Derek Foster

Asset allocation, risk, diversification and rebalancing. Pros/cons of hiring a financial advisor. Seeking advice on your portfolio?
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ghariton
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Re: Derek Foster

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Bylo Selhi wrote:When I'm in Austria in a couple of weeks time I'll use it to call family and friends in Canada. If for some reason I were to dial 911 on DV the authorities will dispatch help to my address in Waterloo. When they discover I'm not there, they may trace my IP address. That will get them an ISP in Austria from whom I will have bought a SIM card and some airtime. I will have paid cash. I won't have been asked for ID. At best they'll be able to trace the call to a cell tower. Maybe they'll be able to triangulate but I wouldn't bet my life on it. A lot of good the CRTC has done me in this scenario.
Are you expecting Canadian emergency services to come to your assistance in Austria? :shock:

Presumably when you buy your SIM card in Austria you will make arrangements with the provider. And presumably you'll remember to dial 112 rather than 911 in case of emergency.

Anyway, I hope you have a nice trip with no need to call any emergency number.

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Bylo Selhi
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by Bylo Selhi »

ghariton wrote:Are you expecting Canadian emergency services to come to your assistance in Austria? :shock:
Of course not. When I dial 911 into DV, no matter where I am on the planet, I expect a Canadian 911 operator to get my call. And of course the best they can possibly do for me is contact their counterparts in Austria.
Presumably when you buy your SIM card in Austria you will make arrangements with the provider.
Yabbut I'll be travelling so it's not going to be practical to keep them apprised even if I were so inclined. In any case the same situation exists even if I'm travelling within Canada. I used Austria because that scenario introduces additional complications.
And presumably you'll remember to dial 112 rather than 911 in case of emergency.
That's if I'm not sure what services I need. If I do know then in Austria it's possible to cut out the middleman by using 122 for fire, 133 for police, 144 for ambulance, and 140 for alpine rescue, among others. The problem is that every European country has a different menu so it's generally best to dial 112. BTW even in Canada and the US 112 on a GSM phone redirects to 911.
Anyway, I hope you have a nice trip with no need to call any emergency number.
Thanks. So far I've never needed to.
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Re: Derek Foster

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FinEcon wrote: Kudos to Foster. He knows his audience well and knows exactly how to to market to them and then serves up what they want, collecting big checks with what is likely a rather modest effort. He then repeats the process with a new catchy title all the while playing Gumby with his own behavior to maximize social transfers to his family. He probably shields the book selling cash flow in a corp then times cash payouts so social transfers are not affected. Again props to Foster. Running his life like a corporation, rationally and effectively at least in a financial sense.
That might make a USEFUL book subject if he ever decides to write one on that! :wink:
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Re: Derek Foster

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johnfranks wrote: That might make a USEFUL book subject if he ever decides to write one on that! :wink:
Yes, but that would mean he would need to admit he's not really retired contradicting what he's written in most of his books. :)
But, he has gone back on the "dividend investing forever" mantra that got him through his first couple of books, ditching most of his portfolio at the top of the 2007 bubble.
So nothing's out of the realm of possibility if it means another book.

I'm still not sure if I'm annoyed with this guy or if I'm jealous.... :D
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by gsp_ »

augustabound wrote:ditching most of his portfolio at the top of the 2007 bubble.
I don't know anything about this guy other than what I've read on blogs and message boards but I don't think that's right. Pretty sure I recall him getting out near the late '08/early '09 bottom after he couldn't take the losses. Classic capitulation.
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Re: Derek Foster

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augustabound wrote:ditching most of his portfolio at the top of the 2007 bubble.
Buy and hold investing guru sells all he has
In early February [2009], he sold everything he owned in his online brokerage account – $472,000 worth of stocks and income trusts – and moved into cash.
"A dividend is a dictate of management. A capital gain is a whim of the market."
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by Taggart »

If investors want to read Derek Foster's books, it's a lot cheaper if they just go out and borrow them from the library. One of the key fundamentals for investing is, to get your costs down.
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by augustabound »

gsp_ wrote:
augustabound wrote:ditching most of his portfolio at the top of the 2007 bubble.
I don't know anything about this guy other than what I've read on blogs and message boards but I don't think that's right. Pretty sure I recall him getting out near the late '08/early '09 bottom after he couldn't take the losses. Classic capitulation.
Sorry, that's what I meant, ditching at the bottom. Our 3 year old daughter was talking and talking and talking, hard to concentrate. :D
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Re: Derek Foster

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A few years ago, I asked a question to DF on one of his posting site: if everyone does as you promote, stop working in their early 30s, who would be teachers for your children and who would be doctors to take care of the sick, and where would all the social benefits come from? He never answered the question.

