# Comeback Story...Full Disclosure: A complete Mess



## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

~30yrs old 
'Artist'

Networth est. : $10,000 +$15,000-30,000 (equipment)


Pension Fund Value: ~$50,000-100,000 (Will Find out early 2019, currently locked in with old employer and will be eligible to be transferred Jan 1. 2019. Plan to convert to cash and/or into Investments)

Cash:

$2600 On Hand
$7500 Owed

Debts:

$7000 Visa Debt
$6000 Other Debts
~$30000? Taxes

Monthly Expenses:

~$2000Mo

Income

$3000-8000Mo


Background:

Worked oil and gas with no respect for money or any long term goals, Let my taxes get behind after opening a corporation to do some work and couldn't afford the accountant to do the filing work

Current:

Self employed for the past 2 years. Cut out vices and finally respect and value money and have started paying of debts and saving to cover owed taxes. Paid down $4,000 in debt in the last 2 months and purchased $3000 in equipment for my business to maintain the work I do and keep moving forward with it.

Plan:

November 

Cut Visa Debt in Half -$3500

December 

Pay remainder of Visa -$3500

January 

Complete Taxes ~$3500 fees

February

Other Debt -$3000

March

Other Debt Complete -$3000

April

Paying Taxes -$3000

May 

Paying Taxes -$3000 

June
Paying Taxes -$3000 

July
Paying Taxes -$3000 

August
Paying Taxes -$3000 


All Debts Paid

September

Begin seriously investing


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

Its really impressive to me that you have taken stock of your position and put a plan in place (which seems well underway) to resteer and chart a new path.
Shedding your financial burdens will be awesome.
Keep up your focus and the great work.


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## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

Good for you NS for putting this out there and coming up with a plan. I'm not sure I follow all your details to get numbers to add up but if you've checked and worked things out that's great. 

I also hope you have checked and are certain the pension funds aren't locked into something like a LIRA and that you can access them, or even if so perhaps you can access under financial hardship rules. 

Good luck with the journey to right the ship.


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

OMO 

Thanks, ignoring my financial situation was good for a time and might have helped me get a few things figured out but it's definitely time for me to sort it out

RBULL

Some of the numbers I put out are estimates, the tax I am on the hook for especially. My income isn't that predictable being self employed so it makes it a little harder to budget but I am getting more stable income now so I figure at least even having a rough plan will help keep me moving forward. 

The pension will be going into a LIRA and I have been exploring options for how to unlock funds from it. Ideally by the time it's I am eligible to unlock the funds my high interest debt will be covered and I will still have stable income so I should be able to invest in stocks. I've been playing with play money on Investopedia for the past 7 years and am up from $100k to ~$400K so I am confident and excited to try the real thing soon


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## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

NorthernSlave said:


> OMO
> 
> Thanks, ignoring my financial situation was good for a time and might have helped me get a few things figured out but it's definitely time for me to sort it out
> 
> ...


Good luck to you.


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

Update 

I just signed and begun a contract that will be $3000-6000/mo

We'll have to see how much of my current workload I can maintain along with this new work. I will probably be readjusting my plan at the end of this month to account for the new income


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## Jerm (Jun 2, 2016)

NorthernSlave said:


> Update
> 
> I just signed and begun a contract that will be $3000-6000/mo
> 
> We'll have to see how much of my current workload I can maintain along with this new work. I will probably be readjusting my plan at the end of this month to account for the new income


That's what we call a "good problem". Have you considered expanding? hiring an employee or two? etc.



NorthernSlave said:


> I've been playing with play money on Investopedia for the past 7 years and am up from $100k to ~$400K so I am confident and excited to try the real thing soon


I'd be careful with this. Any strategy that results in you tripling your money during a 7 year bull run comes with some massive downside risk. In my experience its also pretty typical for oil sands guys to invest in what they know - oil. By investing in the same market segment in which you're employed you're further increasing risk. Ie a crash in the price of oil could result in both a loss of contracts AND a large hit to your portfolio. If you were invested in something else (tech, healthcare, REITS, whatever) you'd at least preserve your portfolio in the event of a crash.

