Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel, I'm Matt, and
Speaker 1: today we're talking about socially responsible investing. Yeah, Joel, I
Speaker 1: am excited to talk about socially responsible investing. You know,
Speaker 1: we've got so many requests for this topic. As far
Speaker 1: as the questions sent into us, it got up voted
Speaker 1: into a real big boy episode, So we're not taking
Speaker 1: questions on this one. We'll do a real episode on it.
Speaker 1: We'll go full length here, the an entire show dedicated
Speaker 1: to it. And I think socially responsible investing is something
Speaker 1: that is on the mind of a lot of investors.
Speaker 1: In particular, younger investors really are trending towards socially responsible
Speaker 1: investing introves and it's really changing the industry as a whole.
Speaker 1: You know, let's get into that in just a second. First, Matt,
Speaker 1: I wanted to let you know I had to buy
Speaker 1: a new washing machine at a rental property the other day,
Speaker 1: and I have acutely felt the impact of the Chinese
Speaker 1: tariffs that are currently in effect. Man washing machine prices
Speaker 1: and other prices to have gone up just quite a
Speaker 1: bit thanks to the tariffs that our president has levied
Speaker 1: against China and I don't like to get political on
Speaker 1: the show, but it's just worth noting that the tariffs
Speaker 1: have made are making an actual impact in consumer purchases
Speaker 1: right now. You're feeling that, I guess, washing machines are
Speaker 1: made of a lot of steel, so right, you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to get old school and wash your clothes by hand. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like a little wash basin, hang them up. My tenant
Speaker 1: will have to I guess right. I ended up finding
Speaker 1: that actually buying a used washing machine. While that has
Speaker 1: gone up in price too from from where it was,
Speaker 1: it's still it actually made more sense for me to
Speaker 1: go buy a used washing machine because they're just such
Speaker 1: a big difference in price right now because the tariffs
Speaker 1: have made a new washing machine so expensive. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I feel that buying a used washer and dryer set
Speaker 1: is a good way to go if you aren't in
Speaker 1: a hurry, you know, like you see the posted all
Speaker 1: the time on Facebook, Marketplace online. Uh, and folks are
Speaker 1: having to unload them because they're moving for work and
Speaker 1: they can't take it with them. Depends on the situation,
Speaker 1: but yeah, you can really get a good deal on
Speaker 1: like a brand new like fancy front loading sets for
Speaker 1: a fraction of of what it would be new. I
Speaker 1: personally have never purchased a brand new washer dryer ever,
Speaker 1: that probably doesn't surprise folks. Yeah. Well, actually, the set
Speaker 1: that I had in this rental property I got for
Speaker 1: a hundred dollars from a friend who just needed them gone,
Speaker 1: and I moved to myself and put them in the place.
Speaker 1: I was just sad to see that the washing machine
Speaker 1: had kicked the bucket so quickly, you know, within a
Speaker 1: year and a half of me buying it. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: you know what a hundred bucks for the set, you know,
Speaker 1: I still have a working dryer and they're still totally
Speaker 1: worth it, right, But I was able to score a
Speaker 1: six month old, almost brand new washing machine that was
Speaker 1: in really good condition for for three d bucks. So
Speaker 1: not ideal to pay that much. But when I was
Speaker 1: looking at that compared to the prices for new washing
Speaker 1: machines right now, holy mackerel. Big savings, that's for sure. Yeah. So,
Speaker 1: by the way, based on my experience with you know,
Speaker 1: buying a washing machine and seeing kind of how the
Speaker 1: tariffs are impacting different consumer goods that that are sold
Speaker 1: in our society, I just kind of wanted to put
Speaker 1: that in front of people and say that as prices
Speaker 1: of certain goods go up, it makes it even more
Speaker 1: important to shop in the used marketplace because the price
Speaker 1: gap between new and used has just grown a lot
Speaker 1: in certain categories. So yeah, just make sure to shop.