We bought his first book and read the 2nd. Nothing wrong to teach people how to save and invest, nothing wrong to stop doing what you don't like, but his view of how people should live is just that: his own one sided view, and no, we are not jealous at all.
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by Taggart »

I somehow don't think Derek Foster is missing his old job in telephone marketing. Whether this great career is a plus to society, I'll let you ponder.
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Re: Derek Foster

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DF must be commended with Mega ATTA-Boys for devoting the time and patience to Study the System...picking the Opportunity/s and moving forward, Looking After #1.

Do not be surprised to learn that the processes within the Systems are designed to be 'USED'...Milk the System, Big-Time, before the masses 'catch-on'. OTOH, abusing these same processes is a NO-NO to most 90%ers and wannabees. Needless to say, ALL the politicians are not only immune to the same NO-NO's but also protected and encouraged to take the most ALL the time. AB has many examples 'HOW' this works in this day and age...Ya'lls would not believe the Yabutts spit-out by the AB-Leader/s.

TAX is a De-Wealthitizer, Big-Time. The primary aim in life should be to pay NO tax...ZERO, NADDA, ZILCH, YNET, NON. Why is there such a desire to contribute hard earned Money to the Govt, with a consequence of 'Pure-Waste'?

HOW did the word 'ethics' pop-up at a time when the New Global Economy covertly removed that word from the dictionary?

Investigate the Do-Gooders first, Always!!!

Stick with the 'Winners'. Do not worry about the little-thingies like the 'losers'.

Dawg-eat-Dawg is vogue. Sticking-IT-to-the-Taxpayer is vogue too.

Adjust and Adapt. (SKers Adapt and eventually Adjust...so 'ems claim)

Why are so many taxpayers so darn STUPID? WHY?
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Re: Derek Foster

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Cellphones 'difficult, frustrating' for 911 dispatch
when a cellphone is used from inside a residence, operators receive the phone number, a latitude and longitude and what is called “an uncertainty value” that gives an approximate radius in metres from where the call originated.

“The accuracy is very differing. It’s not an exact pinpoint of where you are,” said Powers, who has worked at dispatch for 28 years.

That approximation could vary three or four city blocks, sometimes "thousands of metres," depending on cell towers in the location, she said.

However, in 2010, the CRTC said operators can now identify a caller's location within a radius of 10 to 300 metres — versus a previous radius of up to 20 kilometres in rural areas
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by Bylo Selhi »

To summarize:

Cellphones should complement, not supplant, landlines for the reasons given in the article. OTOH cellphones can do things that landlines can't, e.g. call for help after a road accident or when a mobile user witnesses a crime in progress. (Never mind the value of built-in still and video cameras to record the "truth.")

With landlines it boils down to traditional POTS vs. VoIP. POTS is still more reliable because it's always battery backed up by carriers. About the only caveat is to have at least one old-style wired phone for use during a power outage. VoIP is a reasonable alternative if you think through the issues and mitigate them. For example make sure your carrier knows your current home address so that first responders can find you in a 911 situation. Make sure your VoIP-related hardware (broadband modem, VoIP router, handsets, etc. are on a UPS so you have service during a power outage.

We have both POTS and cellphones (his and hers.) The annual cost of two PAYG cellphones that are used primarily for emergencies is well worth it (as little as $25/yr plus the phone.) We also have VoIP but use it only to make cheap LD calls.
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by Taggart »

In this recent interview Derek Foster said something I could personally identify with.

"The biggest mistakes I've made is when I focused on cheap stocks which were crappy companies. Some people are smart enough to be true "value investors", but I'm not. The funny thing is that if you accept the fact that you are never going to be Warren Buffett or Ben Graham, you can avoid a lot a grief."
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by scomac »

He seems to have toned down the rhetoric a bit from his earlier days. I'm not sure that I care for the self-deprecating style though as it tends to downplay the risks and the need for discipline to be successful.
I'm not sure that the personal attacks are helpful, particularly when they aren't always accurate. It tends to distract one's focus from the important issues.
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by Taggart »

Aside from the free e-mail I receive every so often, I don't have a paid subscription to his service so I can't follow what's in Derek's own portfolio. I was surprised though when he mentioned he no longer owns any income trusts. He said quote, "My portfolio had grown quite a bit and tax-wise it no longer made sense for me to look for the highest yielding investments but instead led me to look for dividend GROWTH." Obviously he's done well with his investments.
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by Taggart »

Derek Foster interview on BNN.
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by JaydoubleU »

We may have laid this old horse to rest, but for anyone interested or those new to the topic, there's an update on Derek Foster in the Globe: "How investor Derek Foster, Canada’s ‘youngest retiree,' learned his own lesson."

