10 Most Impactful Personal Finance Courses in 2024

Do you remember sitting through high school classes where teachers taught you how to compute the area of a parallelogram or conjugate verbs in a foreign language you didn’t quite understand? Left by the wayside were the more practical topics, such as how to change the oil in your car or the difference between paying for an item with a personal check as opposed to a credit card.

School doesn’t always teach you the things you need to know to get through life, but learning doesn’t have to end when our formal schooling does — we can continue to learn after we graduate. And with online education, we can learn a variety of different things from the convenience of our own homes, which means you don’t need a hall pass to go for a drink of water.

Personal finance is a topic that we recommend you brush up on from time to time as you encounter different phases of life and economic headwinds change. We’ve compiled this list of the 10 most impactful personal finance courses in 2024 to guide you as you continue to manage your finances through life’s diverse seasons.

#1 Personal Finance Course for Practical Insights

If a train leaves Station A at 1:10 PM and travels at a speed of 50 MPH while another train leaves Station B at 1:05 PM and….Stop me if you’ve heard that one before. Questions like that used to frustrate me during school because they didn’t seem practical. I don’t regularly take trips on trains, and I can’t imagine a scenario where I’d have to calculate a train’s schedule.

The Khan Academy is a nonprofit that uses practical examples to clearly convey financial lessons. The academy’s content is suitable for students and adults.

Why We Recommend Personal Finance by Khan Academy

The Khan Academy teaches personal finance over 10 units. After establishing some foundational concepts, the course delves into practical topics including ways to pay for college and how deciding whether to buy or lease your car can impact your finances down the road.

#1 Personal Finance Course for Budgeting Basics

Creating a budget is one of the first things someone who is trying to manage their money should learn to do. A budget helps you visualize your personal cash flow, including any scheduled bills or one-time expenses.

Coursera directs its learners to use Google Sheets, so they don’t have to waste time downloading documents or installing any programs before they dive into instruction.

Why We Recommend Create a Budget With Google Sheets by Coursera

People preparing to take their driver’s test can read all the books in the world about how to drive a car. But there’s nothing like your first time sitting in the driver’s seat with an experienced driver providing advice and words of caution from the passenger seat.

Coursera uses an interface that lets you practice the budgeting skills you learn as you progress through the course. The company guides learners to create presentable files that they can share with others.

#1 Personal Finance Course for Improving Financial Health

Most people who’ve opened a checking account have heard of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The government agency provides insurance for consumer deposits to help people gain confidence in depositing their money with a bank.

The FDIC also offers educational resources that can help people build toward the financial futures they seek.

Why We Recommend How Money Smart Are You? by The FDIC

If spending time learning from the FDIC sounds about as much fun as doing your taxes, you’ll be pleased to know that the organization uses games to share knowledge. 

The FDIC offers 14 games about common financial topics such as credit scores and savings plans. You can choose which financial subject to dive into by playing whichever game interests you, or, if you have the time, play them all.

#1 Personal Finance Course for Video-Based Learning

Not everyone learns the same way. Some people prefer to learn from their friends and family while others won’t settle for anything less than the advice from experts. 

Videos provide a way for learners to take in information without having to read long passages in textbooks. You can view Udemy’s short, instructional videos without downloading any software.

Why We Recommend Personal Finance 101: Everything You Need to Know by Udemy

If you think that short videos won’t contain enough in-depth content to boost your financial knowledge, know that Udemy’s personal finance course offers more than 50 videos. 

The videos cover such diverse topics as how to navigate finances while dating and tips to get a jump-start on saving for your golden years.

#1 Personal Finance Course for Debt Management

Borrowing money can be a powerful tool when your savings account balance isn’t big enough to allow you to purchase something you want. People borrow money for life’s bigger expenses, like college tuition and buying a home. Credit can also come in handy when you want to expand your deck or go on a much-needed vacation.

But mismanaging your debt can cause you problems, including lowering your credit score and harming your ability to access lending products. Alison offers a course to help you wrangle outstanding debts, and, best of all, it’s free.

