Yeah, there was a time when I'd read these things religiously ... but no longer.
These days, leafing through the money mags tends to be much more of a chore.
Money
I've had my subscription to Money magazine for years. I can tell you right now that I have likely never read a single issue cover to cover. For me, Money is mostly good for blog-post ideas and keeping up with money-related surveys and stats. However, I do consider it to be at the Top of the Heap for financial mags.
But given the (in my opinion) dubious value of the rest of these mags, I'm not sure that's saying much.
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
I'll be honest: Kiplinger's reaches my mailbox each month only because I stumbled upon a dirt-cheap, multi-year subscription offer. The magazine itself does nothing for me, primarily because it's chock full of overblown-headline articles and "Five Stocks to Buy Now" crap opinion columns.
Smart Money
Don't have a subscription to it, and won't have one. Every issue I've ever picked up was nothing but a litany of stock- and mutual-fund touts.
Just because I was interviewed in Smart Money back in 2007 doesn't mean I think the mag is worth the paper it's printed on.
Consumer Reports
Now this one, I use. And won't give up. Our CR subscription is online-only, which means it doesn't clutter my table. Such a subscription costs something like $26 per year. This e-setup works well for us. I don't really have time to peruse another paper magazine; however, when it's time for us to shop for appliances, electronics, and stuff like that, I depend on Consumer Reports like Homer Simpson depends on beer.
CR's brand tests and ratings have served us well for years — and that goes for everything from cars to plasma TVs to kitchen appliances. We turn to CR's ratings all the time, every time, before any major purchases are made.
This one's worth every penny!
What opinions do you readers have of financial mags?
