Welcome to Spend Donate Invest! I go by GG, that’s short for Genet Gimja and I’m your host as we explore the topic of how we can align our values, our beliefs, our politics, and what we do with our money on a daily basis.
It’s that time of year that it is natural to start reflecting back on the past 12 months and reviewing what happened and it’s also natural to start planning for next year.
So given that this whole show is about how we can line up our values and our money, let’s talk about how you and I could do a year end review when it comes to our financial impact on the broader world.
Did we spend, did we donate, did we invest and did we earn in line with our values in 2023?
So let’s start by reviewing any goals that we might have set over the year. For me, I set a goal of giving more this year, and I also wanted to switch one of my investment accounts to investments that better lined up with my values. Did you make any goals this year?
And how did you do? Did you even remember that you had made the goal? Did you blow past it? Was it way too easy? Are you unsure how to tell if you even reached your goal? Maybe it was so vague that it isn’t easy for you to know whether you can check that box or not. And honestly, depending on the type of goal you had, maybe that’s ok. Not all goals are something you can put on a spreadsheet. For example, you may have had a goal to feel differently about something than you did at the beginning of the year. For example, maybe your goal was to feel less hopeless about your financial impact on the world.
By taking this thoughtful approach, I think we can understand if we met our goals but also how we can set better goals for next year.
Now, let’s say you didn’t set any specific goals. Let’s move on to the next thing which is, did I take advantage of any opportunities to better align how I put my money to work this year?
Some opportunities to donate might have popped up. Did you take advantage of those chances to help? Make a list of all the places you donated this year. And write down how much you donated. Add it up. What do you think of this total amount? What is it as a percentage of your take home pay? If you don’t rely on your paycheck to live, then what percentage of your wealth do your total donations equal? And how do you feel about that? There’s no right or wrong answer, but how do you feel about your percentage? Is it more than you thought? Do you give less than you thought? Are there any donations that you regretted making this year? Does realizing that you didn’t regret any make you think differently about the amount of hesitation you’ll have next year when you think about donating?
Let’s think about our spending. Did you shift any of your shopping this year to better align with your values? Did you eat or drink differently according to your desire for a more sustainable world? That can mean different things to different people. It can mean shopping locally, it can mean shopping seasonally, it can mean reducing food waste, it can mean switching to a diet that is more environmentally friendly. If this is one of your values, did you shop from small businesses? Or women owned businesses? Black or indigenous owned businesses? I’m throwing out examples, there are many more that might resonate.
Now let’s talk about our investments. Did you switch to any impact investments this year? Did you advocate for a socially responsible 401K option at your job? Did you vote in any shareholder elections?
And finally, let’s talk about how we earned our money. Did you change to a job that better aligns with your values? If that’s something you want to do. Did you start a new business this year? What aspects of your revenue generation align with your values? What choices did you make consciously or subconsciously that you can see now are a reflection of your values? If you have other sources of income like real estate, did you make any choices that reflect your values as a person and member of society?
Take your time and think through these questions. You can listen to this episode as many times as you need to, pause it any time and do some journaling or reflection and then hit play and continue. If you’d rather have this as a worksheet or workbook let me know, I’d be happy to make one for you all. It really would be my pleasure.
I think the last thing to do to close out this year end reflection is to ask the broader question, how do I feel about my values and my money? Would a forensic accountant be surprised if they peeked into my accounts? Would they see how I vote and what I care about and then be surprised to see what I actually do with my money?
When I look into my accounts, is there a large cognitive dissonance? What do I know that I could I be doing that I am not already doing?
These are big questions. And I want to encourage you to be patient with yourself. A lot of us are used to leaving this source of power on the table. We’re not used to thinking about our money as another way to vote our values.
Now that you’ve thought about these questions, I think it’s time to celebrate the wins! What we’re talking about is hard work, the problems are big, they can be overwhelming, making these changes can feel like absolutely going against gravity, so even the tiniest of changes, the smallest improvements, let’s celebrate them!
Send your wins to me, big and small, I want to celebrate them with you! Let’s pump ourselves up and refill our tanks because there’s more work for us to do! And we are just the people to do it!
I’m going to come back in January with some thoughts on planning for 2024. Enjoy time off if you are taking any, if you celebrate any of these holidays around this time of year, then happy holidays!
Let’s talk again soon!