Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Putting your money where your mouth is ... (that's my clever lead in :-)

You're probably getting sick of hearing me say this, but there is a lot of cool stuff that goes on at the library. Admittedly, as the days get nicer it's getting harder to convince myself to go to a 7:00 movie or seminar, but I almost always come away feeling really good about what I had just heard.

So anyway, recently I went to a seminar at Central Library on socially responsible investing. A little background about me. I am, what I would call a very small time leisure investor. I invest a small (very small!) amount of money every month (outside of my 401(k)) just for fun. It's kind of geeky I know, but I think it's fun. In fact, in my monthly budget (also kind of geeky), I actually track the trading costs as leisure spending! I also think of myself as socially responsible - or at least I try to be - but the concept of mixing the two items seemed a little, well, like not a wise financial decision.

But enough about me - the discussion was really intriguing and the information was really good and there was lots of good questions. One of the presenters pointed out that it's a value choice and noted that we often pay higher for a certain product because we value it more than another, even if another may be cheaper. As obvious as that might seem, I had never really thought of it that way. And yes, he is right. I actually pay a little more for my electricity because supposedly I am encouraging more solar energy (although I often worry that I'm gettting duped on that one, and am just a big sucker. Anybody out there work for Washington Gas and Electric and can tell me?)

So, what I can really say about this discussion is that it made me think. I haven't really reached any conclusions, but it made me think, and for that I appreciate it. And if you are interested in learning more about socially responsible investing, check out this website.

And BTW in case you think I just rave about everything (part of the purpose of this blog after all was honesty, not marketing), I also recently went to a seminar on investing online. Eh, it didn't really do it for me. The presenter was OK, but I never really felt like I got the information I wanted. It wasn't terrible, just didn't work for me. But, hey, that will happen sometimes. All in all, most things are definitely worth trying.