The Motley Fool Review: the Best Stock Picks

*** MOTLEY FOOL STOCK ADVISOR RESULTS UPDATED AS OF JANUARY 21, 2023 ***

Investing in the stock market is an essential part of growing your wealth and preparing for retirement. While building a stock portfolio should absolutely be part of everyone’s long-term financial planning strategy, most people struggle with it or ignore it all together.

Just like learning any new skill, learning to invest in the the stock market takes a little time. It also takes a little commitment. But most importantly, it takes getting started properly and finding the right stocks to buy.

Based on our 30 years of investing experience, we have found that The Motley Fool Stock Advisor is an excellent source for investors to get stock picks. In this Motley Fool Review, we will show you how it has beaten the returns of the markets after all these years.

Their own ads say that since they started in 2002 their portfolio’s stock picks have an average return of 373% compared to the the S&P500’s 116%.

That is 3x the market!

That sounds great if you had subscribed in 2002 and bought all of their picks. They got those great returns thanks to a few key stocks like AMZN and NETFLIX and DISNEY.

But the real question you should be asking is how have their stock picks performed recently?

Fortunately, we have found the Motley Fool has been the best place for stock picks for the last 5 years.

What do I mean by “best place for stock picks”?

I have been a subscriber to the Motley Fool Stock Advisor since January 2016. At that time I also opened an ETrade brokerage account and I have bought $1,000-$2,000 of each and every one of their stocks picks for the last 5 years.

Take a look at how their picks have performed for me since I started buying them in 2016.

So how has my portfolio done?

For EACH of the 5 YEARS the Motley Fool Stock Advisor stock picks BEAT the SP500 by at least 68%. For EACH YEAR they have at least 7 stocks that have DOUBLED and 3 that have TRIPLED.

If you are curious about their 2020 picks: 22 of 24 of their 2020 stock picks are up and the average return is 89% so they are beating the SP500 by 68%. 7 of these stocks have at least doubled (here are a few TSLA, NVTA, ZM, SHOP, ZM (re-recommended)) with TSLA up 685%!

If that is all you wanted to know about the Motley Fool and you have never purchased one of their products before, you can take advantage of this offer:

NEW SUBSCRIBER DISCOUNT PAGE: Get their next 24 stock picks for just $99.

They also allow a 30-day cancel period for a full refund. So you should at least try it so you can see all of their recent stock picks.

If you are hesitating about subscribing, then take a look at this chart:

This is the chart of their Dec 3rd pick LMND. On Dec 2 it closed around $67. On December 3, 2020 around noon the Motley Fool recommended it and the stock closed on the 3rd at $80 and continued over the next few weeks to $100. My point is this: To get the maximum return, you need to get their stock picks in real-time and act immediately. So again people, we are talking $99 for their 24 stock picks! It will probably be the best $99 you spend this year.

If you want to dive into the details of what you get and how their stock picks have done, then read on for my full Motley Fool Review…

In addition to providing 2 brand news stock picks each month, they provide many other resources. The Motley Fool provides educational courses, informative stock market news, and individual stock analysis.

Whether you’re an experienced investor or just starting, the performance of their stock picks speaks for itself. Their collection of advice, strategies, and recommendations will also help you better understand the world of investing and make better decisions for yourself. Keep reading to learn more about the Motley Fool in the sections below:

Before we get into reviews of the tool, its performance and design, and the greatest takeaways, we’ll first define what the tool is, what is included, and whether the cost is worth the investment (pun intended!).

Overview of Motley Fool Stock Advisor

The Motley Fool was founded by legendary investors David Gardner and Tom Gardner in 1993. The initial idea was to provide a resource to help the public learn and invest better. Their slogan was “to help you invest smarter.” They provide specific stock picks as well as strategy and tips on how to grow your wealth.

What is the Motley Fool Stock Advisor Service and How Does it Work?

