Awake Newsletter #2
This newsletter is about building wealth while having an impact. Today we explore how to do that with your savings.
How you save, spend, and invest can be equally important for having an impact. Today, we’ll focus on saving.
Before we get into it this week, click here to hold Apple accountable for toxic electronic waste (and share with a friend).
If you're reading this, you probably already know that most banks use your savings to fund fossil fuel projects. Here's how much the top 4 worst offenders lent to fossil fuel projects between 2016-2020:
JP Morgan Chase: $316 billion
Citi: $237 billion
Wells Fargo: $223 billion
Bank of America: $198 billion
When you put your money in a savings account, you don't have a say in who the money gets lended to. Therefore it’s best to save money in an account that doesn’t lend money to fossil fuel projects.
Michael Thomas reviewed the top climate-oriented savings accounts and liked Atmos for some of the following reasons:
100% of loans go to climate solutions — rooftop solar, electric vehicles, electrification, energy efficiency etc.
Good UX — It takes less than 15 minutes to sign up and link your bank account.
FDIC-insured — All deposits are FDIC-insured up to $250,000. If you have more than that in your savings account.
No fees or minimums — There are no account minimums, monthly fees, or overdraft fees.
55,000 no fee ATM network — If you are a cash person, then this is a huge plus.
Won't someone else just lend to the fossil fuel projects anyway?
Short answer, "yes, but". Yes, it's possible that fossil fuel projects will still get financed by other money lenders, but by not lending to them, we increase the cost of debt financing. This makes some new fossil fuel projects not worth the investment, making alternative options more attractive.
Vibes for the week
News
SFDR: The Anti-Greenwashing Acronym You Need to Know
The SFDR is a European regulation introduced to improve transparency in the market for sustainable investment products, to prevent greenwashing and to increase transparency around sustainability claims made by financial market participants.
Latest in the ESG Culture Wars
The last year we’ve seen a lot of pushback from republican states pushing for their pension funds to obtain from asset managers using ESG factors for investment decisions. This week The Labor Department’s reversed Trump-era guidance. The new rules, “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights,” clarify that climate change, along with other systemic risks, do indeed constitute material factors that pension fund managers can consider as part of their fiduciary duty.
Investors are taking a stance against Meta
Investors are filing and supporting shareholder resolutions at annual general meetings (AGMs) demanding increased transparency and better management of social-related risks. Meta – formerly known as Facebook – has often been in the headlines for its poor social-related performance. One notable example is the unchecked spread of hate speech on the platform playing a “determining role” in an estimated 10,000 Rohingya Muslims being killed during a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017.
Resources
Wealth Planning Guide from Money with Katie
This one sits behind a pay wall but still looks pretty valuable. Check out the planning guide demo here.
Rocket Money 🚀💵
Rocket money has helped me personally categorize all of my expenses and track trends across months. Highly recommend this for anyone who isn’t a banker already obsessed with spreadsheets.