Ah, the memories of fondly wading through school courses on asset allocation, Roth IRAs, and retirement savings options. Wait, not so much? You’re not alone.
Recent polls and studies consistently show the same thing: Americans are being taught little to nothing when it comes to personal finance.
For example:
- Just 17 states require their high school students to take a personal finance course.
- Nearly 2/3 of Americans couldn’t pass this basic financial literacy test…
- …which is actually pretty good, compared to the 94% that couldn’t pass this one.
Beyond being fodder for great headlines, these numbers have real-world implications: 56% of American adults have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, while a full 1/3 have saved nothing.
When it comes to getting a solid education in personal finance, it’s really all up to you. The good news is, there are a number of relevant educational courses that you can take online, all for free! Here are 12 (note: some of these may require free registration to access them).
1. Money Essentials – CNN
https://money.cnn.com/pf/money-essentials/
A great place to start your education is CNN’s Money Essentials. This site provides an overview of a wide range of money topics, covering everything from Getting a Job and Starting to Invest to Retirement Planning.
2. Financial Literacy – Open2Study
https://www.open2study.com/courses/financial-literacy
Brought to you by Macquarie University, this course features four modules on financial skills such as how to set/achieve goals and common money management mistakes to avoid. You can complete the whole course in just under four hours.
3. Planning for a Secure Retirement – Purdue University
https://ag.purdue.edu/programs/areyouprepared/secureretirement/Pages/default.aspx
Part of the Purdue Extension, this site will walk you through everything you need to know – from retirement programs and long-term care to benefits and estate planning – in order to plan ahead for a successful retirement. There are 10 modules in all, as well as a guide/worksheet that you can work through as you take the course.
4. Personal & Family Financial Planning – Coursera
https://www.coursera.org/learn/family-planning
Covering nine modules and 30 videos (plus some reading), this University of Florida class covers topics such as Understanding Personal Finance and Building and Maintaining Good Credit. Other vital areas, such as creating a budget and doing your taxes, are also covered.
5. Personal Finance – EdX
https://www.edx.org/course/personal-finance-purduex-pn-17-2
Purdue University comes through again with this EdX course that features modules on investments, credit, insurance, and retirement. The aim of this 15-20 hour course is to help you make better decisions in all aspects of your financial life.
6. Introduction to Life Insurance and Retirement Savings – Alison
https://alison.com/course/introduction-to-life-insurance-and-retirement-savings
This short (1-2 hours) class covers everything you need to know about life insurance and saving for retirement. If you’re looking for a quick introduction to things such as IRAs, 401(k)s, and term life insurance, this is a good place to invest your time.
7. Personal Finance 101: Everything You Need to Know – Udemy
https://www.udemy.com/personal-finance-101/
Personal Finance 101 is a MoneyCoach creation that is geared towards the complete financial beginner. The course features three hours of on-demand video – as well as lots of quizzes to test your retention – in areas like buying a car, making a spending plan, and filing your taxes.
8. Introduction to Simple and Compound Interest – Alison
https://alison.com/course/Introduction-to-Simple-and-Compound-Interest
While you probably nodded off a little just reading the title, it’s worth an hour or two of your time to dive into the force that drives every loan, credit card, or bank account you’ll ever have.
9. My Financial Mountain: Understanding Your Path to a Solid Financial Foundation – Skillshare
Describing itself as “a general guide to solid personal finances,” this Skillshare course is taught by Julio Lara and features 13 videos covering topics such as savings, debt, and credit. Another good (and at 24 minutes, short) overview to help you understand and take charge of your finances.
10. Taxes – Khan Academy
https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/core-finance/taxes-topic
Death and… this class. Sal Khan takes you through everything you need to know about taxes, be they corporate (ex. limited liability) or personal (ex. tax brackets, the marriage penalty). If your educational scope is limited to taxes, this is a good three to four hour introduction that spells them out pretty clearly.
11. Investing for Your Future – eXtension
http://articles.extension.org/pages/10984/investing-for-your-future
The heavy-hitters behind this course include Rutgers Cooperative Extension, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This is an all-text investing 101 class, where you’ll find topics covering stocks and bonds, how to set investment goals, and where to find seed money to get started in investing in the first place.
12. Investment Risk – The Open University
Once you’ve acquired a little investing knowledge, it’s time to dive deeper into the concept of risk with this six-hour course from The Open University. Among the questions you’ll find answers to here: What is investment risk? How do you deal with it? Calculate it? Decide if it is worthwhile?
Have you taken an online personal finance course that you found particularly helpful? If so, share your experience in the comments!
About The Author
Rich Gray is a Vermont-based freelance writer who has written on consumer issues and small business tech for a number of magazines and websites.
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