The best time to plant a tree — or learn about personal finance — was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
Personal finance education is so important, yet so ignored. We tell ourselves that we’ll get to it eventually, but we also said that last time (and the time before that as well).
To help break that cycle, I’ve put together this comprehensive guide to personal finance for beginners. Moonshine Money is an entirely free online course that will help you to take control of your finances.
No prior knowledge is needed — this course has been designed with beginners in mind. Anyone can get started on this today.
You’ll learn how to brew up a financial plan that’s custom-fit to your circumstances, and will be equipped with the tools you need to turn that plan into a reality.
The foundational principle of this course is that we should all learn how to manage our own finances. Hence the name — Moonshine Money: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Personal Finance.
Your financial health is far too important to leave under the care of someone else, however expensive their suit. It’s been shown time and time again that most financial advisors don’t have our best interests at heart.
With this course under your belt, I guarantee that you’ll have the confidence and know-how to manage your own money and say goodbye to the never-ending stream of slick financial salespeople.
Lose the money stress, ditch your financial anxiety, and start working your way towards a healthy and wealthy life.
Hundreds of people have read through this course, leaving comments like the ones shown below. I hope you’ll feel the same way 🙂
“Thank you so, so much for this guide! I was pretty much clueless about money. Then, I binge-read this series and I’ve learned so much! Thinking about money and my financial future no longer gives me anxiety. I still have plenty of work to do, but now at least I know what the steps are!”
“Thank you SO MUCH for all your work! I went through the Moonshine Money steps until 2AM yesterday and it just seems that my life is so much more in order. Not that I was in a bad place before but the whole picture of my finances and goals is so much clearer thanks to your amazing spreadsheets (by far the best I have found on the Internet).”
“You have radically changed the way I manage my finances. I am now able to track my monthly income and expenses and manage a L.T. portfolio. I had good knowledge on the subject but I wasn’t focused on the long run… I really appreciated the quality of the content and your expertise!”
This Course Will Teach You How To:
- Organize your finances
- Keep track of the money that comes in and goes out each month
- Become debt-free
- Build wealth by investing your money
- Put your financial plan on auto-pilot
- Make improvements where possible — reducing expenses & increasing income
- Develop positive mental money habits
- Achieve your long term goals: buying a home, starting a family, and/or retirement
How This Course Will Work
Content: Each lesson will include information and explanations that I’ve written myself, and will also include links to great pieces of content from other sites. This course will guide you step-by-step through everything you need to know about personal finance. You won’t need to spend hours and hours googling around to fill in knowledge gaps. You’ll go from zero to money management hero.
Assignments: To make it all stick, you’ll be responsible for completing practical tasks (reading your paycheck, tracking your spending, building a budget, opening an investment brokerage account, purchasing investments online). I’ll guide you through each step. This will provide you with hands-on experience managing your own money.
Tools: You’ll be provided with a variety of tools (spreadsheets, web apps, etc.) to organize your finances and automate the heavy number crunching. Learn how to use these tools now and they’ll serve you well for years to come.
This course spans 20+ lessons and more than 20,000 words. There will also be assignments for you to complete.
With that in mind, this isn’t a journey of one or two days.
I’d suggest taking the time to read through slowly, applying these lessons to your life as you go, and pausing & re-visiting when necessary. By taking it slow and letting it all sink in, you’ll be crafting positive long-term money habits.
Things This Course Will Not Do:
- Assume that you understand complicated financial jargon
- Require you to provide your email and/or personal info to get access to “freebies” and “bonus content”
- Suggest that you sign up and/or pay for products that are not in your best interest
- Ask you to link your financial data with “free” 3rd party apps that will mine your personal data and up-sell you on services
- Recommend that you invest your money in products that charge high fees (such as actively-managed mutual funds)
Let’s Get Started
Once you’re finished, you’ll have the knowledge and experience to reach your financial goals. No looking back.
A minor housekeeping item before we jump in: at the bottom of each lesson, you’ll find buttons to “Go to course agenda” or to move to the “Next lesson“. Use these buttons to navigate through the course as you progress.
See you on the flip side…
I haven’t even started this course yet, but I’ve been looking for something like this. It looks great. So thanks in advance! I need all the help I can get.
Thanks Janina, I’m glad to hear that. Please let me know if you have any questions after going through the guide.
Thank you so, so much for this guide!
I was pretty much clueless about money. Then, I binge-read this series and I’ve learned so much!
Thinking about money and my financial future no longer gives me anxiety. I still have plenty of work to do, but now at least I know what the steps are!
A happy and healthy 2021 to you 🙂
That’s amazing to hear, it’s exactly what I was hoping to achieve with this guide.
Thanks Alex — all the best in the new year!
Sir, You have radically changed the way I manage my finances. I am now able to track my monthly income and expenses and manage a L.T. portfolio. I had good knowledge on the subject but I wasn’t focused on the long run..
I really appreciated the quality of the content and your expertise!. Thank you from Italy
Alessandro
I cannot thank you enough for this legendary course. I read through it all last year and could feel my money knowledge going from beginner to intermediate instantly.
I’m re-reading it again now, and wanted to express my gratitude to you for giving this all away for free.
Thank you, thank you, one hundred thank yous!
-From Sam in Chicago