Money (1-year auto-renewal)

I subscribe to several financial magazines, of which "Money" is one. I think that "Money" is an excellent publication for neophyte investors, as it does provide generally sound information and advice. It is very good at explaining terminology in plain English, which is to be applauded, but investors with more knowledge of investments and financial planning would probably be better off with another magazine, like "Kiplinger's", for instance.

"Money" covers primarily investments in mutual funds, bonds, and stocks, although real estate and retirement planning are also dealt with regularly. I like the investment index feature in the back of the issue: it is honestly the only part of the magazine I routinely use anymore, although I do skim the articles, and read one or two per issue. My chief complaint with the magazine is how formulaic the articles are. It seems like every month there is an article called "The Best Places To Put Your Money Now", for instance. Timeliness is a good thing, but the magazine endorses long term investing (as do I) so the last thing I want to be doing is thinking about where to move my money to this month.

Beginning investors: this is an excellent magazine for you, and I say that without reservation. Overall though, "Money" is not bad, but if you are already fairly knowledgeable about financial management you can do much better.

"Money" magazine has long been a staple of those who are looking to better their financial condition. But time and circumstance have not proven kind to it.

In an age when markets fluctuate wildly from day to day, a monthly newsmagazine for investors cannot match the timeliness and level of information needed to compete adequately in the stock market. Since "Money" has long been a staunch advocate of stock investing, this makes its advice dated and incomplete. As many websites and financial journals ("Barron's", "The Wall Street Journal") exist to fill the void for timely info, "Money" is becoming an anachronism. That its press deadlines are probably a month or two before publication, it lags far behind in catching trends and responding to them. Today's investors need better.

As a proponent of buying stock, "Money" has found its recommendations pummeled lately. Because people buy "Money" to help them make money, if the magazine cannot pick winners then its usefulness suffers. During this bear market, the magazine has flailed in its attempts to ride out the storm, trying to latch on to something, anything, that will work. This does not lend itself to investor confidence.

A case in point can illustrate. The magazine recently suggested a group of mutual funds across a variety of sectors/styles that they felt were good picks. The problem lay in the fact that not a single one had made money in the last couple years. Now certainly to make money you buy low and sell high, but there are several solid mutual fund companies that have made money in this market and would make money in a bull market, too. There are even funds that fared better than the average of the market, though they did not immediately turn a positive result. But "Money" did not pick any of those. With no end in sight to the market downturn, would you put money into a mutual fund that had lost 25% of its value in the last year?

"Money" excels when it discusses strategies for saving money on purchases, aids in avoiding taxes, or looks at financial vehicles that are less common (REITs, etc.), but since its bread and butter is still stocks and bonds, it is less helpful than other resources.

You've got to be able to swim with the sharks. Years ago, "Money" was able to stay afloat. But in today's different investing environment, "Money" is simply so much chum in the water.

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Money magazine is better than all of the others simply because it provides pragmatic information in an easily digestible form. It offers financial advice that just makes sense for most people to at least consider. Over the years I have had subscriptions to many of the other financial periodicals like Fortune, Smart Money, Forbes, Kiplinger's, WSJ, FT, IBD, etc. and with the exception of Barron's I have found most of those to be highly unuseful and full of advice that just makes little sense to the average investor. Sure Money has problems keeping things fresh and they do recycle information frequently, but the editor does try to provide practical information so people can make reasonable decisions. Money has the same problem all financial periodicals do, namely they need to sell magazines. In order to do that they must react to the pop finance topics and offer some reasonably interesting articles to feed the herd. Can you imagine the reaction they would have encountered had they run monthly warnings of the housing bubble begging in 2002? Everyone I knew thought it would continue forever...fools, of course. Money was not on the front edge of the warning system. Certainly they had a part in creating and adding credibility to the real estate bubble and subsequent meltdown. But they do not stand alone; all publications were pumping the same bologna.

Money will occasionally remind its readers that index beating returns are highly improbable in the long run and stock picking as a primary means is not a good strategy for long term wealth building. They offer really nice "what if" and comparison strategies for analysis such as: lease vs. buy, buy vs. rent, or Ivy League vs. state college strategies. Sure they occasionally throw in some esoteric discussion on silly instruments like derivatives or ridiculous low yield bank savings accounts, but for the most part they tend to show reasonable responsibility and restraint by offering advice in the Graham and Dodd tradition.

Let's face it, personal finance is not that complicated. People who think it is are not thinking about it correctly. The tried and true methods aren't sexy and won't sell magazines if they printed the most effective methods for creating wealth every month. Money does a reasonable job providing confirmation of basic and effective investing strategies to the common investor in an entertaining way. However, I'd like to see them take a much more aggressive tone on topics like credit card debt, student loan debt, auto loan debt, etc. like Dave Ramsay does, only without all that religious baggage he loves to impose. It would also be nice if Money would rip apart and expose the scam investments like whole/variable life insurance policies, annuities, and the like. And ya, a little less of the fluffy Suzie Orman type codling would be nice.

I'd like to see Money dive a little deeper occasionally and expose real wealth killers. Here are a few thoughts: why not expose our tax system for the all consuming corrupt mess that it is and rally the masses to change it or at least remind people that it is not set up in their favor as a worker. It is strictly set up for business owners to get the most advantage. Or how about exposing all that old money held in trusts by family dynasties doing nothing to increase GDP and paying little in tax. How about analyzing the impact of the massive boomer generation retiring. Do you really think all of those seemingly ubiquitous "senior" discounts are going to exist for you in the future? Bahahahahah, think again. So many opportunities.

