Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs Rule Breakers Comparison

In this article, we’ll compare The Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs Rule Breakers, including their investment strategy and how they work.

By Alexander Voigt | Updated October 19, 2023

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We’ll reveal how well the newsletters performed over the years, the cost of the services, and the unique features that each offers investors. Finally, we’ll also give you some helpful information that may help you in deciding if one of these stock picking services is right for you and tell you how to save on your subscription.

motley fool stock advisor vs motley fool rule breakers

Table of Contents

Motley Fool Rule Breakers vs Motley Fool Stock Advisor

Rule Breakers and Stock Advisor are two different newsletters from the Motley fool. Both provide subscribers with two stock picks per month.

Here is how Motley Fool Rule Breakers vs Motley Fool Stock Advisor compare:

Detail	Rule Breakers	Stock Advisor
📈 Stock type focus	Growth stocks	Stocks with positive EPS
🏢 Inception	2004	2002
✅ Performance since inception*:	241%	498%
📊 Stock Picks per month	2	2
📆 Day of stock pick	Thursday	Thursday
💰 Price for the first year**	$99*	$89*

* as of August 4, 2023, ** for new members

Overview

Stock investing services can be a big help to investors seeking above average returns on investment. Many stock market investors aren’t satisfied with the average 10% annual return that the S&P 500 has historically generated. So, they’re not interested in putting their money into passive investing index funds. They aim to garner significantly higher returns by actively managing the stocks in their investment portfolio.

Since many stock investors aren’t experts at picking stocks from the thousands of individual equities that are available to invest in, often investors look to find a good stock picking service for stock recommendations.

Two stock picking services that are among the most popular and the most successful are two offerings from the personal finance and investing website, The Motley Fool – https://www.fool.com/ – The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers. Let’s compare both.

Stock Advisor – The Basics

Let’s first look at The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor. This is a premium investing service created by the co-founders of The Motley Fool, brothers David and Tom Gardner. They have an experienced team of analysts that scour the stock market for the most promising investments.

The service offers members two new stock recommendations each month. The stocks are chosen with an investment strategy based on fundamental analysis and a unique approach to stock picking.

Founders Tom and David Gardner have solid stock market investing backgrounds. David was formerly a featured writer for Louis Rukeyser’s “Wall Street” stock advisory newsletter. He and Tom have co-authored several widely read books on stock investing, including “The Motley Fool Investment Guide” and “The Motley Fool Million Dollar Portfolio.”

Stock Advisor, which was established in 2002, has more than met the goal of outperforming the S&P 500, with a return of currently +498%.

Rule Breakers – The Basics

For the Rule Breakers’ stock recommendations, a team of analysts at The Motley Fool employ a different investment strategy than they do for the Stock Advisor service.

Essentially, they look more for potential high growth stocks, specifically, innovative companies in new, booming industries. But, of course, while such stocks offer investors potentially higher gains, they also come with correspondingly higher risk.

The Rule Breakers service provides a couple of new stock picks each month, along with a periodically updated list of stock rankings”

In addition, the service also offers beginning investors a stock recommendations list of “Starter Stocks.”

Rule Breakers, which David created in 2004, has provided subscribers with an outstanding return of approximately 241%* since inception. Like with Stock Advisor, many of Rule Breakers stock picks have turned out to be profitable investments.

Both services have also enjoyed returns of 100% or more on multiple of their stock picks over the past years. As might be expected from its more aggressive investment strategy, Rule Breakers has experienced both the largest gains and largest losses on individual stocks.

How They Work

Here is how The Motley Fool services operate:

How Motley Fool Stock Advisor Works

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor team takes a value investing approach in selecting stocks. They recommend stocks that they believe are good “buy and hold” recommendations for long term investors.

How Motley Fool Rule Breakers Works

As noted, the investment strategy of the Fool Rule Breakers team is more oriented toward growth investing – trying to identify growth stocks that potentially offer exponential gains for investors.

One of the factors that Rule Breakers focuses on is whether a company has one or more notable competitive advantages in the marketplace, such as a unique product, service, or patent.

Rule Breakers is willing to endure buying a few stocks that don’t pay off or even lose some money in return for the opportunity to cash in on some high growth stocks that provide investors with returns on investment of 100, 200, 300%, or more.

Similarities and Differences

Each of these two stock advisor services is unique, but they also have quite a bit in common.

