Investing is one of the smartest things that you can do with your money. You can essentially increase your finances without really doing anything. Sounds pretty sweet, right? It’s a bit more complicated than that, of course, and that’s why there are plenty of people out there that aren’t investing their money. It can seem intimidating to try and learn about a complex subject like investing, but there are actually some great (and free!) resources out there that can help you learn how to start. Here are a few of our favorites that you can study up on now!
Basic Investing Concepts from Udemy
If you’re completely new to investing, there really is no better place to start than in the Udemy Basic Investing Concepts course. While you’ll need to pay to actually get a certificate of completion, you can access the entire course for free if you’re not looking for anything more than the education itself. It goes over all the things that you need to know to start actually picking out stocks to invest in, and it presents it in a way that is in-depth while still being quite digestible for a new investor. It will also teach you how to assess the risk of a stock, which is one of the skills that you really should be solid on before investing. If you don’t know anywhere else to start, this course will do you well.
Robinhood
Investing used to be something that wasn’t really open to everyone. You needed to have knowledge of how to actually invest. You needed to have a stock broker. And you needed to have the knowledge of which stocks were even out there. Robinhood is an app that makes investing something that is incredibly accessible to everyone. You just download the app, connect it to your bank account, look up a company you like, and put some money into it. The user interface is incredibly easy to understand, and the whole process is super simple for someone that just wants to dip their toes into investing. Oh, and there are no fees. Score!
Personal Finance for Self-Reliance from BYU
A lot of people think of investing as something that is separate from their other financial knowledge. While investing does require specific knowledge, you should only invest if you have a solid understanding of your financial position and goals. This course from BYU will help you develop all-around financial skills that will benefit you in your daily life as well as in your investing journey. We recommend this course to anyone who wants to have a better understanding of their own finances. It might seem a bit simple to you, but it’s never too late to go over the basics. You need to know where you are to figure out where you want to go in the financial world.
The Investing and Trading Library from TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is another online broker that you can use without fees if you want to just get into investing, and they are widely respected among investors. That’s one reason why we love this course from them so much. You just know you’re getting good stuff when it’s coming from TD. But another reason that we love this course so much is that it goes over everything. It starts off very basic but then goes into slightly more advanced concepts like how to trade options and short-expiration investments. This is the type of course that can take you from a complete beginner to an investor that really knows their stuff. There’s a whole lot of content here ranging from quizzes to videos to more traditional textbook-style education.