I think what you've done so far is fantastic and I wish I'd worked on my earning potential and networking the same way you have when I was in my 20's. Just remember you still have a long working career ahead of you so make sure you're comfortable with the amount of risk you're taking with your investments.


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

^+1 Good cautionary notes Jerm.


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

I don't want any employees, I am looking for any pieces of my work that I can subcontract out but I want to be careful to maintain control and not try and grow too quickly.

My (fake) stocks are only about 10% oil and gas, I am a bit of a tech geek so most of the stocks are based off of bets of which tech companies make the best products

Long

Johnson Johnson (safe long term bet since they make everything in your home)
Western Digital (Data Storage leader)
Nvidia (Market leader in GPU)
Iridium (Market leader in broadband Satelites and space launches are getting cheaper)
Canadian National Raliway 
Transcanada (Pays a great dividend)
Suncor (Oil Leader in Canad)
Sony (10% market share of Cameras, but have the best product. I beleive they'll overtake Canikon)
Exelon (Nuclear in USA, bought when Trump was elected because I know he's big on deregulation)

Short

Tesla (Mentally unstable CEO, shorted when I knew he was going on Joe Rogan because I figured his mental issues would be more obvious)
AAPL (feel like they will become unpopular go the way Blackberry eventually)
CANON (Way behind in the Mirrorless camera game)
ARKW (Heavily invested in Bitcoin which is a scam)


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

I agree 100% on that advice


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

Today I just closed another 15K contract that I should complete in the month of December or mid January. Things are looking up


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## curioso (Nov 22, 2018)

Keep going!


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## Holland (Apr 24, 2016)

Nicely done! Thanks for sharing 

Question about your Apple short. Do you think Apple closely resembles blackberry as more of a tech play? or do you think it has transformed into a consumer staple? Warren buffet owns ~5% of Apple and keeps buying more. Do you think Apple has a more diversified product base (both hardware and software) than blackberry did in its prime?


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

Sorry for the lack of updates here, been working non stop and little time for this...I am almost finished my large contract (which the scope creeped on, so I was able to charge more) Towards Mid February I will have an indepth rundown where I am at...It's good when I plan comes together


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Congrats on your progress so far and best wishes. Sounds like it's going well...



NorthernSlave said:


> Short
> 
> Tesla (Mentally unstable CEO, shorted when I knew he was going on Joe Rogan because I figured his mental issues would be more obvious)
> AAPL (feel like they will become unpopular go the way Blackberry eventually)
> ...


Some impressive positions here. Counting from the date you posted this, you have big gains on AAPL and reasonably large gains on TSLA. Are you still short? Any plan on when to cover?


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## yyz (Aug 11, 2013)

NorthernSlave said:


> OMO
> 
> 
> 
> I've been playing with play money on Investopedia for the past 7 years and am up from $100k to ~$400K so I am confident and excited to try the real thing soon





james4beach said:


> Some impressive positions here. Counting from the date you posted this, you have big gains on AAPL and reasonably large gains on TSLA. Are you still short? Any plan on when to cover?


Cover his fake shorts?


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

My fake shorts are going to become real shorts soon. In a few days the pension from my Trade Union that I left will be in an Investment account. 10 years of fake experience should help


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

Since I first posted I've purchased $7,000 equipment, finished a $20k contract, lost the ongoing one, and done various other jobs ~$3000, I don't have an exact count. I've also paid the visa done to $4000 (from $7K), Have $2,000 Cash on hand, learned my lesson here and never want to go below that. 

