Learn how to invest for free.

Learning how to invest can feel like an uphill battle with a boulder, but investing is easier than you think. These eight resources are full of free investment classes, both online and in person, to help all levels of investors learn and grow. You read that right: This is a list of investment courses anyone can take for free. No boulders here – although there may be occasional age guidelines.

Next:Morningstar’s Investing Classroom Credit

(M. Spencer Green/AP)

Morningstar’s Investing Classroom

Morningstar’s free online Investing Classroom is a great place to start your investing education. It offers 172 free investment classes that can each be completed in about 10 minutes. Topics range from stocks, bonds and funds to portfolio management. The investment courses feel like an online college course, complete with end-of-section quizzes for registered users. Sign up for a free account to get full access and the ability to accumulate “Classroom Credits,” which can be traded in for a free 60-day trial of premium membership.

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Learn how to invest for free.

Learning how to invest can feel like an uphill battle with a boulder, but investing is easier than you think. These eight resources are full of free investment classes, both online and in person, to help all levels of investors learn and grow. You read that right: This is a list of investment courses anyone can take for free. No boulders here – although there may be occasional age guidelines.

Morningstar’s Investing Classroom

Morningstar’s free online Investing Classroom is a great place to start your investing education. It offers 172 free investment classes that can each be completed in about 10 minutes. Topics range from stocks, bonds and funds to portfolio management. The investment courses feel like an online college course, complete with end-of-section quizzes for registered users. Sign up for a free account to get full access and the ability to accumulate “Classroom Credits,” which can be traded in for a free 60-day trial of premium membership.

Online brokers

Many investors think of brokerage firms as just trying to sell you things, and they would all love you as a client. But sometimes they try to entice you to buy with free things, like a wealth of free online investment courses. Fidelity Investments and TD Ameritrade both offer free educational videos, webinars and articles to the public. You don’t even need to open an account to access them. If you don't mind reading instead of video, Vanguard and Schwab also provide free articles and tips in the investor education sections of their websites.

Universities

College education doesn’t have to be bankrupting if you’re willing to take the knowledge and leave the diploma. Many universities offer free investment classes online. The online platform edX offers archived courses from top universities, such as Purdue University’s personal finance class. With a free account, you can get access to the video lectures and course materials. Harvard University offers a few personal finance classes through its HarvardX program. Yale University professor Robert Shiller, the mastermind behind the Shiller P/E ratio, will teach you about the financial markets for free on Yale’s open courses platform. And Vanderbilt University and Emory University offer free personal finance courses on their YouTube channels.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is an online learning platform providing free education on a range of topics. Just use the “courses” drop-down menu to find “personal finance” under “college, careers, & more.” From there you can learn about a myriad of finance topics, including investments and retirement. Their investment classes cover the different types of retirement accounts, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, stocks and life insurance. You can even learn how to watch out for Ponzi schemes.

Eventbrite

It can be hit or miss, but if you live near a major city, you may strike gold, such as the free Investing Confidently class hosted by Georgetown University on behalf of Fidelity Investments. Or the #BUILTBYGIRLS Build Day at Uber in San Francisco on learning how to invest with confidence for young adults aged 15 to 22. Filter by date and price to find an investment course that fits your schedule and budget.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Boys & Girls Clubs of America has partnered with the Charles Schwab Foundation to offer Money Matters: Make It Count, a financial literacy program for people ages 13 to 18. The six- to eight-week curriculum covers topics including investing, budgeting, saving, managing debt and paying for college. There’s in-person instruction as well as web and digital elements. The investing course is free, although clubs may have membership fees.

YMCA

Another source of in-person free investment courses can be your local YMCA. Like Boys & Girls Clubs of America, local YMCAs sometimes partner with brokers or schools to provide free investment classes. For instance, 13 YMCAs in southern California have partnered with D.A. Davidson to provide a free four-week summer financial literacy course for teens called “Moneywise.”

Public library

Finally, there is no source of free information better than a public library. Keep an eye on your library’s events page for upcoming investment classes. If they don’t have one on offer, you might drop a suggestion for future events. And then hop over to the nonfiction section to pick up a few finance books to continue your financial education while you wait.

Places offering free investment classes.

Morningstar’s Investing ClassroomOnline brokersUniversitiesKhan AcademyEventbriteBoys & Girls Clubs of AmericaYMCAPublic library1 of 11

Coryanne Hicks, Staff Writer

Coryanne Hicks is an investing reporter for U.S. News & World Report. She is an expert at ...  Read more

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