Slide Show | November 2011

The Best of Everything 2011

ThinkStock

Want to know which cars are most energy-efficient? We’ve got a lineup in every price range. Need to find the best place to shop for health insurance? We’ve got it covered. Or how about the best exchange-traded fund if you’re looking for dividends? That's on our list, too.

Our annual awards choose the standouts in stocks, funds, credit cards, travel, tech, apps and cars. We picked the brains of our staff experts to find out which products and resources they swear by. Click through our slide show to see what made the best list this year.

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The Best of Everything 2011

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Best Cash-Back Credit Card: Chase Freedom Card

Chase

The no-annual-fee Chase Freedom card sweetens its 1% reward on all purchases with an additional 4% rebate for every dollar, up to $1,500, that is spent on certain categories (such as charity and dining), which change quarterly. If you charge $20,000 a year, you could earn $440.

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Best Cash-Back Credit Card: Chase Freedom Card

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Best Rewards-Points Card: Citi ThankYou Preferred Card

Citibank

With Citi's no-fee card you receive five points per dollar spent at drugstores, supermarkets and gas stations, and one point on everything else, for the first year. After that, you’ll earn one point per dollar spent. Points earn discounts on travel and merchandise or can reduce your monthly balance.

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Best Rewards-Points Card: Citi ThankYou Preferred Card

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Best Low-Interest Card: Citizens Trust Bank Visa Gold Card

ThinkStock

Not only does this Visa Gold card come with a 7.25% variable interest rate, but it has no annual fee and does not charge a foreign currency transaction fee if you use it abroad. Transferring a balance is free. You will earn one rewards point per dollar spent. Points are good for travel or merchandise.

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Best Low-Interest Card: Citizens Trust Bank Visa Gold Card

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Best Credit Card for Travel: PenFed Premium Travel Rewards

PenFed

Avoid foreign-currency conversion fees with PenFed Premium Travel's no-fee card. Also, you’ll earn five points for every dollar spent on airline purchases and one point on everything else. You must join the Pentagon Federal Credit Union, but a $20 donation to the National Military Family Association gets you in.

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Best Credit Card for Travel: PenFed Premium Travel Rewards

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Best Podcast: Freakonomics

ThinkStock

Freakonomics, the podcast, explores themes from parenting to hitchhiking using clever economic analysis and expert interviews. Hosts Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt keep the show fast and fun. Download on iTunes or at Freakonomics' site.

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Best Podcast: Freakonomics

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Best Economy Blog: SimoleonSense.com

Feed your brain cutting-edge articles on wealth with the SimoleonSense.com blog. Hedge-fund analyst Miguel Barbosa links to pieces on investor psychology, education, economics -- the list is long and often surprising.

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Best Economy Blog: SimoleonSense.com

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Best Investing Blog: Dr. Ed's Blog

Economist Ed Yardeni’s blog is a good first stop each morning for the lowdown on the Fed, the markets and our dysfunctional government. Dr. Ed’s witty delivery helps the medicine go down -- plus, he does movie reviews.

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Best Investing Blog: Dr. Ed's Blog

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Best Market Newsletter: InvesTech

Market letter publisher James Stack isn’t one to be blinded by periodic market manias, and he hews to a “safety first” philosophy. His base in Montana, far from Wall Street, helps, too. A subscription costs $295 a year.

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Best Market Newsletter: InvesTech

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Best Fund Newsletter: No-Load Fund Analyst

For sheer depth of information, you can’t top No-Load Fund Analyst ($600 a year). Editor Stephen Savage fills issues with in-depth fund profiles, market analysis and interviews with fund managers. Hulbert Financial Digest says its stock-oriented portfolio returned 4.0% annualized over the past ten years through September 30.

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Best Fund Newsletter: No-Load Fund Analyst

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Best Investing App: Bloomberg

If you invest in a wide range of assets and depend on financial news, you’ll love the Bloomberg app. It provides real-time quotes for stocks and major stock indexes, government bonds, commodities and currencies worldwide.

But more important, it gives you the same breaking economic and financial news that Bloomberg’s worldwide team of journalists produces for the Bloomberg Web site. And with a manageable list of categories, the app is easy to navigate.

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Best Investing App: Bloomberg

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Best Investing App: Morningstar

Morningstar's free app gives all the basic data on a stock, plus its proprietary Morningstar rating, a snapshot of the company’s financial health, and what the bulls and bears are saying about it. Plus, you’ll get weekly updates of Morningstar’s top-rated mutual funds, stocks and ETFs. Pay $185 a year for the premium service and get full reports on funds and stocks.

