Some of us have firsthand memories of World War II’s concentration camps, and the Japanese internment camps in this country; none of us are more than a generation removed from that history. It sends shivers down our spines to hear the president order the construction of a 30,000 bed prison in Guantanamo, and to see endless raids by state agents on the homes of immigrants. It is long past time for leaders in Washington to hammer out a humane immigration policy that recognizes how much of America’s strength comes from its diversity.

It also chills us to see the president’s declaration that schools must now teach only ‘patriotic education’ or lose funding. The curriculum he outlines insists that America’s history is only noble. Some of it—helping liberate those German camps—surely is; some—building those camps for Japanese-Americans—surely isn’t. We believe we need to understand all our history, and as long as we’re alive we’ll share what we know with the next generations. 

Third Actors will continue to stand up for oppressed families and communities, even if these families and communities are not their own. It’s the right thing to do. Below, you can find some organizations devoted to immigrant rights and safety; we encourage you to support them.

“[President Carter] declared May 3, 1978, to be Sun Day, and delivered a speech (in a driving rain—he was characteristically unlucky) from a federal solar-research facility in Golden, Colorado. ‘The question is no longer whether solar energy works,’ he said. ‘We know it works. The only question is how to cut costs so that solar power can be used more widely and so that it will set a cap on rising oil prices.’ He continued, ‘Nobody can embargo sunlight. No cartel controls the sun. Its energy will not run out. It will not pollute the air. It will not poison our waters. It’s free from stench and smog. The sun’s power needs only to be collected, stored, and used.’

Carter was correct. Had we embarked on an enormous project of solar research then and there, we could have cut the costs of renewable energy far faster than we did.”

As explained by The Brennan Center, “the results that you see on election night coverage are not final and official results. They are instead a combination of unofficial results reported by election officials and news organization projections.” Counting votes actually involves a series of steps, including multiple checkpoints and safeguards, to ensure the accuracy of results and protection of voting rights.  Election results only become official once certified. We’ll get into how this happens below.

Because there are a variety of ways that people can vote—in-person at the polls on Election Day; early in-person voting; vote-by-mail; and absentee ballots—there are also a variety of ways that votes can be counted and tabulated. And different states have different laws about when and how votes can begin to be counted. For example, Michigan now allows local officials to process and tabulate mail ballots before Election Day, allowing officials to count and report these vote totals faster than they previously could. In North Carolina, however, election officials must now wait until polls close on Election Day to begin tabulating ballots cast during the early voting period. Some states require that mail-in ballots must arrive by Election Day, while others ask that mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day even if received after Election Day. 

There are also provisional ballots that must be adjudicated and counted. And 30 states allow for a “ballot curing” process whereby small errors in a ballot can be fixed within a certain time period (such as a mail-in ballot’s envelope missing a signature). The Brennan Center’s blog clearly lays out the roadmap to the official vote count and the administrative procedures that are followed at every step in the vote counting process. 

Election results: Expect delays and shifts

There are several legitimate reasons why it may take time to know the official results of this year’s election. Firstly, the aforementioned  variety of ways in which people can now vote and the administrative processes involved with tabulating and cross-checking different types of  ballots, all take time. Another factor is the different state rules about when certain types of ballots can start to be counted. And everyone already anticipates that challenges to vote counting and election practices will be brought up by candidates, further delaying the process. 

Even if the election goes smoothly, there will likely still be a known and anticipated “red mirage” on Election Night where election results can initially appear to be favoring Republicans because it is known that Republican voters prefer in-person voting at the polls on Election Day and those ballots are counted and reported faster, whereas more Democrats prefer mail-in ballots, which are counted more slowly. So, a “blue shift” can appear as time goes on and more mail-in ballots are counted. These “mirages” and “shifts” are not an indication of election fraud or manipulation; rather, they are an expected phenomenon that has been observed, studied, and understood in earlier elections.  

Republican voters prefer in-person voting at the polls on Election Day, and those ballots are counted and reported faster. In contrast, more Democrats prefer mail-in ballots, which are counted more slowly. Hence the terms “red mirage” and “blue shift.”

Understanding the presidential vote certification process and timeline

As described by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a nonpartisan legal organization advancing democracy through law, election certification is “a ministerial task that confirms the election process has concluded. At that stage, every vote has been counted and the results of the various races on the ballot have been determined.” Certification includes a series of deadlines at the local and state level that must be met before the results are officially finalized.

