Should You Make Your Own ESG Fund?
It may be the best way to ethically invest in the stock market
I’ve been looking for ethical companies to invest in this year, and it’s a search that’s long overdue. I want to put my money where my mouth is, so I can’t keep talking about conscious spending unless I’m consciously investing, too. That’s not as easy as it seems.
On a surface level, I know where my money is going. I’ve had mutual funds for years, a blend of large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks that satisfied my attraction to balance. I have specialized funds that focus on technology and healthcare, two areas with enormous growth potential as the generations that grew up with tablets and cell phones mature into leadership positions in Big Tech and boomers become elders.
But most of my investment dollars are in index funds that track the S&P 500 and the total market because that is the recommendation I’ve read most often in personal finance books and blogs. The pundits who give this advice, including Warren Buffet, repeatedly share this 3-step, tried-and-true investing strategy: (1) put whatever percentage of your money you’ve allocated for equities into an index fund like SPY, VOO, or SWTSX, (2) keep adding to the fund in regular time increments, and (3) hang onto it over time. If you follow this formula, you’ll have a chunky nest…
