Top 10 Online Investing Courses – Are They Worth It?

Whether or not you’re in complete self-isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing is certain: our lives have slowed down dramatically. We’re not out socialising, impulse buying non-essentials, or going to festivals. Business has slowed down, and this has become a time for some self-reflection and self-investment.

Many are saving a lot of money so far because of this commercial slow-down. And with the stock market looking to go into a dip (or arguably has already entered one), this might be a good time to start investing. 

Some will suggest doubling down and increasing the amount they invest, because there’s never been a recession that hasn’t bounced back. Time is a huge factor in this – as you don’t want to be putting your house deposit into a global tracker, which is deemed to be a 5 to 10+ year investment. Likewise, you don’t want to be messing around with your emergency fund either.

Many of these dilemmas can be solved with the help of education on the topic. There are forums, degrees, subreddits, and so on. Many of these are fantastic, but if you’re looking for a structured approach where you leave no stone unturned, an online course is a great idea. This way, you’ll be learning the foundation first, and then building on this knowledge. It’s much less risky than scanning forums and reading posts that only experts will know the context of completely. This can lead to a feeling of knowing enough, but you really have no benchmark to compare yourself to.

This isn’t to say spend loads of money on an online course, though. Many are scams. Everything that there is to learn can be done for free, that’s for certain. However, if you’re looking for it to be packaged up for you, along with perhaps a teacher to ask questions to and a certificate at the end, then paying a reasonable price can be worthwhile.

Below are the top 10 courses you can find on investing. Some are paid, some are free – but none are scams.

Bloomberg Market Concepts 

The Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) is 8 hours in length, and is self-paced. There are 4 different aspects to the course: Economic indicators, Currencies, Fixed income, Equities. The course is generally used to learn how to use Bloomberg navigation and search skills. You do receive a PDF certificate upon completion. The BMC via a Bloomberg Terminal comes at no cost, but the remote option is $149

The complete Financial Analyst Training & Investment Course 

For a heavily discounted $20 (under 10% of its original cost), you can find Chris Haroun’s highly rated investing course which has over 22 hours of video content. Having worked at Goldman in Hedge Funds, the course teaches how to manage a portfolio and build financial models.

Warrior Trading’s Starter, Warrior Pro

Warrior trading is a little different. Whilst there’s a starter pack course, there’s something for both beginners and more experienced traders. They have a website packed full of resources, success stories and trading tools

Bear Bull Traders

For $99 per month, you can sign-up to an on-going education at Bear Bull Traders. The monthly fee allows you access to live chat rooms, live classes and many community-driven services. This is for those that want to network, and have a hands-on approach to learning.

Peak Analytics’ Direction First Newsletter 

For $39 per month, Peak Analytics will provide a very good resource for you to aid your investing. This shouldn’t be relied upon as a single course that will teach you all the basics. Instead, they provide daily tips, a portfolio that has outperformed S&P 500 for 4 years, and a general one-entity approach to your investing.

Stocks, Bonds, and Investing: Oh, My! 

For $149, you can receive a more traditional course on stocks, bonds and investing. The course takes between 6 and 12 weeks to complete, with 24 hours of content.  It’s self-paced, but you will absolutely cover the fundamentals underpinning investing. 

Introduction to Investments 

Edx provides a free course that serves as a great introduction to investing, though it can only take you so far. You have an option to pay $50 for the certificate at the end. The course is very well rounded, going into global markets, valuing methods, fundamental analysis and economic indicators.

Financial Markets – Yale University

The Financial Markets course by Yale is one of the highest rated on this list. It’s exceptionally well received due to its comprehensive 38 hours completion time, engaging teacher and coverage of the basics. Also, because it’s free.

The Complete Foundation Stock Trading Course

Another highly rated course is Mohsen Hassan’s on Udemy. This discounted course for under $30, whilst only having 9.5 hours of content, serves as a specialised approach to investing: stock trading only. This means that whilst it’s introductory, it can take its time full fleshing out one area of investing.

Python for Finance: Investment Fundamentals & Data Analytics

Python for Finance is not usually recommended to enthusiastic learners of investing, but it’s highly effective. If you can programme, or want to learn, then this combines Python with investing. Python is a great way to enhance data and financial analysis.