Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine back issues from August 2008:
An editor's life.(FROM THE EDITOR)
Aug 01, 2008; ... An Editor's Life When I tell folks what I do for a living, they almost always get blank looks on their faces and change the subject--either that or ask for hot stock tips. I don't blame them for that. Nobody knows what an editor does. Journalism schools teach you how to edit, ...
Inflation hits home.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Steep hikes in the price of bread and cheese raise red flags for one reader. Another challenges a columnist's stock pick. A reader says you might do better buying a foreclosed home at auction. And the owner of a GPS navigation device says he got a bum steer. And TIPS won't help ....
Correction.(LETTERS)(Correction notice)
Aug 01, 2008 ... Bridgeway Ultra-Small Company fund ...
States scramble to pay the bills: they're in a big bind, and budget shortfalls could linger for years.(TOPIC A)
Aug 01, 2008; ... IT'S EASY THESE DAYS TO imagine a scenario in which your income isn't what you thought it would be, the people you're responsible for are needier than ever and prices just keep going up. Now you know what your state's governor feels like. After years of operating comfortably in the black, ...
Decoding Wall Street's ratings: brokerage houses have many shades of "buy" and "sell" ratings. Here's what they really mean.(Interview)
Aug 01, 2008; ... In his new book, Full of Bull: Do What Wall Street Does, Not What it Says, to Make Money in the Market (FT Press), former analyst Stephen McClellan says most top analysts do more marketing than research. He recently spoke with David Landis. FILL US IN ON HOW TO INTERPRET "BUY" ...
Should we walk out on our mortgage?(MONEY & ETHICS)(Brief article)(Column)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Q: The value of our family's home, bought at the peak of housing prices two years ago, has declined so much that we've lost all our equity, and it's now worth less than the mortgage. But the fixed-rate monthly payment hasn't changed, and we can comfortably afford it. My husband says it ...
Instant analysis: you'll soon be able to easily crunch corporate financial data.(PERSONAL TECH)(Brief article)
Aug 01, 2008 ... THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Commission plans to throw dogged investment sleuths a very big bone. The agency wants to require publicly traded companies, starting early next year with the largest ones, to file financial data in an interactive format that makes it easy to search and compare ...
No trough for oil.(From The Kiplinger Letter)(Brief article)
Aug 01, 2008 ... Oil-price volatility will remain high as the commodities bubble slowly deflates. Still, there'll be no long-term, lasting collapse in prices like the decades-long trough that followed spikes in ...
Up go the rates for long-term care: policyholders will pay more, but it's still a good deal.(FAQ)
Aug 01, 2008; ... JOHN HANCOCK, ONE OF THE largest long-term-care insurers, plans to raise rates on existing policyholders for the first time ever. It is filing for a rate increase on long-term-care policies sold in the 1990s and on some newer New York Partnership policies. The changes will affect about ...
Save money and time at the grocery: high-tech scan-as-you-go devices give you customized coupons.(SHOPPING)(MediaCart)(Brief article)
Aug 01, 2008; ... BILL BEARD, 57, ADMITS HE'S A "GADGET GUY." WHICH explains why, during a recent trip to a Giant supermarket in Rockville, Md., he's scanning his groceries as he loads them into the cart. A handheld gizmo he's using makes a ka-ching sound as it displays digital coupons on a 5-inch screen ...
When it comes to your cash, think safety: yields are in the cellar, but you don't have to settle for 2%.(PORTFOLIO DOCTOR)
Aug 01, 2008; ... OUR READERS WHO: CHRISTIAN AND LORI KUZAN, BOTH 40 WHAT: HEALTH-CARE FINANCE ANALYST AND INSURANCE AGENT WHERE: HAMBURG, N.Y. FAMILY: AMANDA, 13 SYMPTOM: THEY NEED TO BUILD A CASH RESERVE AND INVEST IT SAFELY OH, THE JOY ...
The silver lining.(OPENING SHOT)(recession)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Is the U.S. in a recession? The official answer comes from a sort of Supreme Court of seven economists, who decide whether a "significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months" has occurred. A more precise, but strictly unofficial, ...