I've completed the pension withdrawal, it's much less than I had expected at only $37,000 but at 20%-35% yr I'll be happy with the $15,000,000 - $500,000,000 when I'm 60

Also over the last 2 weeks I've been spending 12-16hrs a day working through 5 years of unfinished taxes. 3 years of corporate years done and 3 years of personal returns done. Only 2 more years of personal returns to go. I was thinking I would need an accountant to do the corporate stuff but when I saw how much they'd charge I figured I would take the time to figure it out. I've probably saved ~$5000

I'm pretty happy with the result I will be getting back $3-5k/yr for the first 3 years where I had dual income and had losses to claim in establishing my current business. The last 2 years should be very minimal taxes so I think I will net around $8k when I was expecting to be on the hook for ~$5k so it's a nice surprise and means I'm in the Black, just waiting on the cheques to come in. I also just completed $2000 in work today so I will really be focused on investments by mid april


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## peterk (May 16, 2010)

Jerm said:


> I'd be careful with this. Any strategy that results in you tripling your money during a 7 year bull run comes with some massive downside risk.
> .
> .
> Just remember you still have a long working career ahead of you so make sure you're comfortable with the amount of risk you're taking with your investments.


Yes


NorthernSlave said:


> I agree 100% on that advice


Good


NorthernSlave said:


> My fake shorts are going to become real shorts soon. In a few days the pension from my Trade Union that I left will be in an Investment account. 10 years of fake experience should help


Uh oh...


NorthernSlave said:


> I've completed the pension withdrawal, it's much less than I had expected at only $37,000 but at 20%-35% yr I'll be happy with the $15,000,000 - $500,000,000 when I'm 60


I can't even tell if this is a joke and you are trolling the forum or if you're actually just delusional...

You come here with some cockeyed portfolio of a few random stock picks and shorts against the biggest growth companies - bragging about your play money - and now you're seemingly actually going to "invest" your *real* _pension LIRA_ into shorting more random growth stocks? And expect that you can just do this forever with 20-35% growth on a piddly $37k pension account and end up being a hundred-millionaire??

Grow up dude - or get ready to learn about money the hard way...

Good on you though for seemingly working diligently at your job/business, and figuring out all your back-tax headaches. A nice step forward for sure.


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

I'm fairly confident in being able to hit $15,000,000 in ~30 years, I realize that It's likely I don't but I've averaged overage 20% yr for the past 7 years so I don't see why I can't keep that going with real money

What's wrong with having a few shorts of companies I think are heading in the wrong direction? So far the ones I have shorted have been good picks and I hit them at the perfect time. Shorts are and will be only a small percentage of my fake portfolio.

Thanks it feels good to be getting through the stress of my taxes, I need to find another stress to fill that with though or I will be filling empty inside haha



peterk said:


> Yes
> 
> Good
> 
> ...


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

I just put $4000 on my visa and (over)paid it off, it's a -$500 Balance now, Was a $7500 balance in Oct, feels pretty good

$2200 Cash on Hand (owed $2000 more for completed work and $6000 more scheduled over next 2 months currently)

$815 in TFSA (up from a $750 contribution in Feb, it should jump a few more % over the next week on favourable news +$1 for my monthly dividend)

$37,000 Self Directed Lira (funds haven't appeared in account yet but should be there any day)

Other debts $6000, will work on these now that visa is paid off

I licensed some professional accounting software and spent 3.5 Weeks in March doing my own taxes, 3 years of corporate taxes and 5 years personal taxes, I saved quite a bit doing them myself and have already been assesed for most of the years and paid my assesments. Still waiting to see what the penalty on GST for being 5 years late is though

My original plan was to have everything paid by the end of August and this still could be accurate, right now it's looking now like it may be closer to mid June but the unexpected always happens

As soon as my LIRA money is in the account I will begin investing it and I will be starting to fill up my TFSA as quickly as I reasonably can. 

I'm still probably a bit rambly here but hoping to get a bit more coherent as my situation keeps becoming more sorted and I understand where I am at better


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## Dilbert (Nov 20, 2016)

NorthernSlave, please ramble away, no doubt very therapeutic for you and also a good reminder for me, of days gone by.
Congratulations on getting your s### together!


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

When I joined here I use to share a bit too much when i was saving $10,000+ a month towards my goal .When I sold my business first few weeks I initially shared a bit but then the reality of having reached my goals and not needing anything more has turned me into a boring dividend investor.I am happy with the standard 4-7% ROI but recent years been getting more line 12-15%. Good luck with your plan.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

marina628 said:


> When I joined here I use to share a bit too much when i was saving $10,000+ a month towards my goal .When I sold my business first few weeks I initially shared a bit but then the reality of having reached my goals and not needing anything more has turned me into a boring dividend investor.I am happy with the standard 4-7% ROI but recent years been getting more line 12-15%. Good luck with your plan.


