https://www.coursera.org/course/introfinance
It seems quite interesting and the assignments and problems are very applicable and related. I like this as this helps me bring the knowledge into my own world.
The first week talks about future value, present value and compounding. In later weeks they will cover annuities, some corporate finance, some equities and bonds and finally risk management. I look forward to learning more about these things.
My original field of study was not finance, so I am trying to absorb and learn as much as I can from various sources. Coursera is one of those sources. I am currently employed full time so I can not attend classes during day-time. Online education allows me to study in my own time at my own pace. I've only really started learning more about finance since 2013, before then it just never seemed that fascinating to me - not sure why that changed, but it did. Once something captures my interest it can take over a lot of my focus.
I enjoy learning new things and I do believe coursera is helping to reach a wide audience. It is quite a useful and very affordable option for studying new subjects. I am sure this will only increase as the amount of courses increases.
They have a lot of other interesting classes on a whole variety of topics, but because I am working full time I have to pick and choose the ones I will follow the next couple of months. I do feel like I could study through some of these classes for several weeks.
https://www.coursera.org/courses
Have you taken any of the coursera classes? Which one(s)? Did you have a good learning experience? Have you used any other learning platforms?
I just came across your blog. Thanks for letting me know about this website. I missed out on signing up to Introduction to Finance class but I did sign up for the Personal and Family Financial Planning course for this August 2014. I hope to sign up for the Introduction to Finance class when it's offered again. By the way, how was the class?
ReplyDeleteYour monthly dividend income is quite impressive. This year I have decided to take control of my financial situation and write a blog to track my progress.
Take care. I'll be following along.
Thanks,
Richie
http://dividendepiphany.blogspot.com/
Hi Richie,
DeleteThe class itself was quite interesting and useful. It covered a whole range of topics:
1) present and future value, compounding, typical personal finance issues like mortgages, annuities, perpetuities, comparing deals on houses or cars.
2) Then it went over more corporate finance and a bit of corporate accounting to help you understand a corporate balance sheet.
3) Then bonds and stocks were covered, the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), and then a bit of portfolio analytics and statistics to help analyze and understand risk.
I learned the most by doing the assignments, which were not that easy for me since I did not know that much to begin with. That said, I worked and studied with dedication and managed to score around 95% on average on the assignments and 100% on the final exam (quite a few students dropped out along the way though, at least I had that impression as there was less activity on the forums near the end of the course).
I highly recommend the course, but don't take it as your only source of information (otherwise you might get a bit annoyed with the descrepency in information between the classes and the assignments).
Some other great resources I've been learning from:
*) Investopedia (for finance)
*) Khanacademy (for math, finance and statistics)
*) udemy ( for excel useage)
*) dividendblogs for examples of portfolios, contribution rates, dividend trackers, goals and strategies
*) apps on ipad like Personal Capital or Sigfig - and google drive with my own google sheets are also very useful.
*) Ted talks - for general interesting ideas, including investing ideas or economic trends.
I wish you good luck on your journey! Taking control of your finances is a great step towards financial independence. I'll go have a look on your blog too.