Introduce Yourself

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The Management
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Introduce Yourself

Post by The Management »

Greetings. The purpose of this thread is to allow new posters to introduce themselves if they wish, giving as much - or as little - background as they want.

Posting on this thread is entirely voluntary - but, if you do wish to post, thank you and welcome to the Financial Wisdom Forum (FWF)!

-- The Management
Last edited by Administrator on 22 Dec 2015 17:36, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: We've been the Financial Wisdom Forum for a while now.
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yielder
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Post by yielder »

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Shakespeare
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Post by Shakespeare »

I took early retirement in late 1998 at age 50 and moved to Lethbridge, Alberta. Although I have a small pension, most of my income comes from my investment portfolio. I have absolutely no professional training in financial matters and am strictly a do-it-yourself investor. My portolio currently contains stocks, bonds, preferred shares, exchange-traded funds, REITs, real return bonds, and a low-cost bond fund. I index US and international equities, but use a value/contrarian approach on my Canadian portfolio.

My website is at http://www.shakesprimer.com.
Sic transit gloria mundi. Tuesday is usually worse. - Robert A. Heinlein, Starman Jones
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la principessa
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Post by la principessa »

It started with an upbringing in New Jersey, where money was in the same category as dirty tap water: an infinitely renewable resource, so don’t bother saving it. It’s also the State where every pair of pants comes with a “south pocket,” a place to hide money from the government.

I came to Canada in 1967 with the first of three husbands, a draft dodger whose grandfather made a fortune during Prohibition in New York. Being a pharmacist, he had a license to dispense alcohol, which he did freely to the Blacks in Harlem.

By the early 1990s, I lucked into a wonderful adviser from Nesbitt who cold called every creative person in Toronto’s ad industry, knowing we spent more than we earned. He got me into great financial shape and promptly died. My account was inherited by a junior at Nesbitt who allowed it to decline into oblivion, so I took it to an aggressive adviser at RBC who won big but also lost big, leaving me with a mess and a 30% loss.

Numbers are not my thing, but I’ve learned enough from Bylo (indexing), NormR (value), Jon Chevreau (diversification) and Norbert (Korean food) to rise above my history and handle my own affairs. I expect to retire prematurely even though the numbers don’t support my delusions.
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Post by Shakespeare »

The image I am currently using as my avatar is cropped from a picture of me holding my dog Sally in front of the General Sherman tree in California.

Image
Sic transit gloria mundi. Tuesday is usually worse. - Robert A. Heinlein, Starman Jones
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Post by Inquisitive »

I thought of calling myself Shy Lurker, since that describes me best.

I am WonderIng Woman at TWB, but posted perhaps 3 times.

Middleaged, middlebrowed, horribly busy. First logged onto the Fund Library in the late 90's and learned that my suspicions about my then broker's real goals - his enrichment,not mine - were brutally true Example? he bought and sold the same losing Global Bond Fund twice - DSC, of course. And much much more.

Later, through Jon's columns, I discovered the Boomer, and thanks to those posters I now know a little more than most of my friends and have just enough knowledge to know that I really know absolutely nothing.
Which goes for life, too.

I lack the knack for finance but shall struggle on....gratefully...to learn. Thanks, Webringers.

[/b]
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Post by ghariton »

I'm a DIY on the periphery of financial matters. My main interest is the theory, because I love a good puzzle. By reading some of the stuff Norbert suggested, out of the CFA syllabus, I can understand what people are saying about real-life securities, but I don't know enough to really use them. So I index equities instead.

I'm the ultimate buy-and-hold investor, mainly because at any given time, I can't see anything that will perform better than what I hold, to a degree that will cover the transaction costs of switching. As a side benefit, this inertia also avoids the regret of wrong affirmative decisions. And I don't get bored easily.

I've been known to take an interest in current events :)

I'm currently a law student, with the intention of practising telecom law some day. I don't have any malpractice insurance, and I've been told to stop giving out legal advice until I do :(

The law will be my fourth career. Obviously, I can't hold a job.

George Hariton
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Post by scomac »

Hi Everyone,

I am a DIY investor living on the outskirts of Hamilton Ontario. I have been managing my financial affairs, strictly on my own, for a little over three years. My story is much the same as many others, having gone through the boom and bust of the tech bubble with an overly aggressive stock broker. The scars from that experience left me with a capital loss in excess of 30% and the determination to learn how to prevent a re-occurence of that in the future. While the learning curve has been steep, I've been able to leverage 25 years experience of owning and operating a private business in this endeavour.

