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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Do it like Derek Foster

I wake up at 4PM and been blogging since I wake up lol. I think I am brain dead lol… Yesterday, I was very tired; I was having terrible back pain. But now, after sleeping more than 12 hours in a row… I am alight lol. It was a bit cold in my apartment so when I felt the breeze, I just continue sleeping… I didn’t want to wake up. When I am sleeping like this, I am not doing any shopping, so I am not spending my precious money around. And talking about precious money, I have a lot of projects going on! I am not totally brain dead. I was tired because we start receiving calls at my new job and its gave me a lot of stress. We are terribly poorly train – and the trainer was kind of suck too – to do the job we are desperately trying to do. The trainer we had was basically a wanna-be-superstar and she’d once of the most annoying woman I had never met of my life. But no surprise there, I wasn’t expecting much more coming from Quebeckers. My expectations were not really high. And some co-workers are really arrogant and disrespectful (worst than me!).. but oh surprise, they are… Quebeckers lol. Nothing more than just poor Quebeckers. They should consider themselves lucky to have someone like myself – one of the best do-it-like-Derek-Foster-investor out there working for them. That’s it. Very funny isn’t?

LESSONS LEARN: Don’t expect your co-workers to be as smart and gentle as you are.

It’s actually more difficult that I taught, at some points, to work from 9 AM to midnight. I was doing it before, last year, but the difference with this year situation is that I don’t have any break between the 2 jobs. I finish one job at 5:30PM and begin the other one at 6PM. I am lucky enough to only have to take the metro and the 2 jobs are close from one to another. The shift of my evening job had been changed for next week, so I will be working during the day and my new job is during the evening. But once I will no my new job better, it will be much better and I will be less tired.

LESSONS LEARN: You can work around the clock and sleep as little as 6 hours per night if you are really into money

Great surprise, my stocks and units portfolio had increased to 34 027$ (compare to the 33 898$ on December 5th). Which represent an increase of 129$. Those numbers and this increase could be seemed at first some kind of ridiculously low. BUT – here’s my point: the TSX, when closing Friday, had lost 40.64 points and the value of my stocks and units portfolio had increased of 129$... We have something very special right here. I AM BEATING THE INDEX lol. Beat the steel when it's hot.... :)

LESSONS LEARN: You can beat the index without too much trouble.

Money projects or what to do with my money… paying debts or invest?

I currently have 1 500$ lying in my banking accounts, doing nothing. This mean that 1 500$ of my very own precious money is not working for me right now. I have to do something about it! But what should I do, pay off some debts or invest?

Take a guess, and a very wild one…

But just before revealing what I am going to do next, here’s an update regarding my debt situation:

-Student loan: 8 644.75$ at 4.75%
Yearly interest: 408.80$
-TD line of credit: 4 686$ at 8%
Yearly interest: 374.88$
-CIBC Visa: 2 979.44$ at 3.99% for 6 months
6 months interest: 59.44$
-Credit line at super low interest rate: 3 537.13$
Yearly interest: 132.64$
TOTAL IN INTEREST: 975.76$

As you can see, I had for now transferred the money I had available to invest on my credit line at a super low interest.

The total in interest is of 975.76$.

Interest rate money vs dividend money

Do I really care for in interest while my investment portfolio will provide me, in the upcoming year, close to 3 000$ in dividend earnings? I have to say, I don’t care about my debt situation, and I will ever will.

Right now, I am desperately looking forward to increase the value of my portfolio, eve we are just talking here of 1 500$. I had opened a broker account at where I currently work and it might be time to experiment their platform. And their very cheap commission fee! Starting from now, I will purchase all of my new investments through them.

LESSONS LEARN: Paying off debts is boring.

We are now talking about a new investment! What would it be?

I am giving you fee worlds: wine, vodka, gin, rum… No, I didn’t turn into an alcoholic… Those words stand for Corby Distilleries (CDL.A)! Remember that I had purchased Derek Foster latest book Stop working too, you still can!: safe beginner strategies from Canada’s millionaire investor and that I really like it? As always, Derek Foster adds the content of his investment portfolio at the end of his book. Corby Distilleries (CDL.A) is about one of the only non .UN investment that Derek Foster hold that I can afford at this time!

It makes me laugh to read some articles like: What went wrong with the Derek Foster Strategy; Is Dividend Investing dead? The Derek Foster Story and so on… Nothing went wrong with Derek Foster. It’s just at a point, the markets were scary and he decides to sell his portfolio because at the time, he taught it was the best thing to do.

In a few years from now, those same individuals will probably look at things differently. I had been reading a lot of stuff about finance and other and never before that had I read a book about finance that was almost like a user guide on how to escape from hell (hell being, of course, the work place lol). But not only. His books are not only about on how to Stop Working, it’s about understanding investment and the risk. And I add the risk in here because it’s the most important part.

I will take a personal example. My father had around 30 000$ put aside in his RRSP account. The money had been lying for about 25-30 years in an account that was providing – and still provide him – a low interest rate. Why? Because my father doesn’t want to risk his money. Reason why: never of his life he gets some investment knowledge. He doesn’t understand the notion of risk in investment.

You might know how financial planner and others work: they suggest investment products by respecting your investment profile. But by respecting their investment profile only. They don’t get into the subject into deeper manners because the law is strict. If the individual does not get the financial knowledge he needs to understand the notion of risk by himself, ever of his life he will received good return on his money. And that's very sad.

Before reading Derek Foster books, my investment life was mostly involved in mutual funds and GIC. After several reading of Stop Working: Here’s how you can!, I decide to move forward and open a broker account. I guess that in the meantime, I might had forget all about of my reading of Derek Foster books because shortly after opening my broker account, I was investing in Timminco (TIM) and Sprott Inc. (SII). My first investments were the worst one I could ever make of my life! But shortly after, I was going back on track and I had purchased all of those marvelous investments you can see on the right column of my blog…

Anyhow, after several, multiple reading of Derek Foster 4 books, I understand the notion of risk and my life will never be the same.

LESSONS LEARN: Derek Foster will probably make Canadian history. Read, learn, invest and get rich.

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