Is the Motley Fool "Stock Advisor" really worth it?

[garyt]

It would appear that MFSA is a pay for service side hustle of Motley Fool. The cost is $100 per year. I tried to find out more about it this morning but have not been able to without signing up. I hate having to sign up for anything with a fee in order to find out the nitty gritty details, or even the most basic of info. Even if they offer a full refund after some trial period. Is it just a newsletter? Is it an investment club? Who knows how it works?

The way I look at it, if I were to try it out by investing $10,000, with "fees" $100 per year, that ends up being the equivalent of an 1% AUM. Not counting any other "fees" which are not disclosed before signing up.

Send them your email from one of their teaser ads and eventually they'll send you an offer for $49 a year. There are no other fees. Sure, if you don't invest much the fee seems higher. I had probably $200K-$300K in their stocks at one time. That makes my fee what, .0005%. And actually after that first year it was only $49 so half that. And since I still hold many of their stocks 10 years since I last subscribed those years I paid nothing. But I make my own decisions when to sell.
It's not for everybody, but if you use it like I did, strictly as a place to get ideas, then do your own research from there it can be quite helpful.

 

[garyt]

One thing I wasn't crazy about MF at the time was they kept adding new services, Hidden Gems was one, then Tom G. had his own that he was investing his own money in, and I think a few more. Some stock picks crossed lines between the services but many didn't and I felt like was I really getting all their best picks anymore or were they holding some back for the various other services? IO have no idea if these are still in play or if they've even added more services. And each new service was more expensive than the last.

 

[Gazingus]

I went with their premium service, which gave me access to almost all of the portfolios and recommendations. That's given me small cap, micro cap, international, and many other exposures that I would never have had to this level. My portfolio is very diverse at this point. They also provide detailed allocation advice based on your situation and risk tolerance. My fee for the next six months is $2500. For that I get multiple daily texts and emails, detailed stock analysis (which I don't read, it's what I pay them for) and buy recommendations, plus the rare sell. My ballast account is Wellesley and it's more expensive, in my case, than MF Boss Mode, percentage-wise.

Betting on the future of things like telemedicine, AI, fintech, renewables, EV, SAS, and cybersecurity is quite exciting. The world is always changing but 2020 caused a step change, in my humble opinion. MF gave me the ability to get in on it.

 

[CRLLS]

So all that I get for my $100 "Stock Advisor" is a stock newsletter and emails?

 

[garyt]

So all that I get for my $100 "Stock Advisor" is a stock newsletter and emails?

Yep

 

[Montecfo]

That seems like a pretty good deal. Well worth it if you only got 1-2 good ideas a year from it.

 

[Rocket Man]

I joined MF a couple years ago but did not renew. I got the deal they were offering at the time. After joining, it seemed like I was inundated with emails from them, but I would open them up and start reading and then find out I had to pay more to look behind this door or that curtain. In other words, a higher level of membership that they did not tell you about in the beginning. That turned me off and I quit opening their emails. It appears some people have done well with them but I did not like their business model.

 

[LHav61]

I joined MFSA a couple of years ago and have been pleased with the results. As others have stated they do bombard you with emails trying to sell their other services but you have the option to opt out of those emails. Basically they have a buy and hold philosophy and lean more to growth stocks with big upside potential. They recommend owning at least 15 stocks and holding them for 3 to 5 years minimum.

 

[Running_Man]

The video was interesting:

Basic Rules they follow:

1) Always compare yourself against the market, idea is to beat the market
2) Five Years is the minimum holding period once you buy a stock, you need to break the mentality to become a long term investor, 20 years is a good holding period.
3) Picking based on the management of the company and view of management over the next 10 years, not recent performance.
4) Most people should invest in indexes because they work for everyone, but everyone should own at least one stock and be willing to hold it for five years, good idea is to pick a company you admire and hold it.

 

[wildsun]

Who is "MF"?

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Who is "MF"?

Motley Fool.

 

[Rickt]

I joined MF a couple years ago but did not renew. I got the deal they were offering at the time. After joining, it seemed like I was inundated with emails from them, but I would open them up and start reading and then find out I had to pay more to look behind this door or that curtain. In other words, a higher level of membership that they did not tell you about in the beginning. That turned me off and I quit opening their emails. It appears some people have done well with them but I did not like their business model.

