Introducing the Kip App

Kiplinger’s has been giving readers practical advice on managing their money for more than 50 years. But this month’s issue marks a couple of very special firsts for us. We’ve dedicated much of the issue to our 50 top KipTips: our best advice on budgeting and saving, credit, investing, spending, and much more, all of it guaranteed to save—and make—you money.

BUY IT NOW: "Kiplinger's Top 100 Money-Saving Tips" ipad App

And that’s only the beginning. We’re incorporating all 50 tips into our first-ever iPad app, which will also include 50 more tips exclusive to the app. On the iPad, “Kiplinger’s Top 100 Money-Saving Tips” will be enhanced with lush graphics and interactive tools that will expand your knowledge and make your experience just plain fun. You’ll benefit from the expertise of our entire editorial staff, which is the best in the business. And this truly is a Kiplinger-wide effort, involving our marketing and sales departments, our production team and the staff at Kiplinger.com. Special thanks go to art director Cynthia Currie and senior designer Harrison Goodman, who created the smashing layouts, and senior editor Mark Solheim, who combined all 100 tips into a cohesive whole.

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This exciting new product stakes our claim on the newest platform in the magazine business. On a personal note, I’d just like to say it’s so cool I can hardly stand it, and I invite you to see for yourself.

Teachable moments. It’s serendipitous that our special package is appearing in our April issue, because April is Financial Literacy Month. Financial literacy is critical in a world in which people have more personal responsibility for their financial well-being. But achieving that goal isn’t easy.

In a study of 8,000 investors in Germany, researchers from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and Goethe University of Frankfurt found that even when people were offered free, unbiased financial advice, only 5% accepted the offer—and most of them never followed the advice. “We found ourselves with a financial version of a horse we’d led to water but couldn’t make drink,” says study coauthor and finance professor Utpal Bhattacharya.

One way to get people to imbibe appears to be to catch them at teachable moments, when they’re actually making financial decisions, says Annamaria Lusardi, professor at the George Washington University School of Business, who has studied financial literacy for a decade. For example, she says, giving new hires a retirement tutorial when they sign up for their employer’s plan can have “quite a large effect.”

But those moments can be tough to anticipate. It’s too late to educate people about mortgage risk when they’ve already settled on a house, says Lusardi. Tax-refund time would seem to be an ideal teachable moment because people actually have cash, so she suggests “using it as an opportunity to invest in an asset or put aside money for college.”

Enter our KipTip app. Touch a subject tab at the bottom of the screen, and you’ll get information when you need it. Want to know how much house you can afford and how to find the best mortgage? Our app does that. Want to know how to use your tax refund to start a college savings plan—and which one to choose? Our app does that, too, and lots more.

Here at Kiplinger’s, we love what we do, we love the technology that enhances it, and we’re eager to share the experience with you. See (and touch) for yourself. The cost is $1.99, and we think the return on your investment will be off the charts. We’d love your feedback at 100kiptips@kiplinger.com.