The concept of financial wellness is often associated with managing your money the right way or having a certain net worth. But this definition leaves out something just as important as the numbers – how your finances impact your mental and physical well-being. At OneEleven Financial Wellness, we are changing that by looking at more than just the numbers and taking a holistic approach to personal finance.
Recently I had the privilege of visiting several organizations in Kenya supported through Praxis Mutual Funds’ commitment to community development investing. This was alongside a visit to my family in my birth country, after five years of being away. This article is a personal reflection on how impact investing and gender lens investing delivers real-world impacts – and how financial advisors can help their clients understand those impacts.
Fresh water is a unique resource. It is essential to life, prosperity, and environmental sustainability. It is also a limited, scarce resource. It is renewable through nature’s hydrologic cycle or through the expenditure of real resources on recycling through treatment and purification. To achieve a fair, efficient, and sustainable allocation of fresh water, it must be priced in all its uses to reflect its opportunity cost and scarcity value, including any negative environmental externalities.
Companies that are leaders in water efficiency and reuse practices as well as those offering innovative solutions to global water challenges may be in position to outperform their competition over the long term. Investors can allocate capital to companies equipped to meet these challenges – driving capital to responsible companies in the water industry will drive more investment in solutions to global water challenges.
For far too long, protections for clean water and other environmental regulations have been framed as an impediment to a strong economy. When in reality, the opposite is true. Water is the foundation of a stable and growing economy and thriving communities. Protecting everyone’s right to clean water is a moral obligation. And it’s also a financial necessity. We simply can’t afford polluted water and here’s why…
From the March 2022 Archive – Water is elemental. Crucial for life as we know it. Finite in supply, particularly fresh water, and is degraded over time by countless contaminants. Add it all up and it seems like the perfect combination of inelastic demand and diminishing supply. We need more, and better access to, safe, fresh water. It seems very straightforward to invest in freshwater solutions, but is it?
Many of us were sitting around the dinner table during the Holidays and someone youngish started talking about “crypto,” “bitcoin,” maybe something about a “doge”-coin? Breathless talk of massive returns may have followed without the mention of risk. A cult leader would be impressed by the level of evangelism. Inevitably a wiser individual asks some variation of the question: “But what is it and why do I need it?”
Most millennials express their commitment to helping non-profits through volunteering either in non-profit activities or by serving on boards and through financial donations. There are several planning tools that millennials can use that go far beyond making a routine contribution. Here are 3 tools millennials can use for improving organization of their charitable activities and long-term impact.
For those looking to invest in a solidarity economy, CDFIs offer a proven way for one’s investment to make a positive impact on someone’s life and contribute to a long-term shift in who participates in our nation’s economy. Attuned to the greatest needs of underrepresented communities, investments in CDFIs represent an opportunity to place one’s money where it has meaning and positive impact.
Many companies understand that a diverse workforce can enhance innovation and in turn profitability. A McKinsey study found companies with executive teams in the top quartile for gender diversity were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the bottom quartile. Companies with more women in executive roles and in the board room, stand to benefit from a range of financial, social and reputational advantages.
