WORKING HARD FOR THE MONEY

This year, Money magazine rounded up nine of our most talented writers and tasked them with reporting on why exactly, in specific detail, these products or businesses are the most beneficial for our readers.

- VANESSA WALKER

To be clear, each of these 105 gold award winners triumphed in a very competitive field. For the analytical among us, we have published comparative tables to prove why.

But we didn't ask our writers for laudatory articles to accompany these wins. Instead, we requested deep dives into how and why these products could benefit people in a year in which most of us are tightening our belts.

We asked them to explain how these companies achieved that complex matrix of providing the best possible service, product or outcome, for the best possible price. And we required them to press these companies, or consult with our in-house experts, for real answers.

And they delivered, in most cases speaking to the company chief executives or the architects of these products.

Cut costs, not standards