Comments on Triaging My Way To Financial Success: The Foster Effect:

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/600754

2009-03-16T13:21:00.000-04:00

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/600754

I have read and enjoyed all 3 of Foster's books. ...

2009-03-05T11:44:00.000-05:00

I have read and enjoyed all 3 of Foster's books. I love the idea of creating a passive stream of dividend income. I found that the books really didn't give you all of the information you needed to make informed investment decisions. No stock is reccession proof. Recently, Foster has his income greatly reduced by the dividend cut of APF.UN, COS.UN, and others. I feel bad for anyone who may have blindly followed his portfolio.

Richard
http://72rule.blogspot.com

I think we give way too much credit to the "licens...

2009-02-22T08:29:00.000-05:00

I think we give way too much credit to the "licensed financial advisor". What exactly does that mean anyway? In my past experience, it was just a license to steal from me and under-perform what I could have been doing on my own. In the previous bull market, my advisor was realizing "steady" 5% returns (net) while the market was cranking out double digit gains. Yeah, he was that good. But no more of me feeding into their legit money scams. It's over-for good. If a "professional" is that good, shouldn't he/she guarantee their work? And I'm not talking about those paltry seg funds either. Let's start with an 8% return while gauranteeing the principal. What?! No takers? Gee, I guess there isn't any true "pros" out there.
Learn all you can about your own finances. It isn't that difficult, especially when compared to how poorly your portfolios have done in the past with the pros. And there's nothing like the satisfaction of knowing you did it yourself! Happy investing!

I am still not sure how far you like the author to...

2009-02-21T18:27:00.000-05:00

I am still not sure how far you like the author to take the topic of education or risk involved. He is not a licensed financial advisor, and he does mention that there are risks always. Now basing his logic on investments that have withstood time and many ups and downs of the economy is a good platform to start on.

I think you bring up an excellent point Anon:
<...

2009-02-16T21:13:00.000-05:00

I think you bring up an excellent point Anon:

Any investor, no matter their level of education, should always be aware of the advice/information being provided to them and look for a conflict of interest. Advice that comes at a cost needs to be examined for who benefits more (you or them).

Thanks for letting me comment Nurseb911. I underst...

2009-02-16T15:03:00.000-05:00

Thanks for letting me comment Nurseb911. I understand your point(s), yet there are many authors who indeed have the credentials that Mr. Foster does not possess and have lead many astray on the wild search for qualified and good companies. Even the "educated" have suffered dearly in the past (and not just the recent past either)knowing fully the seriousness and risks involved with investing in equities. What say they right about now? Derek Foster simply points out another way to generate income in sound(?) companies that pay reliable cash flows. I'm not defending Derek in any way. He's just showing us how he has done it, and maybe not revealing all the cards he used to play the game (leveraging). So be it. And perhaps he has spared us all the lingo and jargon that the so-called investment professionals use to conduct the "smoke and mirror" shows that are meant to make investing look complicated and beyond the ability of us mere mortals, who then decide to let the "pros" take care of their money. Well, we all know how that worked out. If anything, being educated at this juncture in the stock market only serves to embarrass these people even more. They have no excuse for making such errors. Weren't they "educated" enough? Or maybe they didn't realize how "serious" we were about our financial futures. Yep, I'm not too impressed with these clowns at all.
At least we have great websites like this one to further school us in the ways of the market, that allows us to believe that we truly can do this investment thing on our own. Onward we go!!

Anon,

My beef with Foster isn't the strateg...

2009-02-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

Anon,

My beef with Foster isn't the strategy of investing over the long-term in high quality dividend paying companies vs. active management. My concern is that his literature does little to educate investors about the serious risks that exist with equity investing. He throws caution to the wind and provides a watered down version of what is already well acknowledged as sound investing practice. He takes all the credit, but none of the responsibility while continuing to work as an author (he never retired).

I enjoyed reading your article advising investors,...

2009-02-15T20:16:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed reading your article advising investors, especially those new to the game, to exercise caution when investing their hard-earned dollars. But I must tell you that Derek Foster's method does work. Through the years, I have let the "qualified financial professionals" handle my money with amazingly poor results. These parasites do nothing but rape you of your fair share because their interests come before yours. I've NEVER made money with these people, no matter how "serious" I was about investing. But they were serious about lining their pockets before mine. Fast forward to now: I'm finally making money in the market doing it all by myself. And it's not that difficult either. And no matter if you use technicals, fundamentals, momentum or whatever, ALL stocks have their ups and downs from time to time (like now!!).I have been using Foster's system long before I read his book and it has been performing quite well. Of course, there are other ways to invest, but his way focuses on cash flow for income. And it does work quite nicely. Due diligence is always upon the investor and I trusted the so-called professionals that left me with very little in the end, save a lot wiser. Long ago, bridges were built by people who didn't possess engineering degrees, yet its today's bridges that collapse. So much for the learned............

Thanks for the comments Tim,

I recognize th...

