Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine back issues from April 2008:
My Take on Greed.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: FRED W. FRAILEY Lately, I've been thinking about greed. In our capitalist system, it does a lot of good by prodding us to become successful financially. But it can also do a lot of harm. People break laws under the influence of greed-or they do only what's best for ...
Letters.(Letter to the editor)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A reader offers cold comfort to a victim of the California wildfires. A veteran suggests a solution to the home-loan dilemma. The dean of a New York City commuter school points out the benefits of an urban campus. And one reader says a bathroom remodel left her flush with cash. ...
Recession at the Gates.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: ANNE KATES SMITH THE DEBATE IS THE SAME, whether at the boardroom table or the kitchen table: Are we headed for a recession? Already in one? And if not, is there anything we can do to avoid one? The answers to the first two questions depend on how successfully ...
She Called the Morgage Mess.(Susan Troll )(Interview)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Analyst Susan Troll spotted problems in the subprime credit market early. WHAT TIPPED YOU OFF TO THE PROBLEMS IN THE SUBPRIME MARKET? There were a lot of red flags. Underwriters dramatically lowered standards while lenders struggled to maintain loan volume and market share. The ...
Money & Ethics: What to Do When Your Client Acts Erratically.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: KNIGHT KIPLINGER WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CLIENT ACTS ERRATICALLY Q: I am a stockbroker, and I have an elderly, wealthy client who has always managed his account pretty conservatively, with my help. But now I see signs of mental impairment--fuzzy thinking, ...
Basic and Cheap.(personal computers)(Brief article)
Apr 01, 2008 ... SEVERAL NEW COMPUTERS unveiled in recent months have something in common besides their budget-minded price tag: All come preloaded with the Linux operating system instead of Microsoft's Windows. Until recently, Linux catered to techie do-it-yourselfers, who loaded the free system ...
Job Outlook for Grads.(Brief article)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The job market for college graduates should be decent this spring, even with the faltering economy. Employers will exercise caution, but won't shut doors ...
The Race is On to Refinance.(Brief article)
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: PATRICIA MERTZ ESSWEIN RATES WELL UNDER 6% FOR a 30-year fixed mortgage have many homeowners racing to their lenders--none faster than homeowners whose adjustable rates reset soon. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported in mid January that refinance applications were ...
Pay Less for Power.(Brief article)
Apr 01, 2008 ... THE MARYNOWSKIS COOK DINNER A DAY AHEAD, SO AT 5 P.M., a meal can be warmed in the microwave and on the table in two shakes. They're efficient working parents, yes, but they also do it to save money on their electric bill--some $250 in savings last year. The Marynowskis are among the first ...
Chugging Along.(Kansas City Southern)(Brief article)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Kansas City Southern, with more than 6,000 miles of track in the southern U.S. and Mexico, will benefit from a new port in Mexico and auto plants that are opening or expanding along its routes. New locomotives will make ...
How to Move Back Into the Market.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: JEFFREY R. KOSNETT A FEW MONTHS AGO, CHRIS Hinners, a computer-network engineer, decided that the spate of negative headlines about the economy required drastic action. He switched all the money in his 401(k) plan to stuff he figures will hold its value "if the American ...
Continuing Education.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: JAMES K. GLASSMAN When markets are falling, writes Dianne F. Lob, of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, in a recent letter to clients, "it's only natural to want to 'do something.' But while trying to time markets may sound like an alluring strategy, it is almost ...
Retire to Your Dream Job.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: MARY BETH FRANKLIN AND ROBERT FRICK BABY-BOOMERS ASKED TO DEFINE R&R ARE MORE LIKELY TO SAY "ROCK 'N' ROLL" THAN "rest and relaxation." That's a good thing, given that the old-fashioned definition of retirement as 25 years of leisure is built on two misconceptions, says ...
How to Protect Your Money Now.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: JEFFREY R. KOSNETT A BLOODTHIRSTY BEAR WILL SHRED SHARE PRICES FOR ANOTHER YEAR, MAYBE LONGER. Or perhaps the Federal Reserve's rapid interest-rate reductions will quickly calm the financial world and set the stage for the next rally. You can argue either case. But ...
