TessMore Finance Blog

A parent’s financial problems can be a very difficult thing to deal with. This is one of the most difficult situations you may face in your financial life: realizing that your aging parents are in debt . Maybe they were caught off guard by rising medical expenses, or maybe they simply took too many years off from saving and investing. Whatever the cause, they’re going to need help getting their finances back on track, even if they don’t want to ask for it. Discussing their situation may be among the most challenging conversations you’ll ever have—and one of the most necessary. What to Ask Them If your parents are in debt , it can be very tough on your relationship with them. Your biggest challenge is not going to be coming up with a technical personal finance solution for their problem. Instead, it’s going to be asking lots of questions, listening carefully, and deciding if they actually want help, and if they’re ready to receive it. If they do, great! You can help them. But if the

The growth of e-commerce stores and online entrepreneurs has shifted the payment industry to online methods. Accepting credit cards and other online payment options helps businesses to stay competitive in today’s marketplace. Though these methods offer many benefits to businesses and customers, they have created new opportunities for cybercrime. Security is a key concern when handling business payments online. Business owners must be aware of their responsibility in offering safe online payment methods. A security breach could cost your business and ruin its reputation. Fortunately, there are several ways to secure online payments. This article will discuss the necessary security procedures when handling digital payments. 1.   PCI Compliance Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance ensures that businesses process, transmit, and store credit card information in a secure environment. You must comply with the protocols laid down by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (

Let’s assume you have already dealt with the most important parts of your finances: your credit cards, bank accounts , spending, and investments. You’ve consciously decided what your Rich Life is, and you’ve built a financial system that is essentially on autopilot, letting you spend your time pursuing the things you love. You’re doing great. Especially considering that most people are still struggling with paying their monthly bills. So congratulations. But—of course there’s a “but”—if you’re seriously nerdy and want to know more about enhancing your finances, this is for you. Remember, though: This is extra credit, so don’t feel the need to follow the advice here unless you really want to. Get Honest About Why You Want More I was raised to be the best—to study harder, work longer, and perform better than everyone else. In many ways, those lessons have paid off. But I also see the dark side of blindly following the idea of being the best without reflecting on why you’re working so

“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 her reput

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