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor tool is their flagship service. It is a subscription service that provides its audience with market analysis and specific stock recommendations each week. When you subscribe, you also get access to their entire library of previous stock recommendations and the performance of each. You will definitely be impressed at the number of stocks they pick each year that double or even triple–THAT is how they get their fantastic year over year returns that beat the SP500 by 68% or more (for each of the last 5 years). Tom & David Gardner alternate providing new stock picks each week as well as publishing their monthly Best Stocks to Buy Right Now selection.

It works like a newsletter and alert service, emailing subscribers with 2 brand new stock recommendations each month. You also receive their 10 Best Stocks to Buy Right Now list. This list reviews their recent stock picks and tells you which stocks still present the greatest opportunity. Readers looking to build their stock portfolio should use these recommendations to form their own investment portfolio, as the Stock Advisor recommendations have outperformed the SP500 by over 68% each of the last 5 years.

Who is this Stock Service Designed for?

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor service is designed for beginner and intermediate investors that are looking to build a quality portfolio that will outperform the market AND that have a few years to leave the money invested.

They do an excellent job at finding a few stocks that double or triple each year.

But to be clear, not every one of their stock picks goes up.

So the Motley Fool Stock Advisor service is NOT for day trader, swing traders, or people desiring monthly dividend income.

See the Performance Section below and you will understand why we say the Motley Fool is for investors that plan to hold stocks for a few years.

No matter what experience you have, you can use the resources they have to become a better investor, gain insight into new stocks, and receive detailed information about potential stocks to buy.

Here is a breakdown of how each type of user will benefit from using the Stock Advisor tool:

• Beginners – With advice on how to start building your stock portfolio, which stocks should form the foundation of your portfolio, how to invest wisely, and principles of investing to live by–this is a great place to start investing and to guide your early stages of investment. Learn the ropes and get comfortable with guidance from experienced investors.
• Long-term investors – Those looking to buy and hold stocks for 2 to 5 years would greatly benefit from this tool, as these stocks are meant to be purchased and held for at least a year or more, growing steadily over time.
• Hobby – If you are investing as a hobby, and have limited time and resources to contribute to managing your portfolio, the Motley Fool will give you a helping hand. Their collection of stock information and recommendations are great starting points when you can’t follow the markets and news to stay up-to-date.
• Retirement planning – Focusing on long-term investment strategies, the resources, suggestions, and lessons at Motley Fool are ideally suited for people who building their retirement portfolio; they even have a section of their site dedicated to retirement planning, helping you start early and invest steadily throughout your life to gain the benefits of compounded growth.
• 1st time – Educational materials that outline how to invest as if the reader has no understanding makes these resources applicable to anyone, even if they’ve never learned about investing before. Start from scratch with their information about how to invest and steadily build your knowledge and test your comfort by investing yourself.
• Experts – Despite the educational approach, experienced investors will still gain valuable insight from the information and stock picks from the Motley Fool, whether it helps improve their investment strategy or suggests specific stocks to add to your portfolio.

Overall, Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor tool is designed to be diverse and appeal to a wide demographic of investors, focusing on long-term investors that are in the buy-and-hold category. While they recommend you buy each stock recommendation, choosing the individual stocks to buy from their recommendation will involve balancing your investment strategy, your financial objectives, and your risk tolerance.

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor makes some fantastic claims like the one below that shows their performance of 570% compared to the SP’s 114% over the last 18 years.

Motley Fool Stock Advisor Performance

While we have not been subscribers since their inception in 2002, we can comment on their performance over the last 5 years.

We have been subscribers to the Motley Fool Stock Advisor since January 2016. To test the Motley Fool stock picks, we even setup a dedicated ETrade brokerage account to buy $1,000-$2,000 of each and every one of their stock picks.