November 5, 2024—Election Day this year—marks the final day on which voters can cast a ballot in this year’s election, but the electoral system for choosing and inaugurating our president extends well beyond November 5. Notably, the Electoral Count Reform Act, enacted in late 2022, updated certain dates and procedures in the electoral vote counting process.

The 2024 election will be the first presidential election utilizing the ECRA’s updated rules and timeline. 

Here is an outline of the timeline for the presidential vote certification:

• Appointment of state electors no later than December 11, 2024
• Meeting and Vote of Electors in their States: Tuesday, December 17, 2024
• Deadline for Electoral Votes to be Received by officials in Washington, DC: December 25, 2024
• 119th Congress Convenes: January 3, 2025
• Congress Counts Electoral Votes: January 6, 2025
• Inauguration Day: January 20, 2025

The ECRA clarifies the process for appointing electors; provides an expedited process for federal courts to resolve disputes about a state’s certification of electors; clarifies the vice president’s role in the process when Congress meets to count electoral votes; and raises the threshold for embers of Congress to object to a state’s certified election results. 

Election certification is “a ministerial task that confirms the election process has concluded. At that stage, every vote has been counted and the results of the various races on the ballot have been determined.”

Republicans are already setting the stage to challenge the election results. They are trying to purge voter rolls (pushing actions that are illegal within 90 days of Election Day). And they will try, again, to challenge the certification process at local, state, and federal levels. However, the ECRA reforms make it impossible for states to submit alternate electors. As mentioned above, certifying the election results is a ministerial, not a political act, and it is illegal for local officials to refuse to certify election results. Constant vigilance will be required and numerous government officials in both parties and watchdog organizations are working to ensure that the rules are followed..

Election protection efforts

Third Act is a member of the 300-member strong Election Protection Coalition. Organizations in the coalition are involved with a variety of nonpartisan efforts to uphold the integrity of our elections, including Common Cause, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, ACLU, League of Women Voters, and many others.

You can do your part as a voter by knowing the voting rules in your state by checking here. You can use these Voter Tools to: register to vote, confirm your registration status, find your polling place, request an absentee ballot, and more. If you face problems in casting your vote, you can get help via the voter hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE.

You can also sign-up to be a Protect the Vote volunteer, help monitor the polls, fight misinformation, and support voters.

Many Third Act Working Groups are getting involved with election protection efforts, including ballot curing, and other efforts. We are also following Lawyers Defending American Democracy and the Democracy Docket, organizations bringing suits to uphold election integrity and the rule of law. You can check GrayPAC’s website and Third Act’s Elections page for various events and volunteer activities. 

The retirement plan arena is ripe to bring about change and impact for environmental and social responsibility. By retirement plans, we are referring to employer-sponsored plans like 401Ks and 403Bs, where employers offer employees a means of setting aside a portion of their pay and investing these funds – sometimes matched with an employer contribution – in various equities, bonds, and other instruments through an outside asset manager. Depending on what study you refer to and what definition is applied, retirement plans total $32 trillion dollars as of September 30, 2022. This is a large amount of capital that could be invested in projects and program that could make a significant impact in clean energy and healthy communities.

Evaluating Retirement Plan Investments

First things first. Before making changes, you will want to know what the retirement plan is currently invested in. Whether you are the person in charge of the retirement plan as an employer, a member of the plan’s investment committee, or an employee, you have a right to ask about what the plan invests in and question why it is making those types of investments. The next thing to do is be clear on the organization’s values and your own values and priorities.

Against that backdrop, consider using the Fossil Free Funds website to evaluate some of your plan’s investments. Here is an example of an investment that has more than $283 billion in fund assets: The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. As you can see from the Fossil Free Funds website’s rating for this Vanguard fund, this investment has over $114 billion invested in fossil fuel companies and receives a grade of F. In other words, it is contributing to climate change. Ask yourself how this squares with your organization’s values and your own.

You can dig a little deeper. Scroll 2/3rd of the way down the results’ screen and look at the full report card. Each of the assigned categories/ letter grades can be clicked on for more data. Do these arenas (i.e., private prisons) reflect your or your organization’s values?

