Guide to Personal Finance Magazines

Finance magazines are different from financial newspapers but can be just as useful when seeking out financial information. There are several advantages to financial magazines including 1) cost effectiveness in comparison to financial planner advice 2) reduced research since the magazine publication does this for you and 3) useful financial information.
 

One doesn't even have to subscribe to financial magazines to benefit from all they have to offer. Up to date issues of these magazines can often be found in public libraries free of charge.
 

There are several financial magazines to choose from. One of my personal favorites is 'Money' magazine as it provides easy to understand, practical tips for the common person in addition to interesting and insightful articles. 'Money' magazine also doesn't go over the top in the sense that it assumes its readers aren't billionaires as some of the other financial magazines may make one feel.
 

Nevertheless, there are also several other interesting financial magazines on the market. 'Forbes' is another personal favorite as it also has an online version with interesting research and articles. For tax advice, one might prefer to read 'Kiplinger' and for a more economic twist 'The Economist' is a fine publication often with very well researched articles.
 

Financial magazines can be utilized in a number of ways. If one is reading them more for entertainment, any one of them may be a good read as they all usually have pretty graphs and charts to look at. However, if one is reading personal finance magazines for education purposes it can be helpful to read and/or subscribe to more than one, as they may have different angles and financial insights that increase one's financial knowledge for the better.

A few other personal finance magazines include 'Fortune', 'Smart Money', and 'Bloomberg Markets'. There is generally a personal finance magazine and/or group of personal finance magazines for each area of personal finance such as retirement planning, investing, insurance, general personal finance etc. The flowing illustrates several areas of personal finance and various magazines that emphasize those subjects of personal finance.

• Investing magazines: Fortune, Forbes, Invest today magazine, Moneyweek magazine
• Retirement planning magazines: AARP, Kiplinger's, Smart Money, Trusts and Estates
• Tax planning magazines: The Tax magazine, Kiplinger's, International tax report
• Insurance magazines: Risk and Insurance magazine, Insurance journal, A.M Best
• Economics orientated magazines: The Economist, the New Yorker
• General personal finance magazines: Money, Finance Gates

If one wants to delve into the abstract and more complex ideas of personal finance, journals such as The Journal of Financial Planning and The Journal of Personal Finance might be more appealing. These publications may not always be available at public libraries but may viewable at University libraries, especially if those Universities have academic programs in personal finance.
 

For up to date daily financial information, financial newspapers can be more helpful. Some heavily subscribed to financial newspapers are the Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, Financial Times and Barrons in addition to the financial section of the New York Times. All these newspapers provide significant financial news and events that is current.
 

There are financial magazines for almost every aspect of personal finance. For more advanced investors, 'Futures' magazine and 'Commodities Now' provide information on these types of investments. Additionally, many print magazine publications have online versions that are either accessible for free or for a different subscription rate than the print issues of that magazine.
 

Sometimes, one can find similar information on online magazines without a trip to a bookstore or library. The formatting for online personal finance magazines is different from print versions and will likely be a completely different reading experience, however these personal finance magazines can be equally useful.
 

In summary, personal finance magazines can be a useful supplement to the advice of a financial planner and can cost a fraction of the amount. Personal finance magazines are a good way to familiarize with current trends, forecasts, and scenarios in financial planning, investing, budgeting etc.

The personal finance magazines listed in this article can serve as helpful guides, with important financial facts and relevant financial concerns to consider in the World of personal finance. Sometimes personal finance magazines can be read free of charge at local libraries, however if one wants more frequent and ready access to such magazines, choosing the magazines one finds most interesting and helpful and then obtaining a subscription to those magazines may be an option worth considering.