A Year in Review: SheMoney 2021

Happy New Year! Does anyone else feel really strange writing 2022? For a gal born in 1964, writing 2022, well, makes me feel old. It feels like the future has just arrived on my doorstep. Something feels different, and I can't quite put my finger on why it feels that way. I did wake up at 2:22 am last night, mainly because my dog Sadie was pushing me off the bed, so that was weird. Maybe this is the year I embrace the strange, the mystical, the new, the uncomfortable, and if so, then I better bring all of that to SheMoney, right?

I am ending the year reading about NFTs, DAOs, blockchain, and I have to say my mind is on fire. I did invest in my first blockchain focused fund of funds this year (Accolade Partners), and I have committed to a similar focused fund run by an awesome woman. So far I own no crypto, have no hot or cold wallets, but it's going to happen soon. The best way to learn about new things is to commit. Not sure what the hay doodle I am talking about? No problem. You are not alone, and I'll bring my learnings here. I am also spending time in traditional financial spaces pondering how the U.S. 10-year treasury yield can be below 1.5% at a time when inflation feels like it's at 30% (even though it was just reported at 6.8%). And what might be the implications of interest rates ever rise? I have taken to reading academic papers on the Keynesian view of interest rates and researching "Modern Monetary Theory" to try to make sense of things. My husband and I always have a year end call with our investment advisors, and we were making predictions on things like where the S&P would be this time next year, as well as other financial measures. The range of predictions on the S&P 500 from the big banks is up 9% to down 8% as an fyi. I am still working on my predictions, just for fun, and like everyone else's, including the experts and the pundits, they are all just guesses.

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is a policy model for funding government spending. ... The essential message of MMT is that there is no financial constraint on government spending as long as a country is a sovereign issuer of currency and does not tie the value of its currency to another currency.

What I am witnessing is the old and the new worlds of money, finance, economics, value creation, and investing colliding in to one another. It feels interesting, messy, challenging, disorienting and I more-or-less dig it. I am feeling like there is no need to watch the next iteration of The Matrix movie as I, we, just might be living in it. Actually that is a lie, of course I am going to watch it, the first Matrix is one of my favorite movies of all time.

So what you can expect as a reader of this newsletter in 2022? With the help of my team at ShePlace, a heck of a lot more. As mentioned above, I will be taking you on my learning journey in to new areas and featuring amazing investors, concepts, companies, and more. If you are a new reader of my content, you may not know that I began writing, well blogging, back in 2008. Since that time I have published close to 1000 articles that range from well-constructed opinion pieces that landed on the front page of The Huffington Post (and yes it still exists by the way, I just checked), almost 200 posts on the financial markets, summaries of the best films from the Sundance Film Festival, and more. That said, just over a year ago I became much more focused on writing about money. I launched the SheInvests Newsletter -- now called SheMoney -- which will continue to be monthly, and I will also post regularly on my feed on not only money, but many other topics.

So, thank you for subscribing. As we wrap up 2021 please find below a summary of what I shared on SheMoney this past year in case you missed any of the newsletters. One big highlight was my creative partnership with award winning cartoonist Liza Donnelly. I hope you have, and will continue, to enjoy our original content created just for SheMoney. Liza and I are working on a cartoon book on women and money by the way, and I am also dreaming of becoming a stand-up comedian. As my friend Gloria Steinem famously said..

"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning."

A Holiday Gift Giving Playbook - How do you reconcile the overconsumption of the holidays with your desire to support businesses owned and/or led by marginalized groups? SheMoney offers a playbook for using conscious consumerism to guide your purchases this holiday season.

Does talking about money make you uncomfortable? That’s okay. Do it anyway. - It's time to have real conversations about money, especially with our loved ones.

11 Steps to Becoming A Financial Superhero - This piece shares my love for the character of Wonder Woman and provides a glimpse of my collection. It got me thinking about the characteristics and behaviors associated with becoming a financial superhero. One of my favorite pieces I have ever written. I hope you dig it, too.

Introducing SheMoney! What's Your Money Story? - In the first issue of the newly re-branded SheMoney, I share my money story and invite everyone to share theirs as well.

Financial Feminism: Invest, Give, Spend - I believe that the future of feminism is finance, and in this issue I outline the three pillars of how everyone can be a Financial Feminist: Investing, Giving, and Spending.

#FreeBritney, Financial Abuse and Power-To - The story of Britney Spears' conservatorship is at its core a story of financial abuse. And, sadly, it is a story that is far too common. The good news is that the year ended with Ms. Spears reclaiming her financial and personal freedom.

WTF? Invest in Women and BIPOC Founders, now. - This is my favorite cartoon of the year and it will make sense when you read the article. Some might say I temporarily lost my marbles when I dumped a box of Cheerios on my counter and started counting. I say no. How better to represent how little money goes to female and BIPOC founders? This article is a call to action, and I am proud to say that I put my money where my values are and invested in a number of funds this past year. This will remain a big focus in 2022.

Melinda+Laurene+MacKenzie + We Are The Women We Have Been Waiting For - Some of the most transformative philanthropists today are women. In this issue I take a look at the big three: Melinda French Gates, Laurene Powell Jobs, and MacKenzie Scott. And yes, I do know that 'the big three' is a This is Us reference, and I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THE NEW SEASON coming soon. When I joined Women Moving Millions back in 2009, I dreamed of the day that female billionaires would be at the forefront of philanthropy, and now they are. I think that's pretty damn cool.

Sistering Up: But first, canapé anyone? - My first collaborative cartoon with Liza! This issue introduces the concept of Sistering Up, an idea that SheMoney/ShePlace keeps coming back to time and time again. It might even be our mantra! Sistering is a construction term, which means to make stronger. Sistering up is a framework on how to support one another and make each other stronger.

Financial Activism - Using the example of Amazon Watch, SheMoney talks about how we can align our investments with our values.

You Need to Know About SheEO! - SheEO is changing the financial status quo. In this issue, I interview SheEO Founder Vicki Saunders, and let's just say she has A LOT to say about how the current financial models are not working.

For The First Time EVER - A Woman Holds The Most Senior Financial Position in the United States of America - In this issue, I celebrate the appointment of Janet Yellen to the most senior financial position in the U.S. and talk about why this is a big deal.

Once again, Happy New Year! Wishing you and yours health, happiness, and prosperity.

Jacki