Apologies if this post doesn’t fit well here, this has a personal element but is ultimately a moral and political discussion.

Personal context:

I’ve lived with no/low income as a disabled person my whole adult life with no end in sight. I try to follow best personal finance practices to try and ensure my survival as I can’t simply look to make more money. As I understand it, the advice I’ve read would be to begin investing (commonly in equity ETFs) once you have saved enough of an emergency fund and are ready to put away assets for the long-term. Due to a unique situation, I might manage to save enough money to begin investing before I go back to living paycheck to paycheck.

Concerns:

A) Is it unethical? On one hand, I’d be investing into truly evil companies. On the other, there’s no ethical survival under captialism and my minuscule investment won’t make or break a megacorps’ ability to do evil shit. Taking a silent stand won’t have an impact and I may just be hurting my own personal finances in the process. In turn, that ironically may make it harder for me to safely save and spend money on things like community organizing.

B) Isn’t it contradictory and unsafe? Investing in equities means I’d be betting on continued “growth” for decades to come. This is the system I’d be working to dismantle and investing in it would be like I’m betting against myself. Considering the impending climate crisis and foreseeable global instability, investing in equities feels like more of a gamble and less of a sound financial decision, but I’m not sure what that means for how I should manage my finances.

  • BlueSpruce@slrpnk.netEnglish
    6·
    3 days ago

    Just want to add a couple more options to the good comments already made. Remember that you can also save money by putting at least some of it into a traditional savings account. Those are available at a variety of financial institutions, so you might be comfortable with a traditional or internet bank, or you might look for a credit union. Each will have different interest rates. Another option is government bonds, which are available at both the federal and local (municipal) level.

    I’m no expert so I’m not providing financial advice about whether to use any of these options, just noting they are also options that you might want to look into. I also don’t think it’s a bad idea to buy shares of ETFs. I agree with you and others that we have to be able to afford to live in the world that exists today, while also working to change it. All of these options have different levels of risk and return, so I think many people advocate for using multiple options just from a sound financial perspective.

    From a solarpunk lens, these options might or might not be better suited to your ethical/economic/social point of view. Banks might turn around and invest your deposits in the same equities that you might wish to avoid. Some also use the deposits to provide home, personal, and small business loans to local residents and groups. You might not want to lend your money to some governments today, but perhaps other local ones might feel more worth it. (Again, I’m no expert in municipal bonds and whether they’re a good idea to invest in, just noting they exist.)

    Using more than one means of savings could also make you feel less dependent on one over time, more comfortable shifting your resources if you need to, and less likely to become overly motivated in a social direction you don’t believe in due to your financial interests. So just added food for thought.