Upworthy's book GOOD PEOPLE, now available - take a look!

Shop
 Explore 

investment

Seattle is two states and one big mountain range away from North Dakota.

But for Lisa Herbold, a Seattle city council member, the voices of folks shivering outside in America's heartland needed to be heard.

"It really moves me to think of the people who are hundreds of miles away from us today, waiting in the cold for our vote," Herbold explained to the Los Angeles Times.

Thankfully, Seattle was listening. And it voted unanimously on the right side of history.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

On Feb. 7, 2017, Seattle became the first city in the country to cut financial ties to the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL — a project that could contaminate the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's clean water supply.

Seattle wasn't directly funding the pipeline, of course. But Wells Fargo bank is.

The bank says it's provided $120 million in loans — a dramatic underestimate to some critics — for the pipeline's construction. And for many Seattle residents, that's a problem.

The city had been in business with Wells Fargo until Tuesday, when council members voted to have the Emerald City move its $3 billion account from Wells Fargo to a bank that hasn't funded DAPL.

The transfer makes for one of the bank's largest consumer blowbacks ever.

Photo by David McNew/AFP/Getty Images.

In a statement, Wells Fargo said it was "disappointed" in the city's vote and that it "will continue investing in [Seattle's] diverse and dynamic community."

The bank's not getting any sympathy from council member Kshama Sawant, though: "We’re making it bad for their bottom line."

And to DAPL opponents like herself, that's the whole point.

What happened in Seattle is welcome news for opponents of the pipeline at a time when they could certainly use a win.

Many DAPL protesters have been feeling particularly discouraged recently as President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead for continued DAPL drilling (Barack Obama had halted construction before leaving office). On Feb. 8 — the day after Seattle voted to separate itself from Wells Fargo — drilling started up again, NBC News reported, and the company behind the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, was granted all mandatory approvals to carry on.

— (@)

But Seattle made major waves by pulling the plug on Wells Fargo, and we may start to see other cities following suit.

"What Seattle voted to do ... is sending shockwaves through the banking industry," activist Shaun King wrote for The Daily News. "For pretty much their entire existence, banks have gotten away with taking our business, holding our money, and charging us fees, while simultaneously funding our oppression. People have had enough."

The vote in Seattle marks a major victory in the divestment movement — an effort to get people, groups, and governments to quit supporting businesses that are making DAPL possible.

A demonstrator in Los Angeles protests the Dakota Access pipeline. Photo by Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images.

Although Wells Fargo is one of the largest backers of the pipeline, many other well-known banks — including Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America — are quietly helping DAPL become a reality. (In fact, you'll probably recognize a lot of familiar names on the list of funders.)

If you refuse to play along with banks using your support to help fund DAPL, take your business elsewhere.

There are plenty of banks not supporting DAPL that also have good track records when it comes to a range of other social, economic, and environmental issues. Credit unions, too, can be a great alternative — they're nonprofits, tend to invest locally, and offer low interest rates and fees.

The corporate forces behind DAPL are strong. But as Seattle showed the world, you — and your bank account — are no weaklings.

"In the end, when you are fighting for what’s right, the rising tide of history will be on your side," wrote King. "Our fight may be hard, but be encouraged, we will win."

From Your Site Articles

Victory for Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux as court shuts down Dakota pipeline ›

"We can't ask a child to feed her mind when she can barely feed her stomach."

True

This July, while most of us were embracing air conditioning and watching presidential candidates butt heads, Congress did something amazing.

It didn't make many headlines, but it should have. This summer, the House of Representatives tried to pass historic bipartisan legislation. I repeat: historic. bipartisan. legislation.

And they did it!

Political gridlock be gone!

Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the Global Food Security Act, a landmark bill to reduce global hunger.

I like to think this was President Obama when it came to his desk for signature:

Doin' a little happy dance. GIF via "Ellen."

The Global Food Security Act marks the first time in our history that the U.S. government — the largest provider of international aid — has actually passed a comprehensive strategy around food and nutrition security.

This is big on many levels.

The law will work to reduce food insecurity for the nearly 800 million people worldwide who suffer from chronic hunger.

It will help to reduce hunger, malnutrition, and poverty by focusing on agriculture initiatives, small food producers, and the nutrition of women and children.

According to Global Citizen, the $7 billion allocated for the efforts will guarantee two years of funding for food security investments, mainly to smallholder and female farmers. It will also provide two years of funding toward our country's response to natural and man-made disasters, which helps keep America safe by containing conflict. It will also improve the coordination between different parts of the government, helping to reduce waste and increase transparency.

