Cape Cod Life

I've been reading this magazine for years. Would pick it up, while visiting the Cape, knowing that someday I would buy/build at the Cape. Fabulous ideas. Many, many years later, my dream was realized. The decorating tips and ideas from this magazine were well-worth the cost of this magazine. I'm a big into recycling, so I pass this magazine (very reluctantly) to family...favorite magazine for many years...

Vermont Magazine

In the recent past, I've subscribed to Vermont Life. Unfortunately, that magazine was full of more advertisements than Vermont Life. I thought this year, I'd give this publication a try. What a wonderful surprise! I've received my 1st issue and its full of interesting articles about my beloved state. I realize that some advertising is a must, but it was refreshing to read this magazine.

One of the things I like most about Vermont Magazine is its home-town feel and appearance. The articles are written by Vermonters or those who simply love it and want to share their experiences. One thing that continually frustrates me about current magazines is the proliferation of advertising, much of it inappropriate. The advertisements are tasteful and most of them showcase Vermont business. There are a few in the current issue that have international products, but are associated with a store or event. For example, one can win a Sony digital camera in the Vermont Magazine photo contest.

There is a regular "Features" section that features four to six different articles. In the July/August 2012 issue there is one entitled "Jumping Off the Shelves," an article about Vermont's independent bookstores. In the March/April issue the is one about "Fred's Cabin," a Woodswoman-like article about a "hillside cabin [that] was built entirely from scratch." The magazine has evolved into a lovely magazine replete with excellent quality, full-color photographs and wonderful articles. Unlike its competitor, Vermont Life, this one still has stories this household anticipates and loves to read.

DEPARTMENTS:

* Heritage

* Towns

* Farms

* General Stores

* People

* At Work

* History

* Made in Vermont

* Homes and Gardens Photo Essay

* Pictures from Vermont

* Homes and Gardens Porch Living

* Homes and Gardens

* Last Word

The "Departments" do vary from issue to issue, but the listing will give you an idea of what you will be looking at. This is definitely a magazine anyone who loves Vermont will enjoy. Very highly recommended!

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I got this subscription as a birthday gift for my 40-something nephew who is already preparing to retire in Vermont. I always knew he and his wonderful wife were smart kids !!!

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Pizza Today

As much as I love Amazon.com I can't let you pay $44+ for this magazine. Yes it is a must have for the pizzeria owners (and those thinking of joining the biz) but don't buy it. Go to the PizzaToday.com website and subscribe for free.

Gun Tests (1-year auto-renewal)

I've subscribed several times and allowed my subscription to lapse each time... Why, well to be blunt; several of the testers (no names are given) are strongly biased. Biased and prejudiced to the point where they ignore their magazine's own rules of whether a gun is a "buy now" or "don't buy". These testers poison the valid and fair tests the other authors put firearms through. I have seen reviews where the tester resorted to extreme nit picking just to find a reason to declare a worthy firearm a "not buy", and ignore the substantial faults of a lesser firearm so they can declare it a "buy now". So every few years I resubscribe hoping the firearm bigots have moved on...

Now that this is understood, there is no other organization, publication or otherwise, that I know of, providing any even remotely similar function or service. These authors come across as normal people you'd meet at the range and for that matter reflect a very similar set of attitudes in their broad range of opinions and attitudes. (e.g. John loves anything that shoots, Joe over there loaves anything that shoots so long as it has Savage on the action, Theodore over there is the pickiest shooter I've ever met...). So Gun Tests has no, or almost none, of the platitudes so prevalent in the industry and as can be read in Gun Tests; not every gun is a great functional and accurate firearm. The testers buy their guns at local stores (instead of having them shipped to them or provided otherwise by the manufacturers) Some of the results and "brand new in the box" shopping experiences they uncover can be alarming and should receive national attention.

So subscribe, grit your teeth when you run headlong into an author's prejudices, nod your head when a tester describes accurately something you've discovered yourself, read between the lines if necessary *even the biased reviews are worth reading) and learn the gritty truth behind many of our fine firearms. If I could've I would have given five stars to the magazine, but two stars to individual tester articles.

