Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine back issues from July 2006:
True Grit. Do You Have It?(From the Editor)(Editorial)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: FRED W. FRAILEY At supper the other night, my daughter Liz abruptly said, "I hate to write." Liz was profiling a teenager with ataxia telangiectasia, an incurable disease, and I felt for her. "I hate to write, too," I replied, quite involuntarily. I got her attention ....
Letters.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
Jul 01, 2006 ... One reader's Honda Civic Hybrid is the ride of his life. The owner of a thoroughbred racehorse says he's having the time of his life. And a young reader credits this magazine with getting her life off on the right foot. HAIL TO HYBRIDS I own a 2003 Honda Civic ...
Go Ahead. Wade Into Savings.(Ahead)(savings account interest)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: ANNE KATES SMITH Two years ago, short-term interest rates were in the 1% range, and it mattered little whether you stashed cash in the corner bank or a piggy bank. Sixteen rate hikes later, courtesy of the Federal Reserve Board, savings returns are high enough to matter ...
www: Trip Scoop.(usage of websites)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2006 ... Share your travel experiences and suggest itineraries, or revise what other travelers report, at TripAdvisor.com. Search for a destination at TripAdvisor Inside. The site uses ...
To Whom the Toll Goes.(Ahead)(investor-owned toll highways)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: JOAN GOLDWASSER Sick of congestion and irked by the lack of new roads? States with too much traffic and obsolete highways are turning to investor-owned tollways. Many are, or will be, owned and maintained by foreign companies or partnerships between states and U.S. or ...
Helping Seniors Stay Connected.(Ahead)(naturally occurring retirement communities)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: PAT MERTZ ESSWEIN Aging at home is the goal for most seniors, but the reality is often isolation, depression, unmet health-care needs and property deterioration. These issues eventually push people into their children's homes or assisted living. But community activists, ...
Vast Vats of Grapes.(Ahead)(California wine pricing and quality)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2006 ... Toast this: There's a bumper crop of California grapes and wine surpluses the size of lakes. Last year's U.S. grape harvest was 20% to 30% above expectations. But since demand for good wine is growing faster than the supply of grapes--especially for ...
Healthier Choices.(Ahead)(investment returns in health savings accounts)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: JOAN GOLDWASSER Early deposits in health savings accounts have mostly landed in money-market accounts and CDs. Those haven't a remote chance of keeping up with medical inflation, a flaw in the HSA concept. Fortunately, mutual fund sponsors are ...
What You Need to Know About ETFs.(Ahead)(exchange-traded funds)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Sean O'Neill 1. Don't be put off by the alphabet soup. Exchange-traded funds are easier to understand and use than their names suggest. Basically, ETFs are mutual funds that trade like stocks. Some copy the returns of broad stock- and bond-market indexes. Others ...
Have Fun Toting a Bagful of Stocks.(Ahead)(investing in individual stocks versus funds)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Jeffrey R. Kosnett Brett Burkey assigns the book A Random Walk Down Wall Street to his high school economics students in Boca Raton, Fla. The author of the financial classic, Princeton University professor Burton Malkiel, strongly believes that stocks are the best choice ...
Planting an Inflation Hedge.(Ahead)(shifting investment portfolios to protect against inflation)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: James K. Glassman The outlook for inflation, says the new Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, "is reasonably favorable but carries some risks." For investors, inflation always carries risks, and now those risks have intensified. The consumer price index, the benchmark for ...
Japan On a Spree.(Investing)(Japanese economy )
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Andrew Tanzer Like a bear gingerly emerging from winter hibernation, the Japanese economy is shaking off 15 years of torpor. Deflation is giving way to rising consumer prices. Banks are lending again. The job market is firm, and wages are increasing. Real estate and ...
The Beauty of Balance.(Investing)(selecting balance funds)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Katy Marquardt It seems way too easy. Buy one mutual fund and voilà--instant portfolio. But that's the essence of good balanced funds, which aim to help investors cut through the complexity of building and managing a portfolio with a ready-made mix of stocks, ...
