Magazines for Grown-ups
Berkeley Parents Network >
Reviews >
The Arts, Books, Entertainment, & Media >
Magazines for Grown-ups
May 2007
I'm looking for a website that sells back issues of magazines (I
forgot to buy some when my kids were born and I'd love something
from their birth dates for them to look back at when they are
older). I recently saw a blurb about a site but forgot to save
the article. And I've done some google searches and have found
two possibilities but they are pretty pricey. Does anyone have
any recommendations for a one-stop website where I can buy back
issues? Thanks!
Anon
I've had great luck finding magazine back issues on ebay -
there's a whole section for them. Seems like they are usually
sold in lots, for instance, I just bought a whole year of the New
York Times magazine (which is what I was looking for). But there
are plenty of single issues of all kinds of magazines being
offered as well. And the prices are great.
Julie
I've had very good luck buying back issues (we're talking 1940s-
1960s; haven't searched for anything recent) of magazines on
Ebay.
JP
March 2003
Hi all,
My wife and I are considering subscribing to one of the many
personal finance magazines, as part of our attempt to feel more
like adults. :) We've paged through some of them (Money,
Kiplinger's, and a couple others), and are having a hard time
trying to figure out (a) if there's any real difference between
then, and (b) if so, which has the best useful information. For
example, we're not likely to plunk much (any) money into
individual stocks, so the articles on how to pick stocks don't
do much for us. Finally, if there are any magazines with a
particular focus on socially responsible personal finance, that
would be great as well.
Any suggestions or comments are welcome.
Thanks!
Michael
Possibly the worst thing you could do for your personal
finances is subscribe to a finance magazine and try to use it
to guide your decisions. These magazines offer
contradictory 'hot tips' which follow far too much the winds of
the times and would end up costing you big not only in
commissions but also consternation; remember, they are
sustained by advertisements from the finance industry itself.
While they occassionally offer an article with decent basic
advice, these articles are impossible to distinguish from the
chaff. Thus, financial press is best thought of as
entertainment rather than education. You will be far better off
investing your time and money in reading carefully a solid
book on personal finance by a good author.
I have read almost every personal finance book out there
and most are junk. Fortunately there are several excellent
exceptions. For starters, try Eric Tyson's ''Personal Finance
for Dummies.'' Don't let the Dummies brand turn you off; the
author is very good and and covers all the bases
(insurance, investing, home buying, etc.). This is by far the
best introduction to personal finance with rock-solid advice;
if you read it cover-to-cover you will be better advised than
most people writing in the finance press. If you are
interested in investing only, check out his more in-depth
books on Mutual Funds or Investing for Dummies.
If you read that and find you want to read more, other good
options are Andrew Tobias's ''The only investment guide
you'll ever need'' and, for more theoretical detail, Burton
Malkiel's ''Random walk down Wall Street''. Some people
swear by Suze Orman; if you like her style, check out one of
her earlier books like ''Courage to be rich'' or ''9 Steps'', or
her encyclopedia.
Ellen
I spent many years working at Morningstar, a company that
provides investment information to both individual investors and
pros. I would stay away from Money - too many simple, ''you can't
lose'' solutions. Kiplinger's was slightly better. Also consider
SmartMoney and Barron's newspaper (more sophisticated and
targeted to pros, but good.) I would recommend checking out
Morningstar's consumer web site or maybe some of their
newsletter products.
Although I'm no longer employed by Morningstar, I'm a big fan of
their intelligent, reasoned, unbiased investment info. Good luck.
Jill
With regard to socially responsible investing, more and
more 'green funds' are investing in companies that are not
socially responsible. In the past, funds that did lagged
behind in performance so they were compelled to invest more
traditionally (less green) to bring their numbers up. Then you
get in the debate over if a company is green or not (HR
Block...helping many inner city residents with their taxes
(good) but charging them high fees on loans for their refunds
(bad)). I tell my clients to invest traditionally and then
donate locally to a cause that best fits their goals.
Before investing in a socially responsible fund, look at their
top 10 holdings. Then decide.
In terms of magazines, I agree, please do not make investment
decisions based on these. Their is a difference between
investment professional and journalist. Plus, by the time your
read it in a magazine, it is already priced in the markets.
Read a book or talk to an advisor regarding basic investments.
Vincent
Like the previous person who responded to this query, I do not
have magazines to recommend but I would highly recommend Suze
Orman. She is on cable (CNBC?) and has a talk show in which she
answers lots of questions in a very clear manner. She is very good
at pushing you to think about what is good for YOU. So, it's not
just information overload (which is what I experience when I read
the magazines about the ''Best Mutual Funds of the Year'' or
something like that), but she actually helps you make some
important decisions about what you should do with your money. I
recommend any of her books. I am currently reading ROAD TO WEALTH,
which puts many of the major, complex matters in an easy-to-read,
digestible Q&A format. If you still want periodicals, then I do
believe she recommends either magazines or websites in her books
(i.e. Courage to Be Rich, I believe). One of her recommendations
is David & Tom Gardner's MOTLEY FOOLS GUIDE TO INVESTING, which
very frankly demystifies notions around investing. She also
recommends their website. Both Suze Orman and the Motley Fools
stuff would be good to read before you start looking at the
magazines, which can often be heavy on the hype and advertising,
which Orman and the Gardners caution against.
Suze Orman Fan
Instead of a personal finance magazine, I highly recommend checking out The Motley Fool at www.fool.com. These guys are great! PBS had a show they did last year sometime that was really useful.
Likes reading financial advice for free
this page was last updated: May 7, 2012
The opinions and statements expressed on this website
are those of parents who subscribe to the
Berkeley Parents Network.
Please see
Disclaimer & Usage for
information about using content on this website.
Copyright © 1996-2013 Berkeley Parents Network