Speaker 1: These tariffs are not ideal for us when we buy items,
Speaker 1: but you know what, they're kind of part of the
Speaker 1: way it is. Right now, let's introduce our beer that
Speaker 1: we're gonna have on this episode. Man. This is Toffee
Speaker 1: Stouts by Carolina Brewery. And this was another beer sent
Speaker 1: to us by Emma, and she's out of Chapel Hill Man,
Speaker 1: and you know when she sent us these beers, she
Speaker 1: also sent these blue cups. And she said that every
Speaker 1: Wednesday they go there and they share a beer. She
Speaker 1: shares a beer with her best friend, and so she
Speaker 1: said that reminded her of us, and that we had
Speaker 1: to have a set of these cups. Super sweet of
Speaker 1: her to think of us. And uh, Emma, thanks so
Speaker 1: much for sending this beer are away. We're looking forward
Speaker 1: to chatting it up at the end of this episode
Speaker 1: and drinking it in in the meantime. Alright, Matt, So
Speaker 1: onto the subject at hand. We're talking about socially responsible investing,
Speaker 1: and man, these socially responsible investing funds have gained some
Speaker 1: major traction over the past in particular five to seven years,
Speaker 1: and in fact, it turns out that one in four
Speaker 1: investing dollars are now being invested in a quote unquote
Speaker 1: socially responsible way. Yeah, that's that's kind of mind blowing
Speaker 1: because there is a lot of money that's being invested
Speaker 1: right now in our country and to think that a
Speaker 1: quarter of that that blows my mind. But yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's true, right, Yeah, it's kind of just the pace
Speaker 1: of socially responsible investing has just really caught on fire
Speaker 1: and it's pretty incredible. And so this has been the
Speaker 1: most requested topic for us to talk about, and I
Speaker 1: feel like there's a lot to talk about when it
Speaker 1: comes to socially responsible investing. There are terms that we
Speaker 1: kind of need to parse out, but I think there's
Speaker 1: some really good takeaways we're gonna have for folks as
Speaker 1: we kN to get into this a little bit further. Yeah, jel,
Speaker 1: But first, you know, we should ask ourselves the question
Speaker 1: should we even be going down this path? Right? Like
Speaker 1: we've talked about the simplicity of investing, and this in
Speaker 1: fact adds a curveball into the mix. But it's a
Speaker 1: valuable option for many, especially if you have issues investing
Speaker 1: in companies that do business and industries that don't align
Speaker 1: with you personally. Right. You know, we had one listener
Speaker 1: say that he had avoided investing because he didn't want
Speaker 1: to invest in unethical companies. Well, you know, first him specifically,
Speaker 1: and others like them. This, in fact, it really is
Speaker 1: the right path to go down. Yeah, Matt, We've talked
Speaker 1: about so many other things when it comes to investing.
Speaker 1: You know, we've talked about, uh, the simple way to
Speaker 1: do what, we've talked about the fees involved. But if
Speaker 1: those aren't your hang ups, right, if your hang up
Speaker 1: is you want to make sure that you're investing in
Speaker 1: companies that are doing good in the world, and not
Speaker 1: knowing if you can actually make that happen has prevented
Speaker 1: you from becoming an investor, well, it is important to
Speaker 1: note that it is possible, and then it's gotten easier. Right,
Speaker 1: And interestingly enough, the perform mints of socially responsible funds
Speaker 1: have actually been shown to do just as well as
Speaker 1: the index, if not even just a touch better. So
Speaker 1: it turns out there might even be less risk investing
Speaker 1: in companies that have better socially responsible ratings than investing
Speaker 1: in the total stock market as a whole. Obviously, past
Speaker 1: results don't indicate future performance, but since its inception the
Speaker 1: Vanguard FTS Index, the Socially Responsible Index has outperformed Vanguard's
Speaker 1: SMP five hundred index fund, which is important to note
Speaker 1: as we get into this conversation. Yeah, you know, it's
Speaker 1: awesome to see that socially responsible and conscious companies are
Speaker 1: being rewarded for the sort of the good work that
Speaker 1: they're doing and the extra steps that it takes to
Speaker 1: be ranked well. And so these funds are no longer
Speaker 1: a niche product. Socially responsible funds are only going to
Speaker 1: grow and popularity. You know, we have a certain amount
Speaker 1: of power and responsibility in a way to move our
Speaker 1: money in a way that supports and incentivize certain types
Speaker 1: of activity. And so I think it's great that we're
