I am young businesswoman and I have found this magazine informative, invaluable and inspiring. I recommended it for anyone who takes pleasure in reading about the triumphs of the most intelligent and resourceful men and women of our time.

i've been a Forbes reader for more than 20 years. They used to be the best; especially in exposing crooks. but in the last two or three years, they have started mixing political content into the news pages. Their columnists are interesting and have every right to express an opinion - and that's where i expect to find the opinions. but news articles are tending to look more like product placements, written to support a certain point of view instead of to tell both sides of a story impartially. It has becoome the moral equivalent of Fox for business. Fine if you want to read politics, but not where you go for the whole story.

Forbes is by far the easiest to read for a non-specialist like me (I am a writer) and therefore essential reading for those of us who want to know what is going on in the business world who don't know all the endless jargon that the more specialist magazines tend to use. This is my magazine of choice when I spend time in the USA writing books (which includes the forbes.com bookclub book CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE, Zondervan, 2003) - that book club being another benefit of a subscription

If someone put a gun to my head and told me I had to choose between Forbes, Fortune and BusinessWeek, I'd go with Forbes. The articles seem crisper to me, and they have an attitude about them. You never have any doubt about where Forbes stands on something.

I also like the fact that they don't seem beholden to the news cycle. Some of their best stories come from digging up up the story you *don't* see everywhere else. If you want day-to-day news, you can always turn to daily sources like the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, then use Forbes to get your 'Fact and Comment' (the name of Steve Forbes' bi-weekly contribution, by the way).

In fact, the beginning of the magazine alone is worth the subscription price:

- 'Flashback' follows up on previus stories that have appeared in Forbes. Yes, they'll gloat if they got the story right, but more importantly they'll take 40 lashes if they called it wrong.

- 'Fact and Comment' by Steve Forbes is always a good read...maybe it was better in the days of Clinton; Forbes differences with Bush are not as sharp of course, but terrorism and tax cuts are red meat subjects for him.

- The 'Current Events' column in a pleasure to read. You get rotating columns by Lee Kuan Yew, Paul Johnson, Ernesto Zedillo and Caspar Weinberger. Wow, talk about a world-class crew.

- Most underrated part of the magazine - Rich Karlgaard's column. Rich is the Publisher of Forbes, and his column is called 'Digital Rules' It's excellent writing. Always provocative and timely.

A subscription to Forbes would make a great gift to anyone interested in business. It's a bargain at this price.

I've been a Forbes subscriber for years. I scan each page of every issue and read many of the articles and columns--something I don't do with most of the other magazines I receive. You don't have to be Bill Gates or Warren Buffet to find information that will help you run your business or manage your investments. The articles are well-written and to the point, and the magazine is a pleasure to read. Several regular columns offer insight and analysis unlike I've found anywhere else.

If you want to know what is really going on in business, Forbes is the magazine to read. Subscribers also get supplemental publications, including the Best of the Web and FYI. FYI is a lifestyle magazine and, well, it's not my lifestyle. But articles by contributors such as P.J. O'Rourke and editor Christopher Buckley are a delight.

Even though I'm not on the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest people, if I keep reading and following their advice, maybe I'll get there!