I got depressed when I first started reading Janelle Orsi’s analysis about tax-advantaged retirement plans (401(k)s, 403(b)s, Individual Retirement Accounts (Roth IRAs and Traditional)).
But, in 2023, I wanted to set up a retirement benefit for myself and my colleagues at Francesco Collaborative, so I was pushed to figure out what our options were.
After being disappointed by what some of my radical financial planner friends were sending me Carbon Collective, Sphere, ForUsAll, Green Retirement…(meh..) I heard about Just Futures (exciting! – more on this later)… but then Elizabeth sent me a slide deck of Janelle’s analysis that she had presented on an Angels of Mainstreet Podcast.
Her synthesis of her years convening the Next Egg community and legal research on the constraints of retirement savings, ERISA, “fiduciary duty” and “prudent man” — are crushing.
Janelle is so talented — both in her cartooning abilities as well as her thoughtfulness and clear legal research. Here was her Harvard Law Review piece on ERISA that has been doing deep work on my psyche.
Do I need to become a conscientious objector to our 401k and tax-advantaged retirement systems?
I know my theology and discipleship professor Dr. Margie Pfeil has done something similar from Notre Dame’s 403b program.
Is there a campaign or movement I need to help instigate, support, encourage into being?
Ugh… this is not an easy question.
These slides give a quick summary:
Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.
Martin Luther King, Jr. – Letter from a Birmingham Jail
My Big Question:
Will the community investing movement name the ethical entanglements of 401ks?
If they do, will meaningful alternatives emerge?
So far in 2024, I’ve had one great conversation with the COO of Just Futures. After our conversation she sent me this overview of their ownership structure.
It’s incredibly thoughtful & shows their values and commitment to this work. In our conversation she told me I could build a portfolio of Community Capital Management (A leading impact investor for fixed income, who I deeply respect) and Adasina (another leader I deeply respect). She also told me JustFutures is building towards a brokerage window where I could add Kachuwa to my portfolio.
Overall, I’m hopeful… but we’ll see!
Let me know what you see as a signs of hope that I might like for an update to this thread later this year.