Yes the majority of posters here are against those that have it made. They refuse to believe that anyone can make it on their own. Welcome back.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

NorthernSlave said:


> I'm fairly confident in being able to hit $15,000,000 in ~30 years, I realize that It's likely I don't but I've averaged overage 20% yr for the past 7 years so I don't see why I can't keep that going with real money
> 
> What's wrong with having a few shorts of companies I think are heading in the wrong direction?
> So far the ones I have shorted have been good picks and I hit them at the perfect time. Shorts are and will be only a small percentage of my fake portfolio ...


Nothing if it works ... OTOH, I had a co-worker who was convinced that his investing method was proven by something like ten years worth of winning stock market competitions. Shortly after he went all in with real money, market conditions changes which hammered his results. 

I also had a co-worker start investing at the same time as me who thought I was crazy wasting my time with non-tech stocks as he "knew" them well. Six months later he was complaining about losing money while I was still making money.


Doesn't mean you are locked into either one ... just that there's lot of variations out there. 




kcowan said:


> marina628 said:
> 
> 
> > When I joined here I use to share a bit too much ...
> ...


There is that too - the trick is to figure out what works for oneself. If it works, what others say won't matter much ... even if they don't believe it is possible. 


Cheers


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

Eclectic12 said:


> Nothing if it works ... OTOH, I had a co-worker who was convinced that his investing method was proven by something like ten years worth of winning stock market competitions. Shortly after he went all in with real money, market conditions changes which hammered his results.
> 
> I also had a co-worker start investing at the same time as me who thought I was crazy wasting my time with non-tech stocks as he "knew" them well. Six months later he was complaining about losing money while I was still making money.
> 
> ...



The benefit of the work that I am doing is it would be what I doing when I retired so I really don't even need to worry about my investments since I am doing what I love right now and it's work I can continue to do into my 80's. The stocks I really don't care what happens to them, I've picked pretty safe stocks with half of them, assuming an energy friendly gov which we just got in AB and I expect we will get Federally soon. The other half is Tech, some cutting edge, which could go down by 80% or could go up 2000% either way I'm in it for the long haul with the stocks and am currently content enough to ride out any fluctuations and not make any rash decisions. The main thing is I like to think big to be excited and stay energized, I am well aware I could end up with less than I started. It's just kind of fun being optimistic and dreaming big

Work wise I just picked up a 'bit' more, I'll either burn out, go broke buying equipment to do it or keep doubling up my income. Either way I'll be happy knowing I went for it


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Eclectic12 said:


> Nothing if it works ... OTOH, I had a co-worker who was convinced that his investing method was proven by something like ten years worth of winning stock market competitions. Shortly after he went all in with real money, market conditions changes which hammered his results.
> 
> I also had a co-worker start investing at the same time as me who thought I was crazy wasting my time with non-tech stocks as he "knew" them well. Six months later he was complaining about losing money while I was still making money.
> 
> ...


We went from 6 properties down to 2 plus 1/6 fractional ownership on another , 4 cars down to 2 (hubby gave up 2 of his babies) trying to have less complicated life even though we can afford more.My combined investment accounts have only these stocks AMZN , BNS,CM, ENB, FTS, RT, T, TD, TDB911 last 12 month 18.43% according to td waterhouse.
My husband'S investment accounts which i mange has AMZN AAPL FB MST SCU T TSLA TD TDB902 has earned 10.28 in 12 months and 11.13% average in 9 years according to TD 'since inception date.
We use to hold a great deal of Disney stock in unregistered but we sold it all 2 years ago along with Starbux ,probably should have kept it even with the tax consequences.So there you have it how i have everything invested ,we have 29% cash on hand.There is about 63 stocks i have bought and sold over the years but I feel good about all these above for long term.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

Hi Marina

No one can beat the TSX index...we all know that!

(but good job!)


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