Unit Introduction – Budgeting, Saving, and Spending After earning your first few paychecks, you want to get handle on your expenses so you can start to plan for the future. Building a budget is more than just listing out the bills you know are coming and trying to plan around that – it is about Read More…
Unit Introduction – Income and Taxes Acquiring your own income is the first step toward being a self-sufficient adult. Income gives you the ability to pay your day to day expenses, while planning for the future. However, having a job entitles you to more than just your salary. Although it can be enticing to accept Read More…
Frequently Asked Questions Basics Trading Other The Basics: Hedgeye On The Prize Q: What is the Hedgeye On The Prize? This is an elaborate, web-based educational tool. Each user account receives an amount of virtual dollars in a virtual brokerage account and simulates managing a portfolio by buying and selling stocks at real-time prices. For Read More…
What is a Credit Score and How is It Calculated? Your credit score will affect many segments of your financial life. It will determine if you get approved for a car loan or a mortgage to buy your house. If you get approved for either loan, it will also impact the interest rate you get Read More…
This Way to a Home of Your Own—5 Stages of the Home Buying Process We all know how to buy coffee at a coffee shop. You swipe your debit or credit card and the barista hands you your coffee. Some of us have gone through the process of buying a car. You spend an hour Read More…
Buying a Home Within Your Comfort Zone If you have done your “rent a house” vs. “buy a house” analysis and you have decided to buy a house, your next thought should be “how much can I afford to borrow to buy my house?” The answer is easy—it depends! 🙂 It depends on a lot Read More…
10 Questions to Ask Mortgage Lenders Thinking of buying a house? If you are like most people, then you will need to borrow money to buy that house. So get ready to start negotiating with different mortgage lenders. Click on the image below to review the 10 questions you should ask your mortgage lender. A Read More…
The Pros & Cons of Buying vs Renting a Home Once you have settled down after college and decided where you plan to live for a few years, you will be faced with the question: Should I continue renting or should I buy a house? While there can be lots of pride in home ownership, Read More…
Lessons Completed! Student Banking Services Congratulations on playing our financial life simulation and completing all of our lessons. We now invite you to make the transition from the simulation accounts to real world accounts… Where are you on your financial journey? We’re ready to give you personalized, face to face guidance in a safe environment* Read More…
Documents Needed to do Your Taxes Whether we like it or not, April 15 comes every year and that means our Federal taxes are due. The average taxpayer spends over 10 hours preparing their taxes. To reduce the burden of getting organized and preparing your taxes, it is important to stay organized and know what Read More…
Delaying Student Loan Repayments A survey of the Class of 2019 showed that 69% had some form of a student loan. While most student loans require you to start making payments within 6 months of graduation, there are certain instances where you can defer these payments. Click on the image below to watch a brief Read More…
What is a Balance Transfer & How Can it Help? If you are carrying credit card debt month after month you should know the interest rate that you are being charged on your unpaid balance. If that rate is in the double digits, you can probably save money by transferring that balance to a lower Read More…
Shopping for a Car? 3 Questions That Need Answers Shopping for a new car is always a fun day. But negotiating the final price and your payment method with the car salesman can be a dreadful and a challenging task. So, just like going into a final exam, the more prepared you are the easier Read More…
Comparing the Cost of New & Used Cars It’s a tough trade off that we all consider at some point: To buy a used car and save money, or to splurge and buy a new car. Buying a used car is obviously cheaper, but generally new cars are more reliable and get better gas mileage. Read More…
4 Strategies to Pay off a Credit Card Fast If you carry a balance on one or more of your credit cards, you will definitely want to review this article. Click on the image below to reveal 4 ways to pay off your credit card debt fast. A short Pop Quiz follows below the article. Read More…
How Many Credit Cards Should I Have? OK, so you got your first credit card. Then all of a sudden your mailbox is full of other banks and brands offering you a credit card. These offers tease you with 10% off discounts when you open a new credit card account. It sounds tempting. But if Read More…
Beyond Salary: Knowing Your Benefits Congratulations! You will soon be graduating from college and negotiating your various job offers. You have worked hard to graduate and you deserve a great paying job. But as you start to negotiate your offers, keep in mind that you really should be considering the overall compensation package. Salary is Read More…
Credit Card Minimum Payments Did you know that with most credit cards, if you pay the minimum required monthly payment you will end up paying more in interest than what you paid for your original purchase? THAT is exactly how banks make money and that is why the retail industry promotes the use of bank Read More…
How Your Credit Card Interest is Calculated Have you ever wondered how the interest that is charged on your credit card is actually calculated? If you understand a little of the credit card company’s math, you can save yourself lots of money over your lifetime by realizing EVERY DAY counts. Click on the video image Read More…
