jay1051971's Full Review: Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine
“Kiplinger’s Personal Finance” is yet another publication devoted to the area of (surprise!) personal finance. I have only been recently exposed to this magazine’s offerings. Originally, I had been subscribing to the magazine “Individual Investor”. This magazine started up about two years ago, but never quite got off the ground. About five months ago, I received a letter in the mail stating that II was suspending operations and going under. To satisfy my subscription agreement, they arranged for me to receive “Kiplinger’s” for the duration. So far, it has turned out to be a pretty good magazine, which I may think seriously about continuing to receive.
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance is a monthly periodical. Each issue is approximately 120 pages long, printed on a nice, dull-coated stock. There is a fair, but not overwhelming, amount of advertising. Currently, a yearly subscription runs in the neighborhood of $24. The magazine was founded in 1947, and has been dispensing practical financial advice to its readers ever since.
There is a very simple organizational method to this magazine. The first few pages will be a bunch of ads, the table of contents, a note from the editor, etc. After this miscellaneous introductory section, the rest of the magazine is broken into four main categories, titled “Ahead”, “Investing”, “Managing”, and “Spending”. The magazine closes with some kind of cartoon on its “back page”.
The “Ahead” section is devoted, as its name implies, toward upcoming trends and current events. There are short columns on the outlook for the economy, political and cultural developments, and, for we die-hard Epinionators, reviews of new products. The “Ahead” section is a catch all for columns pertaining to any item that may be of interest to Kiplinger’s readers.
Next is the “Investing” section. This section has a little more meat to it, and includes articles that analyze and discuss many investment vehicles such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and more. This section often provides charts and graphs with hard numbers on the performance of whatever subject the article is covering. Many times, you may find some tips on a hot stock, or a suggestion on what to avoid here.
While the “Investing” section discusses the investments themselves, the “Managing” section talks about how to utilize various investment vehicles. The subtitle to this section states “How to make your money work for you”. With that in mind, this section gets into discussing strategy development and planning to get the most out of your investment. Yesterday, I received my latest issue, February 2002, which has a cover story on how to minimize your tax bill. This article discusses all of the concerns people may have this time of year, and provides valuable information about what new developments there are in the tax code.
The last section, “Spending” is devoted to helping the reader become an educated consumer. Articles here discuss products and services on the market. One article in this latest issue is on digital cameras, and what features you might want to suit your needs. This section is like a mini-Epinions.com!!
Overall, “Kiplinger’s Personal Finance” is an excellent magazine that would benefit anyone. Unlike other magazines that specialize on just one area of finance, this magazine addresses the whole person as a financial entity. While magazines like “Worth”, “Fortune”, or “Mutual Funds” may be very valuable for the niche that they serve, “Kiplinger’s” covers all the bases. If you were to subscribe to only one financial magazine, make “Kiplinger’s Personal Finance” the one.
Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine provides practical information and sound advice to maximize your personal financial position. Features include u...More at Magazineline
Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine provides intelligent advice and sound reporting on topics regarding personal finance issues. Find information on...More at Magazines.com
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