What’s the future of personal finance journalism?

Syndicated columnist Chuck Jaffe looks at the future of personal finance journalism given the decision by Money magazine’s parent to stop publishing the personal finance title.

Jaffe writes, “The democratization of personal-finance journalism demands that consumers scrutinize news sources – and the motives of those sources – with the same detail they apply to the advice itself.

“It’s not enough to say ‘Does this advice make sense? Does it seem right?’ You have to also ask ‘Were there any special motivations – beyond simply informing consumers – behind these suggestions?’

“You can pay for financial advice in many ways. You can go to the websites and search for free advice, you can buy the magazines – though with Money gone, you’re looking mostly at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance if you want personal-finance coverage more than once every quarter – or you can look for outside help and hire an adviser.

“If free, no-cost counsel is bad advice, it has a very real cost.”

Read more here.