ChooseYourselfFinancial.com is a very peculiar type of self-betterment service, focused exclusively on the financial aspects of life. It essentially peddles subscriptions to various newsletters, some of which offer advice on crypto investments, while others take aim at the stock market. The author of these newsletters is well-known self-betterment guru James Altucher, also known as the “Oprah of the internet” by some.
Who is James Altucher?
As said above, Altucher is a known and (mostly) respected internet personality, who has authored 16 books, among them an Amazon best-seller, called “Choose Yourself.” He is definitely not some obscure newcomer looking to hook gullible folks on scammy deals, yet with Choose Yourself Financial, his pitch comes across as extremely scammy indeed.
Altucher’s entire life story is available online, and in several ways, it seems to contradict his ChooseYourselfFinancial angle. For one thing, he is said to have made it his goal “to have no ambition.” Given that, he seems pretty set on making money through stocks and cryptocurrencies. That brings us to yet another contradiction: an ex hedge fund manager, Altucher has been known to preach that the stock market is a racket. In fact, one of his most appreciated posts was titled “10 Reasons Why You Should Never Own Stocks Again.”
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According to his nytimes profile, one of his financial meltdowns can be traced back to ambitious investments in stocks, “zero of which” worked out. Still, here that’s exactly what he peddles…
Question Marks on Altucher
Though – as said above – Altucher is considered something of a cult figure in the self-help community, many actual users of the programs peddled through ChooseYourselfFinancial.com, call him a scammer. There’s a massive Reddit thread dedicated to this offer, and in it, words aren’t minced. Apparently, while the promised newsletters are indeed delivered, all they amount to is entertainment and nothing more. According to a subscriber, Altucher’s advice on crypto-currency investments is completely useless and it can be summed up thusly: “research and choose for yourself.” There is obviously nothing wrong with such advice, but when someone pays thousands of dollars for it, he/she will inevitably end up feeling scammed.
Others say there is nothing contained in Altucher’s newsletters that one can’t discover/research online, on his/her own.
Another poster calls the program “garbage,” and says that everyone in the know thinks Altucher is a joke. Yet another user of the ChooseYourselfFinancial newsletter deal says that the only thing he re-learned, having read the posts and watched the videos, was that there is indeed a sucker born every minute.
The said thread contains overwhelmingly negative feedback on the ChooseYourselfFinancial products.
What Exactly does ChooseYourselfFinancial Offer?
The site peddles some 6 different newsletter-based get-rich-quick-oriented programs, which claim to provide readers with all the information they’ll need to essentially get rich quick, without much of an effort.
The Top 1% Microcap program for instance, is focused on the smaller stocks angle. Apparently, there are opportunities in these stocks that Wall Street has missed and that small timers can turn to their advantage. A one year subscription to the program costs $3,000, so it is not cheap at all. One can also take advantage of a 3-month trial period, for “only” $800.
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The Top 1% Advisory is a sort of investment guide, which Altucher has apparently built up over the years, by picking the minds of some of the greats of the financial industry. A one year subscription to this resource costs $2,000. Those interested can also go for a 3-month trial period, for $550.
The Crypto Trader pitch is a rather secretive one. It touts cryptocurrencies as “the future of money” and it extols the opportunities these currencies present to traders. Apparently, Altucher also promises to recommend cryptos with the biggest upside for new investors.
The Secret Income sounds really scammy. It is apparently about the finding and selling of special “mispriced” Puts, and it is indeed every bit as unconvincing as it sounds right out of the gates. The cost of this service is also $2,000 per year and $550 for 3 months.
Priced at $4.95 a month, the James Altucher Report is the most accessible of all the above depicted services. At that price, it is actually worth buying into, just to take an inside glimpse into what this person has to offer.
The Altucher Alliance package is essentially a collection of all the above described services, offered at a special price.
Should I Trust ChooseYourselfFinancial?
Having thoroughly investigated it, and having read through pages and pages of user feedback, we’ll have to say the answer to that is no. Here are some further arguments in this regard:
Red Flags and Question Marks
ChooseYourselfFinancial raises plenty of red flags above and beyond the user-feedback related ones detailed above.
The sales pages of the deals described above contain every single hook and marketing twist one would expect from a scam. The word “guaranteed” is thrown around quite a bit. In fact, Altucher seemingly guarantees that those who purchase his newsletters, will learn how to grab 1,000% returns on their monies, before the end of the year. According to the SEC’s definition of financial scams, such guarantees are among the surest signs that the deal offering them is a scam.
Furthermore: although in the About Us section of the site, they say that James Altucher set up the business in 2014, the web domain was created in March 2017. Worse still: the registrant company is none other than Agora Financial LLC, based in Baltimore, MD. While the company does indeed exist, according to its BBB page, its reputation is less than stellar, to say the least. Scores of people have complained through the above linked page, for overbilling and auto renewal on the various programs peddled by the company. There are only a handful of positive reviews on the said page, and 36 negative ones, together with 148 complaints.
Even though the company has apparently attempted to address/solve many of the issues brought up by the complainers, there is obviously something shady about their overall MO.
