Stocks

I first bought it Nov 5/21. It's been a stinker. I'm not eligible to be in the class.
Hope you came out better than I did

Requirement was to have purchased and then sold after it tanked on September 28 - Nov 2021

The formulation is basically your purchase price less the $87.94 (calculated value)

I paid $137 and sold for $18

The judgement was only $11M less legal and administration so I will be lucky to get $100

My damage calculation using their formula is only $2k, but I lost $5K
 
Last edited:
Hope you came out better than I did

Requirement was to have purchased and then sold after it tanked on September 28 - Nov 2021

The formulation is basically your purchase price less the $87.94 (calculated value)

I paid $137 and sold for $18
I did better than you but still crap. My cost base is about $35 as I was buying on the way down and then selling and buying as it rode the rollercoaster to reduce my cost base. So I am down about 50%. I was considering LSPD or SHOP. SHOP would have been better.

While it is prudent to buy the index and avoid losing money, if you want to beat the index, you need to take some educated guesses and hope for a 100 bagger. Doing that with a small percentage can dramatically increase the upside potential with only a slight drag on the downside (if you invest 5% in speculative stocks and they go to zero, you lost 5% and its future growth, if they get 20X, you doubled the size of your entire portfolio). In practice, they don't all go to zero and only a couple get you >10x. It would be easy to have a winning or losing path.
 
Not my best bet either
d6e9c04f3c16de812d51eccb09d7b0d3.jpg


Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
 
"I feel like I'm back where I started". Nope. You are in a much deeper hole than you were when you started.

She learned about private lending through instagram, pulled the LOC and then sought out someone that could make it happen. How could that process go wrong?

Interest payments she was getting were $3000/mo. Assuming it wasn't a complete scam, that means the borrower was paying interest of 30% or more. My money is on complete scam.


EDIT:
Person she used to facilitate the loan is a real estate agent. Her name is attached to a lot of RE firms and at least one Mortgage Broker.

The company she used "Unifocus Investments" does not appear to exist. "Unifocus Capital" is a real company. Bad reporting or a scam company passing themselves off as a legit company to people that fail to conduct diligence before writing cheques?

$36,000 interest on $150,000 in a year is 24%, about 10 X a GIC. She's out $124,000 at the moment and the facilitator is out the future share of the take so technically nothing. The end user was probably paying 30%, not a good sign.

The back story would be interesting.

LOC interest @ 5% = $7500 (deductible)*

Tax on interest income of $36,000 = ?%

* There was a case in the past where CRA refused the deduction when the project went belly up. The ruling was that the project needed the potential of profit and bankrupt projects don't have any potential.
 
Overweight on RRSPs by quite a margin.

Need to do some heavy mathing to figure out the most tax-efficient way to get that money into my grubby, non-registered hands.

Well, things have gotten worse (and better?) since this post.

My registered portfolio has done spectacularly well... and my non-reg has done spectacularly poorly.

Net worth is up, but almost all of it is now in RSPs. Happy, but also Not at the same time... 🤔

Depending on how my non-reg port does over the next few months, I may have to start transferring stuff over. Realistically, I was hoping not to have to do this till 65, but the more I think about it, this might actually work out, as incoming CPP will put me in a higher tax bracket. So maybe it's smarter to start transferring stuff over before then. I may also pause the transfers at 65 to try to qualify for some OAS as well.

The age 65 was an artificial target anyway, since I haven't had employment income since 2012...
 
Well, things have gotten worse (and better?) since this post.

My registered portfolio has done spectacularly well... and my non-reg has done spectacularly poorly.

Net worth is up, but almost all of it is now in RSPs. Happy, but also Not at the same time... 🤔

Depending on how my non-reg port does over the next few months, I may have to start transferring stuff over. Realistically, I was hoping not to have to do this till 65, but the more I think about it, this might actually work out, as incoming CPP will put me in a higher tax bracket. So maybe it's smarter to start transferring stuff over before then. I may also pause the transfers at 65 to try to qualify for some OAS as well.

The age 65 was an artificial target anyway, since I haven't had employment income since 2012...
Melting down your rrsp before cpp starts normally makes a lot of sense. Why was tfsa not in your list of winnners/losers? I assume it's maxed?

In the absence of a terminal diagnosis, most people get much more lifetime income by starting cpp at 70. Burning all of your investments prior to 70 and living off your cpp that is 42% higher is not awful for many. Inflation adjustment keeps you out of the noodle aisle. I suspect you are like me though and even at 42% above base, cpp won't make much difference in your life.