Other tools are available too. In addition to the Fossil Free Funds website, you can ask your financial or plan advisor to look at Morningstar ratings on an investment’s sustainability, as well as the read the Fossil Free Fund’s Plan Sponsor Toolkit.

How to Change a Retirement Plan’s Fund Choices

Equipped with information about your plan’s investments, now let’s look at the heart of the matter: how can we change the investment choices in the retirement plan to include options that meet your environmental and social values, such as funds that do not invest in fossil fuels or prisons. 

If you are the owner or sole decision maker over the retirement plan, you can simply tell your retirement plan staff to change the plan investments to fossil fuel free. Timothy shared the example of Re:Vision Architecture, a green architecture and planning firm focused on sustainable buildings, and how the two co-founders instructed the HR person to make the needed investment changes to the retirement plan to align with the firm’s mission and purpose. The changes were accomplished in less than 45 days.

If your organization’s culture is collaborative and one that includes employee input combined with strong leadership, you might look to this example from Health Care Without Harm, a Virginia-based non-profit focused on greening the healthcare industry. This example shows the needs for firm leadership as well as how inspiring it can be to employees to see their organization living its values. Numerous internal discussions were held to make this switch to fossil-fuel-free investments as well as design an investment policy statement that reflected these values

Furthermore, your plan’s financial advisor should help with finding appropriate investments. One short cut is whether your advisor can do all the work. This is known as a 3(38) fiduciary. As a 3(38) fiduciary, your advisor will take full responsibility for researching, choosing, and implementing the needed investment switches. Ask your advisor in what fiduciary capacity they are acting. 

Lastly, your advisor should be able to tell you if your plan is “open architecture” and able to invest in any fund, rather than only in a limited set of fund choices. Open architecture plans can easily add any funds, so you can suggest climate-friendly or other funds that align with your values.

Advocate for Sustainable Retirement Plans

To succeed in changing an employer-sponsored retirement plan will likely require that many employees request more environmentally and socially responsible investment choices. So, build a coalition of like-minded employees and press for change. You can catalyze these changes. Never forget your agency and the power of one. 

Check-out the other webinar recordings, resource guides, blogs, and FAQs in the Responsible Finance Collection.

NOTE: THIRD ACT IS LEGALLY PROHIBITED FROM GIVING INVESTMENT ADVICE AS WE ARE NOT CERTIFIED INVESTMENT ADVISORS. WE HAVE INVITED FINANCIAL PLANNING PROFESSIONALS TO SHARE THEIR EXPERTISE. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIRD ACT DOES NOT HAVE ANY CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE SPEAKERS, AND WE ARE NOT ENDORSING THEIR SERVICES. THESE ARE EDUCATIONAL EVENTS AND RESOURCES WHERE WE ARE SHARING INFORMATION FOR YOU TO IMPLEMENT IN YOUR LIVES IN WAYS THAT FIT WITH YOUR PERSONAL STRATEGIES, RISK TOLERANCE, AND FINANCIAL NEEDS.

About the Author:

Timothy Yee is the Chief Retirement Specialist and Co-Founder of Green Retirement, Inc., a founding B-Corporation and a minority and woman-owned financial advisory firm. Timothy focuses on sustainable, responsible, and fossil-free investment options in corporate and nonprofit retirement plans. He serves as a fiduciary for his clients, among them 350.org and Trillium Asset Management.

Timothy has extensive experience in the financial services industry, having worked as a branch manager and an executive at several banks. Timothy is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary and holds numerous FINRA registrations. He has been quoted in various media including the New York Times, Fiduciary News, and The Fiscal Times.

Timothy hosted the show, What Really Matters!, a weekly financial radio program on KKGN 960AM. He is also an ambassador for the Social Venture Network and B Corporations. Timothy graduated with honors (cum laude) from the University of California at Berkeley, Haas School of Business. Timothy’s latest passion is geocaching. He is having so much fun tracking caches wherever he goes!

When it comes to moving your accounts to a better bank, the first question is often “What is a better banking option?” Fortunately, there’s a range of great banks and credit unions to choose from, so you can find one that works for you in terms of both services and values.

Momentum for better banking is building nationally and around the world. One of many resources for finding banks with a commitment to economic, social and environmental sustainability is the Global Alliance for Banking on Values. The Alliance aims to transform banking so that it plays positive roles, especially with respect to the climate crisis.

