TessMore Finance Blog

“I help students kick ass in law school” — Larry Lee “I stayed sane and partied hard in law school” For Larry Lee, law school wasn’t about pulling all nighters and burying his nose deep in books. “For a lot of students, law school is three years of torture. But I was lucky to have friends who went before me. They steered me in the right direction by showing how to work smarter.” “Even though I edited the law journal, served as a teaching assistant, tutored first-year students, and worked as a researcher for a few professors, I stayed sane and partied hard. Law school was not a constant, angst-ridden process for me.” Larry not only completed law school, he crushed it. He graduated magna cum laude and got offers from top firms. Larry crushed law school. He was a successful lawyer for 9 years. That’s when the entrepreneurship bug bit him. “I graduated law school and practiced for 9 years. One of the things I thought about doing was starting about my own business. It didn’t neces...

Not just for 20-somethings. Look at James, a busy father with a successful online business. This story made me laugh. James’ wife was furious when she found out he had spend $1,000 on a course…that is, until he showed her the results. Check it out: James made an extra $60,000 from my Earn1K course, bringing his total tutor revenue to $180,000. But, living a Rich Life isn’t just about money. James had a family and a son on the way. He knew that there was a limit to what he could make tutoring — and also a limit on the time he wanted to spend with clients instead of family. What does a Rich Life mean for you? Here’s how James would answer that question: The thing is, James isn’t a tech or sales expert, he’s a chemistry teacher. When he first created an online product, he felt that he had the “haunting feeling he was missing something.” See how the tested system in Zero to Launch was able to fill the gaps that other experts couldn’t: How do you find paying customers in a ...

“My online business is fully built on the Zero to Launch system to this day.” — Tom Miller His first online business failed miserably Before joining Zero to Launch, Tom toyed with the idea of starting an online business. He even cut his full-time engineering job down to part-time so he could spend more time blogging. But with no system to follow, he quickly felt lost. “I wasted a good amount of time looking for articles online about marketing strategies and tactics and reading what other people were doing.” Without a roadmap, Tom’s business went nowhere. Hear him describe his struggle and how humiliating it was. “I had all this stuff in my head that I knew would benefit other people” Back in college, Tom had developed study techniques to help him get good grades while spending less time studying. Combining those skills with the knowledge he learned from my Earn1K course, he made good side money as a tutor. But he could only help so many students one-on-one. He wanted to ...

“The best thing about Zero to Launch was how it was laid out — it was great having a roadmap to follow.” — Paula Rizzo “I was very disorganized at home. I missed deadlines, forgot appointments…” Paula is an Emmy Award winning television producer for health segments on Fox News. Her job required her to always meet deadlines and be on top of things. “Being a television producer, you have to be super organized. TV segments are always running. At any given moment, you have to know what’s coming up next and the exact deliverables to make it happen. Lists are key. I use them all the time to stay on track.” Paula always uses lists in her job. However, Paula’s life at home was different than her work life. “At home, I wanted to be more laid back and ‘easy breezy.’ I didn’t want to use the same lists I use at my job because that would feel like work. So I was very disorganized at home. I missed deadlines, forgot appointments. It was like the opposite of my TV producer self.” Paula k...

ABOUT BUSHRA Bushra is a Pakistani expat in Saudi Arabia with 2 children. Already earning 6 figures as a consultant, she wanted to make money with a business that gave her more freedom and flexibility. HOW SHE USED ZERO TO LAUNCH She followed every step in Zero to Launch — from finding an idea to launching her first online product — to create a side business in a brand new field. RESULTS Bushra earns twice as much from her part-time online business than she does from her full-time job. She’s now planning to take summers off to spend time with her family. “Zero to Launch helps you create products and courses that sell themselves.” — Bushra Azhar *Note: This video is from Feb. 2014, before Bushra’s online business exploded “I was afraid of tarnishing my image” Although Bushra was earning 6 figures as a business consultant, the busy mother of two wanted more freedom and flexibility in her life. She knew online business could help, but she didn’t want to ruin ...

Let’s be honest. Nobody really loves managing their money. I’d rather be using my money, like by taking a food tour in Tokyo or a weekend ski trip with friends. Basically, I’m always on the lookout for ways to spend less time and get better results. I’ve taken pains to research investments that don’t take lots of time to maintain and also pay off. That’s why I urge you to combine a classic low-cost investing strategy with automation. What is Automatic Investing? Automatic investing is not some revolutionary technique that I just invented. It’s a simple way of investing in low-cost funds that is recommended by Nobel Laureates, billionaire investors such as Warren Buffett, and most academics. It involves spending most of your time choosing how your money will be distributed in your portfolio, then picking the investments (this actually takes the least amount of time), and finally automating your regular investments so you can sit and watch TV while growing your money. Hey, we’re lazy...

