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Investing courses are a great way to learn more about the stock market and develop skills that you can use to grow your wealth. Whether you’ve never invested a dollar or are already an experienced investor, an online investing course can help you to learn how to make the right financial moves and plan for your future.
The best investing courses are affordably priced and accessible even to beginning investors who may not have much prior knowledge. These courses provide a comprehensive learning experience and introduce students to all aspects of investing. They also feature supportive communities of instructors and peers, along with plenty of additional resources for further learning.
Udemy
We chose Stock Market From Scratch for Complete Beginners as the best overall because of its accessibility to brand-new investors and its comprehensive coverage of investing topics. This course is entirely asynchronous, and comes with full lifetime access to course materials and resources.
Great for complete beginners
Course is often discounted
No live instruction
Not ideal for advanced investors
Udemy boasts over 46 million students and more than 155,000 courses. Stock Market From Scratch for Complete Beginners is one of those courses. For $109.99, Stock Market From Scratch transforms you from an investment newbie to a stock market pro. You can often catch sales and get the course cheaper. The class uses pre-recorded video lessons, ensuring that you can learn on your time and schedule, and it currently has 4.1 out of 5 stars from overall learners.
Taught by the instructor, Jatin Taneja, a stock market investor with years of experience, you'll learn terms, concepts, and ideas like technical indicators, the difference between types of financial instruments, how to choose the correct broker, and much more. Taneja uses many real-life examples in his courses, and has been praised for his ability to explain the complexities of the stock market to people who have no experience. All you need is a computer and an internet connection to get started.
TD Ameritrade
If you’re looking for a free way to learn more about investing, TD Ameritrade’s extensive library of free online investing and trading courses are an excellent option. These immersive courses allow you to take a deep dive into the topic at hand, and tie into a wealth of other free articles, podcasts, and webcasts.
Free to use
Extensive content library
Suitable for investors of all experience levels
Must have a TD Ameritrade account for some content
No live instruction
If you have an account with TD Ameritrade, you can take advantage of its huge library of content. TD Ameritrade puts a lens on personal finance with classes like “Simple Steps for a Retirement Portfolio” so you can stay on track with your financial goals.
Once you log into its site, the materials are both easy to comprehend and expansive: investing education guides, tutorials, how-to videos, quizzes, and more. With the help of an education coach, courses are paired with webcasts and events to help you achieve your goals. Depending on how in-depth you want to go, you can learn various ways for how to make a portfolio that will help you bring in an income.
Need to take your learning on the go? It’s easy to do with the hub of information on the TD Ameritrade Mobile app. Whether you’re an investment newbie or a seasoned investment professional, there is something in their content library for everyone.
morningstar.com
We chose the Investing Classroom from morningstar.com for its robust selection of free, in-depth courses. While more bare-bones than some other platforms, these courses are an excellent resource for investors who prefer a text-based approach.
Free to use
No need to invest with Morningstar
In-depth course options
Mobile app differs significantly between IOS and Android
Less visual instruction
If you don’t have a TD Ameritrade account and you're seeking an in-depth approach to investing, you can enroll in brokerage and investment firm Morningstar’s free Investing Classroom. There's no need to have any money invested with them to gain access to a comprehensive online catalog currently consisting of 172 courses.
Through the program, you can learn from six different course categories: funds, portfolio, stocks, bonds, ETFs, and featured content. If you’re just starting out, the "Mutual Fund Basics" course is a great fit. Unlike TD Ameritrade, there are no fun animations, quizzes, or a mobile app. But if you prefer a more bare-bones, text-based approach to learning, this is a great option. "Mutual Fund Basics" is a self-study option for both beginners and those who already have a basic skill-set.
Warrior Trading
If you’re already an experienced investor looking to develop your skills even further, then Warrior Trading’s Warrior Starter and Warrior Pro are great options. A real-time trading simulator is available as an add-on and the Pro package comes with expert mentoring.
