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2018 Farm Bill Amends the Controlled Substances Act

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The 2018 Farm Bill, signed into law in December 2018, clarifies that hemp and hemp products are legal. Passed by a wide bipartisan majority (386-47 in the House and 87-13 in the Senate), the legislation is a gargantuan 641-page document in which just a few provisions concerning hemp, they are nonetheless mighty.

Section 12619 of the 2018 Farm Bill amends the Controlled Substances Act in two ways:

    It removes hemp from the definition of marijuana in section 102(16) of the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 802(16).
    In listing THC as a Schedule I controlled substance in section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 812(c), it creates an exception for tetrahydrocannabinols in hemp.

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/2018-farm-bill-legalizes-hemp-obstacles-to-sale-cbd-products-remain

Despite hemp legalization, FDA still consider Cannabidiol products largely illegal. FDA maintains hemp oil is a drug ingredient, and requires approval for products. Cannabidiol — commonly known as CBD — is a chemical compound found in cannabis and hemp. These natural cannabinoids have unique properties that can help improve your overall wellness. Compared to other cannabinoids — like THC — CBD is non-psychoactive giving you all the benefits without the “high”.

The FDA statement said three ingredients derived from hemp — hulled hemp seeds, hemp seed protein and hemp seed oil — are safe as foods and won’t require additional approvals, as long as marketers do not make claims that they treat disease.

CBD legality varies per state. Even though CBD contains such a miniscule amount of THC, the psychoactive compound found in cannabis, some states vary on policies. Two major factors that states look at are if hemp or marijuana was used to obtain the CBD and if a state-licensed grower produced it.

Cannabis (marijuana and hemp) legalization across North America:

  • 33 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have passed laws broadly legalizing marijuana 
  • 10 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational use of marijuana 
  • Recreational marijuana was legalized in Canada as of October 17, 2018
  • Hemp (containing less than 0.3 percent THC) and CBD (Cannabidiol) derived from hemp was legalized when it was removed as a Schedule I controlled substance from the federal Controlled Substance Act by the 2018 Farm Bill.

Commercially, cannabidiol industry is  expected to hit $20 billion in 2020 and $22 billion by 2024. The demand is high among the burgeoning number of users who have turned to CBD products for various health and wellness reasons, and against chemical-based bio-pills turned out by the big pharma companies.

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Millionaire Mindset to Achieve Financial Independence

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Develop A Millionaire Mindset…Truly wealthy people develop the habit of “getting rich slow” rather than “getting rich quick.” To assure this, they have two rules with regard to money.

  • Rule number one: Don’t lose money.
  • Rule number two: If ever you feel tempted, refer back to rule number one, “don’t lose money.”

Wealthy people spend much more time thinking about their finances than people who remain poor. For example:

  • The average adult spends 2-3 hours each month studying and thinking about their money, usually at bill paying time.
  • The average self-made millionaire, by contrast, spends 20-30 hours per month thinking, studying and planning his finances.

This millionaire mindset, the very act of focusing on your money, will dramatically improve the decisions you make with regard to it. People who invest more time planning their finances invariably make better decisions, get better results, and achieve financial independence.

Develop The Habits Of Wealthy People

With regard to your growing bank account and goal of achieving financial independence, millionaires develop a series of other financial habits to assure that they don’t lose money, and that their money grows steadily over time. During the cultivation of a millionaire mindset, one of the best financial habits you can develop is the habit of getting good financial advice before you do anything with your growing account. Ask around and find a financial advisor who is has already achieved financial independence by investing his or her personal money in the areas that he or she recommends to you. Your ability to choose excellent financial advisors can be the critical factor in making good investment decisions.

Develop the habit of investigating before you invest in anything. The rule is:

“Spend as much time investigating the investment as you spend earning the money that you are thinking of investing.”

Fast financial decisions are usually poor financial decisions. Develop the habit of taking your time, of moving slowly, of finding out every detail of the business or investment before you ever think of writing a check. Never allow anyone to pressure you into an investment decision. Never allow yourself to feel that a financial investment decision is urgent and must be made immediately. A wealthy man I worked for once told me, “Investments are like buses; there will always be another one coming along.”

