I believe some these topics will be beneficial to anyone out starting off in finance. There are also a few lessons in there suitable for those curious about personal finance issues. The classes aren't very dense, which makes the classes easy to go through. Good luck. The lessons are a part of the Morning Star class room . Hat tip to Allfinancialmatters Stocks
101: Stocks Versus Other Investments 102: The Magic of Compounding 103: Investing for the Long Run 104: What Matters and What Doesn’t 105: The Purpose of a Company 106: Gathering Relevant Information 107: Introduction to Financial Statements 108: Learn the Lingo–Basic Ratios
201: Stocks and Taxes 202: Using Financial Services Wisely 203: Understanding the News 204: Start Thinking Like an Analyst 205: Economic Moats 206: More on Competitive Positioning 207: Weighing Management Quality
301: The Income Statement 302: The Balance Sheet 303: The Statement of Cash Flows 304: Interpreting the Numbers 305: Quantifying Competitive Advantages
401: Understanding Value 402: Using Ratios and Multiples 403: Introduction to Discounted Cash Flow 404: Putting DCF into Action 405: The Fat-Pitch Strategy 406: Using Morningstar’s Rating for Stocks 407: Psychology and Investing 408: The Case for Dividends 409: The Dividend Drill
501: Constructing a Portfolio 502: Introduction to Options 503: Unconventional Equities 504: Great Investors: Benjamin Graham 505: Great Investors: Philip Fisher 506: Great Investors: Warren Buffett 507: Great Investors: Peter Lynch 508: Great Investors: Others in the Hall of Fame 509: 20 Stock-Investing Tips
Funds
101: What a Mutual Fund Is 102: What NAV Is 103: Finding a Fund’s Total Return 104: Mutual Funds and Taxes 105: How to Purchase a Fund 106: Methods for Investing in Mutual Funds 107: Fund Costs 108: Important Fund Documents, Part 1 109: Important Fund Documents, Part 2
201: Five Questions to Ask before Buying a Fund 202: How to Benchmark Fund Returns 203: Looking at Historical Risk, Part 1 204: Looking at Historical Risk, Part 2 205: Gauging Risk and Return Together, Part 1 206: Gauging Risk and Return Together, Part 2 207: Examining a Stock Fund’s Portfolio, Part 1 208: Examining a Stock Fund’s Portfolio, Part 2 209: Why Knowing Your Manager Matters 210: Your First Fund’s Qualities 211: Good First–and Maybe Only–Funds
301: Why Diversify? 302: Building Your Mutual-Fund Portfolio 303: Choosing an Index Fund 304: Choosing Socially Responsible Funds 305: Choosing an International Fund, Part 1 306: Choosing an International Fund, Part 2 307: Examining a Bond Fund’s Portfolio, Part 1 308: Examining a Bond Fund’s Portfolio, Part 2 309: Choosing a Municipal-Bond Fund
401: Shades of Value 402: Shades of Growth 403: Using Focused Funds 404: Style-Box-Specific versus Flexible Funds 405: Mid-Cap Funds: The Small-Cap Substitute? 406: Sector-Fund Investing 407: Using Quirky Bond Funds 408: Bear-Proofing Your Portfolio 409: The Plight of the Fickle Investor 410: Chasing Closing Funds 411: Buying the Unloved 412: Buying Rookie Funds
501: Avoiding Portfolio Overlap 502: Fund Warning Signs 503: Where and Why Asset Size Matters 504: When to Sell a Fund 505: Rebalancing Your Portfolio 506: Calculating Your Personal Rate of Return 507: Calculating Your Cost Basis 508: Is Your Retirement Portfolio on Track? 509: Refining Your Portfolio
Portfolio
101: Steps to a Suitable Portfolio 102: Determining Your Goals and What They’ll Cost 103: How Much Risk Can You Tolerate? 104: Building Your Emergency Fund 105: Determining Your Asset Mix 106: Core vs. Noncore Investments 107: A Simple Portfolio 108: Creating Your Investment Policy Statement 109: How Many Investments Should You Have? 110: Avoiding Overlap When Building a Portfolio
201: How to Juggle Different Investment Goals 202: 401(k) Plans 203: 403(b) Plans 204: Individual Retirement Accounts 205: The Best Investments for Tax-Deferred Accounts 206: The Best Investments for Taxable Accounts 207: Investing in Your Company’s Stock 208: How to Invest for Short-Term Goals 209: How to Invest for Intermediate-Term Goals 210: How to Invest for College
301: How to Monitor Your Portfolio, Part 1 302: How to Monitor Your Portfolio, Part 2 303: When to Sell an Investment 304: Strategies for Selling 305: Rebalancing Your Portfolio 306: Getting More Aggressive 307: Getting More Conservative 308: Adding Mutual Funds to a Stock Portfolio 309: Adding Stocks to a Fund Portfolio 310: How to Withdraw from Your Portfolio in Retirement
401: Variable Annuities 402: Closed-End Funds, Hedge Funds, and UITs 403: Exchange-Traded Funds 404: Using Sector Funds in a Portfolio 405: Investing in IPOs 406: Gold’s Role in a Portfolio 407: Real Estate’s Role in a Portfolio 408: Futures and Options 409: Short Selling 410: Income Alternatives for Retirees
501: Why Bother with Investment Theory? 502: Efficient Market Theory 503: Modern Portfolio Theory 504: Asset Allocation Is “It” 505: Can Foreign Stocks Really Diversify a Portfolio? 506: Value: The “Better” Approach? 507: Measuring Mutual-Fund Manager Skill 508: The Small-Company Advantage: Fact or Fiction? 509: The Demise of Dividends 510: Behavioral Finance
Bonds
101: Bond Market Interest Rates 102: Bond Duration 103: Buying Bonds 104: Immunization 105: The Process of Issuing Bonds 106: The Role of Collateral 107: Secured and Unsecured Bonds 108: Introduction to Government Bonds 109: U.S. Government Agency Bonds 110: U.S. Savings Bonds
201: Junk Bonds 202: Callable Bonds 203: Collateralized Mortgage Obligations 204: Zero-Coupon Securities 205: TIGRs, CATS, and LIONs 206: STRIPS 207: Treasury Inflation-Adjusted Securities 208: General Obligation Bonds 209: Revenue Bonds 210: Municipal Bond Insurance
