If you're a newcomer, you might be wondering just what the heck all this "Fool" stuff is, and why you should spend any time here. You were looking for investment or personal finance information, right? And now you're suddenly staring a court jester directly in the eye.
Who are these guys? What is this?
The play's the thing
The Motley Fool's name comes directly from the beginning of Act II, scene vii of Shakespeare's As You Like It. In the days when Shakespeare was writing about kings, Fools were the merry fellows paid to entertain the king and queen, using self-effacing humor that instructed as it amused. In fact, Fools were the only members of their societies who could tell the truth to the king or queen without having their heads rather abruptly removed from their shoulders.
In Fooldom, readers like you are the royalty. It's our job to tell you the truth about investing, and show you how you can manage your own money better than the pros on Wall Street.
The mission of The Motley Fool was, is, and always will be to educate, amuse, and enrich. We're here to help you help yourself with all aspects of personal finance and investing.
Be Foolish with your money
In the investment world, you usually wouldn't want to be called a "Fool," right? Well, we think quite the opposite. When we look at all the "conventional wisdom" floating around in the financial world today, we want to repel it with a healthy dose of honest, common-sense Foolishness.
What sort of Wall Street Wisdom runs so contrary to our Foolish point of view? We'll go into greater detail in the following steps, not to mention the rest of this site (and our other products and services). But here's a quick preview:
Wall Street says: You should let the "experts" who run mutual funds manage your money for you.
The Fool responds: Did you know that some three-quarters of all managed mutual funds underperform the stock market's average return? In other words, most people are paying Wise "professionals" exorbitant sums to make them less money than a simple index fund would!
While most fund managers don't beat the market, we should note that there are exceptions. Many star fund managers earn consistently impressive returns over long periods of time. It's your money, Fool -- when choosing a fund manager, don't settle for anything less than exceptional performance.
Wall Street says: Financial gurus do a good job of predicting the direction of the stock market.
The Fool responds: No one has ever demonstrated the ability to predict the stock market's future consistently and accurately. We're amazed and amused by all the people who still try to do so, and all the journalists who daily (or hourly!) quote them on the matter. Remain focused on the business performance of the stocks you own, and don't sweat the supposed direction of the market. We've had 10 recessions since World War II, and we've made it through every single one of 'em just fine!
Wall Street says: Trust our big brokerage firms. They're here to help you navigate the labyrinthine world of investing.
The Fool responds: Big-time brokers spend hundreds of millions a year on TV commercials insisting that they can help us. Don't count on it.
For starters, it's not in Wall Street's best interests to teach you about investing. As long as you're in the dark, you'll have to rely on Wall Street to manage your money for you -- often in exchange for a hefty fee. Happily, your fellow Fools are here to show you the light (and save you some cash in the process).
Furthermore, most brokers are well trained in the subtle art of salesmanship; they get paid based on how often you trade, not how well your holdings perform. That business model has created a massive conflict of interest, since you can earn the best returns by buying great companies and holding them for the long term. This approach does not involve frequent commission fees, which makes brokers sad. Too bad for them!
The Wall Street Wise have prevailed in the financial world for far too long. We Fools -- the folks running this site, the millions of helpful Foolish readers who frequent our discussion boards, and the ace investors in our totally free Motley Fool CAPS community -- are out to level the playing field
Don't get us wrong -- there are noble, upstanding financial pros out there. (We'll show you how to find them a bit later.) If you've found a financial advisor or a mutual fund manager who has managed to beat the market averages for five or more years running, net of fees and taxes, we wholeheartedly encourage you to stick with 'em. But keep watching your returns, and asking about your holdings. A good advisor should not mind questions.
Welcome to your Foolish future
What would it be like to know that you made the very best decision with every dollar you spent or saved? Can you picture actually looking forward to balancing your budget, or checking up on the returns in your brokerage account? Imagine no longer.
The following guide will help you confidently make all the right decisions about your money. We humbly ask only that you use whatever you may learn here for good rather than evil, and that you pass your Foolishness on to others who may need help. If a fellow Fool is stumped by a question you know you can answer, we hope you'll consider lending them a hand.
We believe that when you take control of your financial life, you're taking control of your destiny -- a highly rewarding accomplishment. By the time you're done with our 13 Steps, you'll be well on your way to a lifetime of successful investing and extreme Foolishness.
But before we get into all that investing stuff, let's talk about those credit cards of yours....
To see the rest of the 13 Steps, follow the links at the bottom of this article.
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