Sometimes, the best investments are the ones you never make at all. Make a habit of thoroughly understanding the investment before you ever think of parting with your hard earned money. If there is anything that you do not understand, or which seems too complicated for you, do not put your money in that area at all.

— Read on www.briantracy.com/blog/financial-success/look-rich-or-be-rich-develop-a-millionaire-mindset-to-achieve-financial-independence-wealthy-people/

Failure is Key to Success

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People should embrace failure. According to some of the most successful people in the world, failing once in awhile is actually important.

Mark Cuban, Bill Gates and others say failure is key to success

Failure is a learning experience, according to tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban “…truly believe each and every one of us is really good at something. The hard part is finding out what that is and going through all the different — kissing all the frogs before you find the prince of the job.”

Bill Gates accepted experiences of failure as challenges and learned from them.  “Once you embrace unpleasant news not as a negative but as evidence of a need for change, you aren’t defeated by it,” Gates says in his book “Business @the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy.”

Virgin Group founder and billionaire Richard Branson says that learning from failure is one of the five skills and abilities that successful entrepreneurs share. “Nobody gets everything right the first time. Business is like a giant game of chess — you have to learn quickly from your mistakes. Successful entrepreneurs don’t fear failure; they learn from it and move on.”

Apple founder Steve Jobs put failure in perspective.  “All fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”

Sara Blakely states that embracing failure allows her to take risks. In fact, failure was actually celebrated in her house as a kid. Blakely says at dinnertime her father would often ask, “What have you failed at this week?” She “…can vividly remember saying ‘Dad, I tried out for this, and I was horrible,’ and he would high-five me and say ‘Way to go.” Her “…dad growing up encouraged me and my brother to fail, calling it a “gift”. Failure “…allowed her to be much freer in trying things and spreading her wings in life.”

(Source: CNBC Making It, “Perfectionism is up among college students—but Mark Cuban, Bill Gates and others say failure is key to success”, by Sarah Berger, January 23, 2018)

The Kiplinger Dividend 15: Our Favorite Dividend-Paying Stocks

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The Kiplinger Dividend 15, the list of our favorite dividend-paying stocks, doled out plenty of payout love in its first year, with an average yield of 3.7%.
To make it into our lineup, dividend stocks had to first beat the 2% average yield of the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. We then looked for firms that are leaders in their industry and that have solid prospects for expanding their sales and profits, while also generating enough cash to pay investors. And we aim to avoid dividend traps— stocks with high yields but weak underlying businesses and poor prospects.

Dividend Grower: AbbVie
YIELD: 5.3%

ANNUAL DIVIDEND: $4.28

CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF INCREASES: 6

FIVE-YEAR DIVIDEND GROWTH RATE: 21.7%

ONE-YEAR TOTAL RETURN: -26.2%

AbbVie (ABBV, $81), a pharmaceutical company with several blockbuster patents and a strong group of new products in the pipeline, is the newest member of the Kiplinger Dividend 15 and the replacement for CVS.

AbbVie expects sales of Humira — used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and Crohn’s disease — to approach $21 billion by 2020. The firm is developing a drug to treat glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, and another to treat multiple myeloma, a blood cancer.

AbbVie has paid dividends only since 2013, when it was spun off from Abbott Laboratories. Since then, the payout has grown at a five-year annualized rate of nearly 18%, with a 40% bump in the annual payout in 2018
— Read on www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/investing/T018-S003-kiplinger-dividend-15-favorite-dividend-stocks/index.html

Mindset Matters

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“Your view of yourself can determine everything.”