Speaker 1: starting to see that change. We're starting to see that
Speaker 1: shift towards these funds um and and right now just
Speaker 1: in the US alone, you know, we talked about how
Speaker 1: one and four dollars are being invested in a socially
Speaker 1: responsible way. That's twelve trillion dollars like that total invested
Speaker 1: in in socially responsible funds just in the US alone,
Speaker 1: which is a mind blowing amount of money. And so
Speaker 1: I think it's encouraging to see that, and I think
Speaker 1: that a lot of companies are gonna take note and
Speaker 1: they're gonna start changing their behavior and how they respond
Speaker 1: to different issues that we as owners in the company
Speaker 1: right as stockholders begin to present. Yeah, completely agree, it's
Speaker 1: going to change the way companies do business, this new
Speaker 1: method of investing, right, but just know also at the
Speaker 1: same time that it's going to be difficult to avoid
Speaker 1: all the murky realms of morality that occur when you
Speaker 1: attempt to invest in socially responsible funds. It's kind of
Speaker 1: the wild wild West out there right now when it
Speaker 1: comes to socially responsible funds, and there's a lot of
Speaker 1: marketing involved. Honestly, there are a lot of high fees
Speaker 1: involved in a lot of these funds that are touting
Speaker 1: themselves as investing in only socially responsible companies. We're gonna
Speaker 1: get into that a little bit more, but it's important
Speaker 1: to note on the front end that just because a
Speaker 1: fund is touted as being a socially responsible fund. Well,
Speaker 1: that doesn't necessarily mean that's the case. One person's definition
Speaker 1: of socially responsible might be another person's definition of socially irresponsible. Right,
Speaker 1: So it takes a little more personal involvement and research
Speaker 1: when you're attempting to pick the right socially responsible fund
Speaker 1: for you. Yeah, Joe, that's what makes it so difficult, right.
Speaker 1: It varies from person to person, and it's part of
Speaker 1: why it makes it so difficult to define what social
Speaker 1: responsible investing is. But we're gonna attempt that right after
Speaker 1: the break. Okay, Joe, we're back. Let's talk now specifically
Speaker 1: about some different definitions. That way, we know we're kind
Speaker 1: of all on the same page. Often times you hear
Speaker 1: E s G, you hear s r I, youre impact investing,
Speaker 1: you're all those terms used interchangeably, but in fact they're
Speaker 1: pretty different. Uh. And so first let's talk about E
Speaker 1: s G. All right. So E s G is a
Speaker 1: rankings and evaluation system like you mentioned, Matt, based on environmental,
Speaker 1: social and governance standards. It's the closest that you're going
Speaker 1: to get to traditional investing and the focus of these
Speaker 1: types of funds in particular, is actually to see how
Speaker 1: these different standards of the company might have as they
Speaker 1: raise their levels of commitment towards the environment and towards
Speaker 1: social responsibility, will actually have positive impacts on those stock values.
Speaker 1: So it's kind of like the tail wagon the dog.
Speaker 1: They're more concerned about the value of the company growing
Speaker 1: as those commitments towards sustainability and better corporate governance actually increase. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but because of that, there is some good that comes
Speaker 1: from companies who rank well right when it comes to
Speaker 1: their e s G. So you know, a company might
Speaker 1: pollute less, and while that's good for the environment and
Speaker 1: how that might be good for our ability to breathe
Speaker 1: on this planet, it also is good for the company
Speaker 1: because they're not getting slapped with fines, they're not getting
Speaker 1: shut down different things that might negatively affect that company.
Speaker 1: So there are some positive outcomes that can be a
Speaker 1: result of being ranked well or being considered an e
Speaker 1: s G fund. But just know, yeah, that their primary
Speaker 1: concerned is the monetary financial value of specific stocks within
Speaker 1: that fund. And the next let's talk about s r I,
Speaker 1: which is just generally speaking, socially responsible investing. Typically these
Speaker 1: funds will strike more of a balance between doing good
Speaker 1: in the world, but at the same time also growing
Speaker 1: your money. They don't often take into account the furthest
Speaker 1: reaches of social and environmental responsibility, but they will, you know,
Speaker 1: purely eliminate certain sin stocks. Yes, stocks and companies that
Speaker 1: oftentimes are look negatively upon, like fossil fuel or oil companies.
