# train2invest - has anyone heard of this?



## Rico (Jan 27, 2011)

I was chatting with my brother-in-law last night and he mentioned some investment training program called Train2Invest that he was interested in. A co-worker he knows well took this course/program and has had success with it.

Apparently, the program costs $9000 so I wanted to find out a bit about it (that dollar amount rang alarm bells for me of course). I Googled it but all I can find is testimonials on their own website. There are some allusions to the organization having heavy religious overtones (not a big deal if one doesn't care but it seems odd). From what I can tell they are based in Winnipeg. Usually when something is just a huge scam it comes up in several links in Google but this didn't seem the case.

I immediately thought of this forum for some collective knowledge input. Has anyone heard of this?


----------



## hypo (Aug 11, 2010)

Scam obviously.


----------



## Rico (Jan 27, 2011)

hypo said:


> Scam obviously.


This is the first thought I had, thus my post, so unless you have details and information this type of response does not offer much (beyond suggesting that I'm an idiot since it's so "obvious"). It's a scam if you get nothing or next to nothing for your money . . . it could be an overpriced but useful program or some other situation. The point is, I don't know and I'd like details from anyone who does.


----------



## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

Put your $9000 in the market and learn yourself.

It would be a better use of your money.

Everything you need to know about investing can be found online for *free*.

Take your $9k and buy 120 shares of McDonalds or something.


----------



## Rico (Jan 27, 2011)

KaeJS said:


> Put your $9000 in the market and learn yourself.
> 
> It would be a better use of your money.
> 
> ...


This is the message I'm thinking of passing on to my brother-in-law but you know how people can be about "nay-saying" something they're interested in. Beyond my own knowledge of investing (which is coming along well but there is always more to learn) I'd like specific things to tell him why this program is not worth it. 

I agree that it's not worth it since there is so much available on the Net/books/forums, etc.). Since he personally knows someone that is having success with this (which of course is not an indicator of future success for that person or success of others) he is drawn to it. I think any program or "system" that claims to consistently beat the market is a bit suspect. However, people pay high tuition for education all the time so maybe they offer something useful. The point is, I don't know.


----------



## fatcat (Nov 11, 2009)

looks to me like it's not so much a scam as it is a way to make some money from people who are tired of looking at how much their ia is charging them every year ....

but, if you are tired of paying your ia, you need to do it yourself and if you need to do it yourself why not go to the library and read a half -dozen good books and save $9000 ?

it's targeted ta a small group who feel the need to go to a class and have a teacher and some kind educational process to tell them they are learning what they need

i totally agree that i would save the $9000 to invest, get some good books and read this forum and several blogs a day and you will do fine


----------



## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I refuse to pay money to anything that is suppose to be making me money.You will get all the advise you need here for free lol


----------



## GoldStone (Mar 6, 2011)

I googled tran2invest. This link came up:

http://forums.canadianbusiness.com/thread.jspa?threadID=12316&start=300&tstart=0

Here's the relevant part:



> Regarding looking at Train2invest, as a past student don't waste your money like I did. The cost of the program is over $9000, and they basically tell you to invest in solid companies. There is nothing revolutionary about there program it is a total scam.
> 
> You can get the same information from the Dummy series of books on investing for $29.99. I have not read The Lazy Investor, but I can guaranty to you that it will be much better than any money you sink in Train2invest.
> 
> They are a religious organization pretending to teach investment strategies. The instructors spend time on telling you how they found salvation through Jesus Christ.


----------



## hypo (Aug 11, 2010)

> This is the first thought I had, thus my post, so unless you have details and information this type of response does not offer much (beyond suggesting that I'm an idiot since it's so "obvious"). It's a scam if you get nothing or next to nothing for your money . . . it could be an overpriced but useful program or some other situation. The point is, I don't know and I'd like details from anyone who does.


Its common sense and critical thinking.

The 9000$ is a dead giveaway. I don't know how much more obvious you can get, the scam is staring you right in the face. For that kind of money you could just go to a real university and get a real accredited education in finance. 

There are no specifics on the website. None. There are no newsreports written about this company, None. A google search brings up no credible reviews, none. 

Practically all the investor training programs I have come across online so far have focused on the technical analysis side. This is likely because the only people who would be gullible enough to pony up money for these programs are aspiring home day-traders who want to get rich quick. The providers of the training also do it to push their own proprietary trading software for you to buy once you know what you're doing. 

