Economics Learning Center Browse our collection of articles, videos, and activities relating to basic Economics. Popular Topics: Comparative Economic Systems What Are Incentives Understanding Interest Rates Government Impact on the Economy Comparative Advantage Understanding Scarcity What Is Economics? The Business Cycle Unemployment Inflation Major Economic Indicators Supply and Demand View More
Personal Finance Learning Center Browse our collection of articles, videos, and activities relating to Personal Finance. Browse By Topic: Budgeting All About Budgeting Spending and Savings Plans Pay Yourself First Budgeting and Spending Strategies Building Wealth Planning Large Purchases Credit Understanding Credit Credit Cards Credit Reports Buying A Car Understanding Mortgages Calculators Compound Interest Calculator Investment Read More…
Tax Basics You Need to Know Taxes are everywhere and are essential in keeping the modern world functioning. For your personal finances, taxes also play a huge role in your financial decision-making. While we have lessons that cover most major types of taxes in detail, to get started we want to give the “big picture” Read More…
Planning Your Career Path There is a world of difference between “getting a job” and “starting a career”, and it comes down to more than just salary. The road to Career Development is all about defining your goals. You need to understand what actions you can take to open doors for tomorrow and build a Read More…
Rules for Renters & Homeowners When you rent an apartment or house, what you can do with your new home is dictated by your Lease Agreement. A Lease Agreement specifies not just how much you pay in rent, but dozens of other restrictions on what you can do, when, and what your landlord can do Read More…
Who Gets Your Stuff When You’re Gone? When a person dies, someone gets their stuff. Unfortunately, the question of who can be quite complicated. While every state has laws in place to govern how a person’s assets are distributed if they die, it can be a complicated process for everyone involved and take months, if Read More…
The Ultimate Employee Guide When you start your first job, the number one thing everyone cares about is the salary (or hourly rate). What big bucks will you be earning? You will be surprised to find that this number is just a small part of the total compensation package offered by most employers. Employees versus Read More…
A Guide to Effective Charitable Donations Setting aside some money for charitable giving is an important part of every budget or spending plan. Charitable organizations are essential to helping people in need and cannot function without regular contributions from the public. Types of Charitable Giving Charitable giving has many forms, but the essential concept is Read More…
This is a sample lease, with all terms normally included except the base rental cost. Lease Terms QUIET ENJOYMENT: Tenant shall be entitled to quiet enjoyment of the Premises and Landlord will not interfere with that right, as long as Tenant pays the rent in a timely manner and performs all other obligations under this Read More…
Investing 101 Learn more about investing with our 10-chapter Beginner’s Investing Course! Chapter 1 Introduction To Investing Chapter 2 How and Why The Stock Market Works Chapter 3 Making Your First Trade Chapter 4 Building Your $100,000 Portfolio Chapter 5 Now That I Own It, What Should I Do? Chapter 6 Fundamental Analysis – Understanding Read More…
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Investing 101 – Final Vocabulary Quiz Complete the final vocabulary quiz. Click ‘CONTINUE TO EXAM’ to start the exam for this chapter. Continue To Final Exam
Investing 101 – Chapter 9 Vocabulary Quiz Complete the following short vocabulary quiz. Click ‘CONTINUE TO EXAM’ to start the exam for this chapter. Continue To Exam
Investing 101 – Chapter 8 Vocabulary Quiz Complete the following short vocabulary quiz. Click ‘CONTINUE TO EXAM’ to start the exam for this chapter. Continue To Exam
Investing 101 – Chapter 7 Vocabulary Quiz Complete the following short vocabulary quiz. Click ‘CONTINUE TO EXAM’ to start the exam for this chapter. Continue To Exam
Investing 101 – Chapter 6 Vocabulary Quiz Complete the following short vocabulary quiz. Click ‘CONTINUE TO EXAM’ to start the exam for this chapter. Continue To Exam
Investing 101 – Chapter 5 Vocabulary Quiz Complete the following short vocabulary quiz. Click ‘CONTINUE TO EXAM’ to start the exam for this chapter. Continue To Exam
Investing 101 – Chapter 4 Vocabulary Quiz Complete the following short vocabulary quiz. Click ‘CONTINUE TO EXAM’ to start the exam for this chapter. Continue To Exam
Investing 101 – Chapter 3 Vocabulary Quiz Complete the following short vocabulary quiz. Click ‘CONTINUE TO EXAM’ to start the exam for this chapter. Continue To Exam
Investing 101 – Chapter 2 Vocabulary Quiz Complete the following short vocabulary quiz. Click ‘CONTINUE TO EXAM’ to start the exam for this chapter. Continue To Exam
Investing 101 – Chapter 1 Vocabulary Quiz Complete the following short vocabulary quiz. Click ‘CONTINUE TO EXAM’ to start the exam for this chapter. Continue To Exam
8-10 ESG Investing ESG Investing means investing not only on the fundamental and technical aspects of a stock, but also the social and environmental impacts of how the business is run. “ESG” means “Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance” – a measure of sustainability and social impact of a business. What is ESG Investing? ESG Investing Read More…
6-11 Resources This chapter is one of the most important resources you will find when it comes down to actually researching stocks. Understanding how to conduct a basic read of financial statements and some of the key ratios we have covered is essential to comparing different companies in the same industry apples-to-apples. Before we move Read More…
1-08 Commodities So far, we have talked about what the average “retail investor” thinks about when investing – bank accounts, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. But the world is a big place, and there are bigger ways to invest! Besides the stock market, the biggest investment markets in the world are for commodities – raw Read More…
Financial Literacy Post-Test This is our Post-Test to evaluate your financial literacy. This test is designed to be taken near the end of a financial literacy course. This test is not usually for a grade for your class – it is used generally to evaluate the “ending point” for students at the end of a Read More…
Financial Literacy Pre-Test This is our Pre-Test to evaluate your financial literacy. This test is designed to be taken near the beginning of a financial literacy course.
