Today’s letter is about where to start with donating. Here’s the letter: What to do if I feel overwhelmed by donating? It’s natural to feel overwhelmed, I don’t think most of us learned anything about donating as kids, except for maybe some kids grow up with the practice of giving to their religious institutions. And even then, I think what kids tend to learn is more about the practice and benefits of giving, not as much about how to make decisions related to giving. So here are some tips. 1...

Today’s letter is about convincing others to shop responsibly. Here’s the letter: I can't seem to convince my family to shop responsibly. Any ideas? This is a tough one. You can’t really control what anyone else does, so let’s focus on what you can control, which is what YOU are doing. So here are some ideas. Model the behavior yourself. So, when it is time for you to buy them gifts, give them the type of gifts that you’d like to receive. Shop locally, or buy from fair trade companies. Or giv...

Today’s letter is about investing in the underinvested. Here’s the letter: I'd like to invest in some underinvested entrepreneurs. How can I do this? In today's episode, we discuss 3 approaches: Equity crowdfunding for example through Backstage Capital, Arlan Hamilton’s VC. Microlending, for example through an organization like Kiva Keep some of your money in a CDFI bank or credit union so people who have historically been locked out of our country’s financial system can have access to capi...

Today’s letter is about a listener who wonders about giving money to a person with a cardboard sign. Here’s the letter: Last weekend, my partner and I were out walking our dog and I gave a guy $20. He had a sign that said he'd had a bad year and needed help. He was in pretty bad shape and the way I saw it, we would've just wasted the money ordering lattes on Postmates, but my partner flipped out. He said the guy would 'blow the money on alcohol and drugs' and that twenty bucks won't make any 's...

Today's letter is about where to start with socially responsible shopping. Here's the letter: When I think about all of the harms created by all of the products I buy, I get overwhelmed. Where can I start with socially responsible shopping? I often feel the same way too. If there’s one change to start with, I would suggest looking for more opportunities to shop locally. This can reduce a few different harms at once. For one, it can reduce the environmental impact of ordering something online a...

Here's today's listener letter: One thing I realized pretty quickly during the pandemic is how much I was relying on my housekeeper and my kid's nanny. It has left me feeling a little uneasy about that, especially as I learn more about inequality in our country. According to the Economic Policy Institute, there are probably many more than the recorded 2M domestic workers, 90% are women, more than half are Black, Hispanic, AAPI and they are 3x more likely to live in poverty compared to other wo...

Today's letter is about donations that aren't quite stacking up. Here's the letter: I feel like I donate all the time, but when it is time for me to do my taxes in April every year and I gather up all my receipts from the year before, I'm always surprised the total isn't actually that much. How can I do better? This happens to a lot of us, we overestimate how often we do good things and underestimate how often we do bad things. But you’re right, the truth is in the accounting at the end of the ...

Here's today's letter: How do I find charities that have low administrative overhead expenses? Let's begin by discussing a less common question: why do we hold nonprofits to a higher standard of scrutiny than other organizations? There’s less scrutiny on silicon valley startups and 90% of them fail. And they are trying to sell apps and websites. They aren’t trying to undo hundreds of years of structural inequality and oppression. Why do we hold nonprofits to a higher level of rigor? So, here’s...

Today's letter is about how to find socially responsible investments if you are a busy investor. Here's the letter: I don't have time to make sure companies are on the up and up, is there a way to quickly pick socially responsible investments? There are some quick options. If you are busy and not the type to pick individual stocks, you may want to choose from some socially responsible mutual funds that have already been bundled together. They tend to perform well, just as well, some data sug...

Here's today's letter: I'm a gentrifier and I feel guilty about it all the time. Is there a way to spend my money in the neighborhood in a socially responsible way? Your question isn’t about whether or not you should move into a gentrifying neighborhood, your question is, now that you’re a neighbor, how can you spend your money in your new neighborhood in a socially responsible way? Well, for one thing, shop at the corner stores! Shop at the little mom and pop restaurants. Read the bulletin b...

Today's letter is about shopping fair trade. Here's the letter: How do I know if the places I shop really are sustainable? There are some phrases that sound good, but might not actually mean anything, or anyway, aren’t official stamps of approval. For example, “ethically sourced.” On the other hand, if you see “Fair Trade Certified” that is an actual certification that requires the company to provide proof. You can also look to other certifying organizations like the Rainforest Alliance, or the...

Today's letter is about getting your company to offer a socially responsible 401k. Here's the letter: My employer doesn't offer a socially responsible 401k, what should I do? In order to maximize your chances of success, I have three tips for you to consider: Buddy up, get other employees into the effort. They probably won’t add options unless you have a ton of influence at your company, but if they see that there’s a group of people that want this, you’ll have more weight. It probably won’t ...

Today's episode is about where to find charities and what to ask. Here's the letter: How should I research a charity to decide if I want to give to them? Where do I look and what questions should I be asking myself? Start by asking yourself your budget and your financial requirements. For example, is it important to you that you claim tax benefits from your donation? Is that even realistic for you given the standard deductions? If you think you’ll be donating less than that threshold this yea...

Today’s letter is about giving up brands with values that are different to our own. Here’s the letter: Before I offer up two suggestions for things you can do, let's be clear that it was never intended to be our responsibility as individuals to hold corporations accountable for human rights abuses of their employees, or to have the task of having to research whether your paint shop is actively lobbying against providing basic human rights to all people. That was never supposed to be our respons...

Today's letter is about picking a focus for socially responsible investments. Here's the letter: How should I pick the focus of my socially responsible investments? If you tend to pick from the 401k options at your job, I will be very impressed if your employer is already offering ESG funds as part of the 401k options. I do think that some companies, especially those that want the branding and to appeal to millennial employees are going to start offering more of these options in the future, bu...

Today's letter is about trying to decide where to donate when it seems like everyone needs help: Is it better to split donations across many groups or pick one to consistently support? I care about so many things its hard to choose, so many people need help these days! The most important thing is to avoid decision paralysis. Don’t get caught up trying to find the “perfect” or “most efficient” way to help and spend so much time analyzing whether or not you’ve come up with the very best solution ...

Today's letter is about socially responsible shopping: My twin says that socially responsible shopping is just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. What do you think? So your twin’s a skeptic. It’s good to keep skeptics around. What’s funny is that your twin’s attitude might be a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy, at least as far as socially conscious purchasing goes. People who think the world is getting better are more likely to shop consciously. 58% of the optimists versus 42% of the pe...

Today’s letter is about Socially responsible investing...here’s the letter: I'd like to invest more in line with my values. How can I do this? I want to set expectations up top. It is difficult to find publicly traded corporations who are not harmful to our society. So, more often than not, this conversation of socially responsible investing is actually about eliminating a few companies that investors find to be the most egregious, according to a very narrow set of criteria. This is probably ...

Today’s letter is about deciding how much to donate. Here’s the letter: How do people decide how much money to give? I'm not religious, so 10% doesn't hold a personal significance to me, so how much should I give? 1. Even if you aren’t religious, you could borrow from those traditions. The Bible instructs Christians to donate 10% as a tithe. The Torah guides Jews to give 10%. Among other donations, the Koran instructs Muslims to donate 2.5% of your wealth (not their income) after you have r...

This past year has made the inequality in our society even more blaringly obvious than it was before. A lot of us are grappling with our own role in the current movements towards a more just society. More people have hit the streets to protest, more people have shown up to the polls to vote, and that begs the question...what other sources of power do we have to improve the world around us? That’s where this podcast comes in. When this idea first came about in the fall of 2020, the focus was ini...