Supportive community chat rooms
Trading simulator available as an add-on
Mentoring sessions
Expensive
Limited timeframe to access materials
If you’re curious about investing and want to go from beginner to advanced, Warrior Trading has five different courses to get you there. Learn momentum training from nationally recognized stock trader Ross Cameron, who moderates the courses. With an intuitive and easy to navigate program, the five courses will ensure that you’re learning at the level that suits you best.
In addition to learning materials, the Warrior Starter pack comes with chat rooms and starts at $997. The Warrior Pro, their most popular offering, is available at $4,297 (90-day access) or $5,997 (one-year access) and has the aforementioned features and course of the starter pack, plus many additional courses. They are small and large cap day trading, swing and options trading, and day trading in an IRA. Additionally, you'll get mentoring sessions, trading tools demos and layouts, and living trading examples and archives. A trading simulator is available as an add-on too.
Bear Bull Traders
We chose Bear Bull Traders for its active trading community and live chat room. Along with access to Intro and Essential lessons, students have access to a supportive community of experienced traders and mentors.
Live chat from 9am to 4pm ET
Webinars and mentorship from experienced traders
Pricey monthly membership
The Basic plan has limited features
If you’re looking to connect with one of the top trading industry professionals, Bear Bull Traders might be up your alley. Co-founder Brian Pezim, author of How To Swing Trade makes daily live market updates where he discusses swing trading in the Bear Bull chat room and has put his experience and expertise into the course. Additionally, mentors present weekly on different webinar topics.
Pezim is respected in the industry for his insights, and participants really value being able to communicate with him and learn his strategies on trading. All of these perks are on top of comprehensive lessons that go from basic to elite, a trading simulator, swing trading materials, and more. You also get weekly mentoring and webinars with the elite membership as well as access to the psychology team.
Udemy
For investors looking for a more philosophical approach to long-term investing, Udemy’s Ultimate Stock Marketing Investing course is a great place to start. The course features 3.5 hours of video along with self-led instruction, and includes full lifetime access to an extensive library of learning resources.
Affordable
Strong focus on long-term investing
Not the best fit for day-traders
No live instruction
If you’ve tried your hand at the market before but are unsure how to make long-term selections that will grow in value, you’ll want to take this Udemy course. It's co-taught by Randy and Kevin Tudor, co-founders of Margin of Safety Investing, who have a combined 40 years of experience in finance. The course is comprised of more than 46 lectures divided into six sections, includes a quiz, and the content has many charts and graphs to help you understand.
If you’re looking for a more philosophical approach and content focused on investing as opposed to trading—you’ll enjoy this course. Learn which types of stocks to buy and when, and how to value stocks appropriately so you don’t underpay for them. With class discussion boards, you'll have direct access to your instructors where questions related to the content of the course will be replied to in a prompt manner. By the end of the course, you'll have a step-by-step game plan to enter the market. Ultimate Stock Market Investing: Learn How to Value Stocks is priced at $49.99, but like most Udemy courses it can often be caught on sale.
Peak Analytics
We chose Peak Analytics’ Direction First Newsletter because of its emphasis on mobile trading. For investors looking for bite-sized investing advice on a daily basis, this newsletter is paired with real-time trade alerts and insightful expert commentary.
Daily real-time analysis
Suitable for both day traders and long-term investors
No live instruction or video-based courses
Lack of community interaction
Looking to study in a digestible format? Peak Analytics' course comes in the form of a newsletter. You’ll join subscribers in receiving a daily stock recommendation list and weekly reports on the global stock, currency, bond, and commodity markets from experts in portfolio management and market analysis.
With the newsletter, you’ll also receive Peak Analytics’ daily activity feed, allowing you to set up mobile and email alerts to get news on unusual market movements in real-time. While you’re not getting classes and quizzes with this subscription, you are gaining access to a high-performing portfolio. Priced at $39 a month, this course is definitely on the affordable side.
University of Central Florida
For investors who aren’t active traders but still want to set themselves up for a strong financial future, the University of Central Florida’s introductory investing course is a great pick. This course covers the fundamentals of investing in an easy to understand, approachable manner.
