• Ethical money news from The Guardian

Ethical credit card
By choosing the Christian Aid affinity credit card with The Co-operative Bank - the only UK clearing bank with an ethical policy - you will know that your money is being invested ethically. It's also an easy way to support Christian Aid - at no extra cost to yourself - and local communities in over 50 countries benefit

Ethical investments
The number of ethical funds in the UK has grown significantly in the past decade, and there are now over 50 to chose from. The ethical criteria that are used vary from fund to fund, but the Ethical Investments Group offer a list of such funds for you to choose from if you are thinking about investing a lump sum

Making a will
If you have friends, family or children who need taking care of, a will is the answer. Even if you have no dependants, you might not want everything you've worked hard for to go to the government. Making a will need not be expensive or complicated

Making donations
By using surefish.co.uk, you're helping raise money to help Christian Aid tackle poverty and fight injustice. But there are many other ways to help - regular giving, Gift Aid, Wage Aid and legacies

Savings
Like most things in life, saving and investment is a question of drawing a balance. On the one hand there are safe, secure and relatively low yielding investments such as building society accounts, and on the other are schemes such as Unit Trusts, ISAs and Personal Equity Plans, which offer the potential for far greater returns, but which also incorporate a greater degree of risk

ISAs
The good news for ethical investors is that they are able to put their money into a wider range of investments than were available from PEPs and TESSAs. ISAs offer the opportunity to invest up to £7000 tax-free each year.

Stakeholder pensions
The Government has introduced a new type of pension plan, for all those that have no access to an employer's pension scheme. Known as the Stakeholder pension, it was launched on 6 April 2001. This new plan will fundamentally change the way in which individuals plan for their retirement.

Company pensions
From July 2000, new rules were introduced which formally introduced ethical investment to pension schemes. From this date, all company pension schemes in the UK are forced to declare their ethical policy. This is an ideal opportunity for all ethical investors to have a real influence on the social and environmental policies of their pension fund.