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It’s no secret that financial literacy is a problem in the U.S., as less than a third of adults understand basic financial literacy topics by the time they hit their forties. But you don’t need to be an expert to get by, either, as knowing some of the basics can go a long way. Fortunately, there are plenty of online courses that cover personal finance topics, and you don’t even have to pay a dime. Here’s a look at a few that are free:
Finance Basics Everyone Should Know
This LinkedIn class is an easy way to start, as it’s just over an hour and explains the basics about banks, credit scores, the stock market, insurance, and retirement saving. It’s free with a 30-day LinkedIn Learning trial, after which you pay $29.99/month, or $19.99/month with an annual subscription (just don’t forget to cancel your trial if you’re only interested in this one course). Click here for more information.
Alison.com’s Financial Literacy Course
This is a short finance course that takes six to 10 hours to complete. The site is clunky, but the course does a good job covering personal finance topics like budgeting, staying out of debt and retirement planning. For more information, click here.
Financial Planning for Young Adults
From the online education platform Coursera, this course covers financial goal-setting, budgeting, borrowing, credit, saving, and investing. There’s a final module on becoming a financial planner that might not be of interest to everyone, but the rest of the material covers all the basics. The course is four weeks if you set aside 5-7 hours for each week. Click here for more information.
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Finance for Everyone: Smart Tools for Decision-Making
This six-week University of Michigan course is designed to help understand the basics of finance so that you can make smart financial choices, whether that’s renting or buying, evaluating car, home and student loans, or deciding whether to go to college. Click here for more information.
Finance for Non-Finance Professionals
Rice University offers a five-week course intended to be a first step for anyone who’s curious about understanding stock markets, valuation, or corporate finance. The lessons are focused on how to make good spending decisions based on sound fiscal discipline, and it will walk you through all of the tools and quantitative analysis that finance professionals use to evaluate investments. Click here for more information.
Financial Markets
Yale University’s free course digs a bit deeper into micro- and macroeconomic topics as they relate to how the financial markets work. You’ll learn about securities, insurance, and banking industries as they relate recent past events, including recessions, bubbles, the mortgage crisis, and regulation concerns. Click here for more information.
