Stocks, Bonds, and Investing: Oh, My!

Learn the basics of stocks, bonds, and investing so you can be independent and confident about your financial decisions. This class will teach you how to prepare for retirement, manage your finances, and pay for college without the need for hiring a broker or financial advisor.

Details
Syllabus
Requirements
Instructor
Reviews

Enrollment Options

$145.00

Select Instruction Type:

Self-Guided

3 Months Access

No Instructor. Course begins when you enroll.

Instructor-Moderated

6 Weeks Access

Study online with Instructor moderated discussion boards.

Select Course Start Date:

December 18, 2024

January 15, 2025

February 12, 2025

March 12, 2025

Enroll Now

$145.00

Self-Guided

Enroll Now

Details

Looking for a good solid class in the basics of stocks, bonds, finance, and investing? Haven't the slightest clue how to prepare for retirement, pay for college, or even manage your personal finances? Do you wish you could do it all without having to pay a broker or a financial advisor? Well, look no further. The class you need is right here.

Stocks, Bonds, and Investing; Oh My! is an enjoyable class that walks you through the fundamentals of investing. The course will not only teach you about the stock markets, 401k plans, and retirement, but it will also address personal financial issues that are often ignored, but absolutely essential, to your success as an investor. Each lesson explains these concepts in detail, so you understand how and why things work in the investment world. Provide yourself with the independence and confidence you will need to make your own investment decisions.

Syllabus

Lesson 1 - Overview of Class

Welcome! This first lesson introduces the course and helps you set up your investing game plan.

Lesson 2 - The Theory and Importance of Investing

You need to fully and fundamentally understand the theories, laws, and concepts that govern investing. This lesson explores what gives money its value, how to increase that value, and more. Then you will learn how this pertains to the three most important investments: retirement, education, and housing.

Lesson 3 - First Things First

Which investments should you make first? Would it be more beneficial to invest in an IRA or should you be thinking about college? Or might this perhaps be a good time for you to invest in rental property? This lesson explores all of the benefits and drawbacks of these options to help you decide.

Lesson 4 - Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds - Part I

Mutual funds, IRA accounts, 401k plans, and other investments are primarily composed of two simple building blocks: stocks and bonds. This lesson takes a closer look at them in intricate detail. You will learn all about stocks and bonds, what gives them value, how to look up their prices, and much more.

Lesson 5 - Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds - Part II

Learning about stocks and bonds will bring you an understanding of a whole new set of securities and investments. Examples of these investments include mutual funds, options, ADRs, REITs, and much more. This lesson focuses on different investments, how they work, why you might want to invest, and the pros and cons to investing.

Lesson 6 - The Markets and Exchanges

Where do you purchase said stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other investments? Never fear—there are many different exchanges throughout the world that are here to serve your trading needs. This lesson covers all the major global markets and exchanges.

Lesson 7 - Processes, Players and Operations

In this lesson, you will meet all the different people and institutions involved in trading and investing, such as brokers and traders and different types of brokerages from—traditional, discount, or online. Perhaps most important, you will learn what these people's real incentive is in trading for you.

Lesson 8 - Trades and the Trading Process

How are all these different stocks, bonds, and mutual funds traded? You will need an intricate understanding of the trading process, traders, brokers, and their incentives to know when you're getting a good deal. In this lesson, you will learn how to tell if you made a good trade or not.

Lesson 9 - Retirement Programs

Retirement programs were already briefly discussed, but the options are so varied, detailed, and important that they deserve a lesson all to themselves. This lesson takes a detailed look at the operations, contribution limits, and withdrawal requirements of IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP Plans, 401ks, 403bs, 529 plans.

Lesson 10 - Picking Stocks

While investing in your 401k may be good for your long-term investment plan, sometimes risk is a good thing. In this lesson, you'll look at stock valuation and analysis and review the basics of calculated investment risks.

Lesson 11 - Types and the Importance of Research

In this lesson, you will discover research techniques that you can use to analyze and pick stocks as well as valuation techniques used to price stocks. You will also learn how to read a company's annual report. This is required reading if you plan to make it big by investing in stocks!

Lesson 12 - Researching Resources

Your final lesson is all about researching resources. You'll look at a vast array of websites, publications, and other sources of information that will help guide your future investments.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Instructor

Matt Crabtree

Matt Crabtree, CFP ®, earned his Bachelor of Science in Business, Information Systems Management, in 1999, a mini MBA certificate from The School of Management at Yale University in 2004, a certificate in Financial Planning from Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business in 2012 and has received the financial industry's most rigorous and prestigious professional designation of Certified Financial Planner ™. After many years in project management, office management, and business sales, Matt began training individuals and organizations in areas of business finance, leadership development, successful negotiations, sales management, and customer service excellence. Matt has trained individuals and various units within the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as corporate organizations including IBM (technology), Accuray (healthcare-technology), and Gen-Probe (molecular diagnostics). Matt's natural aptitude for explaining his material in an easy-to-understand and enjoyable manner allows each student to gain insights into areas that are often considered challenging.

Reviews

"I came into this course with no understanding of the terms and systems for investing. I came out of this course with more than I could have hoped for: understanding the terms, the many investment opportunities, how and were to do research, etc. This course was written clearly for the novice."

"I definitely understand more about stocks,bonds,and investing now, than when I began the course.I also can read and understand financial publications to a much greater degree. Thank you!"

"I enjoyed the course very much. It went into a lot more depth than I had imagined it would but the instructor provided lots of supplementary material. Aaron's writing style was superb; educational, informative, down to earth, and easy to understand."

"I feel the class will be very useful in helping me make decisions regarding my 401K plan. I'll recommend it to my colleagues....The humor the author used was refreshing!!"

"I got exactly what I wanted out of this course. I feel very confident for my investing future! I'm recommending his class to two of my friends."

"I have a bachelor's in Finance and an MBA. However, I have been out of the work world for 10 years to raise my kids. This course was a great refresher for me and helped me to get back up to speed. Thanks!"

"My husband and I took the course together and learned so much! We're much more comfortable gauging how our retirement accounts are performing. Thank you!!"

"I think it was one of the best online classes I have taken. The subject was something which I always had an interest in and was never able to understand just by reading books. This was a great opportunity for me. The instructor knew the subject very well and was always there to respond to the question raised in the discussion section. Thanks for offering this class!"

"I thought the instructor made things interesting and easy to understand. I started out with pretty much no knowledge of securities. I can now carry on a fairly knowledgeable conversation about them. I am anxious to learn more!!!"

"I wish I had taken this class a couple of decades ago. It took a very complicated subject and explained it in an easy to comprehend manner. I found it to be quite helpful in making the subject understandable and not so intimidating."