June 2023 MBR The Money/Finance Shelf

The Money/Finance Shelf

Don't Feed the Clowns
Dale Wannen
Precocity Press
9798987350188, $7.95 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Feed-Clowns-Sustainable-Investing-ebook/dp/B0BXFQWKHM

Don't Feed the Clowns: Sustainable Investing for Everyday Life holds an important message: if sustainable living is an individual's ultimate ideal, one can't then choose investment vehicles that include companies unsupportive of this effort.

Sustainable living choices do not always neatly translate into sustainable investing approaches, however - and that's where money manager Dale Wannen comes in. His book covers all the possibilities and pitfalls of tailoring one's investments to match one's ideals. It opens with a key insight: "...every penny you invest in a 401k, 403b, IRA, etc., is literally changing the way the world works. Yes, you are that special. Think about it. That decision you made by checking some boxes because "Big Daddy Large Cap Dividend Sucker Growth Fund" sounded appealing after you chatted with Kathy from HR. You know Kathy. She drives that fancy Infinity GHBG720. Kathy too is changing the world."

Wannen also points out the ongoing disparity between envisioning sustainability and actually living it: "People are walking around like zombies. But their 401k balances are way up. This is the path we have been on for decades." Linking individual decision-making to sustainable accountability, Wannen refuses to let the individual reader off the hook of responsibility for higher-level decision-making in the economic world. This is an important lesson, indeed.

Some of his advice is basic Investing 101, such as setting up a sound asset allocation unique to a risk profile. The meat of his approach lies in advice that takes the time and additional steps that led more solidly into sustainable thinking and action. Yes, investors as a whole are already adopting this mindset. What differentiates Don't Feed the Clowns from most other surveys of sustainability is Wannen's attention to drawing further connections between money management and investor influences and impact on business behaviors and choices. Whether investors are interested in IRAs, mutual funds, or active investing (which involves a more hands-on approach), Wannen links typical financial vehicles, choices, and investments to bigger-picture thinking about impact, responsibility, and sustainable ideals.

As a result, Don't Feed the Clowns is very highly recommended for readers seeking to live more sustainable lifestyles, investors looking to move their choices into financial vehicles which better support the world's health and diversity, and libraries that would add a more lively discussion of investing that incorporates social and conscious ideals into their business book collections. Book clubs (either reader groups or those addressing sustainable living choices) will find plenty of information for not just solid investment approaches, but discussions about the intersection of investment objectives and sustainable ideals.

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