# Barefoot Blueprint - Scott Pape?



## cookieater

I've read Barefoot Investor and I was quite impressed despite how much it concentrated on debt which isn't relevant to me. He has had some good articles that are emailed out if you subscribe to his site.

Now he is releasing this Barefoot Blueprint which will supposedly show people how he invests his money and what are the recommendations to invest money with a team of experts. It is AU$197/yr subscription. See this promotional video here:

http://www.barefootblueprint.com/how-i-invest-my-money

What does everyone think. I am new to trading and have begun researching long term investment strategies. But this could seem like if there are a lot of followers it could bloat his recommended shares to make him/them rich because people follow blindly?

I am considering buying a subscription. If he wasn't so well known I would think it's a scam. Any ideas?


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## Julia

*Re: Barefoot Blueprint - Scott Pape???*

Scott Pape has been a regular guest on ABC Local Radio for some years and I've only ever heard him talk complete sense.


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## prawn_86

*Re: Barefoot Blueprint - Scott Pape???*

While i agree that he does make a lot of sense, it is obvious a subscription service would be for his financial gain, so im not sure if the 'advice' is worth paying for.

I know he charges a fortune for personal speeches as tried booking him once...


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## McLovin

*Re: Barefoot Blueprint - Scott Pape???*

I've caught his show on CNBC a couple of times. It's fairly common sense finance stuff; avoid debt, come up with a savings plan, budget, diversify. No idea how good his investments are because he never gets into that sort of detail...

The presentation is a bit over the top to be honest. I'm not sure I can really trust someone who calls themselves "one of Australia's leading financial commentators". I can't imagine many people even know who he is.
Seems he's just selling a value investing newsletter.


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## cookieater

*Re: Barefoot Blueprint - Scott Pape???*

To be honest, I was more interested before I watched the presentation; based off what I had read in his previous emails. But $200 for a year isn't too much money to throw away if it ends up useless. But I would hope to see some useful information.


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## prawn_86

*Re: Barefoot Blueprint - Scott Pape???*



cookieater said:


> But $200 for a year isn't too much money to throw away if it ends up useless.




So then what exactly are you asking about? You have answered your own question


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## cookieater

I was just wondering what everyone else thought? As if it is a money making scheme for the owners. And if anyone else was considering it?


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## Julia

cookieater said:


> I was just wondering what everyone else thought? As if it is a money making scheme for the owners. And if anyone else was considering it?




Well certainly it will be a money making scheme for the owner and no reason why not.
If you see value in what he's offering, then it's no different from purchasing anything else.

If I were wanting to buy advice from someone, I'd rather it were Scott Pape or Marcus Padley than pretty much any of the other hundreds of others out there purporting to give you the secrets of investing.


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## So_Cynical

Ive never heard of him before, listened to the presentation and came away feeling a little ill...he's another "value" type hand holder aka Roger M...Scott's gona give you all the answers, empowering you to live life on your terms LOL.  and all for the throw away price of 200 bucks a year. :bandit:


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## Julia

So_Cynical said:


> Ive never heard of him before, listened to the presentation and came away feeling a little ill...he's another "value" type hand holder aka Roger M...Scott's gona give you all the answers, empowering you to live life on your terms LOL.  and all for the throw away price of 200 bucks a year. :bandit:



Until I read this post, I hadn't looked at the link above.  Decided to do so, thinking that, as usual, I'd disagree with So Cynical.

On the contrary, I also felt really disappointed to see someone whose views I'd previously respected spruiking like that awful bloke who says on TV "But wait, there's more", and goes on to offer the steak knives.

To say that now is the time to buy when it's entirely possible we'll see a fall to around 2000 points, is not at all the sort of advice I've heard him offer in the past.

What a shame.  Just another self serving spruiker.


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## cookieater

Haha yeah. The only thing it was missing was the four easy payments of $49.95 to a Nigerian bank account. 

I've since re-thought about the idea of purchasing the subscription and decided not to continue.

He seems like he has sold himself out. As his book was all about "treading your own path".


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## itty84

What made me sus about this was the $500 FREE brokerage with e-trade.  I'm new to trading and don't know much about e-trade but everything Scott Pape has said in the past is to be wary of people selling products exactly like he is doing now.


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## freebird54

This is one of the few I have not subscribed to and if he is willing to publish his results I would subscribe - anyone aware?

