Financial publications just don't appeal to me much anymore

[disneysteve]

For most of my adult life, I've subscribed to a couple of different financial publications. I've learned a lot from them over the years. As I approached and then entered retirement, however, I'm finding that they really don't have much to offer anymore. We have a mature portfolio. I no longer care about student loans, mortgages, saving for college, credit scores, or any of the other myriad of topics which regularly appear in these publications. I'm not a stock picker. And I'm not terribly interested in reading economic forecasts/predictions or wrap ups after the fact. About the only thing that I do find useful is articles reviewing changes to the tax code, but I can certainly find that info elsewhere, and for free. One publication folded a few years back. I think when my current subscription ends I won't be renewing.

Have others here found the same to be true, that the mainstream financial media just rehashes the same topics over and over and at this stage, most of it just no longer applies to you?

 

[Phroig]

I used to get three: SmartMoney, Money, and Kiplinger. The first two are gone. I still get Kiplinger. When my subscription ends, I usually don't renew until they offer me a significant discount. I enjoy flipping through the magazine when it arrives, and occasionally find a useful article.

 

[aja8888]

Yes, same feeling as the OP.

 

[Dawg52]

Same. When I was in the accumulation stage I enjoyed a couple of financial publications. These days I might watch something on CNBC or Bloomberg. And occasionally articles that Fidelity emails me but that’s about it.

 

[CincyDave]

Agree with OP....a lot of what they offer doesn't apply to me or a lot of retirees. Kiplinger's Retirement Report is probably geared more to the audience on here. I no longer subscribe to any publications, but will pick some up at the library from time to time.

 

[jollystomper]

I subscribed to Money from the early 1980s through the mid 2010s. I used to buy and read Kiplingers on business trips. I agree that they are for a certain stage of financial life. Once you hit a certain age and are FIREd, they are not that useful. Particularly if one is buy and hold with primarily broad market index funds of ETFs and only trades (and infrequently at that) to adjust one's AA. That is too boring a consumer for the financial media .

 

[reneeh63]

I did really like Kiplingers when I was just getting started with picking mutual funds. They'd have that annual(?) issue with page after page showing all the funds and their performance over a bunch of periods and other stats. But the best thing was when they had a CD of all the data and you could sort by any column - OMG! I was in absolute heaven with all that data at my fingertips - it was the coolest thing ever - for those years, anyway.

Now, not so much but there are so many other sources...

 

[athena53]

I stopped reading Money when I was in my late 30s/early 40s. I was married, had a child and was struggling to keep the bills paid because my then-husband spent everything he made and then maxed out his credit cards. I was the "emergency fund". It was hard to read the cover story which inevitably featured a smug couple my age with a paid-off house and 2 perfect kids whose future college expenses were already fully-funded.

Now I get most of my financial news from podcasts- general business ones from the BBC and NPR as well as Motley Fool and Jim Cramer (who are sometimes at odds with each other). Nothing in print. The financial section of our local paper disappeared years ago.

 

[COcheesehead]

I used to get three: SmartMoney, Money, and Kiplinger. The first two are gone. I still get Kiplinger. When my subscription ends, I usually don't renew until they offer me a significant discount. I enjoy flipping through the magazine when it arrives, and occasionally find a useful article.

I used to get all three of these as well. I enjoyed them. I can’t remember when I stopped. Had to be at least 20 or more years ago.

 

[disneysteve]

there are so many other sources...

I think that's part of it. Print media is a dying format. Money magazine ended publication in 2019. Smart Money stopped in 2012. Kiplinger is still at it, and it's still a quality publication in my opinion. The content just isn't particularly relevant. I enjoy flipping through it but I find that I'm skipping more and more of the articles in recent months. I used to read most everything for general knowledge if nothing else. Now, I don't even do that.

Plus, as you said, there are so many other sources that didn't exist years ago, especially pre-internet. Now, we have the latest financial news and stats at our fingertips 24/7 for free. By the time a magazine is published and gets to our doorstep, it's old news. And we're just at a point in our lives where there isn't much in the way of future planning that needs to be done.

 

[bada bing]

Prior to 2000 I was invested in active mutual funds and read Money and Kiplinger pretty regularly, although I never subscribed. I quit sometime around 2003, about the same time I indexed my portfolio. I still occasionally read the WSJ, but mostly for news and opinion.

Since retiring 5 years ago, my attention to financial minutia has fallen off a cliff. All my bills auto pay and I interact with my portfolio only in December to rebalance, Roth convert and withdraw next year's spending estimate. During my career I spent quite a bit of time educating myself on general finances as well as my specific employer's plans, taxes etc. But anymore it doesn't matter. Other things to obsess about.

