Free Investing Courses

Free investing courses provide learners with a range of learning options that can help them develop their investment skills without spending money. These resources include online videos, written tutorials and investment simulators. The more practice a learner gains with these tools, the better prepared they will be once they begin to invest their own money or other people’s cash. While free investing resources aren’t typically sufficient for investors seeking a complete education, they can be used as a first step on the road to learning this skill set. It’s recommended that learners research the educators who offer on-demand investment training to ensure they’re delivering quality content. Reddit threads and student reviews of these courses can also be helpful in determining which ones are worth the time to take.

Many of the largest online educational platforms offer free investing courses. These lessons, often taught by a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER professional, will help you understand the basics of investing and how it fits into your financial plan. Topics of these lessons cover investment vehicles, risk tolerance and diversification as well as the role of fees and taxes in investment decisions.

Other online learning resources include free tutorials and video lessons posted to YouTube. These lessons can be as short as a few minutes and teach a specific aspect of investing, such as compound interest or how to select stocks on a trading platform. Other educational websites like Udemy and Coursera also post free investing courses that feature a broader spectrum of topics and are more in-depth than the short videos. These classes can cover everything from the basics of investing to how to use Excel to calculate valuations and read candlestick charts.

Educators like Morningstar also offer free on-demand investing courses that introduce learners to financial markets and stock trading in the United States. These lessons offer a wealth of information, but are written in beginner-friendly language. In addition, learners who complete the lessons can earn credits that may be applied toward a 60-day trial subscription to Morningstar’s premium website features.

While free tutorials, webinars and video lectures are an excellent starting point for anyone interested in investing, some learners prefer to pursue a more in-depth educational path that includes live coursework. These programs are typically offered by universities and other accredited educational institutions and can be completed on a self-paced basis. Many of these programs offer verified certificates upon completion that learners can add to their resume or LinkedIn profile.

MIT’s OpenCourseWare program has lecture notes available for a free investment course that was originally taught in 2003. Other university sites, such as Open Yale and Stanford, have self-study courses available. These courses aren’t usually accredited, and you won’t receive college credit for taking them. However, they can give you the foundation to advance your understanding of the investment world and build a strong foundation for future career opportunities.