SHOP WISELY – PUT YOUR MONEY TO LGBT USE By Christina Mae Olson, CFP®
Have you received your federal stimulus check yet? You should have. They’ve all been deposited (or mailed) by the time you read this article. Economists report that they did little to stimulate the economy. A short boost, maybe, but not what George W. had hoped for. Wal-Mart did see a brief increase in sales in late May/early June – right after the first wave of checks hit our wallets. Apparently, most of us used that money to pay down our credit cards and other debt. I’m happy about that. The national savings rate is at the lowest in history. Back in 1981 – Americans were saving 12% of our income – that’s $12 of every $100 earned. Now, according to the US Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis, we are saving a whopping .30 (30 cents) of every $100 earned. That’s pitiful. The number moves into negative territory if you take taxes and inflation into account.
Still, we all need to spend money from time to time. We have to eat, clothe ourselves, heat our houses and get to work. One of my mottos in my financial planning practice is this: “It’s not so important how much you earn – what’s important is how much you save.” It’s also important to know how much you spend – and it is even more important to pay attention to how you spend it. Are you giving money to businesses that are supportive of LGBT rights? How do you know?
The Human Rights Campaign, www.hrc.org, publishes a buying guide every year. The guide BUYING FOR EQUALITY 2008 is currently out of print but you can download it for free at the HRC website. They are working on the 2009 guide now. The 2008 guide lists 195 companies that received a perfect score of 100% on the HRC’s “corporate equality index.” Businesses are rated from 0 – 100 based on whether or not they have policies that support the LGBT community. They use screens like anti-discrimination policies, domestic partner benefits, diversity training and advertising practices. They investigated over 1800 US companies but won’t rate a business until they have verified all the information. 519 companies are included in the 2008 guide.
Where should you spend your money if you want to support a company or business that supports you? Here are some of the 195 companies with a perfect score:
Best Buy
Walgreens
Herman Miller
Whirlpool
American Express
Bank of America
Citigroup
Master Card
Merrill Lynch
Northern Trust
Visa
Wells Fargo
Gap
Macy’s
Sears
Starbucks
TGI Fridays
BP
Chevron
Anhueser-Busch
Clorox
Coca-Cola
Coors
General Mills
Johnson & Johnson
Kraft
Pepsi
Microsoft
Chrysler
Ford
General Motors
Subaru
Toyota
Volkswagen
Glaxo SmithKline
Merck
Pfizer
Time Warner
UPS
AT&T
Dell
IBM
Motorola
SPRINT
Here are the companies in the guide that received a very low score:
Wal-Mart
Radio Shack
Harry & David
Toys R Us
John Deere (uh oh)
Exxon Mobil
Cracker Barrel
Dole
Kellogg
Hain Celestial
Nestle Purina
Dow Jones
Aegon
Humana
AIG
We need to patronize businesses that are supportive of LGBT people. I also believe we need to spend our money locally. I would love to write about gay owned and/or gay friendly businesses in the 7-Rivers region. Please send your experiences to me at CMOney@centurytel.net. If you are a LGBTIQQA business owner and would like a little plug – please contact me. I’ll profile you in a future article. In the meantime, please pay attention to where your money is being spent. You may be, inadvertently, supporting a company that discriminates against you.
Chris Olson is a certified financial planner™ with a fee-only practice. You can reach her at CMOney@centurytel.net or (608)-525-9818.