You'll learn about the stock market, bonds, mutual funds, and garden gnomes. Once you've jumped that hurdle, the rest gets much easier. Investing according to socially responsible guidelines is no different from any other stock investment - it just means a little more research. Figure out your priorities First, decide what your socially-oriented priorities are.
Some issues are more popular than others.
The higher the percent, the more socially responsible portfolios would accept or reject an investment purely because of that issue. Now we can't tell you what you should and shouldn't do. Just listen to your own personal Jiminy Cricket, and figure out what's most important to you. There are several approaches you can take about how to apply your second bottom line, most of which relate to how strict you are about a company's purity. Another consideration is how far along the supply chain you hold companies accountable.