For all I have paid in the past it works out better to use a full service/full advice broker as I am doing now. [Especially as doing options here and USA on practically a daily basis and I need my life back]

I still like eureka and a few others for general advice



cookieater said:


> I've read Barefoot Investor and I was quite impressed despite how much it concentrated on debt which isn't relevant to me. He has had some good articles that are emailed out if you subscribe to his site.
> 
> Now he is releasing this Barefoot Blueprint which will supposedly show people how he invests his money and what are the recommendations to invest money with a team of experts. It is AU$197/yr subscription. See this promotional video here:
> 
> http://www.barefootblueprint.com/how-i-invest-my-money
> 
> What does everyone think. I am new to trading and have begun researching long term investment strategies. But this could seem like if there are a lot of followers it could bloat his recommended shares to make him/them rich because people follow blindly?
> 
> I am considering buying a subscription. If he wasn't so well known I would think it's a scam. Any ideas?


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## joku

McLovin said:


> It's fairly common sense finance stuff; avoid debt, come up with a savings plan, budget, diversify. No idea how good his investments are because he never gets into that sort of detail...






Julia said:


> I also felt really disappointed to see someone whose views I'd previously respected spruiking like that awful bloke who says on TV "But wait, there's more", and goes on to offer the steak knives.




These two quotes summarize my thoughts on Scott Pape


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## Happy2be

The link above to the website is now returning a 404 page error.

Aside from that, he is good to start with for the majority of people who don't have a clue and as your knowledge improves and grows then move on and do your own thing. Easy!


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## freebird54

YES There is so much free education around, you just have to sort out the best [and only deal with those that show you their results and invest in everything they tell you to.

Like most financial planners   ?   hehehehehe



Happy2be said:


> The link above to the website is now returning a 404 page error.
> 
> Aside from that, he is good to start with for the majority of people who don't have a clue and as your knowledge improves and grows then move on and do your own thing. Easy!


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## Gezzanator

I'm assuming that none of the people that gave their opinion on the Barefoot Blueprint have actually read it. Its fine to speculate but I think its a bit like a movie review from someone that hasn't seen the movie yet.

That being said I was also skeptical at first, especially considering the obvious self interest in getting cash first and then offering the information. A friend got a copy of all the issued blueprint reports allowing me to see first hand what you get for $297.

Each month a new report is issued covering a different company/stock each time. I found the advice was accurate and bull**** free whilst discussing both positive and negative perspectives. A clear valuation is offered letting you know what price is good to buy below. Good for someone that doesn't have much experience or not enough time to value a company themselves.  

I personally purchased $16,000 worth of shares using my superannuation in November 2013 and have already made a profit of $600 which is all the convincing I needed to part with my cash and sign up.

Scott Pape certainly has his own style of doing things which isn't to everyone's taste.

Hope this helps anyone looking for some feedback on the Barefoot Blueprint. 

Happy Investing


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## GlobeTrekker

Gezzanator said:


> I personally purchased $16,000 worth of shares using my superannuation in November 2013 and have already made a profit of $600 which is all the convincing I needed to part with my cash and sign up.




I think its a little early to be hailing success after just 3 months!

I get Scott Pape's free email each week, he is clearly targeting those who are not great with personal finances and those don't have a lot of knowledge or experience in investing.  From what I've seen though, it all seems to be perfectly reasonable common sense advice explained simply for that type of audience.  I have no idea what his paid service is like so I don't know whether its any good or whether it adds much value for those with a little more experience.

I've also signed up for the Motley Fools free emails, those guys are much more of a hard sell than Scott Pape.  To them, every day is a great day to buy, regardless of the situation, get in quick!  When the market is rising, get in right now or risk missing out on the bull run.  When its falling, get in right now or risk missing out on great value in the cheaper stocks.  Makes me laugh every time I get a new email from them, but they do have some good advice sometimes in between the hard sell.  Again, I don't get their paid service so I have no idea if their stock tips are any good, they certainly hail their successes in the free emails, probably not so much their failures!


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## DJG

I'd hope no body listened to Motleys _"qualified yes"_ to invest in Forge Group when it was about $4.20.


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## Serpentis

I did have a Barefoot Blueprint subscription from the very start, read every single issue, but I cancelled it. The advice is good and sensible, but it's targeted more towards the typical Aussie person, struggling through credit card debt and mortgages as the average Aussie is. Which isn't applicable to me. The difference between the paid service and the free one is that the paid one just goes in to more depth, has actual stock picks, and tracks a portfolio. And there is a support network you can contact, or something, but obviously limited since they can't give financial advice directly. 

If you're looking to get down your debt, start investing for your future and want to start leaning the financial world then you could do a lot worse than signing up for Barefoot Blueprint, but it has little to offer once you want to advance up to the next level.


