Investing for Your Future

Great home study course about investment for beginners.

This 11-unit home study course was developed by the Cooperative Extension system for beginning investors with small dollar amounts to invest at any one time. We assumed that many readers will be investing for the first time or selecting investment products, such as a stock index fund or unit investment trust, that they have not purchased previously.

The course units were developed in a logical order. "Basic" topics such as setting goals, investment terms (e.g., diversification, dollar-cost averaging, asset allocation), and finding money to invest lay a foundation to help readers understand how and why they’re investing. You’ll also begin to understand that there’s generally a trade off between risk and reward. The more risk an investor assumes, the greater the chance of a high return, as well as the greater chance of loss.

After exploring "the basics," the course describes specific types of investments (e.g., stocks and bonds) in detail. You’ll begin to understand their characteristics, how they are purchased, and what it costs to purchase each investment. There are also units that focus specifically on tax-advantaged investments and investments that can be purchased with $1,000 or less.

Finally, Investing For Your Future concludes with additional topics of use to investors: available resources, how to select professional financial advisors, and information to help you avoid becoming a victim of investment fraud. You can choose to read the entire course, in any order that makes sense to you, or select only those topics that are of most interest. The choice is yours.

• Introduction
• Unit 1: Basic Building Blocks of Successful Financial Management
• Unit 2: Investing Basics
• Unit 3: Finding Money to Invest
• Unit 4: Ownership Investments
• Unit 5: Fixed-Income Investing
• Unit 6: Mutual Fund Investing
• Unit 7: Tax-Deferred Investments
• Unit 8: Investing Small Dollar Amounts
• Unit 9: Getting Help: Investing Resources
• Unit 10: Selecting Financial Professionals
• Unit 11: Investment Fraud

Investing for Your Future - eXtension