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Best Investing App: Morningstar

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Best Foreign Stock: Accenture

Vanray & en.Wikipedia

The CEO of Accenture (symbol ACN) is French, the company is based in Ireland, and the employees—experts in information technology, management and government operations—are spread among 53 nations. Accenture sits on $5.7 billion in cash, has low debt plus a terrific ten-year annualized return of 16.3%.

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Best Foreign Stock: Accenture

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Best Dividend-Paying Stock: Chevron

Coolcaesar & en.Wikipedia

Chevron (CVX) is a cash machine disguised as an oil-and-gas conglomerate. It has paid a dividend every year since 1912 and should boost that dividend at an 8% annual clip through 2016. Chevron has sold some of its less-profitable refining assets and expects its energy-production to grow significantly starting in 2014.

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Best Dividend-Paying Stock: Chevron

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Best Growth Stock: Express Scripts

Express Scripts

Pharmacy-benefit manager Express Scripts (ESRX) is positioned for gangbuster growth thanks to an aging population and increasing drug sales. Earnings for the company, which also owns 60,000 pharmacies, have increased 28.4% annualized for the past five years and are projected to grow 17.3% a year for the next five years.

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Best Growth Stock: Express Scripts

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Best Fund for Dividends: Vanguard Dividend Growth

iStockphoto

No matter how the market moves, manager Don Kilbride sticks to his investing approach at Vanguard Dividend Growth (VDIGX). He hunts down undervalued companies with growing dividends, producing what he calls a high-quality portfolio that currently delivers a 2% yield. This year, that quality helped keep the fund even through October 7, despite the lashing that pulled the S&P 500 down 6.7%.

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Best Fund for Dividends: Vanguard Dividend Growth

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Best Low-Minimum Fund: Amana Trust Income

If you’re looking to tap into the stock market with a low-minimum, top-quality fund, invest in Amana Trust Income (AMANX).

This large-company stock fund requires a minimum investment of $250, or just $100 if it’s in a retirement account. Each additional investment can be as low as $25. That hasn’t hurt its performance: It gained 4.2% annualized over five years, which beat the S&P 500 by an average of 5 percentage points per year.

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Best Low-Minimum Fund: Amana Trust Income

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Best One-Stop Fund: Vanguard Wellington

iStockphoto

A fund that offers both growth and relative safety with stocks and bonds in a single portfolio can be a tonic in a tumbling market. Over the past ten years, the venerable Vanguard Wellington (VWELX) gained an annualized 6.0%, outpacing 96% of its balanced-fund peers.

But more important, the fund shed just 11.9% from late April to October 3, while the broader market dropped 13.5%. Wellington has a 2.9% yield.

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Best One-Stop Fund: Vanguard Wellington

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Best Comeback Fund: Fidelity Magellan

Margaret Lampert

Fidelity Magellan (FMAGX) has had its ups and downs since storied manager Peter Lynch retired in 1990. But since early 2000, when assets peaked at $100 billion, the fund has been particularly uninspiring. Today it holds just $13 billion.

But it shows promise again now that Jeffrey Feingold (pictured at left) has assumed the reins. He manages four other Fidelity funds, including Trend (FTRNX), which has handily beaten its benchmark during Feingold’s nearly five-year tenure.

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Best Comeback Fund: Fidelity Magellan

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Best Contrarian Investment: Europe's Blue Chips

ThinkStock

The European debt crisis has turned euro-zone markets upside-down this year. But the selloff is a classic overreaction, with great companies selling at cheap prices. Take advantage with Vanguard MSCI Europe (VGK), an inexpensive exchange-traded fund that follows an index of large companies.

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Best Contrarian Investment: Europe's Blue Chips

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Best Commodities ETF: Greenhaven Continuous Commodity Index

Thinkstock

Greenhaven Continuous Commodity Index (GCC) gives you broad exposure to commodities, so it’s a good inflation hedge that doesn’t track the movements of stocks and bonds. With 0.85% in annual expenses, it isn’t cheap, but it scored gains of 25.4% in 2010 and 19.6% in 2009. Year-to-date it’s down 6.6%; it's three-year annualized return is 6.4%.

