18 Super Free Online Finance Courses

Want to sharpen your personal financial profile? Do you want to make to take your personal enterprise from a fledging startup to a money making machine? I spent several days assembling what I found is the single best list of 17  free online courses in personal finance, business and accounting. My goal was to keep the the courses free, easy to access and simple to use, also unique and original. This list can’t be found anywhere else online.

Course providers in this list include the following Coursera, Udacity, Open2Study, Education-Portal and Credit.org.

Coursera

1. Globalization and You – University of Washington – This course offers an evidence-based analysis of globalization that addresses what is happening to us personally as well as economically amidst the market-led processes of global integration.
2. Personal & Family Financial Planning  – University of Florida – Personal and Family Financial Planning will address many critical personal financial management topics in order to help you learn prudent habits both while in school and throughout your lifetime.
3. Managing Your Time, Money, and Career – MBA Insights for Undergraduates – UC Irvine – This course provides an introduction to the concepts of time and money management along with career and life planning. This course is specifically aimed at new and incoming college students. This is not an MBA prep course.
4. Managing Risk for Development – The World Bank – What I like about this one is it will guide you to identify critical gaps in the risk management undertaken in your own situation, and to move from being a “crisis fighter” to becoming a proactive and systematic risk manager. Aren’t we all crisis fighters as we manage our personal finances? Risk is present in everyday life from managing a household to managing your personal finances– it cannot be completely eliminated, but when ignored can turn into crisis. Time and again, risk has been central to development. This has especially been the case in the last two decades when the world has experienced international integration, technological innovation, and economic reform, but also financial turbulence and environmental damage. The fear of loss can prevent people from pursuing development opportunities, leaving many poor people trapped in poverty.
5. An Introduction to Financial Accounting – Wharton University of Pennsylvania -This course will improve your fluency in financial accounting, the language of business. You will learn how to read, understand, and analyze most of the information provided by companies in their financial statements. These skills will help you make more informed decisions using financial information.
6. Better Leader, Richer Life – Wharton University of Pennsylvania – The Total Leadership approach will help you become a better leader by having a richer life and have a richer life by becoming a better leader. Learn a practical, proven method for how to articulate your core values and vision; build trust with your most important people; and achieve “four-way wins” — improved performance at work or in school, at home with your family, in your community, and for your self (mind, body, spirit). It’s not about “work/life balance”; it’s about creating harmony among the different parts of your life as a leader in all of them.

Udacity

8. How to Build a Startup – Udacity – I know you’re thinking how is this related to personal finance. If you think about it, we all try and manage our lives as a business. We look at making the right decisions that ultimately affect how we feel and how much money we can make. Life is about happiness and if you’re broke and frustrated, you’re not happy. If you find yourself needing personal finance help, then treat yourself as a startup and figure out what your startup needs to be a successful personal enterprise. Even though this course takes would-be entrepreneurs through everything from developing a viable product to figuring out how they’re actually going to make money, I know you’ll find great takeaways. Even I did.

Alison

9. Fundamentals 0f Accounting – Alison – Using an interactive presentation style, this course delve into the terminology employed in financial circles, the principles used in basic accounting and the systems put in place to ensure financial control is maintained. The course explores the main financial statements including the profit & loss account and the balance sheet and the everyday adjustments that have to be made. On completion of the course, the learner is expected to be aware of the importance of prudential financial management and the factor it plays in the success or failure of businesses and organisations.

Education Portal

10. Accounting 101: Financial Accounting – Education-Portal– Get an introduction to accounting before delving into more complicated topics, like reporting and analyzing equity and interpreting financial statements, through Accounting 101: Financial Accounting. This online course from Education Portal can help you prepare for the Financial Accounting CLEP Exam. Our accounting instructors have developed a series of brief, engaging video lessons and self-assessment quizzes to boost your knowledge of ethics in accounting, nominal accounts and depreciation, among other topics.

University of Arizona

11. Personal Finance, Budgeting, Interest and Investing – University of Arizona – This is a free, state of the art course in the essentials of personal finance in America today. The estimated time of completion is 15 hours. You are free to work at your own pace, and you may leave the course and come back to it whenever you’d like. You could spend half an hour one day, then pick up where you left off the next day, and spend two hours, whatever’s most convenient and enjoyable, anytime, 24/7/365.

Credit.org

12. Power of Paycheck Planning – Credit.org/FITacademy – Personal finance education begins with knowing how to plan. This course applies all of our expertise to help you create a budget. Learn strategies for categorizing your expenses, tracking your spending, and putting together a new budget.
13. Budgeting 101 – Credit.org/FITacademy – This course is a great starting point for anyone who feels overwhelmed by all of the bills and paperwork standing between them and financial freedom. We teach you where to start, how to organize your spending, and what things you should prioritize when building your perfect budget.
14. Budget 911 – Credit.org/FITacademy – If a budget emergency strikes, your best response is to act quickly. This course will teach you to live a more wallet-friendly lifestyle so you can weather any budget crisis. We’ll also help you find ways to save more of your income rather than spending every dime.
15. Understanding Your Credit Report – Credit.org/FITacademy – I look at credit reports as a health of your personal enterprise. Our free online course will help you understand how your credit score is calculated, what your credit report says about you, and what you can do to ensure that your credit report is accurate and reflects positively on you.
16. Roadmap to Financial Freedom – Credit.org/FITacademy – This course helps you to understand the first steps on your journey to financial freedom with Springboard through the use of a Debt Management Plan to consolidate and pay back unsecured debt.
17. Wise Use of Credit – Credit.org/FITacademy – You have bad credit or need to establish credit —now what? Managing your credit responsibly helps build a solid foundation for your financial future.

Open2Study

18. Financial Literacy (FinLitrc) – Macquarie University – Develop your knowledge of personal finance, such as how to control, invest and protect your finances.