How to UnWoke your investments, wherever they are
UnWoke Investing | step-by-step
You’ve decided to go UnWoke, good for you! What next?
The following is intended to be a step-by-step guide to making sure your portfolio isn’t funneling money into far-Left, “woke” companies and is instead, where YOU want your money. We provide investment guidance, it’s up to you to take it, take some of it, or ask for our help to implement. If you as for our help, we charge a nominal fee that helps us continue our research – thank you!
The first thing to know is that just about any type of investment account – Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”), 401(k), Trust, Brokerage, online trading account, and many more – allow you to buy the stocks of great Patriot companies.
Note: we use the terms “Patriot,” “Global Patriot,” and “We The People” interchangeably and mean simply, the great citizens of the world who believe in Free Markets, the open exchange of good and services, and who do not wish for a big, top-down, centralized government to control our lives. Use of these terms applies equally to those both in and outside of the United States, where the term “We The People” may have the most historical context.
Another note: the term “pooled investments” refers to any type of investment vehicle, like mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETF), collective investment trusts (CIT), Unit Investment Trusts (UIT), and the like.
Brokerage Account:
A brokerage account is a basic investment account, funded with after-tax dollars. It is different from a retirement account, like a 401(k) or Individual Retirement Account.
Your brokerage account is likely the easiest type of account in which to trade stocks, so this should be very easy!
Online brokerage account?
If your brokerage account is online and trades via a website or app, this will be extra-easy. Simply go online, find the trading tools, sell as little or as much of your current holdings as you’d like (hint: start with the “woke” investments), and then, once the cash from the sale of those investments hits your account, purchase the new UnWoke Investments. Check back at UnWoke on the platform of your choice for periodic updates on our guidance, make adjustments as needed, and add money whenever possible.
No web access?
No problem. Find a copy of your statement and look for a phone number either in the top corner, next to a Broker, Agent, or Advisor’s name, and call it. This is usually a local number. If you don’t see a name and number on your statement, look for a phone number in the small print on the bottom of your statement or on the last page. This is usually a toll-free number.
Call the phone number, identify yourself and provide your account number, and ask to make some trades on your account. Let the person on the phone know that you intend to sell some investments and buy others. Sell as much or as little as you’d like of your current investments, starting with the “woke” investments and include any others that you either don’t like are unsure of; they may ask you to call back again in a few days, once the money is in your account from the sales in order to buy the new, UnWoke Investments.
Cash:
Word to the wise: maintain a little cash in your account. You’ll always want to do this, to cover any incidental costs, like an account fee or miscalculation on how much to buy. It’s a good idea to keep at least 1% of your account in cash, unless you have over ~$500,000 in the account, then you can go a little lower. Feel free to flex on this over time, as you deem appropriate. You’ll find many people online discussing this practice. Find what’s best and most comfortable for you.
Individual Retirement Account (IRA):
Depending upon where the account is held, this may be easy or might take a few steps. The first thing to do is determine whether or not your IRA has a “self-directed brokerage” option. Self-directed simply means the ability of you, the investor, to decide into what your money is invested. Different companies that offer IRA accounts have different levels of access to self-directed brokerage.
If you opened your account online, the chances are very good that self-directed is already set up and available.
If you opened your account through a bank, insurance company, brokerage firm, or investment management firm, you should call to ask about their ability to offer you a self-directed brokerage account. Tell them you’re interested in buying individual stocks. They may be less happy, because they (most often) make less money on this type of account than one that holds pooled investments, but remember that it’s not your job to make sure they get paid, it’s your prerogative to invest your money however you see fit!
If your financial institution does not offer self-directed brokerage (this is rare), consider moving your money somewhere that does. If you’re working with us, we can help you decide on a good platform to do your trading and might even be able to negotiate some good deals on trading costs – no promises, but we will do our best.
Be aware that some financial institutions may charge you to leave them. This is often in the ~$125 range but might be higher or lower. Ask them about any fees before you depart, so you’re not surprised.
Once your self-directed brokerage account is open, you’ll need to do some selling of old, “woke” investments and buying some new, UnWoke ones to feel proud of.
Either use the website or app or call in to the company that holds the money, to sell as much of the old “woke” investments as you’d like. After you initiate the sale of the old investments, you’ll need to wait for all the cash to come into your account. This is called waiting to “settle,” in case that comes up in your phone call. You may hear people refer to the cash needing to “settle” in your account. This simply means that many types of transactions take a few days for the sale of the old investments to complete and for your account to be credited. You’ll be using the available money, after it is in your account to purchase the new UnWoke Investments.
