I was so excited to see a subscription that I recognized from United Airlines rather slim pickings. What do I mean by this? Eighteen months ago I had about 7,000 frequent flier points that were going to expire. As a consolation prize for this selfish behavior United offered me the opportunity to cash these points in for magazine subscriptions. Looking through the list I was able to scrape together about 8 subscriptions. The best ones being Money Magazine, Harpers Bazaar, Sunset... Anyway. I hadn't read Money Magazine in some time. I used to pick up a copy here and there in the grocery store like frazzledspice. I did this because their mutual funds top 50 or 100 always caught my eye. My husband and I have become investment savvy over the years but we still have a long way to go.
Why does Money Magazine appeal to me? Because they seem to be more Family Friendly. Many issues have a cover with an ordinary couple or family on it (they even list their real names on the cover!). They cater more to families and retirement issues than other financial magazines.
On the cover it will usually list the beefy topics that you will find inside with the corresponding page numbers. My husband and I took a keen interest to the October Issue "What the Best are Buying Now" with input from a favorite financial Guru Goddess Abby Cohen of Goldman Sachs. My mother quotes her constantly. All quiet on the home front when Abby speaks on TV. She will move financial markets along with Greenspan. The other hot Guru on this cover - Peter Lynch. CMGI's - David Wetherell. Anyway, if you are interested it's on page 77.
Another bit of interest for me was Martha's IPO (page 31) Martha Stewart that is. I diss her but I love her. She is a marketing Genius! I won't buy her stock, though. Personal reasons.
This bit on Martha you will find in the Openers section - a short, easy, informative read. After you scan through Openers and get a bite out of some good tidbits (as they are meant to be) you move on to the Investing section. What is helpful here is a small table of contents box that deals just with this section. More helpful tools to wade through the useful information. In November's issue I can stop and read "The Limited Is (Almost) in style a short and informative read. Or I can skip over to the article about "Bulky P&G Looks for Speed" a word from their CEO. I, almost, worked for this outfit until I got panned in the last interview. So, this read would be of interest to me.
Back to the October issue: After I get through the investing section I stop to read the columns (another regular feature) Joseph Nocera does a great editorial on "Long Live the Bull!" I read because this topic always interests me. "The opinions on Internet stock sites contain a level of hostility I've never seen...." After reading the columns I get to the heart of the magazine and why I opened it in the first place. The Cover Story - "The Ultimate Investment Club 1999." Oh, to be a fly on that wall! The Features area where the cover story is included will answer everything you need to know, in my opinion. I am not a financial analyst but an ordinary "Jane".
Another area I like: Money.com. Again, another table of contents to make my search a little easier. These are quick, to the point, reads. A good read: "Why Your Broker Hates E-Mail" page 154 in the October issue.
Under Saving & Spending - A family favorite, right? "The Best Ways to Get Cash From Your Home as Mortgage Rates Rise" in the article it gives me a table of the best deals.
Under The Goods- the Article "Travel Light" gives me some beefy information about handheld computers. Again, providing me with a table of comparisons and the best ones for what you might be looking for: Like the "Surfer's Best Bet" (Nec MobilePro 800) or the "Scribes Choice" (Vadem Clio).
Under Travel: A great article on "The Guides We Trust" as in travel guides- for San Fran it's the Frommer's 99 San Francisco guide and for NYC it's again the Frommer's 99 New York City. For DC it's the Access Washington, DC.
Another Favorite is The Money Helps Column - here you can read what other reader's have questions about some which will greatly assist you as well. These are IRA questions, mutual fund questions, tax questions etc. They are answered professionally and expertly. Always an interesting read, here.
Now, the most interesting thing for this month's issue. January 2000. An article in the Saving and Spending section: Check out page 133. It's called, "Consumer Reports" Are the "new online communities" your best source of consumer-product advice? A great article that speaks highly of Epinions.com. Very interesting. I was captivated.
A bit from the article: This written by Rob Turner:
"Since I happened to be in the market for a cell phone and service, I set out to learn for myself what the online communities had to offer..... I headed to what's probably the hottest of the new consumer opinion sites,
http://www.epinions.com.....I found nine recent reviews of the $150 Samsung cell phone, including 1300 words by someone named "maxntropy", who was particularly impressed with the....Turns out that this thoughtful review wasn't an anomaly. In fact, I found Epinions.com to be the best overall source for detailed consumer opinion, perhaps as a result of the site's innovative strategy of paying people for their opinions......I'm not sure what kind of business model this all makes for---paying every Tom, Dick and Harry for his opinions may be a strategy only an Internet entrepreneur could love. As an incentive for thoughtful, honest, and even clever reviews, however, it seems to work. Maybe that's why I found Productopia, a product-review site that's been generating some buzz, considerably less helpful....."
End of quotes to writer. I did try to find this article on their website but did not have any luck. If I do, I will post the link. This should be a must-read. Again, page 133 of Jan. 2000's issue. Darn, that Rob wasn't in the market for a Playmobil Police Car or Neurosmith's Music Blocks or the Hoover Windtunnel for that matter! Sheeesh. I bet he's a relative of this revered member "maxntropy" (Only Kidding! Just Jealous!) Go read him! A plug for you!
Anyway to wrap this up, I am very happy to have been given the opportunity for a free subscription to Money Magazine, a sister publication of Fortune - which I love and through which I found my path to Epinions.com back in September. So for this alone I will renew my subscription at a rate of $29.95 for 10 issues. If I renew I get a copy of "How to Retire Young and Rich". But I am retired and working happily for Stay-at-Home-Mom's Inc. with some business on the side. Oh, well. Maybe my husband can use it.
The web site con will still give this magazine a 5 rating in my book.
