To make Wealthtender free for readers, we earn money from advertisers, including financial professionals and firms that pay to be featured. This creates a conflict of interest when we favor their promotion over others. Read our editorial policy and terms of service to learn more. Wealthtender is not a client of these financial services providers.
➡️ Find a Local Advisor | 🎯 Find a Specialist Advisor
If this time of year is giving you back-to-school vibes, then maybe it’s time to enrol in an online course that will help you get your finances on track.
Wherever you are in your personal finance journey, there’s probably a course you can take that can help you get to where you’re headed next faster and more efficiently. Check out these and see which one is most likely to be of use to you right now.
The Core Four of Personal Finance (including Recession Basics)
If you’re already a fan of Udemy, this is one of their top basic personal finance courses with a 4.7 star average rating (based on over 2,000 ratings).
The Core Four of Personal Finance covers the basics of managing your debt, basic investing, reducing expenses and financing a home, as well as learning the basics of how to best live through a recession.
This is a paid course but it’s currently included in the Personal Plan, so if you already have a subscription it’s free (and if you don’t you can try out the Personal Plan on a free trial, which would give you enough time to work through this short course).
It’s also one of the courses many top companies offer free to employees, so find out if yours is one of them. Check out the full course curriculum here.
Personal & Family Financial Planning
This course from the University of Florida is currently offered free via the Coursera online learning platform, and has a 4.6 star rating with around 1,500 reviews.
It takes about 15 hours of self-paced, online study to complete, and modules include understanding financial statements, tools and budgets, managing income taxes, building and maintaining good credit, and investment fundamentals.
You’ll just need to make a free Coursera account, if you don’t have one already, and it’s well worth doing as they have a ton of free courses on specific personal finance issues as well as a whole range of other topics.
Personal Finance Masterclass
This one is available on Skillshare, so if you’re already a subscriber it will be included in your membership. The Personal Finance Masterclass is aimed at those with little experience and starts by clarifying common concepts, from the true meaning of net worth through to what exactly counts as an asset and a liability when it comes to personal finance.
It then covers everything most people will need to know about subjects like paying off debt, investing, credit, the pros and cons of renting and buying a home, and even vehicle expenses. I
f you’re not a member of Skillshare, you can get a free trial that will allow you to try out the class. And if you’re thinking of signing up, be aware that the Honey app always seems to have generous discounts for this one so consider signing up for their discount codes.
Personal Taxes
The Personal Taxes Unit is actually part of a larger course called Finance and Capital Markets over at Khan academy, and you can sign up for the whole course if that makes sense for you. It covers Interest and Debt, Housing, Inflation, and Stocks and bonds, among other things.
If, however, you just need a deep dive into everything you need to know about how personal taxes work in the US, this module is perfect. You’ll learn about the basics of the US income tax rate schedule, tax deductions, tax brackets and progressive taxation, and much more.
Khan academy is a non-profit and membership is available by voluntary donation (one-time or recurring) which is of course tax deductible. Many employers will also match your donation so find out if yours is one of them. You can even dedicate any donation you make in honor (or in memory) of someone if you want.
It’s never been simpler to access personal finance education online, and while there’s a lot of information out there, an online course can help focus you, pull a lot of related information together in a way that’s easy to digest, or simply clarify a specific topic.
It’s always advisable to consult a professional before making major personal finance decisions, but it’s also highly advisable to know the basics first. Without them, it’s hard to even know which questions to ask your advisor. So a little time and effort spent educating yourself will tend to pay off.
Karen Banes is a freelance writer specializing in entrepreneurship, parenting and lifestyle. She writes articles, website content, ebooks and the occasional award winning short story. Her work has appeared in a range of publications both online and off, including The Washington Post, Life Info Magazine, Transitions Abroad, Brave New Traveler, Natural Parenting Group, and Copia Magazine. Learn More About Karen
To make Wealthtender free for readers, we earn money from advertisers, including financial professionals and firms that pay to be featured. This creates a conflict of interest when we favor their promotion over others. Read our editorial policy and terms of service to learn more. Wealthtender is not a client of these financial services providers.
➡️ Find a Local Advisor | 🎯 Find a Specialist Advisor