I'm finding a similar trend happening now with my attention to news in general. I still think I'm reasonably informed, but find more and more reasons to tune out what seems to be an increasing noise to signal ratio in media news.

 

[luckydude]

Agreed with OP.

I used to enjoy reading Money, Kiplinger, etc. years ago when I was in the accumulation phase and could relate to topics covered by those magazines. Now, my financial situation has evolved to the point where I can't relate to the usual "personal finance" topics covered by the general financial press because they are no longer applicable to me.

Another reason is I've kind of lost interests in topics related to finance and investments. I don't care if my portfolio goes up or down or sideways because I know I have enough and I'll never run out. I stopped tracking my net worth a few years ago. I still track expenses out of force of habit but that's pretty much it. I rather spend my time and energy on my hobbies to maximize my remaining active years.

 

[disneysteve]

I still track expenses out of force of habit but that's pretty much it. I rather spend my time and energy on my hobbies to maximize my remaining active years.

I also still track spending. It truly doesn't matter but I feel like I need to know the numbers. Maybe a day will come when I don't care but today isn't that day.

 

[OldShooter]

My last issue of The Economist will probably be delivered around the time of my funeral. Other than that, nothing.

 

[pb4uski]

Same. Was a Money magazine subscriber for much of my adult life and Smart Money and Kiplinger Personal Finance as well but I rarely view them these days. Still subscribe to the WSJ but as much for general news as economic and investing news.

 

[bada bing]

I wonder a bit about the connection with this topic and the current threads about not spending enough, hoarding, etc. One of the few things I made an accurate estimate of has been my spending. I estimated when I retired I'd need $100K/year along with DGF (who retired the same time & same age) putting in about $60K additional. It's been very close to that so far. Markets have been kind over the last 5 years and balances would now support more. But there isn't any imperative for us to spend more. DGF likes her recent year Escalade and we travel as much as we want to. Nothing additional to BTD on for us. That also contributes to my ambivalence about portfolio and financial topics in general. It's sort of become like a football game, where it was interesting at the kick off, but now it's halftime and the score is 28-3. Not really all that urgent to watch closely any more.

 

[Al18]

Read Kiplinger years ago - learned some things. WSJ is still the place to go for stock info.

 

[Koolau]

I let my subscription to Kiplinger lapse after they became obsessed with DEI and similar ideas as related to equities and Fortune 500 companies.

 

[mrfeh]

Never paid for anything of this nature, either online or in print.

My financial education began in earnest about 15 years ago, and everything I've needed (in text or video form) is available for free.

I have read a handful of books regarding finances, but those were borrowed from my public library.

 

[athena53]

My brother forwards the Kiplinger letters to us- Tax, Retirement and Washington Watch. I don't think he's supposed to share with people who haven't bought the subscriptions. I find the Tax newsletter useful because sometimes I learn new things- better than the rehashed "Ten Things to do before Year-end to Save Taxes" clickbait articles. The Washington letter is pretty straightforward- doesn't express an opinion on what the administration is doing but focuses on the likelihood of change and possible impact. Whatever they're changing I don't think I'd pay for it myself.

 

[RetMD21]

The Kiplinger letters are probably better than the magazine. I just flipped through this month's issue via Libby and the articles were just more of the same. In the old days I read the WSJ, Money, and my favorite, Forbes. I'm with OP. At this stage of life most of the topics covered are of little interest.

 

[Al18]

In the past 12 years, since joining this forum, I’ve learned more about retirement finances and planning than anywhere else. Thanks to all of you who post - it’s very enlightening!

 

[frayne]

Years ago, I subscribed to Money magazine, but as mentioned above, there’s such a plethora of information on the web and through podcasts that financial magazines have become redundant. Being mostly an indexer, I ignore most of the noise, but I do keep a small portion of my portfolio, less than 5% for speculating (gambling) on stocks or funds that I think have a chance to perform well.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

Yes, I'm rather surprised at myself. Not only did I read tons of publications, I also went to meetings (required by the job in finance) about current market conditions etc. I really loved all that stuff. Now I can't be bothered. I check numbers once a year and my FA calls me when something needs my attention. I don't even track expenses anymore!

 

[Gumby]

Long ago, I occasionally would pick up an issue of Money or Kiplinger at the news stand if it caught my eye, but I never subscribed. The only paper publications that I ever subscribed to were The Economist, Wall Street Journal and New York Times. I still subscribe to the NYT online.