Its more of a newsletter than a magazine straight forward, black and white graphics, about 30 pages long and very well written. The only resource I've seen so far that doesn't love every gun it reviews like the more common gun magazines do. Probably something to do with the fact that its not beholden to advertisers. They review handguns, rifles, carbines, and just about anything else including some shooting equipment. Their reviews might seem harsh to some, but the high standards of most gun manufacturers deserves for great guns to be separated from firearms that are merely very good. I don't think they do regular features on the best used guns like Consumer Reports reviews used cars for potential problems and this would be very useful if they did. Gun Tests is essential reading material for anyone who is interested in becoming a more enlightened firearms consumer.

Edit: The pictures are in color now, they did this after I wrote the original review.

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I asked for a free issue, liked the first issue. Subscribed for 2-years.

Now I am receiving collection agency notices. These are the serious notices; the ones you have to write a letter disputing the debt within 30-days, or they ding your credit and file for a judgement against you.

No magazine is worth having your credit trashed.

The enjoyment I received from this magazine is totally overcome by now having to deal with debt collectors. Worse that I am more than fully paid.

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No glossy photos. No hype. No quarry. No erectile-dysfunctional advertisements. This magazine is a serious, no nonsense review of the guns (handguns and long guns) new and used on the market. It's the only gun magazine that I keep all the back issues for reference.

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Received correspondence in the mail a few months ago about a free issue of gun tests. All you had to do was send a sheet in and get a free issue. You know, try it before you buy it. Well never order a subscription and I received another issue then they stopped coming. Just received a collection notice today from a North Shore Agency saying Gun Tests issued a collection against me. Again, I never subscribed to this magazine. Called the collection agency and got ahold of no one. Decided to call Gun Tests itself and talked to a guy. Explained that we have a problem and that they turned me into a collection agency. Now what is funny is they guy asked me my zip code and address. During this I explained what was going on and how I seen on Amazon that this has happened to a few different people. Dude said nothing, no apology, and was totally quite during this. Then said as he just cancelled the collection notice. Never once did he explain what, how or why they did this and no apology. Makes me think that they do this on a regular occasion to try and get people to pay. Again, never once received a bill or anything until the collection notice. Well Gun Tests, this is a backhanded attempt to get people to buy their product. Heck, they probably will soon stop sending free issues out and just start sending collection notices to random people. What a quality company. By the way, I will be turning these dirtbags to the Better Business people. And to the guy that got the same scam and actually paid the bill because he felt it would ruin his credit, brother you need to go after these guys. What they do is wrong. If it has happened to a few people so far, I wonder how long they have been doing this. This is no random/accidental mistake. This is straight up FRAUD.

Gun Tests # 1-800-829-9084

North Shore Agency 1-877-238-1244

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Saint Anthony Messenger

I started reading this magazine after I moved to America in 2001. The articles, pictures and stories are great.

Thank you to the team of St. Anthony Messenger for a job well done.

Premier Guitar

This magazine is a must-read event in our house and is avidly enjoyed. It is quite a nice size, especially for the price and the product reviews are carefully thought out and detailed. Even the ads are informative. All music spectrums are represented from classical to hard rock and every guitar maker is represented at one time or other; the focus is not just the well-known and the big American names. There are plenty of small-time luthiers and it is a joy to see some of their creations and read their views on the craft. If you love guitars, amps and all those little axeman toys, I highly recommend this magazine, if nothing else but for all the photographs to drool over.

I have been playing guitar for almost 50 years and I've been subscribed to all the guitar magazines since the 70s. This one is so much better than the rest that I don't know how they do it. There is twice the content of any other guitar mag and more than twice as much useable content for me. I could give up all the others and just keep getting this one... but I won't.

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Just Labs

My husband and I subscribed to this magazine not long after we got our yellow lab pup. It always includes useful articles about training and caring for your lab, and also lots of photos of labs submitted by subscribers. I have to say the photos are what I look at first. Subscribers also can submit stories about their lab that has passed away, how having that lab affected their life, and other stories about their experiences with labs. If you own a lab or love labs you really need to subscribe to this magazine. When we are done reading our copy we give it to our son to read who has 3 labs himself. I'm ordering a subscription now for our neighbor girls who just adopted a lab pup. I just wish it were a monthly magazine instead of bi-monthly.