Here are the results of our portfolio as of February 28, 2021:

1. Of their specific 24 stock picks from 2016: The average return is 371% compared to the SP500’s 95% so those 2016 stock picks have beat the market by 2877%; 20 are up and 15 have more than doubled!
2. Of their specific 24 stock picks from 2017: The average return is 193% compared to the SP500’s 67% so they have beat the market by 126%; 23 are up and 11 have more than doubled!
3. From their specific 24 stock picks of 2018: The average return is 222% compared to the SP500’s 45% so they have beat the market by 176%; 20 are up and 11 have more than doubled!
4. Of their specific 24 stock picks from 2019: The average return is 131% compared to the SP500’s 36% so they have beat the market by 96%; 20 are up and 11 have more than doubled!
5. For their 24 picks from 2020: The average return is 89% compared to the SP500’s 21%, 22 are up; and 7 have already more than doubled!

Motley Fool Stock Advisor Cost Breakdown

OK–so after those impressive results for the last 5 years, you have to be asking:

HOW much does it cost?

HOW do I sign up to get their next stock pick?

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor Tool is usually $199/year for unlimited access.

However, if you are a brand new subscriber to the Motley Fool, you can take advantage of this special landing page for NEW subscribers:

NEW SUBSCRIBER DISCOUNT PAGE and try it for just $99/year

They also allow a 30-day membership refund period so you can test it care-free.

For profiles and assessments of stocks, direct recommendations, and strategies that help you improve your investing, you get a lot for their subscription fee. Even better, based on the performance of their recommendations, you would easily recoup your subscription fees with the returns on your investment. Their picks also consistently outperform the market, so you are better investing using these tips than following market trends.

The educational material, advice, and guides that you can access will also help make you a better investor. Even if your returns simply pay for the subscription, that means you are gaining the knowledge, expertise, and insight from the Motley Fool for free. These tools and skills will be invaluable for future investing.

What you get with a Stock Advisor subscription

An annual subscription gets you full access to their Stock Advisor features, of which there are many:

• New stock recommendations – Every month, Tom and David will each make a stock recommendation (2 total). Whether or not you buy each one, it can still help guide your investing decisions and help you develop your strategies.
• Best buys now – Each month, they also recommend 5 stocks to buy now, typically from their library of recommended stocks. These give you greater insight into timing buys on stocks that you may already own. Alternatively, you can use this as a chance to buy in on stocks you previously missed out on.
• Stock performance information – Each recommendation comes with an assessment of why you should buy, as well as potential risks. It also connects you to further articles and reading on each selection.
• Library of stock recommendations – View previous stock recommendations made on the Stock Advisor tool. Use this collection to make investments and to analyze the investment decisions they’ve made in the past, to help you make better choices when investing yourself.
• Favorites page – Create a personalized “My Favorites” page that lets you add and track stocks that interest you. You can sort these by date added, company, current price, daily change, and more to analyze the stocks and make informed decisions when buying.
• Instant alerts and notifications – Receive real-time alerts that notify you of changes regarding stocks you are following. This alerts are for new buys, when to sell, and large price changes, helping you manage your investments. For the most part, this lets you manage your portfolio passively.
• Fool’s research page – This collection of articles and reports cover the majority of US stocks, giving you information and insights into each. They also feature reports on trending and speculative topics and industries, such as virtual reality, self-driving cars, lithium batteries, marijuana stocks, and more so you have an idea of how to invest in these sectors.
• Community page – This Motley Fool community forum is an ideal place to discuss investments, compare opportunities, and get perspectives from other investors. Discussion boards center around industries, companies, and more so you can find a community of people to discuss and get better at investing.

What you get for free

The Motley Fool’s website is a resource of educational articles, posts, reviews, and guides for how to invest better in your own life. These include direct recommendations, articles with advice and tips on how to invest effectively, and insights into sectors and industries and how markets are performing.

They have content for experienced and novice investors, featuring guides on how to invest in stocks, the difference between mutual funds and ETFs, and how to start investing with just $100 a month. Their investment advice includes retirement planning advice, such as information on 401Ks, asset allocation, and how to live in retirement in your 60s. As a whole, the Motley Fool has a collection of free educational resources that help you understand investing, as well as practice it better in your own life.