Do the best you can to pay the same amount of tax every year until you die (and after if you care about estate value) and you have minimized the amount you donate to the crooks in Ottawa (and victoria).
 
Just watched a lady on CTV news, single mom three kids , took a one fifty LOC on her house to give to a private loan company to ‘invest’ for her. The first yr was great, now she’s not getting paid and still owes the bank . Her easy money plan stalled .
From what I understand the guys going to easy access cash already have credit issues . Loan sharking should be left to the mafia .


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
Here's another similar story. Cultural trust seems to be a common thread in most of them. In this case, 320K heloc through a financial.planner who personally guaranteed the investment for someone to purchase a boat. If you are buying six figure boats using private lending, it's hard to think of a higher risk borrower.

Lender says they don't think they will ever be able to pay off the 430 they "invested" and may now have lost. Of course they can pay it off, sell the house and it's gone. Crap situation but they need to work with a real financial planner to make a real plan.

 
Predators within the ethnic community may be the worst . People trust people with similar backgrounds and are so easily taken in. These investment weasels pray on people that feel comfortable dealing with a community. Its really sad.
I've never loaned money to a friend. I've given money and usually got it back. The amount I have to give is very very small and future gifts to others is based on people giving money back to me and my benefactor fund.

One friend broke the cycle by planning to pay me back with his casino winnings. :(

On loaning to a friend: A friend says they need to borrow $XXXXX to start a business. If it's a success they pay back the loan and do well with their new massive income and 100% of the profits. If the venture fails it's "You invested" and the money is gone.
 
Last edited:
I've never loaned money to a friend. I've given money and usually got it back. The amount I have to give is very very small and future gifts to others is based on people giving money back to me and my benefactor fund.

100%

I've never loaned anyone money, but I've picked up many tabs for dinner and other shared expenses.

Not sure what others are seeing, but there's a lot of pain out there right now, economically. A few of my friends have been laid off and others are struggling with the rising cost of living and mounting bills.

What's really distressing is the shrinking middle-class and accelerating inequality gap between rich and poor. They're calling this the "K-shaped economy" - the two arms of the diverging K being the fall of the working class vs the rise of the owning class.

A lot of economic policies are now rigged in the favour of asset owners: real estate and stocks. Meanwhile stagnant wages and inflation are hitting hard for those who trade time for money.

What's worse is that all economic indicators focus on the average income/net worth vs the median, so it makes it seem like the aggregate is doing well, when it's really the top 10-15 percentile that is dragging the average up.

Corporations aren't blind to this and more brands are re-aligning their product offerings to cater to the upper-arm of the K-economy.

Using the motorcycle industry as a proxy, you get companies like Harley and now Indian, who are divesting themselves of the entry-level, sub $10K market and doubling down on marketing and selling $20-$30K+ luxury/aspirational offerings.

This just in from a few days ago:

 
100%

I've never loaned anyone money, but I've picked up many tabs for dinner and other shared expenses.

Not sure what others are seeing, but there's a lot of pain out there right now, economically. A few of my friends have been laid off and others are struggling with the rising cost of living and mounting bills.

What's really distressing is the shrinking middle-class and accelerating inequality gap between rich and poor. They're calling this the "K-shaped economy" - the two arms of the diverging K being the fall of the working class vs the rise of the owning class.

A lot of economic policies are now rigged in the favour of asset owners: real estate and stocks. Meanwhile stagnant wages and inflation are hitting hard for those who trade time for money.

What's worse is that all economic indicators focus on the average income/net worth vs the median, so it makes it seem like the aggregate is doing well, when it's really the top 10-15 percentile that is dragging the average up.

Corporations aren't blind to this and more brands are re-aligning their product offerings to cater to the upper-arm of the K-economy.

Using the motorcycle industry as a proxy, you get companies like Harley and now Indian, who are divesting themselves of the entry-level, sub $10K market and doubling down on marketing and selling $20-$30K+ luxury/aspirational offerings.

This just in from a few days ago:

A couple of decades ago we were sitting on a $300K boat in the showroom. The sales rep was honest. If the people that bought in that class wanted mink cup holders they got them. If the next owner, ten year later, had major problems the manufacturer didn't care. They sold to the first buyer.

How much would an EV cost if it was the equivalent of a sturdy golf cart? I'd suggest pretty cheap but add on A/C, heat, power windows, decent brakes, air bags, good tires, clear coat, tint, impact protection and it's not cheap. AND it wouldn't sell because no matter what you named it, it would get nick named losermobile. Image over intelligence.
 
Back
Top Bottom