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Community Investing Achiever in the Social Investment Forum 1% For Community campaign since 2002. Calvert Foundation Advisor of the Year in 2004. Learn more!

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Personal Finance Resources

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Responsible Philanthropy and SRI Themed Books

A word from professor Eric: 
"These original book reviews are to help you make buying (or library) decisions. Click on a buy button below each item to learn more and then securely purchase. Of course I don't agree with everything in each book but overall I believe this selection is a good one." (note to authors and readers)

So grab a cup of your favorite beverage and enjoy browsing!

                    Eric

• One of the observations in the book is that we all try to “help” those around us by getting them to quickly and heroically resolve their grief—“you’ll get over it soon” and “don’t feel bad, you can just get another [dog, spouse, father, job, leg, etc.].” Obviously this does not help the natural grieving process.
• Another observation is that people are uncomfortable around others’ emotions. So they cheerfully intellectualize, “_____ was a wonderful [dog, spouse, father, job, leg, etc.]” but this only stops the natural grief resolution process when the person grieving really needs to feel sorrow, loss, and pain to move through it. Just quiet listening seems to be one of the most powerful ways we can help grievers.

• Thayer Willis comes from a wealthy family herself so she deeply and personally understands the issues involved. That along with her graduate-level training as a clinical social worker and years of focused experience can translate into a reading experience worth your time invested.
• She intersperses biblical and faith-based quotes throughout the material--this is not everybody's cup of tea. Perhaps the other more grounded, sensible, and useful observations and stories could have stood solidly on their own.

"A favorite fantasy for those who aren't wealthy is what their lives would be like if they were. Certainly, it's not hard to see that being able to pay the bills and beyond that, being able to afford all of one's material desires would seem an incredibly freeing situation. The Catch-22, however, is that there is much more to being wealthy than attaining financial ease, and this "much more" bears its own price. For some, that price is deceptively huge."

Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes-And How to Correct Them: Lessons from the New Science of Behavioral Economics, by Gary Belsky, Thomas Gilovich

• This book could return its cost many times over your life even if you only learn a couple of things from it.
• Caution: May produce "Ah Ha" moments in the reader.

"A close cousin to decision paralysis is resistance to change. That is, people are almost preternaturally predisposed to the familiar, to keeping those things much as they have been. Behavioral economists call this the "status quo bias," and it has been demonstrated numerous times. One of the most compelling of these demonstrations was a series of studies conducted by William Samuelson of Boston University and Richard Zeckhauser of Harvard University. In one experiment, individuals with a working knowledge of economics and finance were presented with a problem much like the following..."

• O.K., so we had to include this in the list because David included interviews with Eric in a couple of sections.
• The host of NPR's Marketplace program shares stories of how people deal with money, some with a lot, some with a little--each in their own way.

(click on image to purchase from Simple Living Network)

The Affluenza Video Collection Affluenza & Escape From Affluenza Author: John de Graaf, Producer, 1998, VHS Videos, Publisher: Bullfrog Films

• Af-flu-en-za n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. 4. A video that could change your life.
• Affluenza is a one-hour television special that explores the high social and environmental costs of materialism and over-consumption.
• Escape picks up where Affluenza left off by profiling people and organizations that are reducing consumption and waste, choosing work that reflects their values and working to live in better balance with the environment and society.

• Socially responsible shopping, investment and philanthropy from an American Jewish perspective.
• This book can serve to challenge and motivate American Jews towards promoting social justice. Reinforces and informs positive Jewish identity into action.

• Strategies for starting and managing your own business based on the study of 450 successful business using an open and honest management style.
• Eric read the first edition before starting his financial planning practice. 

• Easy-to-read concise and humorous. Educational but not technical.
• The author and Eric, colleagues, are each Professional Members of First Affirmative Financial Network.

Seven Stages of Money Maturity : Understanding the Spirit and Value of Money in Your Life by George Kinder

• Read this book if you want to get at the heart of what personal money issues are all about on a very deep level.
• Eric has taken workshops from George and found the concepts applicable in numerous client consultations.
• Move through the "Money Maturity" themes of Innocence, Pain, Adulthood, Knowledge, Understanding, Vigor, and finally, Aloha!
• If you've ever worried about your relationship with money matters, but never understood very clearly why, try this book.

"When we enter this world at birth, money has no meaning. As newborns, we live in a world defined by simple physical needs for food, warmth, and touch. We exist in a blessed unknowing that creates a special freshness and wonder. All of us know this Innocent state of being, replete with honesty, directness, and wisdom that draw us to small children and their uncorrupted ways. Yet at some point this primal state breaks down, not because it is wrong or the world flawed, but because life draws us down its path. As we grow, we learn--and one of the realities we must learn about is money...

"...Aloha cools the mind and calms one's whole essence. It delivers the gift of an end to suffering, an acceptance of feelings coupled with a blessing. And it can be as simple as a smile, a gesture, a look given by someone who knows beyond words that what we are going through and accepts both it and us, with unconditional positive regard."

Note to authors and readers:

If you have any corrections or additions, please contact us. We go through this list periodically and remove publications that are out of print or out of date. We would like to hear from authors when there is a new book on the subject! Permission to forward this page in whole (with credit for source) is hereby granted and encouraged.