Cash:
Word to the wise: maintain a little cash in your account. You’ll always want to do this, to cover any incidental costs, like an account fee or miscalculation on how much to buy. It’s a good idea to keep at least 1% of your account in cash, unless you have over ~$500,000 in the account, then you can go a little lower. Feel free to flex on this over time, as you deem appropriate. You’ll find many people online discussing this practice. Find what’s best and most comfortable for you.
Exception (annuities):
If your IRA is in an annuity, which is a type of insurance-based investment… a hybrid of both insurance and investments, you will not have a self-directed brokerage option. If your IRA is in an annuity, ask about moving your money out of the annuity and any fees that might be associated. Pay close attention to any benefits you might lose by leaving the annuity, such as a Death Benefit for your beneficiaries, guarantees of income upon retirement, etc. Ask them open-ended questions and know everything that you might be giving up before moving money out of an annuity and know fully any and all fees that would be assessed. Annuities often have large fees associated with departing.
It’s worth asking! If the fees are small and the benefits not good, you can get out of the annuity and go UnWoke.
At present, we are unaware of any UnWoke Investment options inside of annuities. However, you might inquire with your insurance company about their ability to invest in such companies (you’ll have to define “UnWoke” for them; they are unlikely to have such a category of investments… yet).
401(k):
It’s important to know that 401(k) accounts, by tax code and law, allow you to self-direct your investments (see above for a definition of “self-directed”). Whether or not your plan currently offers you the ability to self-direct your investments is another matter. It’s possible that your plan provider (the company that offers the 401(k) Plan) has an option to self-direct but that your employer may not have selected that option.
If your employer has not opted to allow Self-Directed Brokerage Accounts (also sometimes called Self-Directed Brokerage Window) in your company’s 401(k) Plan, I suggest asking them to add the feature. It might be better, go faster, and get the results you want, if you get a few colleagues to join the cause. Get 5, 10, or 50 people to join you in asking for this feature in your 401(k) Plan and leadership may be more likely to listen and grant your wish.
If your employer gets stuck navigating how to allow employees Self-Directed Brokerage while staying compliant and managing their duties, put them in contact with us, we’ll help guide them. We’ve worked with nearly every U.S. retirement plan provider and will do our best to help facilitate the (easy) addition of this employee feature.
Once your self-directed brokerage account is available, the provider will help you open an account just for you. Congratulations, you’re taking control of your financial future and are removing money from the “woke” Left! Now you’ll need to do some selling of old, “woke” investments and buying some new, UnWoke ones to feel proud of.
Either use the website or app or call in to the company offering the 401(k) to sell as much of the old “woke” investments as you’d like. After you initiate the sale of the old investments, you’ll need to wait for all the cash to come into your account. This is called waiting to “settle,” in case that comes up in your phone call. You may hear people refer to the cash needing to “settle” in your account. This simply means that many types of transactions take a few days for the sale of the old investments to complete and for your account to be credited. You’ll be using the available money, after it is in your account, to purchase the new UnWoke Investments.
403(b):
Did you know? There are actually two basic types of 403(b) accounts. There are 403(b)1 and 403(b)7 accounts. Depending upon where you work, you may have one or both available to you.
This one is difficult than the other types of accounts above.
If you’re in a 403(b)1 and have 403(b)7 available to you, consider moving your money from one to the other. Beware of any fees that might be charged. Inquire with you’re the company offering the plan – or, if it’s two different companies, speak with both – about any fees associated with moving from one to the other and weigh carefully.
403(b)1;
If 403(b)1 is your only option, read the above section on annuities. The key takeaway, for now, is that what you have is a hybrid combination of both insurance and investments. Any insurance benefits should be known by you, or contact the issuer and learn about them now. You should also have a clear understanding of any and all fees associated with investing via the insurance company. If you have no other option, or for any reason believe that you’re better off staying in a 403(b)1: At present, we are unaware of any UnWoke Investment options inside of annuities. However, you might inquire with your insurance company about their ability to invest in such companies (you’ll have to define “UnWoke” for them; they are unlikely to have such a category of investments… yet).
403(b)7:
A 403(b)7 will not have a self-directed brokerage option. (See above for a definition of “Self-Directed Brokerage.”) You will be able to invest in mutual funds only. However, as guidance proceeds from UnWoke Investing, we hope to find many managers of mutual funds willing to create and offer UnWoke mutual funds and that we will hopefully soon find companies that offer 403(b)7 make such investments available.
We will continue to monitor and report on “woke” ESG managers to the best of our ability. It is our sincere hope that this guidance proves useful to you, the investor, in moving to as least less “woke investments.