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Find Your Best Car Loan Deal You finally made the big decision – you are going to buy a car. You did your research and the test drives – you found 3 cars that you really like, from three different dealerships. You really love them all – but at the end of the day, your Read More…
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Watch How Your Savings Could Grow (A lesson in compound interest) The first thing to consider with all personal finance is the idea of compound interest! This is what separates the “Piggy Bank” savers from the Warren Buffets; making use of interest compounding is how you can really make your savings grow! If you have Read More…
Model Your Financial Future Find out the difference between Simple and Compound Interest! See how big an impact your tax rates and inflation have on your savings over time! If you have already used our Becoming A Millionaire Calculator, you can use your targeted Expected Investment Return numbers in this calculator to see how to Read More…
Saving To Be A Millionaire! Want to be a millionaire? Everyone does, but do you know how much you need to save and what rate of return you need to get on your investments to reach that million level? This financial calculator helps you learn how your savings grows over time and how sensitive your Read More…
Find Out Your Monthly Home Budget Most people think that the difficult part of personal finance is building your monthly budget and sticking to it. There are tons of different expenses and payments to consider, so we put all the big ones in one place! This tool will also help you see exactly how much Read More…
Calculate the True Cost of Credit Card Debt Credit Cards! These are usually the first “loans” a person takes out, and the first monthly payments! Tens of thousands of young people dig themselves deep into credit card debt before they even realize it, so have fun with this payments calculator to see how much these Read More…
Rent or Buy: Which is Right for You? The biggest expense most people have is the place they live. One of the biggest decisions young people face is whether to buy their home, or continue to rent. Conventional wisdom says that buying will pay off in the long-term, but believe it or not, this is Read More…
Calculate Your Car Loan Payments The first BIG purchase many people make is when they buy their first car. This calculator will help show the impact of many of the biggest factors people need to consider when taking out their first loan for a big purchase. If you’ve used our Credit Card Payment Calculator to Read More…
Get a Snapshot of Your Financial Health Knowing your net worth is the first step towards growing it! This tool will help you organize your assets in one place, and even help project how they will grow in the future. If you have used our home budgeting calculator to help see where you can improve Read More…
Net Present Value (NPV) Calculator Use this calculator to find Net Present Value, based off expected annual growth, cash flow over a variable number of years, and separations of cash flow between investments and operations. This calculator will help you determine the attractiveness of a company by seeing how much it would be worth if Read More…
10-00 Chapter 10: The Investors’ Guide to Success In the last 9 Lessons we have covered lots of key topics and provided you with the wisdom of our trading experience, but keep in mind we have merely scratched the surface of a complex world. You now have the foundation to understand the vocabulary and jargon Read More…
9-00 Chapter 9: Introduction to Options Once you feel like you have a good understanding of how the stock market works and are getting comfortable trading them, understanding how to trade options is the next step in your journey. Options appear to be complicated at first glance, but with a little reading and a little Read More…
8-00 Chapter 8: Current Hot Topics in Trading In the last 5 years, many “hot topics” have been dominating the personal investing landscape. “Short Squeeze”, penny stock bubbles, cryptocurrency spikes and crashes, insider trading, and other major waves might be what first attracted your attention to investing in the first place. So far in this Read More…
7-00 Chapter 7: Technical Analysis – Common Charts and Terms There has been a long debate between technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Is technical analysis necessary? The answer is YES!! A price action is always a technical short-term decision. Not long ago, technical analysis was considered the opposite of fundamental analysis. Rather than looking at Read More…
5-00 Chapter 5: Now That I Own It, What Should I Do? By now, you should have started building your first portfolio – hopefully you were able to use a combination of “Buying what you know” and a stock screener to build a portfolio that you believe is in line with your larger investing goals. Read More…
4-00 Chapter 4: Building Your $100,000 Portfolio Now that you are familiar with some of the different order types and made a few trades of your own, it is time to start working on building a proper Portfolio. Whether your first Portfolio is $500, $25,000 or even $100,000, the same principles apply – the only Read More…
3-00 Chapter 3: Making Your First Trade Now that we covered the basics of different types of investments and why prices move, it is time to start “Learn by doing” and make your first trades. Best of all, you have your practice brokerage account to use, so you can try out your first investing strategies Read More…
