Advantages: Free registration, quality advice from experts, excellent discussion boards Disadvantages: Number of posts means you can't keep up, "Official" site advice re getting a tracker
I was pointed in the direction of the Motley Fool website (www.fool.co.uk) a couple of years ago, after the other half stumbled across it in the firewall log at work – strange (possibly sad) but true. The Fool (TMF) is a financial and investment related website, aimed at ensuring that people get the most from their money. I would not be exaggerating – at least not much – if I said that TMF has changed my life and my financial outlook.
... ...was founded by brothers David and Tom Gardner. In 1997, the concept made its way across the Atlantic and TMF UK was born, set up by David Berger and Bruce Jackson (TMFGoogly). The TMF name, incidentally, comes from Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”.
The stated aim of TMF is to “educate, amuse and enrich”, to tell people the truth about finance and help them take control of their cash. Since the site is independent, it ...
xalala 16.10.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: Good information, presentation and advice from real people Disadvantages: Too many adverts (but it can't be helped)
The Motley Fool website is a one-stop shop for financial news, information and advice, and I have found it invaluable since I discovered it a few months ago. When I left uni and started work I didn't have the first clue about which financial products I needed and why - the whole world of pensions, ISAs and insurance was a closed book to me while I was a student. When I started earning a salary I decided I needed to find out more, and was lucky enough ... ...research.
The site is large but easy to navigate. The front page has daily articles about all sorts of financial subjects: mortgages, pensions, savings, government policy on finance, benefits etc. There is plenty of market news and comment for those interested in investing in shares, and advice/news about investment strategy and ideas. Everything is always presented in Motley Fool style - the information is clearly presented and humorously written ...
Suse 08.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: Finance explained in simple terms without jargon Disadvantages: None really
The Motley Fool (TMF) is a financial website which offers advice on a wide variety of financial matters. It works on the premise that the person most interested in your financial well-being is YOU and that - armed with fairly minimal education, an understanding of some basic terms and a reasonable amount of patience - you are as well equipped to take control of your finances as many so called independent financial advisors.
Some people may not be ... ...since they don’t have any money to invest (at the moment), the site is not for them. However, whether you have a mountain of debt, a few quid a month to tuck away or a small fortune, you will probably find something on this site which will benefit you.
TMF sets out to provide an introduction to a wide range of financial topics. The style of writing is down to earth, often entertaining, and the contributors to the site clearly make an effort ...
Thamisgith 18.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: Well set-out, works for all levels of understanding, very useful information Disadvantages: Lots of adverts, share prices not in real time
I’m one of those greedy capitalists who in the Thatcher era ploughed what little spare cash he had into buying shares in privatized industries. I used to spend many an evening updating my spreadsheet with the latest share increases, rubbing my hands like Shylock as my net worth (in monetary terms!) rose significantly, allowing me to dream of early retirement, a yacht in the Med and a house in the country. Well the bubble burst and I now realise ... ...lost interest in my spreadsheet and I’m now a humbler and wiser person, albeit with significantly less capital. Nevertheless, I’ve still retained my shares as well as an interest in the financial markets but now I treat it as hobby akin to watching horse racing rather than a nest egg for when I retire. So much so, that my wife gave me a couple of good books for Christmas, one, which explains how to read the financial papers and another, ...
Merv 16.03.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: Down-to-earth, sensible advice, regualr updates Disadvantages: It is not comprehensive and should not be treated as such
I was looking at the Ciao reviews on the Motley Fool (www.fool.co.uk) and found that there had not been anything new written for a couple of years. I do not intend to give an exhaustive overview of everything to do with or on the site, but rather say why I find it of use as a consumer website offering advice on managing your personal finance and monitoring financial products on the market.
POSITIVES
i) The thing I like best is the many articles ... ...These often take the form of lists, such as '10 Ways to Become Richer', '5 Top Ways to Clear Your Debt' and 'Six scams to shun'. Behind these melodramatic titles, there are usually some very basic pieces of advice, such as if you take sandwiches to work, rather than buying one from the local sandwich bar, you could end up saving several hundred pounds a year.
ii) I have signed up to their mailings. These usually come once a week, but recently they ...
lobourse 21.06.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: Advice for free Disadvantages: I cannot think of one really
I have been looking on the Internet for finance advice basically to find somehow to invest a little money every month during a long period of time, up to 10 years. What kind of investment I could do meeting my needs? I was completely lost! I had no idea what to do. I decided to read firstly a variety of articles about investing for long period of time and more I read more I realised that wasn’t that easy. I went to have a look in many websites ... ...for beginners. They can really clarify many of your doubts, and help you to find the best investment. Well I am not going to analyse the homepage technically speaking, because it is available online at anytime, pardon me, and I do refuse to say that it is very easy to use and etc either, but once you get into it things will start to be clear, yes take some time, but eventually will happen. They talk about everything that is available in the market ...
1234 26.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: The best bulletin boards Disadvantages: No bulletin boards for very small companies
1. quality of contributors including moderators
2. search facility
3. their 'recommendations' system
1. Quality of contributors:
There are a large number of well-informed contributors, producing balanced, reasoned, intelligent discussion. The Motley Fool staffers (identified by TMF prefix in their usernames) are active on the board, moderating and contributing much themselves. Rampers are quickly told where to go, and posts which breach rules ... ...is good, allowing a search through the thousands of past messages. Quite often, I recall seeing something a couple of months ago and want to look at it again, and the search facility enables me to find it.
