We Are Personal Finance Enthusiasts on a Mission to Help You Live a Smarter, Happier, and Richer Life
Managing personal finances can be stressful, with so much advice out there -- some good, a lot bad. We’re here to help you navigate the noise and confidently reach your financial goals.
What is Motley Fool Money?
Motley Fool Money (formerly The Ascent) is part of The Motley Fool, an authority in the investing and personal finance space since 1993. We’re not just a content team – we’re personal finance enthusiasts who often use the products we rate and recommend ourselves. As full-time employees of The Motley Fool, we bring the same unbiased analysis and financial expertise that The Motley Fool is known for, applied to your everyday financial decisions.
Whether you’re looking for the best credit card, the right stock broker, or a new bank account, we’re here to help you take actionable steps toward improving your finances and achieving your goals.
Our Connection to The Motley Fool
Motley Fool Money is 100% owned and operated by The Motley Fool, and the team behind it includes seasoned editors and analysts who have been at The Motley Fool for over a decade.
We use the name “Motley Fool Money” rather than simply “The Motley Fool” to clarify that this section of our site is dedicated specifically to personal finance content, distinct from the analysts who cover stocks and investments.
Our Mission is to Make the World Smarter, Happier, and Richer
To achieve our mission, we stand by these core principles:
- All content is free: We believe everyone deserves access to the best personal finance advice. Our financial product reviews and advice are available to you without any paywall.
- Firsthand experience: Wherever possible, we rely on first-person reviews of financial products, so you can read about an offer’s pros and cons from someone who has used it.
- The Golden Rule: We treat our recommendations as if we were advising a family member. If we wouldn’t recommend it to someone we love, we won’t recommend it here.
Our Commitment to Transparency and Integrity
We take pride in creating all our content in-house, without third-party agencies. Our content is written solely by our full-time employees, and we ensure that our team’s expertise and integrity shine through in every review. You can learn more about the experts behind our content on our Authors page.
Our ratings and recommendations are based purely on what we believe is best, not influenced by affiliate payouts. This approach ensures editorial integrity and sets us apart from other sites.
Motley Fool Money’s content follows the same rigorous editorial standards as all content across The Motley Fool, ensuring accuracy and transparency. You can trust our reviews, as we strive to provide the best value for our readers.
How We’re Compensated
Because transparency is so important to us, you should know that, in some instances, we may receive compensation from partners when someone clicks, applies, or registers for a product reviewed on our site.
Our editorial opinions, ratings and product rankings, and reviews are not influenced by these partners in any way.
For more information on how we make money and our advertising partners, please visit Our Advertisers page. If you have any questions please contact us at [email protected].
Meet the Motley Fool Money Team
Brendan Byrnes
Managing Director
Brendan is managing director of Motley Fool Money. He focuses primarily on overall strategy, team management, business development, and marketing. Despite being an avid investor for years, Brendan was relatively late to discovering the power of credit cards but now is hooked on maximizing his rewards. Outside of work he enjoys traveling, seeing live music, hiking/snowboarding depending on the season, and pretending to be a good photographer.
Jack Caporal
Lead Research Analyst
Jack is the lead financial research analyst for The Motley Fool and Motley Fool Money. He focuses on uncovering and analyzing trends that shape personal financial decisions, and product affinity shifts, across the United States. In doing so, he hopes to better understand how to help people become smarter, happier, and richer. His research has been featured across television networks, in the New York Times, Bloomberg, CNBC, and cited in Government testimony. When he's not in a spreadsheet, Jack enjoys spending time in the mountains and cheering for his hometown Boston sports teams. Check out Jack's research
Ashleigh Cummings
Content Operations Specialist
Ashleigh is a Content Operations Specialist at Motley Fool Money, where she’s been helping share clear, accessible personal finance education since 2021. In her role, she partners closely with the content team to keep projects moving seamlessly from idea to publication, ensuring readers get timely, trustworthy insights into saving, investing, and managing money.
Jake Fitzgerald
Editorial Strategist
Jake FitzGerald is a full-time Editorial Strategist and Personal Finance Writer at Motley Fool Money, leading content production and distribution while also writing about credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial products. He has more than a decade of experience editing and shaping financial content to give readers clear, trustworthy money advice. His work focuses on delivering practical insights that empower people to make smarter financial decisions. Off the clock, he’s a fan of college football tailgates and still loyal to his favorite putter -- despite what his short game suggests.