*** THE BEST STOCK NEWSLETTER OF 2020 — March 1, 2021 UPDATE —

We are constantly monitoring over a dozen stock recommendation and advisory newsletters. There is one newsletter that is consistently outperforming all of the others and that is The Motley Fool Stock Advisor.

The BEST newsletter of 2020 was the Motley Fool Stock Advisor service who had 22 of 24 profitable stock picks with an average return of 89%, including 7 picks that more than doubled.

Most impressively, over the last 5 years that we have been tracking every recommendation, their average stock pick is up 201% compared to the the SP500’s 53%. That means the Motley Fool is almost 4x better than the market! No other stock newsletter comes close to that. The Fool has done so well because they quickly identify stocks that will perform well BEFORE everyone else does. Now with a new President and a COVID vaccine, make sure you get their next stock pick!

Take a look at these recent picks as of March 1, 2021:

• Their December 3, 2020 pick is already up 80%
• Their November 5, 2020 picks is up 56%
• October 1, 2020 pick is already up 84%
• Fiverr Intl (FVRR) — September 2, 2020 pick is already up 135%
• CrowdStrike (CRWD) — June 4, 2020 pick is already up 132%
• ServiceNow (NOW) — May 7, 2020 pick is already up 54%
• Shopify (SHOP) – April 2, 2020 pick and it is already up 271%
• Zoom Video (ZM) – March 19, 2020 pick and it is already up 239%
• DexCom (DXCM) picked Feb 20, 2020 right before the market crashed and it is still up 35%
• Tesla (TSLA) picked January 2, 2020 before the crash and it is up 890%
• HubSpot (HUBS) picked December 5, 2019 and it is up 170%
• Netflix (NFLX) picked November 21, 2019 and it is up 76%
• Trade Desk (TTD) picked November 7, 2019 and up 343%
• SolarEdge (SEDG) picked September 19, 2019 and it is up 244%

Now, no one can guarantee that their next picks will be as strong, but our 5 years of experience tracking the Fool shows that their picks are doing better than ever.

Normally the Fool service is $199 per year but there is a special offer page where NEW SUBSCRIBERS can try it for just $99/year if you click this link.

Updated as of April 11, 2021 — The Motley Fool Stock Advisor service has won our award for the Best Stock Newsletter of 2020–that’s now four years in a row. The Motley Fool 2020 stock picks have a 78% return and 20 of those 24 stock picks were profitable. FIVE of those 24 stocks have now at least DOUBLED! TSLA was their top pick and is now up 687% since they recommended it in January 2020. Also their 2019 stock picks are now up 115% compared to SP500’s 47%; and their 2018 stock picks are up 209% compared to SP 58%. Now with a new President and a COVID vaccine that seems to be working, most analysts expect the market to continue up. But make sure you have the right stocks in your portfolio so you can CRUSH THE MARKET like their last 5 years of stock picks have done!

In fact, over the last 5 years the average Motley Fool stock pick has almost tripled, being up 192%! This time period covers the 2016 election, the Trump administration, the China trade negotiation, COVID, and now the Motley Fool is continuing their excellent stock picks with one of their 2021 stock picks already up 23%. Don’t miss out on the Motley Fool’s next stock pick. Here is their schedule for the next few weeks:

• April 15, 2021 – David’s New Stock Recommendation
• April 22, 2021 – David’s List of 5 Best Stocks to Buy Now List
• May 6, 2021 – Tom’s New Stock Recommendation
• May 13, 2021 – Tom’s List of 5 Best Stocks to Buy Now

FYI–Their October and November picks are already up 92%, 18%, 29% and 41%. And remember, if you are not impressed, you can always cancel within 30 days and get a full refund.

CLICK HERE to get the next 24 Motley Fool’s Stock Picks for just $99 per Year!