The article is behind a wall for online readers but I was able to read it on the TDW website.

Here's an excerpt:
he has two main sources of income these days: dividends from his stock portfolio and monthly payments from the Canada child benefit program, which is intended to help families with the cost of raising children. Even households with significant investment assets can qualify for the CCB by structuring their affairs to minimize their taxable income. The more children a family has, the greater the CCB cheque.
He and his wife just had their SEVENTH child.

I feel a mix of envy and disgust.
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by scomac »

It's really quite simple: Derek Foster is a living example of the lifestyle choices and methodologies described in Free Parking.

I've never read the book myself, but I do remember it being the talk of the town when it came out for its controversial nature. Follows blonde's maxim -- study the system and milk the masses for all they're worth. Minimum input, maximum drawdown. The most interesting aspect of this for me is that Foster's celebrity continues to shine, maybe not as brightly as before, but he's still in the news!

[Added] Just read the article. Much ado about nothing.
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by longinvest »

Someone frugal enough could never work a single day in his life, living on welfare until 65, then on GIS/OAS. Retire at age 18! How about that?
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by Taggart »

JaydoubleU wrote: 07 Oct 2017 07:03 We may have laid this old horse to rest, but for anyone interested or those new to the topic, there's an update on Derek Foster in the Globe: "How investor Derek Foster, Canada’s ‘youngest retiree,' learned his own lesson."

The article is behind a wall for online readers but I was able to read it on the TDW website.

Here's an excerpt:
he has two main sources of income these days: dividends from his stock portfolio and monthly payments from the Canada child benefit program, which is intended to help families with the cost of raising children. Even households with significant investment assets can qualify for the CCB by structuring their affairs to minimize their taxable income. The more children a family has, the greater the CCB cheque.
He and his wife just had their SEVENTH child.

I feel a mix of envy and disgust.
Thanks. I didn't know TDDI carried news items from the G&M. Got all excited there for a moment realizing I could get a free read on Norman Rothery's "A value strategy seeking the most succulent returns". Unfortunately, when I clicked on it all I got was a list of stocks.

Anyhow, back on topic.

The article from John Heinzl on Derek Foster is also available at Globeadvisor.

Meet the 'Idiot Millionaire' who sold everything

https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet ... KETSHEINZL
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Re: Derek Foster

Post by slim »

From the government website:Basic benefit for July 2016 to June 2018
"We calculate the Canada child benefit (CCB) as follows:

$6,400 per year ($533.33 per month) for each eligible child under the age of six
$5,400 per year ($450.00 per month) for each eligible child aged 6 to 17"

These amounts are tax free. They begin to reduce after $30,000 per year in family net income.
So if the Foster dividends amount to $30,000 split equally between the spouses. There is no taxation at all.

Assuming an annual tax free CCB estimate for them of $5000 X 7 = 35,000
they would have $65,000 tax free.

A couple with one income earner would have to earn $90,000 to have 65,000 to spend.
But the Foster income will decline after the children pass age 17, and the costs to feed clothe and educate are going to be very high.
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Re: Derek Foster

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Taggart wrote: 07 Oct 2017 10:27 Thanks. I didn't know TDDI carried news items from the G&M. Got all excited there for a moment realizing I could get a free read on Norman Rothery's "A value strategy seeking the most succulent returns". Unfortunately, when I clicked on it all I got was a list of stocks.
The TLDR: Picking low multiple stocks (book value, earnings, cash flow, sales) from the S&P/TSX Composite worked over the last 15 years. Book value provided marginal gains vs the market while the others fared much better. Low-P/CF fared the best.
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Re: Derek Foster

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longinvest wrote: 07 Oct 2017 09:14Someone frugal enough could never work a single day in his life, living on welfare until 65, then on GIS/OAS. Retire at age 18! How about that?
I know people on "disability". Your way might be paid for but it's a horrible lifestyle that leads to hopelessness.
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Re: Derek Foster

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slim wrote: 07 Oct 2017 12:29 Assuming an annual tax free CCB estimate for them of $5000 X 7 = 35,000
they would have $65,000 tax free.
There's a calculator on the CCB page. It's roughly 40k of CCB if 2 of the 7 kids are under 6. Overall benefits once ON is factored in can be over 50k, tax free.

I simulated just 32k of eligible dividends(44k of net income after gross up) and they'd still get over 48k of total benefits. 80k tax free.
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