2-00 Chapter 2: How the Stock Market Works and Why It Moves Now that we are introduced to some of the basic types of investments, we can look into how the stock market actually works, and why prices move. To understand the basics of the stock market, we need a quick refresher on some core Read More…
1-00 Chapter 1: Introduction To Investing Whether you have $1,000 or $1,000,000 in savings, education is the key to empowering yourself to take charge of your financial future. In this course you will learn about the different broad investment choices you have available. Specifically, you will learn how the stock market works, how to evaluate Read More…
6-00 Chapter 6: Fundamental Analysis – Understanding Earnings and Cash Flow Fundamental analysis is the process of evaluating the worthiness of a stock by looking at its basic reason for being. Is it making money now, and how likely will it continue to make money in the future? Fundamental analysis looks at a company’s financial Read More…
Assignment 2: You are in the game. Now what? For each of the stocks you now own do the following: 1. What is the company’s industry? Will the industry do well in the current economy? Airlines, restaurants, and entertainment stocks are doing poorly due to COVID These stocks should recover as the economy gets going Read More…
Assignment 1: Get Started What is a stock? Part ownership of a business Example: lemonade stand You and your friend each put in $5 to start the business ($10 total)—you each own half of the business Shares might cost $5 each—you each own one share; or maybe $1—you each own 5 shares What determines the Read More…
Elementary Assignment 2: You are in the game. Now what? For each of the stocks you now own do the following: 1. What is the company’s industry? Will the industry do well in the current economy? Airlines, restaurants, and entertainment stocks are doing poorly due to COVID These stocks should recover as the economy gets Read More…
Elementary Assignment 1: Get Started What is a stock? Part ownership of a business, like you and a friend having a lemonade stand. You would each own half of the stand and split the income. What determines a stock price? Stock prices are based on how much money investors think the company will make. If Read More…
A student loan is exactly what it sounds like – a loan given to students to finance their studies. This is most common for college or university students, but also works for trade schools and other vocational studies.
The cash flow statement allows company management to see where the company’s money is coming from and how it is being spent. Most companies will complete a cash flow statement at least quarterly because it the best financial report to show how well the company generates cash to pay its debts and fund its operating expenses.
How to Read a Balance Sheet Businesses keep financial records to understand how their company is performing financially. For publicly traded companies (a business that sells shares of stock to the public on stock exchanges), these records are also shared with investors. The three main financial statements companies use are the income statement, the balance sheet, Read More…
The income statement primarily focuses on the company’s revenue and expenses (what they’ve earned and what they’ve paid for) during a particular period of time. The bottom line shows a net profit or a net loss depending on the company’s performance during that time period. Companies may complete an income statement whenever they want, but typically they are completed quarterly (every three months) or annually.
An investing strategy is a plan for how to save money and help it grow. Sometimes an investing strategy can be as simple as “plan for trading stocks,” but it really means a lot more.
Starting a Business 101 Building the next “big thing”. Being your own boss. Getting the full rewards for your work. There are a lot of reasons to start a business, but taking the plunge is a step entrepreneurs have to face if they plan on striking out on their own. Why Do People Start Their Read More…
The Secret to a Comfortable Retirement You may think that retirement is something that only old people must worry about, but that’s not true. Retirement is when you stop working and live off your savings and other sources of income. It may seem like a long way off, but the sooner you start planning for Read More…
A Strategy to Build Wealth, Not Debt Building wealth is a long-term financial goal that provides financial security, and sets the stage for a comfortable retirement. Although there is no secret formula for becoming wealthy, the process involves developing a solid financial plan, sticking to it, and creating a sustainable strategy that grows your wealth Read More…
The Cost of Raising a Family Before starting a family, you have to know how to manage a household. You probably have an idea about how to be a good housemate from the things that you like and don’t like about living with your family. There’s more to it than who will wash the dishes Read More…
A mortgage is a type of secured loan, with real estate or a house used as collateral. This means you will make an agreement with your bank, credit union, or savings & loan institution to borrow a large sum of money, with a piece of property as collateral.