Motley Fool pros & cons for investors

The Motley Fool is a great resource for investors, no matter what you are looking for, as you are sure to find informational and educational resources that help you learn about investing. The Motley Fool Stock Advisor tool itself has pros and cons, depending on what you are looking for in an investing tool.

Here is a comparison of pros and cons to evaluate whether the Stock Advisor tool by Motley Fool is right for you:

Motley Fool Stock Advisor pros:

• Historically consistent performance – The stock recommendations they’ve provided investors have shown consistent performance and high returns.
• Passive investment strategy – Largely a set-it and forget-it mentality, these investments are passive and grow wealth over time without too much management required. No need to trade aggressively or time the market, as they do that largely for you.
• Introduction to investing – They offer a great introduction to investing for beginners, helping you develop strategies, research investment opportunities, choose winners, and build a portfolio.
• Guided learning and educational content – Designed to make you a better investor, their content is not just about recommending specific stocks, but teaching you how to invest properly, including diversification, risk assessment, and more.
• Members only message boards – Moderated message boards ensure that subscribers can discuss investments amongst each other, without spam and in a constructive manner.
• No obligations beyond your subscription – Aside from committing to the subscription, you are not committed to investing in each stock recommendation. You can take the recommendation and assessment they provide, and make your own decisions about whether to invest and how much to contribute.

Motley Fool Stock Advisor cons:

• Not good for tech analysis – Stock recommendations and assessments are rooted in company fundamentals, rather than technical analysis. You will need to combine their fundamental analysis with your own technical analysis to make the best selections. Technical traders may find the information is not as actionable or timely as they would like.
• Investors must heed “sell” recommendations – To ensure you properly capture returns and sell at the right time, you’ll need to follow sell recommendations as well. While most of this investment strategy is long-term, preferring a buy-and-hold position, you will need to time your sales to best capture returns.
• No newsletter opt-out – While the regular newsletters provide constant updates and advice, they can get annoying. Unfortunately, there is no way to opt-out of their email newsletters if you’d prefer not to get them.
• Overwhelmed by product offerings – Once subscribed, consistent emails, newsletters, and product offerings can get overwhelming, as they are consistent and drive subscribers to convert on other offers.

Motley Fool Stock Advisor Reviews & Complaints (from real users!)

Now that we’ve covered what Motley Fool is, the features and value of their Stock Advisor tool, and even explored examples of their performance record, see what others think of the tool and Motley Fool overall.

Below are a mix of both positive and negative reviews so you can get a clear idea of the feedback on the Stock Advisor tool:

Positive testimonials

Rating	Main Feedback	Learn More
5.0	“I have been a Motley Fool Stock Advisor for well over a decade and I have since joined other Motley Fool services. I rely on the Fool as a key source of info and my portfolio has done extraordinarily well with Foolish guidance. Joining the Fool family has quite simply been the best financial decision I have made – it has…”	Read Full Review
5.0	“As a new investor who is learning as I go, Motley Fool Stock Advisor has really been helpful providing stock recommendations and the ‘why’ behind their recommendations, sell/buy updates, opinions and	Read Full Review
5.0	“I’ve used the fools for several years for stock and mutual fund advice. Most have been good, and a few are slow to get up to speed. But all in all I’m satisfied.”	Read Full Review
4.0	“I’ve been a subscriber of Stock Advisor for years now and love the way Motley Fool Stock Advisor presents investment ideas. They have a wide range of recommendations that come along with simplified investment thesis digesting large amounts of information into manageable summaries. Stock Advisor is worth the money to help find investment ideas to research for my portfolio, just know that…”	Read Full Review
4.0	“I find Motley Fool’s “Stock advisor” service a very good one because they don’t sell you the moon but they highlight the potential good and risk of stocks, so…”	Read Full Review

Negative feedback & complaints

Rating	Main Feedback	Learn More
3.0	“I signed up and paid for the financial and stock market advice newsletter and ever since I have been spammed by them and a number of other stock advising firms. Being new at investments and…”	Read Full Review
2.0	“Too much clutter and way way too many special deals to part you from your hard earned dollars…”	Read Full Review
2.0	“Some of the Information is good. But the non stop spam to buy more stuff from them is so annoying that it is not worthwhile…”	Read Full Review
2.0	“Site is okay for investors who want to do some very basic diligence on companies, but content is very shallow and…”	Read Full Review
2.0	“I have been a member of a variety of their subscriptions over the last 6 years and have enjoyed and probably benefited from some of their content. However, in the last 6-9 months, the value of the content as gone down and…”	Read Full Review

The Bottom Line: is Motley Fool worth the cost?

