Would this portfolio be possible without the online world? Probably not.
Sure, we could offer it in print, but mail is slow, costly, and of course it could never be daily -- so we have the online medium to thank, and The Motley Fool.
But no, this isn't just a few paragraphs about how great the online medium is... well, actually, it is. That's allthis is about.
Where else can you read daily updates within a few hours of the market closing, hear about stock buys at least one week before they happen (NO place but on the Fool), and discuss investments with hundreds of investors across the country and around the world in the message boards? (And of course, the Fool has a message board devoted solely to Drip investing.)
This portfolio is the first of its kind online. Or off-line. A portfolio with a specific twenty-year goal, using real money, deducting all costs, sharing all investments well before they're made, and dissecting all the companies within the portfolio on a regular basis.
Hey, wait. This sounds suspiciously like the Fool Portfolio.
Well, yes. That's right. And we have the online medium and a couple of Fools to thank. As Tom and David Gardner wroteduring the launch of the Fool Portfolio in August of 1994:
"The Motley Fool is harnessing the power of a new medium to help you, the investor, manage your money more intelligently and more economically than ever before. The Fool offers a tremendous amount of information to help you make your investment decisions -- whether it's our Fool Portfolio, Evening and Lunchtime News, our individual stock boards, the many features of our Fool's School, or any of our other offerings.
"But besides the wealth of information that we offer online, we also aim to create a spirit of cooperation. Using AOL, the best service of its kind [and the Web], we'll all be able to share information and opinion more quickly, broadly, and thoroughly than ever before...."
Well said! Of course the Drip portfolio is shared in that very same spirit. Foolishly.