According to Stanford psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck’s essential finding — children who have a “growth mindset” that intelligence can be developed are better able to overcome academic stumbling blocks than those who have a “fixed mindset” that intelligence is predetermined — is as relevant as ever. Her work has influenced research across the social sciences and reached tens of thousands of schoolchildren nationwide. (Source: Why Mindset Matters, Stanford Magazine, September 20, 2017, by Marina Krakovsky)

https://medium.com/stanford-magazine/carol-dweck-mindset-research-eb80831095b5

Dr. Dweck states: “…in the growth mindset, failure can be a painful experience. But it doesn’t define you. It’s a problem to be faced, dealt with, and learned from.” We can still learn from our mistakes.

Dr. Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset tips for parents:

  1. Listen to what you say to your kids, with an ear toward the messages you’re sending about mindset.
  2. Instead of praising children’s intelligence or talent, focus on the processes they used.
    • Example: “That homework was so long and involved. I really admire the way you concentrated and finished it.”
    • Example: “That picture has so many beautiful colors. Tell me about them.”
    • Example: “You put so much thought into that essay. It really makes me think about Shakespeare in a new way.
  3. When your child messes up, give constructive criticism — feedback that helps the child understand how to fix the problem, rather than labeling or excusing the child.
  4. Pay attention to the goals you set for your children; having innate talent is not a goal, but expanding skills and knowledge is.

(Souce: Why Mindset Matters, Stanford Magazine, September 20, 2017, by Marina Krakovsky)

Dr. Dweck advises, “If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. That way, their children will have a lifelong way to build and repair their own confidence.”. She advises also not to praise intelligence or talent, but praise the work ethic.

…[W]e can praise wisely, not praising intelligence or talent. That has failed. Don’t do that anymore. But praising the process that kids engage in: their effort, their strategies, their focus, their perseverance, their improvement. This process praise creates kids who are hardy and resilient.

How we word things affects confidence, the words ‘yet’ or ‘not yet,’ “give kids greater confidence, give them a path into the future that creates greater persistence.” We can change mindsets.

TED: Carol Dweck

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Carol Dweck researches “growth mindset” — the idea that we can grow our brain’s capacity to learn and to solve problems. In this talk, she describes two ways to think about a problem that’s slightly too hard for you to solve. Are you not smart enough to solve it … or have you just not solved it yet? 

Carol Dweck, Ph.D, states that “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.

Carol Dweck, Ph.D, Psychologist, is a pioneering researcher in the field of motivation, why people succeed (or don’t) and how to foster success.

Growth Mindset…About Learning

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You try something, it doesn’t work, and maybe people even criticize you. In a growth mindset, you look for what you’ve learned. – Carol Dweck

Growth Mindset is a set of beliefs and behaviors that adapts to challenging situations; it sees failure as a chance for learning and creativity; and it knows that growth is possible when it comes to talent, abilities and intelligence.

My dad encouraged us to fail. Growing up, he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn’t have something, he would be disappointed. It changed my mindset at an early age that failure is not the outcome, failure is not trying. Don’t be afraid to fail. — Sara Blakely


If you fail, you do not lose. You only lose when you quit or do not try.

Carol Dweck states that “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment[.

When things do not go your way, remember that every challenge — every adversity — contains within it the seeds of opportunity and growth. ― Roy T. Bennett

Successful people are able to persist through all of the doubt, pain and failures that come with following their goals and dreams due to their Mindset. To be successful, people must have and vigorously embrace the concept of a Growth Mindset, a mindset that sees challenges as opportunities for learning, growth and expansion.

History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heart-breaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats. — B.C. Forbes

Growth Mindset is about attitudes towards seeking challenges, learning from failures and set-backs, and the ability to progress and achieve. Essentially, the concept is that if you believe your talents can be developed, you have more of a ‘growth mindset’ and will tend to achieve more.

Your Financial Mindset

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Financial Mindset – behaviors and beliefs about how you earn, spend, save and invest money.

Financial Independence means Never have to work again to live your life.

Secrets to Financial Independent, according to Tony Robbins, are…

  • Spend less than you make, and invest the difference.
  • You want to put your money to work for you.
  • Re-invest your returns so you can earn compound interest on it
  • Never get financially independent by work alone.
  • Only reason to invest is for income, not assets
  • Three Financial Buckets: Security | Growth | Dream