Personal finance coverage intensifies

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

The competition in personal finance coverage has intensified in the past few years, said Jane Bryant Quinn, the pre-eminent personal finance columnist in the country.

She noted that Web sites devotes to personal finance, as well as new syndicated columnists, have increased the amount of content. The Associated Press earlier this month rolled out new weekly and monthly personal finance coverage. “I think it’s great,” said Quinn about the coverage.

The longtime Newsweek columnist said that the best personal finance coverage is local, telling them about issues in their communities.

“Many of the stories are national in scope, nevertheless,” added Quinn. She said she’s worried about the huge growth of products offered by mutual funds aimed at baby boomers as they near retirement.

“So much of it is good,” said Quinn about the current personal finance coverage. “I would not have said that 20 years ago. They read the prospectuses. I think our business in general do a very good job.”

Quinn said she likes to read Money, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and CNNMoney.com.

The one area where there is not a high quality of coverage is in investments. She also called that coverage “boring.” She added that there’s too much coverage about mutual funds and mutual fund managers.

She said the future of personal finance coverage is in explaining to consumers the design of products that they’re purchasing and how they work. “What ultimtaley makes the difference is the design of the products,” said Quinn.