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)

For five years of love and fiscal responsibility

Feb 17, 2012
A marine declares his love for his wife of five years, who along with love diligently sent him burned copies of Marketplace Money every week through two tours of duty.
iStockphoto

The cost of being 'Best in Show'

Feb 17, 2012
New York hosted the Westminster Dog Show this week. Tess talked with dog owners to find out just how much it costs to put your pooch on parade at the most prestigious award show in America.
Pilar Kuhn and her Scottish terrier Garrison
Tess Vigeland

The hard decision

Feb 17, 2012
One of the toughest decisions a pet owner has to make is how and when to end an animal's life. Tess talks with pet owners and a vet about balancing the cost of life and death.
Tess Vigeland's dogs: Ronan, left, and Kiara.
Tess Vigeland/Marketplace

Buddy, why can't we save a dime?

Feb 16, 2012
On the advent of America Saves Week, Tess talks with Sheldon Garon, Princeton prof and the author of "Beyond Our Means: Why America Spends While the World Saves."
Albert Sabate/Marketplace

The ups and downs of the fashion world

Feb 10, 2012
Ever wondered why a few scraps of cloth end up costing $5,000 on the catwalk? Or how designers manage to sell a $5,000 dress for just a few hundred bucks in stores like Target? Tess Vigeland pulls back the curtain on the fashion biz.
Models walk the runway at the Rebecca Minkoff Fall 2012 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Untangling whole and term-life insurance

Feb 10, 2012
Senior Producer Paddy Hirsch and CBS MoneyWatch's Jill Schlesinger break down the different types of life insurance.

For saving, not splurging potential income

Feb 10, 2012
Listeners share what they would do if Congress were to pass legislation to make home refinancing easier -- putting more money in homeowners' pockets.
Albert Sabate/Marketplace

For starting a 'What happens next?' Fund

Feb 3, 2012
This week's winner thought ahead and created an emergency fund for her and her husband.

Ladies, you can't have it all

Feb 3, 2012
Financial Times columnist Mrs. Moneypenny discusses the realities of life as a working woman.
Mrs. Moneypenny says that women can't have everything without being mediocre at everything.
iStockphoto

Three-year low in unemployment

Feb 3, 2012
The latest job numbers exceeded economists' expectations, but before you get too excited about a recovery, an economist breaks down the numbers for us.
Employment seekers attend the JobExpo employment fair in New York City.
Mario Tama/Getty Images