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.
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.
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.
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Lesson 1
Overview of Class
Welcome! This first lesson introduces the course and helps you set up your investing game plan.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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