Financial Foundations is designed to fill in the gaps left behind by the lack of personal finance course work in high school and college. It is a personal finance course that gets straight to the point, cuts out the fluff, and will help you improve the way you manage money as quickly as possible.

In other words, this course is all about doing. It is about taking action.

Financial Foundations Course Outline

In this course, we'll cover the following:

The Big Picture

• Getting a Grip on Your Current Financial Situation
• What Do You Want to Achieve?
• The Simple Keys to Setting and Achieving SMART Money Goals

Basic Budget Foundations

• What Can a Budget Do For You?
• Adding Up Your Income
• Calculating Your Spending
• Sorting Your Expenses Into Categories
• How Much Should You Spend in Each Category
• The Goal: A Zero-Based Budget

Creating Your Own Monthly Budget

• Five Reasons Why Everyone Needs a Budget Every Month
• Where to Create Your Monthly Budget (EveryDollar)
• Everything You Need to Know About EveryDollar
• Entering Your Income and Expenses
• Reconciling Your Budget
• When Is It Time to Make Adjustments?
• Leaving Room for Fun in Your Budget
• The Power Behind the Zero-Based Budget

Putting Your Budget into Action

• Why Your First Budget Month May Be a Total Failure (It's OK!)
• Sorting Out Your Categorical Expenses (The Moment of Truth)
• Adjusting Your Budget
• Rinse and Repeat

Saving More Money

• Why Saving and Investing Are NOT the Same
• How Much Are You Able to Save?
• How Much Should You Save?
• Revisiting Your Budget
• Lifestyle and its Impact on Spending
• Building an Emergency Fund
• Beating FOMO
• Practical Money Saving Tips and Tricks

Making More Money

• The Value of Your Time (Your Most Precious Commodity)
• More Money, More Problems - Is It Really True?
• How to Negotiate a Raise at Work
• Start a Side Hustle

Investing Your Money for the Future

• Why Your Dreams Mean Everything in Investing
• Investing 101
• Understanding Risk (And Why Risk DOES NOT = Reward!)
• 401k, 403b, 457, IRA, Roth IRA
• Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
• DIY vs. Robo-Advisors vs. Human Advisor - Which is Right For You?

Giving Money

• Why Give?
• Time is Money
• You Can't Take it With You
• What Will Be Your Legacy?

Special Topics in Life and Money (Bonus Material - Coming Soon!)

• FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and HSA
• Understanding Your Net Worth
• The Dangers of Debt
• Why (Almost) Everyone Needs Life Insurance
• Why Term Life Insurance is All You Need
• Why You Should Consider Disability Insurance
• Renting vs. Buying a Home
• Understanding the Anatomy of a Mortgage
• When is Refinancing a Smart Move?
• Understanding Insurance (Health, Home, Auto, Renters, and Homeowners)
• How Much Should You Spend on a Car?

What to expect in each lesson

Each lesson is designed to give you the action-oriented information (without boring theory and unnecessary fluff) you need to build a budget that will work for your family, save money and build financial security, find real ways to make more money, and invest money in a manner that aligns with your hopes and dreams.

The best part: you can work at your own pace. That could mean spending 5-10 minutes per day on the material, or working through the entire course in a weekend.

Like many aspects of personal finance, you should choose the course of action that is best for YOU.

Let's get started!