I would characterize myself as a quantative value investor. My philosophy has been shaped by the writings of Graham, Buffett, Dremen, Neff, Fischer and O'Shaughnessy. My portfolio is positioned to generate a tax advantaged income stream holding common and preferred shares, income trusts, ETFs, CEFs and a few bonds. I am currently enrolled in a CFP accredation program through our local community college; more for my own benefit than for any professional aspirations.

I look forward to learning from all of you.

Regards,

Scott McKibbon
"On what principle is it, that when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us?"
Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1830
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yielder
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Post by yielder »

Hey Scott,

Good to see you here.
I would characterize myself as a quantative value investor
Great. That makes two of us. I think most of the other members are some form of EMHer/indexer. Be prepared to circle the wagons. :twisted:

Mike
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Post by Shakespeare »

I think most of the other members are some form of EMHer/indexer
Not I. I index US and EAFE because I don't want to stock pick. But I figure that there's lots of evidence the market is approximately efficient most of the time and also proof [WB] that it's not perfectly efficient all of the time.

There's a bit of extra money to be made on those edges - once you pay the tuition costs, which can be steep. :P
Sic transit gloria mundi. Tuesday is usually worse. - Robert A. Heinlein, Starman Jones
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yielder
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Post by yielder »

OK so now it's three wagons. That'll make a triangle. Better than the "circle" that two made. ;-)
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Post by Norbert Schlenker »

Yielder wrote:Be prepared to circle the wagons. :twisted:
I'm sharpening arrows already. :)

Scott, welcome. Even though yielder and I disagree on this topic, we still enjoy the fencing. I hope you will too. I expect to come out with a few more scars. Yielder's certainly marked me more than once.
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Post by scomac »

Norbert Schlenker wrote:I'm sharpening arrows already. :)

Scott, welcome. Even though yielder and I disagree on this topic, we still enjoy the fencing. I hope you will too.
Thanks for the warm welcome guys. Attaching appropriate body armour now. :wink:

Scott
"On what principle is it, that when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us?"
Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1830
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Post by dagan »

[Restored from backup 2006-07-18]

I'm here! I'm ALIVE! LOL :D

Had some problems getting verified but that was probably my fault anyways. Thanks for the help, guys!

Oh yeah. 43 year old, DIY investor, long time married 2 kids. See you in the threads.
Last edited by dagan on 18 Jul 2006 10:46, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by gummy »

I'd just like to see my picture on the left :)

In a week the family is heading off to Cancun.
(Howie will remember these trips.)
http://www.gummy-stuff.org/Cancun/RCB.jpg

As y'all might guess, I'm Daddy-O.

It'll be interesting to read all the posts when we get back ... especially since the "RING" is currently a big topic on TWB :?
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Post by nadreck »

To quote a character from the MASH episode tittled "Kim lucky day": This is me :P

More seriously my wife and I jumped ship and semi-retired in October 2004, selling out our share of a computer store/ISP/Training Centre/IT consulting firm in Yellowknife and moving to Calgary where we had a house. We had planned for this for several years including setting financial goals for a level of independence that would allow us to do what interested us whether or not it paid. Both my wife and I like teaching. As well I am very interested in investing. I certainly believe that I can achieve a better return for myself by actively investing in what I perceive as value. Note that this does not preclude my buying into a good growth or even start up story. I simply need to see value. I like oil and gas investments because I feel I understand both the various conditions underwhich they operate in North America and I do still feel bulish about oil and gas prices over the next 5 to 10 years(ie that they will at least stay within 25% of current levels). My wife and I both feel that the right food and beverage producer/packager/distributors will also do well in that time frame. Our portfolios reflect this, however we also have investments in finance, retail, transportation and high tech.

While my investment experience is relatively short, I only started actively investing in 1998, I have read a fair bit and find some of my most important vicarious experience from the pages of Benjamin Graham's "Securities Analysis" I was fortunate enough to read the 1934 edition around Christmas 1999 and the parrallels I saw in there were astounding. I like reading his other writings, I also found Alexander Tadich's "Rampaging Bulls" very instructive. I liked some of Peter Lynch's ideas, I have read a lot of Warren Buffets communications to shareholders and some other writings he made (including the afterwards he wrote for Benjamin Graham's "Inteligent Investor"). I also read a number of Robert Kiyosaki's books until I realized that his three or four good ideas were it and the rest were just repackaging that and advertising his cult. I have no interest in the sort of investing he promotes but I did find his perspective on personal finances and where we learn some of our most distructive misinformation about them enlightening. Oddly in the same vein the demographic information presented by Drs Thomas Stanley and William Danko in the Millionaire Next Door (and the subsequent two books in the series) were also usefull to me more to learn to understand my perspective on my finances rather than teach me how to do anything specifically with them.