A Motley Fool Stock Advisor subscription normally costs $199 / year, which gives access to their Stock Advisor tool, regular newsletters, and library of stock choices along with assessments on why they made the recommendation and associated risks. Based on average returns from their last 5 years of stock recommendations, this is THE BEST INVESTMENT YOU CAN MAKE!

However, if you are a brand new subscriber to the Motley Fool, you can take advantage of this…

NEW SUBSCRIBER DISCOUNT and try it for just $99/year, with no stated end date for this deal.

They also allow a 30-day membership refund period so you can test it care-free.

With 24 new stock recommendations annually, a $500 investment in each stock would earn you a return that covers the fee entirely. Despite an upfront fee, the long-term potential gains greatly exceed the cost of the service. These recommendations and assessments save you time and help you make sound stock selections.

Is it worth the money for day traders?

The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor tool is designed for long-term investments, as they suggest stocks for buy-and-hold positions. Because recommendations are meant for long-term growth, the tool itself is not designed for day trading. However, the profiles and assessments provided will inform day-trading decisions.

Will it help you make more money?

The simple answer is yes. In general, following their recommendations has proven to be a successful investment strategy, beating the market growth and providing substantial returns.

Enough from us though, let’s let their track record speak for itself. Below is the performance of their recommendations over the last few years, compared to the SP500 as a benchmark for market performance.

• Of their 24 stock recommendations from 2016: 19 are up and the average returns of all 24 is +382%
• Of their 24 stock recommendations from 2017: 23 are up and the average returns of all 24 is +208%
• 24 stock recommendations from 2018: 20 are up and the average returns of all 24 is +231%
• And from their 24 stock recommendations from 2019: 21 are up and the average returns of all 24 is +141%

Overall, in these 4 years, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor stock recommendations have outperformed the market by more than 102% each year as of February 5, 2021. With a strong performing portfolio and a proven track record of success, there is no doubt that the stock recommendations and advice from the Motley Fool will help you make more money.

Even without following investment recommendations for every stock they suggest, the collection of articles, advice, and guides help teach and support readers to become better, more savvy investors. Without subscribing to their Stock Advisor service, there is still an abundance of information and resources to help guide you to becoming a more informed, confident investor.

Other Motley Fool Stock Advisor FAQs

When seeking financial advice, it’s always a good idea to do homework on the resource you are using. To help you know everything you need to about the Motley Fool, we’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions:

Does the Motley Fool cover penny stocks?

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor does not review or recommend penny stocks, focusing on blue chip stocks, which are large, well-established companies in their respective industries. This fits with their long-term investment strategy that involves holding stocks that increase in value rather than trading large volumes fast for quick returns, as this carries more risk.

Penny stocks are from small publicly traded companies that are trading at very low prices (often less than $5.00). These stocks are appealing because they are companies that still have a chance to grow rapidly and bring substantial returns. The downside is that these stocks, because they are less established companies with limited funding, are highly volatile and more risky.

To learn more about trading penny stocks, examine the practices and advice from Timothy Sykes, who turned a small investment into $1.65 million by trading as a university student.

Is the Motley Fool good for technical analysis?

Technical analysis for investing involves analyzing trade volumes and prices and using this data to forecast the direction of stock prices. The Motley Fool does not provide this type of assessment, instead focusing on the fundamental analysis of the company’s financial statements, competitors, and the overall health of their company.