Why we own Berkshire.(DISCOVERING VALUE)(Berkshire Hathaway)
Aug 01, 2008; ... A friend who is a rocket scientist (literally) at NASA once asked a simple question that most value investors would consider blasphemy: "So what's the big deal about Warren Buffett, anyway?" But it's a fair question, and it's worth answering. // The longtime Berkshire Hathaway chairman's ...
Profit from the fantastic four: we name stocks, funds and ETFS for playing the rapid growth of Brazil, Russia, India and China.(INVESTING)(Exchange-traded funds)
Aug 01, 2008; ... IN 2001, THE CLEVER FOLKS AT GOLDMAN SACHS COINED A NEW ACRONYM: BRIC. BRIC stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China--the four colossi of the developing world. BRIC is a marketing slogan, but it's one that captures the imagination and simplifies the investment story in emerging markets. // ...
He buys what everyone else is selling: the manager of a little-known fund has compiled a terrific record by staying true to his contrarian instincts.(INSIDER INTERVIEW)(Robert Kleinschmidt)(Interview)
Aug 01, 2008; ... IN DESCRIBING AMERICA MORE THAN 170 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville may have unwittingly anticipated the nature of modern financial markets when he wrote that he knew of no other country in which there was "so little independence of mind." Nowadays, once people become fixated on the ...
Morningstar's take on stocks: the mutual fund rater extends its domain. That's good news for individual investors.(INVESTING: RESEARCH)
Aug 01, 2008; ... ALTHOUGH HE FOUNDED A COMPANY THAT HAS BECOME almost synonymous with mutual fund analysis, Joe Mansueto, Morningstar's chief executive, is at heart a stocks guy. He began his career as a stock analyst at Harris Associates, which runs the Oakmark mutual funds. At Morningstar's headquarters, ...
Stocks to buy before the recovery: the market usually takes off before the economy picks up. So buy sooner rather than later.(INVESTING: STOCKS)(Industry overview)
Aug 01, 2008; ... WITH STOCKS, AS WITH SO much else in life, it's better to be early than late. Share prices regularly anticipate economic recoveries, climbing off their lows six to nine months before the economy starts to improve. If stocks behave as they usually do, get ready to make some money ...
You can still cash in on Black Gold's relentless rise: offset high prices at the pump by investing directly in crude or energy stocks.(INVESTING: OIL: GOING LONG)
Aug 01, 2008; ... THE PROSPECT OF $200a-barrel oil used to be unthinkable. But crude's price has already more than doubled in the past year, to $139 in mid June, so another 44% rise is hardly unimaginable. Goldman Sachs analyst Arjun Murti, who accurately forecast triple-digit prices several years ago, says ...
Bubble trouble.(GOING LONG)(Federal Reserve)
Aug 01, 2008; ... The Federal Reserve is under fire. First, it was blamed for the stock-market bubble of the late 1990s. Then it was castigated for the real estate bubble. Now, with gasoline prices hitting previously unimaginable heights, critics are asking why the Fed isn't doing more to pop the oil ...
Earnings never go out of style: Wall Street can't seem to figure out Jos. A. Bank. But business is good and the stock is cheap.(INVESTING: STOCKS: FUNDS)
Aug 01, 2008; ... JOS. A. BANK CLOTHIERS seems to have a lot going against it. There's growing concern that strained consumers will buy fewer suits in an economy that is almost certainly in recession. The Hampstead, Md., men's clothing retailer has more than twice as many days of inventory as its main ...
4 funds that profit when prices fall.(Bet Against Bonds)(Brief article)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Despite the recent run-up in bond yields, current returns from Treasuries remain paltry. If you think yields will continue to climb--a reasonable assumption given the growing concern about inflation--there are easy ways to make money. ProFunds offers two mutual funds and two ...
Three low-risk bargain stocks: the manager of a stellar small-company fund likes his stocks safe and cheap.
Aug 01, 2008; ... "SAFE AND CHEAP" IS A phrase that's synonymous with the style of legendary investor Marty Whitman and his firm, Third Avenue Management. Whether they're investing at home or overseas, in companies large or small, Whitman and his colleagues won't buy a stock unless it meets those strict ...