Perhaps the best part is the evidence that these efforts work.

Image via iStock.

In Malawi, for example, every $1 invested in an empowering loan program for women helped to generate $29 for their community. That was just through one program.

In another case, 9 million small-scale farmers and rural families were able to increase their incomes by more than $800 million through improvements to their agricultural practices. That was just over the course of one year. Thanks, Obama.

Can you imagine those results on a much larger scale? That's the beauty of the Global Food Security Act.

Image via iStock.

The law will focus on certain areas of the world, but the U.S. still stands to benefit. How?

In a time when national security is on everyone's radar, reducing hunger will advance stability and security overseas — and in our own backyards.

"We’ve seen how spikes in food prices can plunge millions into poverty and hunger, as well as spark riots that cost lives and lead to instability," says National Security Advisor Susan Rice. "This danger only grows as a surging global population isn’t matched by surging food production."

She's right. We have enough food to feed 12 billion people. And yet, 800 million people are undernourished. Working to reduce global hunger will help advance international peace and security. And that's not just a political move — it's a moral one.

So, thanks, Congress.

Over the years, partisan bickering and polarization has created such extreme gridlock in Washington that many Americans doubt our political process canactually work to make good things happen — so much so that we're shocked when it does.

The passing of this legislation with numerous champions on both sides of the aisle provides hope that bipartisan efforts do stand a chance.

Because, real talk, we can only move forward when we're working together. Investing our resources in ending hunger once and for all is a great place to start.

These kids were asked what they’d do with a million bucks. Their answers are awesome.

True

One question has probably made an appearance in a lot of our daydreams:

Whether it's while gazing longingly out the car window, fantasizing about winning the lottery, or comparing out-of-this-world scenarios with friends, it's fun to think about what we'd do if money wasn't an issue. Our minds can go to some pretty fascinating and creative places.

The answers of these little rascals sure capture what many of us would think up if we dared to dream.

Who wouldn’t want to jazz up their wardrobe?

Or get psyched about stocking up on some bling?

Maybe you'd want to buy something cool just because you can.

(Don't pretend you've never thought about what you'd do with a billion and a hundred bathtubs. Who hasn't dreamed about doing this?!)

But even if these kids had bathtub convertibles lined with jewels that light up, it doesn’t come close to what they say matters to them the most: family.

As usual, amazing kids are showing us how it's done.

There's a whole lot more to life than just having a lot of money.

It'd be great to have a bajillion dollars. (And a garage full of bathtubs.) And there's no denying that life is a lot harder if you're not making enough money to afford you basic necessities.

But whatever you'd spend your imaginary gazillions on, there's a common thread that ties all of us together: It's the people around us that truly make us happy. In fact, the longest study in history came to the same conclusion.

So yes, money isn't everything. But the people you love? They sure are.

Financial literacy is too often a privilege of the wealthy. Justin Tuck is changing that.

It's not uncommon to hear about the financial struggles of former NFL players who, in spite of multimillion-dollar deals, are now living paycheck to paycheck.

It's easy to judge them, but that's ignoring a very real truth: Financial literacy is a privilege often afforded to the already wealthy, not the newly wealthy.

As Justin Tuck, retired Giants defensive end, told Reuters, "Look at the average NFL roster, and most players come from low-income families. They go from being 18-year-old kids with nothing to being 21-year-olds with millions of dollars. ... They get all this money all of a sudden, and they just don't know how to handle it."

Image via Heath Brandon/Flickr.

That kind of wealth isn't easy to manage, and when it happens in such a short period of time, at such a pivotal moment in the player's lives, it's too easy to lose control and wind up in dire financial straights.

That's part of the inspiration behind Tuck's R.U.S.H. for Literacy.

The solution to being poor isn't just to acquire more money; it's also to know how to manage and grow your money. So in 2008, Justin and his wife, Lauran, founded Tuck's R.U.S.H. for Literacy, an organization dedicated to addressing a number of issues, including financial literacy for low-income families.

R.U.S.H. stands for read, understand, succeed, and hope, and Justin and Lauran set out together to encourage those ideals by donating lots and lots of books — over 86,000 of them, in fact — to children who needed them. They wanted to help decrease summer learning loss, when kids lose a lot of the momentum gained throughout the school year.

Image via Ginny/Flickr.

But they noticed that encouraging regular literacy was only part of the equation when it came to keeping the kids motivated and invested in their academics. Financial literacy is also a huge factor. So they set out to equip students and their families with the skills, tools, and hope needed to thrive in school, college, and beyond.