My personal favorite feature is the monthly money makeover. Usually some dopey married couple has pissed away their time and money on ridiculous things like a McMansion, boats, motorcycles, and his & hers BMWs then suddenly find themselves mid-life with little to no savings and a boat load of debt. I laugh at those morons. Money hires a financial adviser to break the bad news to them with a makeover plan that attempts gets them back on track. Good information can be garnered from these analyses.

I take issue with the lack of concern for inflation and ridiculous assumed returns on some investments. TVM seems to elude all financial writers and editors. I guess because it just isn't sexy and it involves a little grade school math. Few ever discuss the real rates of return and the actual real money people will need in retirement. Also, a major pet peeve of all of the periodicals is that they assume social programs will be available to retirees in fifteen plus years. They won't. I guarantee it. Social Security and Medicare are a fraud and should not be part of one's retirement planning.

Bottom line: Money is a good, solid financial publication that tries to offer the common investor reasonable information for making good decisions. Hard to find fault with that mission.

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Bottom-line: "Money Magazine" is my new personal financial advisor and hopefully its sage advice will help me navigate the pitfalls of personal investing.

Okay, I'll admit it my latest job move left us with a little more disposable income, and a pay raise last month helped immensely. So we now have more money to invest, but I do not want to pay someone to do it for me, I want to keep my hands on my own stash thank you very much. But I will admit I need practical advice on where to invest my money, not only for retirement, but for my 11-year-old's college education.

I briefly though about subscribing to Fortune Magazine, but quickly dismissed the magazine: too upscale with little practical advice to the average middle class American. I have long read the Money Magazine section on CNN.com, and found the information timely and utilitarian in the extreme. So I decided to subscribe to the print edition.

"Money Magazine," which bills itself as the magazine "For you, your family, your future," is a monthly rag published by Time Warner Inc. The magazine covers a broad swath of personal money matters from investing in education to sound retirement advice; from which stocks and bonds are the best long range pick, to the best places to live in America.

Checking in at 156 pages (this issue), "Money Magazine" is refreshingly free of endless pages of wall-to-wall advertising, though every other page does tend to be an advertisement; I guess they have to pay the bills somehow. But the advertisements contained within do not interfere with information presented in the magazine, nor do they compromise the quality. From cover to cover, page-to-page "Money Magazine" has proven a very useful reference source on all matter concerning personal finance.

Regular sections in the magazine include:

o Features: feature length articles;

o Start: tips and helpful shorts on money management;

o Plan: planning for retirement, and other financial planning articles;

o Home: tips and articles dealing with the home;

o Invest: investment tips and stock, bonds, and mutual funds;

o Spend: smart ways to spend your money.

The latest issue featured the magazines seminal "America's Best Places to Live" issue, in which the periodical lists the best place to bring up a family based on certain criterion, including Education, Jobs/Economy, Safety, Ease of Living, Arts/Leisure, and Park Space. I was pleasantly surprised to find two cities I used to live on the list.

Other articles in this months (August 2006) magazine include

o The Last 401(K) Guide You'll Ever Need; five rules that really matter.

o America's Best Places to Live

o Everything You Know About Kids and Money is Wrong; teaching kids about money doesn't work. Here's what needs to be done.

o Hidden Assets; that dusty folder with the old savings bonds, forgotten gift certificates and yellowed insurance policies may hold some real treasures.

o Can Money Buy Happiness; research sheds light on how you can (and can't) spend your way to a sunnier outlook.

o Quest For The Simple Life; the Edels have raised frugal living to an art. In our consumer culture, that's anything but simple.

The articles for the most part are well written, concise, and comprehensive. The most useful part is the detailed advice on stock, bonds, and mutual funds picks. There is never a hard sell; the information is presented in a well laid out and easy to read format. For instance in the Invest section of this months magazine, "Money Magazine" laid out a listing of (70) blue-chip growth stock one could invest in the long haul. For each stock the magazine listed the name of the stock, including ticker symbol, Price, 1-Month Return, 12-month Return, P/E Ratio, Earnings Growth, and Yield of the particular stock. The same format is repeated for bonds and mutual funds throughout the magazine.

But not all is sunshine and glossy pages. Though I found the recent article on The Best Places to Live in America useful; it was short of a lot of pertinent information. Cary, NC caught my wife's eye as a possible retirement spot, but the print article was short on detail. On-line however, a lot more information was to be had including the median family income for the area, as well as median home price, and tax information. The content on-line was much more involved; this is both a curse and a blessing; a curse for those who lack Internet access and a blessing for those who don't mind gleaming more information on-line. I have Internet access and I would have preferred to get the information from the magazine' print edition, or both places.

Other than that one decidedly minor quibble, I have no qualms recommending "Money Magazine" to anyone who asks. The magazine is my new personal financial advisor and hopefully its sage advice will help me navigate the pitfalls of personal investing.

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I had subscriptions to Money, Smart Money and Kiplinger's. All of them seem to have articles about the same topics each month. Money seemed more geared to the 30 something and younger age group so I dropped my sub and stuck with the others since they seemed to have a bit more "meat".

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