First of all, both are distinctly Motley Fool creations.
Second, as already noted, both have consistently met their stated goal of substantially outperforming the overall stock market with their stock picks.
Third, both services have a well-established track record for investors to review, as they’ve been in operation for nearly 20 years.
Rule Breakers and the Stock Advisor services provide an additional stock rankings list, service updates and performance insights.
Finally, both services don’t just provide stock recommendations with no explanation. Instead, the reasoning behind each of their stock picks is always given, thus, providing members with ongoing education in stock market investing.

The primary difference between the two services lies in their basic investment strategy:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor takes essentially a value investing approach, while The Motley Fool Rule Breakers pursues more of a growth investing strategy.

Because of these basic investing strategy differences, the Stock Advisor investment portfolio usually experiences significantly less volatility than the Rule Breakers portfolio does.

The Stock Advisor stock picks are more for the long term. Rule Breakers picks are more likely to be bought and sold over a somewhat shorter timeframe.

Discounts

New members can get a discount on selected Motley Fool subscriptions. Below you find the current offers The Motley Fool provides.

Service	Discounted Price 1st Year	Renewal Price 2nd Year
Motley Fool Stock Advisor	$89 with this link* ($110 Off for new members)	$199
Motley Fool Rule Breakers	$99 with this link* ($200 Off for new members)	$299

Which Newsletter is Best for You?

So, Stock Advisor vs Rule Breakers, which of these two services is best suited for you? The answer to that question all depends on your personal finances, investing goal.

It also depends on your basic investment strategy, value investing or growth investing, and which you feel more confident or comfortable with using.

Another key factor that should guide your decision is your level of risk tolerance. As previously noted, the Rule Breakers stock picks have generally been more volatile than the Stock Advisor picks and have featured both the biggest wins and biggest losses.

Therefore, if your risk tolerance is on the lower side, then you’ll probably be more comfortable with using the Stock Advisor service. On the other hand, if you’re an investor who wants to try to get in on the next big explosive stock market winner, like tech stocks, then you’re likely to be more inclined to favor the Rule Breakers stocks.

Beginning investors may be drawn to Stock Advisor, thanks to its helpful list of starter stocks, lower recurring prices and more extended history of managed trades.

Alternatives to Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers

The Motley Fool offers alternative stock advisory services if neither the Stock Advisor nor the Rule Breakers newsletter suits your fancy. Among its many offerings are the following:

Everlasting Stocks is a newer service offered by brother Tom that features 15 stock market picks from Tom’s own investment portfolio. Subscribers also get the use of a proprietary portfolio allocation tool.
Rule Your Retirement, as the title indicates, is focused on financial planning and investments for retirement planning. It includes asset allocation guidance, estate planning and insurance information, and Social Security tips, along with mutual fund and ETF investment recommendations. This newsletter is an excellent source of information for your overall, long term financial planning.
Motley Fool Options is an investment service that’s focused on option investing. Along with specific recommendations, the service also provides an in-depth education in option investing.

Service	Discounted Price 1st Year	Renewal Price 2nd Year
Motley Fool Stock Advisor	$89 with this link*	$199
Motley Fool Rule Breakers	$99 with this link*	$299
Motley Fool Everlasting Stocks	$99 with this link*	$299
Motley Fool Rule your Retirement	$99 with this link*	$149
Motley Fool Options	Not Available	✘

The Motley Fool website also offers a number of other investing services that you may want to check out on your own.

Conclusion

Creating a high-performing stock portfolio on your own may require a lot of knowledge, a lot of investment research, and, therefore, a lot of time. Many people approach the stock market without in-depth knowledge on stock investing, and without the time to acquire such an education.

A good stock service run by seasoned professionals and successful stock investors can be an extremely helpful tool. The Motley Fool is a well-established and well-respected stock market information and recommendation website that offers investors several premium stock services that have outstanding track records.

If you’re looking for stock recommendations, The Motley Fool Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers are two services that are both worth a look.

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*Returns as of August 4, 2023. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Individual investment results may vary. All investing involves risk of loss.
*$89 promotional price for new members only. $110 discount based on current list price of Stock Advisor of $199/year. Membership will renew annually at the then current list price.
*$99 promotional price for new members only. $200 discount based on current list price of Rule Breakers of $299/year. Membership will renew annually at the then current list price.
*$99 promotional price for new members only. $200 discount based on current list price of Everlasting Stocks of $299/year. Membership will renew annually at the then current list price.
*$99 promotional price for new members only. $50 discount based on current list price of Rule Your Retirement of $149/year. Membership will renew annually at the then current list price.