Any online accredition is worse than garbage on the resume if you want to go work professionally on a trading floor. Technical analysis allows one to literally know absolutely nothing about a company, its business or its finances. You don't have to know about pesky things like financial statements, you just look at the most recent news, price movement, and volume of any stock and start trading based on your best educated guess, hopefully profiting off the irrational volatility. Its a hell of a lot more exciting to make 500$ profit in one day than it is to make the same amount in 5 months after several weeks of detailed due dilligence research. 

If your bother-in-law is thinking about plunking down that kind of cash for education, put up ads at all the community centers and retirement homes that you'll pay 100$ a day for a private tutor to teach you the ropes. You're looking either for a retired trader with real credentials, or some extremely hotshot student out of XYZ university who needs easy money. 2-3 months of full day private tutoring @ 100$ a day = 6000-9000$ . If your bother works hard by the end he should have the equivalent skills of a real trader.


----------



## ChrisR (Jul 13, 2009)

KaeJS said:


> Put your $9000 in the market and learn yourself.
> 
> It would be a better use of your money.
> 
> ...


While I generally agree with all of the statements you've made, the same can be said about almost anything!

Everything you need to know about renovating kitchens can be found online for free.

Everything you need to know about repairing cars can be found online for free.

Everything you need to know about making transgenic cereal crops can be found online for free.

Pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about anything is now online for free! Regardless, people are still going to pay for instruction that they find worthwhile!

Added in Edit: Please note, I have no knowledge on whether or not this course is worth $9000. But, I do know people who earn a lot of money and yet lack the confidence to manage their own investments. If a $9000 course could help them develop the confidence to manage their own money, it would save them more than $100,000 over the long run.


----------



## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

They can go to bank and get somebody to do the money managing for free.Any bank will come up with a decent mix of mutual funds .How much money do they have to invest?$9000 can pay MER on quite a bit.


----------



## J3ff (Mar 20, 2011)

Rico said:


> I was chatting with my brother-in-law last night and he mentioned some investment training program called Train2Invest that he was interested in. A co-worker he knows well took this course/program and has had success with it.
> 
> I immediately thought of this forum for some collective knowledge input. Has anyone heard of this?


I am quite certain your brother-in-law may learn something from this course, but it likely won't teach him anything that he can't get from a good investing book or free online resources. In fact, after the course is over, your brother-in-law may be convinced that he needs to learn more about investing...and will likely hit the books / online resources. Investopedia is a great place to start...

Hahaha...attaining the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation is cheaper than this train2invest course...(Note: that's assuming one passes relatively quickly (i.e., doesn't have too many re-writes) and loves to study). Oh yes...on an additional side note - the CFA is not a walk in the park but you will definitely learn a great deal about investments - and then some. 

Anyway, if you have any questions regarding the CFA designation I'd be more than happy to discuss...


----------



## Rico (Jan 27, 2011)

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'd just hate to see a family member plunk down this kind of cash. You know how it is though - - someone gets all excited about an idea and sees dollar signs, and if you start asking them the hard questions they think you're just being negative.


----------



## I'm Howard (Oct 13, 2010)

I would be interested if any one has nowledge of Trading Schools, based in TO, where they focus on trading skills?

I read of one where they match your Investment, in the initial stages, until they feel you are competent.
Swift Trade, I think was one?

I am talking Trading as opposed to Investing.


----------



## hypo (Aug 11, 2010)

> I would be interested if any one has nowledge of Trading Schools, based in TO, where they focus on trading skills?
> 
> I read of one where they match your Investment, in the initial stages, until they feel you are competent.
> Swift Trade, I think was one?
> ...


Dunno about schools, but if you want to get started right away, there's a lot of traders on youtube who post video lessons on pretty much everything you need to know. There are a ton of free online learning resources out there for aspiring traders, just use those + some books to flesh out your knowledge.


----------



## Taxsaver (Jun 7, 2009)

KaeJS said:


> Put your $9000 in the market and learn yourself.
> 
> It would be a better use of your money.
> 
> ...


I've just checked McDonald's stock. It's the first stock that I see that was hardly affected by the 2008 crash.


----------



## Causalien (Apr 4, 2009)

Rico I'll give you bullet points to convince your family member

1. A normal training course in market trading for one year cost around $1000 and $500 when they are on sale.

2. A proof of the effectiveness of the training course would be videos of the trainers doing trades real time.

3. Google results of Forum messages from their own testimonial means that they've either gamed the SEO for their name, or that there are only students (hired by themselves) who knows about them. Therefore, not a big success

4. Whenever someone says they have had success, ask for statements or proofs. If the person is unwilling because he doesn't want to show his wealth then perhaps shadow trade the person for a while to see if its true. i.e. have the person broadcast any trade he made and compare with TSX.