This assessment is focused on providing investors an assessment of the company, their financial position, their performance, and more to give an overview of the stock before you buy. Their Stock Advisor tool provides this fundamental analysis so you can review the company and determine the viability of the investment. Use your own tools for technical analysis, with the fundamental analysis as a base to draw from and ground your judgements.

Is it good for day traders?

No, the Motley Fool is not ideal for day traders. The Motley Fool’s analysis, advice, and selections are not meant for short-term investments. In most cases, the stock suggestions are meant to be held for months, if not years. Day trading requires a clear understanding of investing, and comes down to perfecting buy and sell timing.

Recommendations from the Motley Fool are meant to be long-term investments, and should be held for a few months to years. The information they give is not meant to give tips on day trading, but which stocks will grow over time. That being said, you can use the information and assessments they have to make better judgements when day trading.

Will the Motley Fool make me rich?

First and foremost, wealth is relative. Secondly, returns are dependant on the amount invested, so the wealth you earn will be based on the initial amount you are willing to risk in the investment. The more you invest, the more it can potentially grow (although investing is never this simple).

Don’t ever approach an investment as a sure thing, as the returns are based on the performance of the stock. However, trusting in experts with experience in investing will get you greater returns on each dollar you invest than without the information and expertise.

Stock Advisor vs. Rule Breaker: how do they compare?

The Rule Breaker service works much the same as the Stock Advisor tool, with a few major differences. The Rule Breaker picks are coming exclusively from David Gardner and his team, with two new stock picks per month. Unlike the Stock Advisor picks, these focus on high-growth stocks that these investors feel are poised to be market leaders.

This style of investing involves selecting riskier stocks, as they break standard criteria for selecting investment opportunities with their Stock Advisor service. These investments are more volatile than other stocks, which can lead to higher growth and greater returns. However, it’s important to note that by nature, volatility goes both ways. This means that while these stocks have the potential to grow more and faster than more established companies, these stocks are also more risky and can decrease just as fast or significantly.

Over the last four years of investing, the picks from their Rule Breakers tool have outperformed the selections using the Stock Advisor service. The biggest gainer has always been a selection from the Rule Breaker tool, but so too has the greatest loser. They also have more underperforming stocks than overperforming stocks — however, the earners have gained more than enough to cover losses of the other investments. For the years they’ve done this comparison, the risks have paid off, as the Rule Breaker tool earned 8% more than the Stock Advisor tool.

How transparent is the Motley Fool?

Whenever reading about investment and financial advice, it’s important to consider who is writing the content and why. Whether the writer is holding the stock they are discussing is important to you as a reader.

The Motley Fool believes in educating and guiding others to make good, rewarding financial and investment decisions, which is why they practice their Fool Disclosure Policy. They believe that investing is a great way to build wealth throughout your life and gain financial success. Because of this, they do not restrict educators and writers from investing personally. However, they are transparent about all positions, ensuring that their writers and teachers make clear their own positions when discussing a stock.

Motley Fool employees are required to follow a number of rules around their investments to ensure that they are providing reliable advice to readers, and that they have no incentive to personally gain. Motley Fool employees have to publicly display their individual positions on their profile pages

They also have a number of restrictions regarding how they are allowed to trade. These include:

• Must hold any stock they own for a minimum of 10 days (eliminating day trading)
• Cannot write about a stock within a 2-day period of buying or selling (two days before and after a trade)
• Must notify their compliance department each time a stock is bought or sold, regardless of whether they write about it

All of these rules — and their accessibility — gives the Motley Fool transparency over the advice and information you are getting, so you can trust and rely on their picks.

5 tips for using the Stock Advisor tool to make more money

For the most part, using the tool is simple and accessible. Simply follow the recommendations and advice they provide in their newsletter, adjusting it to fit your own investment style and strategy.