Malia Havlicek
Developer
Malia is a developer for Motley Fool Money’s website, building custom tools and features to give users and administrators an excellent site experience. She’s a nerd at heart with a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from CU Boulder and loves to program things she’s never programmed before. Malia spends the majority of her “free time” chasing her four boys across the globe, currently in 4 different countries, but she hopes to get back into cycling and hiking as she transitions to an empty nest.
Taylor Giovan
Director of Content
Taylor is the Director of Content for Motley Fool Money, focused on supporting the team in their quest to deliver a highly engaging and user-friendly experience. Outside of work, you can find her bragging about paying off her NYU degree 5 years earlier than the 20-year national average (and giving advice to shop around before committing to a private school), cooking a new dish that she is likely burning, and adding gym classes to her calendar that she rarely attends.
James McClenathen
Managing Editor
James McClenathen is a full-time Managing Editor and Personal Finance Writer at Motley Fool Money, overseeing the production and quality of editorial content while also writing about credit cards, investing, and everyday money management. He has worked at The Motley Fool since 2012 and brings extensive experience as an editor, reporter, and finance expert. A graduate of the University of Michigan, James has spent more than a decade of his career helping readers make smarter financial decisions.
Ethan Mellin
Head of Marketing and Business Development
Ethan is a performance marketing manager at Motley Fool Money, where he leverages paid media to share personal finance education and tools with the masses. Even before joining Motley Fool Money, budgets, cash back rewards, and high-yield savings accounts were some of his best friends. When not at work, you'll find Ethan cooking, reading about cooking, thinking about cooking… basically anything connected to cooking. His favorite way to save? Skip takeout, and get in the kitchen!
Brady Moe
Technology Manager
I am a technologist at heart and get excited about any and all new technologies. I love exploring how technology impacts our users, and how I can leverage that to make their experience better. I'm a passionate skier, which was a big reason why I moved out to Colorado. I also own a Light Art business that I moonlight at, called "Light Stuff", and we've had some of our art at the popular midwest music festival Electric Forest in 2016 and 2017.
Brooklyn Sprunger
Content Manager
Brooklyn Sprunger is a full-time Content Manager and Personal Finance Writer at Motley Fool Money, where she oversees product reviews and ratings while also writing about credit cards, bank accounts, investing, auto insurance, and other personal finance topics. She has worked in financial content since 2018, including more than four years at The Motley Fool. When she’s not writing or editing, Brooklyn is likely hiking and watching the Tennessee Vols.
Liz Wilson
Developer
Liz is a developer for Motley Fool Money where she builds and maintains features that keep the website running smoothly for everyone. As a career switcher coming to software development more recently, she is passionate about making up for lost time with her savings and loves working on projects that help others take control of their finances, too. When not making things for Motley Fool Money with code, Liz is making things by hand with yarn, fabric, and thread, or playing video games and tabletop RPGs with her husband, family, and friends.
Joel O'Leary
Personal Finance Writer
Joel O’Leary is a full-time Personal Finance Writer at Motley Fool Money, covering credit cards, bank accounts, investing, mortgages, and other personal finance topics. Joel has been writing about personal finance since 2018, previously leading editorial content for the How To Money podcast and serving as a resident writer at Budgets Are Sexy. He bought his first rental property at age 18, funding the down payment with savings from his high school job at McDonald’s -- a testament to his lifelong passion for smart money decisions. His work aims to make personal finance accessible and actionable for everyday readers. When he’s not writing, Joel enjoys surfing and spending time with his family.
Ryan Wilcox
Personal Finance Writer
Ryan Wilcox is a full-time Personal Finance Writer at Motley Fool Money, covering credit cards, bank accounts, investing, auto insurance, and other personal finance topics. Ryan has been writing about credit cards and savings since 2022. Before joining Motley Fool Money, he was a full-time writer at The Points Guy, where he focused on maximizing credit card rewards and travel strategies. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and American History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also spent four years reporting for The Daily Tar Heel. With a background in both journalism and consumer finance, he brings a clear and thoughtful voice to money topics. Outside of work, Ryan is likely reading, writing, or updating his Letterboxd account.
Motley Fool Money in the News
We're at the heart of consumer trends in personal finance, and we're proud to say our work has been recognized by some of the most respected names around, including the White House, Forbes, Business Insider, and more.
Take a look at our latest research or reach out to our team in our Newsroom.
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