TessMore Finance Blog

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

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 splits

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

I ‘m passionate about golf. I play several times a week and I’ve even started a golf Youtube channel and blog, called PT Golfs (of course). But I feel guilty about spending so much time and money on a leisure activity. Because I’m spending so much time on it, I’d like it to make a little money from it. Can you actually make extra money in the golf industry? When I ask that question to you, what comes to mind? The PGA Tour? One might assume that’s the only way you can make money in this industry, but they’re overlooking a lot of smaller ways you can get paid. Some you could do full-time. Most you can do part-time to make a little extra cash. Here’s a deeper look into how you can make money in the golf world: 1. Build, Franchise, or Invest in a “New Golf” Business Golf is in the beginning phases of a massive disruption. The game is getting younger, faster, and more accessible to the general public. It started with businesses like Top Golf . And now we’re seeing reiventions of

Margaret Roberts, who runs an association management company in Alexandria, Virginia, vividly recalls the day she answered a phone call from a landlord in New York who had received a deposit for an apartment lease. The check was drawn on the account of one of her nonprofit association clients, and it just didn’t look right to the landlord. He wondered if it was valid. Antennae twitching, Roberts logged into the client’s online banking account and quickly confirmed that the landlord’s hunch was correct. The check was bogus. The fallout cascaded rapidly from that point: While Roberts was investigating and alerting the bank, another caller phoned to thank the association for an award payment he had received. There was no award. In the end, she discovered there wasn’t one fraudulent check, but several, totaling more than $15,000. It turned out that scammers had pulled wire transfer information from the client’s conference website and created fake checks. “Our client got their money bac

Here’s the exact system I use to spend only 90 minutes a month managing my money. If you haven’t already set up your Conscious Spending Plan , I recommend doing that first. CATEGORIES OF SPENDING Use these as guidelines for your spending and tweak as necessary. Fixed Costs : Rent, Utilities, Debt, etc.  50/60% of take-home pay Investments:  401(k), Roth, IRA, etc.  10% Savings Goals: Vacations, gifts, house down payment, cash for unexpected expenses, etc 5-10% Guilt-free spending money : Dining out, drinking, movies, clothes, shoes, etc. 20-35% Now let’s take your Conscious Spending Plan and make it automatic. To do this, I use a concept called the Next $100. This means, simply, where will the next $100 you make go? Will it all go to your investment account? Will you allocate 10 percent to your savings account? Most people just shrug and don’t take any time to think about how their money will be allocated—which means it gets thoughtlessly spent and I sob un