The most important contributions though to my ability to perform due diligence, make investment decisions based on that, and to understand both what is being reported by companies in their financials and what the limitations of that mechanism of reporting come from my experiences in business including a couple of small corporations I participated in directly and the fact that in my role as an IT consultant I was involved with the accounting software of a number of small and medium companies including one public one and that experience was trully invaluable. It is much easier for me to make analysis and investment decisions when I feel I have experienced some parallel situations or at least witnessed them.

If someone thinks that they will someday be an active investor, spending some time looking at the books of small and medium sized companies is a great way to build up some specific skills, you can even get paid to do it. Anything from temping as a bookkeeper to being a qualified Accpac Installer (or Great Plains) will get you exposure to the details of companies day to day books and a weather eye to what goes on around the company will fill in the relationship between the books and the operation of the company.

Jim
Love within our lives! Live within our means! Invest in what we believe!
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INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Post by kodiak »

Hi

I am very new to investing. Female 57, divorced. I started my own business 11 years ago. I always lived below my means. Came from very meager means. I have been very successful :) (by my standards). I am planning on retiring in four years or earlier (Sunshine Coast BC).

My mortgage on my business is paid off. It should sell at $600,000-$750,000 (less capital gains)

I have been lurking for just about a year and have learned lots. I am determined to continue to be a DIYer.

Now that I have set my goal, it gets a little scary, to leave the security of a steady cash flow. But I am determined to move on as my life style is very limited at this isolated location and I feel I can not leave the business even over night. I would like to travel in the first years and I am looking forward to the mild weather on the Sunshine Coast.

Any comments or advice is welcome…..Cheers
Last edited by kodiak on 02 Mar 2005 18:00, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Post by Norbert Schlenker »

kodiak wrote:less capital gains
Does the cap gains exemption apply? Your tax bill might be quite small.
I have been lurking for just about a year and have learned lots. I am determined to continue to be a DIYer if possible.
You will get a lot of encouragement here. Stick with it.
I would like to travel in the first years and I am looking forward to the mild weather on the Sunshine Coast.

Any comments or advice is welcome…..Cheers
Not to rain :) on your parade, but in Alberta, the sky is often blue in the winter. Before you commit to the Sunshine (HA!) coast, spend a January there. Some people find 30 below preferable to 30 consecutive gray days.

In any case, welcome to the site. It's always nice to hear a new voice.
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Post by yielder »

I am very new
I saw that you had registered. Welcome aboard.

Mike
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Post by Jo Anne »

Hello? Is anyone there?

Is this the place where I can carry on about retiring without any money?

I seriously hope I don't have to come up with a picture of myself before I can post here.

Jo Anne
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Post by Shakespeare »

Pictures are optional, Jo Anne. You can use an avatar, or nothing; whatever you wish. Why don't you scan a picture of that great house you were telling us about?

Nice to have you here!
Sic transit gloria mundi. Tuesday is usually worse. - Robert A. Heinlein, Starman Jones
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yielder
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Post by yielder »

Is this the place where I can carry on
As much as you want. :wink:
I seriously hope I don't have to come up with a picture of myself before I can post here.
Yeh, you do. But you could use the one that came with the new wallet. Few would be the wiser. :twisted:

Welcome aboard.

Mike
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Post by Jo Anne »

[quote="Shakespeare"]Pictures are optional, Jo Anne. You can use an avatar, or nothing; whatever you wish. Why don't you scan a picture of that great house you were telling us about?

Nice to have you here![/quote]

I can scan pictures until the cows come home, but I don't know how those pictures will march themselves over to the internet so they can be seen by all of you here. Someone will have to give me a lesson sometime. Not tonight, please. Maybe someone will put up a tutorial on the "rules" page.
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Post by Shakespeare »

Maybe someone will put up a tutorial on the "rules" page.
It's already in the "Test Posts" section: http://www.financialwisdomforum.org/for ... c.php?t=52
Sic transit gloria mundi. Tuesday is usually worse. - Robert A. Heinlein, Starman Jones
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Re: INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Post by runningman »

I am planning on retiring in four years or earlier (Sunshine Coast BC).
You won't regret that move. I'm on the Sunshine Coast, the weather is mild and the lifestyle milder.............. 8)
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