3. The 'recommendations' system:
Users can 'recommend' a post as being good. As I don't have time to read everything, I find this helpful. The iii boards also have a system, but there, users give ticks for what they like and red crosses for what ...
o.kosling 08.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: easy to use Disadvantages: sometimes too simplistic
There are lots of financial websites out there in cyberspace, not all of them with your best interests at heart. Some are a cover for stockbrokers, some are heavily slanted towards a particular type of consumer or punter; but the Motley Fool websites welcome you in, especially if you know nothing.
They (esp. the US site) are very easy to read and the articles often assume that you have no previous knowledge - which is something of a bonus. The recommendations ...
niksmiff 26.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
As someone previously said, the fools is the best place for information and learning tutorials on shares. The best thing i think about it is the discussion forum. all the people there are very sensible and talk about the topic concerend rahter than any gibberish. This is useful as information is what is needed when you part with your cash..! Its free to join and rather like dooyoo, you get a sense of community feeling!. Visit it and learn from the ... ...good education. they also have online portfolios, but as i said, i use it for the discussion forums. This site as well as TD waterhouse both are the real investors tools. hope you enjoy it. would have written more on it.. but mail me if you need any questions answered..! Advantages: Ver y good Discussion forum and well behaved members
Disadvantages: None so far. Its free, and info like this used to cost a lot of money a few years ago...! ...
shah 23.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: Great message boards Disadvantages: ahm...the home page a bit too cluttered maybe
What attracts me most to this website which I access daily for news and views is the quality of its Bulletin Board. As opposed to most other sites I have seen, the quality of discussion on the Bulletin Boards is generally exellent. Ramping and Dumping on shares is something of a taboo and messages of this nature can be flagged up for alert and removed if necessary. That leaves you in the main with objective opinion by reasonably informed opinions.
...
nicos 25.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: Timely updates, good message boards Disadvantages: Advice is worth what you paid for it. Make your own mind up whether it is worth following
The Motley Fool has a broader coverage than some of the finance WWW sites that I've followed. There is a mixture of the serious and frivolous with a reasonable spread in between. I like the way that posts that are out of order, get pulled by the administrators pretty quickly. Most of the time there is a reasonable balance between having message boards that cover a very specific area (but never get any posts) and boards which are too general and get ...
ahenry 24.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: comprehensive information about more than just money. Disadvantages: Design a bit functional.
Truly the oracle of al things financial... and quite a bit more.
The Motley Fool (TMF) will tell you what mortgage to get, who to trust with your savings, which credit card won't break the bank and when to by the shares that are hot.
There are a number of calculator programmes, which let you feed in your own details and then give advice on the best financial products for you.
But the best thing here is the myriad of message boards.
My favourites ...
enevel 16.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
You would be a fool to miss out on www.fool.co.uk. The site offers a vast resource of financial articles for the novice to the experienced. Another feature of Fool, perhaps the best feature, is that of the message boards. Each board is a thriving community of messages and often very helpful members. They are monitored by Fool staff, reducing the risk of ‘pumping and dumping’ and other spam.
The boards seem more useful than other financial sites, ... ...boards cover most areas from individual stocks to particular industries to general questions and commons.
The format is quite easy to use once you get the hang of it. A wealth of information can be extracted from these boards and can be a very helpful tool in monitoring your portfolio of interests.
Definitely worth a visit, it may help save you from losing your money!
Fool on! ...
jonyee 09.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: straightforward style, well designed Disadvantages:
I believe the motley fool is one of the best UK investment websites. The ethos of being 'Foolish' is all about learing for yourself about investment and financial awareness. The site proposes a 10 step guide to organising your finances and offers help on everything from finding a broker to methods of valuing and selecting shares, how to invest abroad, investment clubs, news and more. The style and tone of the site are great - a wealth of information ... ...in a very clear, down to earth style. The site also provides a wealth of bulletin boards, covering most topics you could wish to research, which you can customise to your liking (as well as keeping track of your portfolio and favourite features). All in all a great site, with something for everyone from the novice to the expert. ...
JamesRichardson 05.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
Advantages: Comprehensive site for financial info Disadvantages: You need to visit several times to get the "feel"
Expanded on 11/02/2001
The Motley Fool website, or TMF as it is known to those who frequently use it, is very addictive! Yes, it was set up primarily to offer financial advice and wisdom on anything from investing a large sum of money to where to stick your pocket money. But it is much more than that. There are many discussion boards, you are really stuck for choice, there are boards for discussing various companies from a shareholders point of ... ...and a board for advice on living below your means. And if you thought you had it all worked out as far as being thrifty goes, well, think again!
The site has links to various tutorials regarding investment basics, and the advice is sound in my opinion. There is a portfolio facility, where you can create a make believe one, and you can keep an eye on your pretend shares for a while just for fun!
There is a section on dealing with debt, which offers ...
Lynda04 29.01.2001 (11.02.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of fool.com (Motley Fool)
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