Financial adviser for climate-conscious humans | Co-Founder @ Greenspace Financial Planning (B-CORP)
I deal with lots of ‘normal pension problems’, but I actually find a lot of my client’s concerns are deeper. I’m sharing them in case they resonate with you. By ‘normal pension problems’, I mean: feeling like you aren’t saving enough, lack of clarity on performance, costs, risk, tax etc. But these are the deeper issues I often find: 1️⃣ Investing against your values Heavy polluters, fossil fuel extractors, weapons manufacturers are found in most pensions, and more people are realising. You can get quantifiable data on this with a simple check and the help of an advisor. They just need your permission to gather information. 2️⃣ Feeling too small to make a difference We both know the climate crisis, the economy, planetary systems are HUGE problems. They can make our personal actions feel insignificant. But there’s good news! Change begins on the margins in financial markets because asset managers and investors watch where money is going to. So even small changes get noticed and they take action to stop the bleed. 3️⃣ Feeling overwhelmed about where to start My industry isn’t geared to help with investing in line with your values. Your annual statement is pages and pages of mainly irrelevant small print, fund codes, and regulatory wording. But an advisor can gather exact information on your behalf and explain it to you without jargon. The takeaway is you can use your pension to make a huge positive difference, and it doesn’t need to involve sacrifice. You don’t need to change your lifestyle, give up anything you enjoy, pay more, or lose out on returns. The first step is to speak to your adviser and tell them your concerns. They have to advise you based on your objectives and concerns, INCLUDING ethical ones. #ethicalinvesting #sustainablefinance #sustainability
