Tess Vigeland

Former Host, Marketplace Money

SHORT BIO

Tess Vigeland was the host of Marketplace Money, a weekly personal finance program that looks at why we do what we do with our money: your life, with dollar signs. Vigeland and her guests took calls from listeners to answer their most vexing money management questions, and the program helped explain what the latest business and financial news means to our wallets and bank accounts.

Vigeland joined Marketplace in September 2001, as a host of Marketplace Morning Report. She rose at o-dark-thirty to deliver the latest in business and economic news for nearly four years before returning briefly to reporting and producing. She began hosting Marketplace Money in 2006 and ended her run as host in November of 2012. . Vigeland was also a back-up host for Marketplace.

Prior to joining the team at Marketplace, Vigeland reported and anchored for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland, where she received a Corporation for Public Broadcasting Silver Award for her coverage of the political scandal involving Senator Bob Packwood (R-Ore.). She co-hosted the weekly public affairs program Seven Days on OPB television, and also produced an hour-long radio documentary about safety issues at the U.S. Army chemical weapons depot in Eastern Oregon. Vigeland next served as a reporter and backup anchor at WBUR radio in Boston. She also spent two years as a sports reporter for NPR’s Only a Game.

For her outstanding achievements in journalism, Vigeland has earned numerous awards from the Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists. Vigeland has a bachelor's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is a contributor to The New York Times and is a volunteer fundraiser for the Pasadena Animal League and Pasadena Humane Society. In her free time, Vigeland studies at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music, continuing 20-plus years of training as a classical pianist.

Latest Stories (863)

Why is it more expensive to be a woman?

Apr 13, 2012
Women's pay may be on the rise, but when it comes to things like health insurance, haircuts, dry cleaning, and deodorant -- women pay more than men. A university study looks into the potential factors behind the price difference.
Women's pay may be on the rise, but when it comes to things like health insurance, haircuts, dry cleaning, and deodorant -- women pay more than men. A university study looks into the potential factors behind the price difference.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

House lust

Apr 6, 2012
Tess interviews "Norumbega Park" author Anthony Giardina about the place that the house occupies in the American dream.
iStockphoto

For penning a money-savvy rap

Apr 6, 2012
This week's Piggy Award goes to a money-smart teen who practices what she raps.

Half a million bucks in student debt?

Apr 6, 2012
Paddy Hirsch, Liz Weston, and Tess discuss the wisdom of taking out huge amounts of student debt.
iStockphoto

For recognizing a scam

Mar 30, 2012
A Big Y supermarket clerk helps a Connecticut woman from falling victim to a scam.
The recipient of this week's piggy award: A Big Y supermarket clerk, who helped a Connecticut woman from falling victim to a scam.
facebook.com/bigyworldclassmarket

Abundance and technology

Mar 30, 2012
Author Peter Diamandis thinks technology will help us solve the biggest challenges we face.
Water will become more and more valuable as the future draws nearer.
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP/Getty Images

The future of... cupcakes?

Mar 30, 2012
Sprinkles Cupcakes installs a robotic cupcake ATM.

Getting Personal: Health care, nursing, and investing

Mar 30, 2012
Host Tess Vigeland and David Lazarus from the L.A. Times answer your personal finance queries.
One way or another, if Americans want healthcare coverage, someone's going to have to pay.
KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images

Shooting for the stars, learning to manage debt

Mar 21, 2012
A Seattle family learns the hard way how to manage its finances.
Karawynn Long and Jak Koke had a moment of clarity, when a mountain of credit card debt nearly tipped them over the edge. The Seattle couple is flanked here by daughters Claire and Michaela.
Matthew Ryan Williams for The New York Times

NFL suspends New Orleans Saints coaches, manager

Mar 21, 2012
The National Football League punished officials of the New Orleans Saints today for a bounty program that paid bonuses to players for injuring opponents.
Head coach Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints walks off the field after their 2012 NFC Wild Card Playoff game on January 7, 2012 in New Orleans, La. Payton was suspended and fined today for a bounty program that paid bonuses to players for injuring opponents.
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images