it's as cold as ice.

This morning revealed bright ice crystals over everything.

After reading my previous post, I thought a little longer about how to approach the Socially Responsibly Investing (or SRI) topic. You may see it referred to as Sustainable Investing because more and more SRI mutual funds include screens for environmental impact or a commitment to a sustainable environment on behalf of the companies (stocks) that they are invested in. If you, like me, are a conscious consumer (or try to be darn it!) then you are probably aware of this option. I guess I just want to make that clear.

Socialfunds.com or SocialInvest.org are some places that can provide mountains of information on this subject and provide tools for evaluating funds. FYI - I like checking out the different mutual funds (SRI or otherwise) top ten holdings just to make sure I like where my money is going. You can do this either through google finance or yahoo finance or msn money. It's like shopping.

By the way, my favourite personal/family finance book is "All Your Worth" by mother-daughter team Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi. I just loved their optimistic attitude, honestly been-there anecdotes and straightforward financial planning strategy.

As for personal investing - like in the Stock Market (yikes!), I haven't found the perfect book yet. Most books I've read (I just LOVE the library) focus on how to evaluate stocks or mutual funds, which is fine, but you need to find something that helps you with asset allocation. or that magic pie chart that helps you to decide just how much to put where. It's not that difficult, but I am grateful for the help I received from family and friends. Money is taboo, right? Not an easy thing to talk about. I know I'm not an expert, but you probably know one.

Good luck. Happy returns.