Why We Recommend Introduction to Managing Your Personal Finance Debts by Alison

Alison helps learners calculate the amount of debt they have and devise strategies that help them pay off balances on credit accounts. If you’re looking for a quick lesson on a way to resolve your debt-related issues, Alison’s course might be the cure for what ails you. The company’s debt management course can be completed in less than three hours.

#1 Personal Finance Course for Bite-Sized Learning

If you’re new to learning about personal finance, then the idea of becoming an expert on money matters may seem overwhelming. But big things can come from small beginnings.

The folks at BrainyMoney don’t want you to feel like you’re in over your head, so they offer engaging course content that you can tackle in small sections. BrainyMoney’s course videos are each less than three minutes long.

Why We Recommend The Core Four of Personal Finance – Beginner Class by BrainyMoney

The best teachers explain to students what a course’s objectives are before diving into the first lecture. BrainyMoney clearly signals to learners that it’ll be teaching them four key financial principles in its personal finance class.

The company teaches such vital financial lessons as the importance of investing and why you should strive to earn more than you spend. BrainyMoney also teaches you how to prepare for life’s biggest financial moments.

#1 Personal Finance Course for Investors

Investing can be scary if you’ve never done it before. We can put our money into so many different types of investment vehicles, including stocks, bonds, and exchange-traded funds, that selecting which ones to invest in can be tough.

Marginal Revolution University offers a course on investing that can make putting cash into different types of securities feel more like a responsible decision and less like gambling.

Why We Recommend Money Skills by Marginal Revolution University

Led by a pair of economic experts from George Mason University, the Money Skills course teaches the importance of diversified investment portfolios and the power of compounding interest. The course also touches on financial choices we all can relate to, such as deciding whether to buy a home or rent an apartment.

#1 Personal Finance Course for Learning From Professors

Many people consider McGill University to be academically on par with Ivy League schools such as Yale and Harvard. The elite university, located in Montreal, offers a personal finance course to help you take charge of money matters. 

Each module in the course is taught by a McGill professor, so you know you’re getting top-shelf advice when you enroll in the program.

Why We Recommend Personal Finance Essentials by McGill University

Tuition isn’t free for students at McGill University, but taking its personal finance course is. Learners who’ve completed the course and are thirsty for more financial wisdom can take bonus modules on more advanced topics, including blockchain and the risks of cryptocurrencies.

#1 Personal Finance Course for Smart Borrowing

Most of us aren’t born with wisdom — it’s something we develop, hopefully, over the years as we have unique experiences and conquer obstacles. But personal finance courses can make us smarter.

Credit.org provides a course that teaches us how to be responsible when using credit products. The course is free and open to anyone. You can also talk to one of the experts at Credit.org if you’re in need of credit counseling.

Why We Recommend Wise Use of Credit by Credit.org

 Students receive periodic report cards to let them and their parents know how they’re doing in school. Since online courses don’t usually assign grades, we may not be sure how much information we actually picked up from a course. Credit.org assigns learners a pre-quiz and a post-quiz to help them gauge how much financial knowledge they’ve gained from its course.  

#1 Personal Finance Course for Real-World Scenarios

Recent high school graduates have a lot on their plates, including figuring out what they want to do with the rest of their lives. But they also have more immediate concerns, like determining which graduation cap belongs to them after their entire class throws them up in the air at the conclusion of their graduation ceremony. 

Teenagers who don’t understand how to manage their finances can make mistakes that can haunt them throughout their adult lives. Banzai offers a financial literacy course that teaches money matters to high schoolers so they can venture into adulthood with confidence. 

Why We Recommend High School Personal Finance by Banzai

There’s no buffer period between adulthood and childhood. Legally, you transition from a child into an adult on the day you turn 18. Banzai prepares a teenager for the real-world scenarios they’ll soon encounter, if they haven’t already, including preparing their first tax return and insuring their first car.

You’re never too old to learn something valuable. And money can be one of the most valuable assets you have. If you find that your financial knowledge is in need of a boost, don’t worry. 

The internet is packed with educational tools and experts who can guide you to a better financial tomorrow. And remember, you don’t have to learn everything at once. If you aim to learn one financial tidbit each day, your overall money wisdom can grow significantly in practically no time at all.  

Hopefully this list of the 10 most impactful personal finance courses in 2024 gives you a good idea of where to get started with your educational quest.