Money magazine = worth it really?

[Zoocat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art G Absolutely not worth it. Somewhere I once saw a collection of Money magazines cover stories from years past on funds you must absolutely own. The returns were a negative number going forward. They tend to recommend buying high from what I've seen.

That was my experience as a novice investor. I put a lot of my IRA into the Janus Fund which was still being touted by Money magazine when Janus' investments in Enron were clearly out of balance. Needless to say, I lost some money in that debacle.

[mathjak107]

i like reading it, it makes my own problems seem not so bad. kind of like watching the loosers on susie orman

[tomintucson]

I've subscribed to Barrons for 8 or 10 years, have learned from some of the best minds in the business (especially from interviews with the likes of Ray Dalio, Stephanie Pomboy et al), but am somewhat disenchanted of late and extremely skeptical of the new owner, a Mr. Murdoch.

[52andout]

Since all of these magazines are at my library I do check them out and read them. For investing purposes, I would not take anyone's word for it anyway and would check out each stock/fund I was interested in personally. By the time any recommendations are made there are so many people reading it for the short term things are a little skewed anyway.

I love the general articles, like one person's finances. It is rare that someone is in better shape than we are.

What I find totally ridiculous are the articles that tell you how to save money. For instance, not getting a latte saves me x dollars a year, but they fail to take into account I never had a latte. Always brew my coffee at home. Not going to the movies once a month saves x, except I go to the movies maybe once a year if someone gives us a gift certificate. And of course they mention eating out. I will only save $100/year not eating out, it is truly a rare event. I have yet to see any magazine or article mention cutting paper towels, or using cloth napkins or towels to clean instead of disposables, or any of the useful talents I see employed here. I expect that those things would be considered cheap and below the sophisticated readers the mags are trying to reach. I'll take cheap any day.

[RonBoyd]

There is an article in today's New York Times that kinda explains our fascination with magazines. (The article doesn't specifically address this but...)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/science/26tier.html

[DangerMouse]

I used to subscribe to most of the financial magazines, Money included, and have found that I have outgrown them. Most of what they publish is fluff and I usually find myself thinking that those featured in the articles are a pack of idiots.

[Art G]

OK, here's the summation on Money Magazine. Check out year to year they publish their list of "Mutual Funds you absolutely must own". Each year they are different funds.

[Orchidflower]

I have all of Money's issues from this year. Seems as if they cover the same old thing over and over, but just change a couple verbs, adverbs, nouns and pronouns in the titles like, "The Best Place to Move in Retirement" to "Best Places to Live in Retirement." Well, you get the picture. SOS, different month. Zzzzz...
Did get some good ideas from others here, tho, and using them, too.

[clifp]

I still subscribe to Kiplingers. I'd probably resubscribe to either Fortune or Forbes at less than $20/year. I do pay for online access to the WSJ. Money is useless perhaps dangerous fluff. AAII has about one good article per issue. However, in general I think most board members have outgrown the financial planning info in most of the magazines. Of course you can get almost all of them online for free.

[novaman]

By the time MONEY magazine starts recommending something, it has already peaked.

I foolishly took a flyer on a few of their must own stocks a few years ago. They were citigroup, intel, dell. Intel hasn't moved in 3-4 years and the other 2 have been among the biggest losers i've ever owned.

[chinaco]

Not worth it. Too much free information available on the internet.

[CuppaJoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mathjak107 i like reading it, it makes my own problems seem not so bad. kind of like watching the loosers on susie orman

Do you know Suzi, like I know Suzi? Oh! Oh! Oh, what a gal.

Yes, one must know Suzi to be culturally literate. I superficially skim her books and believe that she advises women beginning to wise up financially to not only accept the extra $100 in interest from TD AmeriTrade but also asks them to promise they will regularly read one of the magazines like "Money" or "Kiplingers." Wonder what the K guy thinks of "Money."
My "Money" gets skimmed as I open the mail and goes right into the recycling.

I continue to suggest getting financial insight from novels rather than most finance books.

[Spanky]

I read Money magazine at the library. I would not mind paying $10 for a subscription.

[GoodSense]

I subscribed to it last year and am thinking about stopping it. All the stuff I like (personal stories, etc.) is already on their website. The other stuff I don't really care (ie. recommended stocks).

I'll just put the magazines in a box and read them again in a couple of years. I won't remember that I already read them and they'll be like new.

[MooreBonds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanky I read Money magazine at the library. I would not mind paying $10 for a subscription.

When I make my weekly trip to the library to return my DVDs and pick up a few more to watch over the coming week, I'll occasionally grab the latest copy of Forbes/Fortune/etc. to browse through.

I did sign up for a 3-year laugh fest subscription to Money about 18 months ago. I usually keep it sitting on the toilet in the bathroom to read a page or two at a time (hey, it helps pass the time ). I'm definitely not renewing the subscription when it expires, even though it's $1/issue.

[RetireeRobert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchidflower but am not sure Money is worth buying even for the sr. $10 a year rate. I seem to never look or take Money's advice. Am I wrong for thinking this? :confused:

Yes, you are wrong.

For $10 a year what do you expect? For that price it is worth the entertainment value. And sometimes they have interesting travel articles, info on new websites, insurance, and the like. I like to read the personal stories profiles too.

It is worth $10 a year, to answer your original question. $20 a year, I would think twice.

[mathjak107]

we let money mag doing an article on us 2 years ago, it was fun doing the photo shoot and all but they really couldnt find much to change in our portfolio. the big issue was our differing views on long term care.

MONEY Magazine: Money Makeover: Ready for the home stretch - March 1, 2006

[Jeb-NY]

I subscribe to Money but just for the pictures

Jeb

[cardude]

Playboy has some good financial articles..............

I used to get OID (Outstanding Investor Digest) back when I was trolling for individual stocks. I don't even know if they are still in business.

The best reading to learn about general investing, IMO, are the Chairman's Letters and the annual reports of Berkshire Hathaway. However, they don't have any information about mutual funds or any other detailed "how too" stuff at all, so it they actually may not be helpful for day to day stuff.

Shareholder Letters

[CuppaJoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mathjak107 we let money mag doing an article on us 2 years ago, it was fun doing the photo shoot and all but they really couldnt find much to change in our portfolio. the big issue was our differing views on long term care. MONEY Magazine: Money Makeover: Ready for the home stretch - March 1, 2006

I agree with your views on long term care. Of course, I've been aware of planners' ideas on it for many years and always heard to consider it at about age 59; well I pretty much became uninsurable at age 57 but don't feel at all nervous about having no long term care insurance.

From my personal experience (small sample) with my mom and others I know, stays in nursing homes, etc. are more likely to be relatively short. There really are a lot of in-home alternatives.