Money Magazine

[DisneyDreamer]

Imagine my surprise when reading the latest issue of Money Magazine that the print editions are ceasing. The current June/July issue is therefore the last one I will hold in my hands. Boo!

I am somewhat upset at this as I recently renewed my subscription until 2021. Looks like all content will now be free (unless I am missing something) online.

Money Magazine was a major factor in my achievement of realizing financial independence. I have recommended it to many people since I started my subscription over 20 years ago.

Anyone else feel the same? Disappointed? Abandoned? OLD? (Hahaha!)

 

[DisneyDreamer]

Page 4 of current (last) issue...

 

[audreyh1]

I gave up on Money Magazine in the late 90s when I decided most of the articles were fluff/financial porn.

I never had a subscription (or if I did it was brief), but I would often pick up an issue to read on a plane ride.

 

[braumeister]

It's just a changing business model.

They can make more profit from people clicking on their online pages than they can from charging advertisers in the print copies.

 

[DisneyDreamer]

I hear you, however, I also enjoyed the articles on how to spend money. Pieces on travel, home ownership, best places to retire. Sigh....

 

[Sunset]

Hey, then they owe for what I already paid, are they owned by that Mexican Bank ??

 

[Sojourner]

Money Magazine was a major factor in my achievement of realizing financial independence. I have recommended it to many people since I started my subscription over 20 years ago.

Anyone else feel the same? Disappointed? Abandoned? OLD? (Hahaha!)

Not exactly abandoned, maybe a little disappointed. Definitely OLD... but still young at heart! I remember eagerly thumbing through Money magazine issues back in my early 30s, right when I was starting to get interested in building wealth and possibly retiring a bit early. I learned a lot about mutual funds and other investment vehicles, so that was helpful, but ultimately I moved on to other sources of info. Money (back at that time, at least) had a few too many articles on things like "the 10 hottest gold funds you should own right now" etc.

 

[Walt34]

Money (back at that time, at least) had a few too many articles on things like "the 10 hottest gold funds you should own right now" etc.

That was my experience too. I did have a subscription for a year or two when I was in my late 30's - early 40's but got tired of the "investment of the month" type of articles and let it lapse.

 

[DisneyDreamer]

This is all very helpful! Thanks! Perhaps I should just take it as a sign that I've made it and need to move on.

 

[davebarnes]

...are they owned by that Mexican Bank ??

No, Meredith Corporation. AKA Better Homes & Gardens.
More here - https://www.adweek.com/digital/money-magazine-no-longer-for-sale-going-digital-only/
And, more from the WSJ - https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to...ine-giant-meredith-axes-nostalgia-11558624030
"Executives at Meredith don’t see the picture as uniformly grim. While they believe there isn’t value in magazines providing news or sports coverage in an online world awash in real-time updates, they see big opportunities in the lifestyle arena, where food, fashion and home content isn’t time sensitive, and the styles of famous personalities have unique power."

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I guess I do not understand this. I am a subscriber like the OP to 2021. What does that give us NOW? How do we let the website know we are subscribers? I looked at subscriptions etc. on the website and cannot seem to find out anything about it. Do we get a refund?

 

[Sunset]

No, Meredith Corporation. AKA Better Homes & Gardens.
More here - https://www.adweek.com/digital/money-magazine-no-longer-for-sale-going-digital-only/
And, more from the WSJ - https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to...ine-giant-meredith-axes-nostalgia-11558624030
"Executives at Meredith don’t see the picture as uniformly grim. While they believe there isn’t value in magazines providing news or sports coverage in an online world awash in real-time updates, they see big opportunities in the lifestyle arena, where food, fashion and home content isn’t time sensitive, and the styles of famous personalities have unique power."

I was actually just griping how people can be caught off guard by some company suddenly doing something not nice to the customer.
Of course my losing out on some months of toilet reading is nothing compared to the loss of bank accounts.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

It's just a changing business model.

They can make more profit from people clicking on their online pages than they can from charging advertisers in the print copies.

I dunno about that. The magazine is a shadow of its former self in terms of profitability. Online revenues tend to be a small fraction of the revenue that legacy publishing used to enjoy. The move online is likely its path to the elephant's graveyard.

 

[Walt34]

What does that give us NOW? How do we let the website know we are subscribers? I looked at subscriptions etc. on the website and cannot seem to find out anything about it. Do we get a refund?

