. If you want the best return on your investment, your mutual fund etc. just may have a group within it that you
    may not subscribe to their practices. So it becomes a choice of earth friendly or income.
    His advice (and others) in the financial planning is: do your investment based upon the
    best investment for you and support your favorite causes in a different way.
    Just another way of looking at things. Cheryl

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the additional perspective!
    Erika

    ReplyDelete