Speaker 1: It's pretty easy for those to be filtered out and
Speaker 1: filtering out, I mean, that's honestly a good way to
Speaker 1: think about socially responsible investing. A lot of times these
Speaker 1: are fun that's look a lot like other funds that
Speaker 1: you would normally invest in, but they don't include certain
Speaker 1: stocks and companies that might be a little more controversial.
Speaker 1: So sometimes they can be real similar to the index
Speaker 1: funds that you're used to, but just the cleaned up
Speaker 1: versions of those, all right. At The third major category
Speaker 1: besides E, s G and s r I investing is
Speaker 1: impact investing. So impact investing essentially means that the funds
Speaker 1: primary desire is to see social impact and environmental change.
Speaker 1: That's the top priority, and financial performance is secondary. So
Speaker 1: whereas sr I investing, socially responsible investing might be passive
Speaker 1: by avoiding certain companies. Impact investing actively seeks out companies
Speaker 1: with a mission to accomplish social good It's essentially investing
Speaker 1: your values over investing in value. And it's really interesting
Speaker 1: to see the far reaching impacts that impact investing is
Speaker 1: already taking on. And so, for example, there's a Racial
Speaker 1: Justice Index fund that seeks to investing companies that are
Speaker 1: committed towards creating a diverse workplace environment and they don't
Speaker 1: invest in companies that aren't committed towards that goal. And
Speaker 1: so it is interesting to see the kind of ways
Speaker 1: that you can put your dollar to work when it
Speaker 1: comes to impact investing. Just know that if you are
Speaker 1: choosing that route, you're prioritizing social change over making a profit.
Speaker 1: And I think that is just an important distinction that
Speaker 1: needs to be made, especially since we're the very forefront
Speaker 1: of these type of investment strategies. Yeah, Joe. What might
Speaker 1: be helpful too is to view these terms on a spectrum.
Speaker 1: We have three terms. E. S. G is at one end,
Speaker 1: where the companies are still very concerned with making sure
Speaker 1: that they make a profit. And by the way, if
Speaker 1: what they are doing good things socially in in the environment,
Speaker 1: then great. You know, that's something that we can send
Speaker 1: out a report on, get some press coverage on, makes
Speaker 1: them look good, but they're not actively seeking those things out.
Speaker 1: S RI I is kind of more in the middle.
Speaker 1: Like we talked about socially responsible investing, and that's a
Speaker 1: way to still earn money in good fun but at
Speaker 1: the same time you're able to exclude some specific companies
Speaker 1: or industries who maybe aren't doing things quiet on the
Speaker 1: up and up in a way that you would like
Speaker 1: to see them done. And then you know, you continue
Speaker 1: down that spectrum and then you have impact investing, right,
Speaker 1: and that's again where they're not really concerned about the money,
Speaker 1: they're focused on that social change. All these terms are
Speaker 1: pretty new, and so it's worth mentioning that oftentimes these
Speaker 1: terms may be used interchangeably and maybe even incorrectly, and
Speaker 1: so because of that, it is up to you as
Speaker 1: an investor to kind of dig into the research a
Speaker 1: little bit and figure out what is included in the
Speaker 1: portfolios are these different funds. It's a little more work,
Speaker 1: but if this is a priority for you, this is
Speaker 1: an important step. Yeah, Matt. In previous episodes, you know
Speaker 1: we've discussed just basic index investing being the kind of
Speaker 1: set it and forget it easy approach, especially for people
Speaker 1: that are in their wealth building years in phase of investing.