For anyone who loves Labs, this magazine is the best! I love the insight different articles have on these amazing dogs! Look forward to each magazine and read from cover to cover. The tips and tricks each magazine offers is a blessing to new Lab owners as well as "seasoned" owners . I recommend highly!

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Great for any dog lover, good articles and pictures. Tells you why your lab does what they do!

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This magazine has a great blend of fun, poignant, and serious articles. Our 11 year old lab has two serious health issues which I first read about in Just Labs, as they are relatively common conditions with labs. When he started exhibiting symptoms I referred back to the articles and was able to recognize the similarities, therefore enabling me to discuss things with our vet armed with a bit of knowledge. For their health articles alone I will always be grateful to Just Labs.

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i like this magazine a lot. If you have labs, you will love it too.:)

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Photography Monthly

I came across this gorgeous,informative mag from the UK a few months ago,and now read it almost exclusively. There are other photo-related mags that are very wonderful,but some of them are for those photographers who can afford the whole Photoshop shebang.And those mags are dedicated to Photoshop techniques and such that I will never be able to get near because of the price.However,this mag,although it references Photoshop,concentrates on other facets of photography that are within grasp of a plebe such as I.

The magazine is beautifully presented.And not a ton of ads in the middle of articles,which I find annoying.My favorite segment is"Judgment," wherein two professional photographers critique,strongly and sometimes bluntly,the photos by amateurs which were chosen for the monthly column.I have learned much from these critiques,and in fact,have actually thought the same things the critics did before I read their judgments. That's worth gold to me.The price is pretty high,but if you are at all interested in becoming a great photographer,this is the magazine for you.I keep all of my issues for reference,and to enjoy the beauty of the photographs over and over.

I have a subscription to Popular Photography and get a few other magazines every once in a while but Photography Monthly is by FAR the best one out of the bunch! I have to go downtown to get this magazine but I will make excuses a couple times a month just to go see if its at the bookstore!

This magazine doesn't have the 30-40 pages of garbage adds at the end, its nice and BIG with full color spreads of photo's... good how-to's with photoshop, good reviews on lenses... even non-canon/nikon lenses (hard to find in Pop Photo)... an all around AWESOME magazine! HIGHLY recommend!

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What I like so much in that magazine is that there are more articles than ads and more technical information than commercial and marketing biased semi-true statements. Excellent photographic suggestions, very attractive writing. A very welcome difference to those US magazines full of ads, marketing, paid articles and biased reviews

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Nice magazine, but you can subscribe for half the Amazon price if you go to their web site.

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I regularly peruse the photo magazines at my local Books-a-Million. I recently saw this magazine appear among the usual host of magazines, and, being an Anglophile, thought I would give it a try. I must first mention the absence of such large quantities of advertising as to render the articles well-concealed and almost superfluous, a characteristic of all American photo magazines. Secondly, the photos presented in this magazine seem far more nuanced and less perfunctory than what I am accustomed to in the mainstream American magazines. Please, spare me one more "western desert sunset through an arch of rock with Fuji Velvia" photo! I particularly like the monthly "Judgement" feature where two photographers, Cheung and Scorey, dissect, frequently with humor and without mercy, photographs submitted by readers. I learn from this! Expensive, but eminently worth every cent/ shilling!

Model Railroader

The largest circulation standard for American model railroaders. Broad coverage of products, techniques, and existing model railroads. Excellent for those just entering or considering the hobby.

I've just finished the 75th anniversary issue of Model Railroader. Another excellent issue. Model Railroader is the once and still leader in the model railroading journalism field. There are other magazines which cater to a particular niche in this already small interest area that may do a better job in their specialized areas of interest but for the best overall coverage, for leadership, for vision, for service to model railroading Model Railroader stands alone.

Model Railroader offers the best photos, well-written articles, leading edge ideas and techniques. And they do this all for about the same price as the other magazines in the field.