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Complaints
As said above, most complaints regarding the operation are about overbilling and auto renewals. According to some BBB complaints, the $3,000 and $2,000 one-year program costs are non-refundable. In a word: once you pay these guys, your money is gone. Scores of people in the BBB complaints section call the operation a scam.
Choose Yourself Financial Review Conclusion
The case ChooseYourselfFinancial.com makes, does not look good and the deeper one digs, the shakier it gets. This whole setup fits the SEC’s definition of a scam in several ways. User feedback regarding the service is atrocious too. To wrap things up: what ChooseYourselfFinancial offers is just too good to be true, and you know what they say about such deals…
ChooseYourselfFinancial.com may not be a straight-up scam in the sense that it takes your money and provides nothing in return. What it does provide in return though does not seem to be worth much, according to the overwhelming majority of those who were suckered into paying up.
I purchased several of James Altucher and Agora Financial programs. I lost money on each and every one of them. I cannot always blame them but do believe there was more hype than substance in much of the advice given.
Also at some stage I was led to believe I would even receive a free laptop and a USB drive with ‘secret software’ to flag up stock buying alerts etc. None of this ever arrived.
Not exactly a scam and some very interesting predictions and analysis but extremely overpriced. Altucher’s writing style is indeed exciting and inspiring. Beware of this as it can drive one to FOMO emotive spontaneous purchases of stocks, cryptocurrencies and similar investments vehicles. For example, in 2017/2018 Altucher kept on revising his promo videos saying now is the time to buy cryptos before the big boys Fidelity etc. move in. I believe this will eventually happen and there are tentative signs of this, but he and all the other hodlers completely missed the crypto winter of 2018-2019 where I for one lost several thousands of Dollars, not to mention some 10,000 USD spent on Altucher and Agora Financial publications. Buy the dips he said…well I did and the prices kept on plunging. At the prices I paid he should have warned my to ‘sell’ the dips not ‘buy’ them! His advice had little technical analysis and there was precious little information for Kamal Rasvant his crypto sidekick. Better to watch Ivan on Tech on YouTube for good free information. Anyway, these 2 guys basically bang on about Bitcoin and Ethereum. There is not much else they believe in as they think most other crypto currencies will disappear. I also remain unconvinced about their crytocurrency market analysis and James’ purported skills at deciphering cryptocurrency coding as a method of determining which cryptocurrencies have real potential. I do not believe they have the research backing team and insider contacts to make the price of the Crypto publications worthwhile at some $550 per quarter.
The format of the email letters is ok however the important stuff gets lost in a sea of upsell and cross sell emails from Agora and Altucher wanting more and more money. If you subscribe to numerous publications it becomes a headache to find the information you pay for. There are dashboards for Agora Financial and another dashboard for Altucher publications. Often the subscriptions on my dashboard did not reflect the paid subscriptions I had made and customer service was a joke at this price. There were several calls necessary to Agora to get access to my numerous subscriptions, a very frustrating and arduous task, given the high price tags.
Having lost countless 1000’s of Dollars, I believe the Altucher Report is a good value, interesting and worthwhile report. As regards cryptocurrencies I think there is better information available for free on YouTube re upcoming cryptocurrencies and I am happy to give my recommendations to anyone who cares to ask.
I hope Agora will give me a year’s extension of my subscriptions as ‘guaranteed’ as I did not make any profits. The stuff they write is more suitable to high-level CEOs with money to burn than retail investors on a tight budget. For example, if you buy their stock option recommendations, be prepared to shell out another $550 per quarter for the newsletter only to find that you need 10,000 – 20,000 USD in a USA stock broker account.
Bearing in mind I am a UK based resident, it is really difficult to participate in that program. Altucher recommends some brokerages but fails to address the non-USA market. Too late after you have paid for the subscription.
If you do subscribe to these kinds of newsletters which require brokerage accounts, you really must get your skates on and test the programs out quickly. This is to make sure you have enough time to claim a 30-day refund in time.
If you are tight on time, do not even attempt to join these programs. They require a considerable learning curve and not a few minutes a day as James and other Agora warriors propose on promotional videos to casual members of the public.
Also, research and open some decent brokerage accounts before you subscribe to stock option newsletters. You really need to hit the ground running so to speak.
Now a wiser investor, I will buy less of their bull and watch more carefully for the real ‘bull’.
I just purchased the Altucher Report for $49 for a year, with the guarantee I can cancel within 365 days for a full refund (and can keep the bonus books.) The reason I purchased this was to get his book “The Side Hustle Bible” for free (a hard physical copy, not digital) along with a few other free bonuses. I did not agree to purchase any of the up sells, thankfully, as I am on a fixed (disability) income so can barely afford the $49. Should I cancel this right away & request refund?
please cancel my membership
I there anyone who has made money from this program?
