The Motley Fool offers a number of subscription-based services which started with its Stock Advisor program. Today, there are more than 30 services available on its website, which can be overwhelming for newcomers.
To help you decide which Motley Fool service to choose, we’ll highlight some of the best services it offers today. While you can’t go wrong with any of its services, the ones we will talk about here are some of the best ones to look at first.
What is The Motley Fool?
The Motley Fool is an investment advice company based in Alexandria, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. area. It was founded in 1993 by brothers David and Tom Gardner and Erik Rydholm, who is no longer with the company.
Its services began in the humble beginnings of the internet, where they posted information on message boards and a newsletter through America Online (AOL).
Today, The Motley Fool hosts all of its services on its own website and through its email service. Its services have become widely popular and Stock Advisor regularly posts returns well above the returns of the S&P 500.
To learn more about The Motley Fool, see our Motley Fool review.
How to Select the Right Investment Service
There are many investment services available today, not just from The Motley Fool but from other companies, too. They certainly aren’t all the same, so, to choose the right one, you should ask yourself a few questions.
What is My Preferred Investing Style?
Again, each of these service is different. Some, like Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor, appeal to a wide audience. However, even Stock Advisor may not be the best for everyone, and we’ll talk more about that shortly.
For now, the important point right now is to decide how you prefer to invest. For example, do you want to buy and hold individual stocks? Do you want to stick investing in a few ETFs? Or maybe you prefer options investing?
Of course, you may not know your preference if you are new to all of this. The good news is that many Motley Fool services are quite affordable, so it doesn’t cost much to sign up for a year.
What is the Service’s Track Record?
The next thing to find out when considering an investment service is its track record and transparency. If you can’t find much information on past performance, that could be a red flag.
If the service is new, you may want to exercise caution, but it isn’t necessarily a red flag. For example, we reviewed Mindful Trader, an options alert service. It was new at the the time, but the founder of the program was able to show hypothetical returns his program would have achieved in the past 20 years using his methods.
In any case, seeing some proof that the program works is important. You don’t want to spend your hard-earned money only to find out the whole thing is a sham.
What is My Budget?
Let’s face it: we all have limited budgets. And investment services can vary widely in their cost. Even Motley Fool services have a wide range: they start at under $100 all the way up to the One bundle that lets you buy all of its service for $13,999/year.
In other words, no matter what your budget is, there is probably something out there for you. Don’t spend more than you can afford because a service sounds good. Find something within your budget.
Best Motley Fool Service Overall: Stock Advisor
Launched in 2002, Stock Advisor was The Motley Fool’s very first subscription-based investment advice service. While this is the company’s oldest investment advice service, there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken.
Stock Advisor has become one of the most popular investment services in the U.S. due to its performance, transparency, and reliability. Plus, The Motley Fool has continued to improve Stock Advisor, adding more features over the years.
Stock Advisor gives you access to in-depth analyses, news & updates, and Stocks to Buy Today. Most importantly, it gives you two stock picks per month, which have included Netflix (+36,448%), Amazon (+21,537%), and Tesla (+18,304%).
Overall, Stock Advisor’s performance has been nearly 6x compared to about 1.5x for the S&P 500. The service is very affordable with a regular rate of just $199/year.
Best Motley Fool Service for Growth: Rule Breakers
The Motley Fool got it start giving contrarian investment advice, going against the grain of the typical Wall Street hype. You could say Rule Breakers is something of a callback to that time. With this service, it focuses on companies that are changing the game with high-growth business models.
This service has been around since 2004 and has had performance around 3x that of the S&P 500. Stock Advisor is more about building a solid, long-term portfolio consisting of several blue-chip stocks. Rule Breakers, on the other hand, focuses specifically on high-growth stocks with major upside potential.
Rule Breakers is slightly more expensive than Stock Advisor with a regular price of $299/year. However, we have a special link that will give you access to both Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers for $199/year. Sign up for both service now!
Best for Retirement Planning: Rule Your Retirement
If stock picking isn’t your thing, Rule Breakers focuses on index fund investing. This gives you a broader approach and means you won’t have to deal with individual stocks. Instead, Rule Your Retirement gives you recommendations on the best index funds and ETFs.
Not only that, but this service gives you guidance on maximizing Social Security benefits, estate planning and more. And it comes with a very reasonable price tag of $149/year.
Best for an Inside Look: Everlasting Stocks
Everlasting Stocks is a service that gives you an inside look at Tom Gardner’s personal portfolio. In fact, The Motley Fool puts its money where its mouth is with these picks: it invests $12 million of its own capital in them.
Plus, the service gives you access to a members-only proprietary model to help you allocate your portfolio. With this particular service, you get access to 15 of Tom Gardner’s personal holdings. The cost for this service is $299/year.
Best Motley Fool Service: How to Get Started
The Motley Fool offers a large number of services today, and many of them work well for various niche purposes. However, if you are just getting started, we would recommend Stock Advisor as a starting point.
As you might have noticed earlier, we have a link that gives you 60% off Stock Advisor, and that value is hard to beat. That comes to just $79 for an entire year, so it’s an excellent deal. We highly recommend giving it a try, then perhaps consider some of The Motley Fool’s niche products later on.
