Customer Reviews

SmartMoney (2-year)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

I have been a subscriber for 5 or 6 years now and I always find each issue to be valuable. SmartMoney strikes a good balance between investment advice/coverage and information/articles that deal with the other aspects of your financial life. Among the features I look forward to every month:

- Ten Things: a "watch out" list of 10 things that you should know about the different professionals you interact with (your dentist, your accountant, a real estate broker, etc.). Always an eye-opener.
- Stock Screen: Paul Sturm is a knowledgeable, value-oriented journalist who puts together a list each month of 8-10 stocks that make it through a rigid screen of several characteristics. Each month, he features a different screen and he uses a good mix of quantitative characteristics and common sense to generate the list.
- Feature articles that profile common people and the serious personal finance problems they have endured (e.g., collecting on insurance, fighting the IRS, traveling overseas).

SmartMoney is frequently compared to Money magazine, but Money is often more narrowly focused on investing and it sometimes dumbs down its articles. I also read BusinessWeek, Forbes and Fortune regularly. While they all have their place, none provides the depth and common sense focus of SmartMoney when it comes to personal finance. I have photocopied and saved countless articles and I sometimes refer to them years later. ... my advice is to get a subscription now - it's definitely worth it.

I have subscriptions to Forbes, Smart Money, Money and Fortune. Out of all 4, i like Forbes and Fortune the most, because they seem to give details also on the backgrounds of the companies they are presenting as good buys. Even if Smart Money is not as good as these magazines, it is still well worth the money and provides a cheaper alternative to the beginner investor.

My main problem with Smart Money was not their writing, but their way of doing business. I made a one year subscription through Amazon and i was supposed to get the March issue as the first issue (in February). Well, i received this issue, but with it i was also sent the January and February issues (published in December of last year and January of this year). The complaints i made to their customer service department - for this cheap method they used to shorten my one year subscription by 2 months - were left with no answer. I know many magazines take advantage of their readers by sending them an older issue with the new one, but Smart Money takes the crown, sending me issues published last year!

Overall, if you can go past this, this magazine can be worth getting, especially for beginner investors. Otherwise, get Forbes or Fortune.

An update: I also e-mailed Amazon about this problem and - to their merit - they solved it immediately. While Smart Money still hasn't replied to my original e-mail, once Amazon contacted them, they added 2 more issues to my subscription. Big thanks goes again to the exceptional customer service from Amazon!

I purchased a value-package of this magazine and Kiplinger's, and I've been thrilled with both. About 20% of the articles and info are over my head, but the balance is understandable, helpful, and easily applied to my average money management skills. I've since ordered a SmartMoney subscription for three friends and relatives!

Smart Money is a solid magazine about business and finance and I have been reading it on and off again for the past five years. This magazine is a little bit big business and a little bit personal finance, combining together the features of a business magazine with that of an investment publication.

One of the main things I like about Smart Money is the fact that it includes so many different articles each month. There are only a few regular departments in this magazine. The majority of the pages include featured articles and short articles that change from month to month. These articles can cover a wide range of topics from ways to cut your electric bill to the latest regulations in the insurance industry.

Smart Money is an intelligent magazine and its articles are often a little more advanced than those of other financial publications. They don't reach a level that is too advanced to make them incapable of understanding, and that is good. But they are certainly intended for the savvier investor who already knows the ropes and wants some more specific, intermediate to advanced advice on personal finance and corporate happenings.

Overall, I rank Smart Money as a very good personal finance magazine and it is one I will continue to read when I get the chance. It is like a combination of Fortune and Money magazines and its timely articles are often very interesting and helpful. Whether it's an article on reducing your cell phone bill or an article about the profit picture in the oil business, Smart Money is certain to inform and enlighten.

I have been a Smart Money subscriber for over six years. Each month I look forward to receiving the new issue. It needs to be said (to those who aren't aware) that this is a publication of the Wall Street Journal. There isn't as much market news but the writing is comparable. From undervalued stock picks, to mutual fund screening and research, finding cheap bottles of good wine, car ratings, retirement planning and portfolio health - this magazine hits on many important topics for people in their working years. The writers use a basic insightful style that is easy for anyone to understand. It is hands down the best personal finance magazine around. Head and shoulders above Money & Kiplingers. There are better financial magazines out there if you want to get more in depth but I enjoy that Smart Money covers a wide range of money topics and product reviews. For $.67 an issue for a 3 year subscription its a no brainer.

I subscribed for a year, was disappointed right from the first issue, not going to renew. A few good articles, but most content is lightweight or irrelevant to me.
Feature articles from my current issue: Modern day wildcatters in the Texas oil fields, Buying event tickets from a broker, How to get married at an Irish castle or a lavish Paris hotel(5pgs).
Plus: Fishing rod reviews, Wine auctions, Summer in our national parks, Is a $325 razor worth it? (yes) or a $175 razor? (no), Test on $700 worth of silk ties: will catsup and coffee stains come off tie?...
Interesting, but not why I subscribed. None of these are going to make me any smarter when I decide what to do with real money.

I cancelled my auto-renewal on the Smart Money website in April 2009 and saved the online confirmation. I am stil receiving threatening letters from the "collection manager" for not paying for a subscription that began in July 2009. Unfortunately, there is no email contact information on their website for magazine customers and no phone number either. This is really frustrating and inexplicable for a personal finance magazine.

This magazine is geared only to the most rudimentary of inverstors. It is filled with articles with advice such as the need to pay down credit card debt before any other (due to its relative high interest rate) and other similar advice. This is all fine and dandy for someone at the high school level but any investor over and above this would be insulted by the intelligence of the advice provided. Plus it wastes time on product reviews of such items such as automobiles, snow blowers, etc. (i.e., another waste of investors time).

Simply the best -- this magazine is very well laid out- not busy like Money seems to be, has some intermediate technical analysis, covers a great range of financial issues including new stock pics (performance of which which they track over time), mutual funds, financial managers/discount and full service broker comparisons, bonds, tax and retirement issues, travel, just the right amount (minimal) of tech product reviews, and a monthly car review/comparison.

I appreciate the focus on bargain hunting, both in stocks and the other areas mentioned above. These guys are not stock pumpers, but value seekers!

I have contacted Smart Money Magazine about 10 times letting them know that my address had changed and they never changed it. After 6 months of not receiving the magazine, I asked to cancel and they never got back to me. Horrible Company. Whatever you do, don't move or need to talk to them about anything.