 At Green America, we promote diverse financial institutions in our banking map so you can find a bank or credit near you – or consider mobile banking wherever you are!  The Green America banking map includes financial institutions with solid social and environmental practices that pass our certification program, which includes avoidance of financing of the fossil fuel industry, clear investment policies, responsible subprime lending policies, and more. 

When thinking about switching, a good place to start is by considering a bank or credit union with a genuine, proven commitment to community development. There is actually a federal certification program, through the Treasury Department, for financial institutions that support economic development in low income and marginalized regions. These are called “community development financial institutions” (CDFIs). The Green America banking map includes all of these federally certified banks and credit unions across the country. Your deposits can make a real difference in economically struggling communities, urban and rural.

Because of complex discriminatory policies that exist within local governance, banking systems, and the finance industry (i.e. redlining, gendered access to wealth, and the criminalization  of queerness),we do not see the reflection of our country’s diverse demographics in this sector that is overwhelmingly cis-gendered, hetronormative, and white man-led. To help change this, consider choosing a “Minority Depository Institution” (MDI). MDIs meet a federal government definition and provide an opportunity to help build broad-based economic opportunity and prosperity. Whatever choice you make – always be certain that your new bank is FDIC-insured or that your new credit union is NCUA-insured.

The Green America map also includes all the members of Inclusiv, a national association of credit unions whose members are also dedicated to providing opportunity for people with low-to-moderate income nationally. Community development credit unions are nonprofit, cooperatively owned, and federally regulated. Banks with a strong commitment to community development can also be found through the Community Development Bankers Association.

To power to change this, consider choosing a “Minority Depository Institution” (MDI). MDIs meet a federal government definition and provide an opportunity to help build broad-based economic opportunity and prosperity.Whatever choice you make – always be certain that your new bank is FDIC-insured or that your new credit union is NCUA-insured.

Building sustainable banking options that are least extractive to local communities is very important and only the first leg of the bank switching effort marathon. It is vitally important to understand the many barriers connected to bank switching, whether they be operational or mental, that continue to make moving your money a heavy lift for the everyday individual. It is also important to know how this process can be a tremendous support for the movement towards building more sustainable communities and generational equity.

We know that taking on the task to shift your money is one that may take time. As you proceed through your bank switching process, Bank for Good offers public access to guides, articles, and resources designed to guide people towards understanding green finance initiatives, with the option to sign up and join a community of people interested in additional resources, support and reminders.

The Bank for Good website offers visitors a myriad of resources that help unpack the importance of banking with institutions that do not invest in fossil fuels or support initiatives that are harmful to building sustainable communities, such as funding private prisons.

Using this wealth of research, Bank for Good created a Better Banks tool that allows you, the user, to select the types of offerings you need from a bank. The tool then sifts through the Bank for Good database to find banks and credit unions that fit your needs and do not harm the environment or our communities. As Bank for Good continues to expand the number of institutions listed, people will be given more values and actions aligned options of where to house their money.

For more information, check out the 10 step guide that Green America has put together to help people plan their bank switch. For the purposes of the Responsible Finance Event #2: Better Banks and Credit Cards, you can keep your focus on Step #1 – the exciting process of identifying the bank or credit union that will allow your deposits or credit card – to work for the kind of world you want!

Green America’s Guide to Socially Responsible Investing & Better Banking provides an overview of options and background information about the importance of you joining our money moving movement! An easy entry point to this movement could be something as simple as just changing your credit card. Since banks process credit card transactions – how about using a credit card linked to a better bank or credit union? You can find a list of credit card options here.

And If you need a little more inspiration, enjoy these short stories from people who have made the switch and want to encourage others – like you!

____________________

About the authors:

Jessy Tolkan is the President and CEO of Drive Agency. With nearly 20 years of campaign and movement experience, her passion and drive for transformative change have taken her around the world and across issue sectors in pursuit of building the necessary power to win. Prior to founding Drive Agency, Jessy served as Partner at PURPOSE and Co-Founder of Purpose Labs, a ground-breaking approach to campaigning and collaborating with philanthropy to drive change. During her tenure at Purpose, she helped expand their global footprint by opening campaign offices in India, Brazil, Eastern Europe, Indonesia, and Kenya. The Purpose Climate Lab, where Jessy remains a Collaborator and Senior Advisor, employs 40staff globally, and has raised and invested over 40 million dollars in climate campaigning infrastructure over the past 6 years. Over the course of her career, Jessy has built and led a series of powerful progressive institutions, including her role as Executive Director of the Energy Action Coalition, as the Co-Executive Director of the Citizen Engagement Laboratory, and as Senior Advisor to the Working Families Party. Jessy has consulted with leading social change organizations in the United States and around the world including: Progressive Change Campaign Committee, GetEqual, HeadCount, 1sky, 350.org, Groundswell, Web of Change, and Wellstone Action, The Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, and Global Witness. She’s been featured in Time Magazine, Glamour Magazine, The New York Times, Hard Ball with Chris Matthews, and Vanity Fair Magazine. Rolling Stone Magazine named her one of the 100 agents of change in America.  Jessy Tolkan received her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Political Science.

Fran Teplitz serves as the Executive Co-Director of Green America, focusing on Green America’s programs in green business, socially and environmentally responsible banking and investing, and public policy. Green America is a nonprofit membership-based organization in Washington, DC that involves consumers, businesses, and investors in economic strategies to advance positive social and environmental change. Fran joined the organization in 2000. Fran’s roles include serving as the Director of Green America’s Green Business Network® and Director of the Responsible Finance Program. Her work on impact investing includes community investing and banking, shareholder action, and fossil fuel divestment. She also manages Green America’s role in coalitions related to sustainable business and economics, climate change, and other policy issues. Fran worked with Peace Action and the Peace Action Education Fund for seven years before joining Green America. Prior to Peace Action, she worked on U.S. policy toward Central America.  She holds a Master’s Degree from the Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and earned her undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis in Political Science. 

Third Act launched its Banking on our Future Campaign to pressure the financial system, especially the big four banks (Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and CitiBank), to stop financing climate destruction.

The Carbon Bankroll report by Bank Forward makes clear that the biggest environmental decision we make is where we choose to keep and invest our money. How our money and cash are used by big banks has a far greater impact on climate emissions than what kind of car we drive, for example.

Third Act wants the banks to know that if they don’t move their money out of fossil fuels, then we’ll move our money away from them. You can sign the Banking on our Future Pledge to add your voice to the thousands that are already calling for change!

In response to Third Actors’ numerous questions about “how to move your money,” Third Act invited us, Timothy Yee and Gregory Wendt, to help design a 4-part webinar series around Responsible Finance. With decades of experience in sustainable investing and financial and retirement planning, we are pleased to share our approaches to working with clients to develop personal Responsible Finance Plans. At each event, you will hear from certified financial advisors, bank and personal finance experts, experts on investment and retirement, and advocacy experts that are  leading campaigns to reform the financial system. You’ll learn both practical approaches and big-picture strategies to help you design your personal Responsible Financial Plan. The goal is to provide you with some resources that allow you to make choices that are good for you and good for the planet, while also seeking good financial performance.

To help you better understand how to get started, in this blog we provide:

• Key questions to ask yourself and a worksheet to assist you with identifying your values, priorities, needs, and challenges;
• An introduction to personal financial levers – personal banking, personal investing, and corporate and non-profit retirement plans – that we will explore more deeply in upcoming webinars; and
• Additional reading and resources, including how to find a financial advisor with expertise in sustainable investing.

This blog accompanies the first webinar in the series: Responsible Finance: An overview of how to align your money with your values. You can access a recording of our first webinar here. Subsequent webinars will cover personal banking (checking and savings accounts and credit cards), investing, and corporate and non-profit retirement plans.

1.  Articulate Your Values, Needs, and Challenges

While it is tempting to immediately dive into practical solutions and changes in each of the primary areas of personal finance levers (banks and credit cards, investments, retirement plans), it is a vital and foundational step to first identify your values and what is most important to you. Typically, when we first meet a new client it may take 3-4 meetings with interview questions and discussion to articulate your values, your financial priorities, your risk tolerance, and more. There’s no easy “one-click” answer. Financial advisors may also use a scenario planning model to assess whether your financial plans and investment strategies will achieve your financial goals.

The first question to ask yourself is: What do I have and what are my priorities and needs for my money over the years to come? 

