TessMore Finance Blog

Howdy, friends! This summer, I'm traveling to Ecuador to participate in my fifth chautauqua on financial independence. You should consider joining me. These Ecuador chautauquas — which are unrelated to the European chautauquas — are always a fun, educational, and bonding experience. Clarification: At some point, chautauqua founders Cheryl Reed and JL Collins parted ways. Now JL runs the European chautauquas — which are on hiatus — with Katie and Alan Donegan. Cheryl continues to run the unrelated Ecuador gatherings. Both events are excellent. As always, I plan to speak about the intersection of money and meaning. How can you find purpose in your life — with or with out money? How much money is enough? What should you do after you've achieved financial independence? These are the sorts of questions I've explored at past chautauqua events. And while I haven't yet prepared my presentation for this year, I expect these are the same questions I'll be exploring

This year’s federal tax deadline is Tuesday, April 18, 2023. If you cannot get your tax return together before this date, you can file a tax extension request to avoid late filing penalties (although your tax dollars are still due by this date). For example, you might be navigating a precarious life event, living overseas, or waiting for those final year-end tax documents such as a Schedule K-1 or a corrected Form 1099. Life happens, but the tax collector still wants their fair share.    Knowing how to get a tax extension online can relieve stress if you owe income taxes this year. Thankfully, the tax extension process is relatively simple, although there are a few things to know in order to avoid tax penalties and interest. Table of Contents What Is a Tax Extension? Tax Extension Filing Deadlines Do I Need to File a Tax Extension? Tax Extension Exemptions How to File for an IRS Tax Extension Online Complete IRS Form 4868 Pay Your Estimated Tax Amount File Tax Return St

A great retirement investing alternative that not many people have heard about is the IRA CD. That would be a CD inside of a Roth or Traditional IRA. With this approach, you get the security of a CD with the tax advantages of an IRA. As a reminder, an IRA is a tax-advantaged retirement account that you use to hold investments, like a stock, bond, or in this case, a CD. A CD is a certificate of deposit, a deposit product with a fixed term and rate. They are also FDIC insured. Discover Bank was one of the first banks I knew to offer an IRA CD. Their IRA CDs range anywhere from 3 months to 10 years. The minimum deposit is $2,500. Discover Bank 12-month IRA CD All Discover Bank IRA CDs So, who should consider an IRA CD? Ultimately, it would be best if you made your investment decisions. There is no one-size fits all investment plan. But generally speaking, here’s who should consider an IRA CD: CD investors that want to pay less in taxes. Retirement investors who want an alternat

A 401(k) is one of the best ways you can save for your retirement. You can contribute to them and deduct your contributions, thus deferring taxes. You watch them grow tax-free, regardless of what you do with your investments. And you only pay taxes when you take disbursements in retirement. Add to that a potential company match, which is free money, and it’s a perfect retirement vehicle. It’s so valuable that the Secure Act 2.0 made it so that you have to opt out of a 401(k) rather than opt in. 401(k) plans will not be automatic enrollment (starting in 2025). A 401(k) plan is great but not all 401(k) plans are great. What if your employer offers a bad 401(k)? Should you still invest? How can you tell if the plan is good or bad? Table of Contents No Employer Match High Fees (Over 1.00%) Bad Investment Options No Match + High Fees = Reconsider Alternatives to a 401(k) Traditional & Roth IRAs Health Savings Account Taxable Brokerage Account Conclusion No Emplo

If you’re an Amazon shopper, you may know a few Amazon hacks that can help you land great deals and save money. Those hacks include different ways to get free stuff from Amazon, including some of their top products and services. In this article, I’ll show you several ways to get Amazon’s best free stuff and how to earn free Amazon gift cards, which you can use for future Amazon purchases. Table of Contents 7 Ways to Get Free Stuff Directly From Amazon 1. Get a Free 30-Day Trial of Amazon Prime 2. Get Invited to Amazon Vine 3. Sign Up for Amazon’s Audible 4. Sign Up for an Amazon Baby Registry 5. Get a Chase Amazon Rewards Card 6. Trade in Your Old Electronics 7. Sign Up for Amazon Music Unlimited Other Ways to Get Free Amazon Gift Cards 8. Survey Junkie  9. TopCashback 10. InboxDollars 11. Swagbucks 12. Opinion Outpost The Bottom Line 7 Ways to Get Free Stuff Directly From Amazon Check out these ideas if you’re searching for free stuff from Amazon. Take ad

A re you looking for a job but think your criminal background may get in the way? It will be a challenge. After all, only around 5% of managers actively consider candidates with criminal records. So it may be time to reconsider your options. Many jobs – some that you may not have considered – don’t require a background check and can be started immediately! Whether you’re interested in traditional or online work-from-home jobs, this blog post will list all the opportunities available to you despite any issues on your record. Start your search today with these no background check jobs! What are Some No Background Check Jobs? These are the jobs we’ve discovered that don’t do background checks: 1. Sell Your Skills on Fiverr Are you looking to generate income despite having a record? It can be done. With Fiverr , you can generate an income without worrying about a background check – meaning any criminal record won’t hold you back from being successful on the platform. Fiverr is an

T oday I want to explore the best money-making websites. There are very few of us who feel like we make enough money. Earning more can help you pay off debt, get on track for retirement, or you simply diversify your income sources. There are tons of apps and websites where you can start earning part-time money. The ways you can earn extra money are pretty varied, anything from online shopping, filling out surveys and playing games, delivering groceries–even losing weight! If you want to earn money in your spare time, you can find something to fit your schedule and interests. But with so many options, who do you trust? Let’s look at several trusted websites that we’ve vetted: What are the Most-Trusted Money Making Websites? Let’s start by looking at my top three suggestions. The first one is brand new and it turns almost every website into a money making website using cashback rewards. 1. DollarSprout Rewards With DollarSprout Rewards, users can receive instant cashback rewards

The adage goes, it takes money to make money. Lack of access to capital can be a major problem for small businesses in a variety of circumstances. Maybe you’re just starting out and you have setup or testing costs. Or you’re trying to grow and you need to invest in space or inventory. Or worse, a pandemic hits and you lose customers. As a small business owner, I’ll share what you need to know about seeking a business loan. Determining Your Eligibility There are criteria you need to satisfy before a bank will consider lending to you. You must have a business checking account and show that you keep your business and personal finances separate. You must have been in business for at least two years showing profitability with paying customers . You have to be willing to provide a personal guarantee on the loan so that if anything goes wrong, the bank can come for your personal assets to repay the loan. You also need a reasonably high credit score . If you plan to seek bank loan