Great for beginning investors
Instructor-led and self-paced options
Not focused on day traders
Limited community features
Let’s say you’re not too crazy about learning market philosophy. You don’t want to make trading a part-time job, or even a hobby. You just want to save money for retirement, pay down your debt, or reach other kinds of financial goals. “Stocks, Bonds, and Investing: Oh, My!” from The University of Central Florida Online would be an ideal pick.
For $129, you can choose either the self-paced course or the instructor-led course taught by Yale alum Matt Crabtree. Through the six-week syllabus, you’ll learn how to open a retirement account, create plans to save for big goals like a college fund, and how to reach financial goals that are grounded in reality. People who have taken the class say that it makes investment topics interesting and easy to understand, and you’ll appreciate being able to learn the fundamentals of investing at any age. By the end of this course, you'll be confident in making independent financial decisions without having to pay a broker or a financial advisor.
If you’re looking to learn more about investing, there are plenty of great course options to choose from. Whether you’re invested in diving into the world of day trading or just want to understand how to save for retirement, these courses are great entry points. We recommend Udemy’s Stock Market From Scratch for Complete Beginners as the best overall course for its affordability and approachability.
Stock Market From Scratch for Complete Beginners features asynchronous learning that can fit with any schedule, as well as lifetime access to course materials. At $109.99, the course is one of the more affordable options on this list, and provides comprehensive coverage of investing basics for beginners and intermediate investors alike.
Anyone can learn how to be a savvy investor, especially if they are armed with the right tools and resources.
If you want to teach yourself the tips and strategies necessary to make smart investments, think first about how you learn. Do you prefer a hands-on, DIY approach or do you retain information better when someone is personally guiding you through the steps?
Next, research the best options to suit your schedule, budget, and learning style. This might mean taking an investing course at your local community college or signing up for a webinar. You could better benefit from an online investment simulator course or perhaps by browsing the educational libraries offered by many of the big brokerages.
These days, anyone can get started investing, no matter the budget. You just need to know what types of investments are available to you based on the funds you are willing and able to invest.
You'll find a number of brokerage accounts out there with considerable minimum investment requirements; you may need to cough up $10,000 to open a web trading account with one broker, while another has a hefty $30,000 requirement, for instance. But luckily, there are just as many others that have low or no minimum requirements when it comes to opening an account and investing your funds.
Quite a few of today’s online brokerages allow for fractional investing, too, making it easier to invest in a small piece of the names you know and love, sometimes for as little as $1. And if you really want to simplify your investing efforts without feeling a big pinch, you can choose a platform that rounds up your everyday purchases and invests that spare change for you.
No matter what type of investor you are or your experience level, there is an investing course for you.
Some courses cover the basics of investing including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and retirement funds. Others delve a bit deeper into futures and commodities, or even international investing.
Of course, you can (and should) choose the course that best matches both your interests and your existing knowledge. If you are just getting your feet wet, there are basic investing courses designed to teach you about the market, how it works, and what the different types of investments can do for you and your portfolio.
If you’ve been dabbling for years and either want to invest in something new or take your efforts up a notch, there are plenty of advanced courses to suit.
Learning about investing doesn’t have to cost a fortune. In fact, many brokerages offer free online libraries to customers, allowing you to teach yourself a range of topics at no cost at all. If the self-taught and self-paced approach is your style, this is a good way to save money—which you can put into your portfolio!
You can sign up for interactive courses—which include quizzes—for as low as $49. If you want to spend a bit more and get ongoing instruction, some courses offer plans for $99 a month, which can include online communities, live chats, and even 1-on-1 instruction.
And of course, if you’re really looking to dive into your investing education and have the cash to spare, there are courses that easily run $4,000+ for 90 days of instruction.
To choose the best investing courses available today, we looked at a number of trusted platforms and compared them against a range of educational criteria. We looked at the types of courses offered and the levels of education provided. We also looked at whether the classes involved any sort of live instruction, community involvement, or if they were self-paced or self-led.
To determine the best value, we also considered the price and what sort of course options were available for users, especially in terms of continued access and resources.
Acorns. “What is Acorns and How Does It Work?” Accessed Dec. 21, 2021.
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