Building Credit & Keeping it Healthy Once you have established credit with a bank or credit card company, it is important that you continue to build your credit history and that you keep it healthy. Click on the video image below to reveal 5 things you can do to help build a healthy credit score Read More…
How To Build Credit from Scratch It seems like a Catch-22. How can you start building your credit if you don’t have any credit to start with? Well the truth is most banks will give college students and young adults a credit card with a very low credit limit. Then, if payments are made on Read More…
Tips for Planning an Affordable Vacation Everyone needs to take a vacation every now and then. Or at least travel to visit family and friends. But for most people who aren’t full-time sales people who travel every week, travelling can be an expensive ordeal. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. If Read More…
7 Facts About Credit Cards Most studies show that over 70% of Americans own at least one credit card and carry it with them when they go shopping. Other studies show that most Americans carry an average balance of $6,200 on their cards and pay interest every month, but they DON’T know what the interest Read More…
Pay Down Debt or Save? Here is one of the most common questions that people who are trying to get control over their finances ask: If I have a little extra cash, do I pay down debt or do I put the money in my savings account? On one hand financial advisors tell us to Read More…
10 Online and Mobile Security Tips As you learn to save and become more aware of your personal finances, you will find yourself accessing your checking, savings, credit cards and other accounts online or via your mobile phone. This means bookmarking your banks URLs, installing their mobile apps on your phone, and inevitably the hassle Read More…
Need Emergency Cash? What are your Options? At some point in your life you might find yourself in a situation where you need some cash quickly. For example, you might have a doctor bill you need to pay. Or you might need to get your car repaired so you can get to work or you Read More…
8 Simple Ways to Save Money We all know that we should be saving money. We have all heard the saying from Benjamin Franklin that “a penny saved is a penny earned.” But it seems that it is just so much easier to SPEND money than it is to SAVE money. So how do we Read More…
Savings Account or Certificate of Deposit (CD) Once you get in the habit of saving money each month, the next question is where exactly to you put the money you are saving? The obvious choices are to keep it in cash in your piggy bank at home or put it in a bank account. Well Read More…
7 Common Bank Fees Explained As you learn to save, become more aware of your personal finances, you will find yourself accessing your checking, savings, and credit card accounts more and more. While most banks and credit card companies are willing to open up accounts for you for free, keep in mind that every company Read More…
10 Questions To Ask When Opening a Bank Account Now that you are getting used to managing your checking, savings and credit card accounts as part of this virtual platform, it is time you think about opening real banking accounts. But where do you begin? What questions do you need to ask a bank to Read More…
8 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Checking Account Hopefully by now you have a real checking account that you use to manage your monthly cash inflows and outflows. But are you really using all the features that your checking account offers? While there are lots of negatives associated with a checking account, Read More…
Credit Card vs Debit Card: What’s the Difference? Over time, our society moved away from paying for goods and services with gold and silver to paying for things with cash. In the last two decades, we have been transitioning from paying for things with cash to credit and debit cards. While these 2 cards may Read More…
Options for People Who Don’t Like To Budget Creating (and staying on) a budget is easier for some people than others. Watch this video to get more ideas on how to simplify your budgeting process and make it easier for you to reach your financial goals. Click on the video image below to get started. Read More…
How to Save Money Every Day Saving money is a lot easier than you think. The first question you have to ask yourself when you are thinking of making a purchase is: “Do I NEED this or do I just WANT it?” Stopping at your local coffee shop every day and spending $2.70 for coffee Read More…
The table lists the final ranking of all participants in the 2021 Biggest Winner Trading Competition. Rank Username Portfolio Value 1 Alpha_Male_Capital $125,674.90 2 Wintrade $124,403.02 3 Vix $124,313.33 4 akim13 $122,069.57 5 Gabby $119,590.75 6 lasalleguy $117,739.97 7 Grisou $117,247.56 8 ETHEREUM TO THE MOON $116,788.70 9 LongOil $116,417.21 10 CoelhoHero $116,279.19 11 fdlavoie Read More…
Financial Glossary 1040 The base form to file federal income taxes in the United States. It may be supplemented with additional forms for complex tax returns. 1099 A form provided to contractors to report their income in the United States. 10-K An annual report containing audited financial statements for publicly traded companies. This form is Read More…
Investing Word of the Day Investing 101 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 Financial Statements Chapter 7 Technical Read More…
Accounting Learning Center Browse our collection of articles, videos, and activities relating to basic Accounting. Popular Topics: Accounting The Accounting Cycle Financial Analysis Through Key Ratios Asset Valuation Understanding Assets Accounting for Liabilities Operating Ratios Gains and Losses Basics of Equity Revenue and Expenses Payroll Best Practices Key Accounting Terms Cash Flow Analysis View More Read More…
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…