Be proud of the investments you own.

Have you heard about that great stock your uncle Buck invested in? What about Dave the plumber and his favorite mutual funds? Or how about Jim’s 401(k) that he’s always talking about around the water cooler at work?

It seems a lot of people are proud of the investments they own. What about you?

But what if we added some information to the equation…

What if Uncle Buck told you, “You should check out this company — I bought their stock at $7 and now it is at $20. They sell cigarettes to kids and I’m making a killing. It’s awesome.”

Or if Dave The Plumber said, “Gosh, I love my mutual funds. They are doing so well. They help me diversify my portfolio between human trafficking, labor exploitation and dirty supply chains. You should really check them out.”

And what if Jim At The Water Cooler mentioned, “You should look at the growth fund we’ve got in the 401(k). It invests in companies that specialize in predatory lending and destroying the environment. It’s a great space to be invested in right now.”

Would they still be proud to own their investments? Would you?

For many people, investing is just a means to an end. You need to retire someday, so you invest money in your 401(k) because you know it is supposed to grow over time and allow you to be financially secure in your old age. Or you might put some money away in a college savings plan and invest it in some mutual funds hoping to see it grow and ease the burden of paying for a good school for your child.

But do you really understand what is going on inside your investment portfolio? Where does your money go? And, perhaps more importantly, where do your profits come from?

When you invest in stocks — whether that is through a retirement account like a 401(k) or IRA, a mutual fund or just buying individual company stocks directly in a brokerage account — you become an owner of that company. You might be a very, very small percentage owner, but you are an owner nonetheless, and with ownership comes responsibility.

If you owned a business in your local town, would you want to make sure that it was only making money in ethical and moral ways? If your business was a grocery store and you found out that your employees were selling cigarettes to children, would you be upset? Would you even sell cigarettes to anyone at all in the first place?

When you invest, you need to ask yourself the same questions of responsibility. And thankfully, good returns and good values are not mutually exclusive. Research from The University of Oxford and other prestigious institutions indicate that while past performance is no guarantee of future results, investments in ethical, responsible companies offered improved returns compared to investments in companies with poor track records of ethical responsibility.

Your Inspire Advisor can help you invest in quality companies that are doing good around the world, like fighting cancer, cleaning water and operating with high ethical and moral standards, while also working toward your financial goals. And with our sister company, Inspire Investing’s Give50 program, the impact you can make is multiplied.

These are investments you can really be proud to own.

Be confident in your financial future.

Nobody likes to make mistakes. But when it comes to making mistakes with your financial life, things can get downright scary.

Small decisions like, “Should I put away 3% or 5% toward my 401(k) every month?”, or, “Should I pay off debt first or contribute to my retirement account?”, can make a big difference when added up over your lifetime.

And some decisions can have a big impact right away, such as, “How can I best prepare to sell my business?”, or, “Should I take a loan against my 401(k) to buy a house?”

It can be easy to slip into worry and fear over decisions like these because they have the potential to make or break your financial future. But when it comes to your money relationship, fear is one of the surest ways to make a financial blunder. Fear clouds your judgement and makes you do things that you might regret later on.

Surround yourself with allies who can help guide you on the right path. As a wise man once said, “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22). Your Inspire Advisor can help you think clearly about your options and give you trusted, expert advice so that you can feel confident in your most important financial decisions.