It's not hard to find articles about socially responsible investing, or SRI, in financial publications and even mainstream media these days.  The reason is that by the end of 2005, there was over $2.5 trillion invested using this approach in the United States.  Numbers that big are bound to attract some attention.   

So, just what is this investment approach and how does it apply to you?  Well, socially responsible investing is simply choosing to align your investment decisions with your personal moral beliefs.  The idea is that your money is not supporting activities that you are opposed to. 

Mutual fund investment has grown at an incredible rate in the past few years, with total investments over $12.3 trillion at the end of September 2007.  That's an increase of 77% since the year 2000.  The number of households in our country owning a mutual fund increased by 6.8% to almost 51 million in that time as well. 

Why the growth in mutual fund investing?  Well, for the most part the benefits are pretty straightforward.  First of all, you get exposure to professional money management so qualified individuals are evaluating companies and not you.  Secondly, you get diversification.  What this means is that your risk is lower because you own many stocks instead of just a few.  If one performs poorly, your exposure is less because it's only one of the many stocks you own. Typically, this diversification is available only to investor's with large sums of money to invest.  Mutual funds provide that for the average investor because everyone's money is pooled to make purchases. Lastly, when you own shares of a mutual fund, your money is still liquid, meaning you can convert it to cash quickly if you need it. 

We work; we earn a wage; we pay our bills.  What we have left over, we can give to charity or we can invest — planning for our future and that of our children.  Often when we invest, we use…

Have you ever thought about how many Catholics are in this country?  You might be surprised to know that the number is somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 million!  Yes, its true - Catholics make up almost 25% of the…

In March 2007, the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, alerted Americans that the federal government had removed "In God We Trust" from the face of newly minted $1 Presidential coins…

The list of losers in the sub-prime loan crisis is long: borrowers, investors, banks, anyone whose livelihood depends on the availability of credit-and homeowners whose homes are being foreclosed.

But there are winners, and one of them made a killing…

It was the kind of cryptic theological statement that is often found stuck on automobile bumpers.

This sticker said: "Don't let my car fool you. My treasure is in heaven."

This echoed the Bible passage in which Jesus urged believers to, "lay…

You're switching to a high-deductible health-insurance policy! You're going to go broke!

You have it backwards. My high-deductible policy will save me money. And it allows me to set up a health savings account, which might make me a bunch of…

Catholic League president Bill Donohue released the following statement today regarding the league's protest of Miller beer:

"Last week we sent some photos of the Miller-sponsored Folsom Street Fair to all the pastors of the 166 Protestant churches in Milwaukee.…

The media have found their new poster boy to rail against the coal industry.

MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, but with Allison Stewart filling in for an absent Olbermann, had anti-coal Jeff Goodell, author of Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind…

A book published in June by a leading US economist in part responds to previous and oft-quoted claims that abortion has been a significant factor in lowering the US crime rate. The book by John R. Lott of the American…

Life Decisions International (LDI) will soon release a revised edition of The Boycott List, which identifies corporations that are boycott targets due to their support of Planned Parenthood, the world's leading abortion-advocacy group.

"As a direct result of the commitment, action…

The US State Department has issued its 2007 report on human trafficking and has named four wealthy US Arab allies — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar — as among the worst offenders in failing to act to stop the international…

Gas prices have dropped 24 cents in a month, so where does ABC shop for bad economic news? In the dairy case, of course.

"The price of milk in America is about to go up and go up again, a lot,"…

On Monday, the Holy Father received participants in a meeting being promoted by Young Entrepreneurs of Confindustria (the General Confederation of Italian Industry).

The Pope opened his address to them by affirming that "all business enterprises are to be considered…

Not very long ago, investing in stocks never occurred to most people. Their money was too tied up in things like food and shelter to allow for much dabbling in the partial ownership of a corporation. But times have changed.…

On April 10, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations in New York, delivered a statement before the 40th session of the Economic and Social Council's Commission on Population and Development, which is considering the theme:…

The TV made them do it.

It made them "cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs."

CBS's Katie Couric used the cereal slogan as she introduced a March 28 Evening News report. The nanny-staters were at it again, this time warning that children who…

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations in New York, delivered a talk before the 45th session of the Commission for Social Development of the U.N. Economic and Social Council, on "Item 3 (a): Priority Theme:…

Most Americans — 62% — think an increase in poverty in the United States would threaten national security, according to the latest Poverty Pulse survey by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).

The survey also found that 91% of…

"In general, Russia suffers from a frightening poverty in the sphere of facts and a frightening wealth of all types of arguments," wrote Chekhov in a letter to a friend. Now, Russia suffers from a destructive poverty of a sort…

"Merry Christmas" is back on the lips of many retailers greeting shoppers this holiday season — much to the delight of the 32% of those who say they're offended when a store clerk who instead uses the generic but politically…

Bishop Thomas Wenski, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) international policy committee, is urging textile industry lobbying groups to avoid divisive and alarmist rhetoric when criticizing trade preferences for the world's poorest countries.