We recognize that that is a massive question, so we broke it down into smaller questions, listed below, in hopes that you will take some time to reflect, journal, and discuss your answers with your loved ones and financial advisors:

• What is your view of a better world?
• What are your priority interests and concerns (climate, prison reform, human rights, etc..)
• What inspires you to make the world a better place?
• Beyond wealth and financial solutions, where do you spend your time serving others?
• What is the way you want to invest your time and energy in the most important relationships?
• What are the organizations or groups you admire the most?
• What do you see in your community and your world that you want to help or support?

This is not an esoteric or philosophical exercise but rather an important way for you to be able to evaluate financial solutions, be they banks, investment funds, or individual companies. These questions are clues to discovering more about what is most important to you and to find the themes where you want your dollars to help the world.

In addition to these questions about values, it is helpful to do a short inventory and analysis of your various financial services, advisors, and accounts. You can evaluate the benefits and challenges of switching your money away from an advisor or financial institution that doesn’t match your values and towards one that is a better match, as well as evaluate tradeoffs.

You can download and adapt this simple table template to help you compare the pros and cons  of making the switch.  It will be helpful if you complete this table before the next webinar on better banks and credit cards, investments, and retirement funds.

Note: We have given some hypothetical examples of accounts or services and reasons you may be “For” or “Against” switching. If you want to use our Table Template, go to File > Make a Copy and then save this file on your own computer or Google drive to edit the file with your own personal evaluations, questions, ideas, and concerns.

2. An Introduction to Your Personal Financial Levers

Green America – a Third Act partner organization that has been working on sustainable finance for decades – has a wonderful Guide to Socially Responsible Investing and Better Banking (2021). This Guide provides a great orientation around the key levers of personal finance – better banks, investing, retirement, and shareholder activism. Green America also certifies banks, credit unions, and credit cards that meet their environmental and social justice criteria. However, Third Act requests that you do not yet close your bank or credit card accounts until we announce our collective day of action so we can have a greater impact together.

A. Personal banking

Do you know where your money sleeps at night? In other words, where is your bank investing the money you have deposited with them and the profits earned from your credit cards? It’s important that you ask your bank directly about their investments and how they use your money (learn more about how to write a letter to your bank here and here), as well as your financial advisors and doing your own research on your issues of concern.

If combating climate change is important to you, the “Banking on Climate Chaos” report details which banks are financing fossil fuel companies and projects. You can investigate which banks are involved with modern-day redlining, an insidious practice started in the 1930s and continuing today where banking institutions discriminate against Black and Brown customers and home mortgage borrowers. If your bank’s commitment to racial diversity is important, you can research that here. The FAIRR Initiative evaluates the environmental and social impacts of the world’s largest livestock producer companies. You can do similar research around each of your priorities, and work to move your money away from banks that invest your money in ways that undermine your values.

Responsible Finance Webinar #2: Personal Banking (date to be announced soon) will include speakers who can help guide you to better banking solutions and credit card options and describe the steps needed to open new accounts.

In the meantime, you can start exploring other banks or local credit unions to see if they align with your values and/or can meet some or all your financial needs.. You can also look into one of the fossil-free credit cards from online banks. Note that it is unlikely that a single financial institution will meet all your needs. Please see pages 11-13 of Third Act’s Banking on our Future Toolkit for some tools to explore in advance of Webinar #2, including Green America’s map of certified banks and credit unions and a list of credit cards, Bank for Good’s searchable database, and Mighty Deposit’s database.

B. Personal Investing

The beauty of personal investing is that you have control over where your money is invested. Again, start with identifying your values. Next, ask your financial advisor directly if they (a) understand your values and priorities, and (b) can translate them into appropriate investments. Finally, evaluate your financial advisor’s responses.

If your advisor’s responses are not satisfactory – does not meet with “a” or meets “a” but not “b” – then you might need to find a new advisor. There are a few directories that can help you find an advisor knowledgeable about sustainable investing, including:

• Green America’s Socially Responsible Financial Planners & Investment Consultants
• First Affirmative’s directory 
• Find a B-Corp (you can put “financial advisor” in the Search bar)

A simple way to start considering how to align your values with investment options, you can visit the Forum on Sustainable and Responsible Investment’s listing of Sustainable Investment Mutual Funds and ETFs chart and click on “screening and advocacy”. This website gives you an idea of some of the ways you can screen investments based on your values as well as a starter list of investments to consider.

