The Motley Fool is one of the most popular stock picking services and financial advice websites. The platform gained fame in the investing community for its flagship Stock Advisor newsletter, which has outperformed the S&P 500 by a factor of nearly five since its inception in 2002.
However, there’s more to the Motley Fool than just Stock Advisor. In this article, we’ll help you decide which Motley Fool service is the best tool to invest with.
What is the Motley Fool?
The Motley Fool is an investment platform created by Tom and David Gardner in 1993. The company was designed to offer advice and stock picks for self-driven investors, and originally took a contrarian view to Wall Street orthodoxy.
However, over time, the Motley Fool became so popular that it is essentially a mainstay of financial news. The Stock Advisor newsletter alone has more than 700,000 subscribers and new stock picks typically jump by around 5%.
Today, the Motley Fool offers a mix of subscription-based stock picking services, educational guides for investing and retirement, and stock news and analysis. The site continues to be run by the Gardner brothers, although David Gardner recently announced his retirement from stock picking.
What Types of Services Does the Motley Fool Offer?
The Motley Fool’s premium service offerings revolve around stock picking. In addition to the flagship Stock Advisor service, the company has dozens of different stock picking services that focus on different thematic areas – like AI, cannabis, and fintech – as well as different investing strategies.
Most of the Motley Fool’s newsletters focus on stocks, but the company does have some services that focus on alternative investments. For example, the Total Income newsletter includes bonds and real estate investments and the Options newsletter focuses on options trading.
What Makes for a Good Service?
There are a couple things to consider when evaluating the Motley Fool’s stock picking services.
First, whatever service you pick should match your investment style. If you want to aggressively invest in growth stocks, then choosing a newsletter that focuses on income investments or low-volatility stocks doesn’t make much sense. Since the Motley Fool has such a wide range of newsletters, it shouldn’t be hard to find one that matches your style.
Second, the service you choose needs to be easy to use. Part of what makes Stock Advisor so popular is that it includes just two picks per month and a simple buy recommendation. More complicated newsletters are okay, but they need to be simple enough that you’ll actually act on the recommendations in a timely manner.
Finally, and most important, a stock picking service needs to have a history of strong performance. The Motley Fool’s top newsletters, including Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers, have outperformed the S&P 500 by several-fold since they began. However, not every Motley Fool newsletter has done so well. Be sure to look closely at the total return of the newsletter you’re interested in and how it’s performed in recent years.
What is the Best Motley Fool Service?
With all that in mind, what’s the best Motley Fool newsletter? We’ll highlight a few Motley Fool services that we think stand out.
Stock Advisor – Best Overall
There’s a reason Stock Advisor has garnered over 700,000 subscribers and has run continuously for 19 years. It’s simply the best newsletter the Motley Fool has to offer and one of the top stock picking services available today.
The Motley Fool’s flagship service has generated a return of 569% since 2002 compared to just 131% for the S&P 500. That’s thanks in part to picks like Amazon (+21,000%) and Netflix (+23,000%). It’s also incredibly cheap at just $199 per year.
Stock Advisor is simple to follow since there’s just two recommendations a month. The service also comes with five ‘Best Buy’ picks per month, which encourage you to double down on stocks already in the portfolio, and a beginner portfolio to help you get started. Just note that Stock Advisor tends to focus on growth stocks, so it often recommends tech companies and other relatively risky stocks.
Save on Stock Advisor (Exclusive Deal)Rule Breakers – Best for Growth Stocks & Expanding Your Portfolio
Rule Breakers is similar to Stock Advisor, except that it’s run solely by David Gardner and his team (Stock Advisor includes both David and Tom Gardner). Since its start in 2003, the portfolio has returned 319% compared to 113% for the S&P 500. Rule Breakers is more expensive than Stock Advisor at $299 per year, but it’s still fairly inexpensive given how impressive the returns have been.
Rule Breakers differs from Stock Advisor in that it focuses almost exclusively on explosive growth stocks. So, the service is looking specifically for home runs instead of just strong picks. It’s best suited for investors who already have a base portfolio and want to add in some riskier stock picks. It’s also a good option if you already use Stock Advisor and want more picks each month.
Claim Your New Member Discount on Rule BreakersOptions – Best for Options Trading
As the name suggests, the Motley Fool’s Options trading service is designed specifically for options traders. The service advertises a profitability rate of 85% and builds off of the picks recommended by other Motley Fool services. Most of the strategies that the Options service uses are relatively simple to keep complexity to a minimum.
Options is one of the Motley Fool’s more expensive services, at $999 per year. In addition to options ideas, you get access to the Motley Fool’s Options University, an educational hub for new options traders.
Get $100 OFF Motley Fool OptionsEverlasting Portfolio – Best for Long-term Traders with Large Accounts
The Everlasting Portfolio service is run by Tom Gardner and his team of analysts. The portfolio focuses on stocks that Tom considers the “best of the best” in the market today and are the only stocks that Tom personally owns. The portfolio is also backed with $15 million of the Motley Fool’s investable assets.
This service has performed incredibly well. Since launching in 2012, it’s up more than 550%. All of the picks are designed to be held for at least 5 years, so this service is best for investors with a very long time horizon. It’s also priced at $2,999 per year, so it makes the most sense if you have a large pool of money to invest.
Get The BEST Deal On Motley Fool Everlasting PortfolioConclusion: Motley Fool Services
The Motley Fool is one of the most popular and successful stock picking companies in the world. While the platform is best known for its flagship Stock Advisor newsletter, services like Rule Breakers, Options, and Everlasting Portfolio are also worth a look. The Motley Fool has dozens of stock picking services, so you can easily find one that matches your investing style and goals.
