TessMore Finance Blog

For whatever reason, you do not yet qualify to receive Social Security benefits, but you are old enough to begin thinking about your retirement. What can you do about that? One of those reasons you haven’t paid enough into the system to qualify may be that you stayed home to raise children. That’s a big job for sure, but an unpaid one. Now that the children are grown, you might want to get back into the workplace to earn Social Security benefits. Or, perhaps you worked for a public entity that had its own retirement program and did not pay into the federal system. You could retire from that job with 25 years experience and if you’re in your early 50s still have enough time to work to qualify for Social Security benefits. What kind of job can you get after age 50 that will build up your credits? The simple answer is any job where the employer pays Social Security taxes, and we will give suggestions on that later in this post. How Social Security Credits Are Accrued Social Security ...

Some of the links in this post are from our sponsors. We provide you with accurate, reliable information. Learn more about how we make money and select our advertising partners . In school, they’ll teach you all the algebra you can take. They’ll teach you about geometry and trigonometry. They might even teach you about calculus. But they don’t teach you diddly-squat about money. No sirree. All the differential equations in the world aren’t gonna show you how to handle your money like a grown adult. Despite all our education, our overall state of financial literacy is way too low. In fact, only about a third of U.S. states require their high school students to take any kind of personal finance class. Let’s refresh our financial education with these money lessons you didn’t learn in school. Doing these could save you thousands this year. 1. Grow Your Money 16x Faster — Without Risking Any of It Here’s a simple lesson we’ll expand on: You’ve probably heard one of the best ways to gr...

Some of the links in this post are from our sponsors. We provide you with accurate, reliable information. Learn more about how we make money and select our advertising partners . You’ve been Googling ways to alleviate your debt. Many experts suggest refinancing or consolidating. In the next breath you ask: What’s the best company? Upon more research, you find there are something like one zillion options, but you keep hearing mentions of Upstart , a non-traditional lending platform. What’s so special about it? In addition to assessing your ability to pay back a loan based on your credit score, it takes other factors into consideration, like your education and employment history. “We really customize rates to the individual, meaning we’re [pricing] specific to each person based on the information they’re giving us,” Jungwon Byun, the head of growth at Upstart, said in an email. “You get the rate you deserve — not the rate a pool of people assigned to you deserves.” So… What Is Up...

As rent prices continue to soar all over the country, you may be finding yourself entering your first real estate search. You’re not alone. According to the National Association of Realtors, millennials are ending their leases and buying homes in large numbers. Those in their late 20’s to early 30’s now make up the fastest-growing segment of buyers today. But how to even shop for a home these days? First-time buyers might remember being dragged to Sunday open houses with their looky-loo parents, but those days are gone. Everything is online , and many real estate apps have sprung up to help buyers find their dream homes. The 7 Best House-Hunting Apps Zillow, Trulia, HomeSnap, Redfin and even Realtor.com are among the house-listing websites that have become an essential part of the home-buying process, and all of them have mobile apps to make it even easier to jump into the real estate game. We assessed seven of them keeping first-time buyers in mind by looking at ease of use, ...

Some of the links in this post are from our sponsors. We provide you with accurate, reliable information. Learn more about how we make money and select our advertising partners . Paid survey sites can be a simple way to earn a little extra cash in your free time. And although surveys aren’t our favorite way to make extra money, they can be a convenient side hustle to take on while you’re doing other things— like waiting on-hold with your bank or in line at the grocery store. Why not turn those empty moments into extra cash by clicking a few buttons? While many survey sites simply aren’t worth the hype, InboxDollars is one of the rare legitimate paid survey companies out there. Sites like these typically pay in points instead of direct cash, but you can use those points to purchase gift cards with actual cash value. Should you prefer cash over the cards, you can aso turn around and sell any gift cards you earn. Which leads us to a common question… Do Paid Surveys Count Toward T...

Raising a child — or children — is an incredibly rewarding experience. It can also be a very expensive one — and doing it alone can be a major source of financial stress. Being a single parent means you have to become a pro at making your money stretch and establishing your own financial safety net. We spoke with three financial professionals — who have personally experienced life as a single parent — to get the best tips on how to budget and save money when raising children alone. 10 Money Management Tips for Single Parents These strategies and advice will help you create a workable single mom budget (or single dad budget). 1. Know Your Cash Flow First things first — you’ve got to know how much money is coming into your household and how much is going out. This is especially important if you recently separated from or lost a partner who used to handle all the finances. “The first thing [to do] is to face the reality of the situation,” said Molly Ward , a Certified Financial Pl...

Wells Fargo landed in hot water several years ago when it was revealed that employees had created millions of fraudulent accounts in order to make their sales targets. Increased consumer acceptance of online banking, where customers can expect better interest rates and mobile apps, has also posed a problem for Wells Fargo, whose core checking account is not interest-bearing and whose savings account earns a meager 0.01% APY. On top of that, large banks like Citibank and Capital One have finally begun to embrace a no-overdraft-fee policy, but Wells Fargo lags behind. The bank has announced some changes to overdraft fees but so far no complete elimination. It’s fair to say that Wells Fargo has a consumer perception problem. However, while Wells Fargo’s bank account options are less than desirable and the brand is still working to regain consumer trust, the Wells Fargo personal loan offering is decent. Check out The Penny Hoarder’s Wells Fargo review for a full run-down of the bank’...