As for Motley Fool, I also have a subscription with their Share Advisor service, back when they were selling it cheap. It's kind of like a more detailed and focused version of their website, with regular stock picks and tracks a portfolio. I wouldn't say it's a bad service, but I don't think the picks are "clever" enough to justify the cost, so I'm going to let it expire. 

I like the free fool.com.au site though. Don't get me wrong, a lot of rubbish has been appearing on there lately, and they sure like to bang on about the same old stocks and repeat things over and over. But they do highlight some interesting smaller companies every so often. I wouldn't invest purely on their advice, but it's a nice way to be introduced to some smaller stocks that you may not have found elsewhere. I was introduced to MTU on there, I bought in and my investment has since more than doubled, so that's nice. 


These days I find most of my information on this website and HotCopper, and I've found that the information/discussions on stocks there to be just as good, if not better than any paid subscription I've tried. I guess on free sites you have to be more wary about the credibility of the people behind the opinions, but then again, it's not like I have any reason to believe the guys behind the paid subscriptions are any more credible. Anyone can make a sensible and detailed argument to invest in nearly ANY stock. I've never seen any proof that these 'professional' stock pickers are better than the people giving away their thoughts for free.  


So at the end of the day, neither of these services are 'bad', it's just that you can get pretty much the same information for free anyway. Big thanks to all the people who contribute to the stock discussions


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## stewiejp

Used to be a big fan, his attitude/strategy of safe, long term investing and wiping off debt has always appealed to me. But once you are past the debt and have made a few investments there doesn't seem to be a lot more to read. his free emails are simply the next day's newspaper articles.

Whilst I'm sure his stock picks are good, safe, long term type shares. Plus the odd "roughie" - his video a while back on his latest gimmick was simply embarrassing. I already have a set of steak knives. Sure $300 a year isn't a lot, but IMO it isn't too hard to find your own good stocks.


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## MACD

I agree with the comments above.  I tried the subscription for a year.  When it came to renew, in January this year I let it expire and will not renew again.

IMO the report is good if you are financially illiterate and have no idea about finances, money and wealth creation / preservation etc.  However, if you trade shares, stocks, FX etc and you understand the mechanics of trading and investing and understand that to have money in your account, you need to spend less than you earn, then the Blueprint will not be for you and will be a waste of time.

There is no "magic" or "secret formula" in the blueprint, but rather, simple, everyday common sense advise that is very good if you have no idea about finances. All such advise is also freely available all over the internet!


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## Happy2be

I am not a subscriber but I would rather sign up with Scott for a couple of years and be pointed in the right direction than try and learn from the Bulls*** that spues from this "free information" forum.


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## Value Collector

*Re: Barefoot Blueprint - Scott Pape???*



McLovin said:


> No idea how good his investments are because he never gets into that sort of detail...
> 
> .




I am not sure what he has been doing lately, but a couple of years ago i heard him say he was 100% Berkshire Hathaway.


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## Happy2be

I'll give credit where credit is due but I have just had word from a friend who is a subscriber and he's about to call it quits because of the 5000+ people all on the facebook page at once. Can you imagine how that would bug you to death with the notifications etc etc and the trying to scroll through hundreds of posts and comments all on one scrolling page, no thanks!
Anyway he tells me that it statrted out ok until the numbers started to swell and then the sh*t talkers moved in and now people are starting to talk non financial related sh*t on a financial based facebook page.  He reckons it is a absolute disgrace and should be on a forum like this one where you have different sections of discussion.  So folks he's giving it a big NO and cancelling his membership, which is kinda funny cause he was trying to talk me into joining. Not now, no way. His new recommendation is avoid!


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## Leiothrix

Happy2be said:


> I am not a subscriber but I would rather sign up with Scott for a couple of years and be pointed in the right direction than try and learn from the Bulls*** that spues from this "free information" forum.




That's fair enough.

The problem is that Barefoot's "right direction" can pretty much be summed up in a paragraph.

It's very simple information, which suits some people, but the bulk of the newsletter is pretty much "pay off debt, save some money, invest for the future".  It is good advice, but it doesn't really go past that.

Plus I really don't like the "coming next issue" stuff that he does.  Sure he's trying to sell himself, but it gets annoying.

I had a Barefoot subscription and let it expire.  I've got a Motley Fool subscription as will and will let that expire too.  Are there any good newsletters out there?