Here are 5 great tips to get the most out of the tool:

1. Invest in each suggestion

Without investing in the stock market, you won’t see much return with the Stock Advisor tool. Take each recommendation and read the report that goes with it. Then invest in each stock when recommended, according to your own investment strategy.

By investing $500 to $1,000 on each stock, you will contribute $12,000 to $24,000 annually. Based on the previous performance of their portfolio, you will easily cover the fee of the Stock Advisor service.

2. Diversify your portfolio

They recommend a range of stocks throughout the year for a reason; diversification is key to investment success. Be sure to purchase a range of the suggestions and never put all your money solely on one or two of their recommendations.

Balance the amount you invest across the stocks you choose, avoiding risk. While you may have seen more significant returns by investing all of your money in their best-performing recommendation, you have no way of knowing how it will perform in the future. Spreading your investment across multiple stocks is always better than relying on one or two.

3. Heed sell warnings to capitalize

The majority of stock recommendations are for buy-and-hold positions. In order to make strong returns doing this, you’ll need to time the sale of your stocks to capture the returns. Make sure to listen to sell recommendations just as closely as buy recommendations, and do some research yourself to better time the sale of your holdings.

4. Use the watchlist to stay engaged

The watchlist feature lets you follow and track stocks that you find interesting. This makes it easy to monitor the stocks that have been recommended to you, purchased, or that you are interested in for the future. Add any stocks that you buy or want to buy and track them here. Even if you don’t purchase them in the future, a stock watchlist will keep you engaged with your investment portfolio and keep you thinking about new opportunities.

5. Read, learn, and practice

The intent of the tool is not just to earn you gains, but to help teach you how to invest yourself. Whether or not you are earning more than the cost of the subscription, you should always be reading their materials, training courses, stock information, and investment advice to improve your knowledge and strategies.

You may not get it perfect the first time, but take their tips into consideration and implement them when possible. As you practice, you’ll get better at investing, and earning long-term value from the service.

Alternatives to Motley Fool Stock Advisor

Motley Fool Stock Advisor is a great tool for investors, from beginners to experts, but it’s not the only resource available. There are a number of other alternatives and related resources. Below are some alternatives to using Motley Fool’s Stock Investor solution depending on your investment goals, strategies, and risk tolerance.

1. Rule Breakers

Motley Fool’s Rule Breakers tool helps you discover growing stocks that will beat market performance, identify the businesses that will be the stock market leaders of tomorrow, and help you choose the best stocks to invest in now. The Rule Breakers tool features stock recommendations from David Gardner and his team, using a more aggressive strategy than the Stock Advisor tool.

2. Tim Sykes Penny Stocks

Timothy Sykes has made a living off trading penny stocks, turning his initial $12,415 investment into over $5 million. His website offers a collection of blogs, articles, watchlist recommendations, and other resources to help you learn the ins and outs of trading penny stocks. Sign up to get regular updates on stocks to watch and invest in. With informational guides on how to start penny stock trading and penny stock trading for beginners, this is a great place to learn the ropes.

3. Jim Cramer Action Alerts

Jim Cramer is the host of Mad Money on CNBC, founder of TheStreet.com, and he runs the charitable trust portfolio Action Alerts Plus, leveraging years of experience as a hedge fund manager. This investment tool offers full access to the Action Alerts Plus portfolio, with real-time notifications on every stock that Jim Cramer and his team make. Follow their portfolio, track their trades, and read their market insights to make yourself a better investor.

Important Reminder!

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor ranks as our #1 Best Investment Newsletter for the forth year in a row.

Their stock recommendations continue to beat all of the other newsletters and they maintain a very high accuracy of their picks. As of February 5, 2021, their 24 stock picks from 2016 have outperformed the market by an average of 283% and 15 of those 24 have actually doubled! Their 24 picks from 2017 are up an average of 208%; their 2018 picks are up 231% and their 2019 picks are up 141% (all of those returns are even with the 30% COVID drop).

Also, 21 of their 24 stock picks from 2020 are up and 8 of those have already doubled.

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