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Best Commodities ETF: Greenhaven Continuous Commodity Index

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Best ETF for Dividends: SPDR S&P Dividend ETF

Thinkstock

Blue-chip stocks are a good bet now, and those with high and rising dividends are better. SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) tracks S&P’s high-yield aristocrats, which means companies that have raised their dividends for 25 or more straight years. The fund yields 3.6% and is well diversified. It's three-year annualized return is 8.3%.

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Best ETF for Dividends: SPDR S&P Dividend ETF

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Best Emerging Markets ETF: WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend

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Two factors make WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend (DGS) riskier than most: small companies and emerging markets. The risk is moderated by the dividends the companies pay, which make the fund less volatile. Annualized return since its October 2007 inception: 8.7%. Yield: 6.9%. Three-year annualized: 16.4%.

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Best Emerging Markets ETF: WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend

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Best Muni Bond ETF: Market Vectors Indermediate Muni Index

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In a crowded field of good municipal bond ETFs, Market Vectors Indermediate Muni Index (ITM) offers a bit of extra income and slightly lower costs than other tax-free ETFs. It offers high quality, too: The average bond is rated double-A. Current yield: 3.0%. Three-year annualized: 7.9%.

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Best Muni Bond ETF: Market Vectors Indermediate Muni Index

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Best No-Fee Checking Account: Schwab High Yield Investor Checking

You can open the Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking account with as little as $1 and earn 0.20% interest. You’ll get free checks and you’ll be reimbursed for all ATM fees. You must open a Schwab One brokerage account to qualify, but there is no minimum-balance requirement.

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Best No-Fee Checking Account: Schwab High Yield Investor Checking

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Best Money Market Account: Sallie Mae Money Market

The Sallie Mae Money Market account has no minimum or monthly fee and earns 1.1%. Check writing is available, although you are limited to six withdrawals a month. Mobile banking lets you check balances, pay bills and transfer funds.

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Best Money Market Account: Sallie Mae Money Market

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Best Value College-Savings Plan: State Plans

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Your own state plan is best if you get a tax break. (Residents of Arizona, Kansas, Maine, Missouri and Pennsylvania get a tax break for contributing to any state plan.)

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Best Value College-Savings Plan: State Plans

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Best College-Savings Plan for Fund Selection: Nebraska Educational

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The Nebraska Educational Savings Trust offers a selection of 14 individual funds from Fidelity, Pimco, T. Rowe Price, State Street and Vanguard.

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Best College-Savings Plan for Fund Selection: Nebraska Educational

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Best Low-Fee College-Savings Plan: Utah Educational Savings Plan

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Vanguard index-fund portfolios are available in the Utah Educational Savings Plan. Total asset-based fees for Utah’s index portfolios are 0.18% to 0.26% annually.

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Best Low-Fee College-Savings Plan: Utah Educational Savings Plan

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Best Roth IRA for Kids: Scottrade

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Any child who earns income from a job—whether by mowing lawns or flipping burgers—is eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA, regardless of age. It’s a powerful tool that can leverage small contributions and decades of growth into a sizable stash of tax-free money in retirement—or the contributions can help pay for college or become a down payment on a house.

Scottrade has a Roth IRA with no minimum-balance requirement or annual maintenance fee. You have until April 16, 2012, to open and fund a Roth IRA for 2011.

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Best Roth IRA for Kids: Scottrade

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Best Retirement Planning Calculator: Quickplan Retirement Calculator

There are plenty of calculators that crunch the numbers to show how much your current savings and contributions will be worth later. But the Quickplan Retirement Calculator at E*Trade lets you choose the retirement lifestyle you’d like to lead—and tells you how much it will cost.

Choices range from an upscale dream retirement to a simpler, less costly life that may require compromises, such as a smaller house or part-time work. If your current savings plan comes up short, you can manipulate the assumptions in a variety of ways.

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Best Retirement Planning Calculator: Quickplan Retirement Calculator

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Best Solo 401(k) Resource: 401kHelpCenter.com

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Sole proprietors with no employees other than a spouse can contribute up to $49,000 to a solo 401(k) retirement plan in 2011 ($54,500 if they are 50 or older) and deduct the contribution. To find a vendor to administer your plan, go to 401kHelpCenter.com.

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Best Solo 401(k) Resource: 401kHelpCenter.com

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Best Health Insurance Resource: HealthCare.gov

HealthCare.gov

A new tool at HealthCare.gov lays out all of the health insurance plans available in your area, including policies from private insurers as well as state high-risk insurance pools. You’ll see details about benefits, including deductibles, co-payments, restrictions on doctor choice, and what percentage of applicants were denied or had to pay a surcharge because of their health status.