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Model Railroader has been criticized for years for 'light' model railroading, concentrating on new modelers instead of appealing to the old pros. I really think they are doing what they need to do to appeal to the most modelers possible. They have articles on scratch building or kitbashing nearly every issue, great articles on many different topics applicable to most modelers and of course they do the full color 'layout tour' better than anyone!

The other magazines of course are excellent in their own ways but if you are new to the hobby or like step by step projects with lots of photos and illustrations or like to look at the great photography of model railroads this is the place to go. It is truly astounding how many great model railroads there have been in this magazine over the years.

My only criticisms are nearly exclusive HO scale coverage, which is understandable but still frustrating (I am an O scaler myself), and the demise of the old 'dollar model' or other inexpensive modeling techniques.

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I love this magazine. Anybody interested in model railroads has to have this mag. It has excellent articles and how to dos

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This a great magazine. they have good articles and now it includes video that you can play so see how other guys do there models

Heat - En

When I was living in London last year I randomly came upon heat and was INSTANTLY addicted. My flatmates and I would go back and forth between buying it week after week. I couldn't wait for Tuesday to role around so I could get the next issue. heat not only has great paparrazi photos, but it's hilarious. Whoever the writers are, they're genius. I love the sense of humor and teasing of celebrities. I especially love that they don't validate celebs for getting increasingly skinny and unhealthy, such as every American counterpart does.

Heat has got to be the best goss magazine ever! I've never really enjoyed People or any of those crap American magazines at the checkout of virtually every supermarket. Brit celebs are so much more interesting! After my very first issue, I was hooked. The pics, the gossip, the headlines, the stories.....I read it cover-to-cover in one sitting! And I wanted MORE! Heat, you just cannot put down. Once I get a new issue, I don't even know where to start. There are so many juicy headlines...which one do I read first? Then I have to wait an entire week until I can get my hands on the next one.....

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Without a doubt the best weekly magazine in the UK. Possibly even good enough to rival US 'People' magazine! It contains celebrity stories, celebrity interviews, style tips, humorous articles and pictures and reviews of the latest movies, music and books. Not to mention a weekly tv guide with digital channels included.

In short, a magazine NOT to be missed!

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a british weekly gossip multi-award wining magazine with and well a deserved one at that!

If you love your shallow pop and tv gossip buy heat! All the other British gossip magazines are copying but to no avail will they best HEAT !

Buy if you esp love: reality tv (big brother, pop idol etc), david beckham, posh spice and eastenders!

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Bass Player

If you are a bassist and you even need to read a review to figure out if this is the right mag for you, best get your head checked! I have subscribed to Bass Player since 1992 and will keep renewing my subcription until I am so old I have to have my assistant read me all the features by my craftmatic lounger. Forget Fox news, Bass Player is fair and balanced, covering everyone from the sad passing of NHOP (greatest upright player of all time) to all the standards like Jaco and Vic. Dont think that you little mall-core kids are not rep'd...all the nu-metal low enders are there as well, even though they suck the rust from under my fretwire. I have always respected this magazine and the writers seem like family...go get this now fool! word.

I ordered this mag in January and here it is, April, and I still haven't received the first issue. I have been on the phone with Synapse and they told me TWICE that they would get back to me with info on my subscription within 24 hours and I still haven't heard from them. The mag is great but the subscription service seems far below Amazon's usual service.

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While BP does do the occasional article on a straight-ahead jazz player or upright player, most of the editorial content (and what seesm like 90% of the cover photos) are deoted to the tattooed, pierced and punked up shredder of the month. Sure, there's actually a colum devoted to upright playingsort ofbut overall this is a magazine for young rockers. For them, it's great. For me... I'm still looking.

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Bass Player keeps a good blend of instructional articles, album and product reviews, transcriptions and interviews. Their product shoot-outs and tips from inside the music industry are informative and helpful. All in all, a good mix.

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I have always enjoyed the Articles&Interviews with many Bass Players featured in this Magazine.Stanley Clarke had quite a few Interviews I have enjoyed over the years.Marcus Miller as well.great stories on Jaco as well.good reflections on James Jamerson,good stories on Larry Graham,Verdine White,John Patitucci,Louis Johnson,Flea,Bootsy Collins,Charles Mingus,etc... they have covered a wide range of Players&Topics.

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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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