Smart Money Is A Smart Purchase

Off and on for years I have subscribed to Money magazine, Worth, Kiplinger's, and others. My wife just returned from visiting her father, who is a dentist and has a waiting room full of magazines. She brought home the current copy of Smart Money, and I was pleasantly surprised. It is written in a clear, interesting style and appeals more to people of all income levels rather than a magazine like Worth, which seems to be for high net worth individuals.

The Street Smart column has articles on topics such as IPOs, most of which trade at a huge discount to their offering prices, value investing, a case for buying Federated Department Stores stock, Aetna's proposed split, and an analysis of Tommy Hilfiger, Jones Apparel, and Liz Claiborne.

For anyone interested in the Dogs of the Dow strategy, the July issue explains how a new way of looking at it is to find the Dow companies that are making huge buybacks of their own stock.

"The Agenda" column contains helpful consumer tips such as advice on using frequent-flyer miles, wireless services, rental car damage coverage, and a checklist for moving.

"The Tech File" column has interesting articles such as choosing a CD recorder to turn LPs into CDs, world cell phones and interesting websites. I also like the helpful article on flat screen all in one PCs that take up very little desk space. For people who are bothered by all of the on line ads, the article about free software to eliminate them will be super useful.

If you are in the job market, the "10 Things Your Headhunter Won't Tell You" in the July issue is required reading. Anyone who belongs to an HMO should read "Adding Insult To Injury", which tells how HMOs can get their greedy hands on people's personal injury lawsuit settlements. I was also glad to read about Americas 10 worst mutual fund companies, because I had considered buying into one on the list. There is a lot more helpful consumer information in each issue, and I recommend this magazine for any adult.