Kiplinger's Personal Finance

About Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Kiplinger Personal Finance is the oldest continuously published personal finance magazine in the United States — and by its own account, the first magazine ever devoted to helping ordinary Americans manage their money. Founded in 1947 as Kiplinger Magazine by W. M. Kiplinger and his son Austin H. Kiplinger, it grew out of the Kiplinger family's forecasting newsletters into a monthly guide to saving, investing, retirement planning, taxes, and major purchases. Published in Washington, D.C., it has spent nearly eight decades translating the complexities of personal finance into clear, practical advice. After 99 years of family ownership, the Kiplinger business was sold to Dennis Publishing in February 2019, and in 2021 it became part of Future plc through that company's acquisition of Dennis. It remains a monthly magazine and a major digital destination at kiplinger.com.

History and Founding

W. M. Kiplinger (1891–1967), a former Associated Press economics reporter, founded the eponymous Washington, D.C. company in 1920. With his tersely written Kiplinger Washington Letter (launched in 1923) and Kiplinger Tax Letter (1925), he created the prototypes for modern newsletter journalism — forecasting publications that told business readers what was likely to happen next in Washington and the economy rather than merely reporting what had already happened. The company remained closely held and was managed for more than nine decades by three generations of the Kiplinger family.

In 1947, W. M. Kiplinger and his son Austin H. Kiplinger (1918–2015) launched Kiplinger Magazine, the first magazine to give its readers advice on their personal finances. W.M. Kiplinger said he founded the magazine because "the times will always be changing. Much of life and work consists of looking for the changes in advance and figuring out what to do about them." The magazine was renamed Changing Times: The Kiplinger Magazine in 1949, became Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine in 1991, and in 2023 dropped the possessive to become Kiplinger Personal Finance. Knight A. Kiplinger, the founder's grandson, continued the family dynasty as editor-in-chief until the 2019 sale and now serves as editor emeritus.

Editorial Focus and Audience

The magazine offers advice on managing money and achieving financial security: saving, investing, planning for retirement, paying for college, cutting taxes, and making major purchases such as automobiles and homes. Its editorial stance is practical and nonpartisan, aimed at middle- and upper-middle-class households seeking to build wealth and protect it. Unlike investment magazines aimed at professionals, Kiplinger's writes for the general reader — clear, concise language, concrete recommendations, and an emphasis on what to do rather than abstract theory.

Editorially, Kiplinger magazine over the decades was first to champion a number of personal finance and investment strategies that later became accepted as conventional wisdom, especially in the areas of investing and insurance. The magazine's forecasting heritage — the habit of looking ahead instilled by the Kiplinger Letter — runs through its personal finance coverage, which frequently anticipates tax-law changes, economic shifts, and market trends.

The Kiplinger Letter and Newsletters

The Kiplinger business extends well beyond the magazine. The Kiplinger Letter, launched in 1923, is considered the most widely read business forecasting periodical in the world and remains the longest continually published newsletter in the United States. Unlike news publications, the weekly Letter looks ahead to forecast what is likely to happen next in business and the economy, legislation and regulation in Washington, technology, world affairs, politics, financial markets, and investing. It is deliberately unbiased and nonpartisan.

The stable also includes The Kiplinger Tax Letter, Kiplinger's Retirement Report, and Investing for Income, along with the kiplinger.com website and a weekly podcast. The company's former headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Editors Building, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015 — a recognition of the firm's century-long role in American business journalism.

Ownership Changes

Much like Forbes, ownership of the Kiplinger franchise was kept in the family until the sale of Kiplinger to Dennis Publishing in February 2019 — ending 99 years of family ownership. Dennis Publishing, the U.K.-based media company founded in 1973 by Felix Dennis, invested in the Kiplinger brands while maintaining the print magazine and its publications. In August 2021, Future plc announced the acquisition of a portfolio of leading Wealth, Knowledge and B2B brands from Dennis Publishing for approximately £300 million, a deal that included Kiplinger alongside MoneyWeek, The Week, and IT Pro. Future, a global platform for specialist media, has since integrated Kiplinger into its Wealth vertical.

The transitions have preserved the editorial character of the publications while bringing them the digital scale and technology of larger media groups. Knight Kiplinger remains associated with the brand as editor emeritus.

Print Editions and Frequency

Kiplinger Personal Finance is published monthly, a cadence it has maintained since its founding. The magazine accepted advertising for the first time in 1981 — a notable milestone for a publication that had long relied on subscriptions — and the print edition continues under Future plc ownership. The magazine's design and editorial approach have evolved with the times while keeping the practical, service-oriented voice that defined it from the start.

The magazine's longevity in print is itself an achievement: few consumer magazines founded in the 1940s survive in their original form. When competitor Money magazine ceased print publication in 2019, Kiplinger's acquired roughly 400,000 of its monthly subscribers, consolidating its position as the leading print personal finance magazine in America.

Digital Presence

Since 2000, kiplinger.com has delivered timely financial advice to millions of web readers, extending the magazine's service journalism to a daily digital audience. The site publishes news, analysis, and advice on investing, taxes, retirement, and personal finance, alongside tools and calculators. The digital operation has won or been a finalist for numerous online content honors, including MIN's Best of the Web, EPPY, and Webby awards.

The Kiplinger editors have also expanded into audio and video, with a weekly podcast and digital video content. The combination of the monthly print magazine, the daily website, and the newsletters gives Kiplinger one of the most complete personal finance media portfolios in the industry.

Awards and Recognition

Kiplinger's Personal Finance won the 2009 General Excellence Award in the large-magazine category from the Society of American Business Writers and Editors (SABEW), one of the most respected honors in business journalism. In 2007, Kiplinger was named one of America's "Most Ethical Companies" by Ethisphere magazine. The company's publications have collected numerous awards for editorial quality over the decades, and its digital properties have been recognized with Webby, EPPY, and MIN honors.

The firm's century of forecasting has also earned it institutional recognition: the Editors Building's listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015 acknowledged the company's role in the history of American journalism and business.

Place in Personal Finance Journalism

Kiplinger invented the personal finance magazine category. Before 1947, no publication existed to advise ordinary Americans on managing their money; the magazine created the genre and defined its conventions — the mutual fund rankings, the retirement guides, the tax strategies, the "best places" lists — that competitors would later imitate. Its forecasting DNA, inherited from the Kiplinger Letter, gave it a distinctive forward-looking voice in a field often dominated by backward-looking reporting.

Through the rise of cable financial news, the internet, and social media personal finance influencers, Kiplinger has endured by sticking to its core proposition: trustworthy, unbiased, practical advice. For readers navigating the perennial questions of saving, investing, and retiring, it remains one of the most established names in American financial media.

How to Read and Subscribe

Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine is available by subscription in print and digital editions, and individual issues can be purchased through major retailers. Kiplinger.com offers free access to much of the site's advice content, with premium newsletters — The Kiplinger Letter, The Kiplinger Tax Letter, Kiplinger's Retirement Report, and Investing for Income — available by subscription. The company also provides custom publishing services to companies and associations.

For readers seeking a century of accumulated wisdom on building wealth, cutting taxes, and retiring securely, Kiplinger's combination of monthly magazine, daily website, and weekly newsletters offers one of the most comprehensive personal finance resources available.