Intelligent Income Investor Review – Brad Thomas Scam?

Intelligent Income Investor is a new stock picking newsletter from Brad Thomas.

He claims he can help you beat the market 2 to 1 if you buy..

Is he telling the truth or is this one big scam?

We'll get to the bottom of this question in this review.

Additionally, we'll look at any red flags that I find and you'll get some background information on this product too.

You'll know if Intelligent Income Investor is worth it by the time you're done reading.

Let's get started!

Another Marketwise Newsletter

I've reviewed hundreds of these investing newsletters and understand this business better than 99.9% of people out there.

Think of me like a tour guide through the industry.

My goal is to guide you through the marketing of products like Intelligent Income Investor and show what you're really getting - this way you can decide if a product like this one is worth buying.

The first thing you need to know about Intelligent Income Investor is it's part of a much larger network of products.

It's owned by Marketwise which is a publicly traded company and they own over a dozen other investing publishers that sell newsletters.

A lot of these publishers used to be under the Agora empire but Agora's reputation has taken a beaten since being fined for defrauding seniors:

There's billion in the investing newsletter business, though.

Instead of going away these publishers all came together and formed Marketwise.

Here's what you need to know when getting a Marketwise product:

Massive Upsells

Marketwise makes over $500 million PER YEAR in revenue.

Do you think they reach these numbers selling $49 subscriptions?

Of course not.

They start of by selling cheap newsletters like Intelligent Income Investor just to get you into the sales funnel.

The real goal is to get you to buy one of the upsells that costs thousands of dollars per year.

Your inbox will be full of offers for products that are very expensive (most don't perform that well and most don't come with a refund).

So just realize the goal of Marketwise is to get you to buy more products after you buy.

Manipulative Marketing

Like I mentioned before many of the publishers at Marketwise are former Agora publishers.

Agora was the king of deceptive marketing and they loved to target seniors with their manipulative sales presentations:

Marketwise hasn't really made any improvements to the marketing.

Many of the ads you'll get for the upsells will promise huge returns and immense wealth.

They like to hype up stocks and many fail.

Other times they mislead about what they're offering in hopes to get gullible people to punch in their credit card details.

Promoted Products From Scammers

The last thing you need to know about Marketwise is they have legitmate scammers employed as "trusted experts."

And you will be promoted products from these scammers because Marketwise cross promotes products.

I actually learned about Intelligent Income Investor because I got an email from Rogue Economics.

One of these unsavory characters is Teeka Tiwari (who calls himself the most trusted crypto expert).

He's was involved in so many horrible companies during his time on Wall Street that he's literally banned from Wall Street for life.

Another guy, Louis Navellier, was fined $30 million for defrauding investors about a stock:

Any reputable company would have cut ties with Louis but Marketwise hasn't done that.

I guess the question you need to ask yourself is Intelligent Income Investor worth the headache of dealing with this and are these people you trust/want to give your money to?

There's plenty of alternatives that don't do stuff like this.

Recommended: The Best Place To Get Stock Picks

Brad Thomas Is An Expert In Real Estate Investing

So the last section was pretty negative but I want to give you the full picture of what you're getting involved with.

The good news is Brad Thomas is an actual expert in real estate investing.

This is good news because that's the focus of Intelligent Income Investor - real estate investing by investing in REITs.

Brad was in the commercial real estate world for over 25 years and has written popular books on REITs.

His most popular books is The Intelligent REIT Investor which has a 4.3/5 star rating on Amazon:

In addition to this Brad writes for Forbes, Seeking Alpha and is a part time professor at NYU. 

So if you're thinking about adding REITs to your portfolio Brad is one of the best people to listen to.

Intelligent Income Investor Overview

In terms of what Intelligent Income Investor is offering it's pretty standard.

Here's an overview of everything you get:

Monthly Newsletter

This is the main thing you're paying for is and is what every investing newsletter offers.

Once a month (the first Monday) you'll get a new copy of Intelligent Income Investor.

In these newsletters you can expect to get market news and you'll get new REIT investment recommendations. 

Model Portfolio

In addition to the monthly newsletter you also get the model portfolio - Brad refers to this as the SWAN Portfolio.

SWAN stands for sleep well at night.

These are supposed to be safe and income earning REIT investment that will help you sleep well, knowing your money is growing.

Special Reports

There's also a bunch of special reports offered if you buy.

The first is called Sucker Yields.

This report covers high yield investments that will lose you money over time.

The second is Brad's #1 Growth Stock.

Brad calls this stock "extremely low risk" and has "huge upside potential."

Intelligent Income Investor FAQ's

Still have some questions about this newsletter?

Here's answers to any remaining questions you might have:

1) How Much Is Intelligent Income Investor?

The price is very good for this newsletter and it only costs $49.

This is the same price Marketwise prices all their introductory newsletters, which Intelligent Income Investor is.

Eventually Brad will offer more expensive services that cost thousands and they will be promoted to you.

This is how all Marketwise publishers works.

2) Is There A Refund Policy?

Yes there's a pretty good refund policy.

You get 60 days to try out this newsletter and then get your money back.

KEEP IN MIND the more expensive newsletters DO NOT come with a refund policy.

It's a little trick Marketwise pulls.

They only offer money back guarantees with their cheap newsletters.

The more expensive ones come with credit refunds.

This is something to keep in mind if you're thinking about one of the upsells. 

3) Is Brad Thomas Legit?

I personally think Brad is legit.

He is definitely an expert in real estate investing.

He's been in the commercial investing world for 25 years and then he wrote books on investing in real state.

Additionally, he teaches at NYU which is a very good school.

Lastly, he's featured in well known publications like Forbes and Hidden Alpha. 

This is good resume for a stock picker.

4) What Is The Investing Strategy

The investing strategy is to invest in REITs.

REIT stands for real estate investment trust. These are companies that own income producing real estate.

These could take form in a company that leases out warehouses, apartments and things of that nature.

The best part about investing in REITs is they pay a dividend - so they're income generating stocks.

These are good for retirement and people looking for passive income.

If you're younger you can invest in these stocks and reinvest the dividend payment back into the stocks.

This will ensure you'll have a full time income by the time you retire.

4) Are There Similar Newsletters?

Yes, there's many similar newsletters that focus on dividend stocks.

Some include:

• Strategic Intelligence
• The Dividend Hunter
• The Dividend Machine
• Monthly Dividend Multiplier
• High Yield Investing
• Yield Shark

There's many more too.

Recommended: The Best Place To Get Stock Picks

Intelligent Income Investor Conclusion

I've reviewed a lot of these Marketwise newsletters now and they all basically function the same way.

You get a monthly newsletter, a model portfolio and some special reports (oh and some expensive upsells down the road).

What changes is the editor and the theme of the newsletter.

I personally like Brad Thomas and REIT investments.

If done correctly you'll be putting yourself on the path to income generating stocks and passive income (the sweetest term known to man).

It's just too early for me to give a grade to this newsletter, though.

It's new.

So I'll revisit this when the stocks start getting returns or loses.

Here's A Better Opportunity

Intelligent Income Investor may turn out to be a good investment newsletter.. it's just too early to say.

The good news is there's plenty of proven newsletters out there.

To see my favorite (which is very affordable), click below: