Online Class: Personal Finance 101 — How to Manage Your Money

The Financial Freedom Journey

Embark on an imaginative journey towards mastering personal finance with our innovative course designed to transform your financial future. Picture this: you’re planning an exhilarating adventure to your dream destination. It starts with a vision—a dream of white sandy beaches and tranquil seas or perhaps the thrill of navigating through bustling city streets in a foreign land. This course uses the metaphor of planning a dream trip to illustrate the pathway to financial independence.

The process begins in your mind's eye, where dreaming and believing shape the contours of your financial landscape. Yet, dreams alone aren’t enough. Like any substantial journey, achieving financial freedom requires concrete steps—planning, execution, and eventually, the joy of experiencing your dreams come to life.

Throughout this course, your financial plan will unfold like a well-crafted travel itinerary. You'll start by plotting the course in the 'Plan' phase, where you’ll learn to manage your accounts, assess your financial health, and lay a strong foundation. This stage is about understanding where you stand today and setting the right course for tomorrow.

Moving into the 'Execute' phase, you'll tackle managing debts, building a robust credit score, and balancing your accounts to secure your financial future. This phase is akin to packing your bags and setting out on your journey, equipped with everything you need for success.

Finally, the 'Travel' phase allows you to reap the rewards of your hard work. Here, you'll learn how to grow your wealth, make smart investments, and possibly even start planning for retirement. It’s about enjoying the fruits of your labor, whether that’s on a beach in Oahu or enjoying the peace of mind that comes with financial security.

Why focus on personal finance? Imagine you're driving cross-country from New York to Los Angeles. Without a map, weather updates, or hotel bookings, your journey could be risky and fraught with uncertainty. Similarly, navigating your financial landscape without a plan can lead to missed opportunities and potential pitfalls. This course serves as your map, meteorologist, and travel agent, guiding you through the complexities of financial management.

As we delve into the nuances of personal finance, you'll discover that managing your money is not just about numbers; it’s about setting a course that aligns with your personal goals and dreams. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refine your financial strategy, this course offers valuable insights and tools to help you manage, sustain, and grow your wealth effectively.

By the end of this course, you won't just be planning for financial success—you'll be living it.

Courses Frequently Bought Together:

Investing 101: Stocks, Bonds, and Mutual Funds

Understanding and Managing Your Personal Credit

Investing 201: Intro to Commodity, Options, and Futures Markets

Course Motivation

Say you're on a cross-country drive. The goal is to get from New York to Los Angeles. You pack up your trusty car, hop in, and head west to begin your trip. What's wrong with this picture? 

Ah, the map, perhaps a weather report, and what about accommodations once you arrive? These elements will not only make your journey more enjoyable, they will also create a safer, more clearly-defined route. The choice is yours: You could wind your way through unknown streets and freeways, guessing which route is best and reacting to whatever life throws at you, or with a little planning, you could relax and enjoy the ride. 

Whether you are just starting your career with a brand new job or you have been managing your own finances for many years, one fact remains consistent.  

Personal financial management is the map, meteorologist, and travel agent in plotting your journey to maintaining and sustaining your own wealth.  

The idea of managing finances can sometimes be daunting depending on your age, amount of accrued debt, and thoughts and feelings surrounding money. But, it is never too late to begin! 

The trip begins… 

Even better than a cross-country drive: Imagine a sun-soaked beach in Oahu, Hawaii. In your mind's eye, you lounge on the powdery-white sand, sip a fruity drink and listen to the rolling surf. Then reality sets in. You're not there; in fact, you're not even close to Hawaii. A glance out the window at the snow-covered landscape shows you just how far away you are from the balmy breeze. 

Believe it or not, you are a mere three steps away from enjoying your dream vacation -- in the form of financial freedom. The three steps are: 1) Plan 2) Execute 3) Travel.

The first step -- Plan -- includes gathering data. Luckily, since the data is yours, you don't have to go very far. This includes tracking your spending, maintaining your checking and savings accounts, and assessing your true financial worth -- or your assets. The invaluable knowledge can help you in understanding your cash flow, creating a budget to curb overspending, and even in getting loans and investing. 

With a little more effort, you can take the second step -- Execute. Action is the key to managing debt. Incurring debt doesn't have to mean giving up everything in order to pay bills. If you are buried under a heap of bills and worried about how to pay these meddlesome debt piles, you need not fret. There are some important and, yes, ingenious money management techniques to ensuring you'll be out of debt -- or at least lessen the load -- and be happier before you know it.

By using the data gathered during your Planning stage, you can balance accounts, create a budget, and either curb your spending, or increase your income. 

And finally, you get to relax with step three -- Travel. You know how much you are worth, your bills are manageable and, low and behold, you are able to see the extra money -- or perhaps the possibility of extra money. You can sit atop your data -- or on the beach, and plan ahead. This newfound knowledge can allow you to see the possibility of having your money work for you. Or, if you are big on investing in yourself -- whether with school or a small business -- you can take out loans and create a future with increased earning potential. Or, you can invest your money in stocks and bonds and even retirement accounts. 

Okay, perhaps you're not going to travel. Maybe you don't even like to leave your hometown. The bottom line is this: By taking the burden of "have to," off of your financial view, you stand a better chance of actually accomplishing your goals. Managing assets creates new opportunities to make your money work for you. There are infinite possibilities when it comes to investing, managing, and shifting funds. The most important element in doing so is to create consistent efforts over time.