How to Learn Basic Money & Finance as a Beginner
Mentoria
Last Updated: September 5, 2022
In our previous article, we mentioned a list of games you could play to test/improve your financial knowledge. Let’s go a step further and prepare you for the real world now!
So you want to be a financial expert but aren’t sure where to begin? Don’t worry; you’ll find a lot of information at your fingertips, and getting started is simple. Anyone interested in learning can find information ranging from a basic introduction to personal finance to advanced securities analysis.
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Get Your Theories Right
Financial theories! Sounds boring? What if we said you could do this without reading a giant book of principles? There are many entertaining resources available online that make even the most humdrum pieces of information fun. Here’s a list you could begin with:
Begin With Comics
Visa teamed up with Marvel Entertainment to make educational comics that helped young readers learn about personal finance in a fun way. This means you get to read Avengers and Guardian of the Galaxy while mastering your financial IQ! Ask your friends if they’ve learnt from their latest copies yet!
Did you know that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched its own comics too? The comic, ‘Raju and The Money Tree’ helps you learn the basics of banking.
Browse Through Blogs
Imagine learning a new financial term every day through someone else’s day-to-day experiences.
Biz Kid$
This is a website where kids explain money and business using comic skits and blogs. The video series has six seasons featuring various topics like ‘My First Credit Card’, ‘How to Turn $100 Into $1,000,000’ and ‘Crash Course On Starting a Business’ to name a few.
Frugalwoods
Frugalwoods is an active blog maintained by a woman who changed people’s perception of the word ‘frugal’. A word that was once used as an insult now signifies a smart and simple lifestyle.
Money Under 30
Irrespective of what the name suggests, Money Under 30 caters to the financial needs of people belonging to all age groups. From taxes to budgeting tips to credit card queries and college loans, consider this website your resource centre on all things finance.
Budgets are Sexy
Budgets are Sexy and are maintained by a bunch of entertaining folks who talk about travel, monetary challenges, relationships and the life of a millionaire, and much more. Their talk is on point and they share tips that would help you in life.
If you find something while going through any of these pages that you’d like to know more about, use clearinghouse. Finding a reliable study resource online can be difficult. Use a clearinghouse as a search engine. It offers various filters, including but not limited to educational level (pre-school to college), types of resource (article, game, infographic, podcast, video), etc.
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Let’s Get Practical
Most of us have bank accounts. But how many of us go through our bank statements regularly?
I have a friend with a fat allowance. If your limited allowance is triggered by reading this, wait a second. We get a smaller allowance because our parents like to play it safe. Think about it this way – you wouldn’t want to be on a sinking ship, would you? Similarly, your parents won’t give you a large allowance if you’re spending it irresponsibly. Here’s how I tackled this issue: I made charts of what I was doing with my allowance, the current savings in my bank account and my annual investment goal. These charts were pasted on my walls and recorded my transactions religiously for a month. My parents were impressed and gave me INR 3000 to invest in my bank account. Try this and help your parents understand how you’ll manage your money.
Finance is fun when done with friends. Start a club with classmates or neighbours. There are a lot of activities you can plan for your club gatherings like playing the financial games we suggested in our previous article, discussing new blog articles by your favourite blogger or playing a mock stock market game.
This game lets you pick five popular shares (refer to the newspaper or financial news channels). Assign a fixed amount of imaginary money, say INR 1000, to each member. Each of you gets to “buy shares” of your preferred companies. Throughout the month, track the performance of your shares; you may also trade your shares with a friend within the club to make more profit or minimise losses. Assign a reward for the winner who is richest at the end of the month.
Finance Influencers You Can Follow
To slowly introduce financial concepts into your life, follow those whose lives revolve around finance on social media. We are listing some of the top influencers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook when it comes to finance.
Tim Harford is a journalist, economist and author of two books. Tim’s everyday experiences are featured in Financial Times in the form of articles. Tim offers financial insights and advice to around 138,000 followers on Twitter.
Follow Martin Lewis for financial advice, puns and polls. He also actively manages time to address his followers’ queries.
Adam Noar, the founder of Pennybox, quit Google to build an app that teaches finance to kids. He is an advocate of independent finance education and believes it can be achieved through technology.
Follow Finance Gym on Instagram and never feel guilty about spending more time than usual on Instagram, again. Their daily posts are a combination of wit as well as beginner-friendly financial tips.
If you plan to earn “dolla dolla bills” in the future, start today. Try these tips and pick the ones that work best for you. Let us know in the comments below how you like to learn about finance.
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Read Finance Books
You want to know about finance? Then it’s critical to read money-related books. Reading books, especially about finances, may seem like a chore to you. However, there are a number of excellent books available that are both intriguing and helpful in learning about money. There are many books about money available, you can begin with books that include topics such as attitude, banking, investing, saving, and so on
Spend at least 1-2 hours per week reading a money book.
If you’re worried about being distracted or forgetting, add reminders to your email calendar or set an alarm on your phone.
Talk to an Expert in the Field
Sometimes the best guidance and expertise comes from someone who has a firm grasp on their own finances. It might be a coworker, a family member, or even close pals.
And no, I’m not talking about the latest investment or the friend who brags about Bitcoin and advices you to “go all in and get rich!” I’m not commenting on Bitcoin, but you know what I’m talking about when it comes to financial advice.
You want someone who has a proven track record of achievement and knowledge. They can keep you motivated and tell you what has worked for them when it comes to finance.
Watch Interviews
Never blindly follow advice from well-known finance people, just as you should never blindly read personal finance websites. Many will have things you agree with and some advise you will disagree with.
However, you’d be astonished at what you can learn by observing interviews and debates, including how you begin to talk about money and where your attitude may go.
Read Finance Blogs
Finance specific blogs can significantly broaden your knowledge and perspectives.
However, there is one complicating factor: not all personal finance blogs are totally factual or provide information that is completely relevant to you!
Meaning, if something strikes a chord with you, do your homework before mindlessly accepting any financial advise.
If you plan to earn “dolla dolla bills” in the future, start today. Try these tips and pick the ones that work best for you. Let us know in the comments below how you like to learn about finance.
Kick-start your career discovery journey with Mentoria & be sure to find the right career fit for you. Our 4-step career guidance solution, helps us find the right career fit for you from 3 streams, 850+ courses & 12,000+ careers.
