Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Financial and Economic Wisdom

I was talking with Danny from 504 when in Florida and he was telling me how he knew nothing about economics and that's why he liked my site.  I often forget that a lot of people come here for the economic knowledge and that, though, logical and self-improving, the Manosphere doesn't really have a "financial advice" hub making me the "resident economist" of sorts.

He wanted to know where to get educated on finance, investing, economics etc., and while the internet is certainly a place for self-learning, there are couple class and resources I've developed over the years that may be of benefit for those of you looking for financial advice.

#1  The Blog

If you look in the top left of my blog there is a little search box that will search my entire blog for posts on whatever financial topic you are looking for.  Understand this blog is NOT designed to be like a class, but over the past 7 years chances are if there's a topic you're interested in, I have at least written about it.  This is a good start to get some free information.

#2  My Introductory Finance Class

Many years ago, 13, I wrote a basic introductory finance class for an online company. I was younger then and though I've improved in my writing, it was basic enough and I was young enough that it REALLY resonates with students.  It is a BASIC, INTRODUCTORY COURSE to investing and financial planning.  It is ALSO "conventional" meaning it doesn't go into the prospects of the government confiscating your IRA's, the collapse of social security, etc. (though I do touch on those things).

Yes, it costs money, but if you're looking for a place to start and to have a good road map providing you context for future learning, I recommend dropping the bucks on it.

HOWEVER SINCE THIS IS A CLASS OF ANOTHER COMPANY YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO BEHAVE AND NOT BE POLITICAL.  These are real college classes, they just happen to be online.  You can find the closest class to your location here:

Stocks, Bonds, and Investing: Oh, My!

#3  My Stock Analysis and Valuation Class

This is the class I originally wanted to write.  Not everybody is going to have an interest in investing in stocks, HOWEVER, in all honesty I would have to say this is the best class I've ever seen that teaches people about basic accounting and how to read financial statements.  You may not want to invest in the stock market, but it is a GREAT skill to be able to learn how to read an income statement and a balance sheet.  Again, it costs money, and AGAIN YOU WILL BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR, but if you are looking to go beyond basic finance, this is the class to take.

 The Analysis and Valuation of Stocks

Additionally, if there are any specific classes you are interested in, let me know because I have access to their entire catalogue of classes and can post them here.

#4  Khan's Academy

I have not checked in there in a while, but I would surmise by now Khan's Academy has hopefully started to branch out into the finance, investing, economics world.  Last I checked however, it was still pretty IT/Science focused.  Regardless, keep an eye on them for future free classes.

#5  Books like "Economics in One Lesson," the "Books for Dummies" series, even Rich Dad Poor Dad are great resources for people looking to get by on the cheap at the library.   I also plan on a future book on economics, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

#6  Libertyclassroom.com.  It's a classroom, it's liberating, it's libertyclassroom!

#7  THis was sent to me by Wall Street Oasis.  Some good stuff here too:

Hopefully this will provide those of you interested in personal financial management with some options and help your future financial endeavors.

Cpt.

5 comments:

Eric S. Mueller said...

I've gotten a lot of good information from the Ludwig Von Mises Institute. Pretty much every book they sell is available as a free .pdf.

They also have a lot of good audio and video content.

http://www.mises.org

Charlie Schnickelfritz said...

Hazlitt is dope, bro. His Failure of the New Economics is really good, too.

Anonymous said...

Khan Academy has some great videos on economics and finance. It took me about two weeks to watch them all, and the sum total of the experience was more valuable than the MBA I'm still trying to pay for.

Anonymous said...

"#5 Books like "Economics in One Lesson," the "Books for Dummies" series, even Rich Dad Poor Dad are great resources for people looking to get by on the cheap at the library."

Cap, gotta take issue with the Rich Dad Poor Dad recommendation / endorsement. Kiyosaki's series should be regarded mostly as motivational advice, not as financial / investing / life advice. He puts a lot of bad information out there and makes the path to riches seem easier than it is, which is a trap for anyone who doesn't have or doesn't know how to acquire the expertise to get into, say, real-estate investing. So his books can be really dangerous by encouraging people to make financial decisions that they're not qualified to make. And for folks (myself included) who can barely figure out our 1099s and credit-card service agreement terms, this is bad.

John Reed offers a pretty nuts-and-bolts take here


and a follow-up here:

Regards, and keep up the good work--

Anonymous said...

I like Mr. Money Mustache for general ideas about finance.

I consider him the optimistic version of Captain Capitalism.