Yeah, where is my vid on making millions in crypto? Ready to lay down 4 or 5 “big ones” on Bitcoin. Still waiting! This is a bunch of hoowie!
purchased several of the advice services from Agora and Altachur. Made a dozen transactions from the various columns, most have lost money in the first 4 – 5 months. I am down 10 percent, plus a lot of money for subscriptions. I cannot remember which advisor recommended which stocks, so I sent the list to the advisors, hoping for advice as to which to keep and which to sell, since I have no money left for further transactions. I have had no reply. These guys do not care about your results, or your getting rich as long as you buy their programs, so they get rich. Apparently they all work in the same building, but admit they do not talk to each other for advice or investment suggestions. Each one of them thinks they have all the answers, and you should buy their services only.
Dear Ken
Exactly my experience. It was stimulation material these guys wrote but too much hype. We have to stay calm when watching their promo videos online. I got carried away and should have put my credit card away until the right time.
Many similarly good writers are giving better advice for free. I like Ambcrypto and Ivan on Tech. Both free. I subscribed to Hacked and spent a fortune there too…better stuff available for free.
I agree with all the individual comments above. All the Agora programs have the same “carrot & stick” approach. Many promises of a fortune just a few clicks away. After the “click,” it’s another request for more money, surely you are so close to the mentioned payday.
The payday has already happened… but it’s not YOURS !
Altucher is a complete 100% total scam. His whole purpose is to lead you along, never give you anything useful to go on while hinting that he soon will, and sucker you in to buying more and more of his completely bogus products. This guy is literally the lowest of the low, the bottom of the barrel. Steer clear and do not give him your money– you will thank me for this advice. I first learned of this scammer from The Ultimate Health Podcast which featured him as a guest. That podcast, run by 2 shady hucksters, promotes and pedals charlatans and snake oil salesmen on a weekly basis.
100% crap
The information is useless… I do not recommend to buy subscriptions from Altucher and his team
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Agreed: Choose Yourself Financial or Agora Financial appear to be fraudulent. I have been promised a refund for many weeks.This fraud is mainly being perpetrated by it’s principals listed as James Altucher and David Newman.
Dido to the above complaint. I had the same scam perpetrated on me and after 5 months I have made $120 with ALL their suggestions. HOWEVER, I PAID $4770 SO FAR AND NOW THEY WANT ANOTHER $2000 TO GET WHAT I ASKED FOR WHEN I FIRST JOINED. THIS IS A MAJOR SCAM COMPANY AS IS AGOR FINANCIAL WHICHN IS THEIR SISTER COMPANY. MY WIFE IS DYING OF PANCREATIC CANCER AND SHE CAN’T TAKE CHEMO ANYMORE. JAMES ALTRUCHER AND RAY BLANCO OF AGORA SAID THAT IN EARLY FEBRUARY 2018 and announcement WILL COME OUT ABOUT THE “GOD KEY” A DRUG THAT WILL KILL THE PANCREATIC CANCER CELLS AND OTHER CANCERS. I WAS NOT REALLY INTERESTED IN THE STOCK FOR THIS COMPANY, BUT THE COMPANY TESTING IT SO I COULD GET MY WIFE IN IT. WHEN I CALLED THESE COMPANIES A MALE AGENT TOLD ME I WOULD HAVE TO PAY $17000 TO JOIN THE AGORA FINANCIAL LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION TO GET THAT STOCK. BOTH THESE COMPANIES ARE A100% RIP OFF
Paul V. DiStefano
Hi Paul,
Sorry to hear about your wife. The technology they are calling the “God Key” is CRISPR Gene Editing. It is a very early stage technology, and it will be many years before it is available to treat cancer. Even then, it will only be suitable for a minority of cancers.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23957955
I do not think you know how James’s products work. I am very ill and some days can not function. But there is not a person on the earth that wants you to succeed more than James. He carries a big buden, but as all people may some money on their news letters. People doo not get and often i do not either.
JAMES HAS a heart OF GOLD
If your wife is still with us you may have much better odds healing her through natural cures at cancertutor.com/dirtcheapprotocol/. Some integrative doctors outside the US claim 80-90% cure rates and have even cured some of stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Even after the chemo and radiation damage. You won’t hear about the cures from any mainstream news outlets as they are beholden to the all mighty advertising dollars from the drug companies (along with our Congress).
Hi Paul,
I can I’m so saddened by your experiences especially your wife’s illness.
However, let’s believe Jesus and hope for good days ahead.
A few weeks ago, I purchased a 2 yr subscription from your company, and to date have not received any leads to a crypto purchase.
All I have received are the same videos that I saw prior to the purchase.
When will I start receiving poss leads or advise on which crypocurrency to buy.
Thanks for your help.
Catherine Okekenta
catheoke1@gmail.com
I was a casualty of the recession and lost two of my three properties. I am now stable
financially but not rich. Have a small amount of money to invest in both Marijuana stock
or cryptocurrency. I say James Altucher sales pitch in my email and thought the crypto was a
a good idea and then read reviews that it is a scam. If anyone knows of a legitimate service or
lead let me know, especially for Canadian marijuana companies.
Are you saying that James Altucher Choose Yourself Financial is not reliable but scam? They have been posted several write up about IPO shares in some companies, eg Halo-fi etc, does it mean one cannot buy share of companies through Choose Yourself Financial? Kindly I need details information please because I almost effects my subscription to them two days ago.
Best Regards,
Eddy.