Speaker 1: But yes, this path attempting to invest in a socially
Speaker 1: responsible way, it requires more research on the part of
Speaker 1: the investor. So mary for inclusion in a socially responsible
Speaker 1: fund varies from company to company. For instance, Vanguard has
Speaker 1: three hundred different measures for its fund. They look at
Speaker 1: water use, pollution, labor standards, health and safety records. But
Speaker 1: you know what, their standards might not be rigid enough
Speaker 1: for you, and other funds might include companies that you
Speaker 1: might not want to hold, like Wells Fargo or Equifax,
Speaker 1: who have been accused of poor labor practices or sell
Speaker 1: products that you might not agree with. It's really important
Speaker 1: to do your research on the different criteria the different
Speaker 1: funds have that govern which companies can be included in
Speaker 1: that fund or not. And we kind of just touched
Speaker 1: on this, but a lot of times many funds will
Speaker 1: look to mere different indexes that already exist. But again
Speaker 1: we'll exclude the companies involved, say maybe in the coal
Speaker 1: or the tobacco or the weapons guns industries, or even
Speaker 1: companies that have some privacy concerns like Facebook, and then
Speaker 1: some funds will make it really easy for you though,
Speaker 1: you know, and they'll clearly state their focus, including the
Speaker 1: different companies that advanced a particular cause. Joel, you just
Speaker 1: mentioned a racial diversity fund. There's another one out there
Speaker 1: as well that promotes gender diversity on their boards and
Speaker 1: in management positions of companies. What's really cool about that
Speaker 1: fund is their tick or symbol is she It's just
Speaker 1: sh G, which is super cool and very appropriate. And
Speaker 1: what I love about it though, is that it's incredibly
Speaker 1: clear as to what that fund is all about, and
Speaker 1: so it can be tough a lot of times it
Speaker 1: kind of wade through what these funds do, like like,
Speaker 1: how how is this fund any different than some of
Speaker 1: these other funds, except that I see that they cost more, right,
Speaker 1: Like their expense ratios are a little bit more, and
Speaker 1: digging into what it is that sets these funds apart
Speaker 1: falls a little bit more to you as the investor. Yeah, Matt,
Speaker 1: And so a few weeks ago we had an episode
Speaker 1: about the importance of fees when it comes to investing. Well,
Speaker 1: what about the fees when you're trying to invest in
Speaker 1: a socially responsible way. We'll get down to brass tacks
Speaker 1: and discuss that. Right for the break, Let's talk now
Speaker 1: about the next steps. Right, you are researching your socially
Speaker 1: responsible funds, and let's just say you've got two of
Speaker 1: them that look great. They are very similar in what
Speaker 1: they invest in or what they don't invest in. What
Speaker 1: the next thing? You want to look at our fees.
Speaker 1: We've talked before about M one and how they have
Speaker 1: their expert pies. Well, you know what they offer E
Speaker 1: s G funds themselves. Vanguard also has that great Newish
Speaker 1: socially responsible fund as well, and it has fairly low fees.
Speaker 1: Obviously not quite as low as VT sacks, but that
Speaker 1: fund also does better on that spectrum. When as you're
Speaker 1: considering where to push your money, just know that because
Speaker 1: these different funds have grown in popularity over the last
Speaker 1: several years, that fees have come down and will continue
Speaker 1: to see those fees dropped because of competition. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: as you're seeking to be a socially responsible investor, you're
Speaker 1: gonna want to continue to be well diversified at the
Speaker 1: same time, Right, fees are crucial. Diversification is also really important,
Speaker 1: So handpicking just a few stocks that you believe do
Speaker 1: well in regards to their social impact. Well, that's a
Speaker 1: terrible route to go because you don't want all your
Speaker 1: eggs in just a few baskets. But for instance, that
Speaker 1: Vanguard fund that we just mentioned has over four hundred
Speaker 1: companies inside of it. Fidelity has a socially responsible fund
Speaker 1: that has almost three fifty companies inside of it, and
Speaker 1: that's diversified enough, and those funds do pretty well when
Speaker 1: it comes to fees. Will put links to those as
Speaker 1: well as the in one E s G funds in
Speaker 1: the show notes, so that you can kind of start
Speaker 1: to do a little bit of research about particular funds
Speaker 1: that we think will serve you well and see if
Speaker 1: those low fee funds match up with your values and
Speaker 1: how you want to invest. As a contrast, though, it's
Speaker 1: really important to note that there are a lot of
Speaker 1: E s G, s R I and impact investing funds
Speaker 1: out there right now because it's becoming such a popular
Speaker 1: way to invest, and those funds might have a dialed
Speaker 1: in approach when it comes to investing in companies that
Speaker 1: are having good social impacts on the world around us,
Speaker 1: But there's also a good chance that the fees are
Speaker 1: incredib doably high, especially since so many of these funds
Speaker 1: are new. So just be careful as you're digging around
Speaker 1: and you find companies that seem to prioritize investing in
Speaker 1: a way that you align with, because, as we've discussed
Speaker 1: on the show before, fees are crucial when we're talking
Speaker 1: about your investment returns over your investing lifetime. So just
Speaker 1: make sure that that is a point of utmost consideration
Speaker 1: as you're doing your research. Ultimately, there's a way to
Speaker 1: invest according to your conscience while still making sure that
Speaker 1: you're not paying, you know, out the nose when it
Speaker 1: comes to fees. Joel, hearing you mentioned sort of like
Speaker 1: these new kind of socially responsible funds that might be
Speaker 1: crazy expensive makes me think of kind of positioning right
Speaker 1: and branding and how they're kind of selling them themselves
Speaker 1: essentially to the consumer, which, honestly, it kind of makes
Speaker 1: me think of just how it's difficult to know whether
Speaker 1: or not companies are actually doing the socially responsible thing
Speaker 1: um And unfortunately, I think it's easy for us to
Speaker 1: be led into thinking that a company is doing the
Speaker 1: right thing, you know, when in fact that they're not.
Speaker 1: It makes me think of Volkswagen, for instance. Generally speaking,
Speaker 1: I feel like that they've been positioned as this fairly hip,
Speaker 1: kind of in touch company. For the most part, their
Speaker 1: cars are kind of small and environmentally friendly at least
Speaker 1: they look at Yeah, the clean diesel was touted often,
Speaker 1: right and and ads before the emission scanal bro exactly,
Speaker 1: but exactly then the emission scan will happen. And it
Speaker 1: turned out the Volkswagon, starting at a very high level,
Speaker 1: they did not have the environment in mind. And in
Speaker 1: fact we're just looking at the you know, their bottom
Speaker 1: financial line, deceiving folks. Yeah, man, it's it's it's unfortunate,
Speaker 1: but it's true. I think what we can see though,
Speaker 1: moving forward is that a lot more pressure will be
Speaker 1: placed on companies to be transparent and to disclose what
Speaker 1: they're doing in regards to the environment, how they behave socially,
Speaker 1: and how the company governs internally. These are all factors
Speaker 1: that we're gonna be looking to not only as you know, consumers,
Speaker 1: but as investors before we were looking to part with
Speaker 1: our money. Yeah, I think companies that don't do a
Speaker 1: good job in these areas they're gonna see fewer and
Speaker 1: fewer invest and dollars floating their way, and they're gonna
Speaker 1: lose a competitive advantage because of that. But for the
Speaker 1: individual investor, really in this whole space of socially responsible investing,
Speaker 1: it's going to take a bit more work. Especially where
Speaker 1: we are right now, there's still a wild West component
Speaker 1: when we're talking about investing in a socially responsible manner.
Speaker 1: It can be done, and it's getting easy, and I
Speaker 1: think we're gonna see a proliferation in the years to come.
Speaker 1: Fees are gonna come down, Transparency is going to grow,
Speaker 1: and companies are going to change the way they do
Speaker 1: business because people are prioritizing investing in a socially responsible way.
Speaker 1: And I think that's all great. I just think right
Speaker 1: now for the individual investor, there's some bear traps out
Speaker 1: there that can get you, and the biggest one is
Speaker 1: high fee funds touting their socially responsible investing philosophy but
Speaker 1: eating up your money in the process. Yeah, join something
Speaker 1: else that's so important, as well as to not let
Speaker 1: the unknown keep you from investing in your future at all.
Speaker 1: We mentioned the listener who had sent us this question,
Speaker 1: mentioning how this was keeping him from investing, or at
Speaker 1: least the laying his investments. It can be really easy
Speaker 1: to start with that Vanguard Social Index fund or consider
Speaker 1: some different funds that have a higher E s G ranking.