"Pitting hard-working manufacturers in our…

Last week, the US Federal Reserve decided to maintain short-term interest rates at 5.25% for its third consecutive meeting. Despite an apparently cooling US economy, the Fed clearly remains concerned about inflationary pressures. What the Fed calls "core inflation" —…

On Tuesday in London, England, Cardinal Renato Raffale Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, purchased, in the Holy Father's name, the first bond for the eradication of poverty issued by the International Financing Facility for Immunization…

Last column concluded with the comment that the fallout from the national debt may present a major opportunity to investors and their portfolios. There are three main ways to take advantage of the debt and the resultant falling dollar.

Foreign Bonds

The…

Question: I’ve heard a lot about the national debt lately. Should I worry about the national debt, and does the debt have any affect on my investments? — Steve, California

To answer your first question, it is helpful to begin with a…

Q. I am twenty-one years old and am thinking about opening an IRA. I am single, earn about $30,000 per year, but have no 401K plan at my job. Is an IRA the best way for me to save for retirement,…

A home for the poor in Sarajevo run by the Sister Servants of the Baby Jesus.

A high school in Ethiopia. A hospital in Bosnia. A school for professional carpenters in Tiblisi.

Those are just a few of the papal projects funded…

In the past few years, a number of investment companies and firms have been formed with the intention of helping Catholics invest their money in an ethical fashion. The existence of these firms has brought to the fore some very…

VATICAN CITY — The just-published annual report on papal charity, prepared by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, announced that Pope John Paul II's aid to the poor and suffering for 2004 amounted to $9,252,047. This included aid to victims of…

With the dizzying talk of a “weak dollar,” “crude oil prices,” and “gold rallies,” investors are often left scratching their heads and wondering how all this affects them, and what, if anything, they should be doing about it. As it…

More-month-than-money. The experts say it happens to most of us at one time or another. What's a family to do? I wish I could share that we never run out of cash before payday, that our life is always smooth…

When many Americans think of Ireland, they often think of the pastoral country portrayed on the silver screen, in movies like The Quiet Man, or more recently, in Waking Ned Devine. They envision a poverty-stricken, backward country with little or no industry.…

A corporate attorney sent the following tips out to the employees in his company to help protect them from identity theft.

1. The next time you order checks, omit your first name and have only your initials and last name put…

A recent commentary in BusinessWeek described business leaders as seriously concerned because of the distraction of the religious right.

Christians, having turned up in droves at the voting booth, are worrying corporate types who now wonder if they can get and keep…

Many people are considered “cheap” if they pursue bargains or seek out the most economical sources in town for products or services. Yet when people need advice on where to shop because of an unexpected major purchase or financial emergency,…

In our present technological age, it is common for priests to encounter new moral questions from their parishioners in the sacrament of Confession. Some examples might be: “Is email spamming immoral?” “Is it lawful to copy music files from the…

A North Carolina organization is trying to help Christians make wise choices when it comes to donating to ministries.

Six years ago, Rusty Leonard, a successful North Carolina businessman, was looking for ministries to support. Preferring to examine organizations' financial accountability…

In this recent series of articles, we've looked at the basics of budgeting. Starting with why you need to budget, we moved on to tracking your spending and setting up category limits. The final piece of the puzzle is how…

In Part 2 of this series we talked about tracking your spending, and how knowing where your money is currently going is critical to establishing a workable budget. Recording your transactions over several weeks will help provide some insight into your…

In Part 1 of this budgeting series, we gently poked holes in some of the common excuses people offer as to why they don't budget. It is my opinion that some form of budgeting is essential for Christians to be…

According to a June 8, 2001 Zenit News story: “Poland's bishops say that ‘unbridled capitalism’ after the fall of the Berlin Wall has widened the gap between rich and poor in their country.” In lamenting the increasing gap between the…

This article is the first in a series of articles detailing the practical steps of creating and maintaining a budget. Whoa! For some of you, just the mention of the word “budget” made the hair on the back of your…

The owners of a Michigan-based company are using their profits to help spread the gospel worldwide.

It was back in 1993 when Wally Blume developed a new flavor of ice cream that he dubbed “Moose Tracks.” The popularity of Moose Tracks…

Moscow — Russian presidential economic advisor Andrei Illarionov called the Kyoto Protocol an “undeclared war against Russia” at a July 8 Moscow press conference immediately following a two-day climate change and Kyoto seminar held in Moscow.

Illarionov has been a frequent…

It's not easy to climb out of a difficult, deep-in-debt situation, but it can be done. Here's my story — I hope you find it encouraging.

Becoming debt-free is one of my most memorable achievements. It was also one of the…

We need not look very far to be reminded that we are living in an age in which wealth is used so terribly, and for purposes so immoral, that at times we are tempted to forget that wealth is a…

James L. Lambert, who resides in San Diego, California, is a frequent contributor to AgapePress. He is the author of Porn in America (Huntington House), which can be purchased through the American Family Association; and a licensed loan sales agent who…

A cornerstone of the Sound Mind Investing philosophy is that your investing decisions should always be made on the basis of a personalized, long-term strategy. To emphasize its importance, I make the point repeatedly and in various ways. In my…