Money Musings 💭 our holiday gift guide
It’s that time of year again. Holiday shopping is ramping up and if you plan on purchasing gifts, we have you covered.
How we spend money is a way to vote for more of what we want to see in the world while not supporting what we don’t want to see. Here are some of the things that matter to us:
Who runs the biz. Is it women-owned, BIPOC-owned or LGBTQ+ owned?
Sustainability. Are they making products that are environmentally friendly?
Bonus point for local businesses! If you spend $100 at a local business, $68 stays in your community (vs. $43 when you shop at a chain)
Commitment to being a conscious business all around. I’m a fan of the B Corp certification. These companies are “legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.”
Over the past couple of years we’ve been gathering and adding to lists of some of your (and our) favorite brands. Without further ado, here’s our list.
This is by no means exhaustive and we’re finding new incredible companies every day.
Hit reply with your favorites so we can continue to add to the list! Or head to our consumer activism channel in Slack to search through the treasure trove of recommendations by keyword.
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
TRACK YOUR NET WORTH.
Calculate your net worth. Friendly and serious reminder: your net worth has absolutely nothing to do with your worth as a person. It’s just a fun way to track progress towards your financial goals.
The equation? What you own (your assets) minus what you owe (your debt). Here’s a handy tool to help you calculate and track your progress.
I recommend setting up this “net worth tracker” and setting a reminder to update it quarterly. The tracker shows the original balance and the updated balances each quarter. This allows you to watch your progress quarter to quarter. If it’s fun and motivating to you, you can do this every month at your money parties.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO “PANIC SELL” DURING A MARKET DOWNTURN?
We know that men still invest and trade in greater numbers than women. But when there’s a dip in the market, who weathers it better?
Researchers at MIT dove in to figure it out. Their findings? Investors who are male, over the age of 45, married or consider themselves as having “excellent investment experience” are more likely to “freak out” and dump their portfolio during a downturn, according to a paper published last month that analyzed more than 600,000 brokerage accounts.
Stereotypes often peg women as “risk-averse” to explain why men are more likely to invest and trade.“ Studies show that women spend more time researching their investment choices. And while they do take on less risk than men when it comes to investing, that doesn’t mean they’re risk averse. Rather, they’re simply more likely to take on appropriate levels of risk with their investments than men.