Bond Funds Reduce Risk.
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: DAVID LANDIS IF YOU WERE TEMPTED TO KICK YOURSELF DURING THE bull market for keeping those stodgy bond funds in your portfolio, you're probably patting yourself on the back today. Bonds issued in the U.S. have returned 8% over the past year through mid February, taking ...
Economy Blame Game.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: JEREMY J. SIEGEL Who's to blame for the sorry mess the economy finds itself in? Is it former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan, who failed to sound an alarm about "no doc-no income" loans and kept short-term interest rates too low for too long in an attempt to ...
Insider Interview: Bill Gross.(Interview)
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: Manuel Schiffres WHEN BILL GROSS TALKS ABOUT THE economy and the bond market, investors listen. Gross, arguably the nation's best-known bond-fund manager, is chief investment officer of Pimco, a Newport Beach, Cal., firm that manages fixed-income assets totaling $747 ...
The Wal-Mart of Food Service.(Sysco Corp.)
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: ANDREW TANZER AT FIRST GLANCE, SYSCO Corp. would seem like a stock to avoid in a weakening economy. The largest distributor in the food-away-from-home industry books nearly all of its sales in North America, currently a weak link in the global economy. Food inflation ...
A Pitcher Tries to Sell Stock in His Future.(Randy Newsom)(Brief article)
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: DAVID LANDIS TO SUPPLEMENT HIS MEAGER salary as a minor league baseball player, Randy Newsom, a pitcher in the Cleveland Indians organization, put up a Web site and offered to sell shares in his future major league earnings to investors. Unfortunately, he failed to ...
You're Smarter Than They Thought.(stock funds)
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: THOMAS M. ANDERSON YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD this grim fairy tale: Plunging stocks provoke jittery investors to yank money out of mutual funds. In their rush to the exits, these saps miss the first wave of the next bull market. Eventually, as the sting of their losses wears ...
Hock Stocks for Economic Shocks.(pawnshops)
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: ELIZABETH ODY A RECESSION MAY BE THE bane of most businesses, but it's a potential blessing for pawnshops. Tight times mean strapped consumers are more likely to hock Mom's pearls to pay a credit-card bill. With credit harder to come by, more borrowers will see pawnshops ...
In Praise of Big Mo.(momentum stocks)
Apr 01, 2008 ... In case you missed it, momentum funds made a great comeback in 2007, although they quickly gave back some of those gains in early 2008. Maybe you missed the rally because you were among the folks who swore off momentum funds when they were slammed in the 2000-02 bear market. ...
Kiplinger 25 Update: Selected American Sees Bargains in Financials.(Chris Davis)(Brief article)
Apr 01, 2008 ... CHRIS DAVIS THINKS FINANCIAL STOCKS are cheap. "We're in a deep bear market in financials," says Davis, who manages Selected American Shares with Ken Fein berg. "That's the time to start looking." The pair recently invested in the battered shares of bond insurer MBIA. They also bought a ...
Dodge & Cox Reopens Two Champions.(Dodge and Cox Stock, Dodge and Cox Balanced)(Brief article)
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: ANDREW TANZER ONE OF THE MORE PLEASANT SIDE effects of recent market turbulence is that it has triggered the reopening of several outstanding no-load funds that have long been closed. Add Dodge & Cox Stock (symbol DODGX) and Dodge & Cox Balanced (DODBX), both closed ...
Best Values in Private Colleges.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: JANE BENNETT CLARK BY JANE BENNETT CLARK FOR KIDS HEADING OFF TO YALE, HARVARD OR ONE OF THE NATION'S OTHER ELITE institutions, the news couldn't be better. Not only will they get a great education with first-class bragging rights, but they also stand a good ...
Cash In On Lower Interest Rates.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: THOMAS M. ANDERSON KATE MAULDIN IS A NEWLYWED WITH A SOFT SPOT FOR Ben Bernanke. Thanks to the Federal Reserve chairman's recent moves to cut interest rates, Mauldin sees a golden opportunity to buy a larger home and pay down credit-card debt. // The prime rate-the rate ...