5. This coming from a veteran in the market: No training course is as effective as trial by fire in the market with small stakes first. Even if you learned the lessons, you have not tamed your emotions yet.

6. Trading/investment lessons are so competitive, that people are offering free 1 week lessons online as a trial. Why pay $9000 for something unproven?

7. Assuming that this is teaching you investment, it will take an investment of $100 000 over one year to return the $9000 spent for on this lesson. Assuming you can achieve a 10% return, which is the most optimistic projection. Normal projection says you get this back in 2 years, pessimistic projection says 5 years.


----------



## Rico (Jan 27, 2011)

Thx - we haven't chatted in a bit (I only see him every few months) but I'm meaning to ask him about it when I see him again.


----------



## davext (Apr 11, 2010)

Watch out for the real estate investment scams too. 

Someone called me up from a seminar I went to and basically quoted me a mentoring fee based on how much my credit card limit was. 

He said $7,000, and I asked him how he came up with that number and then told him to get lost.


----------



## defriesen (Feb 21, 2012)

*Train2Invest real details*

This thread is a bit over a year old but I think based on the responses listed it requires at least some explanation.

Train2Invest is not a scam as some have described it. Perhaps they could list what they mean by a scam. We have been providing an education on financial excellence to individuals and families since 2004. This is not a "system", it's not a "great technical analysis tool", and it's certainly not a get rich quick scheme. Yes there are lots of those out there but we are not one of them. 

First point of clarification is cost of the program. When the initial question was asked in 2011, the cost of enrolling in our education was $6,500 for an individual and $8,500 for a family. Since then, due to technology changes and reduced costs of delivery, we now provide our program for a cost of $3,800. (if you know anything about traditional investing through managed scenarios, you know that many people pay that much every year to their fund company for pretty mediocre returns).

Second point of clarification is the focus of what we do. A little research on our site would certainly tell you that but for those that didn't look, we provide a step-by-step education coupled with personal coaching and support to give the investor a strategy, a discipline, a methodology and a philosphy to put their money to work. And we deliver this over a 6 month period because most people take time to develop a good skillset.

Third point of clarification is the philosophy that we teach our students. Most people who invest have neither the knowledge or the investing acumen to be successful. No matter how many books you might read the biggest challenge for people is the emotional side of investing and unfortunately human tendancies of greed and fear usually prevail when it comes to money. Have a solid strategy that teaches small consistent gains focused on complementing your overall investing plan which is very personal in nature is severely lacking in the overall financial industry. Our role is to help you develop that.

Finally for the scam purveyors out there, all you need to do is your homework. A simple phone call to the company requesting information would probably have answered your questions. It's good to be skeptical but if it prevents you from investigating what might be a very good answer to your financial independance, that's too bad.

Website is www.train2invest.com Blog is www.train2invest.com/blog


----------



## Christlink (Mar 22, 2012)

*Just curious - what happened? Did he sign up?*



Rico said:


> I was chatting with my brother-in-law last night and he mentioned some investment training program called Train2Invest that he was interested in. A co-worker he knows well took this course/program and has had success with it.
> 
> Apparently, the program costs $9000 so I wanted to find out a bit about it (that dollar amount rang alarm bells for me of course). I Googled it but all I can find is testimonials on their own website. There are some allusions to the organization having heavy religious overtones (not a big deal if one doesn't care but it seems odd). From what I can tell they are based in Winnipeg. Usually when something is just a huge scam it comes up in several links in Google but this didn't seem the case.
> 
> I immediately thought of this forum for some collective knowledge input. Has anyone heard of this?


Just curious - what happened? Did he sign up?


----------



## train4profit (Jul 17, 2012)

*Investing has high risks,but train2invest transfer risks from themselves to students*

I went to their introduction seminar several years ago. Their basic idea is not to hold stocks for too long, sell it when you have 1% profit. You can have almost 30% annual return if you buy and sell a stock for 1% profit every 2 weeks. You pay $8000 and they teach you how to pick the stock and to trade them.

I don’t think it is a scam, but just think about this simple question: If train2invest can teach other people to make 30% return, why can’t they just invest themselves (or borrow money to invest) instead of taking extra effort to recruit and teach others? 

Investing has high risks, but train2invest transfer the risk from themselves to the students. They are not sure how to make 30% annually themselves, but one thing they are sure is that they can make $$$ every time they recruit a new student. If they can truly help people to make 30% every year, they will be as famous as Goldman Sachs on Wall Street by now and even $100,000 is too cheap for the tuition.

At that time, they did attract some farmers. If you can make 30% return very year by just staying at home and clicking the mouse, why do you need to get up very early in the morning and do all the hard work in the farm.


----------