An All-Star Break.(Investing)(SunAmerica Focused Alpha Growth)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: David Landis Funds run by teams of marquee managers from different firms have been around for years. But here's a new wrinkle: a stellar fund available at a terrific price. SunAmerica Focused Alpha Growth boasts two all-star managers: Ron Baron and Tom ...
Double or Nothing.(Investing)(TFS Capital's Small Cap Fund guarantees returns )
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: THOMAS M. ANDERSON Mutual funds that link management fees to performance are about as common as blackjack players who beat the house--it happens, but not often. According to Lipper, 194 funds collect more when they beat a predesignated benchmark and take less when they ...
Philanthropy Made Easy.(Investing)(donor advised funds)(Column)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Knight Kiplinger Like most Americans, I get great joy from charitable giving--sharing my material blessings with organizations that make this a better world. But a few years ago, as my list of charities grew longer and longer, I began to feel overwhelmed by the ...
Super Mario, What Have You Done For Us Lately?(Investing)(Mario Gabelli of Gabelli Asset fund)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Steven T. Goldberg First as a private money manager and later as the skipper of Gabelli Asset fund, Mario Gabelli was super. From Asset's inception, in 1986, through 1999, the fund returned an annualized 18%, making it number one among all value funds over that stretch, ...
Income Gushers.(Investing)(investments with high income)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: JEFFREY R. KOSNETT In "Pump Up Your Yields" (July 2005), we suggested 19 investments that would generate superior income. Most of our picks did well, some extraordinarily so. Oil-and-gas royalty trusts led the way. Enerplus Resources surged 59% to May 15; ...
Why Patience Matters.(Investing)(holding onto stocks)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Andrew Feinberg Patience is an important virtue for investors. Just about everybody can agree on that. But many advisers and financial writers seem to think that practicing patience is a snap and that we should all do it all the time, even if our instincts and emotions ...
Dough from Bread.(Investing)(stocks of Cosi Inc.)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Thomas M. Anderson Enter a Cosi restaurant and your eyes are immediately drawn to the open flame of the large hearth oven behind the counter. Look closely and you'll see rectangular loaves of bread baking. The hot, crusty bread is what separates Così from other ...
The Kiplinger 25.(Investing)
Jul 01, 2006 ... How are our fund picks doing? This issue marks the launch of a regular feature listing one-year results for the funds in the Kiplinger 25 (see "The 25 Best Mutual Funds," May). One purpose of this feature is to clearly differentiate our recommended funds, none of which levies a front-end ...
Rankings: Top-Performing Stock Mutual Funds--One Year.(Investing)
Jul 01, 2006 ... RANKINGS: Top-performing stock mutual funds--one year HOW TO USE THE TABLES: Diversified funds are categorized by the average market value of their holdings. Funds that invest in stocks of all sizes are included in the Midsize category. Investment Style describes the kinds of ...
What $1,000 Can Do.(Your Money)(out of state 529 plans)(buying home insurance for the coming storm season)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: KATY MARQUARDT, STEVEN T. GOLDBERG, JEFFREY R. KOSNETT, THOMAS M. ANDERSON, JESSICA ANDERSON, MARY BETH FRANKLIN, JEFF BERTOLUCCI, ELIZABETH KOUNTZE, AMY ESBENSHADE HEBERT, SEAN O'NEILL, ANDREW TANZER The pool of no-load stock funds that require $1,000 or less as an ...
Health Coverage for All.(Your Money)(variations in health insurance costs and coverage)
Jul 01, 2006 ... Byline: Kimberly Lankford Worries about losing health coverage can make you reluctant to leave a job, start a business, move to another city, get divorced or retire early. And that's especially true if you have a medical condition. But you don't have to let health ...
Meet the Winners.(Your Money)(Kiplinger/Dream in You Dream Job Contest )
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Mary Beth Franklin After Northwest Airlines filed for bankruptcy last fall, commercial pilot Richard Ahlquist of Woodbury, Minn., worried how he would support his family if his job disappeared. Then he read about the Kiplinger/Dream in You Dream Job Contest and came up ...