Your ID-Theft Prevention Kit.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: KIMBERLY LANKFORD COUNT YOURSELF LUCKY IF NO ONE HAS TRIED TO STEAL your good name. Cyber crooks are becoming ever more organized and sophisticated. To stay safe, it's not enough these days to ignore e-mails from widows of African dictators and those alerts that your ...
Fixing Five Painful Financial Screw-Ups.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: ELIZABETH ODY YOU GOOFED. YOU JUST FOUND a credit-card bill tucked into your car's sun visor-and it's due today. You neglected to file your tax return, and you're afraid to 'fess up to Uncle Sam. You got nailed for your lead-footed driving, and you're worried that the ...
Cut Your Property Taxes.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: JESSICA L. ANDERSON DURING THE HOUSING BOOM, PROPERTY TAXES soared along with home values. Now that home prices are retreating, you'd think that tax relief would be around the corner. Don't count on it. When home values drop, you could see lower taxable ...
How to Choose the Right 401(k).
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: MARY BETH FRANKLIN MICHAEL BELL IS A YOUNG lawyer on the fast track. He has maxed out annual contributions to his 401(k) over the past four years. Now he faces a choice: Should he continue to contribute to his traditional 401(k)-which saves him more than $5,000 a year in ...
Checking Accounts that Pay You Cash.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: JOAN GOLDWASSER WEB CHECKING ACCOUNTS boasting high interest rates (recently 6% at Monroe Bank and Trust) are popping up like daffodils. Interest rates may drop with the Federal Reserve's cuts in the federal funds rate. But at a recent 2.25%, FDIC-insured ING Direct was ...
Credit Card: Do Reissued Cards Hurt Credit Scores?(Brief article)
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: JOAN GOLDWASSER DO REISSUED CARDS HURT CREDIT SCORES? Q. Three of my four credit cards have been reissued in the past six months. One was re issued with a new number because of possible fraud; another was reissued because Citi had upgraded it. Finally, one ...
Ask Kim: Little Guys vs. Brokers.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: KIMBERLY LANKFORD PETER ROSS Wells Fargo brokerage recently instituted a policy that directs all cash in a brokerage account into its Wells Fargo Cash Sweep. Interest paid varies based on the total account value-from 0.3% for little guys to 3.25% for ...
Create a Greener Landscape.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: PATRICIA MERTZ ESSWEIN AMERICAN YARDS HAVE A DRINKING PROBLEM. FOR DECADES, WE'VE BOUGHT INTO THE aesthetic of the perpetually green lawn-watered, fertilized and pest-free. And we've landscaped our yards with exotic plants that crave more water than the climate naturally ...
Laptops: Beauty and the Beasts.(Product/service evaluation)
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: JEFF BERTOLUCCI THEY SAY THAT YOU CAN never be too thin or too rich. That's true of cutting-edge laptops, too. If you're prepared to spend top dollar-$2,000 and up-you can get a model so light it should come with a tether for breezy days. Or you can buy a machine so ...
A Guilt-Free SUV?(sport utility vehicles)(Product/service evaluation)
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: MARK SOLHEIM Even with painfully high gasoline prices, sales of crossovers remain brisk. But sales of truck-based SUVs have been sagging, so now GM is trying to revive interest with hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Tahoe and its sibling, the GMC Yukon. GMC even ran a ...
What You Need to Know About Computer Repair.
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: THOMAS M. ANDERSON 1. FIRST STOP: DO IT YOURSELF. Before spending any money, look for help online to remedy your problem. "You may find a really easy fix you never would have come up with on your own," says Tom Merritt, executive editor of CNET.com, the ...
One Golfer's Bid for the Big Show.(Jeff Klauk )(Interview)
Apr 01, 2008; ... Byline: ROBERT FRICK and JEFF KLAUK HOW MUCH DO YOU EARN? Last year, I made $169,000 and finished 34th on the Nationwide Tour money list. But it costs $50,000 to $70,000 a year just to play on the tour. I have endorsements from Nike and Titleist that covered my expenses last ...