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Highlights of the February 2008 Issue of MONEY

[Full stories also available online at www.CNNMoney.com]

 

STRATEGIES FOR UNCERTAIN TIMES, by Carolyn Bigda, Asa Fitch, Josh Hyatt, and Yuval Rosenberg, page 60
Whatever your age, there is a smart investment approach that will see you through today's bumpy market and carry you to your goals.
MONEY profiles people from several age brackets on where they are now and what they should do to meet their investment goals:

  1. Start Out Strong (ages 26 and 27)
  2. The Search for Security (age 32)
  3. Mid-Career Corrections (ages 46 and 30)
  4. A Focus on Risk in the Homestretch (ages 51 and 58)
  5. Retired—and Ready to Play it Safe (ages 65 and 60)

FUNDS FOR THE LONG RUN, by Penelope Wang and Walter Updegrave, page 69
Investing is a marathon, not a sprint. So instead of chasing performance, use the MONEY 70 to run a safe, steady race.
If ever there was a time when it paid to be diversified, it was last year. As the market got rocky amid an old-fashioned credit crunch, many blue-chip U.S. stock funds took a beating. But if you held your domestic stock funds within a well-diversified portfolio that included bonds and other types of equities, you didn't feel much pain. Indeed, if you invested in foreign equity funds in 2007, you probably earned double-digit gains, more than making up for losses you suffered among your domestic funds. The key is, you needed to be patient and balanced. A long-term view and a diversified mix — that's exactly what the MONEY 70, our list of recommended mutual and exchange-traded funds, is all about.
PLUS: THE FUND SCORECARD: MONEY's annual report on the top funds.

PRUDENT OR PARANOID?, by Amanda Gengler and Donna Rosato, page 100
Protecting your money from risky markets and bad people seems like the smart thing to do. But how do you know when you're being too cautious for your own good?
Wherever you turn in your financial life, there is risk. MONEY looks at nine oft-cited pieces of advice on topics from investing to insurance to ID theft that seem eminently sensible. In the end, you'll have to decide when a seemingly prudent path veers to the paranoid, but MONEY will arm you with the facts you'll need to steer a course that avoids undue risk — without passing up real opportunity.

FREE AT 40, by Donna Rosato, page 106
The Nielsens planned to retire early from the day they got married. Now they've actually done it — and just might be able to make it stick.
For most families, quitting work for good in your forties, especially if you have three children bound for college in a few years, is the stuff of sheer fantasy. But for Todd and Julie Nielsen, it is the fruition of a long-term plan made possible by two decades of frugal living and serious saving. However, they do face some serious financial challenges to their goal. MONEY profiles the Nielsen family and offers a consultant's advice for their financial future.

RIGHT ON YOUR MONEY, by Janice Revell, page 34
After mid-career, an old-fashioned pension turns out to be an amazingly valuable perk. Know what yours is worth.
You may think that pensions are as dated as the proverbial gold watch. That's understandable. After all, they're arcane and rarely publicized (except to say how they are disappearing), and it's often unclear how much they're really worth. But understanding your pension will help you plan for retirement and value yourself better in the workplace. MONEY details what you should do:

  1. Find out what you'll collect
  2. Use it as a bargaining chip
  3. Figure out your replacement cost
  4. Know your rights

S.O.S. FOR HOMEOWNERS GOING UNDER, by Stephen Gandel, page 45
Who wins and loses if we bail out borrowers?
The rising tide of foreclosures could turn millions of homeowners into renters, take a big chunk out of home values and boost crime. Given the dire consequences, more and more legislators, political candidates and policymakers are frantic to turn back the wave of foreclosures. In addition to the Bush plan, MONEY explains three solutions under consideration. None of the plans is ouchless. Each produces winner and losers — and long-term effects, both good and bad, on the economy.

HOT TRIPS, COOL PRICES, by Charles Passy, page 112
For the best deals on warm-weather getaways, you've got to head off the beaten beach.
Paradise has its price. That's the lesson that many would-be travelers learn this time of year when they begin desperately prowling for last-minute vacations to place like St. Bart's, South Beach, Cabo or Costa Rica. Alas, it costs a lot to hit the hot spots in the dead of winter. Not willing to blow your 2008 IRA contributions on a one-week trip? Well, just between us, there is another option: Head to a lesser-traveled destination. You'll reap the benefit of lower prices and have more of the beach to yourself to boot. MONEY suggests places to suit your style and gets you ready to start addressing those "wish you were here" postcards.

ROSY OR ROTTEN?, by Paul J. Lim, page 51
Stocks look appetizing until you see the other side of the story, in which earnings growth collapses this year. Still, if you know where to search there are a few true bargains to be picked.
There are times when it's hard for consumers to tell if something's a deal or not. This is also the case when assessing the true value of stocks, especially during the economic downturns like the one that seems to be unfolding today. MONEY breaks it down:

  1. Dreamy forecasts
  2. Technology stocks are the cheapest
  3. Health-care stocks are reasonably priced
  4. Energy and basic-materials stocks also offer value
  5. Don't forget Japan

THE INTELLIGENT INVESTOR, by Jason Zweig, page 54
WHY YOU DON'T WANT TO INVEST LIKE AN EXPERT
The way some finance professors manage their money offers valuable lessons—in what not to do.
Investing has a few simple rules that everyone knows are true yet most people find amazingly hard to live by. Diversify; don't chase hot returns; don't think you can outsmart the market. If you did nothing more and nothing less, your success would be all but ensured. Turns out regular folks like us aren't the only ones who struggle to live by these precepts. A new survey shows that finance professors — the experts who analyze markets and teach future mutual fund managers how to build portfolios — have the same willpower problems as the rest of us. MONEY explains how we can learn something about how to address our own shortcomings if we study theirs.

DEPARTMENTS

START: Every Vice Has a Price Fancy a smoke? Got a weakness for Krispy Kremes? Your insurer may start charging you for it. Behind the Buzz Is waiting for the Internet a thing of the past? PLAN: Married to the Business Before you start a joint venture, protect your family's finances. HOME: Genius Phones The iPhone and its ilk are brilliant at transforming from a cell into a TV, PC and stereo. INVEST: The Answer Guy Can I buy shares of companies in Iraq? Sivy on Stocks The Fed will calm this stormy market.

MONEY is available in digital format.  To access this version go to http://digital.money.com

 

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Phil DiIanni
212-522-6282
phil_diianni@timeinc.com

 

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