The Car Buying Checklist Buying a car is usually the first big purchase a person will make. A car loan is a type of consumer loan, also known as installment credit, where you borrow a lump sum and pay it back in fixed monthly payments. There is also no shortage of horror stories of people immediately Read More…
“Spending Shocks” are large, irregular expenses. According to CBS, more than 60% of Americans cannot absorb a $500 spending shock: spending shocks are the #1 reasons why budgets end up abandoned, and being prepared for large spending shocks is the best thing you can do to keep your personal finances healthy.
Public Financial Assistance Programs Building your personal finances from the ground up is something most of us face. You may already have faced times when you had very little or no income, and you were just trying to get to a point where you felt like you didn’t have to worry about paying your bills. Read More…
Proven Techniques to Stop Overspending Building a budget or a spending plan is tough. Sticking to the plan is even tougher. Thankfully, there are a few strategies designed to help you develop positive habits. These strategies will help you learn to save, stick with your budget, plan for emergencies, and control your impulse spending. Budgeting Strategies Budgeting strategies refer Read More…
On every payday, start by taking out money for savings and put it directly into your savings or investing account. Most banks have accounts that will let you do this though automatic transfers. This is one banking service that you should definitely take advantage of.
Once your savings is taken care of, use the remaining cash to pay your bills. Any money remaining can be used for fun and leisure. This method is a no excuses savings approach. No matter what else is happening in your life, you are paying yourself by contributing to your savings. This habit ensures that your savings and investments experience a steady growth rate.
What’s in Your Compensation Package? To be self-sufficient in our economy, everyone needs some type of income; which is money to pay the bills and other living expenses. This comes in many shapes and forms. The foundation of your income potential is often set by your education and career choice. There is a strong relationship Read More…
Bankruptcy is a type of forced debt settlement, and it is a legal procedure. When you declare bankruptcy, the court will gather all your unsecured creditors together to hear about the debts you owe. They will then examine all your assets and determine a plan to pay out as much as they can to settle as many debts as possible.
Getting Help With Debt Repayment If you find yourself over your head in debt, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Credit counseling agencies, both for-profit and non-profit, exist in every state to help people build a clear, workable path back to a healthy personal financial situation. If you do need Read More…
Consolidating your debt means taking out one big loan and using that money to pay off all outstanding balances from your previous loans.
How to Negotiate With Creditors Most adults have faced a financial emergency, when an unexpected event has broken their budget or spending plan into pieces. Sometimes more than one emergency has occurred in a short period of time, causing debt balances to spiral out of control. Even in extreme circumstances, it is still possible to keep your Read More…
The Art of Juggling Many Bills in a Pinch Financial emergencies happen to everyone; like your car breaks down and it drains your bank account to pay for the repairs. However, that doesn’t mean your bills will be put on hold while you catch-up. They will continue to be due, even though you won’t have Read More…
How Do You Stop Impulse Purchases? Every person makes hundreds of purchase decisions every month. Think about how many individual items you choose when buying groceries. Which fruits or vegetables will you buy? Which cleaning product will you pick up? What if you need new batteries… An important step in managing your personal finances is Read More…
Go to College or Start Working? Every high school student makes a choice when they are about to graduate – enter the job market right away, enter a trade school, or enroll in a university? Everyone will make the same kind of choice many times throughout their lives. If you first choose to work, the Read More…
How to Avoid Identity Theft, Scams & Fraud In the past, information about your bank transactions, credit card transactions, investment statements, and other financial paperwork came through paper documents. People were told to keep these documents safe or shred them when they were not longer needed. Today, the majority of our financial records can be accessed online. Apart Read More…
Evaluating Big-Ticket Purchases When evaluating how to spend your money, most people make a fairly simple comparison. If the benefit they believe they will receive from the purchase is greater than the cost, then most people go ahead with the purchase. To master your personal finances, you need to start thinking long-term. There are many Read More…
A contract is a legally binding agreement between two parties (people, companies, or both) in which something of value is exchanged. One party promises to do something in return for a something else. Since a contract is legally binding, if one party does not do what was agreed upon, the other party can sue them in court to either enforce the contract or receive compensation. Contracts are involved in personal and business dealings, so it is important that you understand the rules governing them.