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Best Health Insurance Resource: HealthCare.gov

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Best Health Insurance Quotes: EHealthInsurance.com

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EHealthInsurance.com provides personalized quotes and policy details from many insurers based on your age, location and health.

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Best Health Insurance Quotes: EHealthInsurance.com

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Best Homeowners Insurance Calculator: Accucoverage.com

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Go to Accucoverage.com, input details about your house, pay $7.95, and you’ll immediately receive an estimate of your home’s replacement cost. You may be underinsured, in which case you’ll need more coverage, or overinsured, in which case you can dial back coverage and save money.

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Best Homeowners Insurance Calculator: Accucoverage.com

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Best Medicare Advantage Selection: Medicare.gov's Plan Finder

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Medicare.gov’s Plan Finder tool is the best resource for choosing a Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan. Provide information about your prescription drugs and you’ll see what each plan in your area will cost in premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.

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Best Medicare Advantage Selection: Medicare.gov's Plan Finder

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Best Health Review Site: Vitals.com

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At Vitals.com, patients can rate about 720,000 doctors based on several criteria (such as staff courtesy and the accuracy of diagnoses) as well as write reviews. Plus, it’s easy to navigate and has some handy tools: You can filter search results based on type of doctor, insurance accepted, and illness or condition. On each doctor’s page, you’ll find information about education, hospital affiliation and board certification.

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Best Health Review Site: Vitals.com

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Best Charity Review Site: Charity Navigator

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Charity Navigator rates more than 5,000 charities, making it the first and best stop for would-be donors. The site has long rated charities on the effectiveness of their day-to-day operations and on their ability to sustain programs over time. It recently expanded its rating system to include best practices, including accountability and transparency (see How Your Charity Measures Up).

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Best Charity Review Site: Charity Navigator

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Best Entertainment Review Site: Yelp.com

Yelp.com

Whether you’re preparing for a shopping trip or a night on the town, it’s hard to beat the breadth of reviews that you’ll find on Yelp.com. Search by category or neighborhood for top-rated selections and read reviews. As with any site that collects user reviews, take extreme posts with a grain of salt. If a business has a high number of reviews, you’ll get a sense of how good it is from its star rating and overall responses.

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Best Entertainment Review Site: Yelp.com

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Best Shopping Site: Cheapism.com

Cheapism.com

Even tightwads know better than to buy a second-rate product just because it costs less. That’s where Cheapism.com comes in. It lists low-priced products in nine categories (including electronics, kitchen and travel) and tells you which are worth buying.

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Best Shopping Site: Cheapism.com

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Best Furniture Discount Site: Fab.com

Yube Cube

Home-décor flash sites sell furnishings and accessories for as much as 60% to 70% off retail. Membership is free and you can earn incentives if you invite friends to join.

There are several good sites (see www.thefoundary.com, www.gilt.com/sale/home or www.myhabit.com), but the best for modern design is Fab.com. It offers high-quality goods for home, work, outdoors, kids, pets and more. Recent offerings included sleek, sustainable Yube Cube modular storage units for $70 to $455 (all 30% off retail); and the Mag Table, by Offi, which can be used for magazine storage or seating, or as a table or laptop desk, for $92 ($199 retail).

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Best Furniture Discount Site: Fab.com

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Best Wine Discounter: Lot18

Lot18

Take advantage of flash sales on premium wines with Lot18. Wine producers that sell through Lot18 offer bottles at substantial discounts and ship them directly to you (the site frequently offers free shipping with no minimum purchase).

Not sure what to buy? See reviews from Lot18 as well as from other critics. Recently, a duo of 2006 Marimar Estate La Masia Pinot Noir wines, originally $80, sold for $48. Membership is free at Lot18.com, but you need to register to receive an invitation. (Note: Several states do not allow wineries to ship wine to consumers.)

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Best Wine Discounter: Lot18

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Best Gift Card: Starbucks

The most highly evolved gift card on the planet comes from Starbucks. It doubles as a rewards card—you earn rewards points toward free drinks and other stuff. View transaction history, protect your balance if the card is lost or stolen, reload it automatically, and even have friends reload it via a Facebook app.

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Best Gift Card: Starbucks

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Best Budget Site: Mint.com

Mint.com's colorful charts paint a clear and complete picture of your finances online or on your smart phone. The free program automatically categorizes your spending, helps you create a budget and shows whether you’re keeping it.

