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As a 20-something asking mentors and friends basic questions about navigating adulthood, I’ve recently realized how confusing finances are.

A taboo topic, talking money, salaries, student loans, budgets or mortgages can make people cringe -- or worse, yawn.

While I can’t say the topic of economics particularly excites me, I do believe firmly in increased transparency around money. There is so much power in knowledge. Who, exactly, do we serve by being quiet about money?

Imagine the power we hold as employees when we know each other's wages and can close pay gaps or when those with more experience in the stock market share how-to’s with beginners or when tenants talk rent and gentrification.

So let’s start talking about it.

Today, I want to hone in on a particularly elusive financial topic: what your money’s doing when it’s not in your wallet.

As the adage goes, we vote with our dollars; it’s why shopping local matters. If you want a bookstore in your town, support it (I see you, Four Pines ). If you want to support a 30-day emergency shelter, you get your coffee at The Door in Laporte .

Maybe you shop at the local farmers markets to support local farmers, get Tara Thai or Mi Rancho before hitting the chain restaurants, make sure to purchase Fair Trade coffee to be sure that your coffee growers in Central America are making fair wages.

Conversely, folks boycott places they don’t want to support -- , , and recently have all been part of nationwide boycotts.

Whatever political winds blow from your direction, I think it’s admirable when people align their values with their spending. But what you buy on a daily, weekly and monthly basis is only the tip of the iceberg.

If you don’t keep all your cash under your mattress and are privileged to have some savings, then you likely have it in a bank or maybe in a .

The money in those banks or mutual funds is not just sitting there idling. That money is being used, and we most likely have no idea what for. You might drive an electric vehicle, only to find that your money is being completely invested in the fossil fuel industry.

And that’s not a hypothetical example; since the Paris Agreement in 2015, the world’s 60 largest banks have invested about $3.8 trillion into the fossil fuel industry.

The according to the Rainforest Action Network include JPMorgan Chase, CITI, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. These are familiar names; many folks opt for large national banks for sake of ease -- easier to move without switching banks, probably high-tech with a well-designed app and so forth. At least, that was the recommendation my parents gave to me when I opened my first debit account.

But they’ve overlooked the value of a different option: banking locally.

Bemidji has several local banks, like First National, Deerwood, Security and Riverwood, to name a few. Local banks can be anchors in the community, keeping the economy flowing through both good times and bad.

When you put your money into a local bank, it enables that bank to give out loans locally, supporting your neighbors as they build houses, go to college, finance their cars and start businesses.

Local banks create jobs, and the people who work there can truly get to know you, which can go a long way when it comes to bad credit or other financial problems. Most importantly, it keeps your cash circulating in the local economy, rather than aggregating nationally and internationally in huge banks.

Unlike our taxes, which will be used how our elected representatives see fit, we can directly impact how our savings are used and borrowed when we bank locally.

Finally, if banking isn’t for you and investing is the way to go, there is an emerging demand for socially responsible and sustainable mutual funds.

Of course, when you invest in a mutual fund, you forgo the stock market by instead trusting a company to invest in a combination of stocks; you sacrifice some of the decision-making to the middle man.

However, you can now invest in mutual funds that align with your values. For example, the specifically excludes certain stocks, from adult entertainment to alcohol to nuclear weapons, as well as companies with violations of labor rights or environmental standards.

Your homework: find out where your money is and what it’s doing. Is that a good investment? Is it supporting companies where you would take your business? Is it making the planet a better place?

Because it certainly could be, if we take a few moments to do our research. Let’s start talking about money.

Originally from Phoenix, Ariz., Rachel Beglin now resides in Bemidji. She is a former Peace Corps Volunteer, sustainability advocate, gardener, writer and coffee enthusiast. She can be reached at beglinr@gmail.com.