2009-01-09T13:55:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the comments Tim,

I recognize the amount of time the average investor takes in their financial health and the main theme of this post was to make the point for due diligence rather than attack what Foster has done. As an author I feel he's been very successful, but as an investor and/or advocate for investor education I question his motives & methods.

This post was meant to shake things up for an investor who might not have considered more than a few issues with the strategy and that a well balanced investing approach (through education as well) can prevent serious mistakes over the long-term The recession-proof vs. recession resistant is one of those issues I take with the approach. I just wanted to point out to a new investor that you have to think critically when investing and whether its Foster, an advisor or someone else ask yourself the question of conflict of interest to determine how you benefit from their advice.

Great blog btw!

I see what your getting at with this post, but at ...

2009-01-09T06:58:00.000-05:00

I see what your getting at with this post, but at the same time I think you over estimating how much more the average person is willing to put in regarding investments.

I remember a discuss I have with Preet one day regarding investment knowledge and he pointed out that even my limited investment knowledge at the time was more than 95% of the public in his opinion. That shocked me until I thought about it.

Most people just blindly trust investment advisers and never buy investments directly themselves. The few that do try to control their investments often are speculating rather than investing.

As much as we all hate to admit it Foster is on to something. Most people like 'dumb down' advice. The don't want to know why it works or the details they just want to use it. PF blog readers really are a rare breed that do what to learn the why of it all.

Anyways, just my two cents. Great article.

Tim

I have to point out that the period when foster st...

2008-12-22T18:44:00.000-05:00

I have to point out that the period when foster started investing to the time he published his first book saw some of the largest year to year dividend gains for a large number of dividend paying companies in Canada and the U.S.

I don't think that it is hard to accept that he made that much money, enough to retire on. Nor do I think his 'method' is wrong.

I like his first book and his method makes sense to me. I took his book to be what it appears to be, a primer, a beginners book, something to get you excited but you better do more than just read his book, you better invest some time to learn about investing.

I suggest that to whomever asks me about investing, and the same for those who are experiencing medical problems, learn about your problem. I worked in a hospital for 15 years and and found a lot of 'professional' nurses who I wouldn't trust to deal with a small sliver in my finger.

Passing some university courses doesn't mean that you are an intelligent person with common sense, it only means you can recall a lot of facts and regurgitate them back during tests.

The same goes for financial advisers and brokers, only worse, because many people selling stock or mutual funds didn't have to take courses, they only had to pass a test, which is geared almost entirely towards 'the business of selling' rather than helping a client meet financial goals.

So, do I want my RN to have completed university? Yes, but I also watch to make sure they wash their hands, swab injection sites, and the vial top, and that they have the right vial, etc, etc, etc.

Thanks DGI!

The comments are appreciated an...

2008-08-30T16:11:00.000-04:00

Thanks DGI!

The comments are appreciated and I appreciate the encouragement on the stock analysis posts I present.

I also agree that Derek Foster doesn't disclose EX...

2008-08-22T15:52:00.000-04:00

I also agree that Derek Foster doesn't disclose EXACTLY how his portfolio reached 300K at the time of his retirement (plus a home which he had paid in full plus a rental property).
I like your thorough analyses of stocks on this website Brad;

I admitted that I bought both of Foster's book sin...

2008-07-11T05:17:00.000-04:00

I admitted that I bought both of Foster's book since it was an article in the Calgary Sun. I didn't finish the second book since there wasn't really anything new, only a water downed version of the first one. Thank you so much for the light reading and offering an unbiased opinion. It was refreshing hearing from a different angle.

You are more than welcome Susan and I'm still work...

2008-04-14T21:24:00.000-04:00

You are more than welcome Susan and I'm still working in my free time on a post in reference to your difficulties of "Seeing the Whole Picture"

Excellent! I often have friends and relatives ask...

2008-04-11T15:02:00.000-04:00

Excellent! I often have friends and relatives ask me what to invest in. As I bumble around trying to explain why there is no shortcut to investing success, their eyes glaze over. Now I can tell them to read your article, THEN I'll help them find resources.
Thank you.
Susan

Comments on Triaging My Way To Financial Success: The Foster Effect:

See Also:http://www.globeadvisor.com/servl...

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/600754

I have read and enjoyed all 3 of Foster's books. ...

I think we give way too much credit to the "licens...

I am still not sure how far you like the author to...

I think you bring up an excellent point Anon:<...

Thanks for letting me comment Nurseb911. I underst...

Anon,My beef with Foster isn't the strateg...

I enjoyed reading your article advising investors,...

Thanks for the comments Tim,I recognize th...

I see what your getting at with this post, but at ...

I have to point out that the period when foster st...

Thanks DGI!The comments are appreciated an...

I also agree that Derek Foster doesn't disclose EX...

I admitted that I bought both of Foster's book sin...

You are more than welcome Susan and I'm still work...

Excellent! I often have friends and relatives ask...

See Also:

http://www.globeadvisor.com/servl...

I think you bring up an excellent point Anon:
<...

Anon,

My beef with Foster isn't the strateg...

Thanks for the comments Tim,

I recognize th...

Thanks DGI!

The comments are appreciated an...