Protect Yourself as a Consumer Every time you buy something, you are considered a consumer. The noun consumerism refers to the idea that spending money and consuming goods is good for our economy. Because you are willing to spend money on goods and services, businesses can produce items, people can have jobs, money can flow, and our Read More…
Health insurance is usually the most complicated and expensive insurance you need. Unfortunately, it’s also usually the most important, making it very difficult to avoid the cost. With very few exceptions, health insurance is mandatory for all citizens in the United States, but the way you become insured will change drastically based on your age, income, and the company you work for.
Life insurance is an insurance policy designed to pay out if the insured person dies. These policies were created so that if the main income holder of a household died, the payout from the policy could be used to support his/her family. Over the last 50 years, life insurance policies have greatly expanded in both form and function. Sometimes they look more like investment vehicles than simple insurance policies.
Homeowner’s Insurance is a broad type of insurance coverage designed to cover a home, its contents, and the property it sits on. This insurance is very broad, wrapping many different types of coverage into one package.
Renter’s Insurance is taken out on property you rent to insure against damage or loss. Renter’s insurance works in a similar fashion to homeowner’s insurance. Homeowner’s insurance is designed to cover damage to a home’s interior and exterior, the theft of possessions, and personal liability for harm to others, for example if someone fell down your porch steps and sued you.
Car Insurance: How to Lower Your Rates If you drive a car, you need to be covered by some sort of automobile insurance. You have probably seen dozens of advertisements from insurance companies claiming to help lower your rates, improve your coverage, or just encouraging you to compare rates, but before you buy your first insurance Read More…
Wall Street” is a street in New York City, near the southern end of Manhattan Island. It is the home of the New York Stock Exchange, and the biggest center of stock trading and finance in the world.
What are Bonds? Pop Quiz
Accounting Regulation and Ethics Professional accountants are vital to our economy and society. Accountants ensure the effective use of resources by recommending ways to reduce cost, increase revenue, and mitigate risk. The accountancy profession is only as good as the quality of service provided by its members. The regulatory environment of the accounting industry seeks Read More…
Insurance The idea behind insurance is that random bad thing can happen to just about anyone, and sometimes those random things are expensive to resolve. Car crashes, medical emergencies, and flooding can destroy your personal saving and investing accounts if they happen to you and you’re not prepared to deal with them. How Does Insurance Read More…
Once you file your income taxes, the IRS will review all the forms you submit (your tax return) and either accept your submission or reject and return it to you for a correction, usually with very little turnaround time. This can happen whether you are paying what you owe or receiving a refund. However, occasionally the IRS will decide to “audit” your tax return, asking you to provide some supporting documentation before your tax return is accepted.
Do You Need a Tax Professional? Most young people are perfectly capable of filing their own taxes using the IRS Form 1040. However, as your personal finances grow more complex and you become eligible for tax credits, have multiple sources of income, or need to report common tax additions, filing your own taxes becomes more Read More…
Uncovering Hidden Income Taxes You Owe Everyone loves getting tax breaks, but what can really impact your finances is forgetting about tax additions – extra taxes and fees you owe for income that should be reported when you file your income taxes. Forgetting to include this income and not paying the taxes owed on this amount Read More…
Tax Credits & Deductions You Need to Know When you file your income taxes, you can “write off” certain expenses, and get extra tax credits based on your living situation. This means that if you had a qualifying expense over the course of the year, you basically get to subtract that expense from the income Read More…
Income Tax Filing Tips & Tricks What is income tax? Income tax is the tax you pay on your income, usually directly taken out of your paycheck. Everyone who works in the United States should be paying income tax on their earnings. Income is more than just wages and salaries too. If you earn rental Read More…
“Sales Tax” is a tax that is charged on goods sold to end customers, the final user of that product. The sales tax is a set percentage of the sale price of the goods sold, and individual states set their own sales tax percentages. Most states use sales taxes to generate revenue to pay for the state’s operations, but some charge no sales tax at all.
Credit reports contains your credit history – both the good and the bad. If you watch late-night TV, you may have seen a few commercials offering free credit reports, so you might know a little about them. Most people don’t know how important a credit report can play in their financial lives.
Short-term financing means taking out a loan to make a purchase, usually with a loan term of less than one year. There are many different types of short-term financing, the most common of which are “Buy Now, Pay Later,” “Unsecured Personal Loans,” and “Payday Loans.”
A credit card is a form of unsecured credit (meaning a loan without collateral) that you can use to make everyday purchases. All credit card purchases are made using a loan. You borrow money from your credit card issuer to make the purchase and pay it back later, plus interest.