What is Conscious Investing and How Can You Use COIN?

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Most of my loyal readers know I come from a background of finance and that I graduated college with a degree in Finance and Investments. For those of you that are new, *waves hello,* I spent the first four years out of college working for a large global e-commerce firm as a financial analyst. Now, as a full disclosure: I am not a licensed financial adviser and therefore everything in this post is simply my opinion based on personal experience, education and extensive research. Investing takes up a big chunk of my time and, in my opinion, is the key to financial stability when executed correctly. Understanding how money works and how it can work for you are the building blocks for creating a happy and fulfilling life.

So why don’t we talk about it more? It seems that money is always a taboo topic: we think that we should be educated on it … and are therefore embarrassed to ask basic questions. Likewise, there are too many society-imposed rules such as “don’t ever ask someone how much money they make.” With this, we created a society where too many people lack the basic knowledge about personal finance … simply because they don’t know where to start. Let’s bust the number one myth out there and face the facts: anyone can get started with investing … even without a huge starting balance … and even without experience.

There, I said it.

Enter: COIN.

The idea behind COIN is simple: it’s an investment platform that allows you to invest in companies and maximize the positive impact on the things you care about most. COIN uses a complex methodology to rank the companies that have a significant impact on various areas such as climate control, gender equality, clean water, better health, and more. Braced with this information, you can begin investing with as little as $50 and support the companies that support the causes you care about most. When you open a COIN account, you’ll have the ability to choose three impact areas that are important to you. COIN’s automated investment platform will then create a diversified portfolio specific to your choices.

Quick vocab break: Think of a diversified portfolio as “not putting all your eggs into one basket.” A diversified portfolio spreads out your investments in a way which helps mitigate risk and volatility and smooths out the ups and downs that typically come with investing. This doesn’t necessarily guarantee a profit or prevent losses … it simply aims to create a healthy balance.

I am a cancer survivor so promoting “better health” is embedded into my moral fiber. Better health is an impact area on COIN’s platform so let’s take a look at how this category works. According to COIN, it will invest your money into companies impacting United Nations Global Goal 3, Good Health and Well-being, which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. COIN chooses the companies by looking at company reporting, partnering with third-party rating firms, and by excluding companies with severe negative incidents or controversies.

COIN charges $0 for trading and transfer fees and allows you to easily withdraw money without penalties. The investment minimum is a low $50 and the yearly platform fee is only 0.75% ($1000 would only cost you $7.50 a year). COIN is changing the dynamic of modern investing: it simple to use, it is affordable and it directly impacts the areas you care about most. And regardless of your investing skill level, you can be sure that your money is impacting the world in a better way while you invest.