Probably not. I think (but am not certain) that there is some federal law that says when a magazine stops publishing in a printed form then they have to subscribe you to some vaguely related magazine that is still publishing print copies for the equivalent remaining subscription. At least that is what has happened with me in the past.

So you'll probably get subscribed to Better Homes and Gardens because maybe once a year they have a column on financial matters. And then when you don't renew the subscription your great-grandchildren will still be getting postcards letting them know it has expired.

 

[CaliKid]

I have always enjoyed Money. Not the most sophisticated but generally solid and useful information in my opinion. Kiplingers is similar to me. A few years ago Sports Illustrated changed from weekly to bi-weekly. Life is changing....

 

[pb4uski]

.... Money Magazine was a major factor in my achievement of realizing financial independence. I have recommended it to many people since I started my subscription over 20 years ago. ....

+1 A big factor in my achievement of financial independence. They advocated no-load, low-cost mutual funds, and particularly index funds, before they were trendy.

Though I have to admit that more recently I prefer Kiplinger's Personal Finance to Money.

 

[athena53]

I dunno about that. The magazine is a shadow of its former self in terms of profitability. Online revenues tend to be a small fraction of the revenue that legacy publishing used to enjoy. The move online is likely its path to the elephant's graveyard.

I agree- the only way to make profits from on-line editions seems to involve so many clickbait headlines ("14 Things you Should Never do as a Tourist in Mexico"), banner ads that start the audio automatically (although I know that can be stopped by changing browser settings) and forcing users to scroll down past multiple ads, or new ads for each of the 40 pages in the article. Too much crap to wade through to get to any real information.

When I was in my 30s I was married to my first husband, a spendthrift, and living in a HCOL area. I couldn't stand Money's cover stories with the smug-looking couples in our age bracket whose house was paid off and who had already fully funded the future educational costs of their children, ages 2 and 4. It was all I could do to max out my 401(k)and keep the house repaired. Now it seems irrelevant for the opposite reason: I'm happily retired and eminently solvent and don't need advice such as, "wait as long as possible to file for SS" and "consider a part-time job in retirement".

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Probably not. I think (but am not certain) that there is some federal law that says when a magazine stops publishing in a printed form then they have to subscribe you to some vaguely related magazine that is still publishing print copies for the equivalent remaining subscription. At least that is what has happened with me in the past.

So you'll probably get subscribed to Better Homes and Gardens because maybe once a year they have a column on financial matters. And then when you don't renew the subscription your great-grandchildren will still be getting postcards letting them know it has expired.

That is too easy. I think they are just getting back at me for all those years I made a monthly trip to "Border Books" or some other book store just to read all the magazines I was interested in. The subscription I have recently was done with DW's airline points so we are not out that much. I have been reading MM for basically the cost of a cup of coffee for over 20 years I am sure.

 

[RetMD21]

I used to enjoy the magazine but I haven't subscribed for a couple of decades. I guess I'm not the only one.

 

[Dtail]

My father had a subscription, so used to enjoy reading it.
Now I read Kiplinger's more frequently.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I used to enjoy the magazine but I haven't subscribed for a couple of decades. I guess I'm not the only one.

The loss of advertising has been devastating. Loss of ads means fewer page counts and less reason for readers to subscribe.

Remember the Kaufmann Fund? They used to buy page after page of advertising. Guess that's why they had an ER over 2%.

 

[DisneyDreamer]

I guess it is all just a sign of changing times. It is true I relied on any personal finance advice within its pages less and less over the years. Perhaps I kept reading out of habit.

I'm not surprised at all of a company axing non-profitable branches of its business. Just making conversation and seeing if anyone else noticed the same abrupt halt to its print edition.

I'll look into a refund of my latest 3 year subscription renewal. I remember reading somewhere to be a demanding consumer...

 

[DisneyDreamer]

I guess I do not understand this. I am a subscriber like the OP to 2021. What does that give us NOW? How do we let the website know we are subscribers? I looked at subscriptions etc. on the website and cannot seem to find out anything about it. Do we get a refund?

Exactly. Let me know if you find anything out regarding this. I will do the same.

 

[aja8888]

Kiplinger is next with the Axe. They already have an online edition.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Exactly. Let me know if you find anything out regarding this. I will do the same.

+1