If you didn’t receive financial education in school, these free online classes are a must.
The United States is one of the few developed nations where financial education is rarely prioritized in schools. In fact, a 2012 assessment by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) found that a whopping 95 percent of Americans say they didn’t receive financial education in school.
If you can relate, we’ve got your back—and your wallet. ‘Cause you know what they say: If you want to learn about money right, learn it yourself. Or something like that.
Here are seven free online courses that will help you manage your money.
Personal Finance 101
“Personal Finance 101” is exactly what it sounds like—a simple breakdown of all the basic financial info everyone should know.
Offered by education platform, Udemy, this course includes three hours of on-demand video, 52 supplemental resources, full lifetime access, and you can watch on both smartphones and TVs. Even better, students don’t need to have prior knowledge of mathematics, statistics, or personal finance to understand the class.
Intro to Managing Your Personal Finance Debts
Offered by training website, Alison, “Intro to Managing Your Personal Finance Debts” focuses on becoming debt-free. Among other things, this course will help students figure out exactly how much they owe, which debts they should pay off first, and how to contact credit card companies to request a break on interest rates.
Best of all, it should only take you about an hour to complete.
Personal Finance by Missouri State University
If you’re a super newbie when it comes to financial planning, then “Personal Finance” might be the course for you. Available for download on iTunes and offered by Missouri State University, this course delves into the basics of financial goal setting, budgeting, credit, investing, insurance, annuities, and the time value of money.
Classes for this course can be as short as five minutes or as long as 45, and you won’t need anything other than the internet and your smartphone to get started.
Personal Taxes
Taxes might be one of the least pleasant topics out there, but Khan Academy has found a way to make it bearable. “Personal Taxes” includes 10 relatively short videos explaining everything you need to know about paying taxes in the US.
Whether you want to calculate federal taxes and your take home pay, or you just want to figure out how to file taxes as a married person, this course can help you out.
Money Essentials
Offered by CNN Money, “Money Essentials” covers topics like getting a job, budgeting, buying a home, investing for newbies, and retirement planning.
You’ll have to do some reading for this class, though, because “Money Essentials” is more about educational articles than videos.
Housing
Also offered by Khan Academy, “Housing” is the class to take if you’re trying to decide whether you should keep renting apartments or buy a dang house already.
With the help of 19 education videos, it also covers topics relating to home equity, mortgages, and just the home buying process in general.
Money 101
Not unlike “Money Essentials,” the course uses an article-based curriculum to teach students the basics of personal finance.
You’ll learn about everything from managing your credit to affording health care to dealing with ID theft. And just like every other class listed here, all you need to get started is a strong internet connection and willingness to learn.
Free finance education for all!