Financial literacy is directly related to which kids pursue undergraduate degrees.

As explained in a 2010 Center for Social Development research brief by William Elliott III and Sandra Beverly, financial planning has a huge effect on college attendance:

"We assume that savings and wealth may have two effects on college attendance. The first effect is direct and mainly financial ... . The second effect is indirect and mainly attitudinal: If youth grow up knowing they have money to help pay for current and future schooling, they may have higher educational expectations."

Image via Tax Credits/Flickr.

The people behind R.U.S.H. noticed this link between having a college savings account and going to college. Lauran told Upworthy that in spite of efforts to even the playing field, "there were still barriers to college access. A lot of the kids — especially those that were at risk — were responding saying they still didn't think they were going to go to college. They said it's too expensive."

Seeing this problem, R.U.S.H. stepped in with a long-term solution.

Lauran and Justin partnered with a number of organizations and began seeding college savings accounts and raising matching funds. Megan Holston-Alexander, R.U.S.H.'s program director, shared that the initial "seed was $150,000, given at $100 per student. As of June 1, 2015, the accounts have risen another $40,794." And that amount will only continue to grow.

Lauran explained that the financial contributions have been supported by efforts to educate the families so that "parents and students understand why we're saving for college and so that parents understand that their money is going to be matched."

Image via Nazareth College/Flickr.

Justin emphasized to families that "if it's important to you, then you have to be prepared to sacrifice."

R.U.S.H. isn't making college free; it's planting the seed of hope and arming families with the information necessary to prepare for their children's futures.

As Lauran stated, "what keeps us going is the 'H' in the acronym, the 'Hope' piece of it. We want to provide for so many kids and families hope, where the opportunity gaps do exist. It's the hope that motivates us."

By giving parents the skills necessary to maintain financial health and enabling them to set up college-savings accounts for their kids, R.U.S.H. helps these communities to build a legacy of achievement. They're making it possible for the kids and their families to see and work toward goals that may have felt impossible. R.U.S.H. is making it possible to dream. But more importantly, it's making it possible to achieve.

Thinking about setting some financial goals? Here are some tools that could make reaching them easier.

Hey, remember The American Dream^TM?

Photo via Unsplash/Pixabay.

Just work hard, go to college, graduate ... and next thing you know, you've got a nice job, spouse, car, and beautiful house.

Yeah ... not so much.

While that may never have been a real possibility for some Americans for a multitude of reasons — including systemic discrimination based on one's race, country of origin, or genderto achieve The Dream — one thing is absolutely true: It's harder than ever for millennials to get there. There are countless articles detailing their shrinking salaries, ballooning student debt, and a history of high unemployment rates. Not exactly the most encouraging set of financial circumstances.

GIF via "Finding Nemo."

OK, so a house with a white picket fence might not be in the cards any time soon. But that doesn't mean we're going to let ourshrinking wages get in the way of carving out the kind of life we want to live.

And luckily, there are some great innovations in the world of personal finance. We're talking about tools that'll help us save and, you know, still pay the rent.

Here are some things to try that'll have you feeling like Scrooge McDuck in no time.

GIF via "Duck Tales."

1. Did you really get the best deal online? This service automatically tracks — and requests — refunds for you if the price drops.

Image via Paribus/YouTube .

A penny saved is a penny earned and Paribus will help you earn a lot of pennies with no effort. This startup automatically tracks your online purchases and monitors any price changes. If they see that that cat toy you ordered from Amazon dropped in price or you forgot a coupon you could have used during checkout, it automatically requests a refund for you! Sit back and watch the extra pennies roll in.

2. Stuff your savings account — one debit card swipe at a time.

Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images.

Apps like Digit and Qapital automatically put aside savings for you in different ways:

Qapital's approach is pretty straightforward: It tacks a little cash onto your everyday transactions — like that morning does of caffeine — and puts it away for you in an account. Picked up a 75-cent pack of gum? It'll round the transaction to a full dollar and put that sweet, sweet quarter away for a rainy day.

For folks who aren't fans of rounded up, there's Digit. After signing up, it looks at your spending patterns over a period of time to see how much it could put away without you noticing. This might be a more comfortable technique for people with inconsistent incomes, like freelancers or small-business owners.

3. Dip your toe into the investment pool.

Results may vary. GIF via "Wolf of Wall Street."