Remember to evaluate any proposed investment for alignment with your values (i.e., how much financial risk you are willing to take, whether it matches your time horizon, and whether any underlying investments are OK with you). A financial advisor will also help you consider investment and mutual fund fees, tax implications, active versus passive strategies, index funds, and other considerations. Lastly, make sure that any investment you like is something your advisor can obtain.

Responsible Finance Webinar #3: Personal Investing (mid-November 2022, date to be announced soon) will include speakers who can help provide information about how to identify environmentally and socially responsible investment funds, as well as other investment approaches, such as impact investing, and advocacy efforts to influence funds and large asset managers.

C. Corporate and Non-profit Retirement Plans

What does your 401k really invest in? As You Sow provides information about Fossil Free Funds and lots of assessments of other funds at Invest Your Values, including tobacco, gender, deforestation, social justice, and weapons, to better help you understand the stock market based investments in your plan.

If the investments aren’t fully reflective of what you and/ or your employer believe in and value, you might consider this actions recommended by As You Sow here and here to help start an internal discussion at your workplace about making investment changes to retirement plans.

Be aware that this change can take a fair amount of time depending on the size of the plans and number of interested parties. At the same time, there is $39 trillion in retirement plans as of 12/31/21. Moving these assets can have a tremendous impact on the fight for a sustainable future. .

Responsible Finance Webinar #4: Retirement Plans (date in December to be announced soon) will include speakers who will help you dig into the 401K or 403B retirement options that you are invested in and show you alternative choices that align with your values.

About the authors:

Timothy Yee is the President of Green Retirement, Inc., a founding B-Corporation and a minority and woman-owned financial advisory firm. Timothy focuses on sustainable, responsible, and fossil-free investment options in corporate and nonprofit retirement plans. He serves as a fiduciary for his clients, among them 350.org and Trillium Asset Management.

Gregory Wendt is a Certified Financial Planner and veteran wealth advisor on capital markets, sustainability, and new economic thinking. He is currently Director and Senior Wealth Advisor at Stakeholders Capital, a Registered Investment Advisory Firm. Since the 1980s, Greg has worked in sustainable and regenerative economics, finance, portfolio management, economic strategy, and responsible investing, and is a leader in the evolving field of sustainable and responsible investing and green economy solutions. Greg can be reached at greg@stakeholderscapital.com.

Educate Yourself with Additional Reading

• The Resilient Investor by Hal Brill, Michael Kramer, and Christopher Peck
• The Clean Money Revolution: Reinventing Power, Purpose, and Capitalism by Joel Solomon with Tyee Bridge
• Your Essential Guide to Sustainable Investing by Larry Swedroe and Samuel Adams
• Activate Your Money: Invest to Grow Your Wealth and Build a Better World by Janine Firpo (a focus on women investors)
• Put Your Money Where Your Life Is by Michael Shuman
• Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity by Michael Shuman

And for some more advanced learning:

• A Finer Future: Creating an Economy in Service to Life by Hunter Lovins, Stewart Wallis, Anders Wijkman, and John Fullerton
• The Purpose of Capital: Elements of Impact, Financial Flows and Natural Being by Jed Emerson
• Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth – website, blog, videos
• Global Handbook of Impact Investing: Solving Global Problems Via Smarter Capital Markets Towards A More Sustainable Society by Elsa De Morais Sarmento (Editor) and R. Paul Herman (Editor) –  (directed predominantly toward institutional investors and family offices)

Note: Third Act is legally prohibited from giving investment advice as we are not certified investment advisors. We have invited financial planning professionals to share their expertise. Please note that Third Act does not have any contractual relationships with the speakers and blog authors, and we are not endorsing their services. These are educational events and resources where we are sharing information for you to implement in your lives in ways that fit with your personal strategies, risk tolerance, and financial needs.

Every one of the companies that have been involved in the reckless, polluting, climate-destroying projects you’ve heard about in recent years were supported directly, or indirectly, by these banks. For instance, Enbridge Corporation, which built Line 3 to carry tarsands oil across Minnesota last year, has financing from all four of these banks.

A recently released report, The Carbon Bankroll, also shows how for many of the world’s largest companies the corporate cash in banks is the source of many times more emissions than the emissions that stem directly from the companies’ business operations. For example, in 2021, Google’s financial footprint (carbon emissions from its corporate cash in banks) was 38 times larger than the company’s total direct operational emissions over the last five years. Turns out that which banks you choose to put your money in can outweigh the other components of your carbon footprint, as explained in this infographic “Is Your Money Bankrolling the Climate Crisis?” 