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## nomadic1970

Leiothrix said:


> I had a Barefoot subscription and let it expire.  I've got a Motley Fool subscription as will and will let that expire too.  Are there any good newsletters out there?




(Un-)fortunately, there are stacks to newsletters out there which you could sub. to. And without knowing what you are looking for would be hard to recommend one, and you might disagree with my choices anyway. But some here to choose from...

Eureka Report - http://www.eurekareport.com.au/
The Bull - http://www.thebull.com.au/
Huntley's (via Morningstar)
[Insert name of broker here]
Marcus Today


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## Knobby22

Scott Pape comes across to me as a rich kid who dabbles in shares.


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## chillax

Hi, I'm brand new here, hoping for some insights 

Re the barefoot investor blueprint, I have been considering it, as a very new investor with minimal knowledge, particularly as it comes with the $500 worth of trades on etrade!

This can be used within 12 months apparently, but does anyone know of other tricks to this?  I read in some fine print that "you have to have an ANZ account to use etrade"; however now Bendigo has an arrangement with etrade and you can open bendigo account to procede.  Barefoot investor line couldn't qualify this for me,  I also got the impression talking to them that maybe you have to be a first time user of etrade to take advantage of this?  

So what, even if the trades can be used through a bendigo account - if I have opened an etrade account already I would not be able to use the trades/credits?

Anyone picked up on this?

Cheers,

*Chillax.*


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## jtrader83

Knobby22 said:


> Scott Pape comes across to me as a rich kid who dabbles in shares.




He may come across that way, but he grew up in Bendigo, went to... I would say,a rough high school with my brother, his Dad owns a Camera House store in town. He wasn't born into wealth, just making a living from advising on how to become wealthy, which is a little dodgy in it self.


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## Dynamic

Just wanted to say thank you to all the comments and information here. I have been contemplating signing up to his blueprint services as I  have been receiving his emails for about a year now. I instead have signed up to this forum in the hope that I can learn more about trading, I have previously dabbled in trading and made some quick profits before reorienting my finances elsewhere. So thanks again to the advice here you may have saved me some money and maybe make me some more


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## piggybank

Dynamic said:


> So thanks again to the advice here you may have saved me some money and maybe make me some more




I'm sure other contributors would be pleased to hear that our advice as been some help to someone. Mind you it would be nice if you could share some of your past experiences - about the share market.


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## Dynamic

piggybank said:


> I'm sure other contributors would be pleased to hear that our advice as been some help to someone. Mind you it would be nice if you could share some of your past experiences - about the share market.



Nothing exciting to share piggybank, the usual buy some shares in the mining and construction sector before selling them off for a small profit. That's really as far as my trading experience goes. I found it quite simple and I certainly now see the long term benefits of such investments. I hope to have my finances in order so I can again start playing with small amounts of money and hopefully gain some profits again in the future


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## Muschu

A young relative just bought about a dozen copies of Pape's new book to give as Xmas presents.

Possibly some sound advice for younger people needing basic guidance?


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## OmegaTrader

I don't why but I never liked the barefoot investor that much.

He has some interesting and humorous pieces in the Newspaper


IDK

Maybe I am just too cynical.

*
I suppose my opinion is that ones focus should be on taking yourself and your own actions,

with the supreme rule being 'caveat emptor' or buyer beware.
*

If you make the decision then you should stand by the consequences and you should have researched before making the decision.

Of course their is corruption and chicanery to every society and this also applies to financial markets which are derived from a societies culture, norms and laws etc.

A lot of the times the small guy gets rooked.

*
I have always been against these gurus, in that they seem to be making money from advice that one can learn in a first year university degree.*

I suppose the gurus success is a failure of our society and education system.

I was not exposed to basic personal financial concepts until first and second year of  a finance/economics degree.


I never learned about saving, discount rates, compounding, the time value of money, taxation and estate planning, superannuation, alpha, searching for the best rates on loans and savings, financial instruments, risk and volatility.

*and most importantly being the devils advocate.*


Mostly sport and social aspects are valued by our society and our education system reflects this.


I would have loved a personal financial unit at school....

With an ageing population strains on the country investing and personal finance is becoming more and more important.

People don't always have the time and knowledge to implement financial discipline and often rely of professionals...


I suppose an odd quote sums up my opinion, *the best meal is a home cooked meal, *

*But we don't always have time to cook it *because we are working too hard or if we are really rich can't be bothered to.

So we buy takeaway and restaurant meals

So we never learn how to cook... 

 in and my cooking is still not as good as my mums 


yet.....


Sorry if I went too faar off tangent

cheers 

Omega


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