I dunno about you, but the idea of investing makes my head hurt. I sometimes have to breathe into a paper bag when I make my 401k selections. I'm told it's a big decision, but I don't know what the best selection is. WHAT IF I CHOOSE THE WRONG COMPANIES FOR MY PORTFOLIO?!

Apps like Acornsmake the process a lot less scary, and it's a huge hit. It takes your spare change when you want (daily, weekly, or monthly) and invests it into startup companies. Then you sit back and watch your investment account grow. The simple approach has been really attractive to young folk: So far, it's helped millennials save $25 million and counting.

4. Track your spending.

Warning: Seeing the numbers might make you want to resort to drastic measures. Photo by stevepb/Pixabay.

Have you ever gone to the ATM only to find your account overdrawn? And you seriously wonder "where in the world did all my money go?!" Services like Mint and Wave break it down for you by tracking your accounts and categorizing your purchases. If you're really in the mood for an automated killjoy, you can get email alerts when it notices you're spending more than usual — Thanks, Mint. I do know I spent more on clothes this month. Wait ... that's how much of my income? Now I know why they say "Ignorance is bliss" — or get texts to remind you when that bill due date is coming up.

5. Create some financial goals.

I mean, you do you ... but be a bit more specific. GIF via "The Fear."

Now that you know where your money is going, it'll be easier to know what sort of goals you want to set. There are a lot of different guidelines out there for saving — from Dave Ramsey's envelope system which doesn't allow ATM visits and requires only spending the cash you have in a categorized envelope to the 50/20/30 rule that prioritizes knowing your fixed costs, figuring out goals, and setting aside some cash for flexible spending. Using that info from a spending tracker, you can figure out which system would work best for you.

Let's say that you hypothetically spend too much of your money on new clothes. You might find Ramsey's envelope system useful because once you spend the cash in your wardrobe budget, you have to wait until next month to indulge ... no matter how great a sale Nordstrom has right now.

6. Make a budget.

Divvy up those monies! Photo by Chris Potter/Flickr.

The thought of making a budget can be daunting because it probably seems so complicated. There are some old-school ways like filling out a Google spreadsheet (there are several great free templates available). Or if you live on the Internet like me, you can try an app called You Need a Budget. It offers a hard-to-ignore way to look at your finances and spending habits in one fell swoop. A spreadsheet would take longer because you have to look up everything and enter it yourself while YNAB is automated after analyzing your spending habits and bills.

You can also stick with the money tracker Mint, which offers to help you establish a goal based on your spending history (or hopeful future) and gives you regular email updates about whether you're overspending in some areas..

7. Up your financial literacy game.

Then maybe we can understand what Nicki is doing here. GIF via VEVO/YouTube.

Knowledge is power — especially when it comes to money. If you've been wanting to know what the heck an investment portfolio is or why should someone should open a checking and a savings account, check out sites like NerdWallet, LearnVest, or MyMoney.Gov. They all provide a space that answers frequently asked questions about different financial terms, offer best practices on borrowing money, and give tips on achieving financial goals like building a savings account.They can make even the least math-inclined person able to become an investor and saver.

8. Find a bank that doesn't make you want to pull your hair out.

Photo by Poster Boy/Flickr.

I still have nightmares from my time as a college student when I was a member of Bank of America. I never understood why they kept charging me fees for being so poor. Didn't they understand that my low account balance meant that an extra $35 meant a lot to me?! I didn't know that using credit unions was even an option.

Sites like A Smarter Choice can help you find the bank that's just right for you. Just put in your location to find branches near you and look for the ones that you're eligible to join — some don't require more than proof that you live in your hometown.

9. Follow a personal finance blog to pick up tips that will work for you.

GIF via "New Girl."

When I decided to be more money-conscious, I was so overwhelmed by all the information out there. I was too busy to read a finance book (or even pick the right one, to be honest), so I found that taking in a little bit at a time was more manageable and useful. Following personal finance blogs like Lifehacker's Two Cents are helpful because they can give you intel on the latest app or offer an easy-to-understand explanation of that financial term you keep hearing but never understood. Even if I'm not able to do anything more than just live paycheck to paycheck, I find the regular visits helpful at least to help me keep my money goals in mind.

I get it: This is a lot of information, but don't feel bad if you don't feel ready to take on all of these tasks. Getting your personal finances in order can be a long journey, so don't get discouraged.

The leading cause of bankruptcy isn't overspending or lack of planning, but health care debt. So it's important to keep things in perspective. These recommendations aren't foolproof measures.

Photo by Olichel/Pixabay.