Despite its importance in our daily life, however, personal finance is a subject that has historically been left out of school curricula, although it is now changing. As a result, many adults today are left without any kind of proper education or guidance on how their finances actually work.
Thankfully, there is an abundance of resources available online, including blogs and YouTube channels, which break down the basics of personal finance to help anyone start learning. For a more organized approach, there are also online courses, taught by selected professionals and industry experts who are just a couple of clicks away.
Below, Select outlines four free online personal finance courses that can help you kickstart your financial journey and don’t take a lot of time.
Subscribe to the Newsletter Select!
Our best selections in your inbox. Shopping advice to help improve your life, provided weekly. Sign up here.
1. “Personal Finance 101: Everything You Need to Know” by Udemy
Udemy is a huge online educational resource that covers various topics.
A good place to start learning about personal finance is through the “Personal Finance 101: Everything You Need to Know” course. By watching animated videos, users can learn basic personal finance topics such as college savings, retirement planning, and credit card details.
This three-hour lesson requires no prior knowledge of finance or statistics and will guide you with short online lessons that are no more than a few minutes each. More than 55,000 people have signed up and reviewers are generally happy with the content, giving the course an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. You will have to pay for a certificate of completion if you wish, but all other video content in the course is available for free.
2. “My Financial Mountain: Understanding Your Path to a Strong Financial Foundation” by Skillshare
You may have already heard of it Skillshare, as it is a popular online learning community that offers all types of educational classes.
Although Skillshare is a subscription service, you can still sign up for a free trial and receive unlimited access to over 35,000 classes. You can cancel your free trial at any time – once it expires, you will be charged $ 168 for the annual premium subscription plan.
We recommend beginners to sign up for the free trial and take a course called “My Financial Mountain: Understanding Your Path to a Strong Financial Foundation” – it only takes 24 minutes and allows you to browse topics such as saving for the future and financial planning .
While it’s definitely not a deep dive into personal finance and you won’t receive a certificate for completing it, this course will help put beginners on track to understand the key concepts, as it also walks you through seven steps you can take to create a solid financial basis.
With an enrollment of approximately 850, this course exceeded 33% of reviewers’ expectations and met 50%.
3. Alison’s “Introduction to Personal Financial Debt Management”
One we suggest you try is Alison’s “Introduction to Personal Financial Debt Management”, as much of personal finance is related to balancing the different types of debt you may have. This free course will teach you how to prioritize which debt to pay first, how to organize your debts using a spreadsheet, and how to negotiate interest rates with credit card companies, among other skills.
In 1.5-3 hours, you can learn about responsible debt management methods with the aim of preventing or alleviating personal debt problems. Together with the more than 40,000 people enrolled, you will earn a certificate and become an Alison Graduate by earning 80% or higher on all assessments.
Reviewers call this course “very informative” and “easy to follow,” while it boasts a near-perfect five-star average rating.
Those interested in learning more can check out Alison’s free courses on wealth creation, retirement savings, and financial freedom, which take less than three hours to complete.
4. “Create a budget with Google Sheets” by Coursera
We particularly like its “Create a Budget with Google Sheets” class, which teaches budgeting and how to navigate Google Sheets like a pro – let’s face it, spreadsheets are the key to getting a good overview of your money.
In just an hour, you will learn how to build, format and update your budget to help you reach your financial goals. About 8,000 people have already registered and the course has an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.
While you won’t receive a certificate for completing this course, you will end up with a professional budget to keep your finances in order.
Bottom line
Thanks to free online personal finance courses, such as the four described above, anyone with Internet access can learn how to manage money from credible sources.
No matter how old you are or where you are in life, remember that it is never too late to educate yourself on best money practices. Not only will it literally pay off, but you won’t have to sacrifice a lot of time to log in and learn either.
Keep up to date with Select’s in-depth coverage Personal finance, technology and tools, Welfare and more, and follow us Facebook, Instagram And Twitter to stay updated.
Editorial note: Opinions, analyzes, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of Select’s editors only and have not been reviewed, endorsed or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
.