You can compare investments to benchmarks and see your asset allocation among all your accounts. It flags unusual transactions to help prevent fraud. Bill reminders by e-mail or on your phone help you avoid late fees.

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Best Budget Site: Mint.com

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Best Prepaid Cell-Phone Plan: Boost Mobile Monthly Unlimited

Boost Mobile

The Boost Mobile Monthly Unlimited plan is $50 to $60 a month, depending on which phone you buy, for unlimited talk, text and Web. Boost’s “Shrinkage” perk lowers your monthly bill by $5 for every six on-time payments.

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Best Prepaid Cell-Phone Plan: Boost Mobile Monthly Unlimited

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Best Unlimited Cell-Phone Plan: Sprint's Simply Everything Plan

If you’re a data-hungry smart-phone user who watches Netflix movies and uploads HD videos at 4G speeds, pick Sprint’s Simply Everything Plan. At $100 per month, it’s not cheap. But Sprint won’t slow your connection or impose usage caps.

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Best Unlimited Cell-Phone Plan: Sprint's Simply Everything Plan

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Best Talk-Text-Surf Cell-Phone Plan: Virgin Mobile's PayLo Talk & Text

Unlimited plans are nice, but what if you use your cell phone sparingly? Virgin Mobile’s no-contract PayLo Talk & Text plan offers 1,500 phone minutes, 1,500 text messages, and 30 megabytes of Web access for just $30 a month.

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Best Talk-Text-Surf Cell-Phone Plan: Virgin Mobile's PayLo Talk & Text

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Best Talk-Only Cell-Phone Plan: Consumer Cellular Anywhere 100

Thinkstock

If you use your phone only for quick chats or emergencies, the Consumer Cellular Anywhere 100 plan is a good deal: 100 minutes for $15 a month. It uses AT&T’s cellular network and has a nice selection of reasonably priced phones.

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Best Talk-Only Cell-Phone Plan: Consumer Cellular Anywhere 100

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Best Android Phone: Samsung Galaxy S II

Samsung Mobile

The Samsung Galaxy S II (AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint) and Epic 4G Touch (Sprint) are superslim Android phones with speedy, dual-core processors, brilliant 4.3- or 4.5-inch displays, and two cameras: 8-megapixel rear, and 2-megapixel front. Price: $200 to $230 with a two-year contract.

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Best Android Phone: Samsung Galaxy S II

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Best Streaming Device: Roku

Roku

Roku streaming players route online video and audio services, such as Netflix and Pandora, to your living-room TV. Petite and reasonably priced ($60 to $100), these set-top boxes have built-in Wi-Fi and work with just about any TV.

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Best Streaming Device: Roku

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Best E-Reader: Kindle Touch

Amazon

Amazon’s Kindle Touch e-reader is a great little gadget with a display that’s easy to see in sunlight. Priced at $99 with ads that appear on-screen when you’re not reading and $139 without ads, the Touch runs for up to two months between charges. The new Kindle Fire ($199) is more of a hybrid. It is a fine e-reader (indoors) and, as a tablet, can play movies and games, too.

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Best E-Reader: Kindle Touch

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Best Tablet: iPad 2

Apple

Apple finally has some serious competition in the tablet market, but its iPad 2 remains the slate to beat. Starting at $499 for the Wi-Fi model with 16 gigabytes of storage, the iPad 2 wins with a stunningly slim design and a well-stocked online store with more than 140,000 apps.

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Best Tablet: iPad 2

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Best Online Music Service: Spotify

Thinkstock

With Spotify, download the software and you’ll have access to more than 15 million tracks; it also organizes the songs you already own. On the free version, you’ll be capped at ten hours of listening each month, but for a monthly subscription of $5, you’ll get unlimited, ad-free access to any song at any time (mobile device access costs more).

What truly sets Spotify apart is its social element. With its seamless Facebook integration, you can instantly share a song with others while discovering new music on your friends’ playlists.

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Best Online Music Service: Spotify

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Best Travel Headphones: Bose MIE2 In-Ear Headphones

Bose

Bose MIE2 in-ear headphones ($130) offer the depth and fullness of sound found in pricier and bulkier models that take up precious space in your carry-on luggage. Blaring background noise is muffled because of the in-ear fit, which also lets you hear intricate guitar solos without having to crank up the volume.

All that high fidelity can be packed in a carrying case small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. Plus, there’s a microphone on the cord that lets you switch from song to phone call in a snap. Apple users can add a volume control.

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Best Travel Headphones: Bose MIE2 In-Ear Headphones