Activists, including Third Act leaders, have been protesting these actions for several years now by writing reports, sending letters demanding change, going to jail, and holding non-violent protests outside of branches. Fortunately, there has been some changes made; Chase, for instance, was forced to oust its board chair, who had previous entanglements with Exxon. They’ve signed on to pledges to go “net zero” by 2050—but these are vague promises that don’t come anywhere close to meeting the green goals that scientists have set. They’ve just been greenwashing. As Chase’s managing director said last year, oil and gas lending “is a huge business for us and that’s going to be the case for decades to come.” Or as Citibank’s “Sustainability” Officer said recently, “We are not talking about a year-on-year reduction in financed emissions,” even though that is precisely what scientists say we need. Indeed, the International Energy Agency, created in the 1970s in response to the oil shocks that inspired so many of us to join this fight, said last year that if we wanted to meet the Paris climate targets “there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now – from this year.”

How to act: Older Americans can influence banks

It’s not impossible to imagine these banks deciding to cut off the money supply for Big Oil. They have vast, diversified lending portfolios—and whatever they lose by shutting down their fossil fuel divisions they can make up by funding the necessary rapid growth in clean energy. But we need it to happen fast—and that’s where our generations come in.

While young people have clearly been leading the climate fight, they have limited power with big financial institutions. That’s because seventy percent of the country’s financial assets belong to Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, compared to about five percent for millennials.

That’s not to say that every older American is financially comfortable—many are just squeaking by. But that puts even more of an onus on those of us with some resources, and it gives us the great privilege of helping out. If we’ve been saving for retirement all these decades, it’s a real bonus that we can help leverage our financial resources to save the planet too.

Don’t Switch Your Bank Just Yet

The key is acting together. If you just cut up your credit card this afternoon or switch your bank account tomorrow, it will be a noble gesture—but one that’s likely to go unnoticed. We need to be acting in larger numbers.

That’s why we’re going to spend this year organizing, leading up to a moment at the end of 2022 when banks can decide whether or not to go along with our requests. If they don’t, then together we take action—and we double our efforts for next year.

In all honesty, acting together means more than signing the pledge. It means recruiting others to do likewise (so use our Banking on our Future Toolkit to get started). It means adopting a local bank branch and meeting with bank branch managers, so we can a) reassure branch employees that we don’t blame them for corporate policy and b) establish lines of communication back to headquarters. It means spreading the word in letters to the editor, curating blogs, sharing important posts on social media, and having important dialogues on podcasts. Together with you, Third Act Working Groups, partners, and others, we will have lots of escalation tactics, teach-ins, and creative activities as this campaign unfolds. It means all the work—and all the fun—of organizing together.

We’ll Help Make the Switch Easy

Changing your bank account can take some time and energy, but it’s totally possible. There are good alternatives: local banks and credit unions rarely invest in climate destruction, and even online banks that make a point to be environmentally conscious. As the end of the year approaches, we will have resources dedicated to making the switch easier. See the resources and FAQs down below.

Changing credit cards is usually pretty simple. (In fact, you may already have several in your wallet, and taking the scissors to one will leave you with options.) But if the year comes to a close and we have not seen any progress from Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, or Citibank, we will have a full list of alternative ways to store your wealth, in a way that doesn’t impact the environment.

The job may be more complex—but even more important—for high net worth individuals; we have particular resources and suggestions if you’re in that category.

Caveats and Collective Action

There’s a couple of points we’ll be making throughout this year of campaigning:

1. Not all older Americans have sufficient financial resources. As usual, the difference often falls along racial and gender lines—and too many of us are just scraping by. Yet everyone can play a role in this action: you don’t need to have an account to hold a sign outside a bank branch or write a letter to the editor.
2. The banks and credit card companies that you switch to are not going to be fault-free; doubtless there’s not a financial institution on earth that isn’t financing something dodgy or grim. But this is the first step in a long journey of going green.

Even if Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America agree to our demands, they won’t be angels. The point of this campaign is to highlight the critical role of banks in the truly existential crisis of climate change and pressure them to stop lending money to fossil fuel companies and projects. There will be plenty of work for others to do in the years ahead. Let’s start right here and right now. Our generation has shown that if we pledge our hearts and minds to a collective movement we can make a difference.