Is Bill Miller toast?(MUTUAL FUNDS)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Talk about a fall from grace. Legg Mason Value, managed by the once-revered Bill Miller, has performed so poorly the past two and a half years that Morningstar now gives the fund one star, our lowest rating. But should it really come as a surprise that Miller, who was once the talk of the ...
Wall Street goes negative: a quota for analyst sell recommendations may mean better stock research from brokers.(INVESTING: STOCK RESEARCH: FUNDS)
Aug 01, 2008; ... BIG BROKERAGE FIRMS ARE still trying to wipe away the stain of the tainted stock research they foisted on investors during the Internet bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Back then, as it turned out, some analysts hoping to win investment-banking business for their employers were ...
A muni fund shows boring can be beautiful.(THE KIPLINGER 25 UPDATE)(Municipal)(Table)
Aug 01, 2008 ... IN TIMES OF MARKET TURMOIL, FIDELITY Intermediate Municipal Income makes a fine safe haven. Over the past year, the fund topped the Lehman Brothers Municipal Bond index by nearly one percentage point. Manager Mark Sommer has dodged bullets at the two ends of the quality ...
Cashing in on the next big thing: Stephen and Sam Lieber seek out firms that create products to fill important needs.(INVESTING: FUNDS)(Table)
Aug 01, 2008; ... INNOVATION IS ALWAYS IN HIGH DEMAND, says Stephen Lieber, who along with son Samuel co-manages ALPINE DYNAMIC INNOVATORS, a top small-company growth fund over the past year. So, says the elder Lieber, the pair invest in companies that create new products for which "there's a great need." ...
Beat high prices: worried about inflation? Three families tell how they save thousands on food, gas and more.(MONEY)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SUDDENLY, SAVING IS SEXY AND BUDGETING IS BACK IN VOGUE. ALL IT TOOK WAS GAS at $4 per gallon and a 30% increase in the price of eggs, and now even families who were accustomed to spending freely (or using their credit cards) are trying to economize. // Prices have been rising right along ...
Cut costs with cards that pay you back.(CREDIT CARDS: OUR FAVORITES)
Aug 01, 2008; ... One way to cut the cost of credit-card purchases is to keep your interest rate as low as possible. If your card company raises your rate, call customer service, advises Bill Hardekopf, of LowCards.com. "Tell the issuer, 'I need you to lower the rate or I'll leave.'" With prices ...
Taking aim at military scams: the men and women who protect our country are getting ripped off.
Aug 01, 2008; ... MILITARY PERSONNEL ARE OFTEN YOUNG AND TRANSIENT, but they earn a regular paycheck from Uncle Sam. That makes them prime targets for shady sales practices and financial criminals. "Whenever you have a major mobilization of the armed forces, there are opportunities for individuals to use ...
Save thousands on your medical bills: don't let a big IOU ruin you financially. You have more ways to cut the price than you think.(MONEY: INSURANCE)
Aug 01, 2008; ... KELLIE BROWN HAD RARELY SUFFERED FROM AN AILMENT worse than a runny nose when she let her health insurance lapse last August. Brown, 23, had always been covered by her father's plan. But when he retired in July 2007, she lost her coverage, and "it just seemed like an expense that I didn't ...
A late-in-life child poses a challenge: does a Roth Ira make sense for paying this family's college bills?(REAL MONEY)(Individual retirement accounts)
Aug 01, 2008; ... OUR READERS WHO: TIM TAGLAUER, 49, AND WIFE LISA, 44 WHERE: LURAY, VA. QUESTION: FOCUS ON COLLEGE OR RETIREMENT? OUR READERS FOR LISA AND TIM TAGLAUER, the conundrum of whether to save for college or retirement is especially puzzling. Married ...
Retiree tax heaven (and hell): where you live can have a huge impact on your tax bill in ways that may surprise you.(MONEY: TAXES)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SOME STATES ARE MORE TAX-FRIENDLY for retirees than others. And how much you pay in taxes--particularly if you are living on a fixed income-can have a big impact on how much you have left over to spend. If you're thinking about relocating permanently or buying a second home to live in for ...
A break on health insurance: young adults can often stay on their parents' policies. But they may be better off on their own.(MONEY: INSURANCE: REBATE: MORTGAGES)
Aug 01, 2008; ... CHILDREN ARE GENERALLY dropped from their parents' health insurance when they turn 18 or 19 or graduate from college. But 16 states now require insurers to cover dependent children on their parents' policies until the kids are in their mid twenties--and sometimes up to age 30. ...