In 1975, John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, introduced the world’s first index fund. These simple funds buy stocks and match the market (more precisely, to match an “index” of the market, such as the S&P 500), versus the traditional mutual fund, which employs an expensive staff of “experts” who try to predict which stocks will perform well, trade frequently, incur taxes in the process, and charge you fees. In short, they charge you to lose. Index Funds: “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” Index funds set a lower bar: No experts. No attempts to beat the market. Just a computer that automatically attempts to match the index and keep costs low for you. Index funds are the financial equivalent of “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” And they do so while also being low cost and tax efficient and requiring hardly any maintenance at all. In other words, index funds are simply collections of stocks that computers manage in an effort to match the index of the market. There are index funds f...

Investing is a personal thing that can be really rewarding if you do it right. But what does “doing it right” mean? Is there really a “right” way? And how do you even get started if you’re considering investing in a new asset class or method of investing? In this article, we’ll tackle the basics of Active and Passive Investment Management so that you can make an informed decision about what kind of investor you are—and maybe even change your mind about whether investing is right for you. Get To Know Mutual Funds Mutual funds—which are simply collections of different investments like stocks or bonds—are often considered the simplest and best way for most people to invest. But, as we’ve seen, fund managers fail to beat the market 75 percent of the time, and it can be hard to tell which funds will actually perform well over the long term. And no matter how good a mutual fund is, the returns are hampered by the large fees they charge. (Sure, there are some low-cost mutual funds, but bec...

Over a long enough time horizon, the stock market goes up. That’s why it’s one of the best ways to build wealth – that’s why it’s the preferred investment for so many Americans. It makes up the bulk of my investments – a simple portfolio of index funds, the majority of which is invested in the S&P 500 index. That’s why when the stock market goes up, everyone is happy! You now have more wealth than you had before – that’s a good thing. But there are ways to make money when the stock market goes down. There are people who build wealth even in times of economic difficulty. While you may not be in a position to take advantage of these moments, it’s still important to understand who these folks are: Table of Contents Short Sellers Put Option Buyers Market Makers Long Term Investors So, Where Does The Money Go? Short Sellers Short sellers are people who hold positions that go up in value when the underlying security goes down in value. The best example of this is when yo...

We’ve all heard stories about investors who consistently beat the market. There are books about them, conferences dedicated to them, and YouTube videos made about them. It’s no secret that there are investors out there who have beaten the market consistently for years. But what we don’t know is how they do it: What stocks do they invest in? How much risk do they take? The Legendary Investors Warren Buffett, for example, has produced a 20.9 percent annualized return over fifty-three years. Peter Lynch of Fidelity returned 29 percent over thirteen years. And Yale’s David Swensen has returned 13.5 percent over thirty-three years.` They have phenomenal investing skills and have earned their titles as some of the best investors in the world. But just because these guys can consistently beat the market doesn’t mean you or I can. Is It Possible To Beat The Market? Yes, theoretically, it is possible to consistently beat the market (which typically returns around 8 percent after you accou...

The fact of the matter is that you’re unlikely to find a better-performing fund or an investor who can consistently beat the market. Why, then, are some funds so alluringly compelling? It’s simple—some managers do beat the market (short-term), and many investors are lucky. However, they rarely, if ever, continue to do so consistently. In this article, you’ll learn how to beat financial experts, so you won’t have to hire one anymore.  No One Can Ever Predict The Market Let’s take a simple example of an unscrupulous scammer who wants to sell his financial services to some naive investors. He emails ten thousand people, telling half that Stock A will go up and telling the other half Stock B will go up. “This is just a freebie email to demonstrate my insider knowledge,” he might say. After a couple of weeks, he notices that Stock A has indeed gone up by chance. He eliminates the Stock B group and focuses on the Stock A group, emailing them an “I told you so” note. This time, he spl...

Credit cards can be a great asset if used properly, but they can also leave you in financial issues fast. Many people have credit card debt and don’t even realize it. Here’s how you can review your credit card bills to unearth opportunities for improving your finances. How I Checked My System In The Early Days How I Check My System Now Things To Remember For Freelancers Action Steps I Love This System For Three Reasons When Do I Get To Spend My Money? How I Checked My System In The Early Days I used to do a weekly five-minute review of all the charges on my card. If I took no action, my credit card reached into my checking account once a month and paid the full amount automatically. No late fees, no worries. If I did see an error, I just called my credit card company and got it fixed. Let’s talk about those weekly reviews for a second. I liked to keep an eye on my credit card charges whenever there was tipping involved, so I would keep my receipts whenever I went to restaura...