Which Motley Fool Service Is Right for My Investing Needs?

As Aesop wrote, "A man is known by the company he keeps." That's a moral that still applies 2,600 years or so later, and in a similar vein, the Rule Breaker Investing podcast should be happy to be known by its listeners -- and the caliber of their questions. Motley Fool cofounder David Gardner is once again tackling those queries in the mailbag episode, and he's received some excellent ones.

First up, listener Grant is ready to make the leap and subscribe to a Motley Fool service -- either Stock Advisor or Rule Breakers. But he's wondering if the portfolio recommendations in one would work better for a traditional individual retirement account than those in the other. Gardner and his guest, senior analyst David Hanson, weigh in.

To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center. A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on June 26, 2019.

David Gardner: All right, for this item, I have my pal David Hanson. David, welcome to Rule Breaker Investing!

David Hanson: Thanks for having me!

Gardner: You were telling me off the air that this is not your first appearance on a Motley Fool mailbag podcast episode.

Hanson: That's right! Probably fall 2012, I was a lowly analyst at Bank of America down in Charlotte. I was dreaming of interacting with The Motley Fool. I submitted my question to MarketFoolery and Chris Hill. I think it was after a Nike earnings report. I was wondering, is this a buying opportunity? And they took my question, they answered it. I did by Nike and have done quite well in the position, which is great.

Gardner: That's awesome!

Hanson: But yeah, fast forward six months after that, and I was working at The Fool, and I've been here for around six years. It's come full circle now.

Gardner: Spectacular! It's great to have you! You're doing such good work! I so appreciate it, David! You're very focused. You're a leader within our group, our product and services group at The Motley Fool. So, I thought, as I got this good question from Grant Tuncle, which is, in a way, an everyman, every-Fool question that we get, that it would be a fun one to lead off this week. Let me share Grant's question, then let's talk about it.

It starts, "Hi, David." In this case, we'll go with, "Hi, Davids. I love the show. Listen every week. In fact, I'm a regular listener of just about every Motley Fool podcast episode." Well, thank you, Grant Tuncle! We really appreciate that! He goes on, "Over the course of a few years of listening, you've definitely educated, amused, and enriched me. Now, much like The Fool has updated its purpose statement, I am planning to update how I consume Fool content. Not the best segue," he writes, I would say somewhat humbly, but I digress. I thought that was a solid segue. Anyway. "I recently rolled over a 401(k) with a decent amount of money into an IRA," an individual retirement account, "which gives me the freedom to invest the funds as I see fit. As such, I'm planning to sign up for a Motley Fool service." Well, that's awesome! "Either Stock Advisor or Rule Breakers. I'm well versed in the merits of both services, but for the purposes of a retirement account, and a traditional IRA at that, do you recommend one over the other? Fool on, Grant."

Hanson: It's a great question! I think you would probably echo the same sentiment -- congratulations on taking control of that! That's such a huge step that we love to see here at The Motley Fool, individuals making the step and saying, "No, I can be an investor, too. This isn't some dream job for the Wall Street bankers or whoever to manage their money."

Gardner: So true.

Hanson: A huge kudos to taking that step. So many people are scared to do it. I'm glad that we've been able to help him make that short step there and get in the game. But, between our services -- I've worked on many of them and worked with our marketing teams here at The Motley Fool, so I could talk for hours on the benefits of Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers and the many services we have here, but I know you've got a lot of questions, so I'll try to keep it a little bit shorter. For those who don't know, Stock Advisor is our oldest service. It was launched in 2002. Every single month, you and your brother Tom pick a new stock. We have a bunch of other features, such as Best Buys Now, and every year, we have Starter Stocks for someone who's trying to get in the game and saying, "Hey, you guys have a lot of stocks here. Can you give me just eight to 10 really solid ones that can be the cornerstone of my portfolio?"

When I think about Stock Advisor, it is our flagship service. It gives you a taste of everything that The Motley Fool has to offer, in styles of investing, in sizes of companies. You'll find companies recommended by you and Tom as small as a $1 billion market cap, maybe smaller. You'll also find Apple in a service like that. We're spanning the spectrum of types of investing in Stock Advisor. Grant was his name, I believe. If he's the type of investor who really is like, "Hey, I just want to learn about business and what's going on in the world, small companies, big companies, I love Apple, I love hearing about their new products, I love Google," Stock Advisor can be a great service for that.

When I think about Rule Breakers -- obviously, it's a type of investing that we talk a lot about on this podcast, as the name would suggest.

Gardner: Indeed!

Hanson: I really view Rule Breakers as a glimpse into what's next. I'm not putting words in your mouth, but I view Stock Advisor as, here's a lot of what's going on right now. Rule Breakers is very much, here's what could happen in the next couple of years. I don't know the exact situation of the question here, but, for example, I have a friend who's in his early 30s, and he subscribes to Rule Breakers. I would say he's not an expert investor, but he's business savvy. Every month, he texts me and says, "I just got the new Rule Breakers recommendation! I've got no idea what this company does, but man, I'm excited to read about it!" You'll have things like genetics, artificial intelligence, energy. That's how I view this.

If you're the type of person who's super excited about the future, and you want to see what is going to be around in five, 10 years that I can tell my grandkids about, or my kids, like, "Did you guys hear about this technology that's coming out?" Rule Breakers might be the service for you. If you're someone who's just like, "I just want to be in the game with you guys. Give me your recommendations across the board," I would vote for Stock Advisor. Again, like I said, I could talk for hours about the benefits of both. But that's how I view them. I personally use them both. It's really a personal preference.

Gardner: Thank you, David! How did you get started investing?

Hanson: Really, The Motley Fool was very critical in my development as an investor. I was in college, and just randomly I was like, "I'll be a finance major. That sounds like something you're supposed to do." I attended an unofficial investing club at the University of Miami, where I went. Two upperclassmen were presenting, and they said, "We take most of our philosophies from this company called The Motley Fool."

Gardner: Is that right?

Hanson: And I thought, "I've never heard about that before." So I started following The Fool. Again, started listening to the podcast, back when podcasts weren't even a thing. This is back in 2009, 2010. Motley Fool, very significant in my life. Obviously, very proud and excited that I can now work here and hopefully give back and help others get started.

Gardner: That was an excellent answer, David! While I could have taken my own shot at it, because I've been working on them both from the outset in March 2002, as you mentioned, and October 2004, in some ways, I feel like I'm in too deep. So I love hearing from, especially our professionals here, people helping run our business, and their perspectives. Every day, hearing from people who are asking similar questions.

David, I enjoyed that enough! Would you come back at the end of the show for a member story and a little bit of sharing on marketing?

Hanson: Of course! I'll see you then!

Gardner: Awesome! Thank you, David!