Speaker 1: You can start there and as you gain knowledge and
Speaker 1: as the space kind of develops and evolves over time,
Speaker 1: hopefully you can make informed and smart decisions. And we'll
Speaker 1: link to some of those funds like again that we
Speaker 1: mentioned in our show notes. All right, buddy, let's get
Speaker 1: back to the beer. Today on the show, we had
Speaker 1: toffee stout like Carolina Brewery. Thanks to listener Emma for
Speaker 1: sending this one our away. I gotta tell you, I
Speaker 1: wish my dad was here. He loved Toddy. He would
Speaker 1: have been all about this beer man, And I gotta
Speaker 1: say I really enjoyed myself too. Yeah, toffee is the
Speaker 1: same thing as a Heath bar right, Like exactly my
Speaker 1: bar is name brand toffee. Basically, my dad is obsessed
Speaker 1: with Heath Bar Man. I'm a fan as well. How
Speaker 1: do you make that? Isn't it just kind of like
Speaker 1: melted down baked sugar and butter? That's my assumption. Yeah, Well,
Speaker 1: in this beer, I didn't taste a ton of those sweeter,
Speaker 1: you know, buttery notes, but I did get a lot
Speaker 1: of like roasted flavors. Uh, certainly, this was a really
Speaker 1: multi beer. You're not gonna get any betterness from the
Speaker 1: hopsper sae, but you will get some of that kind
Speaker 1: of dark chocolate roasted bitterness. And if you like a
Speaker 1: really dark cup of coffee with maybe just a little
Speaker 1: bit of sugar, this would be a good beer for
Speaker 1: you to check out. I actually wrote down this reminded
Speaker 1: me of drinking a cold brew coffee, like totally reminded
Speaker 1: me of my morning cold brew that I drink every
Speaker 1: morning in the summer, with like that touch of sweetness, right,
Speaker 1: that toffee sweetness. But but really it's funny because this
Speaker 1: doesn't have any coffee. It's not a coffee scout. It's
Speaker 1: a toffee stout. But if I wonder if it's the name,
Speaker 1: do you think it's the name that made us both
Speaker 1: instead of think toffee, it kind of made us think
Speaker 1: coffee notes. I don't know, man, it just totally it
Speaker 1: had that vibe for me. But the brain is a
Speaker 1: weird place, it is, it is, that's true. But but yeah,
Speaker 1: this had kind of that sweet coffee feel but also
Speaker 1: kind of this cold brew coffee underpinning to it. It
Speaker 1: was really really good and seriously, thanks Emma for sending
Speaker 1: this beer. All wait, we really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you. Okay, Joe,
Speaker 1: let's take it to our final thoughts. What we want
Speaker 1: to leave listeners with, and that is, you know, this
Speaker 1: is a newer space when it comes to investing. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of terms floating out there. E, s G,
Speaker 1: s R I. Uh. You know that you have to
Speaker 1: do your own research, not only because this is a
Speaker 1: newer space, but because it varies from person to person
Speaker 1: what you consider socially responsible investing. Maybe for you that's
Speaker 1: completely avoiding fossil fuels, or maybe that's you know, not
Speaker 1: investing with companies that have poor social practices, like they
Speaker 1: don't treat their workers. Well yeah, and don't forget to
Speaker 1: prioritize low fees at the same time, so crucial. We'll
Speaker 1: put a link to our favorite low fee E S
Speaker 1: G and s R I funds in the show notes
Speaker 1: and by the way, you can find those show notes
Speaker 1: at how to money dot com. Well yeah, well, on
Speaker 1: that note, if you found this episode helpful and you're
Speaker 1: enjoying this podcast, we would love for you to leave
Speaker 1: review over at Apple Podcasts or honestly wherever you listen
Speaker 1: to your podcasts. It is all helpful, Thank you so much. However,
Speaker 1: if you think that we have some room for improvement,
Speaker 1: Joel and I we are always looking to do better,
Speaker 1: so you can go to our website how to money
Speaker 1: dot com, Forward slash do better. Leave us some constructive
Speaker 1: criticism there, and we read every single one of those.
Speaker 1: So Joel, that's going to be it for this episode. Man.
Speaker 1: Until next time, Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out,