+1 that was my experience as well,,,,,consequently I did not renew the subscription.

 

[strobot]

Who is "MF"?

Read the title of this thread.

 

[garyt]

So since I'm recovering from hip replacement surgery and I think I've read every word on the internet since, I decided to plunk down the $59for a year's subscription to the MF Stock Advisor just to see what they're up to now. They definitely hit it right with many pandemic stock picks that are up 959% 423% 229% 167%respectively just in the last year. Other of their best buys are up 253% 280% 172% 115% 100% 98% and 62% respectively. Bad thing for me is I've missed the boat on most of these rec's as I'm not investing in a stock that's already up 959% in the last year. Most of these stocks are now in stratospheric levels. I'll just wait for their new monthly recs or a pullback in the market. Any purchases I make going forward will be very minor as I'm pretty much at my equity limit. But I sure wish I had subscribed at this time last year.

 

[garyt]

Got an email from MF today. Didn't realize they had so many different services. But I can get access to all of them for the low, low price of $13,999!! Does anybody actually do that?

 

[RetireeRobert]

As to OP original question, is MF service worth it?

Unless you are dedicated to actually implementing all their buy/sell advice and holding all their recommended positions, then NO, it is not worth it.

The problem is actually following and implementing all recommendations timely.

 

[WhenIsItTime]

In the spirit of Gamestop and other crowdsourcing influence on stocks, I found MF's monthly pick to have some interesting movement yesterday. The pick was announced at 1pm ET. Notice the spike in volume and price action. Clearly they have some faithful followers.

For what it is worth, they set the "purchase" price in their scorecard as the closing price on the day of recommendation.

 

[John0019]

I hear this all the time and it kind of bugs me. If I'm the world's greatest stock picker and I sell my advice, don't I now have more money to invest in those great stocks? Plus, other people investing in my stocks helps their share price.
And that subscriber money is a sure thing. It's being diversified.

+agreed

 

[John0019]

The disdain and scorn for stock picking on the forum really baffles me. Macro view (broad fund) is fine, micro (single stock) view and you get pounced like Trump on the opposition.

Context is everything. Some of us like to take a small portion of portfolio and gamble on specific companies.

Yes some like to augment portfolio performance and/or take some pleasure in investing a % in individual stocks in attempt to do so.

 

[John0019]

That seems like a pretty good deal. Well worth it if you only got 1-2 good ideas a year from it.

Their basic service is reasonable to me. Can give you a few ideas to research further and I like some of the cliff notes writeups on individual stocks. Has helped me augment my individual stock portfolio last couple years.

 

[Badger]

After reading a few of their pitches some years ago I came to the conclusion that I didn't need them. It turns out I was right.


Cheers!

 

[WhenIsItTime]

After reading a few of their pitches some years ago I came to the conclusion that I didn't need them. It turns out I was right.


Cheers!

Are you saying you beat their returns of:

STOCK ADVISOR PERFORMANCE AVERAGE RETURN OF ALL RECOMMENDATIONS SINCE INCEPTION. COST BASIS AND RETURN BASED ON PREVIOUS MARKET DAY CLOSE.
Tom +328.2%
David +889.7%
S&P +120.4%

Or, were your needs different?

 

[Badger]

Are you saying you beat their returns of:

STOCK ADVISOR PERFORMANCE AVERAGE RETURN OF ALL RECOMMENDATIONS SINCE INCEPTION. COST BASIS AND RETURN BASED ON PREVIOUS MARKET DAY CLOSE.
Tom +328.2%
David +889.7%
S&P +120.4%

Or, were your needs different?

I don't know if my needs were different. I'm saying I didn't need them to get to where I am financially comfortable. MF has been making recommendations for 28 years. I made a quick check going back 19 years and see where I have 6X the invested dollars I had at that time. if data was more readily available going back 9 more years when I only had about $10k to my name the increase would be substantially greater. I also have a mortgage free house that has increased in value since purchased by approximately 16X.

As I said, I didn't need them. I have enough without their help to take care of my wife and I and then the inheritance should take care of the 2 grown children if they aren't foolish.
I don't think my results are anything extraordinary. Reading posts over the past 12 years I think there are many here that have similar experiences.



Cheers!