Good afternoon,
Have you ever heard of ESG investing? Maybe you have but you can’t quite put your finger on it. Sometimes the more enlightened among us call it ethical investing. ESG stands for environmental, social and governance. Back in the day, we used to call it “socially responsible” investing. Make the world a better place by investing in companies that claim to “Do Better by Doing Good.” We saw an article which reported that 75% of respondents believe it is important to make the world a better place while growing their personal assets. Perhaps unsurprisingly, millennials were “especially vocal in this area.” Well we think that sounds nice. The WMR would like its offspring to grow up in a better world than the one we grew up in, so these principles sound nice. But we’re also pragmatic. We’d prefer our investments to make money however they can and then if we want to make the world better with the profits, that’s our call.
Why do we bring this up this week? Because cannabis.
We’ve mentioned cannabis before and it is a topic that won’t be going away any time soon. As it has become more mainstream recently, especially in the last 12 months, we’ve gotten inquiries about how to invest in the industry. We’ve explained it before, so we won’t repeat ourselves this week repeat ourselves this week. Suffice it to say that while cannabis is still federally illegal in the good ole’ U.S. of A. it is legal for our northern neighbor. Northern from everywhere in the lower 48 except from Detroit, which is the only place in the country where you actually go south to get to Canada. Cannabis companies are allowed on Canadian stock exchanges. So, from an investor’s standpoint, either you start your own farm, open your own dispensary, or somehow invest in publicly traded Canadian companies.
The cannabis investment inquiries have been across the spectrum. A handful of clients think this is the greatest opportunity ever and want to go all in on the industry. “It’ll be like owning a bar when prohibition ended!” Claims one of them. “I want only cannabis in my portfolio!” Says another. Being prudent as the WMR is, we wouldn’t go that far, but we do see their point.
Then we have clients on the other end of the debate. “No thanks. We won’t participate in anything that involves drugs, we don’t care how much potential it might have, we are against it.” Not quite a reefer madness position (Google it if you’re unfamiliar), but close enough. We see their point too.
Our favorite discussion, however, had to be one we had with a more mature couple. When talking about the industry and its investment potential, they said to us, “We’re 49% against it, we don’t believe in drugs and we don’t think people should use cannabis. But, we’re 51% for making money. If our investment is profitable, we’ll donate the proceeds to our church.”
So there you go.
And for those readers who have an interest, here is a good article on CBD. CBD, or cannabidiol, is one of the active ingredients of cannabis. CBD is purported to have several medically beneficial uses in the body. https://examine.com/supplements/cbd/?ck_subscriber_id=121873123
Another main active ingredient in cannabis, THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, is the compound that gives marijuana its psychoactive effects. This is the ingredient that gets users high. It has medical uses as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahydrocannabinol
The WMR is not making any cannabis recommendations, investments or usage, in any way at all. We simply provide information to help make informed decisions.
Elon Musk is at it again. He says that we’ll all own horses in 3 years. What he means is that if we don’t own a Tesla, it’ll be like owning a horse. “It’s financially insane to buy anything other than a Tesla.”
Ok dude, C’mon already. Ease up on the P.T. Barnum stuff. Some of us financial guys might disagree that owning any other car is “insane.” And some of us car guys might disagree even more strongly. Teslas are cool, but so are many others. The WMR appreciates all types of cars, new and old, big and small, domestic and foreign, but foremost we consider ourselves a Porsche enthusiast. 911 Carrera S Cabriolet with a manual transmission please. Black, white, gray, blue, most any color except silver thankyouverymuch. And speaking of Elon Musk and THC, here is the episode of the Joe Rogan podcast where Joe got Elon to sample some cannabis on air.
http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/elon-musk
Tesla stock fell 6% the day after this podcast aired.
And we repeat ourselves again with another story of the week about how social security will be insolvent by 2035.
No, no, no. Not true. SS has some issues, for sure, but will not be out of money in 2035. We’ve gone over this so many times that even we’re beginning to tire of the discussion. If you have any questions about SS for you or your loved ones, call us. Or come to our next social security presentation for the Michigan Association of CPAs on Tuesday, June 11.
With summer approaching and the yutes of America about to be out of school for a while, we’ve been encouraging our own offspring to find a job for the summer and help offset some of their own expenses. Our oldest is on board, has one gig lined up already and is looking at others. Our middle daughter, the 16 y/o, doesn’t have much interest in working, so just like we forced her on the golf team, we’re forcing her to get a job. We, pardon the pun, teed it up for her by calling in a favor from a friend who owns a small clothing boutique near home. He’s agreed to bring her on. We’ll see how it goes. Our youngest, who is a very imaginative sort, has decided that she’d like to sell some of her artsy creations on the website Etsy.com. Cool, sounds ok to us, we said. So do we split the proceeds or what? “Huh? No!” Why not? We pay for the materials that you use to make stuff, doesn’t that make us your partner? “No!” Ok then, at least pay us back for the materials we purchase, that’s only fair. “No!” Maybe you better talk to Mom about this program, I have a feeling she’ll be more receptive to your terms than me.
LF25 – “Marijuana is a very dangerous drug. Some people smoke it just once and go directly into politics.” – Barry Crimmins.
Have a great week.
Michael J. Acho, MBA, CFP®
Private Wealth Advisor
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Lincoln Financial Advisors/Sagemark Consulting
1000 Town Center, 26th Floor
Southfield, MI 48075
248-948-5100 direct
248-948-5101 fax
248-933-4339 cell
Michael.Acho@LFG.com
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-acho/27/913/3a8
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