Retrieve your rebate.(IRA Do-Over)(Brief article)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Sometimes it's true: No good deed goes unpunished. If you were among those virtuous taxpayers who elected to have their tax refunds deposited directly into an IRA this year, you may have been taken aback when you learned that your economic-stimulus check, too, had been deposited directly ...
What it takes to get a mortgage now: to qualify, you'll need top-notch credit and solid financial resources.(MONEY: MORTGAGES: ASK HIM)
Aug 01, 2008; ... EVER SINCE WALL STREET lost its appetite for mortgage securities, the supply of money for home buyers and refinancers has been tight. The biggest remaining investors are the federally chartered corporations Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which set the rules of the game. To reduce demand and ...
Sign up for this freebie.(ASK KIM)(Column)
Aug 01, 2008; ... I heard about a settlement worth $10 billion with the credit bureau TransUnion that is supposed to give millions of people access to free credit-monitoring services. That sounds too good to be true. How can I find out if I am eligible? If so, should I sign up? Sometimes these class-action ...
Must I pay my son's credit-card debt?(CREDIT CARDS: Q&A)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Q: I signed for an MBNA credit card with a $500 limit for my college-bound son. After he graduated, I paid the balance and forgot about the card. Three years later, I was shocked to get a call asking when I was going to pay an $8,000 balance. Can MBNA change the terms of the contract ...
Vacation homes on sale: with prices down and sales plummeting, you have room to dicker for your dream getaway.(LIVING)
Aug 01, 2008; ... MINNESOTA'S CROSS LAKE GLISTENS IN THE SPRING SUNSHINE AS REAL ESTATE AGENTS Jeremiah Bicknese and Tricia Erickson inspect waterfront homes listed for sale. One drab, four-bedroom rambler needs paint but is redeemed by a two-level wraparound deck with a lake view and a boat dock. // The ...
Blended family finances: when it comes to remarriage, money issues are tricky.(LIVING: MONEY MANAGEMENT)
Aug 01, 2008; ... DAVE SASSAMAN HAS HIS KIDS, NATALIE AND NICHOLAS, three days a week and every other weekend. Jennifer Sassaman has her son, Kaden, during the week, every other weekend and for half the summer. Both parents divvy up vacation time and holidays with the kids' other parents. Jennifer cares for ...
E-book readers: paperless at a price: Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader cost too much for what they deliver.(Product/service evaluation)
Aug 01, 2008; ... AMAZON.COM BILLS ITS Kindle as a "revolutionary wireless reading device." And it does have some cool features. The Kindle (and its top rival, the Sony Reader) is roughly the size of a slim paperback and can store a bookcase of digital books. Plus, if your eyesight isn't perfect, the device ...
What you need to know about paying your vet: bone up on how much it will cost to keep Fido frisky.(LOWDOWN)
Aug 01, 2008; ... 1. PREPARE FOR STICKER SHOCK. Americans spent $10.1 billion on veterinary care last year. If your cat comes down with pneumonia, the bill could run $1,900. Cancer therapy for a dog averages nearly $3,600, and patching up a pooch hurt in a car accident could cost you almost $4,900. James ...
Junk your gas guzzler?(DRIVE TIME)
Aug 01, 2008; ... There's nothing like $100 fill-ups to put your big bruiser on the endangered list. Large-SUV sales have plummeted 30% this year, large pickups have dropped 22%, and nonluxury large-sedan sales are off by 24%, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Motor City can't shut down truck and SUV ...
She won a fortune with a cookie: a Maryland homemaker took the million-dollar grand prize in the Pillsbury Bake-Off with her Double Delight Peanut Butter Cookie.(MY STORY: Carolyn Gurtz, Gaithersburg, Maryland)(Interview)
Aug 01, 2008; ... WHAT WAS YOUR STRATEGY FOR WINNING? It took me a while to figure it out. I've entered for most of the past 15 years, but this was the first time I was among the 100 finalists. I think the two secrets are to make your recipe easy to prepare and to make sure it appeals to all ages. And you ...