$3,000 per year is comparable to other high-end newsletters. But The Independent Speculator is more than just a monthly magazine. For a near real-time feed of actionable data, analysis, and on-the-ground reporting, we see our service as a bargain. Hedge funds pay a lot more for due diligence like this. And a key feature is being alerted to our speculations (buy and sell notification and price targets) before we do put our own trades in.

Folks on a tighter budget, or who just aren’t sure yet, are welcome to try out our more affordable My Take service. It provides a good idea of what we can do for you.

The key issue is that our services can pay for themselves many times over. Are they “expensive”? Not compared to what they can deliver. This is the grown-ups table. Don’t pull up a seat unless you’re ready to get serious about making serious money.

No. Traditional Lifetime offers pull a couple years of revenue forward and append a so-called “maintenance” fee which is still a recurring subscription cost. We prefer to earn our customers’ business, and are highly confident we can do so year after year.

However, as long as any client stays subscribed, we pledge not to increase their subscription rates in the future. We believe we are facing a prolonged period of higher inflation rates. That means that a subscription that never increases results in a declining real cost over time. In a hyperinflationary scenario, our pledge to never increase prices for those who renew amounts to an almost free lifetime subscription.

Be that as it may, we think we should have to continue earning our renewals. Clients should never be taken for granted. Results must matter. That’s how we want to do business.

Financial publishers can give their readers investment ideas as long as they don’t give people individual investment advice. This is not a 100% clearly defined area of US law. Our way to stay well clear of any possibility of crossing the line is not to make any investment recommendations at all.

Instead, we tell readers of The Independent Speculator what we are investing in and why. Those clients can then do the same if they so choose. By sharing our actual speculative investments—not a theoretical “model” portfolio, but the actual trades and deals we make—we teach by example. Clients who follow our lead can make the same level of returns as we do.

Readers of My Take gain access to independent and unbiased analysis of equities of interest to our audience, including them. They too make their own investment decisions. Our take on any equities they happen to invest in—or avoid—can help them improve their success rate with their speculative investments.

All our clients understand that they make their own speculative investment decisions, which are their sole responsibility. Our goal is simply to help improve their results with relevant, independent analysis.