One of the biggest questions my readers have about Motley Fool One is: Is Motley Fool One worth the price?
Well, here is my bare-bones, straight-forward attempt to answer that question for you.
Motley Fool One Might Be Worth It For You If:
1) You can afford the membership
Honestly, don’t sign up if you aren’t sure you can afford it. Motley Fool’s marketing is up there with the best of them (or worst, depending on your point of view) when it comes to hyping their services. And yes, they stress that not everyone will be “qualified”, but are they going to turn you down if you’re not? Don’t be seduced by some of their over the top marketing – you can do quite well with their other services for much less cost.
And another note on cost: if you do sign up, it’s best to go for the longest membership period they offer, as they are usually substantially more cost-effective on an annualized basis.
2) You have a fairly sizable portfolio
So not only should you be able to afford it, but I think you need a $100K portfolio minimum. If you consider this membership as just another investment fee or commission, you want to keep that expense ratio down relative to your investments. With smaller portfolio sizes, you’re better off with one of the other investing newsletters they offer.
3) You are willing to spend at least 5 hours a week using the service
There is a lot of good material to keep up with here. Between the Everlasting Portfolio, the Financial Planning tool, the weekly updates, the board posts, the bonus features, and not to mention the updates from all the other Motley Fool newsletters you will have access to, you need at least that much time to make the price tag worth it. Any less, and you probably aren’t taking full advantage of the service.
4) You are already familiar with other Motley Fool premium services
As much as I like the Motley Fool, their investment newsletters have a distinct style and culture, and they’re not for everyone. Motley Fool One is in the same vein as the other services so if you have favorable impressions of the other services, you’ll be comfortable with One. If you’ve never used a Motley Fool premium service before, you are taking a gamble on whether the style will work for you. Of course, they do offer a money back guarantee for One, so you can always give it a try.
5) You are a Motley Fool groupie
If Motley Fool is more than just a place where you get investment advice, and you can’t get enough of hearing from one of the Gardners, or Jason Moser, or “Tom E” (for that matter, if you even know to whom I’m referring at all), then Motley Fool is probably as much a hobby for you as it is a financial advice service. Motley Fool has a very strong community, and if you already identify with that community, then Motley Fool One is a dream come true. You get a lot of VIP type treatment, invitations to their annual summer conferences, enhanced access to their HQ and advisors, not to mention access to every single newsletter and special report they produce.
So if all or most of the above are not true for you, I’d suggest you save your money and invest it in one of the alternative services, or in your favorite stock.
All my coverage of Motley Fool One can be found here.