Assets Deployed.(Your Money)(financial planning for military personnel)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Kimberly Lankford Frustrated that so much financial advice doesn't apply to them, military personnel bombard Kiplinger's with questions--including many e-mails from members of the armed services who are serving in Iraq. As the wife of an Army doctor who has been deployed ...
Save On Car Rentals.(Your Money)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Mark K. Solheim Driving will cost you more this summer than last, and not just because of higher gas prices. Car-rental rates are also on the rise. In early May, the daily rate for a midsize car was up more than $5 compared with 2005, according to the Abrams Travel Data ...
How to Avoid Getting Fired.(Your Money)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Marty Nemko You're fired!" isn't just Donald Trump's catchphrase. It's a real fear among workers who worry that their jobs may be outsourced, automated, converted to temporary status or eliminated. There's no way to make yourself fire-proof, but these 11 strategies will ...
Family-Friendly Relief.(Your Money)(how rules for ROTH IRAs benefit family tax savings)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Mary Beth Franklin For once, you don't have to rush. Congress's latest effort to tweak the tax code includes two significant opportunities for future tax savings--and gives you plenty of time to plot your strategy. One change allows anyone to convert a ...
The Case for I-Bonds.(Your Money)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: JOAN GOLDWASSER Sometimes it pays to procrastinate. Savers who never got around to buying series I inflation-adjusted savings bonds last winter may have thought they missed a great opportunity when the interest rate plunged from 6.73% to 2.41% on May 1. Not so, says ...
Two for the Money.(Your Money)(using annuities and life settlements)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Mary Beth Franklin You've spent a lifetime building your nest egg. Now the challenge is to squeeze out every penny from your savings. That's where these little-known sources of retirement income can help. One is an immediate annuity that offers higher payouts if you have ...
Know Where Your Pension Is?(Your Money)
Jul 01, 2006 ... Byline: Kimberly Lankford Iwas a Wal-Mart employee from 1988 to 1995 in a store that has since closed, and I am trying to find out exactly what happened to my profit-sharing fund. I never received a payout and am wondering if it is too late to do anything about this. Do you have ...
Credit Cards: A Frequent-Flier Program With No Blackout Days.(Your Money)(United's Mileage Plus Visa card)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: JOAN GOLDWASSER United's Mileage Plus Visa card is offering members some choice extras. Cardholders still earn points--now called Choices--at a rate of one for every $1 spent, up to an annual cap of 60,000. And you can still redeem 25,000 points for a traditional award ...
Fabulous Prefabs.(Rewards)(design of prefabricated vacation homes)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: Sean O'Neill Scott and Lisa McGlasson love canoeing, their two sons enjoy fishing for walleyes, and their daughter likes catching fireflies. To indulge their pursuits, each summer the family would bolt from their Minneapolis home to rented cabins at Little Pequaywan ...
Sleek and Sporty SUVs.(Rewards)(Buyers guide)
Jul 01, 2006 ... Byline: Mark K. Solheim Buyers of sport utility vehicles are finally getting the difference between truck-based SUVs and crossovers. In fact, partly because they don't guzzle quite as much fuel, crossovers will attract more buyers than traditional SUVs this year. But carmakers ...
Cell Phone Flicks.(Rewards)(choosing new features on cell phones)(Buyers guide)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: JEFF BERTOLUCCI The cell phone is rapidly evolving into a portable entertainment center. You can now watch more than 30 TV channels--including CNN, Cartoon Network and ESPN--depending on your plan. Many phones are also iPod-style players that let you download and listen ...
The Downs and Ups of a Musician's Life in Jazz.(My Story)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2006; ... Byline: AS TOLD TO FRED W. FRAILEY I graduated in 1976 from North Texas State University with a degree in jazz studies and went right to New York City. My dream: to play with the music's innovators. But I took any music job I could find--in other words, lots of weddings. At that ...