Anybody whose 401K didn't have a sinking spell last week is a very lucky person. The rest of us took our lumps and got over it. Well, maybe not all of us.
It turns out that one of San Diego's fast-growing businesses, called Sarah's Smash Shack, is getting an uptick of ticked-off customers who are ready to pay between $10 and $45 for the practice of hurling crockery against tile walls until it shatters.
While that may relieve intense frustration, it's not exactly a sustainable solution. But what is? It feels a little like fiddling while Rome burns to sit and watch the stock market rise and fall to a number of stimula over which we have little or no control.
Accepting anyone else's financial advice is possibly foolhardy. But if you are considering any changes to your money management (or even just starting to save) how about taking this opportunity to look into greening your own personal finances?
It is not that "green" banks, socially responsible (SRI) mutual funds and bond funds like Domini Social Bond Fund don't have similar risks to regular banks and regular funds. They do.
But they also help build and re-build sustainable economies. In a recent article on GreenBiz, author Richard Seireeni takes a look at two institutions that have helped immensely in Portland, Oregon's move toward a more sustainable economy. (Portland is also ranked the greenest city in the U.S. by SustainLane).
The institutions, ShoreBank Pacific and Portfolio21, haven't avoided the downturn. ShoreBank's motto "the first commercial bank in the U.S. with a commitment to environmentally sustainable community development" is privately held and never got into the home mortgage business, which has partially shielded it from the mortgage mess. According to CEO Dave Williams, ShoreBank Pacific is strong from both a liquidity and and capital perspective. While ShoreBank Pacific is a commercial bank (so no checking but only "Eco-deposits" for individual investors), it's sister bank ShoreBank has a full array of checking, savings and investment options for depositors in Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit.
Portfolio21, also Portland based, is one of the very few SRI funds that managed to squeak through with a green seal of approval when Paul Hawken turned his analytic eye on the SRI industry three years ago.
Portfolio21 share price has dropped along with its benchmarks, the S&P 500 and the MSCI index. But Portfolio21's exposure to the financial sector is only 7 percent, and it has a strong cash position. The fund has outperformed its benchmarks when looking at a longer-term (3,5 year) perspective. Siereeni concludes that "green street" is in better shape than "Wall Street."
Currently, the number of bonafide green banks and highly-rated SRI funds is small, and you'll have to research alternatives close to home. And finding green alternatives for you savings may not shield you from market forces, but it will grow the market supporting local and sustainable business, a definite plus. It also helps counteract that sinking feeling.
More from TreeHugger on green banking
::Banking On Sustainability: e3bank To Offer New Kind Of Bank In Philadelphia Area, Where It All Began
Banks Continue to Step Up Green Initiatives
::How to Go Green: Investing
::Take Action: Green Investments
::Portfolio21: More Green Investing
::How to Build Your Sustainable Portfolio 101