Motley Fool Review [2024]: Best for Experienced Investors

Who should subscribe to the Motley Fool premium services?

The Motley Fool stresses that they are long-term investors, which is certainly reflected in their stock picks. So, if you are a day trader or looking for a “quick score” on an investment recommendation, Motley Fool's services are likely not for you.

If you invest in single stocks or would like to but don’t have the time to research stocks with good potential, Motley Fool's premium services could be a good tool, especially the lower two tiers. 

Perhaps most of your portfolio is held in a group of index funds based on an asset allocation strategy devised by you or your financial advisor. The picks from a service like Stock Advisor or Epic can provide ideas to add some individual stock holdings to your portfolio.

For this reason, the service could be a better fit for someone who has some experience with investing or who is looking for new stock ideas.

Motley Fool premium service comparison

Motley Fool has five levels of product offerings. Each level of service includes more, but the cost rises exponentially as you move through the levels.

Stock Advisor

Cost: $199 per year

Monthly stock picks: 2

Recommended portfolio size: $25,000+

This is Motley Fool's foundational, entry-level product. It provides basic stock picks and strategy and would be the best option for investors beginning to explore individual stock picks and be more hands-on with their investments. This is comparable to entry-level offerings from competitors Morningstar and Seeking Alpha. 

It offers recommendations of companies to buy and hold long term, monthly rankings, three entry strategies, and GamePlan financial hub, which also offers financial planning articles. 

Epic

Cost: $499 per year

Monthly stock picks: 5

Recommended portfolio size: $50,000+

This is the next-higher tier of services, which includes more stock picks. You get more monthly recommendations and rankings, more specific strategies, and access to Fool IQ, which is the most compelling reason to get this tier - it includes full historical data and projected annualized returns for publicly traded companies. It also includes Quant 5Y, which is the Motley Fool's proprietary stock scoring system. 

This is the highest tier I recommend most investors choose. It provides a lot of information and recommendations, and the cost won't eat into your returns too much if you have the recommended portfolio size. 

Epic Plus

Cost: $1,999 per year

Monthly stock picks: 9

Recommended portfolio size: $100,000+

This tier includes the offerings of the previous tiers, plus access to an AI investing portfolio from Tom Gardner, one of the founders of The Motley Fool. You could potentially use that to inform your investments. It also includes more monthly recommendations and rankings and information on options trades. 

Fool Portfolios

Cost: $3,999 per year

Monthly stock picks: 11+

Recommended portfolio size: $250,000+

If you're a big Tom Gardner fan, this is the tier for you. It includes access to all of Gardner's real money portfolios, plus portfolios managed by top advisors. The other somewhat compelling reason to get this tier of service is the Investor Solutions team, which is a dedicated resource to answer questions about Fool services and tools. Even then, it's not that compelling — it doesn't include access to financial advisors or anyone managing your investments. It's a high price for just advice, IMO. 

Fool One

Cost: $13,999 per year

Monthly stock picks: 11+

Recommended portfolio size: $500,000+

The cost of this tier is enough to show me that I'm not the target market for this product. In addition to including everything from the previous tiers, it offers access to the One Portfolio with quarterly rebalancing, access to every report, member event access, and full industry research. 

If you're considering this tier, I'd compare it to more individualized advice you can receive from a fiduciary advisor before moving forward. 

How much can you earn with The Motley Fool?

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor program claims a cumulative return of 765% since the inception of the service, compared with a cumulative return of the S&P 500 index of 165% over the same period. This products offerings are the foundation for all Motley Fool premium services. 

Although it doesn’t offer individual returns on ‌every investment recommendation, it’s very likely that some investors have lost money in the near term and/or over the longer term. After all, to get those exact returns, you would need to mirror exactly what Motley Fool has done every year since 2002. And, more importantly, past returns are not indicative of future results. 

But there is no reason to not believe the overall return figures, if for no other reason than The Motley Fool offers an allied service called Motley Fool Wealth Management that is a registered investment advisor (RIA). Given the regulatory requirements surrounding being an RIA, it seems unlikely the returns for Stock Advisor are not what the company has been reporting.

However, it’s important to remember the returns reported for the service assume that a subscriber had invested in all stocks recommended. As a subscriber, you still pick ‌which of the recommended stocks you will invest in. Your returns will likely vary from the composite returns reported by The Motley Fool team.

How to sign up for The Motley Fool Stock Advisor

Signing up for Stock Advisor or any of The Fool’s premium services is pretty straightforward. It will ask for your name, address, email address, and credit card. There is a toll-free number if you need assistance. It also indicates that your subscription will automatically renew after one year at whatever the going rate for the service is at that time.

FAQ

Other investing options to consider

Morningstar is a solid provider of investing information. Its service is different in that it provides ratings on individual stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and other investments. It is not a stock picking service like Stock Advisor. The free version of its site provides a lot of information, whereas the premium service offers even more information.

If you’re interested in a more hands-off approach to managing your portfolio, then you might consider checking out our list of the best robo-advisors. For new investors, these sorts of financial services can take a lot of the worry out of investing and give you time to learn.

Bottom line

The Motley Fool is regarded by some as one of the best stock picking services. Whether this service is right for you and lives up to the hype when it comes to investing money will depend on your personal situation and objectives. While you’re deciding on your stock-picking service, you may also want to evaluate your brokerage. For more information, check out our list of the best brokerage accounts.